Postnoon E-Paper for 19 August 2012

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AUGUST 19, 2012 HYDERABAD

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DEAR SARVAJIT,

DADDY’S HOME

VVS Laxman, whoretired from

international cricketyesterday, scored atotal of 8,781 runs

in 134 Tests, whichis proof enough that

he is up thereamong the big guns.But more important-ly, it was the way he

made them that real-ly affirms his great-

ness. And as theHCA names theNorth Stand at

Uppal after him, webid goodbye to one

of the game’s lastgentlemen.

COOPER MAY STAR WITH BEYONCE

Clint Eastwood is said to be consid-ering Bradley Cooper to headline

his rock ‘n’ roll remake of A Star IsBorn. To date, Janet Graynor andFrederic March, Judy Garland andJames Mason, and Barbara Streisandhave taken on these lead roles in vari-ous remakes. In Eastwood’s version, hisleading lady is none other thanBeyoncé Knowles.

AUTO-FLEECING, IT'SOFFICIAL

The first sight welcoming peo-ple into the City at Secun -

derabad station is the long lineof eager auto drivers ready to

offer their services. If one thinksof this as Hyderabad’s famous

hospitality, think again. TheSecunderabad Prepaid AutoService is just another way of

fleecing customers.

N S

HIV

A K

UM

AR

REPORT ON PG 30&31

Big Cinemas, Ameerpet, 30581470; Cinemax, Banjara Hills, 44565555; Cine Planet , Kompally, 61606060; INOX, Banjara Hills, 44767777,Prasads, Tank Bund Rd, 23448888; PVR, Punjagutta, 8800900009; Talkie Town, Miyapur, 40214175; Tivoli, Secunderabad 27844973CINEMAS

Contact: (040) 2340 0132

Photography workshopA photography workshop will beheld at Iconart Gallery on weekends.Where: Iconart Gallery,

Banjara Hills, Rd No 12

When: OngoingContact: 98499 68797

BlindflyersThe German movie Die Blindgagner(Blindflyers). The movie is a tale oftwo girls Marie and Inga.Where: Goethe Zentrum,

Banjara Hills,Rd No 3

When: August 24,6pm onwards

Contact: (040) 2335 0443

Taj Khazana SaleFor six days, there will be a special

National Silk ExpoThe Gramin Hastkala Vikas Samiti isorganising the”National Silk Expo”from August 18 to 26. The expowill feature various silk productsfrom around the country such asprinted silk, kantha and manymore.Where: Sri Sathya Sai

Nigamagamam,Srinagar Colony

When: Ongoing,11am to 9pm

Painting exhibitionsTwo painting exhibitions, dealingwith cities and sustainability will bedisplayed at Vidyaranya HighSchool.Where: Vidyaranya High School,

SaifabadWhen: Ongoing,

10am onwardsContact: (040) 2323 7789

Image and imaginationA painting exhibition by variousartists titled Image and Imaginationis being held.Where: Kalakrithi Art Gallery,


When: Ongoing,11am onwards

Contact: (040) 6656 4466

Middle Eastern food festHead to the Dining Room at ParkHyatt for the Middle Eastern FoodFestival. It is open for both lunchand dinner. The food festival will beon till August 20.Where: Park Hyatt,


When: Ongoing,12pm onwards and 6pm onwards

Contact: (040) 4949 1200

Ethical hackingOakridge International School isorganising a 2-day ‘Workshop onethical hacking and online security’by ethical hacker and computersecurity expert, Ankit Fadia. Theworkshop is open for students andpeople interested in technology.Where: Oakridge International

School, GachibowliWhen: August 25 and 26,Contact: 1800 200 8171

Jash-E-Eid-Ul FitrBreak your fast with ITC Kakatiya’sspecial Iftar buffet which includesflavoured sherbets, rich haleem,malai paya, dum biryani and anassortment of Kebabs.Where: Deccan Pavillion,

ITC Kakatiya,Begumpet

When: August 10-20,7.30pm onwards

Contact: (040) 2354 0023

World class cocktailsSelect from a list of unusual con-coctions like Frozen Gold. Buy twoand get a world class cocktailbook and experiment with a widerange of drinks yourself.Where: Marco Polo,

ITC Kakatiya,Begumpet

When: OngoingContact: (040) 2340 0132

Play timeThe play Birjees Qadar ka Kunbaawill be held at Nift Auditorium onAugust 24. The play is in Urdu.Where: Nift Campus,

MadhapurWhen: August 24,

7.30pmContact: (040) 2311 4537

EleganceArtist Snehlatha Prasad presentsher interpretation of the Radhaand Krishna myth through hercanvas.The exhibition is being heldat Shrishti Art Gallery.Where: Shrshti Art Gallery,

Jubilee Hills,Rd No 15


Contact: (040) 2752 2999

Sunday brunchThis one-of-a-kind extravaganza

integrates all five food and beverage venues at the RadissonBlue Plaza Hotel to offer a widespread of Indian and International gastronomies.The Brunch would becomplemented by a lucky drawevery hour.Where: Radisson Blue Plaza ,


When: August 19,12pm onwards

Contact: (040) 6733 1133

Punjabi food festivalHead to Taj Deccan for a PunjabiFood festival. The food festivaloffers a variety of Punjabi delicaciessuch as saag and makke Ki roti.Where: Taj Deccan,


When: August 24 onwards,Contact: (040) 66663939

India Fashion TourIFT will be held from 18 and 19thAugust 2012 at The Park,Hyderabad .The two -day event fea-turing over 12 designers brings thefashion trends to the City.Where: The Park,

SomajigudaWhen: August 18 and 19Contact: 95426 78789

offer on magnificent collection ofsarees, western ensembles, pashmi-nas, hand-picked costume jewellery,men’s garments and much more.Where: Taj Krishna,

Banjara HillsTaj Falaknuma,Falaknuma

When: August 20-29,10am – 9pm

Contact: Taj Krishna (040) 6629 3248Taj Faluknama (040) 6629 8600

Invisible landsAn exhibition of paintings byMadhuchanda Majumder is beingheld at Shrishti Art Gallery. Theexhibition is on till August 21Where: Shrishti Art Gallery,

Jubilee Hills,Rd No 15


CITY 2SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

A boy sells a water gun at a signal near Liberty. M ANIL KUMAR

BUBBLES OF HOPE

CITY 3SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

2 injured at CM meet venue

He had one peg too many, and atthe end, he drank phenyl in lieuof alcohol and died. Umesh

Kumar, 40, of Ramanthapur in Uppal issaid to have had an alcohol party withfriends on Friday night. After cominghome he wanted more drinks and inhis drunken stupor he consumedcleaning acid and immediately collapsed.

Man drinks acid, dies

Shaheeda Begum, 28, a resident ofBolakpur, who had turned her ten-ant out recently was allegedly

killed by the tenant after setting fire toher house in the dead of night. Thepolice have arrested the tenant,Mumtaz Begum,30. Bearing a grudgeagainst Shaheeda, Mumtaz is said tohave come at night, poured keroseneon the house and set it on fire.

Tenant held for murder

The first sight welcomingpeople into the City atSecunderabad station isthe long line of eager

auto drivers ready to offer theirservices. If one thinks of this asHyderabad’s famous hospitality,think again. The drivers hereare part of the SecunderabadPrepaid Auto Service, whichdespite the many claims madeabout its services, is just anoth-er way of fleecing customers.

For the uninformed, the ser-vice was launched by TransportMinister Botsa Satyanarayanain 2011 with the aim of “ensur-ing passengers are not fleeced byauto drivers and providing safe-ty.” What one does not realise isthat they end up paying more th -an what is the actual meter fare.What then is the reason behindthese high slab rates? Neitherthe police nor the auto unionscan explain. The only savinggrace is that you are providedwith a police contact numberand the fact that all these driversare registered with the localpolice network (which fails toimpress the public as manythink this should be doneregardless of prepaid servicesor slab rates.)

So, for an extra charge whichcan in no way be explainable,the public is provided a safe pas-sage through the city with a reli-able auto driver who gets a shareout of the exorbitant prepaidtaxi fare. But should not thepolice be ensuring safety of the

people without any suchschemes? Neither this, nor thefancy prepaid taxi service havehad any great effect with thepassengers at the railway sta-tion.

“Why would I want to travelin an auto that will charge memore than the normal rate,when I perfectly fine with travel-ling in one which runs on thecorrect meter fare, even thoughthey are a rarity to find thesedays?”, says Subhash a com-

muter from Secunderabad toJubilee Hills. One trip fromSecunderabad to Jubilee Hillscosts `114 as per the currentmeter fare calculation. But withthe prepaid service slabs, therate goes up to `135. How in anyway is that comforting?Commissioner of Traffic PoliceCV Anand says, “ The slab ratesmay be higher but there are ben-efits in it too. For instance thereis the question of passengersecurity which we have taken

care of. And the problem of bar-gaining with the drivers isremoved. It is not possible tohave your cake and eat it at thesame time.” But the commission-er's wisdom failed in explainingthe worth behind the extra sur-charge.

Not only the police, even theauto unions themselves, cannotexplain this. Amanullah Khan, aunion leader said, “ The servicewill be good with prepaid autos.Moreover, the extra money is

divided between the governmentand the auto drivers also. In factwe are planning on setting upthis service in Kachiguda andNampally stations also.” Clearly,everyone is being taken for a“ride”. With another auto ratehike coming along, the everdemanding auto drivers are ahappy lot. A vexed citizen saidthat an NGO was being plannedonly to fight the many hordes oferrant auto drivers and the mys-terious schemes such as the pre-paid auto service. As to whythere has been no action takenagainst auto’s running on spuri-ous fuel mixtures or auto mafiapickets within the city, there isno answer.

Auto-fleecing, it's official

Mohd [email protected]

Security guards of GandhiHospital had a shock oftheir lives this morning

when they found the body of aman on the concreted groundbehind the hospital. Alertedward staff found that it was anindoor patient, G Raveendra, 58,who was undergoing treatmentfor his head injuries in the neu-

rosurgery ward. He is suspectedto have jumped to his death inthe dead of night. Raveendra'sis a sad story, police reveals. Hebelongs to a middle class familyof Jeedimetla. His father, GVidyanand was in the service ofHyderabad municipal corpora-tion and four of his brothers arein the USA, and four othersincluding him, are well-placed inHyderabad.

Unmarried, Raveendra, was

running a chain of computerinstitutes in the city outskirts.They did well for some time buthad fallen on bad days. A whileago he closed the last of hisinstitutes and had withdrawnfrom social life. Recently, he fellfrom his terrace and sustainedhead injuries. He was admittedto the Gandhi hospital's neuro-ward. Being a bachelor, he hadnobody except the nurse to takecare of him. Hospital sources

said the man, probably becauseof his business failure and lone-liness, was showing symptoms ofmental disorientation. Lastnight, it is conjectured, he wentto the terrace and jumped to hisdeath. Chikalguda police haveregistered a case of suicide.

Chikalguda police who ques-tioned the security and otherstaff on Sunday were told thatthey had head no unusual noiseof a body falling. Police said the

lack of vigil on the part of theward nurses and security of hos-pital was evident as nobodyknew of a missing indoorpatient till the body was foundon the ground. Raveendra livedin Venkateshwara Colony ofJeedimetla. His neighbours whocame to hospital after hearing ofhis death told police he was agentleman but had few friends.It is as yet not clear how he hadfallen from his terrace.

[email protected] RAMAKRISHNA

Two people were grievouslyinjured while making

preparations for the CM'sIndiramma Baata tour in Narsapuram.The incident occured in Swarnandhra

Engineering College in Sitaramapuramwhen the two employees belonging tothe PR office were electrocuted by theloose ends of a current wire in a sound

system.

Patient jumps to death in Gandhi Hospital

SRINIVAS SETTY

4SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

CITY

“It may take another sixmonths for all thehawkers in the twinCities to get regis-

tered,” says a senior health offi-cial, GHMC. The Food Safety Act(FSA) that should have beenimplemented by August 4, maybe delayed by several months,perhaps more.

The much touted FSA, forwhich the Centre has set a dead-line, is yet to see the light of theday. The civic body has failed toensure healthy food for itsdenizens at least before the startof the much-hyped COP-11.

With the GHMC officialsrecently issuing show causenotices to two of the big estab-lishments in the City in surpriseraids, their business might havebeen affected temporarily. Butafter a few days, the businesswill be as usual promptingauthorities to make anotherknee-jerk attempt that wouldfocus on some other food estab-lishments. One of the reasonscited for discreet measures onthe part of the GHMC is the lack

of ‘food inspectors’ in all the fivezones.

According to the officialsources, there are only five foodinspectors, who take care ofentire City, that has about 20,000 big and small hotels andeateries.

This year, so far, authoritieshave inspected 4,782 hotels in theGHMC limits. Notices weregiven to 810. At least 358 sampleswere taken last week and sentfor lab tests. Among these, thesamples which were reportedlyfound to be unsatisfactory were49, while 157 samples were foundsatisfactory. Samples awaitingresults are 152.

As it takes around threeweeks for the results to come,establishments are using thistime to avert being booked. Ofthe notices given to 810 estab-lishments so far this year, onlyfive cases have been bookedunder the Prevention of FoodAdulteration Act. While bighotels are rarely checked, mostof these eateries which comeunder the scanner are consid-ered to be in the category ofsmall and medium. It is nowwidely believed that the big oneswhich were recently in news andwere provided show causenotices will also emergeunscathed.

M ANIL KUMAR

Syed [email protected]

The second edition of theHyderabad HeritageMarathon will be held on

September 23, revealed chair-person of Hyderabad 10K RunFoundation Uma Chigurupation Saturday at RavindraBharti. “So as not to get stuckin traffic, we will start the runfrom Chowmahallah Palace at5.00am and end it at the Qutub

Shahi Tombs,” the marathonrunner said.

The route — Charminar,Mecca masjid, High Court,Osmania hospital Mozamjahimarket, Public gardens,Taramati Baradari, Golcondafort — was decided keeping inmind the fact that Hyderabad ishome to some world-class her-itage structures.

Rajat Kumar speaking onbehalf of the Andhra PradeshTourism stressed on the need

for keeping alive the rich pastof the state through knowledgeand protection of its heritagestructures. He regretted thatthe younger generation was los-ing touch with the glorious cul-ture of yesteryear. “We mustpass onto our children knowl-edge of our past, and ensurethat they too enjoy the good-ness of our culture,” he said.“And what better way than torun past these heritage struc-tures, which will make other

people sit up and notice them,”he emphasised.

On a lighter note he saidthat the run was perfectlytimed. “It is an ideal opportuni-ty for people to shed the extraflab they have put on over thelast month by indulging inbiryanis and haleems and getback to shape,” Kumar said.

The run, split in two cate-gories of full and halfmarathons offers cash prizesfor winners apart from interna-tionally-accepted certificationfrom AIMS and medals. Prizeswill be given away in differentcategories based on nationality,age and gender of the winner.Winners from the city will alsobe specially recognised, theorganisers promise.

Facilities like medical aid,refreshments, water and elec-trolyte will be providedthrough the entire route forthis annual feature, which sawa participation of 800 enthusi-astic last year. Uma expects abetter response this year.

The event is co-sponsoredby the Hyderabad Metro Rail,which promises to enhance thevalue of the heritage structuresin the city by providingpanoramic views of them to itstravellers while staying 500metres away when ready in fiveyears from now.

Online registration can bemade on hyderabadheritage-marathon.com.

Mohd [email protected]

In a chilling incident, a veg-etable-laden lorry plowed into a

group of women collecting waterfrom the water tanker atIsmailkhanpet in Ranga Reddydistrict, killed two and injuredthree, this morning

The lorry, belonging to UttarPradesh, was heading towardNizamabad, said DySP G ven-gaktesh of Ranga Reddy district.

The lorry, said to be going inhigh speed, lost track and hit agroup of people who were col-lecting drinking water form awater tank on the roadside inIsmailkhanpet village.

Two, K Vasantha,23, and APadma, 28, both residents of thesame village, were crushed todeath while three others suf-fered injuries.

It is not clear, if it was amechanical failure or a humanerror. The driver has beenplaced under arrest and lorryconfiscated.

Several deaths reported inthe area have been attributed toover-speeding and rash driving.

Fun run for better health Lorryploughs intocrowd, killstwo women

Md NIZAMUDDIN

[email protected]

Food raids may bust none

NATION 5SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Pick at the airport, -

BAREILLY: Three persons were killedand one injured after being struck bylightning in Shahjahanpur district,police said. Omendra Singh (35) andUmesh (25) were killed and Ashu Yadav(16) was injured after being struck bylightning in Nahrosa village here yes-terday, they said. Sunil Kumar, 30 diedin a similar incident in Basulia villageof the district yesterday, police said.

3 killed by lightningPATNA: Five juveniles escaped afterscaling the wall of a jail in the state capi-tal remand home, police said today.Inmates who fled yesterday have beenidentified as Tinku Kumar, Vicky Kumar,Sudhir Kumar and Mantu Yadav, sourcessaid. Three out of five accused are fac-ing murder charges while other two areaccused of theft. The matter came tolight during routine head count.

Five juveniles flee from jailBANKURA (WB): Five pedestrianswere today run over by a speeding vanin Gholgaria area of the district, policesaid. A group of seven youths werewalking on the road when they werecrushed to death by the vehicle com-ing from behind, SP Mukesh Kumarsaid. The injured are undergoing treat-ment. A manhunt has been launchedto nab the absconding driver.

5 killed in road accident

NEW DELHI: Railways is set tomake it mandatory for passen-gers travelling in non-AC sleeperclass to carry identity proof aspart of its efforts to check thewidespread menace of trans-ferred tickets sold by touts.

The decision to carry a validI-card for train passengers innon-AC reserved class is beingfinalised and likely to beannounced shortly, a seniorRailway Ministry official said.“This is being done to strength-en measures to keep a check onpassengers travelling on trans-ferred tickets,” the official said.

Earlier in February,Railways had made it mandatory

for AC class passengers to carryidentity proof with them.Passengers travelling on aTatkal or an e-ticket are alsorequired to carry I-cards whileundertaking train journey.

“Non-AC travellers were keptout of the photo I-card decisionat that time,” the official said,adding that “the policy ambit isbeing widened now so that everypassenger in reserved classonboard a train has a valid iden-tity card.”

Once the decision isannounced, passengers failing toproduce original identity proofin sleeper class, as and whenasked for, will be treated as

“without ticket” and chargedaccordingly. The rule will applyfor all sorts of tickets, includingthose for sleeper class, issuedthrough computerised passengerreservation system or Internet.

The decision to introducephoto I-cards for sleeper class

passengers is likely to detertouts from booking tickets on fic-titious names and selling thesame to passengers at a premi-um price, the official said.

Passengers can carry any ofthese nine ID proofs whileundertaking train journey —voter ID card, passport, PANcard, driving licence, photo iden-tity card having serial numberissued by central/state govern-ment, student identity card withphotograph issued by recognisedschool/college, Aadhar card,nationalised bank passbook withphotograph and credit cardsissued by banks with laminatedphotograph. PTI

Soon, photo ID must for rail travelIn February, Railways had

made it mandatory for ACclass passengers to carryidentity proof with them.Passengers travelling on aTatkal or an e-ticket arealso required to carry IDcards.

NEW DELHI: The Revenuedepartment has begun a final taxassessment of the trusts associ-ated with yoga guru Ramdevafter service and I-T officialsrecently conducted specialprobes on these enterprises foralleged tax evasion.

Both the revenue collectionarms of Finance Ministry’sIncome Tax and Service Taxdepartments have recentlyissued notices to these trustswhich are now being contestedby Ramdev.

Officials of CentralEconomic Intelligence Bureau(CEIB) and Directorate Generalof Central Excise Intelligence(DGCEI) are assessing theincome and service tax liabilityof these trusts run by Ramdev.

“An inquiry has been initiat-ed to ascertain the Service Taxliability on Ramdev’s trusts.Prima facie, there were somecommercial activities like sale ofcoupons to participate in yoga

camps and sales of products(claimed to be of medicinal use)by Patanjali Yoga Peeth run byhim. The department is assess-ing them,” a source said.

Officials said that informa-tion related to the sponsors andthe source of money used in conducting various programmesacross the country by Ramdev’strusts were being collected.

When contacted, Ramdev’sspokesperson S K Tijarawalaclaimed the trusts are exemptedfrom tax net as they are doingcharitable activities and not running a commercial enter-prise.

The I-T department, in May,has also slapped a notice of Rs58 crore on the sale of theayurvedic medicines by thesetrusts.

The Service Tax departmenthas similarly raised a demand ofabout Rs 5 crore on the ‘yog shiv-irs’ run by Ramdev’s trusts.

PTI

NEW DELHI: The long-delayed Nag anti-tank mis-sile project of the DRDOhas suffered yet anothersetback as its user trialsheld recently failed.

In the trials held inRajasthan in presence ofsenior Lt Gen-rank officersfrom the Army and topDRDO officials, the modi-fied carrier of the missilecalled NAMICA alsounder-performed, DRDOsources told PTI here.

In the trials held at theMahajan firing range, fourNag missiles were fired ofwhich only one could hitthe target whereas theremaining failed to do sodue to glitches in theequipment on-board theweapon, they said.

Army officials presentat the test-firings were nothappy with the perfor-mance of the missile andhave asked the defenceresearch agency to comebetter prepared for the tri-als to be held in the future,they said.

The missile has beenunder development as partof the Integrated GuidedMissile DevelopmentProgram (IGMDP) initiat-ed in early 1980s and isnow expected to take fewmore years to reach theinduction stage.

Sources said the carri-er of the Nag missilecalled NAMICA — a modi-fied Russian-origin BMP-IIpersonnel carrier, alsofailed to satisfy the usersin displaying its capabili-ties in water during thetrials. PTI

Nagmissilefails intrials

Final tax assessment ofRamdev trusts begins

WORLD 6SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

TRIPOLI: Twin blasts near secu-rity force buildings in the Libyancapital early on Sunday killedtwo people as Muslims markedthe start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.“Two explosions struck at dawn,the first near the military acade-my on Omar al-Mokhtar Avenue,the second near the interior min-istry,” a security official said.

Twin blasts in LibyaISLAMABAD: At least five peoplewere killed in a US drone strikelaunched early Sunday morning inPakistan’s northwest tribal area ofNorth Waziristan, said mediareports. Xinhua, citing Urdu TVchannel Dawn, said two dronesfired four missiles at two vehiclessuspected of carrying militants inthe Shawal area in Miranshah.

Drone attack kills 5 MOSCOW: A 42-year-old resi-dent of eastern Siberia was heldover a stabbing rampage that heconcluded by dining on his owndog, police said. The manattacked people in the streets ofIrkutsk, stabbing one passerby todeath and injuring two others,both pensioners.

IANS

Serial stabber eats dog

JEWELLERY

CLOTHING

SHOES

CLASSIFIEDS

PRAGUE: Police in the Czech Republic have arrested a man whosympathised with Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivikand was likely planning a bomb attack, authorities said Saturday.Police swooped on the 29-year-old man’s apartment in the northeast-ern town of Ostrava on August 10 and found a large stash of weaponsincluding an automatic weapon, a bomb and other explosive material.“The components of the explosive device were operational,” Ostravapolice chief Radovan Vojta said. He said it was not immediatelyknown who the man, whose name was not released, may have beentargeting, adding that the investigation was in its early stages.

AFP

Indonesian island rocked byearthquake; 3 killed, 12 hurtPALU: A powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake that shook the easternIndonesian island of Sulawesi has killed at least three people and seri-ously injured a dozen others, an official said Sunday. The quake struckSaturday evening near the mountainous districts of Parigi Moutong andSigi in Central Sulawesi province, where panicked residents ran fromtheir homes into the streets as the ground shook violently for around 15seconds. “We’ve received reports from the ground that three people havedied, including a nine-year-old boy,” National Disaster MitigationAgency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told AFP. “Twelve othershave been seriously injured and 40 homes are damaged.”

AFP

Norwegian mass killerfan held for bomb plot

8 killed, 20injured inSyrian jet hitASyrian warplane bombed a

small town partially con-trolled by anti-regime

fighters near the Turkish borderon Saturday, killing eight peopleand wounding at least 20, theAssociated Press reported.

The incident marks the latestescalation in the use of airpower by Syrian PresidentBashar Assad’s government inthe Arab nation’s civil war.

The afternoon airstrike,reported by activists in the areaas well as the British-basedSyrian Observatory for HumanRights, was one of at least twothat took place on Saturday. Theincreased use of airstrikes bythe regime is taking its toll oncivilians, and, in the eyes ofactivists, is evidence of itsinsensitivity to civilian casual-ties as it battles for survivalagainst the rebels.

The regime’s growing use ofwarplanes also comes at a timewhen western powers are look-ing into suggestions for militari-ly enforcing a no-fly zone innorthern Syria. Russia rejectsthe idea.

The airstrike on the town ofManbej in the Jarablous areacame hours after a governmentannouncement said Syria wel-comed the appointment of for-mer Algerian diplomat LakhdarBrahimi as the U.N.’s new point-man in efforts to halt the civilwar.

The announcement wasmade by the office of Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa,which also denied Arab mediareports that al-Sharaa haddefected to the opposition. Al-Sharaa “did not think, at anymoment, of leaving the country,”the statement said.

Ecuador’s allieswarn Britain

The warning of ‘grave consequences’ capped two days of a tensediplomatic standoff between Britain and the South American nation

Ecuador has received power-ful backing from regionalallies as they warnedBritain of “grave conse-

quences” if it breaches diplomaticsecurity at Ecuador’s embassy inLondon, where WikiLeaks founderJulian Assange is holed up.

The warning capped two daysof a tense diplomatic standoffbetween Britain and the SouthAmerican nation, which onThursday granted asylum toAssange, whose website enragedthe United States by publishing avast cache of confidential govern-ment files.

Britain has responded by vow-ing not to grant him safe passageout of the country.

But Ecuador called on its alliesfrom the Venezuela-led so-calledBolivarian Alliance for the Peopleof Our America (ALBA), whoseforeign ministers flew to theEcuadoran economic capital anddisplayed late Saturday full diplo-matic support.

“We warn the government ofthe United Kingdom that it willface grave consequences aroundthe world if it directly breachesthe territorial integrity of theEmbassy of the Republic ofEcuador in London,” said a state-ment issued at the end of theALBA meeting.

The statement, read byEcuadoran Foreign MinisterNicolas Maduro, also rejectedBritain’s “threats vis-a-vis our ter-ritorial integrity and sovereignty.”

The regional group, which alsoincludes Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua

as well as a number of smallerCaribbean nations, expressed its“categorical support for Ecuador’ssovereign right” to grant asylum

to Assange and urged other worldnations to reject what it called“Britain’s attempts to impose itswill by force.” AFP

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa (C) speaks during the opening ceremony ofthe extraordinary Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).

Assange to issue statement; his mum hopes for the best

LONDON: Julian Assange isexpected to make a publicstatement later on the diplo-matic row that has engulfedhim since being granted asylumby Ecuador. The Wikileaksfounder reportedly plans tospeak outside the Ecuadoreanembassy in London where hehas taken refuge.

Meanwhile, Assange’s motherexpressed confidence Sundaythat her son would make it toEcuador to continue hiswhistleblowing work despite atense diplomatic standoff overhis asylum. Christine Assange,said: “He’s had billions of peo-ple around the world support-ing him.”

7SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

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Readers’ viewsWe invite you to write to us comments, sugges-tions, viewpoint or just about any-thing to [email protected] #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa,Road No 62, Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad – 500 033 oreven by way of a call on040-4067 2222.

COMMENT 8SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

Atrocities against our own peoplefrom the North East must stop.One feels ashamed that we as a

nation has not grown that we perse-cute our brothers in the name of reli-gion. We must understand that mostof this is the handiwork of Pakistan.

Umar GulVia email

Stop the violence

It’s time the people of Russia didsomething about the megalomaniacswho rule them. Incidents like the

sentencing of the Pussy Riot are notsupposed to happen in a modernworld which mostly comprise nationsthat follow some form of democracy.

Shahina NVijayanagar Colony

Rise up, Russians! The scourge of ‘experts’

EDITORIALS

EDITORIALS

LAXMAN WALKS away with grace

In a game where money andpower hold sway, men like VVS

Laxman are rare. He’s brutallyhonest and does not indulge in

‘power plays’. His reasons forquitting despite his being

picked to play the India-NewZealand series he states as mak-

ing way for a youngster. Assome analyses suggest, it’s justnot difficult to replace the veryvery special man, but impossi-ble. After Rahul Dravid, Team

India has lost another of itsstrongest pillars on which the

fortunes of our Tests rested.One wonders how these arm-

chair experts got the gall to saynasty things about a man whofound diehard fans in stalwartsof the game like Steve Waugh,arguably one of the best cap-

tains ever. When Aussie bowlerswere clueless about how to bowl

to Laxman, Waugh was openabout his admiration for

Laxman, who tamed their fierypace and aggression with his

willow like a master swordsman.Laxman says he found it difficultto reach Captain MS Dhoni, per-

haps to talk about his plans forthe future. That’s no way to treat

a cricketer of Laxman’s stature.Many questions have risen sinceLaxman’s announcement to call

it a day. But one thing is certain:This man will be missed, sorely.

WHY WE LOVE...Ecuador

The spirit shown by Ecuadorin standing by its promise to

protect someone seeking asy-lum, despite warnings from a

formidable nation like Britain isremarkable. Just days afterBritain threatened to storm

Ecuador embassy which sheltersJulian Assange and arrest him,

Ecuador and its allies havewarned the English of ‘grave

consequences’ if something ofthat sort happened. Britain

won’t have it easy this time.

Alegend has hung up his boots,or shall we say bat. All thosewho pillioried VVS Laxman were

not worthy to tie his bootlace. Justbecause the very very special man hadbeen going through a rough patch,they saw their chance and had theirprey. What a useless lot!

Sreeraj SVia email

Happy IndependenceDay! That probably isthe most uttered greet-ing in India. So Ithought long and hard

about it. It dawned on me thatfreedom is a polygamous term; itis married to multiple concepts.While independence indicatesfreedom from a force, to the com-mon man, it means differentthings at different times.Freedom is a free idea with sev-eral connotations. Here’s a sliceof what freedom means to differ-ent people…

Wily politician: the power tomisuse public money for person-al use.Troubled teenager: the moneyand time to indulge drugs andother mannerisms that goes withher/ his choice of music.Sportsperson: a victory that issupreme in her/ his genre of thegame.Naughty child: that little escapefrom watchful eyes to be able topaint the walls or dirty thefloors.Fanatic: free will to play downother religions and propagateobsessions.Speaker: Freedom of speech inslander.Parent: when a child gets self-reliant and responsible.Writer: Freedom of expressionthrough writing in libel.School-going student: thedream to purchase a homework-totting robot.Racist: to shoot down anybodywho is not the same breed inhis/ her rat race.Battered housewife: relief inthe absence of her alcoholic abu-sive husband.Film star: the privacy to be ableto stay from the glitz and glam-our.Adulterous spouse: time awayfrom the legal partner to make acall or send an SMS.

Daily help: a day’s off from thegrime and dirt of routine clean-ing.Cell-phone user: victory fromadd-on bills and unsolicited calls.Chronic asthmatic: to breatheeasy in a pollen-free environ-ment during warmer seasons.Artiste: creative energy todepict the pinnacle of imagina-tion —nudity or mythology.Night-soil scavenger: to moveon from collecting human excre-ta and clear garbage instead.Salaried person: the relief tobinge on the little left after dis-bursing the monthly salary.Acid-attack victim: a surgeryto remove the physical scars andenforce that law to punish theperpetrator.Homemaker: the opportunity to

move out of cooking, cleaningand caring completely.Employed: to escape work or adifficult boss.Harassed co-worker: when animpossible colleague leaves for abetter opportunity.Loan payee: a dip in interestrates or the end of a loan pay-ment season.Obese person: to be able to exer-cise, diet and shed those extrakilos.Divorcee: the taste of self at theend of a long-drawn court case.Bonded labourer: media cover-age that will help see that long-evading daylight.Civil servant: retirement, whenhe/she can tell their version ofevents or simply the truth.Patient: relief from pains and

cost of treatment.Spiritual devotee: break frommaterial comforts and to find thetrue meaning in scriptures.Free person: finding ways out ofnewer mental perceptions ofimposition.Human being: true freedom isultimately in death — peacefulor otherwise.

Believe me, my freedom endswhere yours begins and vice-versa. Whether you hear BobMarley, Akon or Michael WSmith’s version of freedom, thedifference is in what you listento in these sounds of liberty. Whatever it maybe, let’s raise atoast to free India.

The writer works for Postnoon.

From the hipSYED SHOAIB

Freedom, now that’sone free word

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

The National Stock Exchangeemerged as the world’s sec-ond-largest bourse in terms

of turnover in trading of index as wellas stock futures, according to latest

data. Index and stock futures are gen-erally contracts based on a particularstock or index. NSE is ranked second

in trading turnover for index futures forthe month of June.

NSE now world’s no. 2

Greece’s creditors say it must cut14 billion euros ($17 billion) fromits budget in the next two years,

2.5 billion euros more than they origi-nally demanded, German weekly DerSpiegel reported Saturday. The amountwas revised upward as a result of themost recent audit mission by the coun-try’sbailout lenders, the EU, the IMFand the European Central Bank.

Greece must cut €2.5 bn

Overseas investment into Indianstock markets has crossed $11billion so far this year, with

more than $1 billion being pumped inthis month alone. Foreign InstitutionalInvestors have infused $1.02 billion inAugust so far, taking the total for thisyear to $11.4 billion in Indian equities,according to the Securities andExchange Board of India (Sebi).

FII inflow $11 bn this year

BUSINESS 9

Jan Hennop

Four years ago, QueenBeatrix gave Rotterdam thefinal nod to extend herkingdom into the North

Sea to expand Europe’s largestharbour — and forever changethe shape of the Dutch coast.

Planned for 15 years, theDutch monarch’s signature wasa final requirement to set inmotion one of the largest mar-itime construction projects of itskind in the Netherlands in 70years — extending the Port ofRotterdam by an area equivalentto more than 3,000 football fields.

Next year, when the firstphase of the Maasvlakte 2 pro-ject is completed, a new harbourstretching three kilometres intothe sea will have risen 23 metresfrom the sea floor.

Built at a total cost of $3.6billion, Maasvlakte 2 is seen asthe crown jewel at the entranceof the iconic Port of Rotterdam,Europe’s largest and the world’sfourth-largest harbour.

“This project has foreverchanged the shape of the Dutchcoastline,” Port of Rotterdamdirector Rene van der Plas toldAFP. “We needed more space andthe only way was movement intoa westerly direction — into theNorth Sea.”

But Maasvlakte 2 will alsoforever change the way the portdoes business.

By 2033, when its four deep-water basins become fully opera-tional the new addition willnearly double the port’s currentcapacity of handling 19 millioncontainers per year to 36 mil-lion. It will allow super-sizedcontainer ships larger than air-craft carriers to dock around theclock and push Rotterdam’s seatraffic from a current 34,000 toan estimated 57,000 ships peryear by 2035.

“KEY EUROPEANTRANSPORTATION HUB” “The Port of Rotterdam willremain a key European trans-portation hub” in future years,said Rommert Dekker, professorin quantitative logistics at theErasmus School of Economics at

Erasmus University inRotterdam. “BecauseMaasvlakte 2 is designed as awhole new harbour and not builton an existing infrastructure itwill have the newest of the newtechnology available,” he toldAFP.

It was also specificallydesigned to handle the new larg-er container ships. Over the lastdecade their capacity has nearlydoubled to 18,000 containers, buttheir size swollen to some 400metres long and 60 metres wide.

“These ships will need rapidon-and-off-loading cycles —which Maasvlakte 2 can pro-vide,” Dekker said. Coupled withan excellent combination ofbarges, rail and road infrastruc-ture, Dekker said Rotterdam willcontinue to outperform ports inEurope, he said.

And despite the current eco-nomic crisis in Europe, contain-

er traffic was expected to grow,Dekker added, saying “even withthe lowest growth scenario, con-tainer traffic is expected to dou-ble by 2030.”

MASSIVE UNDERTAKINGBuilding Maasvlakte 2 is a mas-sive undertaking — more than40 times the size of the Vatican— but just the type of project theDutch have honed to a fine artover hundreds of years.

Since September 2008, up to

11 dredgers at a time have beensucking up sand off the Dutchcoastline and dumping it in thearea where the new port today istaking shape. “It started off as alittle island in the middle of thesea. If you go there today, youare already standing on a sanddune 14 metres above sea level,”Van der Plas said.

“The last time we had a pro-ject of this scale and nature wasprobably the Afsluitdijk,” headded, referring to the construc-tion of the 32 kilometre-longdike between the North Hollandand Friesland provinces.Completed in 1932, theAfsluitdijk protects the fresh-water lake Ijsselmeer from thesalt water Waddenzee, an inlet ofthe North Sea. It is still regardedtoday as a major feat of Dutchmaritime engineering.

“In total, we are shiftingsome 3.8 million cubic metres of

sand,” said Maasvlakte 2 con-tract manager Menno Steenman,who oversees the project.

“That’s enough sand to pavethe road from here to our headoffice in Rotterdam, some 45kilometres away, with a ‘wall’ ofsand 200 metres high.”

Last month, Queen Beatrixreturned to the site to overseethe closure of the new harbour’s11 kilometre long sea-wall madefrom rocks and sand which willkeep out the rough waters of theNorth Sea — an event broadcastlive on national television.

Early next year a gap will beopened to connect Maasvlakte 2with the rest of the Rotterdamharbour, with various phases ofthe port becoming operationalover the next two decades.

“Being Dutch and being ableto work with sand and water. It’slike a boy’s dream,” said Van derPlas. AFP

Europe’s largest harbour’s‘sea-leg’ taking shape

BUILT AT A TOTAL COSTOF $3.6 BILLION,MAASVLAKTE 2 IS SEENAS THE CROWN JEWELAT THE ENTRANCE OFPORT OF ROTTERDAM,EUROPE’S LARGEST.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 201210INTERVIEW

The band Indian Oceanwas formed 22 yearsago and now you havereleased your first soloventure Depths of the

Ocean. How did the idea to startthis new album come about?

The dream to bring out a soloalbum was within me for almost adecade. There were certain compo-sitions that were made even beforeI joined Indian Ocean. I had com-posed the title track of the albumabout 28 years back in 1983. Therewere certain numbers that Icouldn’t do with Indian Ocean sinceit is a band and it has its own limita-tions. It was last year that I finally

got the chance to sit down andrecord these tracks.

You worked with a complete-ly different team for this newalbum. Were these musiciansthose you had become friendswith through the years?

Some yes and some no. I hadrequested some of them to join meand they did. But they are all won-derful musicians and much morethan that, they are all beautiful peo-ple. It was a pleasure working witheach one of them.

This experience has been differ-ent because it is a different set ofpeople and we made some amaz-ing collaborations. Some of themare with some well-known artisteslike Parikrama lead singer NitinMalik, Shubha Mudgal and Paponand Oshima, whom I had recordeda song with way back in 2007. Andothers were not so well known butbrilliant musicians, like Amit Sharmaand Nikhil Vasudevan.

On bass, it was actuallyClarence Gonzalvez, but unfortu-nately, he passed away threemonths back. He was suffering fromcancer and at an early age of 27, hewas gone. I am dedicating this five-city HRC tour to him.

You were the lone Indian tobe invited to be part of the

music festival for guitarists,Guitare en Scene, at Geneva.How was it meeting famous gui-tarists from across the globe?

It was an honour to be invitedand be part of the festival. It wasfabulous experience; not that Ihaven’t been to music festivalsbefore but this particular one wasreally good. They have invited meto perform at the same festival nextyear. I witnessed some of the reallyclassic acts like G3, Steve Vai,Bernie Marsden, Whitesnake, JohnPaul Jones and MC5. It was a won-derful experience and I had achance to interact with most ofthem. A few artistes who complete-ly blew me away were Steve Vai andBernie Marsden. Bernie is the most natural musician I haveever seen.

What do you think of thenew breed of musicians in theindustry?

There are many upcoming

musicians who are immensely tal-ented and I am playing with somany of them for this concert. Themost important part is that intoday’s age, everyone wants to dotheir own numbers. During ourbeginning period of Indian Ocean,there was no other band in Indiawhich made its own music. Therewere many rock bands but they didnot play their own music. Now,there are musicians in their early20s playing really mature music. Inanother 5-10 years, I believe thatwe will see several excellent actscoming up.

Were there any problemsthat you faced at home whenyou informed them that youwould be pursuing music?

I worked for 10 years in the cor-porate world before giving up myjob to completely immerse myselfin music. I was 28 years old then,so there was no way my familywould stand in my way. I wasbrought up in Delhi and growingup in a middle-class Bengali family,there were a lot of records in thehouse. There were different kindsof music, from Hindustani sangeetto The Beatles and folk music.Then came a time when I really gotinvolved in listening to Indian clas-sical music. So in my work you willsee a lot of influence from this peri-od and the music I listened to atthat time. I have never formallylearned music and there was mybrother’s guitar lying around; Ipicked it up and started playing. Bylate school and early college, Istarted composing.

Nowadays, as soon as a newsong is released, it is availablefreely on the internet. How doesthis affect the revenue that youmake from selling music?

I feel that it is a good trendsince this way, the song gets awider reach and people get toknow about the song sooner, unlikehow it was before. Most of thetime, revenue comes from live per-formances and not from sellingmusic. Thus, this affects studioartistes and not others.

Which do you prefer — per-forming live or recording yoursongs?

I get a major high when I per-form live in front of an audience.For me, studio recording is themost boring thing. It is really inter-esting when you are developing acomposition, but once you startrecording a song in the studio, itbecomes really monotonous. It isvery difficult to make it sound aliveand interesting.

Unlike earlier, there are a lot ofearthy tones and folk music inBollywood. What do you think ofthis trend? Do you think the audi-ence’s taste is maturing with time?

Yes, otherwise they wouldn’t becontacting us. It will be an arrogantstatement on my part if I were tosay that the audience’s taste ismaturing. The new generation offilm makers are experimenting andnot sticking to the typical kind ofmusic that they once did.

Rendering the earthy tones

[email protected] ROSE THOMAS

WHEN WE STARTED,THERE WAS NO OTHERBAND IN INDIA WHICHMADE ITS OWN MUSIC.NOW, THERE ARE MUSI-CIANS IN THEIR EARLY20S PLAYING REALLYMATURE MUSIC. INANOTHER 5-10 YEARS,WE WILL SEE SEVERALEXCELLENT ACTS.

DEEPAK DESHPANDE

In the City to promote his first solo venture Depths of the Ocean, lead guitarist of Indian Ocean, Susmit Sen,talks about his musical journey and his experience of working with a new team.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 201211GOLDEN YEARS

In an age where the youth enjoy undi-vided attention and praise, we as arace have left little space for the agedand the elderly. The growing number

of crimes being committed againstsenior citizens, especially in Hyderabad,reflects how we have left their fate to thecold and cruel ways of the world.

For the first time in the history ofthe Indian judiciary, a Lok Adalat meantexclusively for senior citizens has beeninitiated in Hyderabad. The first of itskind in the entire country, it will dealwith the many problems that assail theaged in the city. Constituted under theAP Legal Service Authority, the LokAdalat will have a bench of four retiredjudges.

Among the many facilities and ser-vices that the Lok Adalat promises here,the fact that the Lok Adalat is a fasttrack court and also deals with thesecases under Human Rights Violationsacts is most significant. All the servicesoffered here begin and end only with anapplication form.

This simple procedure clears the

much dreaded and lengthy ways of theIndian judiciary.

P. Yasamurthy, President of Societyfor Serving Seniors said, “Being the firstof its kind, they have decided to take thesimplest measures to serve the aged inthe best manner possible. The fact thatthe services of the Adalat offers amica-ble settlement of cases by exploring alllegal avenues comes as a relief to theelderly.”

The burden of going through therigours of a court case has been furthersimplified by the fact that it has the facil-ity to settle things out of court.

M Sai, 62-year-old retired engineersays, “After a certain point, we have noguaranteed security. Most people of myage are completely dependant on theirchildren and it is not surprising thatthey are ignored or uncared for. It is notpossible for people like me to go throughthe tiresome legal battles for custodian-ship or domestic abuse or financialfraud. To me, this Adalat is a welcomejudgement.”

What they really miss out on is atten-tion and care which is replaced bydomestic abuse and suffering. For a sec-tion of the society that had spent theirlives in building and shaping the worldwe live in, the aged and the elderly areperhaps right in thinking that youth isoften wasted on the young.

Glimmer of hopefor senior citizensA Lok Adalat that exclusively deals with the problems faced by the elderly is being initiated

Asurvey by Helpage India shows thatHyderabad has the highest per-

centage of senior citizens who requirehelp for their daily routines(81%).

Hyderabad has the lowest percent-age of elderly citizens employed in anyeconomic activity (8%).

Thirty eight per cent of the elderlypopulation in the city have facedabuse, the second highest in the coun-try after Bhopal. Fifteen point sevenper cent have faced physical abuse,18.4% have faced emotional abuse,

Fifteen point seven per cent havefaced economic abuse and 21 % havefaced neglect in Hyderabad.

Hyderabad has also showed thehighest average number of incidentsrelated to beating, mental torture,restricted movement, stealing personalbelongings and forced changes of willscommitted against the elderly in 2011.The statistics were sampled from aaverage elderly population of a 100from each city, in a total of 9 metropoli-tan cities in India.

[email protected] RAMAKRISHNA

5

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Cities bring to mindsqualor, crowds and con-gestion. Existing urbanspaces may have started

out as planned areas, but rapidpopulation growth and migra-tion has led to uncontrolled andhaphazard growth of cities.

Some places, though, arereclaiming their cities. The exhi-bition, Post-Oil City: The Historyof the City's Future, presented byInstitut furAuslandbezeihungen, organisedby Goethe-Zentrum, Hyderabadand curated by Anh-Linh Ngo,looks at how some cities, bothupcoming and existing, arelearning from the architecturalplans of the past and incorporat-ing future technology to createmore sustainable cities.

A case in point is MasdarCity, a project coming up in AbuDhabi, UAE. The city, beingdeveloped at the outskirts ofAbu Dhabi, is planned as a tradi-tional walled Arab city and aimsto reduce consumption ofresources by using passivedesign strategies and advancedtechnology. Masdar plans toemploy only renewable energysources and will aim for a zerowaste, zero carbon city.

Also interesting in the trans-port system in the city. No carswill be permitted inside Masdar,which will be connected to AbuDhabi by rail. Transport withinthe city will be through publictransport and personalised rapidtransit (PRT) systems, and thistraffic will be separated frompedestrian traffic.

While Masdar City is beingbuilt from scratch, existingcities are also incorporating sus-tainable systems into the infras-tructure. Curitiba in Brazil isone such city. The place has beentransformed by incorporating

effective transport systems,waste management, with theactive support of citizens. Thecity’s current system is a throw-back to an earlier era, where set-tlements sprung up around pub-lic transit systems.

The exhibition spans a vari-ety of topics, including urbanarchitecture, sewerage treat-

ment, green spaces, food suffi-ciency and transportation. Withpredictions that majority of thepopulation will live in megaci-ties in the future, ensuring thatthese urban spaces are sustain-able even in a post-oil situationis the need of the day.

The exhibition runs parallelto another, Cyberabad:Landscape of Surprise. The exhi-bition, conceptualised and curat-ed by Peter Gotsch and SusanneKohte, follows the developmentof landscapes in Hitech City inHyderabad.

Panoramic photographstaken in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011are juxtaposed against oneanother, showing the rapid anddramatic change in the area overa period of six years.

When seen in conjunctionwith the Post-Oil Cities exhibi-tion, one can only rue the factthat while the world wakes up tothe need for planned and sus-tainable cities, Hyderabad con-tinues to allow uncontrolled andhaphazard growth of the cyber

city. The photographs show therapid reduction of green spacesand Hyderabad's characteristicrocks and an increase in thenumber of temporary shacksspringing up to accommodateworkers who construct the ITbuildings. Hoardings, traffic andnew constructions dot the land-scape, but sustainability seems adistant dream in Hyderabad'sfuturistic city.

[email protected] NAMBIAR

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 201212ART AND CULTURE

The Mannerism periodstarted in 1520 and endedin 1600 – it was an artstyle that depicted the

human form in exaggeratedposes, in unrealistic settings.The art period is essentially thelate Renaissance as it followedthe High Renaissance art period.

The term Mannerism was devel-oped through the Italian wordmaniera —which means style.The Mannerist art movementfirst appeared in Florence andRome, and was a style thatrejected the Renaissance periodin favour of a more emotionalapproach to art with a some

times distorted point of view.Characteristic paintings ofMannerism included artificialcolours, unrealistic proportions,off-beat perspective, and exag-gerated or elongated figures.Perhaps the most famousMannerist artists are Raphaeland Michelangelo — artists that

achieved technical accomplish-ments and theatrical, formulaic,and stylised work. Figures inMannerist paintings were oftenin imaginary poses creating anunsettling and strange piece ofart — the eerie images reflectedthe period’s conflict, the sack ofRome, and the plague. By the1600s Mannerist painters wereaccused of disrupting the unityand balance of Renaissance clas-sicism but in actuality,Mannerism created a valuablelink between the Renaissanceperiod and the emotionalBaroque movement that followedin the 17th century.

Visions ofthe future

In the current peak-oil situation,building sustainable cities has

become a necessity. While the worldwakes up to this fact, Hyderabad's

cyber city area continues to grow inan unplanned manner.

Mannerism promotes works of art—art that no doubt intimidated as much as inspired the artists to come after them.

Art for everyone ART FOR DUMMIES

Singer-songwriter Bryan Adams is setto release his first photography

book in September. His book,Exposed, features friends and col-

leagues in the fashion, art and entertain-ment industry, including portraits of AmyWinehouse, Michael Jackson, Dame Judi

Dench and many more. The singer hashad his photographs featured in several

magazines.

Bryan Adams's photography

Botswana-born, LA-based artistMeleko Mokgosi has won the$100,000 Mohn prize, which is

awarded every two years and rivals theTurner Prize in UK. The artist’s installa-tion, Pax Kaffraria: Sikhuselo embum-bulu, 2012, is part of a larger seriesdealing with post-colonial African resis-tance. The prize was awarded on thebasis of a registered public vote.

Work on African resistance

Neo-impressionist Paul Signac'sgreat-granddaughter, LiebertHellman, wants a painting by the

artist moved from Montreuil to theMusee D'Orsay after it was vandalised inDecember 2011. Damp paper pelletswere thrown at the work, leaving marksand tears in the painting. Hellman saysthat the painting should be moved to amuseum for safekeeping.

Signac's art to be moved?

POST-OIL CITY & CYBERABADLandscape of Surprise

DATESOn till August 26

VENUEVidyaranya High School,

SaifabadTIMINGS

MONDAY-FRIDAY4.30pm-8.30pm

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, PUBLIC HOLIDAYS11.30am-8.30pm


13

Radiation from the leakingFukushima nuclear

plant following last year’s tsunami that hit Japan

caused mutations in some but-terflies and has damaged the

local environment, thoughhumans seem relatively unaffect-

ed so far, researchers say.

Butterflies affected

Americans feel guilty about wastingfood. Nearly 40 per cent ofAmericans recently surveyed said

wasting food caused them the most“green guilt.” The research found thatfood waste costs the average familyaround $600 a year. It was just one ofthe many things eco-consciousAmericans feel guilty about, accordingto the survey.

Green with guilt

The night sky may glow bluer as yellow-orange streetlights aregradually replaced by whiter,

energy-saving lights, a new study says. Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, cast a bluish glow in the sky and are about 20 per cent more effi-cient than industry-standard street-lamps, which generate red-colouredlight pollution.

Bluer night sky

ENVIRONMENT

Companies go greenAmy Rose [email protected]

While countries acrossthe globe are makingbig promises aboutreducing their car-

bon footprint and workingtowards a greener environment,IT companies in the countryhave taken it upon themselvesto make a difference and areturning themselves into greencompanies.

Many of these companieshave hired special teams thatwork towards reducing the car-bon footprint of the company.With each company employingthousands of workers, thevision of a greener tomorrow isbeing transferred to the employ-ees and in turn, to their familiesas well. The companies believein a simple concept that smallsacrifices will go a long way.

Infosys, for one, set up itsgreen team back in 2008 tochange the company to an envi-ronment friendly one and put upa building that is 50 per cent

more efficient than other build-ings on campus.

Rohan Parikh, head ofGreen Initiatives andInfrastructure at Infosys, says,“This building is 40% more effi-cient than American Society ofHeating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers(ASHRAE) standards and light-ing design is 50% more efficient.This ensures that the entireoffice is day lit without glarefrom 8am to 5pm. This buildingis designed according to solarpassive principles and has ahigh performance buildingenvelope, consisting of insulat-ed walls and roof. And this isthe first commercial radiant-cooling building in India. Thissymmetric building is one halfradiant cooling (uses water tocool) and the other half, effi-cient, but conventional air con-ditioning (uses air to cool). Thisliving experiment makes a very compelling case for moreefficient cooling systems, as you can compare all the data inreal time.”

Another point that compa-nies make is that going greenhas been highly profitable forthem and the sacrifices is help-ing in the company’s growth.“Since the time we implemented

green initiation scheme, thecompany has been saved fromusing an additional 300 millionunits of electricity. There aregoals that we follow to become agreen company and the most

important of all is to inspire theemployees to take up the initia-tive. Because without their sup-port, it is impossible to make animpact,” Rohan says.

Apart from Infosys, thereare many companies inHyderabad, like Wipro and TCS,that are making the right movestowards a greener tomorrow.These companies have setaggressive carbon emission tar-gets. Infosys Technologies hasalready set a target of 65%reduction in emission per rev-enue unit by 2015, with the baseyear being 2008. Wipro has set atarget of 50% reduction in car-bon emission per capita from2008 to 2015.

Chaitanya Kumar NationalCoordinator of Indian ClimateYouth Network that does ecoaudits of companies in the citysays that it is a positive trend.

“We have done eco-audits ofabout 17 companies and theyhave been very encouragingwhen we approached them tohelp them find their carbon foot-print,” he says.

HOW CAN WE REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT?

RECYCLINGRecycling our waste is a goodway of reducing our carbonfootprint. We can recycle glassand metal containers such asdrinking bottles. We can recy-cle rainwater by collecting iton our roofs and using it forwashing clothes, showers andfor flushing toilets.

TRANSPORTIf we reduce the journeys wemake by cars and planes, ourcarbon footprint will also bereduced. This is also the caseif we take public transportrather than using our private

cars. Cycling and walking arealso healthy options for usand the environment.

HOLIDAY AT HOMEPlanes produce a largeamount of pollution, especial-ly carbon which damages theenvironment and contributesto global warming.

BIO FUELSBio fuels are fuels that areproduced by growing cropsthat can be processed to give us fuel that is more envi-ronmentally friendly than fossil fuels.

Leading the way towards a brighter tomorrow, more and more IT companies in the City are turning green.


14FOOD

1For the sheer variety ofkebabs, Kangan at Westinhas no competition — the

number runs into the thirties.No, that’s not the only reasonthey figure on my list of threemust-visit kebab joints in thecity. A word with Chef RakeshAnand on their kebabs beforeordering them will open you to asea of information on them —from their origin, to adaptations;from procurement of meat andvegetables that go into makingthem, to grilling them. The pas-sion he holds in his subject, youwill realise when they are servedto you, converts to succulentkebabs that just melt in yourmouth.Name: Kangan at WestinPlace: Madhapur

2It is one thing to have a bigheart for someone in thefood business and another

for them to have a big hand toowith which the meat is mountedonto a sheekh before it is grilledto be made into filling kebabas.Don’t bother with the commercein this; take our word for it, themost filling kebabs in the cityare up for grabs at the Riyan inMallepally (there’s one atTollychowki too for those livingin that part of the city). Name: RiyanPlace: Malleypally

3Old City may be notoriousfor its traffic, but the fooddished out here, like the

sight of many heritage struc-tures, takes you back in time.One such place is the Niagara inChaderghat. Not just the taste,the pricing too will leave youawestruck... and the basicmasalas with which they aremade ensures that you are readyfor more the day after.Name: Hotel NiagaraPlace: Chaderghat SS

Top threeKebabs

Let’s take you througha tour of the city andtreat you to the bestkebabs in town.

Research from the University ofSouthern California (USC)

and Cancer PreventionInstitute of California (CPIC) found

that cooking red meat at high tem-peratures, especially pan-fried red

meats, may increase the risk ofadvanced prostate cancer by as

much as 40 per cent.

Prostrate cancer risk

President Francois Hollandehas promised that Francewill fight for the right to

export foie gras, a delicacy pro-duced by force-feeding ducksand geese. A law against foiegras sales took effect inCalifornia in August, the first banof its kind in the world.

Hollande on foie grass

The fortification of more staplefoods with iodine should be con-sidered to ensure children are get-

ting enough of the essential nutrient,university researchers in New Zealandsay. They made the suggestion after astudy of schoolchildren found some kidsmay still have enlarged thyroids becausethey were not getting enough iodine.

Call to add iodine

Hyderabad as a city hasmany, many charms.Variety, sadly, is notone of them.Especially when one

ventures out to taste itsnightlife. If you have a reason-ably large friends’ circle, youalready know what we are talk-ing about. You know exactlywhat happens where, Mondayto Sunday, and that’s where youare. Unfortunately, so is every-one you know.

All of us have been there,and at times like these, we fer-vently wish for the luxury ofmore choices. More places thatwere great and off-the-circuit. Itwas in this pursuit that wechanced upon a place thatturned out to be everything wewanted it to be. Our very ownRoom of Requirement!

We present, Taj Vivanta’slounge — Tease.

Tease is a different experi-

ence on different nights of theweek. For the early part, it’squiet. In muted tones of silverand red, low comfortable seat-ing, music playing discreetly inthe background and impeccableservice, everything here is sig-nature Vivanta. It’s elegant, it’sclassy and best of all, it won’tburn a hole in your pocket.Ideal for a quiet date, catchingup with friends or a nice dinnerand drinks. The latter half ofthe week gets busy with theirSmooth Operators nights(Fridays, the gentlemen get acomplimentary drink for everydrink that the accompanyinglady orders!) and La femmenights (on Saturdays, we kidyou not! All drinks on thehouse).

If you plan to go on other

nights, here are a few recom-mendations food and drinks-wise. Tease offers an endlessarray of conventional andquirky drinks. Apart from thebest of aperitifs, single maltsand beers, their unique“Teaser” cocktails are worth atry. But the real show-stealersare their local favourites, likeGongura Mojito, GolcondaChai, Aise-eche and Cheppendi.With everything from muddledGongura leaves and Irani chaidecoction to curry leaves, theseare a must try for the moreadventurous. Oh and also, aninside secret. Ask at the bar fortheir off-the-menu selections.We promise, you won’t be disap-pointed. Lastly, try their incred-ible refreshing Scarlet Sin, adelectable mix of freshpomegranate and fruit juices, ifyou are going non-alcoholic.

Then, onwards to the food.Between Indian, Oriental andContinental appetisers, Teaseoffers a respectable number ofoptions. Their Continentalofferings are much the usual;onion rings, jalapeno poppersand the likes. Their Indian plat-ter (traditional but perfectlydone paneer tikka, melt-in-

mouth hara bhara kebab andthe likes for vegetarians, andchicken tikka, fish cutlets,Japanese panko-style prawnsfor meat lovers) served withgreen chutney and delicioussesame dip as ideal accompani-ments, is a cut about the rest.But most surprising is theirequivalent of a main course —a noodle bowl. With optionslike wok-fried tofu, mushrooms,chilli chicken, seafood andlamb, it’s comfort food at itsbest. But be warned, it is richand satisfying, but perhapsmight be a little too much aftera night of drinks.

Bottom line? For thosewanting to catch a break fromnoisy, over-crowded, smoke-filled, watering holes of thecity, Tease serves as an appeas-ing alternative.

AN OASIS OF COMFORTTEASE

Taj VivantaMayuri MargBegumpet

Price : `1500 for two

[email protected] C

DE

EPA

K D

ESH

PAN

DE

If you want to catch a break from the noisy, over-crowded, smoke-filled,watering holes of the city, head to Taj Vivanta’s Tease.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 201215FOOD

Syed [email protected]

However preoccupiedyou may be as yougo past the HighCourt, the sizzlingsound of water

being sprinkled on a dosatava and the whiff of dosas isbound to catch your attention.Do not be dismayed at thesight of an unobvious push-cart at a corner, diagonallyopposite the court gate.

Going past a good eatingjoint is one thing and havingan appetite then is another.As much as we (two friendswith a job on hand thatdemanded we crisscrossed thecity) wanted to, we could notget ourselves to eat then.Sadly, we were onto an impor-tant chore, and hence couldn’twait it out long enough toworkup an appetite.

Reluctantly, we left theplace to answer the call ofduty at Chaderghat, only toreturn to this very placewhen eventually hunger gotthe better of us and the donejob the boss’s nod. A placethat foodies will brave OldCity traffic and darned one-ways to eat in, is what JaiBidche Maa is.

One would think thatbusiness done from a push-cart would be a one-manshow. How mistaken... it takes

no less than 20 staff, workingin two shifts at that, to keepthis roadside eatery running.The labour of this armytranslates into soft idlies,every-time-hot Mysore bha-jjias, protein-rich vadas and avariety of yummy dosas from6.00 am to 8.00 pm.

Famous for its varieddosas (masala, upma, tomato,onion, hara masala, butter,paneer and special to name afew), the secret ingredientadded to all of these seems tobe what makes the difference.“The kharam pudi is an in-house developed powder, thatgives the homely taste,”explains Sanjay Maharaj, whofirst started the eatery about10 years back, but now onlyoversees the operations.

The practising astrologergoes on to elaborate anothersecret of their success. “Wegive both quality and quanti-ty at a reasonable price. Howmany places can quell thehunger of a person with fourMysore bhajjias that cost`15?” he challenges. Pointtaken, sir — size does matter!

Appreciation alwayscomes with a pinch of cyni-cism, don’t ask me why. Evenwhen good food is offered at adirt-cheap price, we believethat is what it is, dirt!Camouflaging my distrust ofthe place, I politely ask him ifreheating oil is not anunhealthy process. Sanjaypatiently tells me that withthe quantum of oil they use,the question does not arise.

“We use 1-litre packets ofRuchi Gold refined oil and notthe 15-litre tins, with whichthat may happen,” he says,going on to add in exaspera-tion, “Don’t forget, it is alldone in front of the customer,hence nothing is hidden.”

“Also, we work very hardtowards maintaining cleanli-ness, and serve food in use-and-throw recyclable plates,because of which customersgo back satisfied,” addsPrakash Pandurang fromAurad in Karnataka, whoruns the show along with hisfour brothers.

No-nonsense food on pushcart

Noor’s KitchenNOOR JAFRI

PaneerMakhni

Contactn Mobile: 91-9441282318

n Residence: 91-40-23356947

And now, like us onhttps://www.facebook.com/Noorkitchen

Ingredients1. Paneer 200 gms

2. Butter - 2 table spoons

3. Tomato puree (readymade) - 1 cup

4. Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

5. Green Chopped chillies and 1 clubof chopped garlic

6. Salt to taste

7. Honey/sugar - 1/2 a teaspoon

8. Cloves, pepper corn - 2 to 3

9. Bay Leaf and green cardamom - 1to 2

10.Cinnamon stick - small one or twopieces

11.Kasuri Meethi - 1 tea spooncrushed

12.Cornflour

13.Cream to garnish.Procedure1. Cut the paneer pieces into small

triangular pieces.

2. Sprinkle the cornflour on thepieces.

3. In a pan, heat the butter and putwhole garam masala, choppedchillies, add the paneer pieces andslightly stir fry it.

4. Remove them and keep it sepa-rately.

5. In the same butter add the crushedgarlic, a pinch of garam masalapowder and the tomato puree.

7. Add honey and kasuri meethi, andstir in the paneer pieces, and sim-mer for a while.

8. Remove from the fire and whileplating garnish it with whiskedcream.

Chef’s note n It’s a simple light dish, not very

spicy, but rich with butter

It’s a very delicious andsimple dish, made withpaneer and butter in tomato gravy.

From lawyers to clerks, fromlabourers to students, everyone

is assured of their fill of goodfood at a affordable price here.

















NAMEJai Bidche Maa Bandi

PLACEOpp High Court,Madina, Old City

MUST-HAVESIdlies, Mysore bhajjias,

upma dosa, paneer dosaMEAL FOR TWO`50, burp!

RELISH SOFT IDLIES,EVERY-TIME-HOTMYSORE BHAJJIAS,PROTEIN-RICH VADASAND A VARIETY OFYUMMY DOSAS HERE.



SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 201218HISTORY

August 25 1991: The German race car driver Michael Schumacher makes his Formula One (Europe's top racing circuit) debut in the Belgian Grand Prix at SpaFrancorchamps.

August 201995: The Kalindi Express and thePurushottam Express collided at 2am near Firozabad. More than 358were killed in the accident.

August 201920: Seven men, including leg-endary football star Jim Thorpe,meet to organise a professionalfootball league at the Jordan.

August 211987: Dirty Dancing, starring PatrickSwayze opened in theatres. Thefilm was a surprise box-office hit,earning some $64 million and turn-ing Swayze into a Hollywood star.

August 221864:International Red Cross wasfounded. It is an internationalhumanitarian movement withapproximately 97 million volunteers,members and staff worldwide.

August 231902:Pioneering cookbook authorFannie Farmer, opens MissFarmer's School of Cookery inBoston.

August 241979:After centuries of dormancy,Mount Vesuvius erupts in southernItaly, destroying the Roman cities ofPompeii and Herculaneum andkilling thousands.

August 241993: Michael Jackson accused ofchild abuse. Police in Los Angeleswere investigating allegations ofchild abuse made against thesinger.

August 252003: Bombay rocked by twin carbombs. Two powerful bomb blastshit Bombay within minutes of eachother, killing at least 44 and injuringnearly 150.

August 26 1920: The 19th Amendment to theUnited States Constitution, guaranteeing American women theright to vote, was declared ineffect.

August 261951: The British MotorCorporation (BMC) launches itsnewest car, the small, affordable–ata price tag of less than $800–Mark IMini.

Madhumith EshaBhumika ChawlaPreeti & RajverRebaJiah KhanSubbarami ReddyNavdeep

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19SPOTLIGHT

The night witnessed the best of fashion when the finest in the fash-ion industry showcased their works at Indian Fashion Street organ-

ised at The Park. Actresses Bhumika Chawla and Jiah Khan wereseen scorching the ramp.

1 2 3 4 5

6 7

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DEEPAK DESHPANDE DEEPAK DESHPANDE

Project runway

Music and lyricsStars were in attendance at the Mirchi Music

Awards 2011 that was held at AnnapurnaStudios. Spotted were actors Nagarjuna,Venkatesh, Lakshmi Manchu and others.


CINEMA 20

It’s been a rough ride for Sanjjanaa inTelugu cinema. After her debut inBujjigadu, none of her films clicked atthe box office; however, that doesn’t

seem to bother the actress, who isflooded with more work than everbefore. “It’s been a crazy ride to copewith three film industries in thepast couple of years. I had tworeleases in Malayalam in which Iacted with Mammootty andMohanlal; another three releasesin Kannada and I am awaitingthe release of two of my Telugufilms this year. I am being verypatient when it comes toTelugu because I don’t want todo films just for the heck of itand end up in flop films any-more,” Sanjjanaa says. Askher if there’s a particularreason behind this deci-sion, she confesses, “I amall the more particularnow because every filmI do in Telugu willreflect on my career inthe Kannada filmindustry immediately.After Rebel and Sagar,I am currently workingon a women centric filmin Kannada titled Mahandi.It’s on the lines of Arundhatiand there are huge expectationson the film. Almost `9 crore is rid-ing on me.”

With so many good things happeningwith her career in Kannada andMalayalam, we wonder why lady luck has-n’t smiled upon her in Telugu. “Everyactor has to wait for the right time andopportunity to prove himself. I don’tknock on director and producers’ doorsto cast me and I don’t have the timeand patience to do that. I am lookingat more performance-oriented rolesnow. I don’t feel like doing silly roles. Iknow I am going at a slow pace, but Iknow where I have to reach,” sheadmits.

In Telugu, she’ll be seen inYamaho Yama, in which she’s playingan NRI based in Los Angeles andanother film, Jagan Nirdoshi, is in off-ing. “In Yamaho Yama, I have an ultratrendy role and in Jagan Nirdoshi, Iplay the role of a girl who’s a loner,despite being married to a rich guy.That’s when she meets the hero andthere is sizzling chemistry betweenthem,” she laughs. She finished dubbingfor Yamaho Yama and this is another firstfor her. “I have been working hard to learnthe language and am quite comfortable now.I have been working and travelling so muchthat I might as well be prepared to ensure asmooth ride,” she signs off.

Kaalicharan tobe launched

on August 20

Ram Charan, Kajal andAmala Paul-starrerNaayak is the latest

film to join the race forbox office supremacy for

Pongal, 2013. The film unit willhead to Greece on August 20

and some major scenes aregoing to be shot of Ram

Charan and Kajal for thenext couple of weeks.

Kajal is currently shootingfor Maattrraan in Norwayand she’s expected to fly to

Greece soon after shewraps up the song’s

shooting on Tuesday. VV Vinayak is directing

the film and DVVDanayya is produc-

ing it. Akula Sivahas written the story

and the dialoguesand Chota K Naiduis the cinematogra-

pher. Thaman iscomposing the

music.

Praveen Sri, a former associ-ate of RGV, is making a

comeback with a new filmtitled Kaalicharan. In 2010, he

made his directorial debut withthe Jagapathi Babu, Vimala

Raman starrer Gaayam 2 and nowhe’s teaming up with Chaitanya

Krishna, Chandini, Kavitha,Pankaj Kesari and Rao Ramesh for

Kaalicharan, which is an actionand crime drama. Praveen Sri is

producing the film himself underSri Karunalayam Productions ban-

ner. Newcomer Nandan Raj hascomposed the music and thosewho have heard the songs are

already going gaga over the album.The film is going to be launched on

August 20 in Annapurna Studiosand the principal shooting will

commence soon.

Naayakaims for

Pongalrelease

HEMANTH KUMAR

[email protected]

IN PURSUIT OF

BETTERROLES


CINEMA 21

DimpleKapadia isour museDesigner duo Abu Jani and Sandeep

Khosla, who have completed 25 yearsin the fashion industry, have had their

longest association with actress DimpleKapadia and fondly consider her their silent

muse. "Dimple can pull off any outfit stylishly.She is our silent muse. She wears all our cre-ations with confidence and grace. Dimple islike a goddess, who walks on earth. We have

worked with her for the longest time," Khoslasaid. The duo are masters of revival and rein-

vention and took ancient techniques and crafts-manship to a new level through their innova-

tive collections. They rediscovered ancientIndian arts such as chikan and zardosi for

designer wear and have successfully introducedthe style to international audience too. IANS

He plays the role of a young rebel in hisupcoming film Chakravyuh and actor

Abhay Deol feels the issue of Naxaliteswill get worse if it is not tackled at the earliest.“I had some knowledge because I had read this

story of a lady called Soni Suri, a tribal ladywho is stuck between police and Naxals. But to

what extent and how deep this Naxal move-ment is something I got to know after meeting

Prakashji. I have this feeling that it will getworse, it is not going to get better not unless

the government addresses it, or we all Indiansdo something about it,”

Abhay told reporters at the first look ofChakravyuh. PTI

She is just a film old inBollywood but Indo-Canadianadult star Sunny Leone says sheis smitten by the industry and

would like to have a full-fledgedcareer here. The 31-year-old actress,who is gearing up for Ekta Kapoor'sRagini MMS 2 after her debut in Jism2, said she is learning Hindi anddance.

"I love India. I am happy with theway things are shaping here. It's anamazing industry and people aretreating me in a friendly manner. Iam looking forward to do more films.I am happy being here. I will be stay-ing here for a while as I have lots ofdifferent projects coming up. PTI

SUNNY LEONELOOKING

FORWARD TOSTAYING HERE

It’s imperative toaddress the issue

of Naxalism


ENTERTAINMENT 22

Enrique Iglesias andJennifer Lopez hadthousands dancingto their repertoire

of hits in LosAngeles, one of

the last cities on their sum-mer concert tour. More nat-

ural, more intimate andfaithful to his improvisedstyle, the Spanish singer

brought several of his fansonstage and even kissedone girl on the mouth as

the music of Hero was play-ing, before stepping asideto let the New York-born

JLo take the spotlight.Lopez put on a chore-

ographed show full of visu-al effects, muscular male

dancers and countless cos-tume changes in which she

went from less to more,finally bringing everyone to

their feet with a festivefinale together with thereggaeton duo Wisin &

Yandel singing Follow theLeader. Two very different

styles which, Iglesiasbelieves, “is what makes

the tour so interesting”, ashe told reporters before the

concert. “When you mixthings in an unexpected

way is when you create thismagic,” the Spaniard said.

ENRIQUE, JLOCOMBINE

STYLES

Hanks produces afilm on John F

KennedyRemember when Tom Hanks

“shook” John F. Kennedy’shand in Forrest Gump?

Well, Hanks is returning to simi-lar, much darker territory as co-

producer of a new film about thelate president’s assassination. A

publicist for Hanks has con-firmed to EW.com that Hanksand his Playtone Productions

partner Gary Goetzman aremaking a film titled

Parkland, helmed by first-time director Peter

Landesman. The ensembledrama revolves around the

events surrounding JFK’sshooting death in Dallas onNov 22, 1963. Oliver Stone’s

1991 movie JFK was filledwith conspiracy theories and

cover-up plot twists aboutKennedy’s murder, and Stone

came under major fire fromoutlets saying he took too many

liberties when it came to factsand historical details.

According to The HollywoodReporter, Goldberg has beentapped to reprise her role as

New York Academy of Dramatic Artsdean Carmen Tibideaux in a recur-ring capacity during the musicaldramedy’s fourth season, and will bebilled as a “special guest star.” Shewas previously seen in a multi-episode arc during Season 3, whereshe decided the fates of Lea Michele’sRachel and Chris Colfer’s Kurt —choosing to admit Rachel to the hal-lowed halls of Nyada but denyingKurt a spot. THR also reports thatGlee Project Season 1 winners, SamuelLarsen and Alex Newell, will recurnext year, along with Season 2 winnerBlake Jenner, who makes his debut inEpisode 5.

Goldbergback in Glee


CINEMA 23


CINEMA 24

Anne Hathaway can’twait to get married

Actress Anne

Hathawaycannot waitto get mar-

ried andstart a family with fiance

Adam Shulman. But the 29-year-old, who has been

engaged toShulman fornine months

now, has pushed weddingplans to 2013, reported Us

magazine. “Annie wants toget everything done so

they can get married andhave babies. Whenever

they can be together is likebreathing for her,” a

source said.It is said that the wed-

ding has been postponed

due to Hathaway’s busyschedule and her 31-year-

old designer beau does notmind the wait. “Adam has

been incredibly under-standing and has been

working on his own stufftoo. They’re inseparable

now. They love beingengaged!” the source

added. PTI


CINEMA 25

WinonaRyder tostar inHomefrontBlack Swan star Winona

Ryder is in negotiations tojoin Jason Statham and

James Franco in action filmHomefront. The movie has beenscripted by action star SylvesterStallone, who is also producingthe movie with Kevin KingTempleton and Rene Besson,Hollywood Reporter said.

Based on a book by ChuckLogan, the story revolves aroundan ex-DEA agent (Statham) whomoves to a small town in thehope of a quiet life but runsafoul of a villainous meth king-pin named Gator (Franco).Ryder will play a former bikerchick partnered with Franco.The actress just completed workon the thriller The Iceman. PTI

Cooper maystar withBeyonce

Having secured a massivepayday of $15 million forreprising his role as Phil,the debauchery-loving

family man in the final Hangoverinstallment, Bradley Cooper hascreated a substantial financialcushion that should allow him topursue basically any project hewants to do. Clint Eastwood issaid to be considering him to head-line his rock ‘n’ roll remake of AStar Is Born. Originally made in1937, the story typically centers ona rising ingénue whose path tofame is paved by a leading man onthe decline. To date, JanetGraynor and Frederic March,Judy Garland and JamesMason, and BarbaraStreisand and KrisKristofferson have takenon these lead roles invarious remakes. InEastwood’s version,he’s made a slighttweak to the narrativethat’ll better suit hisleading lady, BeyoncéKnowles. Ratherthan being about anaspiring actress, hisrevamp will focuson an aspiringsinger, who is takenunder the wing ofan aging rock star.

CHAI TIME 26SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

ACROSS1 Emulate a dragonfly6 Breathes hard11 Kitchen VIPs16 Groovy21 Tequila cactus22 Like pagodas23 Artichoke morsel24 Hawkeye25 Wastes time26 Jules — of sci-fi27 Wedding site28 Neutral and first29 Almost grown31 Rank33 Mild expletive35 Road map No36 Shoe inserts37 Silkwood of ‘Silkwood’38 Respiratory organ39 In case40 Fiddle-de- —41 Gourmet mushroom42 Town44 Close ties47 Installed electricity48 Firing on all

cylinders49 Moulin Rouge dance53 Some CDs54 Bouquet holders55 Hoppers56 Black Sea nation57 Tie recipient, often58 Ventricle neighbour59 Kind of advice60 Catcall61 Mdse.62 Forever64 Curved entrance65 Lay down cards66 Playwright Moss —67 Wrecks, as a train68 Sitter's bane69 London gallery70 Gets stuck71 My mind — — blank72 Agreement74 Cave, perhaps75 Lamp cover78 Ill humor79 Library slogan80 Called from the Alps84 Smidgens85 Common amphibian86 Square pillar87 Resolute88 Riviera summer89 Tampico dollar90 Phoenician deity91 — dot92 Have a cold93 Sci-fi weapons95 Lounge about96 Heats up97 1977 whale movie98 Kitchen gadget99 Receptions100 Ices101 Damp-smelling102 Brings together104 ‘You're So Vain’ name105 Butter serving106 — and woolly109 White lies110 Dust particles111 Marker type (hyph)115 Byron work116 New Year's word

117 Tent dweller118 Hot dry wind (2 wds)119 Type of poem121 Dumas swordsman123 Hay holders125 Dana — of

‘MacGyver’126 Plant life127 Wildlife refuges128 Young raptor129 Scrapes, as a knee130 More cunning131 Rome, to Carthage132 Chews on133 First name in

cosmeticsDOWN1 Papa Doc ruled it2 Rhymester — Nash3 Glens4 50-50 chance (2 wds)5 eBay commerce6 Does road work7 Manipulated8 Flat-needled tree9 Hooplas10 Curled one's lip11 Rover's restraint12 Kept in custody13 Hit the buffet14 Package label15 Leisurely walk

16 Close at hand17 Help-wanted abbr18 Tuned in19 Dainty pastries20 Early stages30 Golly!32 Util bill34 — off (abated)37 Divided country38 Wins at rummy39 Olin or Horne41 Drizzling42 Barn topper43 ‘Mr Mom’ actress44 Waited awhile45 Spout rhetoric46 Consumerist Ralph —47 Bumps on a frog48 Sound bored50 Havana export51 Brooke's ex52 Wren abodes54 Monsieur's shout55 Kind of infection56 River in Zaire58 Biscotto flavor59 Fraus, in Sp.60 Hot tub features63 Police busts64 Drury Lane composer65 — Adams of a 007

flick

66 ‘Fatha’ of jazz68 Dauntless69 1917 abdicator70 News services72 Hi or bye73 Explorer Alexandra

David- —74 Wharves75 Puts one's

foot down76 ‘Jungle Book’

elephant77 Turn — — ear

78 Head honcho80 Bellows81 Polygraph flunkers82 Oust83 Postpone85 Frighten badly86 Buds87 Napkin89 Hammer part90 Glamorous wraps91 Office kitties94 Small earring95 Wine sediments96 Focused (2 wds)97 Yaks more99 Lama, usually100 Junk mail101 Like Bogart's falcon103 Closing number

104 Web suffix105 Desk item106 Gobbles down107 Flirtation108 Composer —

Anderson110 Like fallen logs111 Goes without food112 Implied but unsaid113 Beyond banal

114 Do Latin homework116 Injury memento117 ‘Cheers’

regular118 One-pot dinner120 Vexation122 Scurry along124 Gator Bowl st

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SUNDAY CROSSWORD

CHAI TIME 27SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012

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TAROT READ

The Wheel ofFortune – Times arenot going to be thesame all the time. Ifthey’re bad now,things will look up.This card urges youto keep your chin up.

Temperance – Be pa -tient about your wo -rk situation. Thingswill improve soon.You’re getting anx-ious about the sacri-fices you’ve made inorder to get here.

Knight of Pentacles –Planning is key today.Keep some buffer ti -me between appoin -t ments and accountfor delays and disap-pointments. A tough,testing day.

ARIESThere’s need to exercise caution whileexpressing opinion, as chances are th atyou might be misunderstood. Tensi onat workplace will disappear but don'tentrust work to others without thought.

CANCER

LIBRAAbundant levels of self-confidence andcourage will make you a strong winner.Avoid friends of bad repute and harshtalks. Happy events to take place athome. Expenses need to be monitored.

CAPRICORNEnemies might be active and hatch aconspiracy to create trouble for you. Tokeep a happy atmosphere at home, youneed to keep the anger away. Business -men will do well and double profits.

TAURUSYour wholehearted, hard and sincereefforts alone can make you successfulin work undertaken. Avoid interfering inanyone's personal issues. Improve self-confidence and take bold decisions.

LEOAvoid unwanted discussion and debat -es at office to stay clear of trouble. Yo -ur patient approach will yield desiredresults and keep you happy. Business -men will be successful and prosper.

SCORPIOYour inactiveness and lazy attitude willmake you unsuccessful. Employees willbe successful only when they plan workand execute them in the stipulated time,which will earn them recognition.

AQUARIUSAvoid acting in haste and with negli-gence at workplace. Avoid hurting feel-ings of blood relatives. Happy eventsto take place at home after the hurdlesare driven away with strong efforts.

GEMINIOnly with calculated and plannedefforts can difficulties be driven away.Employees need to work with patienceand avoid negligence at workplace sothat they will earn a good name.

VIRGOAll work undertaken will be successfulwithout facing any hurdle or difficulties.Employees may be entrusted with moreresponsibilities but they will also be suit-ably rewarded on completing the same.

SAGITTARIUSAvoid controversial stand and argume -n ts with anyone. Never disclose yourwork secrets to a third person as youmight land in trouble. Accept unex-pected transfer; it will benefit you.

PISCESDull time faced by employees at work-place will come to an end. Your self-confidence and courage will increase.Differences with superiors will go.Accept any unexpected transfer.

For B

ette

r or f

or W

orse

Ink

pen

Page of Pentacles –You may be gettingmixed up in thehead about a num-ber of things. Learnto discriminatebetween the souland mind/ body.

Knight of Wands –Be careful to nothurt others’ feelings.You may be comingacross as quite anunscrupulous mon-ster who thinks onlyabout himself.

Eight of Cups – Youhave everything andyour life is near per-fect. This is to theoutside world. Butonly you know thatyou’re missing some-thing.

The Tower – Expectthe unexpectedtoday. Delays anddisappointments willmake you feel rest-less. You can’t han-dle it when thingsspiral out of control.

Two of Wands –Patience is key tomake things workand allow them tohappen on their owntime and course.Don’t make impulsivedecisions.

The High Priestess –Prayer and medita-tion will work won-ders for you. Settime aside every day– even three minutesa day – to re-connectwith your inner self.

The Emperor – Fina -n ces need attention.Plan finances well a -n d make sure you’reinvesting in the rightplaces. Pay a goodadvisor instead ofdoing it all yourself.

Judgment – You ma -y be running the riskof upsetting some-one close to youbecause of the wayan issue turned out.Don’t take thingstoo seriously.

Ace of Swords – The -re are clouds of con-fusion. Despite that,you’re able to displayclarity of thought.You’re clear aboutwhat you need.

STAR POWER SUMAA [email protected]

[email protected]

040-27177230 / 9949870449

There’s need to adopt a slow-and-steady policy, which will keep youhappy and successful. More than yourobedience, your daring action willyield better result at workplace.

Date 20-8-2012 Date 20-8-2012

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As per Hindu panchang

CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES

SAGITTARIUSSCORPIOLIBRA

CANCER

ARIES TAURUS GEMINI

LEO VIRGO

Slept like a log last night...Woke up in the fireplace.

A group of chess enthusiastschecked into a hotel and werestanding in the lobby discuss -ing their recent tournament vic-tories. After about an hour, themanager came out of the officeand asked them to disperse.''But why?'' they asked, as theymoved off. ''Because,'' he said''I can't stand chess nuts boast-ing in an open foyer.''

I was in Tesco's and I saw thisman and woman wrapped in abarcode. I said, ''Are you two

an item?''

I'm in great mood tonightbecause the other day Ientered a competition and Iwon a year’s supply ofMarmite... one jar.

So I went to the Chineserestaurant and this duck cameup to me with a red rose andsaid, ''Your eyes sparkle likediamonds''. I said, ''Waiter, Iasked for a-ROMATIC duck''.Four fonts walk into a bar thebarman says ''Oye — get out!We don't want your type inhere''

For laughs and giggles

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 201228FOCUS

Mohamad Ali Harissi

Construction of the cityon the bank of the TigrisRiver began in July 762AD under Abbasid

Caliph Abu Jaafar al-Mansur,and it has since played a pivotalrole in Arab and Islamic civilisa-tions. “Baghdad represented theeconomic centre of the AbbasidEmpire, and it was used as astarting point for controllingother neighbouring regions toenhance Islamic power,” saidIssam al-Faili, a professor ofpolitical history atMustansiriyah University.

“Baghdad witnessed arenaissance of thought throughtranslation, which was usuallymastered by Jews and theChristians, and became a desti-nation for intellectuals, poetsand scholars from all parts ofthe world, and a centre forcraftsmen and a city of con-struction,” Faili said. “Baghdadtoday, after it was the capital ofthe world, has become one of themost miserable cities,” he said.

British consultancy firmMercer ranked Baghdad as theworst place in the world to livein its 2010 Quality of LivingSurvey. The city has been con-quered several times in its histo-ry, the first in 1258 when theMongols destroyed Baghdad. Itwas captured in 1831 by theOttomans, in 1917 by the British,and in 2003 by a US-led coalitionthat overthrew dictator SaddamHussein but also ended upunleashing internecine violencethat killed tens of thousands ofpeople. Baghdad was a moderncapital known for its nightlife inthe 1970s, but it has fallen intogloomy disrepair in the years ofconflict since. Saddam started awar with Iraq in 1980 that lastedfor eight years, and thenlaunched a disastrous invasionof Kuwait in 1990, only to beforced out in 1991. Iraq was hitby a harsh regime of interna-tional sanctions over the Kuwaitinvasion, and later lived underan ever-present threat of bomb-ings, assassinations, gun battlesand death squad killings in the

years after 2003. Even now, gov-ernment employees, includinghigh-ranking officers in thesecurity forces, are frequentlygunned down in the streets.

Despite its long history, thereare only fleeting signs of his-toric buildings on even its oldeststreets. Ugly, uninspired con-crete boxes are far more com-mon. Checkpoints cause massivetraffic jams, and security forcesin the city are armed for war,with equipment includingassault rifles, machine guns andarmoured vehicles. Baghdad’sstreets are often strewn withrubbish and ridden by potholes.What public works projectsthere are move at a glacial pace.

The government is head-quartered in a heavily fortifiedarea known as the Green Zone,which is defended, among otherthings, by newly acquired US-made Abrams tanks. Entry tothe area requires passingthrough a byzantine series ofsecurity checks, some of whichare of questionable value indeterring attacks, and journal-

ists’ cameras are regarded withdeep suspicion.

While Baghdad was once thecentre of an empire, the Iraqigovernment has been paralysedby political crises for almosteight months, during which ithas accomplished little.“Baghdad today is like Baghdadof yesterday in terms of the lux-ury that was enjoyed by thecaliph and his family in the daysof the Abbasid era, while thepeople were in misery,” Failisaid.

Corruption is widespread,and while Iraq takes in billionsof dollars a month in oil rev-enues, signs of it benefiting thegeneral public are hard to find.Iraqi writer and journalistRifaat Mahmud said that theissue of restoring Baghdad towhat it was is a difficult matter,and cannot be achieved in cir-cumstances such as those inwhich the neglected city nowlives. “Baghdad needs what wecan call a miracle to regain itsform and heritage and at least apart of its past.” AFP

THE CITY OF YORE Baghdad was once the capital of an empire and the centre of the Islamic world, but at 1,250 years old,

the Iraqi city is a far cry from its past glories after being ravaged by years of war and sanctions.

BAGHDAD NEEDS WHATWE CAN CALL A MIRACLETO REGAIN ITS FORMAND HERITAGE ANDAT LEAST A PART OFITS PAST.


SPORTS 29NORTH PLAINS, OREGON: Japan’sMika Miyazato, seeking her first LPGAtitle, fired a four-under par 68 on Satur-day to seize a two-stroke lead after thesecond round of the LPGA Safeway Cl-assic. Miyazato birdied the par-3 11thand third holes and added birdies atthe sixth and par-5 eighth holes to fin-ish 36 holes on 11-under 133, two clearof So Yeon Ryu, who also shot a 68.

Mika on top after 2nd round PAMPLONA, SPAIN: SpaniardJonathan Castroviejo pulled on theleader’s red jersey in the Tour of Spainon Saturday after his Movistar teamwon the opening 16.5km team time-trial. The Spanish outfit of defendingVuelta champion Juan Jose Cobo andoutsider Alejandro Valverde clocked awinning time of 18min 51sec, to finishahead of Dutch team Rabobank.

Castroviejo in Tour redLONDON: Hashim Amla’s unbeatenfifty steadied South Africa as Englandpressed with both bat and ball on thethird day of the third Test on Saturday.At stumps, SA were 145 for three in th-eir second innings with Amla 57 (n.o.)and Dale Steyn at the crease. SouthAfrica, 1-0 up in the three-match serie-s, only have to avoid defeat to beco-me the world’s top-ranked Test side.

Amla keeps England at bay

CINCINNATI: China’s Li Na,seeking her first WTA title sincewinning the 2011 French Open,defeated Venus Williams 7-5, 3-6,6-1 on Saturday to reach the finalof the ATP and WTA CincinnatiMasters.

Ninth seed Li, who reachedthe Montreal final last week, willplay Sunday’s final against thewinner of a later match betweenfifth seed Angelique Kerber ofGermany or Czech fourth seedPetra Kvitova, the 2011Wimbledon winner.

Li captured the first set andbroke Williams’ first servicegame of the second set for a 2-0edge when the American,nagged by back pain, called forthe trainer, receiving a back ruband returning to the court.

The treatment made all thedifference to former World No. 1Williams, who won the next fivegames on her way to forcing athird set that Li dominated,improving to 3-0 all-time against

Williams with her 33rd victoryof the season.

“I’m sorry for Venus. Shehad a back problem and she real-ly couldn’t serve. But after shehad treatment she really foughthard in the second set,” Li said.

“When she was stretched outon the court I thought maybe thematch might be finished. Butthere are no easy matches on this

tour and it went all the way.”

FEDERER, DJOKOVIC TO MEETIN FINAL

World No 1 Roger Federerand World No 2 Novak Djokovicbooked a showdown in Sunday’sfinal at the ATP and WTACincinnati Masters withstraight-set semi-final triumphson Saturday.

Top seed Federer beat hisfriend and Swiss compatriotStanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3,while Djokovic, who quit lastyear’s final against AndyMurray with a shoulder prob-lem, advanced by defeating JuanMartin Del Potro 6-3, 6-2.

“It will come down to a fewpoints against Novak,” Federersaid. “I’ll have to play my gameand not worry about what hemight be doing, especially onbreak points.

“I missed break points in theOlympic final (against Murray)and I can’t do that against him.

‘I’m sorry for Venus. She had a back problem and shereally couldn’t serve. But after she had treatment she real-

ly fought hard in the second set,’ Li said.

Dani on pole,Stoner hurt

Dani Pedrosa claimed pole while CaseyStoner struggled with a right ankle injury.

Pete Cava

INDIANAPOLIS: Spain’sDani Pedrosa (right) claimedpole position for Sunday’sIndianapolis Grand Prix whileAustralian Casey Stonerstruggled with a right ankleinjury after a qualifyingcrash.

Pedrosa, on a Honda, rodethe fastest lap at 1min38.813sec over the 2,621-mile,16-turn layout at theIndianapolis Motor Speedwayduring a crash-filled qualify-ing session on Saturday.

“It was tough and trickybecause it was very slipperyand we could see many crash-es,” Pedrosa said. “It wasimportant to keep focused.The back end was sliding a lot,so it was tough.

“But at the end, it wasgood because we could get onpole.”

Pedrosa ranks second inthe overall season pointschase behind countrymanJorge Lorenzo, who finishedsecond qualifying on hisYamaha, while AndreaDovizioso of Italy was third.

“This is not one of the besttracks in our championships,”Dovizioso said.

Lorenzo banged his fistagainst his Yamaha in frustra-tion when he realized he hadfinished second to Pedrosa,but he outlined his plan forthe race.

“I think the importantthing tomorrow is to finish,”Lorenzo said.

“We modified the bike a lotwith some weight on the rearto enter the corners with moreconfidence. I felt great as aresult. We don’t have a badpace but not as good as Daniyet. We need to improve a lit-tle.” Reigning world championStoner, third on this year’spoints list in a season he sayswill be his last, wasstretchered off the track aftera crash on his Honda, suffer-ing a marginal fracture in hisright ankle.

Last year’s winner atIndianapolis Motor Speedwaywas thrown over his motorcy-cle’s handlebars and across

the track in turn 13. He quali-fied sixth but his status for therace will be decided by a re-evaluation early Sunday.

Americans Ben Spies andNicky Hayden were alsoinjured in qualifying crashes,with Hayden suffering a con-cussion and two broken bonesin his right hand and beingruled out of the race.

“The track surface is pret-ty tricky,” Spies said. “Itseems to have caught a fewpeople.”

Spies, the 2010 Indy polestarter, qualified fourthdespite also being claimed bya crash in turn 13. His bikeskidded out and he suffered abruised shoulder but wasapproved to race.

“My shoulder is reallysore after that crash,” Spiessaid. “It’s pretty painful... It’sfrustrating as we’ve beengoing really well all weekendand I’ve been feeling reallyconfident with the bike.”

WOMEN — SEMI-FINALS

Li Na (CHN x9) bt VenusWilliams (USA) 7-5, 3-6, 6-1

Angelique Kerber (GER x5) btPetra Kvitova (CZE x4) 6-1, 2-

6, 6-4

MEN — SEMI-FINALS

Novak Djokovic (SRB x2) btJuan Martin Del Potro (ARG

x6) 6-3, 6-2

Roger Federer (SUI x1) btStanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 7-6

(7/4), 6-3

Li beats Venusto reach final

It was tough andtricky because it wasvery slippery and wecould see manycrashes. It wasimportant to keepfocused.

Dani Pedrosa,GP motoorcycle racer


SPORTS

India’s VeryIn an unexpected move, Indian cricketing legend VVS Laxman announced his retirement

When VVS Laxman announced hisretirement yesterday, the wholenation was left reeling. It was atruth which many did not see

coming. The world class batsman who managed

to trouble the otherwise confident Aussies,had left a void in the national side, a placewhich many doubt can ever be filled, and athought which even Laxman’s coach, JohnManoj, also voiced.

Every giant leap requires an initial step— a fact that each of us is clearly aware of.25 years ago, in May 1987, a young ladnamed Laxman, was enrolled at the StJohn’s cricket academy in Marredpally, byhis maternal uncle. He was a disciplined

student who took the sport very seriouslyand was extremely focused. Not manywould have expected him to reach theheights that eventually did. “Laxman wasan extremely disciplined boy. He had all hisenergies focused on cricket. He was verysincere and use practice for long hours,”said Manoj.

A visit to the office room of the academyshows numerous photos of Laxman hang-ing alongside many other cricketing greats.“A striking trait of Laxman was his ‘two-minutes’ habit. Every time when we had toend the session, he would request saying‘two more minutes’ of practice and this twomore minutes used to be dragged on for notless than 15 minutes,” added his coach.

Laxman’s initial

G Aparna [email protected]

HYDERABAD: In an unexpectedturn of events, Indian cricketinglegend, VVS Laxman announcedhis retirement from cricket withimmediate effect, ending a 16-year-old long international career. Thisannouncement was made at apress conference held at theRajiv Gandhi InternationalCricket Stadium (RGICS) hereon Saturday.

It was decision that mostdid not expect andthose who saw it com-ing, hoped it was nottrue. His decisioncame as a surpriseto one and all espe-cially since thebatsman wasselected for theupcoming Testseries againstNew Zealandbeginning fromAugust 23.(Hyderabadwould be hostingthe first of the twotest matches).Though Laxmanhas retired from theinternational scene, hewould continue to play forHyderabad in this sea-son’s Ranji Trophy.

While many speculat-ed that the increasingcriticism was the maincause for his retirement,Laxman claimed other-wise, saying that his“inner voice” was whatprompted him to take thisdecision.

“I have always heardmany sports personalitiessay that there will be afeeling, a thought, a voicewhich will tell you that itis time. I heard that voicewithin me and decided that

my time was up,” Laxman said. “Iannounce my retirement withimmediate effect.”

“While I would love contribut-ing to the team especially in Engla-nd and Australia, I would like to ta-ke this opportunity to give a young-ster a chance to play in home condi-

tions before the upcoming over-seas tours next year,” he added.

Laxman, who was accom-panied by emotional familymembers to the venue, hadsaid that it was a battle of

thoughts over the last four-fivedays and that he had

finalised his decisiononly on the morning ofthe announcement. Heinformed the selec-tors on Saturdaymorning. WhileSachin Tendulkarhad called on thecricketer, Indianskipper, MahenderSingh Dhoniproved to be a“busy man”.

The cricketerread out a state-ment in which hethanked one andall, especially hisfamily members.

The father oftwo, gave India

many moments tocherish– the best beinghis 281 against Australiain Kolkata, an inningswhich, with the help ofteammate Rahul Dravid,saw them seal the gamein India’s favour.

Laxman has 17 Testcenturies and six ODIhundreds to his credit.He was nicknamed VeryVery Special Laxmanand indeed so, as he wasa gifted player for the

team. His absence is avoid which none canever fill.

Cricketing legendcalls it a day

(From top-left) 1.) VVS Laxman being felicitated at the St John’s Cricket Academy after his historichis under-19 days (1999). 3.) Laxman being felicitated after making his debut in national side in

1

3

30&31

Special Manfrom international cricket yesterday, letting the curtains fall on his 16-year-old career

According to him, the coaches at thecricket academy spotted talent in the crick-eter when he went on to score a century, ina tournament conducted in Vijayawada, inthe year 1988. “Once, we had sorted out boys(according to their talent) and the sent themfor a tournament in Vijayawada. Laxmanscored his first hundred and we knew wehad a rising star among us,” Manoj claimed.

The coach had only words of praise forthe cricketing legend. “He was never a mis-chievous boy. He came, went about his workand then left. Never indulged in any kind ofunwanted deeds,” said Manoj.

The coach, like many others was equallysurprised with Laxman’s decision to call itquits. Though there was a hint that he was

going to hang his boots soon, yet it was notcompletely expected. He did discuss thematter with me a couple of days ago. I wascertainly surprised. I hoped he would notcall it quits so soon but when he was firmabout it, I knew he had made up his mindand nothing would change his decision,”rued Manoj. “The Indian team would bemissing out on one of the most genuinecricketers the game has produced,” headded.

Just like the distraught coach, thenation also seems to have reacted in a simi-lar fashion, but like they say, all good thingshave to come to an end, so did the 16 glori-ous years of Laxman’s international careerhave to see the curtains drop down. AS

steps in the game

One of India’s greatest stylistswalks away into the horizonsatisfied and probably a little

saddened. An often rocky roadfinally ends for VVS Laxman. Butthe smooth, wristy and graceful ba-tting of one of India’s greatest play-ers has left such an indelible markthat it will live on forever. Therewas the chance for a perfect swan-song at his home ground. But like atrue sportsman, Laxman deniedhimself that grand exit. As herightly said, “his inner voice”would not let him. It just empha-sised that he left the centre stage inthe same dignified way he played.

And like the slight disruption athis press conference which madehim repeat his retirement announc-ement once again, Laxman inadver-tently gave his detractors more fod-der to feed on. Many questioned thetiming of the decision. They saidthat he could have made the annou-ncement before being selected forthe Tests against New Zealand.

Thankfully, it does not matteranymore. The fact is that these crit-ics, some of them former Indian cr-icketers, could not even hold a can-dle to him. So how will Laxman bejudged in the history of cricket? Atotal of 8,781 runs in 134 Tests at anaverage of 45.97 are proof enoughthat he is up there among the bigguns. Importantly, it was the wayhe made them which really affirmshis greatness. He had so much styleand grace that even a short stay atthe crease would be worth a watch.

He had such silky wrists that hecould play across the line and getthe ball to the leg-side boundary.

His driving on either side of thewicket was joy to behold. He stoodtall and his bat made a sweet soundas it sped away to the boundary.

He could also buckle down andoccupy the crease when the needarose. Even then, he was never bor-ing. Laxman maintained the tradi-tion of Hyderabad which has con-tributed some of the most stylishplayers in Indian history.

Players like ML Jaisimha, Ab-bas Ali Baig and Mohammed Azha-ruddin are still etched in the memo-ry of many for their elegant batti-ng. Like all genius with the willow,Laxman was besotted with incon-sistency. There were periods whenself-doubt overtook assurance.

But to his credit, Laxman nevergave up. He was also played aroundwith, being thrusted as an openerwhen he preferred the middle-order.

That innings of 281 againstAustralia at Eden Gardens in 2001is rated among the best innings bya player to win a Test. His inningsof 167 in 2000 had already gavethem notice of things to come.

Australia always respected him.That in itself is a great honourbecause the hard-nosed Aussiestreated all opposition as enemy.

Laxman was part of the battingquartet consisting of Tendulkar,Ganguly and Dravid, who laid thefoundations for India.

Statistical-minded India doesnot sometimes judge by quality. Itwill be pointed out that Laxman fellshort of the average of 50 whichseparates good from the great. Butgeniuses don not need yardsticks.

However, what matters isLaxman scored when India neededmost. Back in October 2010 againstAustralia in Mohali, India neededto score 216 to win and were totter-ing at 124 for eight. Using a runnerbecause of back pain, Laxmanjoined the tailenders and scored anunbeaten 73 to win India the match.What more can one say.

The ultimate tribute comesfrom former Australian skipperSteve Waugh who said of his neme-sis, “Watching Laxman in full flightis to see an artist at work”.

Goodbye Mr Grace.

Man of completegrace and style

1996. 4.) Laxman smiles during the press conference after he announced his retirement on Saturday.281 against Australia in 2001. 2.)VVS Laxman along with teammates at the cricket academy during

2

4

Twelfth ManBabu Kalyanpur


SPORTS 32

NEWCASTLE, UK: Newcastle mid-fielder Hatem Ben Arfa kept hisnerve to score the late penalty thathanded Andre Villas-Boas a 2-1defeat in his first match asTottenham manager on Saturday.

After a dismal eight-month spellat Chelsea ended with his sackinglast season, Villas-Boas is back inthe Premier League with a point toprove.

But the young Portuguese coach,a surprise appointment followingHarry Redknapp’s dismissal at theend of last season, will need to getmore from his players than theydelivered in an inconsistent displayat St James’ Park.

Senegal striker Demba Ba putNewcastle ahead with a superb goalearly in the second half and,although Jermain Defoe grabbed anequaliser, it was France internation-

al Ben Arfa who won and then con-verted the decisive penalty with 10minutes remaining.

While Villas-Boas returns tonorth London with plenty of workto do, it was business as usual forNewcastle boss Alan Pardew.

Pardew presided over a remark-able campaign for the Magpies lastseason as they defied predictions of

a relegation battle to challenge forthe place in the Champions League.

Newcastle eventually finishedfifth and on the evidence of thisimpressive effort another high fin-ish is well within their grasp.

Villas-Boas’s side had lookedsharper in the first half and weredesperately unlucky not to takesome kind of lead into the half-timebreak after both Defoe and GarethBale clattered shots against thewoodwork.

Defoe was sent through by aneat ball from Jake Livermore inthe 33rd minute but fired againstthe base of Tim Krul’s right-handpost, and three minutes later Baleheaded powerfully against the barfrom an Aaron Lennon cross.

Pardew started with his newsignings Vurnon Anita and RomainAmalfitano on the bench. AFP

Dermot Ledwith

MADRID: Sixteen-year-old FabriceOlinga made history on Saturday when hebecame the youngest ever player to scorein La Liga, grabbing the only goal asMalaga clinched a 1-0 victory at promotedCelta Vigo.

The Cameroon-born forward came onas a 58th-minute substitute to make hisleague debut and got the 84th-minute win-ner as the new season got under way.

At only 16 years and 98 days, Olinga is191 days younger than current AthleticBilbao player Iker Muniain who had held

the previous record for youngest scorer.Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini

denied that the teenager’s debut was amessage to the club’s owners who havebeen criticised for selling some of theirbest players over the summer.

“The debut was no intentional mes-sage, young players like him and Portilloand Juanmi have to get experience and inno way does it prove we are lackingresources in the squad,” said Pellegrini.

Celta, back in La Liga after five sea-sons away, were the better side for muchof the game with ex-Chelsea playerQuique de Lucas looking particularly dan-gerous. The veteran de Lucas had the bestchance of the first half hooking a RobertoLagos cross just over the crossbar.

After the interval he went close onthree occasions in quick succession.

Willy Caballero, excellent all eveningin goal for Malaga, blocked two shots intwo minutes before the striker unluckilystruck the left hand post after beingplayed through by the industrious IagoAspas.

Malaga played at half pace allevening, with one eye perhaps on theclub’s first ever Champions League matchat home to Panathinaikos on Wednesdaythat will be key to qualification to thegroup stages of the competition. AFP

LONDON: Liverpoolcrashed to a shock 3-0defeat at West Brom inBrendan Rodgers’ firstPremier League match asReds boss, while Arsenalstarted life without Robinvan Persie with a dour 0-0

draw against Sunderlandon Saturday.

It was a sweet mom -ent for Albion managerSteve Clarke, who wassacked by Liverpool atthe end of last seasonafter 18 months.

Malaga CF’s forward Fabrice Olinga (C) cele-brates with teammates after scoring a goalagainst Celta on Saturday. AFP/ M RIOPA

Ben Arfa hands AVBfirst Spurs defeat

Olinga is youngestLa Liga goalscorer

Spanish league results on Saturday

Celta Vigo 0 Malaga 1 (Essono Olinga 84)

Sevilla 2 (Fazio 34, Negredo 38-pen) Getafe 1 (Ruano 50)

Real Mallorca 2 (Hemed 2, 85) Espanyol 1 (Wakaso 5)

Sunday matches

Real Madrid v Valencia, Athletic Bilbao v Real Betis, Barcelona v Real Sociedad,Levante v Atletico Madrid

Monday matches

Deportivo La Coruna v Osasuna, Rayo Vallecano v Grenada, Real Zaragoza vValladolid

Liverpool suffer losing start, Arsenal held

Postnoon E-Paper for 19 August 2012

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