Postnoon E-Paper for 04 February 2012

Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

`2SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 HYDERABAD WWW.POSTNOON.COM WEATHER: CLEAR SKIES; 24°C 32 PAGES

WHAT WOMENWANT IN A CAR?

It is a million-dollar question:What do women want? While

we may not be able to answerthis one, we can, however, tell

you that when it comes tocars, a woman knows what

she wants.

IT’S AFAMILY AFFAIR

They shout, they play, andthey end up spending hourstogether. Console games are

the binding thread that keepsthe family as one and this is

how modern families arespending that much-needed

time together.

BECKS SENT OFF... AT A KIDS’ GAME!Football icon David Beckham was shown the red card and ordered out of a park while watching a children’s match, he said in aninterview to be screened today. The former England captain was sent off after protesting a decision to send off one of the young-

sters, he told ITV television. The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder, 36, who was waiting for a match his nine-year-old son Romeowas due to play in, had to go and stand outside the park gate until the game was over. “It was the younger kids of Romeo’s club,

and they’re playing in the game and there was a penalty given. He sent the kid off. And I was like, ‘Come on, he’s seven yearsold, referee, you can’t send him off’. “And he came over and gave me a red card. He told me to get out of the park. For real. The

gate was only 20 yards away and I waited and went back in when my son’s game was on.”

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P16&17

PAWS FOR THOUGHTThink of animal welfare in the

ci ty and one name comesto mind — Blue Cross. It

has been 20 years and th -ey are still going strong, fighti -

ng for those who have no voice.

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THE SIX-YARD STORYSix yards of pure elegance. Any woman who owns a

Pochampally sari will vouch for this fact. For the past manyyears, villagers of Pochampally have been laboriously tryingto make women feel beautiful. Today we take a look at the

process that goes into making this weave.

With global deaths due tomalaria found to bedouble of what theywere earlier thought tobe, we take a look atthe situation in theCity, consideringits weather andpolluted lakes.

MOSQUITO NATION

REPORT ON PG 4

FLASH

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 2Spirit of Twin CitiesPage Two

Big Cinemas, Ameerpet, 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills, 44565555; Cine Planet , Kompally, 61606060; INOX, Banjara Hills, 447677770,Prasads, Tank Bund Rd, 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta, 08800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur, 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad 27844973CINEMAS

Martini ‘n musicEnjoy the winter evenings withgrey goose martinis and croonerKelly dishing out your favouritenumbers.

Where: Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills

When: Every EveningContact: (040) 66662323

A suitable lunchSyn presents three lunch offersto suit your various needs. Thereis a lunch for those always in ahurry, a lunch for the calorieconscious as well as a lunch forthose who are planning a greatreunion with a friend.

Where: Taj Deccan, BanjaraHills

When: Everyday, 12pm onwards

Contact: (040) 66663939

Cognac and CigarThe Seasons Bar opens up again asa Cigar and Cognac lounge with awide selection of cognac, rarewhiskies, single malts and cigars.

Where: Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills

When: Ongoing, 7pmContact: (040) 66662323

NumaishA childhood favourite of everyHyderabadi, The All IndiaIndustrial Exhibition is on.

Where: Exhibition Grounds, Nampally

When: Ongoing

Eat in the darkHave you ever wondered how itfeels to eat in the dark? Comeand experience this. Pay `499 toenjoy a 4-course meal worth`1,000 at Dialogue in the Dark.

Where: Dialogue in the Dark,

Inorbit Mall, Hitech City

When: Ongoing, 12.30pmContact: (040) 64603341

Valentines grooveA valentines special workshop isbeing held. The workshop onsalsa and theme dancing is beingheld by Promod Sanghi.

Where: Park hotelSomajiguda

When: Ongoing

Bronze structuresKalakrithi presents lively meshesof bronze, an exhibition ofbronze sculptures by TapasBiswas. A preview will be held onJanuary 4.

Where: Kalakrithi,Banjara Hills

When: January 4, 7pmContact: (040) 66564466

Food fiestaBarbecue Nation offers an amaz-ing weekend and weekend lunchfood fiesta. The buffet costs`475/- on weekdays and `575/-on weekends.

Where: Barbecue Nation, Banjara Hills

When: Ongoing, 7pm onwards

Contact: (040) 64566692

Feeling ItalianoFeeling Italiano this eveninghead to Via Milano for a dinnerbuffet with specialised Italian &live music with Megha Girish

Where: Via Milano,Jubilee Hills

When: Saturday, 8pmContact: (040) 64556677

Lunch specialsNautanki Galli offers its expan-

SWING IT

Around the city: Your guide to the Twin Cities

PIC: A

SUD

HEER

RED

DY

sive lunch buffet. So head toNautanki Galli.

Where: Nautanki Galli,Madhapur

When: Everyday, 12:30 pm onwards

Contact: 7893010000

Cupcake delightCupcake lovers head to Deli 9 forthe cupcake festival. You canselect from a variety of cupcakessuch as chocolate, vanilla, peanutbutter, coffee, orange.

Where: Deli9, Banjara HillsWhen: OngoingContact: (040) 65506662

Bapu in coloursA painting exhibition titled,Bapu-Mohandas Karam ChandGandhi by Siva Kesara Rao.

Where: Marriott hotel &Convention Centre, Tank Bund

When: Ongoing, 11am

Fragile CityAn art exhibition by SrinivasReddy titled Fragile City is beingheld at Iconart Art Gallery,Banjara Hills.

Where: Iconart,Banjara Hills

When: Ongoing, 11am onwards

Contact: 9849968797

Karaoke NightWith 4500 songs at your disposalhead to Xtreme Sports Bar forKaraoke Night with RJ Clarence.So all those who love to sing, getready to sing along.

Where: Xtreme Sports Bar,Jubilee Hills

When: Saturday, 8pmContact: 8008692225

Mayor’s latest plan of actionMd Inkeshaf [email protected]

Young mayor, MajidHussain is very eager toimplement the long series

of plans designed to spruce upthe sagging image of GHMC.

He has conveyed to theadministration his desire to holdgeneral body meetings (GBM)as frequently as possible. Themayor is planning to hold zonallevel meetings in all five zones ofthe corporation before his cru-cial first general body meeting.The main objective, the mayoraloffice explained, is to bringtogether corporators, officials,and residents of all divisions of azone on one platform. The aim is

to identify basic civic problemsbeing faced by the residents ofthat zone and have discussionson them.

The problems and sugges-

tions identified during the zonalmeetings will be discussed indetail during the GBM byrespective corporators. Themayor is planning to ensure

proper flow of funds to addressproblems highlighted during thezonal meetings. “My top priorityis development of the city in allspheres. I want to know the civicproblems faced by residents. I’lldo my best,” he said.

According to Majid, earlierthere was no such platform forcorporators and residents toexpress their views and highlightthe problems being faced bythem. “This is a novel concept.Earlier there was no such plat-form for the residents and publicrepresentatives to state theirproblems. My concept will fillthat void,” Majid said. He reiter-ated that he would put in all hisefforts to bring in visible devel-opment in the corporation.

It has been learnt that themayor has asked all depart-ments to ensure timely clear-ance of files and issues.

CIVIC

CRIME Mysterious death ofboy in city hostel

In a shocking incident, a six-year-old student, Pappu, who

moved in to to a hostel in GandhiNagar only last week was founddead with nail marks on his neckand body.

Pappu was brought to the hos-tel by one Balaraj, a resident ofGandhi Nagar on January 26.Police suspect foul play.

Financial worriesdrive man to suicide

CSrinivaslu, 35, ofVenkateshwara Nagar

colony in Meer Pet was founddead on Friday. He is suspectedto have consumed poison dueto financial difficulties. He wasworking in a medical store,police said.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 3Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

U [email protected]

If Hyderabad does not want tochoke and sneeze due to pol-lution, it has to act now saidsome representatives of the

NGOs who are working for a bet-ter environment in the City.

They say the City needsaction like conversion of fuel ofvehicles into compressed natural gas (CNG), scaling up ofpublic transport, integratedmulti-modal transport optionsand walking.

They say that the green taxshould be imposed on vehiclesthat do not comply with theemission levels and not after 15years. Shiva Kumar, an environ-mentalist, says tax should belevied based on the level of pollu-tants vehicles emit and not ontheir age — after 7 or 15 years.

Hyderabad, in fact, is facing adanger of losing out on the gainsit made in the first generation airpollution reforms, says an analy-sis of recent air quality data doneby the Centre for Science andEnvironment (CSE), a New Delhi-based research organisation.

The CSE analysis stated thatlocations in the City, which arecategorised ‘moderately polluted’under the earlier norms, havespiralled into the ‘critically pol-luted’ category now, while othersites have moved from ‘low pollu-tion’ to the moderate level.

Chaitanya another environ-ment enthusiast, said thataccording to the Hyderabad CityDevelopment Plan, traffic vol-umes in the core areas of the cityoften exceed the designed capac-ity of the roads.

He felt that the green tax orincrease of it was not the solutionand that creating awarenessamong the public to reduce thepollution levels is the key.

TRANSPORT

Develop infrastructure and systemsto reduce taxes and penalties

1. Strengthen air qualitymonitoring systemsThe city must spruce up its moni-toring facilities to generate rigor-ous data on the critical air toxics.This should be supported by anassessment of the pollutionsources and public health impacts. 2. Expedite CNG-public transport programmeThe CNG programme, linked withan expanded bus transport system,is an important strategy forleapfrogging to cleaner emissions.The city needs a stringent timelinefor expanding the refuelling infras-tructure.3. Scale up public transport:Hyderabad has taken the lead tobuild its multi-modal transport sys-tem. But the network needs scale,integration and reliability. It is bus

transport that carries the maxi-mum number of passengers in thecity – 42 per cent – will need scaling up. 4. Pedestrian infrastructurePedestrian infrastructure has avery poor rank. The City shouldlegally mandate reformed pedes-

trian guidelines for approval ofroad projects and enhancement ofthe existing ones. 6. Introduce a good parkingpolicyHyderabad must prevent on-streetparking, use parking revenues tobuild other transport options andprice parking to reduce personalvehicle use. 7. Enforce emission checks onin-use vehiclesThe City must improve on its vehicle inspection systems andremove visibly smoking vehiclesfrom the roads.8. Strengthen green taxThe City must reduce taxes onpublic transport buses, andenhance green tax on personalvehicles. A dedicated urban trans-port fund must be created.

What Hyderabad should do

Hyderabad — Anopheles (causesmalaria), Culex (filaria), Ades(dengue and chikungunya),Mansonia and Armigeres. Theother two don’t cause any ill-ness,” he adds.

The ades mosquito thrives inwater stored in small containers,which are common in homes.

Is malaria undercheck?

While fumigation was donefrequently earlier, the process hasdecreased over the last few years.“The main reason for this is thatwhile it is effective up to a certainextent, fogging is expensive,causes pollution, is a health haz-ard to humans and mosquitoeshave become resistant to thesechemicals,” says Joseph.

“Mosquitoes are these daysgrowing resistant to drugs, mak-ing it harder to combat them. Forinstance, the salsiparum malariais resistant to chloroquinine.According to WHO recommenda-tions, malaria should be treatedwith a combination of drugs,”says Dr Suneetha.

What is the GHMCdoing?

“We are working towards theprevention of malarial out-

breaks,” says Joseph. But with theefficacy of fumigation in doubt,how is the municipal corporationworking towards preventing theillness? Joseph lists out the fol-lowing activitiesn Anti-larval operations: A team

of GHMC employees visithouseholds, identify mosquitobreeding and use chemicals todestroy these.

n Special activities: These arecarried out in large water bod-ies like the Musi, lakes, tanks

and nalas and there’s a specialteam dedicated for this.

n Indoor residual sprays: Theselast up to 90 days and areapplied on walls of homes to killmosquitoes on contact.

n Publicity: The GHMC is screen-ing a one-minute short film onmosquito control at Numaish.

n Fumigation: Though not as fre-quent as before, fogging is car-ried out on the basis of com-plaints received and near largewater bodies.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 4Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

GAS BOOKING IVRS NO:HP 9666023456Indane 9848824365

BSNL Complaints 198HMWS & SB Complaints 155313

POLICE CONTROL ROOM:Hyderabad 27852435Traffic Control Room 27852482DCP Traffic 23234065, 23243499FPollution Control Board 23887500

ELECTRICITY:General Complaints 155333Breakdown Section 23431178

23431179MUNICIPAL CORPORATION:Commissioner & Spl Officer 23262266

24166666RENC 23225267Engineering 23220418MCH Tankbund 23225397Emergency MCH Circle I&II 24525842MCH Circle III 24736912MCH Circle IV 23326975MCH Circle V 23326976MCH Circle VI MCH Complaints 1100Head Office 23225397

IVRS CUM MANUAL ENQUIRYPHONE NUMBERS(TRAIN & RESERVATION)RAILWAYSRail Nilayam 27833169, 27824216Railway Information 131Reservations 135Recorded Information 1345Enquiry (IVRS) 1331, 1332, 1333

WATER SUPPLY:Complaint Cell 155313Sewerage Complaint 23307328Hyd. Water Supply 23313163

HOSPITAL:General Hospital, Sec-bad 27505566Niloufer Hospital, Red Hills 23314095NIMS, Director, Punjagutta 23390933Osmania General Hospital 24600146Railway Hospital, Lalaguda 27001134Apollo, Jubilee Hills 23607777Care Hospital, Banjara Hills 30418888Care Hospital, Nampally 30417777Care Hospitals, Musheerabad 30419000Care Hospital, Sec-bad 30416666Kamineni Hospital,

LB Nagar 39879999

BLOOD BANKS:Blood Bank,Narayaguda 27567892Chiranjeevi Blood Bank 23559555Blood Bank Mediton Goal 23226624Red Cross, Vidyanagar 27633087ADRM Blood Bank 27035588Mythri Charitable Trust 27550238NTR Memorial Trust 30799999Care Banjara Hills 30418296

30417445

AMBULANCESApollo 23548888, 23607777Kamineni 24022222Medwin 23202902, 23204616Smile Line Dental Hospital 23747979Red Cross 27627973Niloufer Hospital 23314095Gandhi 23320332

AIRLINESAirport Director 27903785, 27906001For Air India Flight Information Toll free(from any network) for IC Flights18001801407And for All Flights: 1800227722Air India has revised its flight timings.For more information call (Toll free)18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from otherlines and mobile Website;www.airindia.in

TOURISM OFFICESAP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54Sec’bad 27893100Dept of Tourism 23453110India Tourism 23261360AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999

UK Visa OfficeVFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A,Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills-34. Working hours are from 8 AM to1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM.

MUSEUMSSalar Jung Museum 24523211AP State Museum 232431300/7641Nizams Museum 24521029

Helpline

Readers’ viewsWe invite you to write to us

comments, suggestions, viewpointor just about anything to

[email protected] or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road

No 62, Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad – 500 033

or even by way ofa call on 4067 2222

Chills of malaria gives City the jitters

Ranjani [email protected]

According to a study pub-lished in the medicaljournal Lancet, nearly1.2 million across the

world succumb to malaria everyyear. Researchers reviewed themalaria mortality data from 1980to 2010 and found that 1.2 millionpeople were killed by the illnessin 2010, which is twice the tollthat was thought to be.Interestingly, 42 per cent of these

deaths occurred in children olderthan 5 and in adults.

When it comes to the effect ofmalaria in India, it was estimatedthat a whopping 46,800 Indianshad succumbed to the illness.Considering the tropical weatherand an abundance of pollutedwater bodies in Hyderabad, therisk of malaria seems higher.

“Mosquitoes generally exist atsea level and the warm weather isperfect for them to breed. Earlier asurge in malarial cases was seenpost monsoons. But in the recentpast, it’s begun to get warmerthroughout the year. Besides, thereis construction activity across theCity which causes waterlogging.The dirty lakes are also breedinggrounds,” explains Dr SuneethaNarreddy, infectious diseases spe-cialist at Apollo Hospital.

A threat?While experts across the

world are crying hoarse about theincidence of malaria, the toll inHyderabad stood at 352 as of2011, according to governmentdata. “Considering we have apopulation of nearly 10 million,this figure does not pose a greatrisk,” says T Ratna Joseph, chiefentomologist at the GHMC.

“There are five types ofmosquitoes found in

Countries and Territories Where Malaria Is EliminatedAccording to the World Health Organization, 90 countries are malaria-free.

Malaria eliminated 1955-1972

Countries considered in the control phase

Malaria eliminated 1973-1999

Countries considered endemic

Malaria eliminated2000-2010

Current Status of the Malaria Epidemic WorldwideRegion

African Region

AmericanRegion

EasternMediterranean

Region

EuropeanRegion

South-EastAsia Region

WesternPacific Region

Number of CountriesConsidered Malaria-Free

Number of Countries inelimination or PreElimination Phase

Number of CountriesConsidered in theControl Phase

Malaria infects 1 in 10 ofthe world's population.

In Africa, a child dies every 45 seconds ofmalaria, accounting for approximately 20 percent of all childhood deaths in the region.

With deaths due to malaria found to be double of what they were earlier thought to be,we take a look at the situation in the City, considering its weather and dirty lakes

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

0

Malaria Deaths Worldwide

2000

985,000

781,000

2009

In 2010, 289 million ITNs weredelivered to sub-Saharan Africa,only enough to cover 76 percent of the 765 million peopleat risk.

Previously, only 42 per cent ofhouseholds owned ITNs, andonly 35 per cent of childrenslept under an ITN.

*ITNs are insecticide-treated mosquito nets

Mosquitoes are growing resistant todrugs like chloroqui-nine. According tothe WHO, malariashould be treatedwith a combination of drugs

Dr Suneetha Narreddy,Apollo Hospital

6 Months`̀ 199/-

1 Year` 349/-

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5SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012

Osama [email protected]

They crept up from behindand formed a huge grouptaking the public by sur-

prise. And then just like that thegroup broke into a jig leavingonlookers watching with dro -pped jaws. The flash mob organ-ised at Prasad’s IMAX to raiseawareness about cancer on Feb -ruary 3 came as a pleasant sur-prise to movie-goers.

The impromptu dance perfor-mance included more than 50doctors from Apollo CancerHospital, fitness trainer DinazVervatwala and her group, actorNavdeep and former Mrs IndiaShilpa Reddy.

Expectedly, the crowd wentwild. “I was shocked when a fewpeople came from behind me andstarted to dance. It was amazing. I

was hooting all the way through,”said Garima Mustan, one of themany people who witnessed theevent live.

“We knew there was some-thing fishy. Usually, there isn’tmuch crowd early on a Fridayevening. But it was a great sur-

prise. This is the first time that Isaw a flash mob and I thoroughlyenjoyed it. I wish there were moresuch surprises in the City,” said avisibly excited Radha Varadha.

The crowd went ballistic to thesongs of Poovai Poovai, I hate youlike I love you, Kolaveri di and Tai-

Tai fish. It felt as if the crowd hadtaken adrenalin shots, the enthu-siasm crystal clear. “I was dancingalong with the mob. I don’t think Ihad this much fun in a long time,”said Zayed.

However, among all this, thereal cause wasn’t forgotten. Dr

Vijay Anand Reddy, director ofApollo Cancer Hospital; Navdeep,Shilpa and Dinaz spoke about thedreaded disease and how it is pre-ventable, detectable early andcurable. Bookmarks providinginformation and how it can beprevented were distributed.

Dance to spread awareness

Shiba [email protected]

Kids they say, knowno fear of death.Maybe that is why

when they are faced witha dreaded disease likecancer they face it headon and smile all through.And this very spirit cameto fore at the ‘Coloursof courage’ event organ-ised by Yashoda Hospitalon the eve of WorldCancer Day.

The event that sawpaediatric cancer sur-vivors turn up lookingtheir best invited them topaint anything they fan-

cied with the promise of aprize for the best paint-ing. And the children’senthusiasm reflected intheir work, with the prizegoing to 16-year-old SaiKumar, who lost his leg tocancer, but refused to bebogged down by it.

Commissioner ofpolice, AK Khan gaveaway the prizes and said,“I have heard that over45,000 children are diag-nosed with cancer. Whenyou see such kids itreminds you that canceris curable and there ishope. I would want tosalute the children andtheir parents for fighting

their circumstances andemerging victorious.”

Dr GS Rao, managingdirector, Yashoda Groupof Hospitals, who wasalso present on the occa-sion said, “Cancer curefor children should be apriority in India. Our goalin conducting this artworkshop is to createawareness on the preva-lence of childhood can-cer in India.”

Yashoda hospital isone of the few centres inthe City to have a CancerHelpline (040-67232323) tomeet the psychologicaland social needs of pat -ients and their families.

Children are the bestexamples of courage

Dinaz Vervatwala, Dr Vijay Anand Reddy, Shilpa Reddy and Navdeep participated in the flash mob at Prasad’s

Paediatric cancer survivors with AK Khan on the eve of World Cancer Day

PICS: N SHIVA KUMAR

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 6India unveiled India‑View

FABRICATION

CLASSIFIEDS

Yogacharya Swami Adhyatmanandji shows Taiwanese yoga teachers anasan at Sivananda Ashram in Ahmedabad on Friday. AFP

BALANCING ACT BJP blames UPAfor misusing policyNEW DELHI: The BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) on Fridayblamed the UPA government for“misusing” the telecom policyand said the Supreme Courtorder on the 2G spectrum allocation was similar to parlia-ment’s Public AccountsCommittee report on the issue.

A day after the Supreme Courtgave an order cancelling licencesof 122 telecom companies thatwere granted licence during for-mer telecom minister A Raja’sregime, BJP leader MurliManohar Joshi said: “It is a veryimportant judgment which hasmany dimensions and it has sev-eral implications for governanceand accountability of the govern-ment.”

The BJP leader blamed PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh andsaid the responsibility of takingaction is that of the prime minis-ter and the cabinet.

“In case the prime ministerdoesn’t take any action, then hewould be held responsible. Theprime minister owes an explana-tion to the nation. He was in theknow of everything,” he said.

Joshi, who heads the PACwhich is examining the CAGreport on 2G spectrum alloca-tion, said there were similaritiesin the draft PAC report and theSupreme Court judgement.

The opposition also reiterat-ed its demand for the sacking ofHome Minister P. Chidambaram,alleging his involvement in thecase when he was finance minis-

ter. “The first step that the primeminister should now take is sackChidambaram. Any delay on thePM’s part now will only lower hisown credibility,” he said.

Replying to the statement byTelecom Minister Kapil Sibal thatthe telecom policy being followedwas formulated by the BJP-ledNDA government in 2003, the BJPleader said the UPA governmenthad misused the policy. IANS

‘Secular party tie-up for next polls’CHENNAI: The DMK partywould align with a secular partyhaving the nation’s interest inmind in the next Lok Sabhaelections, party president MKarunanidhi said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters afterchairing the party’s generalcouncil meeting, Karunanidhisaid: “The Lok Sabha electionsare far away. The party will alignwith only secular parties havingnational interest.”

Refusing to comment on theSupreme Court’s order on theissue of probing union HomeMinister P Chidambaram’s rolein the allotment of 2G spectrum

licences to telecom companies,Karunanidhi strongly disagreedwith union communicationsMinister Kapil Sibal’s statementThursday that DMK’s A Raja wasresponsible for the spectrum trouble.

Strongly disagreeing withthe comments of Kapil Sibal onthe procedure adopted for allot-ment of 2G spectrum,Karunanidhi said what A Rajafollowed was the policy laiddown in 2003.

Sibal had on Friday soughtto shift the blame on Raja, whois currently in Tihar Jail, foralleged irregularities in themanner in which the policy wasimplemented, saying that theSupreme Court clearly statedthat Raja did not heed to the“good advice of both the primeminister and the finance ministry”. IANS

NEW DELHI: Despite the government’s appeal to airlinesto refrain from submitting car-bon emission data to theEuropean Union (EU) for a newtax, EU climate action commis-sioner Connie Hedegaard onFriday said they had.

The ministry of civil aviationin December last year wrote to allthe Indian carriers flying abroadto stay away from providing thedata.

Indian along with US, Chinaand many other countries havebeen opposing EU’s EmissionTrading Scheme (EU- ETS) thatcame into effect from January 1.Under the scheme, airlines usingEU airspace will have to pay a feefor carbon emissions that exceeda set limit.

Hedegaard, who met CivilAviation Minister Ajit Singh in thecapital on Friday said: “I had aconstructive dialogue with theaviation minister. It seems now

that the US, India and others areembracing that we should makesubstantial progress in the area.”

Replying to a question aboutwhether Indian carriers have pro-vided data, Hedegaard said “yes”.

She said EU is open to accept

an international regime similar toEU-ETS. “But you cannot say ohlet’s discuss that in InternationalCivil Aviation Organisation,please take away your legislation.That’s not how we are playing,”she added. IANS

Indian carriers have providedcarbon emission data: EU

Goa: Minister in troublefor real estate dealingsPANAJI: An income tax (IT)paper trail claiming controver-sial Goa Education MinisterAtanasio Monserrate got `26.5crore in kickbacks from shadyreal estate deals could changethe pitch of campaigning aheadof the March 3 polls though theman claims he has done nowrong.

The investigation said that aformer bureaucrat was a conduit for kickbacks toMonserrate, who allegedlyreceived the money to convertmassive tracts of prime farmland into orchard areas to facili-tate real estate developmentwhen he was was minister fortown and country planning inthe Congress-led coalition government in Goa during the2005-07 term.

Though the Congress minister has denied the authen-ticity of such findings, that were-leaked to the media earlier thisweek, the opposition has

described the damning papertrail as a “weapon” for campaign-ing.

Monserrate, however, said hewas in the clear and all his trans-actions above board. “I havedone nothing wrong. My paper-work is clean. If any explanationis sought by the party, I will tellmy party alone, not anyone else,”Monserrate said. IANS

Atanasio Monserrate

NEW DELHI: The CongressFriday hit out at the BJP for its“double standards” over theSupreme Court’s order on the 2Gspectrum case, and said the UPAgovernment “can’t be punishedfor following the NDA policy”.

The party also said the apexcourt order cancelling 122 2Glicences issued during formertelecom minister A. Raja’s tenuredid not hold either PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh orHome Minister P. Chidambaramresponsible, as charged by thesaffron party.

“The apex court’s order didnot hold either Prime MinisterManmohan Singh or HomeMinister P. Chidambaram respon-sible,” Congress spokespersonAbhishek Manu Singhvi toldreporters. IANS

2G case: Congresshits out at BJP’s‘double standards’

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 7Around the World Beyond Borders

GLOBE AT A GLANCEAnonymous posts FBI,Scotland Yard callWASHINGTON: Hacker groupAnonymous, in an embarrassment for lawenforcement, released a recording onFriday of a conference call between the FBIand Scotland Yard discussing operationsagainst them. The FBI confirmed theauthenticity of the recording and said itwas “intended for law enforcement offi-cers only and was illegally obtained. Acriminal investigation is under way “

Actor Ben Gazzara deadat 81: ReportsNEW YORK: The US actor BenGazzara, who enjoyed a long career onBroadway and in Hollywood, died of pancreatic cancer on Friday in Manhattan,the New York Times reported. He was 81.He had starred in films, television andplayed Brick in the original Broadway ver-sion of Tennessee Williams’ Cat On A HotTin Roof. He died at a Manhattan hospital.

246 survive Papua NewGuinea ferry accidentSYDNEY: A total of 246 people havebeen rescued after a ferry accident off thecoast of Papua New Guinea, authoritiessaid. The vessel was carrying about 360people. Five ships carried the survivors toLae town in the South Pacific country onThursday night, the Australian MaritimeSafety Authority said. About 100 peoplewere believed trapped when it sank.

Russians brave freezeto challenge Putin

An aerial photo shows anextensively flooded area in theNew South Wales town of Moree inAustralia. AFP

Artists of the ‘Cirque Du Soleil’perform in Moscow, on Friday. Theacrobatic spectacle will be open tothe public as of February 4. AFP

MOSCOW:Tens of thousands ofRussians are set to march throughMoscow on Saturday, braving freezingtemperatures to challenge Vladimir Putin’sgrip on power a month before the premierstands in presidential elections. Govern -ment supporters will stage a rival rally incentral Moscow.

DAMASCUS: Syrian forceskilled at least 217 civilians,including women and children,in a “massacre” in the centralcity of Homs, a rights group saidon Saturday, ahead of a UNvote.

The Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said 138 of thefatalities were caused by mortarfire in the Al-Khalidiya districtof Homs, which has become aflashpoint of the 10-monthrevolt against the regime ofPresident Bashar al-Assad.

Another 79 people werekilled in other parts of town.Following violence elsewhere,including Damascus, duringthe day, Friday’s overall deathtoll was around 250 and couldstill rise, the Observatory said.

“It’s a real massacre,” theobservatory’s director RamiAbdel Rahman told AFP, callingfor the “immediate interven-

tion” of the Arab League to endthe killing.

The Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya television channelsshowed images of dozens ofbodies on the ground.

The violence broke out afterthousands of people acrossSyria defied the governmentcrackdown to mark the 30thanniversary of a notorious 1982massacre in the central city of

Hama that killed thousands.News of the latest deaths

came as a diplomat in New Yorksaid members of the UNSecurity Council would meetSaturday morning for a vote ona resolution condemning theviolent repression in Syria.

The Syrian rights group,called on the people “to take tothe streets in the towns and vil-lages and to rise up against theregime

Protestors break intoembassy

Around 20 protesters brokeinto the Syrian Embassy inBerlin on Friday, causing dam-age in several offices and daubing slogans on walls beforebeing arrested, police said.Thenprotesters who were all “Syriansor of Syrian origin,” entered theembassy grounds at around4.30 pm. AFP

217 civilians killed in Syriaviolence on the eve of UN vote

ABOARD THE BUSINESSEXPRESS: A security guardpointing a gun at your chestmay not be a perk of first-classtravel in the West, but it’s allpart of the service on Pakistan’sgleaming Business Express.

Thirteen carriages havebeen lovingly restored into asleek sleeper to ply the 1,200kilometres between Pakistan’stwo biggest cities, Lahore andKarachi, on an 18-hour journeythat once used to take upwardsof 30 hours.

Presided over on Friday byPri me Minister Yousuf Raza

Gilani, perhaps keen to front agood-news story as he faces con-tempt charges, and waved off byexcited crowds it is Pakistan’smost luxurious and expensivetrain.

For 5,000 rupees one way, or9,000 rupees return, pa ssengersare waited on by a bevy of atten-tive stewards, as they settledown to watch films on fl at-screen TVs or power up laptops.

Afternoon tea and pipinghot dinner — courtesy chefs atfive-star hotels are borne intocabins as uniformed guards inthe corridors are a reminder of a

country troubled by kidnap-pings, Taliban and violence.

It’s all part of a first privateinvestment of millions of rupeesin the ailing state railways, billedas the last hope of preventing amuch-loved relic of British rulefrom falling into ruin.

“It’s beautiful. It’s relaxing,compared to the trains before.I’m so happy and very comfort-able. The staff are good. It’s amarvellous train,” a 22-year-oldyoung mother said.

Gilani congratulated staffon a “deluxe” and “state of theart” service. AFP

Pakistan launches first-class rail

Syrian anti-regime protesters shout slogans during ademonstration in Al-Qsair on Friday. AFP

SYDNEY: Australia’s flood crisisdeepened on Saturday with theweather bureau warning of a possible catastrophe in oneregion, as authorities continuedto search for a woman sweptaway. Heavy rainfall in the east-ern states of New South Walesand Queensland have cut offthousands of people, swampinghomes, and prompting rescuesfrom flooded areas.

Assistant CommissionerAndrew Edwards said while therain was easing, the amount offlooding in the region and to thenorth meant that “we can expectthese floods to be going on formonths” in some pockets. AFP

Flood crisisin Australiacould worsen LAS VEGAS: Mitt Romney

looks set to romp to victory inthe Nevada on Saturday,cementing his position asRepublican presidential frontrunner four days after hiscrushing Florida win.

Despite a wobble this we ek with a gaffe about Amer -ica’s poor, opinion polls givehim a huge 20-25 point leadover his rivals in the State.

But there is no sign thatany of his three opponents,led by Newt Gingrich, plan tothrow in the towel as they pre-pare to head to the next statepoll in Colorado, anotherwestern state.

The main question seemsto be how big Romney’s shareof the vote is in Nevada —which has a large community

that shares his Mormon faith— and some say anything lessthan 50 percent could be seenas a disappointment.

“They’re basically com-peting against expectationsnow: can he do better than 50per cent” said David Damore,associate professor of politicsat the Univ ersity of Nevada,Las Vegas.

“Everybody knows he’sgoing to win, it’s about howbig he wins, and how much ofthe vote he gets,” he said.

Mitt Romney is aiming fora third win over his nearestrival Gingrich, as the twowrestle to be the RepublicanParty’s challenger in theNovember elections againstDemocratic President BarackObama. AFP

Romney looks to win Nevada

Republican presidentialhopeful Mitt Romney holdsa rally at Metro Pizza inHenderson, Nevada. AFP

A policeman stands guard onthe newly launched PakBusiness Express train. AFP

TALK BACKPeer pressure at schoolYour article regarding the financial statusand how it affects children atschool is some what of a newconcept to me and I haven'tnoticed it in my son's school orotherwise. Regular backgroundchecks do take place but thennone of the sort that has affectedthe child in running away fromhome. Children are children. Theyare young, immature and naive. The kind ofenvironment at home reflects a child'sbehaviour at school. What children learn athome influences their mannerisms. I suggestthat parents keep a check on their kidsrather than blaming it on others.

Rita Ghosh, Somajiguda

Women’s slaveryThis is in regard to your yesterday’snews report about women slavery. Itseem to be really disgusting for peo-ple possessing moral values andethics, but it may be like a joke tothose heartless cruel men whoalways treat women as sexobjects. But these men can’t beblamed every time as women

are dehumanising themselves by doingsuch menial jobs. As there is a saying "Givehim an inch and he will have all.” So it iswomen who should first try to protect them-selves by living a dignified and respectablelife and say no to such jobs regardless of thecircumstances.

Mohammad Ansari,Hyderabad

More national newsWhile I read and enjoy Postnoon, I wouldlike to make a suggestion to your paper. Oflate I have been noticing thatthe coverage of your paperhas increased and is oftenveering to the Internationalside of affairs. I, however, wish to see more of national newsitems in the paper. As a sub-scriber, I would like to see mypreferences also catered to and I am suremany other readers will also share my viewson the need for national news. However, Imust also congratulate you on that piece onHyderabad, the old and the new. It was arefreshing change.

Manasi Mohapatra,Dilsukhnagar

Double check factsPostnoon is a paper with a difference and as

a reader I must acknowledgethat. The range of news youcarry is commendable. It isthe City news which inter-ests me most. However, Imiss seeing human inter-est stories in your paper.

Stories like that of the 70-yr-old man who shot the burglar were reallygood. The story on the Mayor was also welldone. Sports and nation need a little morecoverage. I would like to point out that fac-tual errors often creep into your stories, soplease check facts. As a reader nothingannoys me more than wrong information.

Sharath P,Madhapur

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 8Fair, free and forthrightComment

Ever since Shakespeare penned thefatal words, “To be, or not to be…,” themajority of Earth’s citizens have beenhaunted by them. Life is no longer an

experience to be lived — it is a potpourri ofquestions that need to be answered now. WillObama win the elections? Will I lose weightbefore my next birthday? Will my ex call me?Will Oprah visit the Bachchans next year? Willmy next book merit a fatwa? Do these ques-tions form the basis of our moral and intellec-tual stimulation and growth today other thanbooks, films, people, sex and religion? Nowthat is another darned question.

Do we really need to know everythingabout everything, all the time? Even our goodold Earth, which breathes the uncertain air ofits own polluted existence doesn’t know if weare going to continue loading it with morechaos or love. And, much as we would like tobelieve, the Universe for sure doesn’t havedefinitive plans to keep all the planets in thesame line-up as we discovered decades agofrom the awesome picture of the Solar Systemin our science books.

Do we have to be certain about things orpeople, else die? Naively, we actually believewe can find bliss if we get answers to everysingle thing that bothers us. This whole needof wanting to find life-settling answers beganbefore we discovered the steam engine, com-puter, World Wide Web, and iCloud. Our fore-fathers began to equate answers with IQ. Overtime, IQ got replaced by a hunger for informa-tion which could wield great power aka Julian Assange.

In this glorious tech age, our pathologicalneed for answers is confused with our love forGoogle. We all love Google because we wouldcertainly die without having the option ofrandomly typing words into the search box tofind out about stuff. Mostly, the stuff is juststuff, and of no further value than the randomreference material of college days. But now,we can’t even accept our normal humanthoughts, emotions, reactions, actions andstimuli without analysing them to death with

our buddy, Google. Everything we do —believing, thinking, cheating, working, feel-ing, eating, loving, avoiding, building, hyper-ventilating, or even writing — seems to besubject to what Google’s content managershave to create about our unique lives’ uniqueexperiences.

By now, the myriad follies of ouryesteryear should have already taught us thatuncertainty is the only certainty and, answersaren’t ‘people’. It is okay to accept, that weDON’T know. We can all take a deep breath,and shift the focus from our current nationaltragedy, starring Salman Rushdie and the-

book-that-shall-not-be-named, to our innerselves. We can even group-hug for uncon-sciously embracing uncertainty every morn-ing when we step out of our homes in a bliss-ful state of mind. Then, we can blow a kiss toour illogically ‘certain’ instinct, which keepsus alive through the day, so that we can watchour favourite TV show.

And when it boils down to the status ofour current love affair, giving rise to the ques-tion, “To be, or not to be,” I would say, just letit be.

(The writer is a CommunicationSpecialist)

QUIRKY SIDE UPArpita Bhawal

Editorials To be or not to be...that is the question?

Readers’ viewsWe invite you to write to us

comments, suggestions, view-point or just about anything to

[email protected] or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa,

Road No 62, Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad – 500 033

or even by way ofa call on 4067 2222

GOOGLE CENSORSHIPto draw a blank

After Twitter, online searchengine behemoth

Google has decided tokowtow to demands of censor-

ship from governments. Themove would deny netizens allinformation and platforms to

express their views, especiallydissent. More than respect forlocal laws, the Internet giant’s

move is to ensure that it retainsthe lucrative online advertise-

ment market in those countries.A brief flashback will bring back

the screaming headlines aboutGoogle’s gung ho against

Chinese censorship. The compa-ny backtracked sheepishly whenthe regime threatened to ban it

and replace it with localreverse-engineered sister prod-

ucts. If civil society or humanrights activists have any illu-

sions about the corporatesbeing standard-bearers for theircause, they will soon be proved

wrong and the compromisedinformation may do irreparable

damage to their movements.Google is no exception to thisrule. Corporates are set up tomake money and not to serve

the cause of humanity. After all,it’s money honey.

WHY WE LOVEThe English FA

The English FA’s decision tostrip John Terry of the

captaincy of the nationalteam is commendable indeed. A

far cry from the myopic anddownright farcical Fifa, the FA hasshown the way when it comes todealing with racism (even when,

as it is in Terry’s case, alleged).Whether Terry decides to sulk and

quit international football isanother matter, but at least foot-

ball is better for this.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 9Fair, free and forthrightComment

Have you ever wondered how it is that thehuman brain is wired? We know for an absolutecertainty, what is right and wrong, the accept-

able from the unacceptable by the age of twelve. Thatis when they say our brains are completely grown. Tocross over to the dark side is so alluring though. It maynot be the easier path, it requires more effort andthere is usually more at stake. But the intriguing of itall is so compelling to resist.

I am not talking of the absolute baddies thethieves and the murderers. The fear of punishmentkeeps us well away from such outright criminalactivities. I am talking about the things we all findthrilling that involves toeing a little to the other side.They may be things as simple as jumping a signalbecause no one is looking, lying for no apparent rea-son, saying something brash or nasty to someonealready in a spot, or... help me out here, will you? Younow know what I am trying to say.

Come to think of it, they are downright silly, notabsolutely necessary and usually a little risky. Butyes, it is so very glamorous. The braver of us or thedumber, whichever way you prefer to see it, do notgo all the way as they wear their little experimentswith life for all to see. The foxy ones are a littlesmarter, for they go the whole hog but don’t adver-tise themselves and cover their tracks well. Andthere are the rest of us who cannot help ourselvesadmire the first kind and yes we are a frustratedgrumbling hypocritical majority.

Studies of lower animals have proved that theydo not have the sense of discriminating the rightfrom the wrong and the fear of punishment alonecan be used to teach them so. Homo sapiens maynot have evolved as much as we would have likethem to.

Shah Rukh Khan has a theory, “Buraiyi achhinahi hoti... Buraaiyi sang jo mel rachaya, phir kabhina chhuute uska saaya...” A good lesson learnt fromRa.One after the lesson in commerce, that of hardselling nothing!

So as the majority and the driving force fuellingsuch activity, it is upon us to restore balance. Maybenot completely evolved, but still creatures with highintelligence, we can always take steps towards dam-age control.l First of all we can all consciously stop dwelling

admiringly on such incidents and the peopleinvolved.

l And if entrusted with minding children, acceptreasons like, ‘I overslept and hence didn’t come toschool,’ rather than force them into lying with, ‘Iwas sick.’

l And if reward is the only thing our brain under-stands, reward and glorify a good deed highly.

l And yes contain your urges to click the like buttona thousand times over for stupid statuses onsocial networking sites.

When IAS officers expound-ed their woes to ChiefMinister N Kiran KumarReddy, the tone was

almost stoking rebellion.Understandably, their grievance is thatwhy is the thinktank of administration— the bureaucrats of IndianAdministrative Service — is being sin-gled out.

It wasn’t unexpected at all whenthe civil servants sought an audiencewith the chief minister to vent their ireover the ‘attempt’ of the CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI) to paintthem dark in a slew of cases that cameup for investigation in the State now.

When the perimeter of the probe isencompassing the decisions of theState, naturally IAS officers do formpart of the process. They are the mostprivileged section of Indian society,whether one accepts it or not. Thoseenjoying the confidence of the powers-that-be also enjoy clout in everythingthat has something to do with the gov-ernance. It’s just a fringe benefit, sansany tax.

Even the three service chiefs — the

most decorated of all in the country —too report to Defence Secretary, who isan IAS officer. The cabinet secretaryaccesses the un-vetted reports ofIntelligence Bureau. They aid, adviseand administer the policies at all levelsin the country.

We dedicated such a system to our-selves. Before the fruits of economicliberalisation sequined the lifestyles ofyoung professional with fat pay-checks, IAS has always been the goalfor aspiring careerists in the country.That is how those came out in flyingcolours from premier educationalinstitutions like IIMs or IITs too landedthe most ‘powerful’ jobs in the country.

After all, it is a preference of powerto pelf that lured them into theseassignments, lest most of them shouldhave been in the top-echelons ofmulti-national giants.

Rules are there for bending. Theofficials, who generate the ideas ortranslate the thoughts of their politicalbosses into deeds, usually offertongue-in-cheek advises. In the publicadministration books, it is writtenclearly that a bureaucrat is faceless.But surely, they know that they cannotbe baseless in their actions.

If they claim that they just imple-ment what’s conceived as a policy bytheir political bosses, then they arewashing their hands off their primarycall of duty. They guide the govern-ments. They sit by the side of treasury

benches to help the chief minister andministers to respond to any situationin the Assembly. The politicos look tothem for any help.

There is no doubt that the CBI isgoing overboard and riding aroughshod on the IAS officers, whilesoft-pedalling with politicians andofficials in the lower rung in the cases.

The CBI is facing a charge that it ispursuing a political agenda, more thanexecuting a task that it was entrustedwith.

But when a battery of men in theirthree-piece suits and women in theirsartorial best trooped into the campoffice of the chief minister on Fridayevening, even the jet-black tyres oftheir swanky cars fitted with red lightsatop them, aired their vice-regal ego-tism, leaving the Congress top brasshigh and dry.

They are bosses, not (civil) servants

Urban sketchesViswaprasad Raju Coffee & Cocktails

n ‘You may not like me, but hatingme won’t make you prettier...’

n ‘Yana Gupta photographed with-out her panties!’

n ‘Chris Brown beats up girlfriendRihanna.’

n ‘Salman Khan hunts black buck.’

Poly TricksA Saye Sekhar

Bureaucrats in AndhraPradesh are angered bythe way they are beingtargeted by CBI in thecases under probe cur-rently. They want totake up the ‘humilia-tion’ being meted out tothem with the PrimeMinister.

From the HipSyed Shoaib

Wired into our dark half

WASHINGTON: US economicrecovery was speeding up with thelabor market improving, but thenation needed to take more stepsto bolster the faltering recovery,President Barack Obama saidFriday.

Obama welcomed the latestjob market report as good newsabout the economy, but he cau-tioned that there were still toomany unemployed Americans,Xinhua reported.

He urged the Congress tomake joint efforts to sustain themomentum of the economicrecovery, including passing theextension of payroll tax cuts for thefull year.

The US unemployment rateedged down to 8.3 per cent lastmonth from 8.5 per cent inDecember 2011, evidence of animproving job market, the USLabor Department said.

“In January, American busi-nesses added another 257,000jobs. The unemployment ratecame down because more peoplefound work. And altogether, we’veadded 3.7 million new jobs overthe last 23 months,” he said.

Speaking at a fire station inArlington, Virginia, Obamawarned the Congress not to “muckup” the economic recovery.

“The recovery is speeding up.And we’ve got to do everything in

our power to keep it going,”Obama stressed. “Now is not thetime for self-inflicted wounds toour economy. Now is the time foraction,” he added.

Total US nonfarm payrollemployment rose by 243,000 inJanuary, beating economists'expectations of about 150,000,Xinhua reported.

The total number of unem-ployed people in the nationdropped to 12.8 million in January,said the department.

The unemployment ratedeclined to a near three-year lowsince February 2009, an indicationthat the US economy was on astronger footing.

The professional and businesssector, including accounting andconsulting services, added 70,000jobs in January, while employmentin leisure and hospitality sectorrose by 44,000. IANS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201210Matters of saving and spendingBusiness

Postnoon News

The top brass of KalyanJewellers will henceforthbe air-borne to drive theexpansion of the jewellery

retail chain.The company has purchased a

Phenom 100 aircraft for growingtravelling needs of top-level man-agement and directors. The air-craft is the 61st privately-owned jetin India and is the first jet ownedby a jewellery retail company.

“The purchase of an aircraft forthe company is an innovation.There are no direct flights to mostof the towns where we have show-rooms and where we are about toopen stores. A lot of our time iswasted on transit.

“Even if there are flights, thetimings are sometimes unsuitableto match appointments. We feelthat our top level managementand directors travel reach isexpanded and this will help usachieve our growth plans andensure effective monitoring ofshowrooms. The aircraft is not aluxury and it is a necessity since it

helps us to save valuable timewhich in fact is money,” said T.S.Kalyanaraman, CMD, KalyanJewellers.

The Phenom aircraft is manu-factured by Emberar company inBrazil. It is a seven seater Jet,(including 2 pilots) which can fly3.50 hours continuously withoutrefueling. The cost of the aircraft isaround `30 Crore and the approxi-mate fixed yearly cost would bearound `2.5 Crores annually. Theaircraft can go up to the height of41 thousand feet in 25 minutesand needs only 4000 feet runwayfor takeoff and landing. There aremore than 250 airports in India insuch measurement. The interiorsof the aircraft is manufactured byBMW.

To become singlelargest jewellery groupKalyan Jewellers is all set to crossthe milestone turnover of Rs8,500crore this financial year to emergeas the single largest jewellerygroup in the country in terms ofthe retail turnover, surpassingTanishq and Gitanjali.

The group has 30 retail storeswith the maximum number ofdirectly owned retail outlets in thisformat in the country.

The group is also adding valueto the industry by its marketingcampaigns. It had spent a year toeducate the common peopleabout the importance of buyingBIS gold and about to launch newcampaign against the mal prac-tices in pricing.

NEW DELHI: Insurance reg-ulator IRDA proposes to makeit mandatory for insurers toprovide cover to people suffer-ing from HIV or are exposed tothe threat.

According to the expo-sure draft released by IRDAtoday, all life and non-lifeinsurers will “have to put in placean underwriting policy on healthinsurance coverage for personssuffering from HIV”.

“The Authority proposesimplementation of these ordersto be effective from October 1,2012,” IRDA said, while inviting

comments from stakeholderswithin 30 days.

IRDA in the exposuredraft said that insurers wouldnot be allowed to reject

claims to person who was HIVnegative before the policy, butsubsequently gets infected by theailment.

It said that while giving cover,the insurance companies can termHIV/AIDS as a critical illness andalso provide the cover under groupinsurance schemes.

IRDA said the draft is inresponse to representations frompublic bodies and the governmentto provide insurance cover to peo-ple living with HIV and to peoplein general, like doctors and nurses,who are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS,in health insurance policies. PTI

US economic recovery speeds up: Obama

HIV patients may get health cover

Kalyan Jewellers’bosses to fly high

Postnoon News

HYDERABAD: India’s credibil-ity indeed took a drubbing withthe 2G scam. This was palpableat the recently-concluded WorldEconomic Forum at Davos.

Responding to a query at apress conference of the thirdquarter results of Dr. Reddy’sLaboratories here on Friday,Managing Director of the com-pany K Satish Reddy said thatthis feeling was there in the air atthe convention.

The company earmarked $100 million for the capital expen-diture (expansion) and was wellon track. Satish Reddy wasbullish on the US markets as thecompany was expecting a steepgrowth in its revenues from theUS markets.The company post-ed an 88 per cent growth in itsconsolidated net profit at `522crore in the third quarter of thecurrent fiscal, the best ever quar-terly results it had announced sofar.

Responding to a question onwhy there was a drop in the netprofit by 59 per cent (`150 crore)on a standalone basis, ChiefFinancial Officer of the companyUmang Vohra said that

Olanzapine launch and its initialissues were taken into consider-ation in the third quarter. But itshould be viewed in totality andthis product would boost thesales of the company in the nextsix months.

The company declined togive any guidance on the busi-ness outlook, when asked if itwould be a $ 2-billion companyby the end of the current fiscal.When insisted that the existingnumbers indicated that thecompany was moving that direc-tion, Satish Reddy said: “You canextrapolate.”

The company was expectingupsides only in the month ofJanuary from Russian marketowing to seasonal prescriptions,but in general the performancein the Russian market disap-pointed the company. SatishReddy said that the Indian mar-ket was well on track for thecompany. The company wouldlaunch six new drugs, includingthe four in the pipeline, in thenext few months and that wouldadd to the top line as well thebottom line, he disclosed.

The growth in numbers wasnot a windfall, but it wasplanned that way, said Vohra.

Dr Reddy’s postsbest-ever results

CORRECTIONSCLARIFICATIONS&n It was mentioned that M

Bhagavantha Rao was the GM ofState Bank of Hyderabad (SBH)on Page 11 on February 3, 2012.He is the Managing Director ofSBH. The error is regretted.

It is Postnoon’s policy to correcterrors swiftly and fairly

PIC: N SHIVA KUMAR


Colonel Archibald GracieIV, an American writer,had once famouslysaid, ‘Women and

machinery don’t mix’. Or doesit? While women may not par-ticularly seek the adrenalin rushlike their male counterparts,they do have a solid list of must-haves when zeroing down on acar they want to buy. Andbelieve it or not, it is anythingbut a built-in make-up kit onthe dashboard!

Easy manoeuvrability intraffic tops the list for women.“Traffic is terrible in the city. Insuch a scenario, I will look for ahatchback that is ideal to drivein traffic as well as easy topark. Everything else issecondary,” saysMahnoorSahrash, alecturer ina college.“It is

alsoimportant for me to

have power-steering and parkassist. It’s a known fact thatwomen aren’t the best at park-ing and these two help a lot,”she quips.

“Smaller cars are easier tohandle. They have manoeuvra-bility that sedans or SUVs don’t

as they slide through traffic.Most women drive hatchbacksor similar cars,” says AhmareenHussain, an employee of aninternational bank. “But Iwouldn’t mind an SUV becausespace is essential. I can store a

lot of things in an SUV.”Ahmareen plans to

buy an SUV soonbut is currently

driving aMaruti

Alto.On the other hand,

Usha Vedantam, a programmeanalyst, says safety comes first.“While this may go for a toss formen, women are saner. Safety isof the utmost importance. Butcomfort is essential too. Theseare the things I gave priority towhen I bought my car,” shesays. Aishwarya Subramanian,an associate analyst at a multi-national company agrees withUsha as she says, “If you aren’tcomfortable in a car, then thereis no point buying one.Hatchbacks are better forwomen as they are easy to han-dle too,” she opines. True that,

we say!Usha says that although

women don’t generallylook into the specifics of

the engine, power oracceleration, there arenumerous womenwho actually do. “Ilook for power in a

car. Besides, it’s alwaysnice to brag that you

pushed your ride up to150kmph,” she jokes.

Pretty in pink is cliché, saysAishwarya. “Pink colour exteri-ors look ugly on a car. Womenthese days want strongercolours. Royal black and metal-lic colours look really classy. I’dchoose a black-coloured sedanover a pink-coloured one anyday,” she says.

Then comes, a great musicsystem. “It is absolutely essen-

tial to have a good music sys-tem. I don’t drive cars in which Ican’t pump up the volume.Good music is bliss,” opinesAhmareen.

Hope husbands, boyfriends,fathers or brothers are listening.

It is a million-dollar question: Whatdo women want? While we may

not be able to answer thisone, we can, however, tellyou that when it comes to

cars, a woman doesknow what she is

looking for

What women want in

a car?

Cars women drive(or would love to)

Volkswagen Beetle/ PoloMaruti Alto/ Zen

Hyundai i10 and i20Fiat 500

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 11Where the carʼs the starAuto Show

Mahnoor Sahrash

Ahmareen Hussain

Usha Vedantam

Aishwarya Subramanian

12Technology SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012

Website of the weekVideogame reviewThe Goodn Interesting blend of real-time strate-

gy and tower defence n Art design creates an engrossing

setting n Plenty of variety in multi-player maps n Entertaining story

The Badn Uneven strategic game play n Some boring missions n One dreadful escort scenario

www.notothehighstreet.comThis site stocks everything from food to wed-ding jewellery, by 900 small companieswhose products you won't find in the usualchains. This is for anyone who wants to bagan unusual gift without having to scour theshops for hours.

Band of the DayThis is for the iPad. Bandof the Day (BoD) is theworld’s first daily musicmagazine built solely formobile devices. BoD

delivers a new artist or band every singleday through expert curating and engagingreviews, as well as full streams of theartist’s top songs, videos, photographsand more. A new band in your pocket,every day. Listen, Discover, Share.

App of the week

Oil Rush

Nikon Coolpix L810Nikon is back with yet another digital

camera for the mass market, pushingout its Coolpix L810 shooter this timearound. Just what does the L810 have interms of improved performance over itspredecessors? For starters, it will come witha CCD image sensor that has an effectivepixel count of 16.1 million pixels, in addi-tion to a 26x optical zoom NIKKOR lens,which is capable of covering angles fromthe wide-angle 22.5 to super telephoto585mm (equivalent in 35mm format), and a new lens-shift vibration reduction (VR) function.

Sony DSC-TX200VThe Japanese consumer electronics man-

ufacturer, Sony, has just added yetanother model to the ultra-thin Cyber-shotT series — with the model number DSC-TX200V. You might want to look intoexpanding that external storage space col-lection of yours if you happen to pick upthe new TX200V camera though, consider-ing it is capable of shooting 18.2megapixel images thanks to its ‘Exmor R’CMOS sensor. This would clearly place theSony DSC-TX200V as the highest-resolu-tion digital camera that is currently onoffer in the ‘point and shoot’ market seg-ment.


Zareena Khan loves playing gameson her Play Station 3 Move withher sister, Zoya. “Whenever we

turn the PS3 on, we end up having fun.We pull each other’s legs, which ulti-mately helps us bond and understandeach other better. I also get to knowwhat games we like, plus what gamesirritate her; this is the part I enjoy themost,” she says.

“I remember this one time whenboth of us were playing tennis on theconsole. We ended up hitting eachother several times. After the game, welaughed so much that mum came intothe room to check on us and she endedup playing a game with us,” recallsZareena.

For Ershan Lakhani, playing DanceCentral or Just Dance on the X-boxKinect with his family is “the best thingever". "My family loves to play on theKinect. It’s always interesting to watchyour family dance like that,” he quips.

“Dance Central has an option tolearn dance and then perform it. It alsohas a fitness model, which we rarely

use. But the game lets the four of usdance together. We take time out fromour busy schedules to catch up everyweekend to play on the Kinect. We bondover the games and share things,” addsErshan.

No friends, no acquaintances whenthe Nintendo Wii takes centre stage,says Mohammed Osman. “My brotherand I love playing Wii sports together.We have serious competitions together,especially in tennis and boxing.Besides, when you can’t punch your

brother in real life, why not use the con-sole! This is the only time that we get tobond,” he says with a smile.

Osman says that it started out withplaying first-person-shooter games onthe console individually. “My brotherjoined me a couple of days later. We hada blast. That’s when we decided that weshould do this more often. As and whenwe get an opportunity to play, we get onto it,” adds Osman.

It isn’t just about bonding withimmediate family. Console games helpyou spend some quality time with theextended family as well, says AaronSangma. “My cousin and I hardly seeeach other as we are busy with ourclasses. But in the evening, we put onthe Play Station and play ModernWarfare3 in split screen mode. That’sthe only time we are able to spendtogether and at the same time relax byshooting at some freaking terrorists!”exclaims Aaron.

“We work as a team in the game. Weplan our strategies in the game. Weshout and we abuse. It’s too much fun. Ithink more families should do this. It’s agreat way to bond, spend time, or justenjoy,” he opines.

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR

They shout, they play, and they end up spending hours together. Consolegames are the binding thread that keeps the family as one and this is howmodern-day-gadget-friendly families are spending that much-needed time

together. Of course, laughter and fun come as default

Indira [email protected]

Muffin, the bright-eyed, brown-colou -red dog is intimidat-ed by the presence of

Rambo, a bigger dog. Meitim Connolly, a counsel-

lor at Blue Cross realises that theonly way to calm him down is tolock the door to the room wherewe were scheduled to have theinterview. Pacifying Muffinseemed to be the easiest job forMeitim who has been an activemember with the Blue Cross for

20 years now. We caught up withher, to understand her stance onanimal issues, and what makesher passion for the Blue Cross getbetter with each passing year.

On Blue Cross

There is an unmistakable glint inher eyes as Meitim tells us, “Blue

Cross completed 20 years on the 23rdof January. On paper, the numbers arebig, but it’s just a drop in the ocean— there is so much more to do.” Onhow Blue Cross plans to incorporatenew set of programmes this year,Meitim tells us,“ This year, we plan togive more time and attention to our

disabled dogs. They are fit to takeshort walks, and we have volunteerswho take care of them. And we havenamed all of them and are also givingthem an extra dose of multivitaminsand beautiful collars.”

How can society help?

Meitim believes that there is a lotsociety can do to help the dogs.

“We want people to sponsor a dog.With just `800 a month, a disabledfriend could not only get better inhealth, but also enjoy the company ofa new friend.” She adds, “It is notabout the money really — those whowish, can give lesser than `800 or

more, but what is gratifying to see isthat the dogs are getting weekendfriends to spend time with — wewant to see that consistent happinessin our dogs.”

Neutering? By allmeans!

“It’s absolutely necessary. Youavoid many a problem when-

when you neuter dogs — pets orstrays. Their temperaments are posi-tively different when they areneutered as they do not get excitedtoo easily.” On how people can dotheir bit, Meitim says, “When peo-ple see strays, instead of just sym-pathising with the animals andmoving on, they could instead bringthe pups along with the mother tous. We would neuter the mother andthat would avoid further unneces-sary breeding.”

Exotic pets —a pitiful sight

Meitim takes a strong stanceagainst the sale of exotic pets.

Her conviction against the trade isclear when she tells us, “It may notbe a crime in certain countries, butIndian wildlife is not for sale. Thesepoor creatures are illegally importedfrom Thailand, Cambodia and othersmall Asian countries. But do the sell-ers know what their nutritionalrequirements are? No. Extinction isbound to happen if this continues.They are best left to their environ-ment — doctored habitats are farfrom ideal. This cruelty can bestopped only when people stop buy-ing them — it’s as simple as that.”

IDEAS, INITIATIVES ANDIMPLEMENTATIONS

New animal birthcontrol shelter

Anew shed for performing moresurgeries is underway at the

Blue Cross; the result of which ismore than obvious – more neuter-ing surgeries would mean lesserpossibility of stray litters. This is justone of the steps Blue Cross hastaken to propel its service to theanimal kingdom to the next level.With understanding, support andadoption by people of the city, straydogs will be a sight of the past. AndYou and I could enable and ensurethat this is realised.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201213Animal Kingdom

Paws for thoughtThink of animal welfare in the city and one name comes to mind —Blue Cross. It has been 20 years and they are still going strong, fight-ing for those who have no voice

When it comes to emotionalsupport, nothing compares

to the support you get from a pet.Adopt a pet and give it as muchlove and care as you can.Adoption is the loving option. Soconsider adopting from the BlueCross before buying an animalfrom the pet store.Contact: 32989858, 23544355Website: www.bluecrosshyd.inEmail: [email protected]: 403/9, Road No 35,

Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad 500033

Ramu, the mascot of Blue Cross

Volunteersfrom Indonesiaand HongKong at theBlue Cross

PICS: INDIRA ATLURI

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201214

Title: Glitterring DecadesAuthor: By Nayantara PothenISBN: 9780670086009Publisher: Penguin BooksIndia

New Delhi was purpose-built totrumpet the supremacy of the

British Raj and inaugurated in1931. Instead it came to representa fading imperial dream in the twodecades that followed. Closelyexamining the role of social ritual,interaction and behaviour in theshaping of the city and its elitegroups, Glittering Decades tells thestory of New Delhi and its privi-leged inhabitants between 1931and 1952.

Title: Grandeur of the LionAuthor: Carl MuellerISBN:9780143414469Publisher: Penguin Books India

Vividly told, full of rich mythology,Grandeur of the Lion is an

extraordinary book about one of themost astounding periods of SriLankan history. For many centuries,Lanka was referred to as Sihaladipa— the island of the Sihala, whowere the people of the lion. CarlMuller recounts the glorious days ofDuttha Gamini’s reign. With blazingenergy the king transformedAnuradhapura into the greatestBuddhist city of ancient times.

Title: The Orphan Master’s Son:A novelAuthor: Adam JohnsonISBN:978-0812992793Publisher: Random House

The Orphan Master’s Son by AdamJohnson is set in modern day North

Korea. North Korea epitomisesOrwellian horror. This is a countrywhere you can be condemned for nomore reason than that the poster ofKim Jong Il on your wall has a torncorner, where children spy on theirparents and starvation is a way of life.An orphan’s lot in North Korea is grimbeyond Dickins’ tales of early industri-al England. Their lives are brutal, shortand exploited.

Title: Defending JacobAuthor: William LandayISBN: 978-0385344227Publisher: Delacorte Press

Andy Barber has been a respectedassistant district attorney in his

suburban Massachusetts county formore than 20 years. But when ashocking crime shatters their NewEngland town, Andy is blindsided bywhat happens next: His 14-year-oldson, Jacob, is charged with the mur-der of a fellow student. The noveltells of an embattled family in crisis— a suspenseful, character-drivenmystery that is also a spellbindingtale of guilt and betrayal.

Title: Home FrontAuthor: Kristin HannahISBN: 978-0312577209Publisher: St Martin’s Press

Home Front is a story of love,loss, heroism, honour, and ulti-

mately, hope. Like many couples,Michael and Jolene Zarkades haveto face the pressures of everydaylife, even as their 12-year marriageis falling apart. Then an unexpect-ed deployment sends Jolene deepinto harm’s way and leavesdefence attorney Michael athome,with to their two girls. Whentragedy strikes, Michael must facehis darkest fear and fight a battleof his own.

Literati Explore a world without borders

At your nearest bookstore...

Rajesh [email protected]

Reading Umberto Eco’s ThePrague Cem et eryis like a cli mbing

a hill and then taking inthe view from the top;one may find it a bithard starting the book;an equivocal beginningtaking the reader intothe room of the protag-onist and describing itand its contents in somuch detail leavinghim a bit exhausted yetmystified. But as thereader advances, every-thing becomes clear,his perceptions andbeliefs about history take a turn.

Eco’s book claims to be aninspired twisting of fiction and his-tory. The author vows that every-

one that he has mentioned in thestory apart from the lead man is areal character. The Prague

Cemetery is Captain Simo -nini’s account of how thenineteenth century unrav-elled and the role he playedin changing its course byforgeries, espionage, cou -nter-espionage and propa-ganda under the instruc-tions of those with vestedinterests.

Simonini’s abject lack ofconscience and his profound

hatred for Jews are highlyrepulsive. He’s a bit of a quirkwho prefers good food to sex.Simonini, who grew up onanti-Semitism, decides hispurpose in life is to author a

secret document that would impli-cate Jews for all the bad things thathappen everywhere. The documentpurports that Jews have infiltrated

everywhere and have started to callthe shots and plan world domina-tion in a hundred years’ time. It alsodescribes their st r ategy to meettheir ends. Sim onini struggles to sellthis ‘valuable information’ at first,but as the whole of Europe beginsto dread the chosen race and pinthem for the existing economic andsocial iniquities, Si m onini becomesthe darling of the secret servicewing of many governments inEurope; for them anti-Semitism isthe best way to keep their citizensbusy and distract their attentionfrom the real issues.

The Prague Cemetery, Eco’ssixth novel, boasts writing that islucid and erudite. It proves thathistory if seasoned with a bit ofspice can be made interesting.This book is dynamite… with along, long fuse.

Available at all Walden bookstores

HISTORY AND FICTION,A BOND THAT BINDS

Star-crossed love

Padmini [email protected]

There is nothing quite likethe experience of a bookthat seduces you into

reading just one more page,even after you have a hundredmore than you had planned. Tofind yourself clutching it in themiddle of the night and weepingat the injustice of it all. JohnGreen’s latest book The Fault inOur Stars is that book. Wry,funny, heart-breaking and at thesame heartwarming,it’s enough proof thatfiction for young-adultsneed not be fantasy.That it can as well beprose that’s intelligent,insightful and poig -nant.

Hazel Grace is 16years old. She is cranky,she is funny, she isangsty, she is bright,much like any teenag-er. Except, Hazel isafflicted with late-stage thyroid cancerthat has spread to herlungs. And is now liv-ing on borrowed timethanks to an experimental drug,and has to be constantly hookedup to an oxygen tank to preventher lungs from filling with fluid.Enter handsome, cancer-sur-vivor Augustus Waters at a sup-

port group, a 17-year-olddreamboat. Both of thempromptly fall in love. But howlong do they have and what canthey do before their time is outmakes for the crux.

Other than being a suc-cessful writer, Green is also ademigod on YouTube. That isperhaps why this book hadmassive pre-release ordersand went straight to the NewYork Times Best Seller List onrelease and has stayed putever since.

But The Fault inOur Stars proves thatthe hype surroundingGreen is well deserved.

His novel is ele-gantly plotted andsome phrases are soeloquent that you willpause to simply toenjoy it. He makesadolescent-crush jit-ters and musingsabout the afterlife

seem beautiful.As Hazel says to

Augustus, “Some infini-ties are bigger than otherinfinities... There aredays, many of them,

when I resent the size of myunbound set. But Gus, my love, Icannot tell you how thankful Iam for our little infinity.”

We are thankful to Green forletting us be a part of his.

How can a book about teenagers succumbing to cancer be funny and joyousand full of life? Read John Green’s TheFault in Our Stars to find out

The Fault in OurStars

John Green336pp

Dutton Juvenile

The PragueCemetery

Umberto Eco464pp

Random House

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201215Literati Explore a world without borders

Madhusree Chatterjee

The Taj Mahal, actressAishwarya Rai andAlexander the Great bind

famous Italian archaeologist-his-torian, television presenter andnovelist Valerio MassimoManfredi to India — a countrywhose heritage he finds iconic.

Manfredi is the author of TheLast Legion, a 2007 Hollywoodproduction starring Colin Firth,Aishwarya and Ben Kingsley.

“My character of the leadinglady (played by Aishwarya) wastotally different. She was from avillage but Aishwarya was totally different. She was the loverof the protagonist but she actedas if the film was for kids,”Manfredi said.

The film tells the story ofemperor Romulus Augustus’ jour-ney to Britain in search of loyallegionaries to take on the “bar-barian” invaders. The writerended up befriending Firth, couldnot get around to meeting BenKingsley and was struck byAishwarya’s eyes.

“She has such strong expres-sive and beautiful eyes. Some lit-tle expression of love would havemade the film more different. Theediting was so much like a videogame, so many passages weremissing...I am not criticising,”Manfredi said.

Memories of The Last Legionmake Manfredi introspective.

“I have noticed that everybodywho has not read the book likedthe film and those who read thebook did not like the movie. Thisis very unusual because they aretwo different kinds of expression.While the book uses words, cine-ma uses images,” Manfredi said.

“When a novel of almost 500pages has to be squeezed into a90-page screenplay and thenreduced to 50 on the computerscreen, it becomes 1/10th of theoriginal work,” Manfredi explains.

The writer was in India tolaunch the Indian editions ofhis Alexander trilogy, a seriesfor which he is known the worldover. The books, Child of aDream, The Sands of Ammonand The Ends of the Earth(Pan Macmillan) are historicalinterpretations of the conquer-ers’ life painted on a canvas offacts and fiction. The trilogyhas been translated in 34 lan-

guages in 55 countries.

Manfredi was also deeplymoved by the Taj.

“I was here three years ago toshoot my programme for Italiantelevision. It was a cultural pro-gramme about the Mughalempire. I loved the Taj Mahal. Itwas a masterpiece — very classicand very beautiful. The green gar-dens and the mausoleum are soimposing. It reminds me of theRenaissance...,” Manfredi said.

“It is an image that is almostan icon of India,” he said.

He is the author of nearly 20historical novels, several essayson history and archaeology and

two screenplays, The Inquiry” andThe Memoirs of the Hadrian.Another of his novels, Tower ofthe First Born, has also beenmade into a movie.

“You must be prepared for alot of cuts. Some are painful cutsbut in the end it is a fantasticexperience. In my imagination, Ihad cast the characters in a dif-ferent way...when you meet thepeople you realise they have theirown flesh, expression and theirbody,” Manfredi said.

But it is Alexander that lightsup Manfredi’s face. “He was thegreatest because he was thinkinggreat. Alexander went over thelogic of the conqueror and the

vanquished,” Manfredi said.

Manfredi relies on his Ame -rican wife to translate his books.

“I am in the seventh chapterof by new book. It is an epic set inthe 1900s,” the writer said.Manfredi is also working on a bigproject about India which “he willannounce in a few months”.

Manfredi is famous for his“route to the Trophy of the10,000”, a historical site associat-ed with the march of an ancientGreek army of mercenaries nearthe Black Sea off Turkish coast.Manfredi had retraced the jour-ney with a British archaeologist.

MANFREDI’S INDIA CONNECT‘The Aishwarya connection’, is how author Valerio Massimo Manfredi is of latebeing described. Well, Manfredi is known for a lot more than just that. Author ofThe Last Legion, Manfredi talks about his connect with India

Open relationshipsaren’t for everyone.

Most people activelydesire a stability intheir lives and notinfidelity. But do all

think alike? Let’s find out

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 18Exploring complexitiesYou n I

Loud & ProudShwetha Pai

I am all earsAGONISING AUNT

Queer pridemarch

Last year after coming out of the clos-et, I finally realised my dream ofwalking in the pride parade. I mar -ched proudly, held hoardings, shout-

ed slogans and danced to the beat of localdrums. The queer pride was a way for meto show that I was proud of my identity.

As a husband, wife, sister, father ormother, the society celebrates and vali-dates the roles of all individuals as long asthey are straight. The pride parade is ourway of showing the world that we existand make our voices heard.

This year over 2,000 people participat-ed in the Queer Azadi March organised inMumbai, on January 28, and unlike previ-ous years, most people did not shy awayfrom cameras or the public. The change inthe attitude of the public was evident too.There were many celebrities that marchedwith the pride and showed their supportand even attended some of the prideevents. This is a far cry from the prideparade held in Kolkata in 1999, whenbarely 50 people bravely walked the firstpride and created history. A decade or sointo the millennium, we are slowly break-ing shackles and bonds of oppression.Pride parades are now held every year andas years go by, people no longer want tohide behind face masks. They now walkwith their head held high and are ready tochallenge the existing societal stereotypesand prejudices.

n My best friend is a boy and he is30-years-old, a month ago he wasdumped by his snobbish girlfriendand is now devastated by herabsence. Since then he has beenon quite a few dates but he seemsto get sadder day by day and isalso avoiding me. How do I cheerup my best friend?

Nitisha Bannerjee, Kukatpally

Dear worried kid,

Let him be for a while. He needs agirlfriend in his life and not you.

He's just got whacked in the face by agirl and another one is trying to ruin itby trying to set him up again. Let theguy enjoy his new-found single statusand I am sure a couple of days downthe line the thoughts of another girl inhis life will be history. And since youso desperately want to cheer him upshow him the positive side — Tell himhe is one of the privileged few for hav-ing being dumped. He has got freelicense to hit at other chicks now. Hejust became lucky that the girl lefthim. And don't forget to tell him thatthere are many who are dying to be inhis place. So to make use of the oppor-tunity instead of wallowing in grief. Ithink that should do it.

ADULTSCONSENTING

Isha [email protected]

Talk about love and onecan see zillions ofvarieties in relation-ship statuses nowa-

days. From being committedto complicated, live in,engaged, married and themuch-loved open relation-ship. Earlier, things were lesscomplicated; you had threescenarios mainly — single,married or divorced. But nowwith the choices getting widerthere have been several ‘com-fortable’ expansions like openrelationships and live in, suit-ed to one’s lifestyle.

An open relationship islike the functioning of a gov-ernment department in a way,as it can be tweaked andtwisted to the convenience.While it gives enough andmore space to the couple andis tempting enough for them,it might backfire many atimes.

One of the reasons whypeople like to choose this isthat one doesn’t need to hideanything from the partner.But isn’t it the same thing atthe end of the day, hiding ornot, one is breaking the bondof love that they share withtheir partner?

Actor Rakhshandha Khanfeels, open relationships are away of endorsing infidelity.“For me, the definition of a

relationship is honesty but ifone is into a relationship andthen he/she is also involvedwith other people then why bein a relationship with one per-son at all. It is like endorsinginfidelity. You might as wellnot be in a relationship. It isbreaking the very reason ofbeing in a relationship; beinghonest to one,” she shares.

However, love is whateveryone looks for but as theysay excess of everything isbad. This might apply forsome in this relationship, for;many feel it is just a conve-nient way to stray out of arelationship. VJ GauravKapoor feels it is just anexcuse to get into other rela-tionships while you are inone. “I feel people have justfound ways to add excuses tonot question their morality

when in a relationship.Personally I am an old-schoolromantic and I feel if you arein an open relationship, it isbetter not to have onebecause it does not makesense. It just kills the wholemeaning of being in a rela-tionship. It’s just disrespect-ful,” he shares.

Actress Mona Wasu feelsthat while she is not personal-ly fine being in an open rela-

tionship, if people are finebeing in one it is their under-standing. “I personally feel itdoes not make sense. If youare in a relationship and youwant to be physically involvedwith many and still be emo-tionally with just one, it is aserious psychological prob-lem. It is asking for infidelityand I feel it’s a total paradoxto the whole meaning of arelationship,” she sharesadding, “Having said that, Ihave known a few people whohave been in long-distancerelationships and they havebeen open to each otherabout being with someoneelse physically but the emo-tional bond that they share iswhat keeps them going. So if acouple is fine with such kindof a thing then the worldshould not be bothered.”

While everything intoday’s life has been modifiedas per convenience, it doescome as a surprise when rela-tionships are also altered forfulfilling personal needs.Although, it might work wellfor those partners who have astrong inclination to cheatand turn things sour.However, it might not be avery appealing idea for manybut for the rare ones who cansee their partners finding loveoutside and are fine with it,then open relationshipsmight be the one they shouldbe in.

Celebs in anopen relationship1. Charlie Sheen and The

Goddesses.2. Hugh Hefner with seven

women.3. Simone de Beauvoir was in

an open relationship withJean-Paul Sartre for 51 years.

Lagadapati Rajgopal Vikram Uma

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201219Spotlight

Generous hearts

Prashant and Rekha Lahoti Dr Vijayanand ReddyBunty Bajaj

Sharmila & Heena Srivastava Vasuki Sunkavalli Pinky Reddy Prasunna Reddy & Sarita Reddy

Lavanya & Prarthana

Poonam ChowdaryLata Reddy Ramana Gogula & Nikki Krishna Babu

Shifali

Hyderabadis have a generous heart and this was on display on Friday night at The Global Peace audi-torium at Gachibowli. HELP, a social organisation held a fundraiser and the city’s glitterati were present in full strength. The guests also enjoyed a performance by Dhwani, a Kolkata-based band.

PICS:SRINIVAS SETTY

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 20The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Arya, Anushka’snext to be

shot in BrazilS

elvaraghavan’s upcoming bilingual filmIrandam Ulagam starring Arya andAnushka is soon going to be shot inBrazil. The film was recently shot in

Hyderabad. The next schedule has been planned inGoa and if all goes well, Irandam Ulagam will be the

first South Indian film to be extensively shot in Brazil.The buzz is that Selvaraghavan is planning to shoot

the film in Rio de Janeiro and exotic forest locales inBrazil. Couple of years ago, one of the songs in

Shankar’s Robo starring Rajinikanth and AishwaryaRai was shot at Lencois Maranhenses National Park in

Brazil.

Gouravam tobe launchedon Feb 25

Jai Telangana is yetanother attempt topresent facts about

the gross injustice metedout to the people ofTelangana since 1969.Rasamayi Balakishan, thedirector of Jai Telangana,adds a new twist to thestory by setting his storyin Yamalokam. It’s aninteresting idea, which iseventually let down by abanal script and myopicimagination.

The story begins inYamalokam whereYamadharma Raja isaghast to find that abunch of young guysfrom the Telanganaregion have committedsuicide. As the story pro-gresses YamadharmaRaja finds himself

increasingly sympathis-ing with the demand fora separate Telangana.

Tirupathi Reddy, thefilm’s cinematographer,uses real footage of theTelangana movement,which adds some life tothe proceedings; howev-er, the second half of thefilm is a complete letdown. Almost every char-acter shown in a negativelight in the film ends up

being a caricature andBalakishan doesn’t mincewords in venting out hisanger on the so-calledtraitors. Lack of sophisti-cation or production val-ues is the least of theproblems that plague thefilm, especially in thesecond half. It lacks anoriginal voice and itdoesn’t even try to tell usanything new about theissue.

Jai Telangana fails to impressMovie: Jai TelanganaCast: Gowtham Raju,

Kota Shankar RaoDirector: Rasamaya

BalakishanMusic Director: Ramesh

Naga Chaitanya’s upcomingfilm Gouravam is going to be

launched on February 25.Varalakshmi, daughter of SarathKumar, is playing the lead role inthe film. Radha Mohan is going todirect this film which will besimultaneously made in Teluguand Tamil. Nagarjuna is produc-ing the film under the AnnapurnaStudios banner. The film is set in arural milieu and narrates the storyof a city boy and how he reactswhen he goes to a village.

T-TOWN TWEETIES

@ShrutihaasanWow I just got a lotta boohiss for watching breakingdawn :D ah wells I enjoyedthe vampire cheese fest thor-oughly :p

@IsumanthMy very best to @geneliad &

@Riteishd on their special day!Sorry, cuteness, for not beingable to make it for the wed-ding.

@tashu_02 When you want more time totake correct decision THENremember even a correct deci-sion is wrong when it is toolate..!!

@sneha_ullalThey say when u love ur job udon’t call it work.I love myJob..Finally..from now I willnever have to work anotherday in my life..

@LakshmiManchu2 hr delay .... Arrgghhh still atthe airport. No bookstore orfood stall. Hungry and bored :(even railway stations havemagazines!!!

@actressanjjanaawil c u all @ d pitch

@vizag,gota take d early mornflight,lov u al,n I hav preciousfriends in al teams,may d bestteam win gn fo now

@Actor_SiddharthToday is a day most special.My dearest, most beautifulfriend is getting married tothe most amazing man. Godbless you both gen & ritz! :)

@purijaganNTR movie will start in

August. Mr Ganesh bandla isproducing. Planning shoot theentire movie in America.

film to beginin AugustP

uri Jagannadh is in no mood to relax post thesuccess of Businessman. He has alreadyannounced that his upcoming film with RaviTeja, Ileana titled Devudu Chesina

Manushulu will begin later this month and it is slat-ed to release in June. After this film, he’ll team upwith NTR for the first time in eight years. The duohad previously worked together for Andhrawala,which released back in 2004. The entire film isexpected to be shot in USA and Ganesh Bandla isgoing to produce the film. The untitled film willbegin its principal shooting in August. The pace atwhich Puri Jagannadh is planning his future projectsis remarkable and given the lineup of his films forthe next two years, where he’s going to work withNTR, Pawan Kalyan and Mahesh Babu, industrywatchers are already hoping to see cash registersringing.

After a lean period fornew releases in January,as many as 18 films are

slated for release in Februaryalone. This weekend aloneseven low-budget films hit thescreens across the state andnext week another five filmsare going to vie for audience’sattention at the box-office.Sudheer Babu’s SMS, PrakashRaj’s Dhoni, Arvind Krishna

starrer Rushi, Veerangam andRenigunta are slated to hit thescreens on February 10. Withplenty of big starrers linedfor release in the next cou-ple of weeks, producers ofSMS, Dhoni and other filmsseem to be in no mood toback out. Whether these filmsmanage to have a long run atbox-office or not remains tobe seen.

The audio launch of Nithin,Nithya Menen starrer Ishq

was a glitzy affair, except for anunfortunate incident. Soon afterPawan Kalyan, who was thechief guest, left the venue, abunch of Nithin’s fansapproached him with a big gar-land and in the process a thiefstole Nithin’s mobile phone. Assoon as the actor realised thathis phone was missing, he alert-

ed the security staff to catchthe thief who was trying toescape along with his youngdaughter. The organisers hadan extremely tough time con-trolling the mob as several fansof Nithin began trashing thethief in the middle of the event.Moments later, Nithin appealedto his fans to leave the thiefalone, which finally restored thedecorum at the event.

Films galore on Feb10

NTR-Puri

Nithin spares thief

21The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012 22The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

No solution, only corruptionGali Gali Chor Hai does highlight the problems faced due to

corruption but fails to find a practical solution

Gali Gali Chor Hai is a story of amiddle-class family living inBhopal, whose sole bread wi n -ner, Bharat (Akshaye Khan na),

a cashier in a bank and part-timeHanuman at Ram Leela, is the victim atthe hands of incorrigible corruption,dishonesty and bribe. One night, Bha -rat’s table fan gets stolen and he findshimelf involved in a series of unfortu-nate events. In order to find his way outof the rabbit hole, Bharat has to invol-untarily bribe his way through crimi-nals and law keepers, just to get a rusty,old fan back. In other words, the filmmainly deals with the subject of corrup-tion that exists in the bureaucratic sys-tem today and no matter how much of amodel citizen one is, he/ she invariablybecomes a part of the corrupted system.

After making entertaining films,Rumi Jaffery has made a film with amessage. Though, the subject is some-thing that all of us can relate to, thescript is weak and lacks the much-

needed reaction from the audience.The dialogues fail to pack a punch orhit the mark. The movie falls short onthe humour and there is hardly anyscope for a good song. But the titletrack with Kailash Kher and the itemnumber featured on Veena Malik,Channo add a spoonful of spice to thescenario.

A fine actor, Akshay delivers themuch-needed, flawless performance.Shriya Saran plays Akshay’s wife and isa school teacher. Her role is reduced to

the minimal and she lies insignificantin a corner. Mugdha Godse as the hot-legged, minimal-wear beauty doesn’tadd much to the story and she too isnot the most important character.Satish Kaushik excels and AnnuKapoor does an excellent imitation of acorrupt, sinister cop.

Gali Gali Chor Hai lacks the intelli-gence and the humour that is generallythe main ingredient for a satiricaldrama, like that of the popular TVseries, Office Office. SANA MIRZA

Movie: Gali Gali Chor HaiCast: Akshay Khanna, Shriya Saran,

Anu Kapoor, Satish Kaushik, AnuKapoor

Director: Rumi JafferyRating:

Popular director RajKanwar died today inSingapore following a

kidney-related problem. TheBollywood filmmaker, whohad directed Shah Rukh Khanand Akshay Kumar in hit filmsDeewana and Andaaz, was suf-fering from a kidney ailment.

Raj Kanwar entered theBollywood as an assistantdirector through the movieRam Avtar in 1988. Later, RajKanwar took up direction anddirected Shah Rukh Khan andlate Divya Bharti in the movieDeewana in 1992. Shah Rukh

Khan tweeted, "My friend rajkanwarji passed away. Theimpermanence of life, makesone feel so helpless. May hissoul rest in peace. AisiDeewangi..miss u sir."

Later, Raj Kanwar wrote sc -ripts for several films and dire -cted films like Jeet, Laadla, Kar -tavya, Jaan, Itihaas, Daag: TheFire, Badal, Har Dil Jo Pyar Kar -ega, Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke, Hu -m ko Deewana Kar Gaye andAndaaz. His last film was Sadi y -a an: Boundries Divide Love Un -ites, which had launched Sh at -rughan Sinha's son Luv in 2010.

Neil enjoys jungle stintActor Neil Nitin Mukesh is

filming romantic thrillerShortcut Romeo in a jungle

and says he is having a gala timethere. “Hectic days of 18 hr shootin the mid of the jungle! Butmust say it’s so worth it. ShortcutRomeo song two by Himesh(Reshammiya) is over,” the 30-year-old tweeted.

Shortcut Romeo is being

directed and produced by SusiGaneshan and it is a remake ofhis 2006 Tamil film ThiruttuPayale. In the film, Puja Guptaplays Neil’s love interest, whileAmeesha has been cast in a neg-ative role.

Nitin also says, “This is thefirst Hindi movie to be shot inMasai Mara (a large game reservein south-western Kenya).” IANS

RAJ KANWAR DIESIN SINGAPORE

B-TOWN TWEETIES

@realpreityzintaBack after the longest day onset ! Heard it was -16 degreesCelcius. Coldest day in Francein over 30 years ! Bachaaao!!!!

@SrBachchan T 643 - Finally...a resoundingwin for the Indian T20 teamagainst the Ozzies !!Congratulations all...weshowed them our real mettle.

@iamsrk En route to IPL auction. It’snice to meet all team ownerstogether..lots of lov for eachother off field...on fieldgrrrrrrr!! Ha ha.

@Riteishd Today @geneliad n me startour lives together-Thank you somuch for showering uncondi-tional love on us.

@deespeak Saddened by the news ofRajji's untimely passing...Interacted with him a fewtimes, a kind, gentle man. Godgive his family strength.

@rampalarjun Just heard the saddest news ofMr Raj Kanwar’s demise, hadthe opportunity of interactingwith him. Pray for his soul andstrength to family.

@priyanka-chopra No sunrise yet! Pitch dark inHyderabad! Only my team andthe street dogs for company!Cooold! Brrrr! Tho it Getssuper hot by morning!

@reddysameera #CCL2 going to Vizag for theChennai Rhinos vs TeluguWarriors! It’s going to be afun match!!!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201223Magic Screen

` 150 sq. cm

For Further DetailsPlease

Contact

Abhinay 9989399972

Nandlal 9951467988

Ravi Chander8106039919

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RATE

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201224The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Just when you thought JJAbrams might not have a sci-fi

pilot in contention for next fall,along comes Revolution. NBChas picked up a new drama pilotfrom the Star Trek director and

Warner Bros TV. The logline: ‘Ahigh octane action drama fromJJ Abrams following a group ofcharacters struggling to surviveand reunite with loved ones in aworld where all forms of energyhave mysteriously ceased toexist.’ Now that’s the rathercryptic official description. Buthere’s an earlier, more excitinglogline with more detail: ‘In thisepic adventure thriller, a familystruggles to reunite in a post-apocalyptic American land-scape: a world of empty cities,local militias and heroic free-dom fighters, where every singlepiece of technology — comput-ers, planes, cars, phones, evenlights — has mysteriouslyblacked out… forever.’

Abrams readywith a sci-fi treat

Drug overdose couldhave killed Leslie CarterNew details have emerged in

the ‘mysterious’ death ofLeslie Carter, including a possiblecause of the 25-year-old’suntimely passing. According to apolice report obtained by E!

News, the former House of Cartersstar and sister of Nick and AaronCarter died as a result of an over-dose, with three prescriptiondrugs found near her body. Thereport was taken by officials whofirst responded to the 911 call,and per the document, the threeprescription bottles found nearbywere Olanzapine, used to treatschizophrenia or bipolar disor-der, the muscle relaxantCyclobenzaprine, and the anxietymedication Xanax.

Though official autopsy haveyet to be released pending thetoxicology tests, a source close tothe Carters tells E! News thatfamily members believe Leslieoverdosed on pills. As per thepolice report, Leslie’s stepmoth-er Ginger found Leslie’s unre-sponsive body around 4.10pmon Jan 31 and immediatelydialed 911. Leslie and her baby(she was estranged from her on-again, off-again hubby) were liv-ing with her father, Robert, inBuffalo and, a source tells E!News, had been trying to weanherself off her medication. Afterher body was found, Robert per-formed CPR, though Leslie wasultimately pronounced dead atthe hospital at 4.59pm.

Bruce’s concern for MooreShortly before Demi Moore

split with Ashton Kutcher,her previous husband BruceWillis went to her house to askher to get help for her worsen-ing health, a source tellsPeople in this week’s cover

story. “He was worried abouther and wanted her to get bet-ter,” says the source. “Many ofher friends did the same thing,but she just wouldn’t listen.”Willis, 56, is the father of theirthree daughters.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201225The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

An average actionpotboiler you cangive a miss

The last time we saw MarkWahlberg on screen, it wasin the Oscar-nominated

movie The Fighter as the welter-weight boxer Micky Ward. Overthe years, he has established him-self as an immensely talentedactor capable of versatility, insightand sharp business acumen in hischoice of roles. So why he wouldvoluntarily agree to do thismediocre, run-of-the-mill actionthriller is anybody’s guess.

Don’t be surprised if the story-line seems extremely familiar toyou. It’s a rehash of many, many,action-thrillers we have seen overthe years.

Chris Farraday (Mark Wahl -berg) is an ex-smuggler who haslong since abandoned his life ofcrime and now runs a legitimatesecurity business. He is happilymarried to Kate (Kate Beck -insale) and has carved out a nor-mal life. But his brother-in-lawAndy (Caleb Landry Jones)screws up a drug deal for hiscrazy boss, Tim Briggs (GiovanniRibisi) and now owes him a lotof money. So, Chris is ropedback into doing what he doesbest — running contraband —to settle Andy’s debt.

Farraday heads to Panama ona job for Briggs and returns withmillions in counterfeit bills. His

best friend Sebastien (Ben Foster,the mechanic) helps arrange thejob. But things quickly fall apartand Chris finds himself in mortalperil. Whether Chris manages tosave the day and gets to spare hisbrother-in-law’s life makes for thecrux of the movie.

To give credit where it’s due,Contraband has some prettyawesome action sequencestowards the end. But that’s themost that can be said about themovie. Kate’s role is minimal andquite honestly, irrelevant. Themovie is a far cry from the

romantic comedy Reykjavik ofthe same director, BaltasarKormakur. Perhaps that is whythe movie is so contrived and for-mulaic not to mention its abso-lutely unconvincing plot line.That it is utterly predictable isneedless to say.

A VERY FAMILIAR RIDEIN

CINEMASTODAY

Movie: ContrabandCast: Mark Wahlberg, Giovanni

Ribisi and Kate BeckinsaleDirector: Baltasar KormákurRating:

Exploring relationshipsAfter its 2008 prequel Journey

to the Centre of the Earth,this one’s got to be a treat. JoshHutcherson plays Sean And -erson, a rebellious teen who setsout on a mission truing todecode signals to lead him towhat his grandfather was talkingabout. Tagging along in this mis-sion is an airline pilot playedLuis Guzman and his daughter

Vanessa Hudgens. But then jour-neys into the unexplored have

never been that easy. This oneaims to focus less on scary ani-mals and prehistoric nitty-grit-ties but instead chooses to focuson relationships, for we haveSean’s stepfather, Hank (Dway neJohnson) coming along on thismission. But soon the group realise theexpedition is not all that smooth-sailing.

Movie: Journey 2: TheMysterious IslandCast: Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne

Johnson, VanessaHudgens, Michael Cain,Luis Guzman

Director: Brad Peyton

An edgy storyNick Cassidy (Sam Worth -

ington) checks in at theRoosevelt Hotel under the falsename of Walker, goes to hishotel room at the top floor, andclimbs on the ledge, apparent-ly ready to commit suicide.

The crowd below sees himand calls the police. They iso-late the area, and try to talkwith Nick. However, he sayshe’ll only speak to negotiatorLydia Mercer (ElizabethBanks), who is on a leave of

absence after failing to con-vince a depressed policemannot to jump from the BrooklynBridge a month earlier. Thenstarts flashback, as to how helanded on the ledge.

Movie: Man on a LedgeCast: Sam Worthington,

Elizabeth Banks, JamieBell and Ed Harris

Director: Asger Leth

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201226Chai Time

How to Play KakuroKakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is alsosuitably different. The key question: “How do you play Kakuro?”, wellhere are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike insudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells likein a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells willcontain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.

However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro,the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in therow or column referenced by the number.

Within each collection of cells - called a run - any of the numbers 1to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly:In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you

will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. Thismeans that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14.Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is donethrough elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work outthe answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid com-binations, and hence the answer for this particular run.

Note the second cell in row two - it contains two numbers, 30 and11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

KAKUROACROSS1 ___ Major (constellation)5 Ersatz chocolate10 Tennis great Lendl14 An older one may be

beaten15 Far from oblivious16 The smallest of three

famous ships17 It contains many stories19 “Saving Private Ryan”

depiction20 Smoked delicacy21 Decide not to include22 Swiss-born painter Paul24 One of three in a big

delivery?26 Kind of speaker29 A billion years, in geol-

ogy30 Skirt-shorts hybrid31 Bedding, tablecloths,

etc.34 Coin at an arcade35 It’s framed and then

hung36 Big name in computers37 “___ want a cracker?”38 Stained-glass window

site, often39 “Shake!” offering40 “Perfect Sleeper” mat-

tress company41 Cynic’s expression42 Moments44 Play a part, or play part45 Cathedral designed by

Wren46 More ill-mannered50 “ ___ want for

Christmas ...”51 Roseanne, before Tom52 Paid athlete, briefly53 Bar placed across a gui-

tar fingerboard55 Source of some break-

fast juice58 “Couldn’t have said it

better myself”59 Word introducing

Johnny60 “Use your bow”61 Universal product code

elements62 Wedding-reception ritual63 Abdicator of 1917

DOWN1 Win for the underdog2 Autumn sight in suburbia3 Engraving tools4 Checkup sounds5 Classic Georges Bizet

opera6 Be in store for7 Deeply absorbed8 Pitchblende, e.g.9 California university city10 Alter the margin of, per-

haps11 You may have returned

one years ago12 Santa ___ (California

wind)13 “Aye” canceler18 Two points in time?23 City on the Rhone and

Saone25 Word with “pressure”

or “group”26 One of Fran’s puppets

27 Pithy28 Acid/alcohol compound30 Ex-Baltimore players31 ___ lazuli (blue miner-

al)32 Quitter’s assertion33 Hotel freebie34 Compens able wrongs37 Illuminator on a key-

chain38 Pismires40 David suc-

ceeded him,in the Bible

41 Complem entto earmuffs

43 Avian claws44 Flatfoot’s

collar46 Cod and

May47 Wheels on

heels48 “All My

Children” vixen49 Chopper component51 Silent film star Theda53 Airport fleet vehicle54 Where a doc pays dues56 ___ Speedwagon57 Unwanted Hamelin resi-

dent

SCRI

BBLI

NG P

AD

SUDOKU

A lie getshalfway

around theworld before

the truthhas a chance

to get itspants on.

THOUGHT OFTHE DAY

Take a shot at the brain game while sipping your cuppa

QUICK CROSSWORD

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

– Winston ChurchillSOLU

TIO

N O

N P

AGE

32

Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo VirgoThree of Wands

Work- Things havebeen stagnant for a

while and you’re worriedthat you’re probablydoing something wrong.It is all about to change.Romance – In a partner-ship, a third person maybe coming in the way of agood relationship. Don’tover-react to it. Take iteasy and think logically.Health – You may need toreview your health routine.Do what it takes to opti-mise your time spent wor -king out. Money – Torqueit up! Tune it up a notch!Be brave and invest in newundertakings. It will giveyou more than the returnsyou hoped for. Tarot mes-sage – All is going well, asper your expectation. Donot get unduly worriedabout anything.

Two of Pentacles

Work – There’s thethreat that you’re

spreading yourself too th -in, unable to manage allthe jobs you have commit-ted to. Be clear about yourpriorities. Romance – Yourpartner needs more timeto feel reassured that therelationship is going well.Singles need to spend mo -r e time looking for a part-ner. It won’t just happen.Health – You need to takeout more time to exercise.It will be difficult, initially.You have to do this to mai -n tain good health. Money– You have a philosophicalattitude towards money.Realise that it’s needed tosurvive and keep your dre a -ms afloat. Tarot message –Balance is the name of thegame. You can be an expertjuggler when needed.

Seven of Pentacles

Work – There’s much foryou to learn at work.

Pay attention to whatseniors in your industry tellyou. Be open to new ideas.Romance – A new relation-ship brings the promise ofstability and love. But if yo -u’re looking for that passionand chemistry, wait beforeyou commit. Health – Soci -a lise whenever you can.Avoid spending time byyourself too much. It maybring up all kinds of emo-tions you find difficult todeal with. Money – Financesare well taken care of. Youhave accounted for every-thing in a traditional way,and are also managing som -e substantial savings. Tarotmessage – You prefer itwhen everything aroundyou is structured. Be opento new concepts and experi-ences, too.

Four of Cups

Work – A job offer islikely to come your

way soon. It will set youthinking about your pri-orities and which direc-tion you’re headed.Romance – If you’re sin-gle, don’t be in a hurry toget committed. You maybe feeling lonely andcraving good company.But bide your time fornow. Health – Get a sec-ond opinion about a nag-ging health problem.There is always a solutionto everything. You need tohit upon the right one.Money – You may need tofreelance or moonlight inorder to make ends meet.But you will be able tomore than manage withyour sharpness and streetsmart attitude. Tarotmessage – You haveoptions. Just play yourcards right.

Justice

Work – It’s a long jour-ney to what you

have in mind for yourcareer direction. Don’t bein a hurry to get some-where. You may end uppaying a heavy price.Romance – One cycle isending and another isabout to begin. This maynot mean a break-up. Butit definitely means a ren -ewal. Health – You needto create more balance.Work out some more, eathealthy. You may be over-doing either, or both!Money – if you’ve beenfacing a cash crunch, itwill be resolved very soon.Don’t get tense and dosomething irrational.Tarot message – You’re inthe midst of change.Yesterday is gone, andtomorrow is yet to come.Use this time to recharge.

Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius PiscesThe High Priestess

Work – Use yourstrong intuition to

your advantage to sortout work issues. You willbe surprised with howwell your bosses will acc -ept your ideas. Romance– Love is in the air. You’refeeling the first flush oflove, and are absolutelyenjoying this experience.Health – You’re feelinggreat on the inside, and itis reflecting on your bodyand health as well. Bewa -re of minor injuries, suchas an ankle sprain or sorethroat. Money – Financesare not really your priori-ty, but there is enough inthe bank balance for yourevery need. Tarot mes-sage – Very few peoplehave the gift of using theirintuition to better theirlives. You have that gift.Use it well.

The High Priest

Work – There are ex -pectations from you

considering your ex p eri -ence and talent. Don’t getpressurised by those ex -pec tations. Just go withthe flow. Romance –Romance may not be yo u rpriority right now sin ceyou’re on a deeper spiritu-al journey of unde rstand -ing. But don’t igno re yourpartner. Health – You needto focus on inner healthand on keeping your soulclean. Be careful of gettingcarried away by quick-fixhealth solutions. Money –Fina nces are in goodshape. You may not beplanning it all that well.But some synchronicitieswork their magic to getyou what yo u need. Tarotmessage – You need notlook elsewhere for ans -wers. Look within yourself;meditate; and you will findwhat you’re looking for.

Nine of Wands

Work – The final meet-ing before you seal

the deal is very imp ortant.Don’t ignore that despiteknowing that you may bealready at the end of thedeal. Romance – If you’recommitted, give your part-ner a lot of bre athing spa -ce. Spend some time awayfrom each oth er. You re -turn feeling mo re confi-dent about your decisions.Health – Cons ider takingup a meditation courseseriously. You will be reju-venated and more centred.Spiritual health is as imp -or tant as any other. Money– The bank balance maynot be looking that great.You will need to dip intoyour rainy-day savings tomeet some immediate ne -eds. Tarot message – Youhave the power and talentto overcome any obstaclesthat life throws your way.

Ace of Pentacles

Work – A raise, pro-motion, new job or

career change may be instore. It will be complete-ly different from whatyou’re doing now. It willbe closer to your heart,too. Romance – Singlesmeet someone new andthe chemistry is immedi-ate and powerful. You hitit off big time and areeven good friends at theintellectual level. Health –It’s important that youstick to a physical exer-cise programme you havetaken up. Do not hesitateto carve more time out, ifneeded. Money – Yourinvestments are begin-ning to pay off. You saveon taxes, and may ven-ture into real estate deals.Tarot message – You havea plan, and also thepower to make it happen.

Five of Swords

Work – It’s an uphilltask at work. You

may get little in terms ofhelp or empathy fromcolleagues. It’s one ofthose difficult phases. Butyou learn a lot. Romance– Your partner may be toodominating. (It might beyou, also.) Understandthe dynamics of yourrelationship and takesteps to remedy it. Health– You have been dealingwith a number of strongemotions lately. Do notdirect the anger and frus-tration on yourself. Bekind to yourself. Money –Things are not going tocome to you easily. Well-laid plans may fail andyou may have to re-jigyour plans. Tarot mes-sage – This is a toughlearning period. Be digni-fied during this time.

Eight of Pentacles

Work – You may becalled upon to take

up an assignment in anunfamiliar area. Despite itbeing new, you do ratherwell. Romance – Newexperiences and difficultsituations strengthen thebond between you andyour partner. See a toughphase as also positive.Health – Your energy islow, and your confidenceis not that encouragingeither. Do more of whatmakes you happy. Money– Help comes from friendsand those who mean wellfor you. You may need toplan better for the future,and save for a rainy day.Tarot message – You take alot of pride in everythingyou do. Keep the confi-dence that this pride willconvert to good things.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2012Weekly look into your future 27Chai Time post noon

TAROTSUMAA TEKUR

[email protected]

Seven of Wands

Work – You feel a mys-terious air aro und

you. Your coworkers maybe hiding something fromyou. The secrecy is gettingto you. Romance – There’ssome friction betweenyou and your pa rtner. Youneed to sit down togetherand talk through it beforeit aggravates. Health –Sleep may be a problem.Practice good sleephygiene. Avoid watchingaction films or intellectu-ally stimulating moviesjust before sleeping.Money – Meet your taxconsultant again and get afix on what needs to bedone with your savings.Plan your finances better.Tarot message – You feelleft out and are not in thebest of moods, somehow.Only you can remedy thiswith your attitude.

Date 5-2-2012

Vol: 1, No 202 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad–500033 and printed by himat Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad–500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: [email protected] and for subscription, please call 040-40672222, Fax: 040-40672211

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201228Telly sitcoms, news and movie listingsChai Time

1200 Movie - Ghatikudu1530 Movie - Stalin1900 Movie - Gambler2330 Songs0700 Silver Screen0800 Ayurvedam0830 Movie - Pokiri1130 Movie - Happy

1200 Movie - Bhadra1500 Movie - Komaram Puli1800 Celebrity Cricket League

Live2200 Movie - Diary0700 Gemini Vaarthalu0730 Subhalagnam - Live0830 Golden Hits0930 Praja Vedika1000 Movie - Athidhi

1400 Abhishekam1430 Aadade Aadharam1500 Antahpuram1530 Aakasa Ganga1600 Prema Mandiram1630 Jagadeeswari1700 Ali369 1800 Mahaveera Karna1900 Kumkuma Rekha1930 Manasu Mamata2000 Chandra Mukhi2030 Bharyamani2100 Etv News 2130 Genes2245 Movie - Maya Macchindra 0800 Subhamastu0830 Jeevana Jyothi0900 Panchatantram0930 Highlights Of Paaduta

Theeyaga1030 Kudirithe Kappu Coffee1100 Highlights Of Super

1300 Movie - Devadasu1730 Chittam Chittam

Prayaschittam1800 Veera Naari Jhansi

Laxmi Bai1900 Chinna Kodalu1930 Movie - Gorintaaku2300 Movie - Police Story2

‘Munich’ at 2200 Hrs onAXN

1255 Movie - Disturbia1505 Wipeout1600 The Firm1800 The Voice22000 Fear Factor 2100 The Firm2200 Movie - Munich0700 Sky Teleshopping0800 Infomercial/30 Min0830 Sky Teleshopping0900 E Buzz0930 The Voice21110 Minute To Win It 1255 Movie - Munich ‘Mahima Shani Dev Ki’ at

2000 Hrs on IMAGINE1400 Nach Le Ve With Saroj

Khan1600 Gyan Guru 1830 The Tara Sharma Show1900 Chandragupt Maurya 2000 Mahima Shani Dev Ki2100 Chandragupt Maurya 2200 Baba Aiso Var Dhoondo2230 Gajab Desh Ki Ajab

Kahaaniyaan 0700 Teleshopping 0800 Prannath Ji Maharaj0900 Dwarkadheesh Bhagwan

Shri Krishn 1000 Ramayan1030 Chandragupt Maurya

‘Band Baaja Baaraat’ at1200 Hrs on SONY

1230 Bade Achhe Lagte Hai1430 CID1830 Adaalat1930 Crime Patrol - Dastak2000 Adaalat2100 Kahani Comedy Circus Ki2200 CID2300 Crime Patrol - Dastak 0700 Telebrands0730 Wws Sky Shop0830 Babosa Mere Bhagwan0900 Comedy Circus Ka Naya

Daur1200 Movie - Band Baaja

Baaraat

‘[V] Steal Ur Girlfriend’ at1900 Hrs on CHANNEL [V]

1400 [V] Steal Ur Girlfriend1500 [V] Vignettes1530 [V] Trailers1555 [V] Fresh Songs1600 [V] Zabardast Hits1630 [V] My Big Decision1800 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance 1830 [V] Humse Hai Life 1900 [V] My Big Decision2030 [V] Humse Hai Life 2100 [V] Speak2130 [V] Trailers2155 [V] Fresh Songs2200 [V] Dare2 Date2300 [V] My Big Decision2355 [V] Fresh Songs0700 [V] Trailers0730 [V] Zabardast Hits0800 [V] Mind Blasting

Mornings1100 [V] Fresh Songs

‘Et Insight’ at 2030 Hrsonly on ET NOW1400 Business Saturday1430 Brand Equity1500 The Market Makers1530 Zigwheels1600 Brand Equity Special1630 Starting Up1700 Business Saturday1730 Google Enterprise

Roadshow1800 Currency Camp1830 Leaders Of Tomorrow1900 Business Saturday1930 Bollywood This Week2000 Technoholik2030 Et Insight2100 The Market Makers2130 Talking Technicals2200 Bollywood This Week2230 Starting Up2300 Tee Time With Shaili

Chopra2330 Your Trades0900 Tee Time With Shaili Chopra1000 Starting Up

‘E.T. - T E - T’ at 2000 Hrsonly on BIG CBS PRIME

1300 Movie - E.T. - The Extra -Terrestrial

1500 Movie - Killer Meteor1700 Frasier1900 Galileo Extreme2000 Movie - E.T. - The Extra -

Terrestrial2200 Big Wheels2230 Dead Zone0700 Aspire0730 Big Wheels0800 Survivor1000 Lucha Libre

‘London Dreams’ at 1930Hrs on ZOOM

1400 Movie - London Dreams1730 Zoom Barabar Jhoom

Top201830 Letz Go!1900 Planet Bollywood News1930 Page32000 Letz Go!2030 The Times50 Most

Desirable People2011 -Men

2100 Letz Go!2130 India Kids Fashion Week2200 Retail Jeweller India

Trendsetters 2300 Bollywood Bonanza0700 Letz Go!0800 Red Carpet0805 Letz Go!1000 Link'D1021 Letz Go!1100 Zoom Box1200 Garma Garam1300 Let's Design4 1330 Letz Go!

‘Raising The Bar’ at 2100Hrs on ZEE CAFE

1400 Cougar Town1500 The Big Bang Theory1600 Outsourced1700 In Plain Sight1800 Parenthood1900 Ek Mein Aur Ek Tu2000 No Ordinary Family2100 Raising The Bar2200 The Fashionista Diaries2300 Outsourced0800 Parenthood0900 Ek Mein Aur Ek Tu100018 To Life1100 Less Than Perfect1200 Gary Unmarried1300 Slot1330 Just For Laughs

‘Combat Hospital’ at 2200Hrs on STAR WORLD

1400 Charlie’s Angels 1500 Desperate Housewives 1600 Supernatural 1900 Combat Hospital 2000 Achievers' Club2100 Charlie’s Angels 2200 Combat Hospital 2300 Dexter 0800 The Shield 1000 Combat Hospital 1100 Friends 1200 Two And A Half Men

‘Ring Ka King’ at 2000 Hrson COLORS

1400 Movie 1700 Movie 1900 TBC2000 Ring Ka King 0700 Veer Shivaji0800 TBC0900 Movie 1200 Mallika-E-Kitchen1230 Movie

‘Namak Halaal’ at 1400Hrs on SAB TV1400 Movie - Namak Halaal1800 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah 2030 Gutur Gu2100 Sab Event - Uthe Sab Ke

Kadam2330 Lapataganj 0800 Teleshopping0900 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah‘Feast India’ at 2130 Hrson DISCOVERY CHANNEL

1400 Discovery Biggest Shows1600 Swords1700 Discovery Showcase1800 Wild Discovery1900 Man Woman Wild2000 Stan Lee Super Humans2100 How Do They Do It?2130 Feast India2200 Swords2300 Desire & Pleasure Decoded1000 Stan Lee Super Humans1100 Man Vs Wild1200 I Should'nt Be Alive1300 Wild Encounters

MOVIES OF THE DAY AND OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

‘Force’ at 1300 Hrs onSTAR PLUS1400 Diya Aur Bati Hum1530 Ruk Jana Nahin1800 Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri

Behnaa Hai2000 Mann Ki Awaaz… Pratigya2100 Survivor India2200 Mann Ki Awaaz… Pratigya2300 Survivor India0700 Diya Aur Bati Hum0730 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai0800 Superstar Preview0830 Ruk Jana Nahin1115 Survivor India1300 Movie - Force

Dance IndiaDanceStoryline - It was one ofthe most endearingmoments on Zee TV’sDance India Dance whenMaster Remo D’Souzablushed like a teenager onstage!

‘Dance India Dance’ at 2030 Hrs onSONY

Storyline - Scott Steiner,Brutus Magnus & SanjayDutt decide to visit theIndian Dressing Room andintimidate the Indian con-tingent before the muchawaited match: MahabaliVeera v/s Scott Steiner.

‘Ring Ka King’ at 2000 Hrs on COLORS

Ring Ka King

‘Into The Unknown WithJosh Berstein’ at 1930 Hrson DISCOVERY SCIENCE

‘The Foodie’ at1730 Hrsonly on TIMES NOW1400 News Now1430 Enow Spice1500 News Now1530 Amazing Indians1600 News Now1630 Times Drive1700 News Now1730 The Foodie1800 News Now1830 Titans Cup1900 News Now1930 Times Now Sport Weekend2000 Total Recall2100 9 Pm2130 Total Recall Greatest Hits220010 Pm2230 Amazing Indians2300 News Now Overnight2330 Enow Spice0800 Morning News0830 Times Now Sport Weekend0900 News Now0930 Amazing Indians1000 News Now1030 Times Drive

1430 Some Assembly Required1530 Discovery Science Classics1630 Through The Wormhole1730 Weaponology1830 Best Of Discovery Science1930 Into The Unknown With

Josh Berstein2030 Sports Science2130 Discovery Science Presents2230 Ultimate Weapons2330 Industrial Revelations1030 Through The Wormhole1130 Some Assembly Required1230 Best Of Discovery Science1330 Into The Unknown With

Josh Berstein

1235 Executive Decision1510 Torque1645 Blade II1845 Miss Congeniality2 - Armed

And Fabulous2100 Harry Potter And The Chamber

Of Secrets0825 Friends 0925 Elf1120 Scooby-Doo

1300 Sex And The City2 1520 Dinocroc Vs Supergator 1705 Crank - High Voltage 1845 She's The Man 2100 Camel Spiders 2250 The Lost Future 0800 Stormworld 0900 Free Willy2 - The Adventure

Home 1110 Camel Spiders

‘Double Dhamaal’ at 1600Hrs on ZEE TV1300 Afsar Bitiya1600 Movie - Double Dhamaal1900 Date With Ek Main Aur

Ekk Tu1930 Zee Cine Awards2012

(Curtain Raiser)2030 Dance India Dance2200 Afsar Bitiya 0900 Namaste Cinema0930 Shobha Somnath Ki1030 Jalsa - Music For Soul1100 Afsar Bitiya1200 Dance India Dance

‘Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets’ at 2100 WB

‘Komaram Puli’ at 1530Hrs on GEMINI TV

‘Gorintaaku’ at 1930 Hrson ZEE TELUGU

‘Gambler’ at 1900 Hrs onMAA TV

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201229The games people playPlaying Field

Pirate Irwin

DUBLIN: Ireland go into Sun d -ay’s Six Nations match with Waleswith revenge very much on theirminds after losing to the Welshtwice last year including October’sWorld Cup quarter-final.

While the Irish will want tobanish memories of that limp per-formance against an admittedlysharper and better Welsh outfit,they are also bitter about the man-ner in which they lost to a contro-versial Mike Phillips try in lastyear’s Six Nations clash in Cardiff.

Both sides will be without keyplayers for the match, the hostshaving to cope without theirinjured talisman Brian O’Driscoll(right). His relatively untestedLeinster team-mate FergusMcFadden will step in as areplacement after Keith Earlswithdrew because his baby girl isill in hospital.

O’Driscoll’s replacement asskipper, Paul O’Connell, is deter-mined for Ireland to give a betteraccount of themselves than theydid in the 22-10 defeat in theWorld Cup which came as a hugeblow after a stunning defeat ofAustralia in the pool stage.

“That was certainly a big dis-appointment and hopefully wecan put it right next weekend,”said the 32-year-old Munster lock,who will be winning his 83rd cap.

“There is going to be nowarming into it, it will be a verytough game.”

O’Connell, though, takesheart from the manner in whichthree of the four Irish provinceshave qualified for the EuropeanCup quarter-finals with just oneof the Welsh teams progressing.

“I suppose it was a good thinga lot of us went away from thedisappointment against Wales

and managed to putsome good perfor-mances together.

“It gets that perfor-mance out of the sys-tem for a lot of us.

“But we won’t beable to afford anythingbelow our potential. Weneed to produce a mas-sive performance.”

Ireland coach

Declan Kidney has notmade sweepingchanges to the squadsince the World Cupbut he is looking for asignificant improve-ment in both defenceand offence.

“We knew from theWales match that thereare some areas ofdefence that we have to

tighten up, that was most unlikeus, but we have also been lookingto broaden the attackingoptions,” said Kidney.

“When you are a ball carrier,you should have at least two ifnot three options for leaving theball off. We have worked on thatand on our awareness of that.”

While the Irish seek revenge,Wales coach Warren Gatland stillharbours bitterness over themanner in which he left the Irishpost in 2001. Victory over his for-mer team always brings a warmglow to his cheeks.

However, the Kiwi has had tofocus more on fitness worriessurrounding several of his playersthis week and was at least heart-ened to be able to name experi-enced centre Jamie Roberts andfly-half Rhys Priestland in thestarting line-up after they bothrecovered from knee injuries.

Roberts, though, has notplayed since before the New Yearand Priestland has been out ofaction for a fortnight.

“We have been able to retaincontinuity in some key areas, wehave been working hard and wefeel we are approaching thismatch with the right attitude andwith some good preparationwork done,” said Gatland, whoseside are seeking their third win inseven visits to Dublin.

“We are two sides who knoweach other well, Ireland will nothave enjoyed losing to us in NewZealand, they will want to redressthe balance in Dublin this week-end, but they will find us in just asdetermined mood,” added the48-year-old.

O’Connell said that recentencounters between the two sug-gested that Sunday’s match couldwell be a fiery no-holds barredcontest.

SCOTTSDALE: Spencer Levinfired an eight-under 63 for theclubhouse lead as the $6.1 mil-lion PGA Tour’s Phoenix Openwas suspended because of dark-ness for the second consecutiveday on Friday.

Levin reached 14-under 128through two rounds. His closestpursuer was fellow AmericanHarrison Frazer, who was six-under for the day and 11-underfor the tournament with threeholes reamining in his secondround when play was halted.

“Everything was pretty goodtoday,” Levin said. “My puttingand chipping feels real solid.

“I felt pretty good going intomy second round and it didn’tfeel like a second round.”

The beginning of the roundwas delayed an hour because of

frost, and play was suspendedbecause of darkness with 34 play-ers still on the course.

Last year, chilly temperaturesand frosty greens delayed play atotal of nine hours during theweek, forcing a Monday finishwhich went to a playoff.

The second round was tocontinue at 7:30 am on Saturdaywhich means that for the sixthconsecutive year the cut will bedecided on Saturday.

Levin, who had an early teeoff time, finished his round with aseven-shot lead. But an after-noon wave of contenders closedthe gap, including Frazar andWebb Simpson.

Simpson (69) and John Huh(66) were in the clubhouse sixstrokes back of Levin on 134while Kyle Stanley, who lost a

heartbreaker to Brandt Snedekerin a playoff last week, is alone on135 after shooting a 66 Friday.

Levin, who has gone from131st to 31st on the money list inthe last three years, hit 15 greensin regulation and needed just 25putts in the second round.

Levin completed his firstround early Friday, starting withthree straight birdies to post a 65.He carried that good feeling overwith birdies on his first two holesof his second round.

Levin’s best shot of the daycame in the second round whenhe holed out from a greensidebunker for eagle on the par-four17th.

“I felt good today off the teeand with my irons. It is just amaz-ing how quick your mind canchange in this game,” Levin said.

NEW YORK: SerenaWilliams will lead the UnitedStates in their Fed Cup WorldGroup-II tie against VictoriaAzarenka-led Belarus inMassachusets this weekend,with elder sister Venus sche -duled to play only doubles.

In the draw made Friday,US captain Mary JoeFernandez inserted 38th-ranked Christina McHale asher No. 2 singles player.McHale will have the daunt-ing task of opening the best-of-five match tie againstAzarenka, whose AustralianOpen triumph saw her rise toNo. 1 in the world.

“Christina is very match-fit,” Fernandez said. “Shehad a great Australian Openand is very prepared andready to go. Venus has had agreat week of practice aswell, but I think Christinahas been playing a lot more.”

Azarenka said she would-n’t take McHale lightly.

“I think she’s a very goodplayer,” said Azarenka, whothrashed Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-0 in the Australian Openfinal to claim her first GrandSlam title.

“She has a lot of motiva-tion playing in front of thehome crowd. She’s had somegood results, played somegood matches against topplayers and had a few bigwins, so she’s a dangerousopponent.”

Venus Williams hasn’tplayed since pulling out ofthe US Open, when she wasdiagnosed with the auto-immune disorder SjogrenSyndrome.

Levin lights up a dark Phoneix Open

WELSH FACE LUCK OF THE IRISH Serena tolead, Venusin Doubles

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201230The games people playPlaying FieldArmstrongcase droppedLOS ANGELES: US prosecutors said on Fridaythey had dropped their investigation into seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrongand other cyclists without bringing criminalcharges.

A statement by US attorney Andre Birotte jnrsaid Birotte’s office “is closing an investigationinto allegations of federal criminal conduct bymembers and associates of a professional bicy-cle racing team owned in part by LanceArmstrong.”

The probe has reportedly included a grandjury sitting in Los Angeles hearing testimony fromformer Armstrong teammates and associates.

Although such grand jury proceedings aresupposed to remain secret, the investigation hasbeen widely reported on, prompting Birotte’soffice to take the step of announcing it had ended.

“The United States Attorney determined thata public announcement concerning the closing ofthe investigation was warranted by numerousreports about the investigation in media outletsaround the world,” the statement said.

“This is great news,” Armstrong lawyer MarkFabiani said in a statement. “Lance is pleased thatthe United States Attorney made the right deci-sion, and he is more determined than ever todevote his time and energy to Livestrong and tothe causes that have defined his career.”

The US Anti-Doping Agency, however, said itcontinued to investigate allegations of doping incycling and hoped to have access to the informa-tion gathered in the criminal probe.

“Unlike the US Attorney, USADA’s job is toprotect clean sport rather than enforce specificcriminal laws,” USADA chief executive TravisTygart said.

Facebook, Twitterhead into the Bowl

Chris Lefkow

WASHINGTON: Millions of Americanfootball fans will be watching the SuperBowl on television this Sunday with onehand in the potato chips and the otherholding a smartphone.

The ‘second screen’ experience willbe fueled by Facebook and Twitter and ahost of Super Bowl-related applicationsfor mobile devices providing everythingfrom recipes to game statistics to re-runs of the celebrated commercials.

Sixty percent of mobile owners willcheck or use their devices during theshowdown between the New YorkGiants and the New England Patriots,according to a survey commissionedby mobile marketing company Velti.

And nearly half of all viewers willcheck or use their mobile device upto 10 times during the game, mostlyduring commercial breaks,according to the survey byHarris Interactive of 1,428 USadult mobile owners.

“You’re looking at yourphone as the secondscreen or your iPad as athird screen and it’s notjust about watching the

game on TV, it becomes part of theentire experience,” said KrishnaSubramanian, Velti’s chief marketingofficer.

“People are using their mobiledevices to communicate with friends, toshare information and to engage withads and TV content,” Subramanian said.“They’re looking at the game and goinglike a level deeper.”

Facebook and Twitter apps will begetting a workout during Super Bowl 46,which kicks off at 6.30pm (23.30GMT),but so will many of the other programsavailable in Apple’s App Store or on the

Android Market.Both the Giants and the

Patriots offer free apps withteam and player news while the

National Football League is offer-ing a Super Bowl 46Commemorative App for the iPad

for $2.99 that promises “exclu-sive video” and other con-

tent.The official Super Bowl

game program is avail-able as a free app forthe iPad. Another freeapp, FootballConnect, lets users

play against other fans and earn pointsbased on events in the live game.

For those actually going to the game,there is a free Super Bowl 46 Guide withinformation on restaurants, nightlifeand Super Bowl events in the host city,Indianapolis, along with an interactive3D map of the stadium.

Another free app is NFL Pro Tweetswhich features tweets from NFL players— although not from any of the Giantsor the Patriots, who are banned fromusing the service during the game.

This year’s Super Bowl will be thefirst ever streamed live over the Internet,and there’s an app for that too.

Computer users can watch the gamelive at NBCSports.com and mobile ortablet owners can also tune in — provid-ed they are customers of Verizon anddownload an NFL Mobile application.

Super Bowl commercials are a sportof their own and Subramanian said fanswill be using their smartphones morethan ever this year to engage with ads.

“In the first quarter, perhaps, you’llhave a brand saying vote for yourfavourite flavour,” he said. “So you’llhave people texting in and voting and inthe fourth quarter you’ll actually see theresults.”

The games people playPlaying Field

For Andre, home iswhere the strength isIan Winrow

LONDON: Andre Villas-Boasmay have conceded Chelsea areout of the Premier League titlerace but his side’s superb homerecord against ManchesterUnited means they can stillinfluence the final destiny of thechampionship.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s Unitedlast won in the league atStamford Bridge 10 years agoand the rivalry between theclubs burns as fiercely as ever,despite the 12-point gap thatcurrently separates the twosides.

United are locked in a battlewith their neighboursManchester City at the head ofthe table, while Chelsea’s imme-diate challenge is to tighten theirgrip on fourth place.

John Terry will miss the gamewith a knee injury but while thefall-out from the FootballAssociation’s decision to striphim of the England captaincyhas overshadowed Chelsea’spreparations, Ferguson is wellaware of the challenge posed byVillas-Boas’ side.

“It’s not an easy game goingto Stamford Bridge. We haven’tbeaten them since 2002, which isa decade,” said the United man-ager. In that period, Chelsea’srise to prominence has beenobvious and the last seven years,we have battled with them forleague titles. Therefore, you

expect a hard game and it willbe.

But Villas-Boas warned aChelsea victory could derail

United’s title bid — just as theirwin over City last December hadtriggered a dip in form forRoberto Mancini’s side.

Tunisian nightmare awaits Ghana’s dreamsSamm Audu

FRANCEVILLE: Ghana’s quest toend a 30-year wait for an Africa Cupof Nations title will face its biggestchallenge yet on Sunday when theybattle Tunisia for a place in the semi-finals of the 2012 tournament.

The winners will tackle the vic-tors of the other quarter-finalbetween Zambia and Sudan in Bata,Equatorial Guinea, next Wednesday.

Quarter-finalists at the 2010World Cup, the Black Stars of Ghanahave stayed on course for a fifth

Nations Cup title even though theywere far from convincing in thegroup phase.

They laboured to pip debutantsBotswana 1-0 before raising theirgame to down Mali 2-0, but werepegged back by Guinea 1-1 in theirfinal Group D match.

Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic,who has promised to win the trophyon February 12, has pledged theteam will improve.

Ukraine-based midfielder DerekBoateng, meanwhile, says he expectsanother tough match on Sunday.

“Tunisia have a verygood side. They are disciplined onthe field, like Guinea,” said Boateng,who saw his first action in the tour-nament against Guinea.

“We know that it is going to bedifficult, but we hope to do our bestto win the game and qualify.”

Former Ghana skipper SammyKuffour said Tunisia’s man to watchis Youssef Msakni, who scored awonder goal against Morocco.

“He is a hugely talented playerand we need to keep an eye on himat all times,” warned Kuffour.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201231

IPL auction setssights on the starsKuldip Lal

NEW DELHI: England spin-ner Graeme Swann and SriLankan captain MahelaJayawardene (below) head astar cast of cricketers who willbe auctioned on Saturday tojoin the Indian PremierLeague.

As many as 144 foreign andIndian players have throwntheir hat in the ring in an auc-tion restricted to players notalready aligned to any team inthe money-spinning Twenty20league.

Australian fast bowlersMitchell Johnson and PeterSiddle, and England duo JamesAnderson and Ian Bell, areamong the other leading play-ers going under the hammer inBangalore.

Each of the nine franchiseshave a maximum of $2 millionto spend at the auction as they

bid to strengthen their line-upsahead of the fifth edition of theIPL which will be playedbetween April 4 and May 27.

Team insiders warn, how-ever, that no more than 20-25players are likely to be boughtsince only a few slots are up forgrabs to fill the quota of 11 for-eign stars in the 33-mansquads allowed for each club.

“Teams will focus on theirstrategic requirements, not onstar quality alone,” DelhiDaredevils executive AmritMathur told AFP.

Much will also depend onthe availability of the playersfor the seven-week tourna-ment that will host 76 matches.

England’s internationalplayers will not be available formore than a month, since theirtour of Sri Lanka ends on April7 and is followed by a homeseries against the West Indiesstarting in mid-May.

Tunisia national football team midfielder HocineRagued gives a press conference in Libreville

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 201232The games people playPlaying Field

SOLUTIONS

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Num

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Scra

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Boggle CREEK BROOK RIVER STREAM

Rob Woollard

LONDON: John Terry (below) wasstripped of the England captaincy forthe second time in two years on Fridayafter mounting concern his ongoingracism court case had made his positionuntenable.

The English Football Association con-firmed in a statement that chairmanDavid Bernstein had contacted Terry toinform him of the body’s decision toremove him as captain until the racismallegations wer1e “resolved”.

Bernstein had canvassed opinionamongst members of the FA board onThursday to discuss the best courseaction for Terry, who is accused of racially

abusing Queens Park Rangers defenderAnton Ferdinand during a match last year.

Terry, 31, strongly denies the chargesand has vowed to clear his name.However the decision this week to delayhis court case until July 9 left FA chiefswith the prospect of the saga overshadow-ing England’s Euro 2012 campaign.

Terry did not immediately make anycomment on the decision but wasreportedly mulling retirement frominternational football, “angry and disillu-sioned” over his treatment according toThe Daily Mirror.

The FA’s latest ruling was applaudedby Britain’s sports minister HughRobertson. “I completely support the FA’sdecision,” Robertson said.

TERRY SACKED!

Postnoon E-Paper for 04 February 2012

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