postnoon e-paper for 09 december 2012

Blackouts played spoilsport at the 10th World Junior TableTennis Championships in the City as the organisers and

players were literally left groping in the dark.

FARCE!!WHAT A REPORT ON PG 30

RE

PO

RT

ON

PG

31

India fares badly when it comes to curbingcorruption — a fact underlined by

rankings of international watchdogs. Wetake a look on World Anti-Corruption Day.

SCALING THE LADDER OF CORRUPTION

Hyderabad’s first compact afternoon newspaper

ON SUNDAY

`3

DECEMBER 9, 2012 HYDERABAD

WWW.POSTNOON.COM

WEATHER: CLEAR SKIES; 33°C

32 PAGES

Empire takes controlIn a consistent display of lack of killer instinct, India‘outdid’ its performance in the Second Test to lose by seven wickets to England at EdenGardens in Kolkata. Though rattled by an initial toporder collapse, English willowmen held their nerve toseal victory and a series lead of 2-1 in the four-Test series.

PG 3

SRINIVAS SETTY

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

Célimène & the CardinalAlliance Française of Hyderabadand Qadir Ali Baig TheatreFoundation present Célimène andthe Cardinal by Jacques Rampal.Where: Nift Auditorium,

MadhapurWhen: December 11,

7pm onwardsContact: (040) 2355 4485

1 Night 2 GiveThere is a gala dinner to raise fundsfor the “Girl child education” cam-paign. It will be launched by activistAmala Akkineni.Where: Park Hyatt Hyderabad,

Road No 2,Banjara Hills

When: December 12, 7pm onwards

Contact: (040) 4949 1234

Art exhibitionWorks of K Muralidhar will be ondisplay, along with his invention,“eco-friendly clay.” Where: The Rainbow Art Gallery,

Paryatak Bhavan, Tourism Plaza, Begumpet

When: Upto December 12Contact: 99596 31898

Photo competitionAlliance Francaise, Hyderabad, isconducting a photo competition.The theme is Professions of the

Chocolaty SundayOxford Bookstore Hyderabad isorganising a fun filled kids cookeryworkshop by Anuradha Vinod, edu-cation officer in AP Forest depart-ment. Kids will be taught to makechocolate mousses and sandwiches.Where: Oxford Bookstore,

The Park 22 Rajbhavan Road

When: December 910:30am onwards

Contact: 9160148444

Treasure HuntAmar Chitra Katha is organizing atreasure hunt for kids.Where: Landmark,

KMC Retail Mall,Somajiguda

When: December 152pm onwards

Contact: 96666 19873

Photo exhibitionA wildlife photography exhibitionby Suheim Sheikh will be held fromDecember 8 onwards. It was inau-gurated on December 7 at 6pm.Where: Goethe Zentrum,

Banjara Hills,Rd No 3

When: December 8 onwards,from 9:30am

Contact: (040) 2335 0473

Tales of an idyllic worldAlliance Française, Hyderabad, ishosting an exhibition of paintings:Tales of an Idyllic World by BalaAbhiram. The exhibition is on tillDecember 14. Where: Alliance Francaise,


When: Ongoing,9am onwards

Contact: (040) 2355 4485

Po10tialA show of art works by artists likeAnand Bekwan, Jinson Jospeh andMaredu Ramu.Where: Kalakrithi Art Gallery,


When: Ongoing,11am onwards

Contact: (040) 6656 4466

The last ChristmasThe last Christmas, a large-scaleproduction featuring live singing,dancing and acting, is the heart-warming story of Retired Gen Roywho recounts his seven favouriteChristmases. Where: RNR auditorium,


When: December 8, 9 and 10Contact: (040) 6515 7558

Contact: 98488 42471

Transpersonal sessionArt & Science of Self-Actualizationis a foundation course in transper-sonal counselling, by clinical psy-chologist Sujata Potay. Life and selfawareness skills will be imparted. Where: Center for Organization

Development, Madhapur

When: January 19-April 27Contact: 98494 53045

Handloom exhibitionPochampally Handloom Park isorganizing IKAT Mela, exhibitinghandloom linen, dress material andsaris, among others.Where: State Gallery of fine Arts ,

Department of Culture,Kavuri Hills, Madhapur

When: 13-16 Decemberfrom 6-9:30pm

Contact: 92937 73970

Sound of MusicThis musical drama is the theatreversion of the 1965 classic per-formed by Oakridge InternationalSchool. Where: Shilpa Kala Vedika,

Near Cyber Towers, HiTEC City

When: December 117pm onwards

Contact: 93965 55888

world. The winning entries will besent to Paris. Where:hyderabad.afindia.orgWhen: December 3-January 6

Music workshopThere is a 3-day workshop onHindustani classical music andghazal singing by Ustad RajkumarRizvi Sutradhar and Naadbrahm.Where: 3-6-145/9/1/1,

Himayatnagar When: December 12-14

6:30 pm - 10pmContact:77990 00792

Story Writing ContestAnnapurna International School ofFilm and Media has launched thepreliminary phase National LevelStory writing Competition. Thestory writing competition is open toboth undergraduate and graduatestudents.Where: www.script2screen.inWhen: Before December 10

Public speaking There is a four-day workshop fromDecember 13 to December 16 atMedia Junction. The workshop ison effective public speaking.Where: Media Junction,

Parthani Towers, , Golconda Cross Roads, Musheerabad

When: 13-16 December6-9:30pm

CITY 2SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2012

Santa on a boat outside Hyderabad International Convention Centre, Novotel, in Madhapur.

X’MAS PREP

S BALAKRISHNA


Hyderabad Metro Rail project hasbeen selected as one of the top

100 strategic global infrastruc-ture projects to be showcased at the

forthcoming Global InfrastructureLeadership Forum being held in New

York in Feb-March 2013. Two otherIndian projects — GIFT City in Gujaratand Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed

Rail project — are also on the list.

Metro in top 100 project list

Following the Centre’s proposedmeeting over Telangana onDecember 28, the Telangana

Political JAC will be meeting onDecember 10. The discussions willfocus on the strategy to be adoptedtowards mounting pressure on parties.Pressure is likely to be increased onelected representatives from theregion to make the message clear.

TJAC to meet on Dec 10

The Petroleum and Natural GasRegulatory Board (PNRB) willshortly notify guidelines

inviting bids for City gas distributionnetworks. This is to ensure the shift togas consumption from less than 10per cent at present to more than 25per cent in the medium term, SKrishnana, the board chairman ofPNRB, said.

Bids for gas distribution

Inkeshaf [email protected]

The skipping of three RajyaSabha MPs of TeluguDesam Party (TDP) from

the debate and voting on FDI inretail sector on Friday has led toa huge controversy in politicalcircles in the State.

The MPs who stayed awayfrom the voting are: IndustrialistMP YS Chowdary (left), TDevender Goud (centre) and GSudha Rani (right). The othertwo MPs of the party — NHarikrishna and CM Ramesh —not only debated on the issue butalso voted against the FDI bill.

Majority of the leaders ofthe party, as well as grassrootparty workers, came down heavi-ly on the three MPs for theiractions. “How can the MPs skip

the important voting? It hasgiven a wrong message to publicthat the TDP, which is fightingthe policies of the rulingCongress, both at the State andthe Centre, had reached a secretunderstanding with theCongress. This will damage theimage of the party,” TDP seniorleader and MLA PayyavulaKeshav told Postnoon onSaturday. He demanded that the

three MPs issue an uncondition-al apology to the people of theState and to the party. “The mis-take committed by the MPs isnot forgettable at any cost. Thethree MPs should immediatelyexplain to the people how it hap-pened and seek pardon.”

Many of the party leadersare not ready to buy the argu-ment that the MPs failed tounderstand the importance of

the voting. “How can they saythat? Congress is our arch rivaland we have been fightingagainst its government allthrough. But the single act ofour MPs led the entire hard workof the party go in dust. It is diffi-cult for us to convince the peoplethat our MPs skipped the votingout of ignorance,” Keshav said.

While the newly elected MPDevender Goud said that he took

permission from the party presi-dent to skip the voting as he hadan appointment for a healthcheck-up, industrialist-turned-MP YS Chowdary said that theentrance doors of the RajyaSabha were closed when he wentto vote. MP G Sudha Rani report-edly said that she could not par-ticipate as she missed a flight toDelhi from Hyderabad.

YSR Congress leader Dr MVMysura Reddy alleged the TDPmembers deliberately skippedvoting to support the Congress.

On his part, YS Chowdaryagreed that he had committed amistake by not attending themeeting. He met party presidentN Chandrababu Naidu onSaturday in Adilabad district andtendered an apology. The remain-ing two MPs are expected to dothe same on Sunday.

Postnoon [email protected]

UPA’s rule has taken Indiaup on the ladder of cor-ruption. TransparencyInternational, a world

watchdog, has placed India 94thamong 174 countries surveyed in2012. India was at 72nd among180 countries surveyed in 2007.The only consolation is that allour immediate neighbours —China, Nepal, Afghanistan,Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka— fared as badly or worse.

Public corruption has deep-ened in India in the recent pastwith no meaningful steps takento curb it. Electoral reformsremain a far cry with the politi-cal spectrum getting liberallysprinkled with criminals and thecorrupt.

This year, India has a scoreof 36 out of 100 on a scale from 0(highly corrupt) to 100 (veryclean), which is a result of anaverage of 10 studies, includingWorld Bank’s CountryPerformance and Institutionalanalysis.

India is ranked below Sri

Lanka and China, whileAfghanistan, Iran, Nepal,Pakistan and Bangladesh faredmuch worse than India when itcame to corruption in public sec-tor undertakings.

Sri Lanka, which is slowlylimping back to normalcy after a three-decade civil war, isranked at 79, while China isranked at 80.

Denmark is placed at the topslot with a score of 90, whileFinland and New Zealand followclosely. Countries that occupythe bottom ranks in the indexare Myanmar, Sudan,Afghanistan, Somalia and NorthKorea.

According to the 2012 CPI,majority of the 183 countriesscores less than 50 — a clear

indication that corruption is per-ceived to be rampant worldwide.

SK Agarwal, co-chair ofTransparency InternationalIndia, hoped that the “SupremeCourt will soon deliver its ver-dict on a PIL on debarring crimi-nals from contesting elections”.

SOLUTIONSExperts suggest amendment toincome tax laws, which are pri-marily responsible for such ahigh rate of corruption andblack money. People are com-pelled to hide, rather than beingforthright. Another solution iscapital punishment for hugescams involving public funds,like China has introduced now.

AP SCENEAndhra Pradesh has its highshare of criminalisation andcorruption of politics. IndiaElection Watch, AP, perused affi-davits of 2,466 candidates out oftotal of 3,655 candidates of 2009elections. Of them, 303 candi-dates (12 per cent) had pendingcriminal cases against them.

(Compiled by PKSurendran)

Scaling the ladder of corruptionCriminalisation and corruption, the twin evils, have been eating into the vitals of India for some

time and successive ruling parties have made no effort to rein in this scourge.

(Criminal) rot in partiesINC: 36 out of 280 (13%) PRP (erstwhile): 47 out of 254 (19%)BJP: 20 out of 168 (20%) TDP: 67 out of 211 (32%)TRS: 12 out of 39 (31%) In all, 116 candidates hadpending cases like murder,attempt to murder, kidnap-ping, robbery, extortions.

Why do parties suffercriminals?Academic studies conductedby various agencies bringout that:n Criminals are more eager

to win and spend morethan others.

n Criminals also have muscle power, which is acomfort for parties.

n Inability of the country todebar criminals fromcontesting.

Three ‘Musketeers’ cause for concernThree TDP MPs skipped voting on FDI in Rajya Sabha. One found the House door closed when he reached.

Another ‘missed’ a flight and the third had a ‘health check-up’. Were they plotting with the Congress?

No

4SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2012

CITY

The much-hyped multi-level parking facility tobe constructed atKhilwat oppositeChowmahalla Palace

remains in limbo. With therecent notice by the AccountantGeneral of India (AGI) to theGHMC about the discrepanciesin the way the contract changedhands, some officials feel that thetender would have to be can-celled.

With 4,943 sq m of land, thework was handed over to private

companies under the Private-Public Partnership, under theBOT (Build Operate Transfer)mode. Pegged as part of the‘Charminar pedestrian project’,the foundation stone for themulti-level parking facility waslaid by Chief Minister N KiranKumar Reddy last year.

It was reported that 504 carscould be parked in the buildingon the six floors of 14,168 sq fteach. As per the deal, the com-plex should have been completedwithin 15 months and the con-

tract would last for 32 years aftercompletion. The tenders for theproject were called in June 2006and in August 2007, the tenderswere filed. With three companies

forming a consortium, the dealwas finalised with an estimationof `29.56 crore.

Even right at the beginning,several questions were raisedabout the way the tenders werecalled. The protocol is that theAP Infrastructure Authorityshould be inviting the tenders forthe projects partnered with pri-vate firms. But in this case,GHMC officials had taken theresponsibility, thus underminingnorms.

In May 2012, the consortium

struck a new deal with the offi-cials of the then estates wing ofthe GHMC, and changed the com-pany names in the consortium.The AGI took note and objectedto the change of company namesin the consortium, particularlythe lead one, which renders thecontract void (Change of a leadcompany in a consortium is notallowed in a contract).

In its notice to the GHMC lastmonth, the AGI questioned theway the transition happenedwithout conducting a feasibilitystudy and taking into confidencethe other departments con-cerned. The AGI has soughtanswers on the deadline for con-cessional agreement, toll rates,and the consortium’s financialand technical expertise with theGHMC. It also questioned theway the project would be takenup without taking into considera-tion the user charges that wouldbe levied on the general public.

To take things under control,the officials of GHMC’s estateswing wrote to the commissioner,seeking cancellation of the ten-ders. Now, with the AGI notice,the multi-level parking facilitywould be thrown into an indeter-minate state for several monthsto come, said a GHMC official.

While the officials feel thatthe tender would be completelycancelled, the local corporator,Mir Zulfeqar Ali, does not believethe notice would have anyimpact. “Yes there are hin-drances for the project, but notthis one. The project will be com-pleted soon,” said the corporator.

[email protected] NIZAMUDDIN

Constructionof the

multi-levelparking

facility atKhilwat has

run into trouble over

discrepanciesin the way the

tenders andcontracts were

handled.

AGI OBJECTED TOCHANGE OF COMPANYNAMES IN THE CONSOR-TIUM, ESPECIALLY THELEAD, WHICH RENDERSTHE CONTRACT VOID.

PARKING ZONE

M ANIL KUMAR


Anubha K [email protected]

Jingle bells the way! Yes, itis that time of the yearwhen Santa Claus is busymaking and purchasing

gifts for kids. It is the most won-derful time of the year and thecelebrations have already kickedoff with Christmas carols.

Carol singing starts fourweeks before Christmas. Agroup of singers consisting ofchildren, youngsters and elderlypeople call on houses in the weehours, humming Christmassongs, announcing the birth ofChrist.

Some of the common carolsare Heavenly Peace, Goodwill toAll Men, Old Christmas Card, 12Days of Christmas, I sawMommy Kissing Santa Claus,Chestnuts Roasting Over anOpen Fire and Frosty theSnowman.

Tabernacles, the oldest carolsinging group in twin cities, hasalready started performing inthe City. It is a gospel singinggroup that presents well-knownchristmas carols of the last twodecades.

“Carol singing starts amonth before or sometimes fif-teen days before Christmas forus,” says Dominic Savio, a youngprofessional from the group.Tabernacles had recently per-formed at Harihara KalaBhavan, at the AnnualChristmas Concert.

“Firstly, we start the monthwith carol singing and when

Christmas is a few days away,groups of people go aroundsinging carols at night.”

When carol singing was notso popular, there were particularsets of people who were allowedto sing the carols and they werecalled “Waits”. They used to singChristmas songs and take money

from public. No one other thanthe Waits were allowed to sing,and those who used to were list-ed as beggars.

With changing times andmodernisation, carol singing hasalso changed. Now orchestra andmany musical instrumentsaccompany the songs.

As carols became increasing-ly popular, new songs and newways of singing carols emerged.

One thing that has notchanged since ages is the “can-dlelight services,” a very famouscarol ritual. In this particularservice, the whole church is lit

up with candles, followed bycarol singing.

Carols have now been mor-phed into almost all genres ofmusic from classical to hip-hop,jazz to rock and pop. So raiseyour voice for your favouritesong and have yourself a merryChristmas!

Postnoon News & Agencies

Congress MP LagadapatiRajagopal wanted to beinvited to the proposed all-

party meeting on Telanganascheduled for December 28.

Rajagopal, a fierce UnitedAndhra advocate, said any bifur-cation of the State would lead tomore such demands and theState’s future would in peril.

At a meeting ofSamaikyandhra JAC atVijayawada yesterday, Rajagopalwent hammer and tongs at theTRS, which he said was mislead-ing the people of Telangana.According to him, 65 per cent ofthe people of AP wanted astrong, united Andhra Pradesh.

He said the Congress assess-ment of the people’s sentimentsin Telangana region recentlyrevealed that masses were moreeager to have economic develop-ment than statehood. He alsoquestioned the so-called students

of JAC, which he said is consist-ed of a handful, and not themainstream student fraternity.

Whenever elections wereheld, Congress, YSR Congressand TDP would together get 270seats, he said, adding that TRSwould get only 20 seats. He saidemotions had died down andthere was no consensus on Statebifurcation.

Rajagopal said the Congresswould only argue for a secondStates ReorganisationCommission in the all-partymeeting and if this policy has tochange, the decision has to betaken by the Congress WorkingCommittee again. He also saidthat there would be no use of themeeting, making it clear thatState bifurcation would be possi-ble only if main parties advocat-ed it. CM Kiran Kumar Reddy islearnt to have urged the Centreto recast the proposed date forall party meeting, as it clashedwith the World Telugu meet. NSS

It’s Christmas carol time!It is said that angels sang the first carols after the birth of Christ. Since then, carol singing has

become a part of Christmas. It usually starts a month before the festival.

“Deafness Awareness Walk” was organised by the All India Peace & Solidarity Organisation and GovernmentENT Hospital, Koti, on Saturday. N SHIVA KUMAR

AWARENESS WALK ‘Invite me toall-party meet’


NEW DELHI: Undeterred by the defeat of theOpposition motion against FDI in retail in

Parliament, CPI(M) today warned that the govern-ment would have to continue to “manage and

manufacture” its majority as the Left parties movefor annulment of and amendments to the related

FEMA rules. “The government will be hard-pressednow to go on managing and manufacturing their

own majority,” senior CPI(M) leader SitaramYechury said.

CPM stays undaunted after FDI defeat JAMTARA (JHARKHAND): Five per-sons, including four relatives of thebride, were killed and four othersinjured in a road accident ahead of themarriage in Jamtara district, policesaid today. The accident took placenear Therbona village last night whenthe family was going to solemnise themarriage from Nala to Kundhait, thepolice said.

Five killed in road accidentRAMESWARAM: Eight Tamil Nadufishermen were injured today whenthey were attacked allegedly by SriLankan navy personnel while fishingnear Talaimannar near the islandnation, police said. The naval person-nel opened fire in the air beforeattacking the fishermen. They alsosnapped fishing nets in five boats,police said.

TN fishermen injured

WORLD

Pick at the airport, -

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh hasearned the dubious distinction ofwitnessing over 100 communalclashes this year that left 34 peo-ple dead.

The towns where incidents ofsuch violence took place are KosiKalan in Mathura, Faizabad,Pratapgarh, Sitapur, Ghaziabadand Bareilly.

More than 450 people werealso injured in these clasheswhich took place from Januarytill October 31, Home Ministryofficials said.

There were 84 incidents ofcommunal clashes in the state in

2011 in which 12 people lost theirlives. The country witnessed 560incidents of violence this yeartill October end, which claimed89 lives, while in 2011, 580 clashestook place that left 91 peopledead.

UP was followed by Mahar -ashtra where 83 incidents werereported so far this year in which13 people were killed and 88 inci-dents in 2011 which claimed 15lives.

Madhya Pradesh saw 78 inci-dents of communal violence sofar this year in which 11 peoplewere killed and in 2011, 81 inci-

dents of communal clashes werereported that left 15 dead.

In Karnataka, there were 54incidents of communal clashesin 2012 and 70 incidents in 2011 inwhich three and four people losttheir lives respectively.

Rajasthan had witnessed 42

incidents of communal clashesin 2011 leading to death of 16 peo-ple while this year the state haswitnessed 30 incidents of suchviolence and six dead.

There were 47 incidents ofcommunal clashes in Gujarat in2011, in which three persons losttheir lives, and 50 incidents so farthis year in which five werekilled.

Andhra Pradesh saw 33 com-munal clashes in 2011 in whichone died and so far this year, 45clashes took place in which twowere killed.

There were 30 incidents of

communal clashes in Kerala in2011, in which one died, and 46incidents in this year in whichone was killed.

Bihar witnessed 26 incidentswith four deaths last year and 17incidents this year in whichthree persons were killed.

Tamil Nadu saw 21 incidentsof communal violence and twodeaths in 2011 and 11 incidentswith two deaths this year so far.

There were 15 incidents inWest Bengal in 2011 in whichthree persons were killed, and 22incidents in this year, in whicheight persons were killed. PTI

HUBLI (KARNATAKA): TheBJP ministry in Karnataka wasin serious trouble late Saturdayas one minister loyal to theparty’s former leader BSYeddyurappa said he had quit thecabinet and a few other ministerssaid they were ready to do so.

Infrastructure Developmentminister Sunil Valyapure toldreporters that he has faxed hisresignation to Chief MinisterJagadish Shettar as he wants toattend a rally Sunday at whichYeddyurappa will formallylaunch his regional party. Hubliis about 370km from Bangalore.

Agriculture minister UmeshKatti said in Davangere in cen-tral Karnataka, about 270kmfrom Bangalore, that he andother ministers supportingYeddyurappa will meet ShettarMonday to protest Saturday’s dis-ciplinary action against twoother followers of the formerBJP chief minister.

He said ministers backingYeddyurappa were ready to quitif the party continued with suchsteps. Valyapure’s announce-ment about his resignation andKatti’s threat came hours afterBJP sacked cooperation ministerB J Puttaswamy and suspendedLok Sabha member GS Basavarajfrom the party for openly work-

ing for Yeddyurappa’s newregional outfit — KarnatakaJanata Party (KJP). Valyapuresaid he will attend the Sundayrally at Haveri, about 350kmnorth of Bangalore, at whichYeddyurappa will take over asKJP president.

Katti and two other minis-ters, C. M Udasi, public works,and M. P. Renukacharya, excise,however, gave no indicationwhether they will attendSunday’s rally at Haveri.

Udasi said in Davangere thatYeddyurappa has asked minis-ters and BJP legislators support-ing him not to attend the rally.

“Yeddyurappa has said thatthis government is formed by usand it should complete the term(assembly’s term expires Maynext). Hence the questionwhether I will attend (the Haverirally) or not does not arise,” hetold reporters.

IANS

Valyapure’s announce-ment about his resigna-tion and Katti’s threat

came hours after BJP sackedco-operation minister BJPuttaswamy from the Shettarcabinet and suspended LokSabha member GS Basavaraj from the party foropenly working forYeddyurappa’s new regionaloutfit — Karnataka JanataParty (KJP).

UP tops communal clashes listAndhra Pradesh saw 33

communal clashes in2011 in which one

died; and so far this year, 45clashes took place in whichtwo were killed.

BSY loyalist quitsShettar ministry

BJP ministry in trouble as some more ministers say theyare ready to quit after Sunil Valyapure resigned.

Devotees take a holy dip at Sangam during sunset in Allahabad onSaturday. The Kumbh Mela, which takes place at the Sangam, isthe largest gathering of people for a religious purpose in the worldand millions of people gather for this auspicious occasion.

AFP/SANJAY KANOJIA

SUNSET AT SANGAM


CARACAS: Leftist VenezuelanPresident Hugo Chavez admitted arelapse of his cancer Saturday anddesignated vice president Nicolas

Maduro as his heir apparent in case“something happened” to him.

Speaking on national television, anemotional Chavez said a return of can-cer cells was detected during his most

recent visit to Cuba for check-up.

Chavez picks heirLONDON: The London hospital thattreated Prince William’s wife Catherinehas condemned the Australian radiostation whose hoax call apparently ledto a nurse’s suicide, calling the stunt“appalling”. Britain has reacted withhorror to the death of mother-of-twoJacintha Saldanha, 46, who is believedto have taken her own life after she wasduped by two Oz RJs.

Rage over nurse’s death MANILA: Heavy rain brought floodingfears in the north of the storm-bat-tered Philippines as Typhoon Bophareturned Sunday, days after slamminginto the south of the country and leav-ing almost 1,400 dead or missing.While the powerful typhoon had weak-ened to a tropical storm, it was stillcausing downpours in the north.

AFP

Bopha back in Philippines

WORLD

SEOUL: North Korea said it may delay a much-criti-cised long-range rocket launch originally scheduled foras early as Monday, but gave no hint of the reasons.Scientists and technicians were “now seriously exam-ining the issue of readjusting the launching time of thesatellite for some reasons”, the Korean Committee ofSpace Technology said. Analysts said technical prob-lems or snow, rather than overseas political pressure,could be behind the delay in what the North calls asatellite launch. One said the country’s new leader mayhave been rushing the blast-off set between December10 and 22 in an attempt to mark a key political anniver-sary. A long-range launch in April, also purportedly toput a satellite into orbit, failed embarrassingly.

Kidnapped US doctorin Afghanistan savedKABUL: US soldiers killed seven Taliban insurgents in apre-dawn raid to rescue a kidnapped American doctor ineastern Afghanistan on Sunday, the NATO force in thewar-torn country said. The mission was launched whenintelligence showed that Dr Dilip Joseph was in “immi-nent danger of injury or death”, NATO’s InternationalSecurity Assistance Force said in a statement. Joseph wasabducted on December 5 by Taliban insurgents in theSurobi district of Kabul province. “Today’s mission exem-plifies our unwavering commitment to defeating theTaliban,” said General John Allen, the commander of USand ISAF forces in Afghanistan. “I’m proud of theAmerican and Afghan forces that planned, rehearsed andsuccessfully conducted this operation.”

ROME: Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is step-ping down, the president’s office announced, justhours after the man he replaced, Silvio Berlusconi,said he would run again for head of government.Monti “does not think it possible to continue his man-date and consequently made clear his intention to pre-sent his resignation”, said a statement from PresidentGiorgio Napolitano’s office on Saturday. Theannouncement came after Monti met with Napolitanoat the presidential Quirinal palace for more than anhour. Already Friday, Monti had held talks with parlia-mentary political leaders including Angelino Alfano ofBerlusconi’s right-wing People of Freedom (PDL)party.

Silvio to run asMonti steps down

CAIRO: Egyptian President MohamedMorsi backed down Saturday in a politicalcrisis marked by weeks of street protests,after the powerful army gave an ultima-tum to him and the opposition to holdtalks.

But the initial signs were that his con-cession would not satisfy an increasinglyfierce opposition.

The Islamist leader annulled a contro-versial decree issued last month that puthis decisions beyond judicial review — amove denounced as a dictatorial “powergrab” by the opposition, but one whichMorsi had defended as necessary to pro-tect reforms.

“The constitutional decree is annulledfrom this moment,” Selim al-Awa, anIslamist politician and adviser to Morsi,told a news conference after a meetingbetween the president and other politicalleaders.

But Awa said an equally contentiousreferendum on a new constitution wouldgo ahead as planned on December 15. Thepresident was legally bound under theconstitution to maintain that date andhad no choice, he said.

Awa added that if the draft constitu-tion were rejected, a new one would bedrawn up by officials elected by the peo-ple, rather than ones chosen by parlia-ment as for the current text.

The draft constitution has been criti-cised for its potential to weaken humanrights and the rights of women, and out offear it would usher in Islamic interpreta-tion of laws.

The two issues — the decree and thereferendum — were at the heart of theanti-Morsi protests that turned violentlast week, with clashes on Wednesday thatkilled seven people and wounded hun-dreds.

The opposition refused Morsi’s offer of

dialogue as long as those two decisionsstood.

But on Saturday the powerful military,in its first statement since the crisisbegan, told both sides to talk. Otherwise,it warned, Egypt would descend “into adark tunnel with disastrous results — andthat is something we will not allow.”

The army said it “stands always withthe great Egyptian people and insists onits unity” but it was its duty to protectstate institutions. It urged a solution

based on “democratic rules.”Morsi’s concession on the decree

appeared to be a gesture to open the wayfor the talks to happen. But it remained tobe seen if the opposition would remainintransigent over the referendum.

One of the groups involved in thestruggle to topple Mubarak, the April 6Youth Movement, swiftly dismissed theannouncements as “a political manoeuvreaimed at duping the people”.

It called for the protests to continue to

stop “the referendum on the constitutionof the Muslim Brotherhood”, a referenceto the party backing Morsi.

On Saturday there were none of thelarge-scale demonstrations seen on previ-ous nights. But the presidential palaceremained ringed by tanks and troops, as ithas been since the day after the deadlyclashes.

In Cairo’s Tahrir Square, a focal pointfor hardcore protesters, news of theannulled decree sparked no celebrations.“This will change nothing,” said one anti-Morsi activist, Mohamed Shakir, 50.

“Even if they offered us honey, itwould not be enough,” agreed another,Hisham Ezzat.

Ahmad Abdallah, there with his wifeand two children, said he could no longeraccept Morsi and nothing less than thedisappearance of the MuslimBrotherhood would satisfy him.

“The Brotherhood exists around theworld, they have gone to other countriesand split the people. Before the split,Morsi had a chance but now it’s too late,”he said. The main opposition bloc, theNational Salvation Front, has said it isready for “serious and objective dialogue”as soon as Morsi met its demands to scrapboth the decree and the referendum.

It had rebuffed his offer on Thursdayto open talks because he failed to give wayon those two points.

On Saturday the Front spoke of thepossibility of organising a general strikein protest.However, Islamist groups sup-portive of Morsi have categoricallyrefused to consider even delaying the con-stitutional referendum. In recent days, themass protests had taken to demandingthat Morsi step down, in scenes reminis-cent of those during the early 2011 upris-ing that toppled president HosniMubarak. AFP

Morsi lets go of sweepingpowers after army ultimatum

Launch may bedelayed: N Korea

An Egyptian Republican Guard rests on his tank behind the gates of the presidential palaceguarded by a row of riot police in Cairo on December 8, 2012. Egypt’s powerful military thrustitself into the political crisis dividing the nation demanding dialogue and warning it would notpermit events to take a “disastrous” turn. AFP/PATRICK BAZ

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, DECEMBER 9, 2012

Iam glad pugilists in the city are notdistrubed by the administrative fias-co brought on by the IOA. Though

it’s disturbing that the fates of severalboxers border near uncertainty, thething is to keep training for the tourna-ments coming up and hope that thisnonsense is cleared up.

Vikas Mehtavia email

Don’t get caught up

Iagree the lyrics in Psy’s DearAmerican are a bit inflammatory, butthe thing that beats me is why must

he apologise now... after eight yearsand 900 million youtube hits? It’s a bitof a shock he wrote such hateful linesdespite living a good part of his life inthe US. Why blame the poor soldier?

Akshay Kvia email

Why now, Psy? What a waste!

EDITORIALS

EDITORIALS

BE WARNED, MORSI:The army has spoken

Better sense seems to havedawned upon Mohamed Morsi,

who bowing to the warningissued by the army, has repealedthe decree that gave him almost

absolute powers. It appearedthat the nation which had doneaway with one tyrant was takingon another in such a short span

of time. Morsi claims that hisintentions were honourable: he

empowered himself only to pro-tect the hard-earned fruits of therevolution. However, the actions

with which he followed up hiswords did not agree at all. Therehad been fears since his election

about the well-being of peoplefrom other communities apart

from Muslims. And his assumingsweeping powers and his seem-ingly autocratic ways only esca-

lated those fears, resulting in thebacklash from the people, push-

ing Egypt to the brink of dividingit communally that had remained

mostly secular during HosniMubarak’s times. The army’s viewthat failure to resolve a crisis over

the drafting of the constitutionwould result in "disastrous con-sequences" that could drag the

country into a "dark tunnel" isspot on. It’s a surprise that it is

the army which had worriedmany an Egyptian about its role

in rebuilding of their countrytook the initiative in resolving the

current crisis. The need of thenation is a leader who representseveryone and listens to his peo-ple. Morsi must change his ways

and use his mandate wisely. If nothe knows what follows, for the

army has spoken.

PUNJAB COP MURDER:Same old story

A high ranking police officialhas been suspended and anoth-

er dismissed and the CM said"nobody will be allowed to takelaw in his own hands”, but whatbecomes of the poor family that

lost their breadwinner?

Despite several reports aboutwasting of the taxpayers’ money,authorities seem to have not

leanrned their lesson. What sense isthere in the monthly loan repaymentof `48cr after building such a uselessbuilding as the Gachibowli Sportscomplex?

Suresh Krishnavia email

The International OlympicCommittee (IOC) onTuesday suspended theIndian Olympic

Association “due to its failureto comply with the OlympicCharter and its statutes andfailure to inform the IOC in atimely manner” as stated by theIOC director of communica-tions in a press conference inLausanne.

The Indian governmentreceived the news with dismayand sportspersons with mixedreactions. Some feel that thiscould be the opportunity toclean the Augean stables, whilesome understand that the IOAban from the Olympic move-ment means:n No funding from IOC,n No officials from India will be

invited by IOC to any eventsuch as Paralympics andOlympics,

n Indian athletes will not beallowed to compete underIndia’s flag; but will be per-mitted to participate underthe IOC flag, and

n Similar sanctions may beimposed by theCommonwealth GamesFederation as well as theOlympic Council of Asia.

So what exactly is it that hashit us like a googly. The OlympicCharter states that “any personor organisation belonging inany capacity whatsoever to theOlympic movement is bound bythe provisions of the OlympicCharter and shall abide by thedecisions of the IOC”.

Article 27.6 of the OlympicCharter insists that NationalOlympic Committees beautonomous and not be influ-enced by political, legal, reli-gious, economic and other pres-sures so that they can complywith the Olympic Charter.

Now this is where the cruxof the matter lies. To increasetransparency and accountabili-

ty in the working of sports bod-ies ie the National SportsFederations, a National SportsDevelopment Code of India 2011was framed that is a culmina-tion of various governmentdirectives issued from time totime since 2001. This code cov-ers the Indian OlympicAssociation too.

The honourable Delhi HighCourt held that the governmentguidelines governing NSFs arevalid, binding and enforceableand the tenure clause that wasbrought in as a result of a PILand the general views of thepublic and parliamentarians oncapping the unregulated tenureof the office bearers is not in vio-lation of the Olympics Charter.

The aim of the Sports Codeas it is popularly known wasmainly to ensure a free andfair election process in theNSFs and bring in proceduraluniformity to eliminate con-flict of interests. On perusal ofthe Sports Code, an honesteffort has been made tostreamline the functioning of

sports bodies. The code declares that it is a

legal binding on the NationalOlympic Committee ie theIndian Olympic Associationand the National SportsFederations, if they wish to reg-ulate sports in India or usingIndia’s name within or outsidethe country, besides availingfinancial or tax benefits. Also,there is no clause that is con-trary to the clauses in theOlympic Charter. In fact, it rein-forces the Olympic Charter.

While the infightingbetween two groups led byAbhay Singh Chauthala andRandhir Singh for the presiden-tial post in the IOA has led to atarnished image of the entirepoll process, the OlympicCharter prohibits governmentinterference in Olympic associ-ation elections. The IOC seesthe event of elections being con-ducted by the IOA on the direc-tions of the Delhi High Court,as per the norms laid down inthe Sports Code as a violation ofthe Charter of the IOA.

There have been instanceswhen the option of barring cer-tain countries from the OlympicGames for not adhering to theprinciples in the OlympicCharter was considered butultimately a dialogue beforetaking stringent steps wasthought to be the better alterna-tive. Arbitration clauses of theCharter recommend issuing awarning before applying anymeasure or sanction.

This has not happened inIndia’s case. The reasons maywell be that the infighting inthe IOA has led to a situationwherein no dialogue has beeninitiated with the IOC toexplain the clauses in theSports Code. Now that a stand-off has occurred it will becomenecessary for the IOC and thegovernment to sit across thetable and sort out the matter. Itwill also be wise to reassurethe IOC that the Sports Code isin no way diluting Olympismbut rather reinforcing thosevery ideals and ethical princi-ples.

From the hipSYED SHOAIB

IOA BAN AN EYE OPENER

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2012

Global retail giant Wal-Mart —waiting for years to open its

supermarkets in India hasbeen lobbying with the US lawmakers

since 2008 to facilitate its entry intothe highly lucrative Indian market. As

per the lobbying disclosure reportsfiled with the US Senate, the company

has spent close to $ 25million since2008 on its various lobbying activities.

Wal-Mart spent `125 crore

Union Bank of India expects fundinfusion of about `1,000 crore aspart of recapitalisation plan of

the government. Last fiscal, the state-owned bank got capital support of`280 crore. With the infusion, Tier Icapital of the bank will go up — it was8.17 per cent as on September 2012.The infusion will help it to enhancelending to productive sectors.

UBI to infuse `1,000 crore

Overseas investors have madenet investments of $1.2 billionin the Indian equity market dur-

ing the first week of the month, takingthe total for 2012 so far to a whopping$21 billion. During December 3-7,Foreign Institutional Investors weregross buyers of shares worth `20,314crore and sellers of equities worth `14,167 crore.

FIIs pump in $21 bn

BUSINESS 9

5

A FRESH NEW POINT OF VIEW

You can also call or email us at: 040 - 4067 [email protected]

TO SUBSCRIBE, CALL US ON 80082 00713or SMS „Postnoon‰ to 56161

Cover Price: Rs.1095/-

Offer Price: Rs.549/-

Total Saving: 50%

Rupam Jain [email protected]

NEW DELHI: India’s bitter colonialpast hangs heavily over the govern-ment’s renewed drive to open theinward-looking economy to foreigninvestment, even 65 years after indepen-dence, analysts say. Despite a dramaticeconomic transformation in the past twodecades, the emerging market giant’s 200years under British domination stillevoke painful memories.

“The evils of British colonisation

are etched in our minds and Indiansfear foreign companies have the powerand strategies to recolonise India,” saidMridula Mukherjee, a history professorat Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Those worries came to the fore lastweek as lawmakers debated a govern-ment move to let in foreign supermar-kets — a key plank of its economicreform agenda and aimed at drawing inmore investment from overseas.

Opponents fear that allowing theentry of retail giants such as US-basedWalmart will force India’s millions ofsmall shopkeepers out of business.

The Congress party-led governmentof Prime Minister Manmohan Singhwon the vote to permit the entry of bigretailers even as opposition partiesaccused it of wishing to revive the ruleof foreign traders.

“Vote against the entry of foreignretail giants — think of your duty toyour country,” Sharad Yadav, head ofthe socialist Janata Dal (United),implored lawmakers in Lok Sabha.

“America and other countries willnever want India to develop — it onlyloves the market here. Don’t let anotherEast India Company enter the country,”he said.

Yadav was referring to Britain’s for-mer East India Company, dubbed theworld’s first multinational, which heldsway over vast parts of India and set uptrading posts to ship cargoes of textiles,indigo, sugar and spices.

The East India Company was dis-banded after the bloody 1857 uprisingknown in India as the country’s FirstWar of Independence. The revolt whichwas savagely repressed made way forthe British Raj — direct rule by theBritish government.

The anti-foreign tone was the same inthe Rajya Sabha. “The East IndiaCompany entered through Kolkata (for-merly Calcutta) and ruled,” said NareshAgarwal of the regional socialistSamajwadi Party. “This time, they arecoming through New Delhi.”

The feisty chief minister of WestBengal, Mamata Banerjee, has beenamong the most strident opponents ofallowing foreign traders access toIndia’s vast consumer market, calling ita “historical economic blunder”.

Banerjee’s office is in Kolkata’s

sprawling red-brick secretariat built bythe East India Company more than 200years ago for trading in opium, cloth, teaand indigo.

“Indians trusted the British and weknow what happened. We were slaves,” shesaid. “Again, we are inviting the Britishand other countries to rule us.”

Akshaya Deb, a historian at theUniversity of Calcutta, said that “Britishbrutality in India cannot be forgotten.They came in as traders and ended up rul-ing India.”

Defending the policy of economic lib-eralisation, the left-leaning governmentsaid the country cannot be subservient towhat it called the “East India Companycomplex”.

“We talk about East India Companybut we forget Indian firms like Tata arebuying out international companies and

are going global,” Heavy Industries andPublic Enterprises Minister Praful Pateltold parliament.

“Let’s not get emotional,” Patel said.“There is no way the East India Companystory will be repeated here. Foreign com-panies need new markets — even we needthem.”

The market-opening push comes asIndia faces a sharply slowing economy, agaping fiscal deficit and high inflation,which has stoked pressure on an adminis-tration already under fire for corruption.

JNU’s Mukherjee said Indians need toovercome their political and economicinsecurity.

“Why are we getting nervous about for-eign giants entering the markets? India isnot mortgaging its future and history willnot repeat itself,” she said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

THE MARKET-OPENING PUSHCOMES AS INDIA FACES ASHARPLY SLOWING ECONOMY,A GAPING FISCAL DEFICIT ANDHIGH INFLATION, WHICH HASSTOKED PRESSURE ON ANADMINISTRATION ALREADYUNDER FIRE FOR CORRUPTION.

A protest against the Centre’s decision to allow Foreign Direct investment (FDI) in the retailmarket during a rally in New Delhi. AFP/SAJJAD HUSSAIN

Ghosts of colonial past?

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 201210INTERVIEW

Neil Sanghavi is living a dream these days. He’s part of a flourishing event management industry in Indiaand he’s optimistic that things are only going to get better for the industry in future. In conversation withPostnoon, he talks about the success of his event management company Oxygen Entertainment & Media

Solutions and what it takes to be a successful event manager.

Q. You are the director of one ofthe leading event managementcompanies in the country. How didyour tryst with this industrybegin?I graduated with a diploma inAdvertising from HR College ofCommerce and Economics and later, Iwent to Mudra Institute ofCommunications, Ahmedabad where Idid my specialisation in Event man-agement and public relations. Fewyears later, I joined World Wide Mediawhere I started overseeing events. Ihad a good rapport with the CEO andCOO of my company and one fineday I decided to quit and start up onmy own. My partner Sajjad Meherallyand I started Oxygen Entertainmentback in 2008 and we had great sup-port from our previous employers. Inthe past few years, we have executedlarger scale events like FilmfareAwards, Sulafest among many others.

Q. Till mid 2000s, event manage-ment was yet to take off in a bigway. How difficult was it for you inthe initial days?We had a contract with FilmfareAwards and right in the beginning ofour launch, we executed events for

Femina and YouTube. The toughestpart was surviving during the reces-sion in 2009. We had to sit idle for along time since no one was willing tospend money on events. But theevent management industry hasrecovered now and it’s booming.

Q. You are working in the samezone like big event managementcompanies like Wizcraft, DNANetworks and Percept. Where doesOxygen Entertainment fit into thebigger picture? In terms of the size of the company wemay be smaller than others, but we areon par or even better in terms of thescale of events. Of late, there are newevent management companies spring-ing up at every nook and corner, butthe difference lies in con-ceptualisation and exe-cution of the event. It’sa lot of hard work.

Q. If you were topoint out thatone factor whichsets you apartfrom the restin this indus-try, whatwould that be? We are always pre-sent at each andevery event weorganise. When abig organisation

holds such events, there’s no person-al touch but we believe in being therecompletely. It doesn’t matter if we aregiven a budget of `5 lakh or `5 crore,we treat all our clients with utmostrespect.

Q. The premiere of Jab Tak HaiJaan was one of the biggest eventswhich you had executed in recenttimes. What was the most difficultpart of the whole process? Afterall, it was an ode to Yash Chopra’slegacy.

Time was a big challengefor us. It was Aditya

Chopra’s brainchild and it was sup-posed to be a gift to his father.However, after Yash Chopra’s suddendemise, we weren’t sure if the projectwas still on. After the mourning cere-mony, Aditya Chopra was adamantthat we should go ahead with the pre-miere. We had just nine days to set upthe entire event and I am proud to saythat my team has done a fabulousjob. Aditya Chopra is a perfectionistand to match his expectations, wehad to work really hard.

Q. What does it take to become asuccessful event manager?You have to forget that you have apersonal life! (laughs). Jokes apart,you have to be always on your toes,be punctual and respect everyone.But the most important part is thatyou have to get it right every singletime. That’s when clients keep comingback to you.

Q. By 2015, the event managementsector is pegged to be a `5,000crore industry. Are you betting bigon people’s interest to spendmore money on events in future?Yes, of course. Today, people arelooking for event managers foreven small events. India has cometo a global platform. A lot moreinternational artists are cominghere and vice versa. As long as youcan deliver quality work, you’ll be inthe game for a long time, despite

competition.

[email protected] KUMAR

Going global

Sajjad Meherally, Neil Sanghavi

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 201211WELLNESS

BACK TO THE FUTURE

As I walked into the conchshaped corridor ofAura, it became immedi-ately obvious that this

was unlike any other spa I’d everbeen to. Keeping in tune withthe rest of the hotel, The Park’sspa has a distinctly futuristicfeel about it. With white interi-ors bathed in hues of blue,sparkling cushions throwing offlight from the rows of wrought-iron lamps, abstract sculpturesadoring its asymmetric walls, its decor borders on the surreal.I’m expecting Martians to comemarching around the cornersany moment now.

So it’s with utter surprisethat I discover the philosophybehind the spa, which is cen-tered on the tenets of ancienthealing methods, natural thera-py, and pancha-mahabuta (har-nessing the power of the five ele-ments of nature). And, thedesign of Aura, I’m laterinformed, comes from the organ-ic shapes of diamonds minedhere in the Golconda region. Infact, all the treatments offeredhere are inspired by the royals,particularly the Nizami culture,of overwhelming opulence andheady decadence.

As I consider my options forthe day, I decide to ignore theNizams for a day and go with theMughals instead. The Great

Mughal session seems just aboutright, I tell them. They informme in the kindest terms possiblethat I should consider somethingelse. Why? I ask. They explain. Aday-long session involvingspringwater-filled jacuzzis, dia-mond dust body polish, choco-late wraps, caviar facials, four-course meals, chilled glassesof Dom Perignon and whatnot, The Great Mughal is indul-gence at its seductive best. Andnot in the pay scale of workingclass heroines.

So I reconsider. The hotgemstone Shiatsu massage,advise my new friends at theSpa. The idea of a hot soothingmassage on the cold, cloudy day

is irresistible. The moment thehot stone touches my skin, Ifinally believe my therapist Sriwhen she tells me that crystalshave been used throughout his-tory for their healing and thera-peutic properties as they canmove, absorb, focus, direct anddiffuse energy within the body.

The Aventurine, for instance,is said to enhance relaxation,regeneration and recovery, cur-ing ailments like insomnia.

The Carnelian helps in lift-ing up the emotions and gives

courage to face everyday prob-lems. The white and yellow jadeis calming.

The golden obsidian helpswith shocks, fear, blocks andtrauma, and so forth.

In the next sixty minutes,using an assortment of stones,Sri systematically breaks downthe tension in my stiff musclesand takes away the pain in myshoulders and I feel muchcalmer and renewed. Even with-out the aid of healing crystals,Sri works magic. She is thor-ough, gentle but relentless in thepursuit of a stress-free body and I know I’ve never been inbetter hands.

I wonder if the effects will lastafter a day at work, but for now,it’s enough. And I have no doubt Iwill be coming back for more.

Each of the seven therapyrooms is equipped with a showerbut unless you sign up for awrap or prefer otherwise, youwill usually be redirected totheir vast communal wet area,for steam and shower andjacuzzi services. But the thingAura prides itself most, DrKalathil Harish, director of thespa, tells me, is that their wrapsand in fact all signature prod-ucts available at Aura are organ-ic, freshly prepared in-house anddevoid of all chemicals.

At the end of my session,even the strange juxtapositionof the spa’s ambience and itsservices begins to make sense.After all, no matter how fastwe move into the future, it’sstill from the practices of thepast that we derive innerpeace.

[email protected]

PADMINI C

A strangely enticing blend of futuristic and traditional, Auraat The Park is a spa that’s designed to seduce your senses.

What: Aura SpaWhere: The Park,

SomajigudaPrice: Gemstone

Massage: `4,000 Wraps & Massages: `1,500 &

`2,500 onwards + taxes

He finds his muses onthe streets, at times itis the boy riding a bicy-cle and at other times itis a woman going to the

temple. Iruvan Karunakaranwho is exhibiting his works atBeyond Coffee, says that he isinspired by characters in hisdaily life.

“I feel that the characters wesee in our daily life have a silentmagic. This inspiration gets fun-neled down to the canvas andthat is the kind of paintings I do.To me the streets are magical.People on the streets are alwaysbusy; some of them running lateto get to their destination, whileothers are others are busy buy-ing from the vendors on the road-side. It might be the man pullingthe cart or the dog sleeping,despite the commotion, the con-

tinuous movement on the streetsmakes it feel as if it is alive,” hesays about his muses.

Having born and brought upin the temple city of Madurai, hesays sculptures and paintingsfrom childhood, helped him inhis work. “The city in itself wasmy primary inspiration. Duringmy formative years, I used to fol-low works of many artists fromthe city. Later I was inspired byAustralian watercolour artistJoseph Zbucvic who is known forhis street paintings,” he says.

He did his Bachelor of fineArts from Government College ofArts & Crafts in Kumbakonam,Tamil Nadu but says that most ofthe training came from his lifeexperiences.

“I think a person would needbasic training from an art schoolbut after that one recognises histrue self through life experi-ences. Most of the times, thosewho go to an art college do notnecessarily become an artist inthe later stages. Among the 150students who had attended col-lege with me, only three or fourof them have pursued art seri-

ously,” he says.Artists gain recognition after

their prime. But he says that thisfact doesn’t bother him much

since he is not chasing fame.“I am not chasing fame but I

would definitely be happy when Iget recognised and rememberedfor my work. Recognition workedin a very different way at a timebefore the invasion of theInternet and it was after an artistpassed away that his work wasrecognised. However, in my opin-ion that is not the case anymore.Moreover, I believe that eachartist has a unique style and it isnot right to compare one with theother. So each of us have a spacefor ourselves,” he says.

He calls himself a full-timeartist who takes out time forother roles like son, husband andfather. “I enjoy painting and Iwould like to do it in the futuretoo but I haven’t set a target formyself. I will keep painting till Ienjoy doing it,” he says.

He feels that the market forart works is on the rise with theemerging Indian economy.

“Many are looking at art as aform of investment which wasnot the case before. This showsthat the art scene in the countrylooking up,” he says.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 201212ART AND CULTURE

‘Streets aremagical’

Iruvan Karunakaran who is exhibitinghis art at Beyond Coffee till December16 talks about his life and his muses.

Adrawing by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael hassold for $47.8 million at an auction. The work, titled

“Head of a Young Apostle,” was featured ina Sotheby’s auction in London on Wednesday. The chalk

drawing, dating from the early 16th century, is believed tohave been an early study for Raphael’s masterpiece

“Transfiguration,” which is located at The Vatican. Followingan intense 17 minute battle between four bidders — both in

the auction room and on the phones — the hammer camedown on the winning bid which was cast on the telephone.

Raphael drawing sells for $47.8 million

Modernist architect Oscar Nieme yerhas died just short of his 105thbirthday. Born on Decem ber 15,

1907, in Rio de Janeiro, he achieved inter-national acclaim when commissioned in1956 to design monumental buildings inBrazil’s new capital, Brasilia. Lauded forbeing a “sculptor of monuments”,Niemeyer was praised for being one ofthe best architects of his generation.

Oscar Niemeyer dies

The Van Gogh Museum saidTuesday its experts now believeone of Vincent van Gogh’s paint-

ings previously thought to be a self-portrait actually depicts his brother,Theo. If true, it would be the only kno -wn painting of Theo, although Vincentmade several sketches of his brother,who supported him financially and washis lifelong confidant and friend.

Self-portrait of brother?

Village tales

The solo exhibition of BalaAbhiram, son of

renowned artist BairuRaghuram, is being held at

Alliance Francaise in BanjaraHills. Abhiram says, “I choose thesubject of the village, its environ-

ment, lives of the rural folk, thesources of livelihood, and the socio-

economic spheres. I paint every-thing I see in nature: men and

women relaxing, gossiping in therural area. I am inspired by rurallife and study works of European,

American and Indian artists.”n Where: Alliance Francaise,

Road No 3, Banjara Hillsn When: December 6-14, 9am-6pm

Breaking the mould

KMuralidhar, a Hyderabad-based artist is exhibiting hisworks at Rainbow Art

Gallery in Begumpet.Muralidhar is known for experi-menting with special clay, creat-ing works in 3D clay art. The spe-cial clay can be used on any sur-face, enabling creating of art outof waste even.

Muralidhar aspires to teachand encourage anyone interestedin using the medium. He alsoholds clay art classes at his insti-tute.n Where: Rainbow Art Gallery,

Tourism Plaza, Begumpetn When: December 8-12, 11am-

7pm

[email protected] ROSE THOMAS

Recognition worked ina very different way ata time before the inva-sion of the Internet andit was after an artistpassed away that hiswork was recognised.


Aging giant sequoia trees are growingfaster than ever, with some of the old-

est and tallest trees producing morewood, on average, in old age than

they did when they were younger. A2,000-year-old giant sequoia is just

cranking out wood, said Steve Sillett, aprofessor at Humboldt State Universityin California who has conducted recent

research on the big trees.

Sequoias grow faster with ageThe Opportunity Rover has made itsway to a spot on the Red Planet thatmay have been capable of supportinglife long ago. The team is currenltystudying clay deposits on the rim ofthe Red Planet’s Endeavour Crater.The clay implies that the area wasexposed to relatively neutral — asopposed to harshly acidic or basic —water long ago, researchers said.

Clay deposits on red planetA "black swan" cyclone may sound like

the latest comic book hero, but this"extreme of the extremes" is the resultof climate models that suggest global

warming will make future hurricanesmore intense.The rare monster tropicalcyclones could inundate coastal areaswith storm surges greater than 15 feet

(4.6 meters), and could even surpass 30feet (9 m) in some regions of the world.

'Black Swan' Storms

ENVIRONMENT

Loic Vennin and [email protected]

The disappearance of thetrees has pushed thou-sands of animals — fromthe birds they harbour

and sustain to orangutans, gib-bons and black panthers — outof their natural homes and habi-tats. They have been replaced byplantations that are too nutrient-poor to support such wildlife,instead dedicated solely to pro-ducing fruit that is pulped tomake oil used globally in prod-ucts ranging from food to fuel. Apalm oil tree can yield useablefruit in three years and continuedoing so for the next 25 years.But such wealth creation hasmeant environmental destruc-tion. “We don’t see too manyorangutans any more,” said aworker with a weather-beatenface, taking a break in the shadeof a hut built on a path gougedout of the forest floor. Expertsbelieve there are about 50,000 to60,000 orangutans left in thewild, 80 per cent of them inIndonesia’s Borneo and the restin Malaysia. Exact data on their

decline is hard to come by, sayprimatologists. “What we seenow is a contest betweenorangutans and palm oil for ahome,” said Sri Suci UtamiAtmoko from NationalUniversity in Jakarta. “You canjudge that the population isdepleting from the loss oforangutan habitats.” Gibbons,often recognisable by the ringsof white fur that frame theirfaces, are among the hardest-hitspecies. “There are 1,00,000 gib-bons in Borneo. But in 15-20years, there will be more viablepopulations,” said AurelienBrule, a French national basedin Borneo for 15 years who runsan animal sanctuary. Gibbonsrescued from the destruction oftheir forest homes cannot bereturned alone into new wildhabitats. “Other pairs protectingtheir own territory would killthem,” said Brule, adding thatrampant deforestation has wipedout sites suitable for single ani-mals. There is also a humancost, with the permits for planta-tions resulting in the eviction ofindigenous people. AbdonNababan, the secretary-generalof AMAN, an Indonesian indige-

nous peoples alliance, said thereis no exact data but recordedcases of land conflict are in thehundreds, with thousands ofpeople possibly affected. “Palmoil has brought fortune toIndonesia, but it has been gainedwith blood,” said Jakarta-basedforest campaigner forGreenpeace, Wirendro Sumargo.

THE COST OF GROWTHIndonesia, the world’s biggestpalm oil producer, has exponen-tially increased the land dedicat-ed to the commodity from274,000 hectares (680,000 acres)in the 1980s to 7.32 millionhectares in 2009, governmentdocuments show. The industryhas helped push Indonesia’s

GDP growth rate above 6.0 percent every year since 2005, but atthe cost of huge tracts of rain-forest. An area roughly the sizeof Denmark was lost between2000 and 2010 across Indonesiaand its neighbour Malaysia,according to a study publishedlast year in the Global ChangeBiology journal. Despite somebacklash around the world,including an unsuccessfulattempt in France to push anamendment to quadruple tax onpalm oil to discourage consump-tion — the destruction is unlike-ly to stop any time soon.Indonesia, which together withMalaysia holds 85 per cent of themarket, aims to increase produc-tion by more than 60 per cent by2020. To appease environmentalconcerns, it last year imposed amoratorium on new permits inprimary forests and peatlands.But critics say it is a cosmeticmove, with plantations overlap-ping sensitive environments.One example can be found in theTripa Peat Swamp Forest, in thenorthwest of Aceh province,home to endangered speciessuch as Sumatran rhinos andtigers. In this area, “we have evi-

dence that five palm oil firms aredoing illegal practices”, saidDeddy Ratih, forest campaignerfor WALHI/Friends of the EarthIndonesia. Derom Bangun, thechairman of umbrella organisa-tion Indonesian Palm Oil Board,doesn’t deny the issue but saysimprovements are being made.“The government has seen (theviolations) and has taken stepsto fix it. Ultimately we want thepalm oil industry to workaccording to the rules,” headded. In an effort to improvetheir image, some palm oil firmshave joined the roundtable onSustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), aforum consisted namely ofgreen groups and growers. TheWWF, one of the founders ofRSPO, admitted that there is stilla conservation shortfall.“Generally land allocation forplantations still overlaps withprimary forests and peatlands,including in areas that are thehabitat of key species,” saidIrwan Gunawan, WWF deputydirector of market transforma-tion in Indonesia. “We areencouraging the government topay attention to this,” he added.

AFP

ENDANGERED LIVING The roar of chainsaws has replaced birdsong, the once-lush jungle scorched to a barren grey. The

equivalent of six football pitches of forest is lost every minute in Indonesia.

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP Martha Stewart advises, “Inaddition to broad egg noodles,you can make this heavenlysoup with angel-hair pasta bro-ken into short lengths orshapes, such as alphabet pasta,or add cooked grains like rice.”INGREDIENTSn 3 quarts homemade chicken

stock, or canned low-sodiumchicken broth, skimmed of fat

n 3 carrots, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds

n Salt and freshly ground blackpepper

n 8 ounces medium egg noodles

n Cooked chicken meat, shredded

n 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, or1 tablespoon dried dill

n 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley

CORN CHOWDEROne of Jamie Oliver’s ultimatecomfort foods, he says aboutcorn chowder, “I love it and it’smuch easier than you think tomake. You can adapt chowdersand add all sorts of things fromcrab meat to smoked fish —the idea is really to be as heartyas possible.”INGREDIENTS n 1 (chopped) celery stalkn 1 (finely chopped) medium

onionn 1½ tablespoons buttern ½ teaspoon dried thymen 1 tablespoon all-purpose

flourn 3 cups 1% milkn 1 medium potato, peeled

and cut into little cubesn 3 scallionsn 2 cups frozen (or fresh) corn n ¼ cup chopped fresh chives

and/or parsley (optional)

METHODHeat the butter in a medium saucepan over amedium heat. Add the celery, onion, and thyme.Stir until vegetables start to brown. Sprinkle theflour over the veggies and stir for a few minutes.Pour in the milk, add the potato and bring to aboil, stirring the whole time. Cook until the pota-toes are tender, but not mushy – this will takearound 10 minutes. Chop the celery leaves, trimthe ends off the scallions and slice them thinly.Stir in the corn, scallions and celery leaves. Bringthe soup back to the boil, then serve.

SOURCE: WWW.JAMIEOLIVER.COM

COCONUT SHRIMP SOUPBursting with flavour and nutrients, this healthysoup makes for a thoroughly hearty meal.INGREDIENTS n 1 tablespoon vegetable oiln 1 tablespoon grated fresh gingern 2 cloves garlic, mincedn 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red-pepper flakesn 1 pound (6 to 8 medium) carrots, peeled,

halved lengthwise, and thinly slicedn 1 can (13.5 ounces) coconut milk

n 1 tablespoon cornstarchn 4 ounces angel-hair pastan 1 1/2 pounds large shrimp,

peeled, deveined, and tailsremoved

n 1/4 cup lime juicen Coarse saltn 4 scallions, thinly sliced

METHODHeat oil in a large saucepan overmedium-low heat. Add ginger,garlic, and pepper flakes; cook,stirring, until fragrant, about 1minute. Add carrots, coconutmilk, and three cups water. In abowl, mix cornstarch and 2 tbspwater until smooth; add to pot.Bring to a boil. Break pasta inhalf; add to pot. Return to a boil,reduce heat to medium, and sim-mer until pasta is al dente andcarrots are tender, 3 to 4 minutes.Add shrimp; stir for 1 minute.Remove pot from heat, and stir inlime juice; season with salt.Garnish with scallions.

WWW.MARTHASTEWART.COM

n 1 cup dry white winen 4 cups beef stock n 2 tbsp Worcestershire saucen 1 baguette, sliced into 16

rounds about 1-inch thickn 1/2 pound Gruyère cheese

METHODHeat a soup pot over mediumheat. Melt butter. Add onions,garlic, bay leaves, thyme, saltand pepper and caramelise, stir-ring frequently, for 30 minutes.Deglaze the pan with wine, thenlet it reduce for 1 minute whilestirring. Add the stock andWorcestershire sauce and sim-mer for 15 minutes more. Toastthe bread slices for 15 minutes inan oven at 250˚F. Switch thebroiler on. Top the bread withcheese and broil for 2-3 minutesto melt the cheese. Ladle thesoup into bowls. Set four crou-tons into each bowl and serve.

SOURCE:WWW.RACHELRAY.COM

METHODPlace stock in a stockpot over medium-highheat, and bring just to a simmer. Add carrots,and simmer until tender, about six minutes.Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of saltedwater to a boil. Cook noodles until just tender,about six minutes. Drain noodles, and add themto the pot of stock, along with shredded chickenmeat. Season with salt and pepper. Heat untilvery hot. When ready to serve, stir in dill andparsley

SOURCE: WWW.MARTHASTEWART.COM

FRENCH ONION SOUP With croutons on top, you can dig right in to thisFrench onion soup! INGREDIENTSn 6 medium onions, thinly slicedn 4 tbsp buttern 3 cloves garlic, finely choppedn 2 fresh bay leavesn 2 tbsp fresh thyme, finely choppedn Salt and pepper

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 201214FOOD

Aditya Hometel is organising a ‘StreetFood Festival’ on December 7-19 at

Flavours Restaurant. The speciallydesigned food festival offers an array ofmouthwatering Indian street dishes. Thestreet food festival promises to provide

everyone an opportunity to enjoy thetaste and feel of Indian street food. The

festival is a lunch and dinner buffet.

Street food festival

If you like pina coladas and the devel-opment of new varieties of fruit via

hybridisation, you’re going to love theAusFestival pineapple, which was bredby researchers in Australia’s Departmentof Agriculture and tastes likecoconut.They hope to start planting thepineapples for commercial sale, and forblending into pina coladas, within thenext two years, reports Huff Post.

Pineapples with a twist

The price of the food served on trainswill finally see an upward revision

after a gap of almost a decade asRailway Minister Pawan Bansal is learntto have given an in-principle approvalto the move to be effected next year.For the sake of better quality, the rail-ways has been aiming to increase therates of the food items served on trainsreports a national newspaper.

Train food to turn costly

The Soup Song On a cold winter day, there’s nothing like a soup to keep you warm and toasty. Here are

some hearty, nutritious and easy-to-make selections from your favourite chefs.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 201215FOOD

Mekong atMarigold that

serves delicious

Asian food in zen

surroundingsmakes for a

delightfultreat.

Water and wood —these are the ele-ments that domi-nate in Mekong,Hotel Marigold’s

pan-Asian restaurant that spe-cialises in cuisines that springup on the banks of the Mekongriver. The deep mahogany of thewooden cage lampshades andtables are offset beautifully bythe pale blue tiles on the wall.The translucent white shadesgive a glimpse of the bamboogrove outside. Peace reignswithin.

We turned up to sampletheir recently inauguratedSunday brunch. There was asense of serenity and ceremonyas the courses made their way toour table. Fragrant jasmine teawas served in jade green cups,setting the mood for the meal.We start with vegetable tempurasushi and a salmon tempura uramaki, both served withoutwasabi. The salmon sushi wasgood, but even the non-vegetari-ans agreed that the vegetabletempura sushi, with its crunchyinterior, was the winner.

Assorted mushroom tepa-nyaki, Thai corn cake and a rawpapaya salad were served asstarters, followed by Kung paoprawns and chicken yaki tori.The Thai corn cake was a disap-pointment. The mushroom tepa-nyaki was good, but because ofthe varieties of mushroomsused, some seemed bland whilethe others were flavoursome.The Kung pao prawns — succu-lent and perfectly spiced — wasthe highlight of the startersmenu. The chicken yaki tori wastasty, but predictable.

Khow suey chicken soup

was next on the menu, and theservers brought the soup to thetable in a beautiful ceramicbowl. Rich, creamy and delicate-ly flavoured, the soups were ahit, but it is difficult to finish alarge bowlful of the almostcurry-like soup.

For the main course, wetried the seasonal vegetable noo-

dles and the vegetable basil friedrice, accompanied by chilli beaneggplant and schezwan chicken.Instead of being steaming hot,the noodles were served cold,which was a refreshing change.The chilli bean eggplant, whichhad crunchy cubes of eggplantcoated with spices, was anunusual take on a usually bor-ing vegetable. The schezwanchicken was delicious, andunlike most restaurants thatserve it, not in the least oily.

We ended the meal with atrio of desserts — sticky ricepudding, fried date pancake androse petal ice cream. Not being afan of rice puddings, I was notvery impressed by it, but thedessert was a lot less sweet andtastier than the ones I am usual-ly subjected to. The rose petalice cream was delicious. Thedelicate, crisp pastry of the datepancake was a good contrast tothe soft, stickiness of the datepaste. All in all, a good ending toa good meal.

The chef explained thatAsian food was best served freshand hot, which is why therestaurant opted for a set menuinstead of a buffet. Having theset menu also allows you torelax at your seat with a coldglass of wine, which, to me, isthe whole point of a lazy Sundaybrunch. Head to Mekong forAsian comfort food served up inzen surroundings. CHEF’S NOTE:

n It’s a rich nawabi style dishwhich requires slow dum cook-ing method.

n The dish is served by mixingportion by portion, along withaccompaniment of mirchi kasalan, baigare baigan or raita.

nHigh in calories.Contact Us @ -

Noor Kitchen, Banjara Hills.Mobile - 9441282318

Residence - 23356947Like Us @ -http://www.face-

book.com/Noorkitchen

Ingredients 1. Basmati rice - 500 gms.2. Mutton - 750 gms.3. Thinly sliced onion - 2 medium sized.4. Ginger-garlic paste - 3 tbsp5. Curd - 200 gms.6. Red chilli powder - 2 tsp7. Green chilli paste - 2 tsp8. Raw papaya paste - 2 tbsp9. Garam - masala powder - 3 tsp10. Garam masala - 1 tbsp11. Milk - 100 ml12.. Ghee / Refined oil - 100 ml13. Green chillies - 8 to 1014. Mint leaves - 2 bunches15. Coriander leaves - 2 bunches16. Lemon juice - 2 tsp17. Kevda water - 1/2 a tsp18. Saffron - 2 pinches19. Foil or dough for sealing the vessel

Procedure1. Wash and soak basmati rice, for half an

hour. Marinate the mutton with rawpapaya, ginger-garlic and green chillipaste, chilli powder, salt and one or twotable spoons of oil. Leave it aside forsometime.

2. Add the curd, melted ghee half ofgaram-masala powder chopped corian-der and mint leaves, slit green chilliesand lemon juice. Keep aside.

3. Boil the water for rice with garam-masalaand salt. Spread the marinated muttonand then add the par-boil rice. Add themixture of ghee,saffron and milk andgaram-masala powder on the top of rice.

4. Sprinkle mint and coriander and slicedfried onions. Seal the handi with doughor foil and put on a high-flame to cooktill the steam is formed.

5. Simmer it down when the steam isformed for another 10 to 20 minutes.

6. Switch off the gas, and only after another10-15 minutes.

HyderabadiDum Biryani

Noor’s KitchenNOOR JAFRI

Rice cooked with rawmutton, under slowcooking with sealed cover.

Where: Mekong, HotelMarigold, Begumpet

When: Every Sunday from11am to 4pm

How much: `1,150 withunlimited beer/ice tea/

wine, inclusive of all taxes`700 for children

Serene [email protected]

JYOTSNA NAMBIAR

S BALAKRISHNA

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 201218HISTORY

1901: Italian radio pioneer GuglielmoMarconi sends the first radio transmis-sion across the Atlantic Ocean, dis-

proving detractors who told him that the curvature of the earthwould limit transmission to 200 miles or less.

Dec 12 2003: After spending nine months onthe run, former Iraqi dictatorSaddam Hussein is captured by

US soldiers, in a six-by-eight foot hole nine miles outside hishome town of Tikrit.

Dec 13 1911: Norwegian Roald Amundsenbecomes the first explorer to reachthe South Pole, beating his British

rival, Robert Falcon Scott. He and four others reached thePole and returned safely to base.

Dec 14

Dec 101901: The first Nobel Prizes areawarded in Stockholm, Sweden inthe fields of physics, chemistry,medicine, literature and peace. Emilvon Behring, who developed an anti-toxin to treat diphtheria and WilhelmConrad Rontgen, who discovered X-rays, are among the first winners.

Dec 111936: Edward VIII becomes the firstEnglish monarch to voluntarilyabdicate the throne. He did so inorder to marry American divorceeWallis Warfield Simpson, after theChurch of England condemned hisdecision to do so.

Dec 112008: US financier Bernard Madoffis arrested at his New York Cityapartment for masterminding a $65billion Ponzi scheme, one of thebiggest investment frauds in WallStreet history.

Dec 161971: Two weeks after the Indianinvasion of East Pakistan (nowBangladesh) in support of the inde-pendence movement there, 90,000Pakistani troops surrender to theIndian forces.

Dec 151961: In Tel Aviv, Israel, AdolfEichmann, the Nazi SS officer whoorganised Adolf Hitler’s “final solu-tion of the Jewish question”, iscondemned to death by an Israeliwar crimes tribunal.Dec 12 1913: Two years after it was stolen from the Louvre Museum, Leonardo da Vinci’s painting

Mona Lisa is recovered in an Italian waiter’s hotel room in Florence.

Dec 161773: In Boston Harbor, a group ofMassachusetts colonists boardthree British tea ships and dump342 chests of tea into the harbour.This was to protest the Tea Act,which granted the East IndiaCompany a virtual monopoly onthe American tea trade.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 201219SPOTLIGHT

The audio launch of Sharvanand-Priya Anand starrer KoAntey Koti was a gala affair with Ram Charan, Navdeep,

Sekhar Kammula and Deva Katta turning up for the do. Theevent was organised at Hitex on Saturday night.

BringingsmilesAditya Park &Hometel organ-ised Minute ToWin contest forunderprivilegedchildren onSaturday. Blanketand snacks weredistributed to thekids after the pro-gramme.

Artymatter

Works of artist KMuralidhar are

exhibited atRainbow Art

Gallery,Begumpet. Artlovers were in

attendance at thegallery on

Saturday when theexhibition opening

took place.

On theshelvesCommunity librarychain JustBooksopened up itsfifth branch atJubilee Hills.JustBooks promis-es to cater to thereading require-ments of toddlers,teens and book-worms.

Medicinetalks

Tennis player SaniaMirza and

Executive Director,Apollo Hospitals

Sangita Reddywere present at the

13th anniversarycelebrations of

LaryngectomeeeSociety on

Saturday at ApolloHospitals, Jubilee

Hills.

Shiva Balaji, Sekhar Kammula

Ram Charan,Sharvanand

Priya Anand

SundeepKishan

Srihari

Navdeep

ManojManchu

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 2

3 4

5 6 7

A GLITZYEVENING


CINEMA 20

Amala Paul is flying high

Amala Paul has had a hecticyear so far and she hasbeen shuttling between

Hyderabad, Chennai andMumbai for the past twomonths. No wonder, the actressis eagerly looking forward tospending time with her friendsand family. She’s currently inHyderabad to shoot the climaxportion of Ram Charan’s upcom-ing film Naayak and after shewraps up all her current com-mitments, she’s planning to take

a break and head to Thailand tospend Christmas and New Year’seve there. “The Mynaa in me isliterally flying when its the yearend... Mum-Hyd-Chennai-Mumbai-Hyd-bangkok :-D...withmy X'mas & new year nThailand ♥♥♥ (sic),” she postedon Twitter. Next year, she’ll beflying to New Zealand to join theteam of Iddarammayilatho inwhich she’s paired up with AlluArjun. Puri Jagannadh is goingto direct the film.

NO LIP

LOCK IN

YVM?

Samantha has been in news for thepast few days and it’s not just abouther future line-up of films. Recently,

when a new set of pictures of her upcom-ing film Yeto Vellipoyidhi Manasu werereleased, everyone went gung-ho about alip lock between Nani and Samantha. Thefilm’s Tamil version Neethane EnPonvasantham starring Jiiva andSamantha was censored and it has beengiven a U certificate. Samantha came forthto clarify that there will not be a lip lockin the film. “'U' certificate... No cuts... Sohappy... So can the rumours pls stop.. Nokissing scenes.. Lol.. Thanku (sic),” shetweeted. Gautham Menon has directed thefilm and after Eega, this is the second timeNani and Samantha will be seen together.Ilayaraja has composed the music and MSPrabhu is the cinematographer. The filmis slated for release on December 14.

P awan Kalyan iscurrently touringacross Spain to scoutfor locations for hisupcoming film inTrivikram Srinivas’ direction. He’sreportedly in Barcelona, Spain whereTrivikram Srinivas and music direc-tor Devi Sri Prasad have joinedhim for the music sittings ofthe film. In the past, PawanKalyan had used few

Spanish dialogues in TeenMaar, but this untitledfilm will be the first timethat he’ll be shooting inSpain. Samantha is hisco-star and the film issaid to be a familyentertainer based onhuman values.BVSN Prasad is pro-ducing the film.Pawan Kalyan isexpected to returnto Hyderabad dur-ing the last weekof December andthe film will goon floors inearly 2013.More detailsabout thefilm will beannounced

soon.

Pawan Kalyangoes to Spain


CINEMA 21

‘EK LADKI KO...’originally for Madz

Almost two decades after penningthe evergreen Ek ladki kodekha..., writer-lyricist JavedAkhtar has revealed the melodi-ous hit song was originallypenned with Madhuri Dixit inmind.

“No one knows that the songEk ladki ko dekha toh, whichbecame so popular... I wrote itkeeping Madhuri in mind.When I was asked to write thesong, she was doing the film, butlater she left it and ManishaKoirala came in,” Akhtar told agathering on Friday. Akhtarspoke at the Agenda Aaj Tak,held in the capital. Madhuri wasthe guest speaker at a sessionduring the event, wherePakistani actor-singer Ali Zafarand singer Shafqat Amanat AliKhan was present too.

Besotted by Madhuri’s beau-ty, Ali put his talent to good useand sang Ek ladki ko dekhatoh.... Of course, Madhuri,dressed to kill in black, was flat-tered of course, but it is thismoment that enthused Akhtarinto sharing the interestinganecdote.

The song, from the film1942: A Love Story, was pic-turised on Manisha and AnilKapoor.

Shafqat Amanat AliKhan, known for numberslike Mitwa, Mora saiyan

and Phir le aaya dil,sang Tumse milke

aisa lagaa tumsemilke for

Madhuri.IANS

KarismaKapoor

turns radiojockey

Actress Karisma Kapoor isset to don a new role —she is set to become a

radio jockey (RJ).The 38-year-old will turn

into an RJ for a special seg-ment on 92.7 BIG FM’s showBIG Memsaab, from December24 to March 24.

The actress will be seenimparting fashion tips on hersegment, which is called BIGon Style. It is aimed at women,who want to get a makeoverand look like a diva. Karisma,a fashionista herself, is excit-ed.

“I will share some of my

personal tips along with trendsthat I have observed and sharethem with my listeners,”Karisma said in a statement.

“I am confident that myfans will continue to supportme as I undertake this newjourney and will enjoy theshow even further,” she added.

On the big screen, Karismawas last seen in DangerousIshhq. IANS

Bollywood star AkshayKumar, with his leanlook and super fit

physique, would need tolose more weight for hisrole as an army captain inAR Murugadoss’s remakeof his Tamil hitThuppakki. Akshay hasbeen asked to lose sevenkilos. The movie’s shootingbegins December 20, sincethe Christmas week is con-sidered lucky byMurugadoss.

“He released hisGhajini in December. Sincethen, Murugadoss has beenexcessively attached to theChristmas season. He waskeen on starting theremake of Thuppakki inthe Christmas week, andAkshay was happy tooblige. The only problemis, he has two weeks to loseat least five kgs, and somemore later to play an armycaptain at least 12 yearsjunior to Akshay’s biologi-cal age,” said a sourceclose to Murugadoss.

Akshay will also sportan army officer’s hairdoand look.

IANS

AKSHAYto lose

weight forThuppakki


CINEMA 22

‘RACE 2HAS BEEN A GREATEXPERIENCE’

Deepika Padukone says the action-packed Race 2 says shooting for ithas been a great experience.

“It has been great. Race 2 has been awonderful journey for me. I am very proudof it. The movie is an action thriller, but italso has a lot of glamour. The first film ofthe franchise did well too,” Deepika said.

The actress says the movie is impor-tant to her, and she will readily devote ade-quate time to its promotions.

“Race 2 is very important to me, andeven its promotion is very important aswell,” she said.

Deepika says she shares a good cama-raderie with her Race 2 co-actors — SaifAli Khan and John Abraham.

“Saif and I have worked before so thatcomfort level comes. The same is true forJohn too,” she said.

About her beauty secrets, the actresssays she often uses natural tricks to makeher skin look beautiful.

“I believe that less is more. So ahealthy diet, drinking lots of water andadequate sleep really helps. All thesethings reflect positively on your skin,” shesaid. IANS

Superstar Aamir Khan dreams ofbringing the epic tale ofMahabharata on the big screen, but

says he lacks courage to do it.“My dream is to make Mahabharata

and I don’t know if I will be able to fulfilthis dream or not. It is a very difficultdream and a scary dream, becauseevery time I think about it I feel Iwon’t be able to do it. I am unable togather the courage,” Aamir said.

“It is such a huge responsibili-ty. I don’t know if I will be able tofulfil it or not. This subject hasbeen in my heart from a longtime,” he added.

Asked what character hewould want to play from the epicstory, the 47-year-old said: “Myfavourite character is Karna. ButI feel I won’t be able to do thatrole. I don’t suit the character. Ithink I would suit the role ofKrishna.”

Meanwhile, the actor is rid-ing high on the box-office success ofhis suspensethrillerTalaash.IANS

KEEN ON BRINGINGEPIC TALE

TO BIGSCREEN

AAMIR KHAN

NEVER FORGET YOUR PAST,SAYS BIG B

He hails from the smalltown of Allahabad, buthas made it big like no

other. Megastar AmitabhBachchan, known worldwidefor his acting prowess,believes it always helps tostay close to one’s roots.

The 70-year-old feels it isimportant that everyoneremembers the beginning oftheir career as it helps themto face tough times.

“Beginnings of our livesare easily forgotten. It’s yourcircumstances and condi-

tions that keep one groundedwith reality,” Big B wrote onhis blog.

The actor says he wentthrough a lot of struggleduring his over four decade-old Bollywood career.

“The humble days ofyore, of hardships and howthey were overcome, testsand trials, embarrassingrejections… all go on to playan important role your life.It is good to rememberwhere we began from,” headded. IANS


CINEMA 23


CINEMA 24

CINEMA 25

GiseleBundchen andTom Brady welcome second childGisele Bundchen and Tom

Brady are the new parentsof a baby girl, Vivian Lake,

People.com reports.Vivian is the couple's second

child together. Bundchen andBrady welcomed son Benjamin inDecember 2009. Brady also has a5-year-old son, John, from his pre-vious relationship with BridgetMoynahan.

The supermodel, 32, and theNew England Patriots quarter-back, 35, wed in February 2009.

I don't knowhow to makerelationshipslast: SwiftTaylor Swift's love life is well

documented — in her songsand in the press — but the

singer says she still has a lot tolearn about romance.

Asked what she doesn't knowabout relationships, the singer,who has recently been linked toOne Direction heartthrob HarryStyles, tells British Cosmopolitan,“How to make them last.”

“I've never had a really longrelationship, so I have no ideawhat that's like,” says Swift.

“Wish me luck for the future!”

Fired X Factor Judge CherylCole sues producers

Cheryl Cole never appearedon Season 2 of the

American version of TheX Factor, but she’s suing

the show’s producers for the salaryshe claims she’s owed.

The British host, who was let gofrom the Fox singing competition

early around the time of itsAmerican debut, filed suit against

Blue Orbit Productions Friday formore than $2.3 million, Deadline

reports.The breach of contract suit saysthat Cole, a judge on the British

version of the reality series whowas replaced by Nicole Scherzingerbefore the Season 1 premiere, had apay-or-play contract for two seasons

— meaning that she’d be compen-

sated even if the show released herfrom the contract.

She received $1.8 million for thefirst season and now is seeking her

$2 million fee for the second season,plus additional damages to cover

items like housing, wardrobe andliving allowances.

Cole’s complaint was filed inLos Angeles Superior Court.


CHAI TIME 26SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2012

ACROSS1 Fix the clock6 ‘Ghosts’ writer11 Thigh bone16 In-between state21 Elicit a chuckle22 — Lee Jones23 Love in a gondola24 Ryan or Tatum25 Dryden and Donne26 Form of quartz27 Steak-lover’s delight

(hyph)28 Forest clearing29 — be an honour!30 Cheap heat32 Skiing mecca34 Fable36 Intense38 Saddle strap40 Winter quaff42 Very small43 Vertical45 Ill-wisher47 Removes wrinkles49 Appalachian range52 Districts53 Life form54 Tasty tuber57 Hawk’s grippers58 Miner’s stake59 Tarnish60 Nefertiti’s river61 Like legal pads62 Bore63 Scold64 Gas mains65 Literary miscellany66 Lavish meal68 Idle and Clapton69 Track competitors70 Yellow jacket72 Pro votes73 Side74 Best policy?75 Musicians’ org77 Hairless comic-strip

character78 ‘If I Ran the Zoo’ author79 Hung on to82 Day or Roberts83 Food preserver84 RPM meter88 Epic by Virgil89 Flax product90 Domestic-science class

(2 wds)92 Edible seed93 Say without thinking94 Prom rentals95 Atomic no 596 Rite place98 Bireme movers99 ‘Final answer?’ asker100 China neighbor101 Familiar threat (2 wds)102 Grain crop103 River transport104 Speckled horses105 Focused (2 wds)106 Customary practices

107 Pester108 Invigorating109 Informal speech111 High standard113 Powerful engine115 Fleece119 Pupil’s protector121 Globe substitute123 Lift125 Baton Rouge sch126 Swiss city127 Asian capital129 Regular routine131 Subatomic particles133 — circle or ear134 Realtor, eg135 Backspace on a PC136 Slalom runs137 Flat broke138 Overbearing

139 Truck stop140 Abrasive material

DOWN1 Very quick2 Wax theatrical3 Napped leather4 PST minus 35 Hardy’s dairymaid6 Slanted type7 ‘Key Largo’ star8 Nobody’s fool9 911 staffer10 ‘Da’ opposite11 Comprehends12 Personify13 Lowed14 Coffee brewer15 Fishing gear16 Pulp business

17 Fjords18 Should have said19 No-goodnik20 ‘— Buttermilk Sky’31 Curved moldings33 First-stringers (hyph)35 Piano-key wood37 Tea variety39 Signal the coming of41 Investment returns44 Cheese coatings46 Diamond or Armstrong48 Vex49 Malt-shop freebie50 Hawaii’s — Loa51 Southwestern stewpots52 Wanted-poster word53 Skylark maker54 ‘Egads!’55 On the lookout56 Topsy-turvy58 Move furtively59 Bright60 Most congenial62 Tree nymph63 Rugged cliffs64 Reviews harshly67 Measured off

68 Hoops great — Baylor69 Itinerary71 Scholarly articles73 Blazes74 Trojan War cause

76 Hiss77 Regions78 Mead’s island79 Eva or Zsa Zsa80 Pass along81 Toughen up82 It might be whistled83 Chafed places85 As is proper86 Desist87 Fast rodents89 1931 Dracula portrayer90 Nest-building insect91 Sagan and Jung94 Backpacker’s gear95 Jungle crushers97 Scallions’ kin99 Cattle country100 Sluggish marsupial101 Melanges103 007 in ‘Goldfinger’104 Fact105 Judge106 Put on guard107 Jackson Hole

backdrop108 Brown and simmer109 Public spat110 Ben, of ‘Bonanza’112 ‘Great’ dogs114 Cosmopolitan116 Similar117 Emmy-winning Ed118 Untidy120 Whaler of fiction122 Lose leaves124 ‘En garde’ weapon126 Storage container128 Way back when130 Jackie’s second132 Tenet

SUNDAY CROSSWORDPlay & Win

voucher from VENKEY’S VEGRestaurant, Nampally

Please send in your filled-in entries toPostnoon, #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62,

Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033. The winners will beannounced on this page in Sunday’s edition.

Play & Win

PR

EV

IOU

S P

UZ

ZL

E A

NS

WE

R

Winners! FOLOWING ARE THE VOUCHER LUCKY WINNERS FOR THIS WEEK: 1. E Ravi 2. Menaka G 3. Bhattacharjee 4. Nitya N 5. Annapurna

CHAI TIME 27SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2012

STR

IP T

EAS

EAG

NES

PEAR

LS B

EFOR

E SW

INE

TAROT READ

Two of Cups –Partnerships are infocus. Romance doeswell and you bondwell with your partner.You discover a newlevel of understand-ing and connect.

The Hanged Man –You’re drawn to allthings spiritual. Youwant to disconnectfrom the world for awhile. Take time offbut not at the costof promises.

Justice – You getwhat you have beenasking for. Maybenot exactly, but youget the best for you.Life has a way ofevening out desiresand needs.

ARIESNew efforts and travel undertaken offi-cially will be successful. Real-estatedeals prove gainful. Software profes-sionals likely to achieve fortune oppor-tunities. Financial position looks good.

CANCER

LIBRASelf-confidence and courage will incre -ase with which all work will get compl -e ted successfully. Employees advisednot to confront with superiors to avoida major embarrassment.

CAPRICORNDelayed good events will be perfor m -ed successfully now. Children improvein their career efforts. Financial situa-tion looks satisfactory. Support ofexperienced persons and VIPs likely.

TAURUSGovt officials likely to get transferred.Businessmen might not get co-opera-tion of partners. Misunderstandingwith blood relatives likely. Delay likelyin new projects for businessmen.

LEOBusinessmen might face competitionand dull trend. Worries about childr -en’s behaviour might upset you. Real-estate matters might not be profitable.Take care of valuables during travel.

SCORPIOSupport from wellwishers and friendslikely. Financial situation will be verycomfortable. Govt officials might gettransfer and promotion but gains mightnot be on the expected lines.

AQUARIUSTransfer on the cards for some govtemployees. Realtors will see a boomtrend. Businessmen might face labourproblems. Working women need to beextra cautious at workplace.

GEMINIFinancial position does not look favou -r able. Working women likely to gettransferred. Avoid speculative deals.Some are forced to sell ancestral prop-erty due to financial difficulties.

VIRGOYou will handle opposition well and ach -i eve success in all new efforts. Tu rningpoints likely, which will keep you cheer-ful. Marriage talks succeed. Trans fer andpromotion likely for govt servants.

SAGITTARIUSChange of residence is unavoidable forsome. Chances of misunderstandingwith father likely. You will face enemieswith self-confidence and succeed. Wo -r k ing women will try to change job.

PISCESHealth problem likely; take extra care.Skin-related ailments likely. Business -men face hurdles in signing new agre -ements and a revolt from staff. An une -x pected transfer will upset govt officials.

NON

SEQU

ITUR

POOC

H CA

FE

The High Priestess –You’re intuitive andable to make smartchoices though youmay not quite knowwhere you gotthose ideas from.Creativity is high.

Four of Wands – Thisis a go od time wheneverything goes toplan. Don’t let mon -o tony get to you.Wo rk on improvingyour plans to makethe most of it.

The Fool – You’recaught in a relative-ly new situationwhich you don’tknow much about.The adventurousand curious personin you will take over.

Seven of Pentacles –The focus is on utilis-ing your expertise toget the desiredresults at work. Youmay be in the modeof experimenting tosee what really works.

Nine of Swords – Yo -u’re anxious aboutso mething. Take timeoff to relax and rem -o ve yourself from str -e s sful situations bec -a use you’re not per-forming to potential.

Judgment – A pro-motion in the offing.You’re being offereda prestigious projectbecause of your abil-ity to deliver. Yourbosses are happywith your work.

The Wheel ofFortune – Bad timesmake way for goodtimes. You feel excel-lent about the pro -gress you make. Getused to the ebb andflow that is life.

Ten of Swords –Things may not haveworked out as perplan. But look aheadand plan better for astable future. Griefand disappointmentare on the cards.

Eight of Pentacles –You need to upgradeskills. There’s onlythis far you can gowith the knowledgeand expertise youpossess. Rein ventyourself and plan.

STAR POWER SUMAA TEKURtarotreadhyd@gmail. com

THIRUVAIKUMARthiruvaikumar@yahoo. co. in

040-27177230 / 9949870449

Good turning point likely in court issue.Businessmen need to be careful withpartners as they dominate. Pregnantwomen need to be careful while travel-ling. Purchase of house possible.

Date 10-12-2012 Date 10-12-2012

Several men are in the lockerroom of a private club afterexercising. Suddenly a cellphone on one of the benchesrings. A man picks it up and thefollowing conversation ensues:“Hello?”“Honey, It’s me.”“Sugar!”“Are you at the club?”“Yes.”“Great! I’m at the mall 2 blocksfrom where you are. I saw abeautiful mink coat. It is abso-lutely gorgeous! Can I buy it?”“What’s the price?”“Only $1,500.”“Well, okay, go ahead and get

it, if you like it that much.”“Ahhh, and I also stopped bythe Mercedes dealership andsaw the 2002 models. I saw oneI really liked. I spoke with thesalesman and he gave me areally good price ... and sincewe need to exchange the BMWthat we bought last year...”“What price did he quote you?”“Only $60,000!”“Okay, buy it.”“Okay, sweetie. Thanks! I’ll seeyou later!! I love you!!!”“Bye.” The man hangs up, clos-es the phone’s flap and asksaloud, “Does anyone knowwhose phone this is?”

The phone call

Vol: 2, No 143 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by himat Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211

As per Hindu panchang

CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES

SAGITTARIUSSCORPIOLIBRA

CANCER

ARIES TAURUS GEMINI

LEO VIRGO


ENTERTAINMENT 28

Who ya callin’ old?With news that Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood, 65, is all set to marry his

34-year-old fiancée next year we take a look at all those women who seemto have a thing for older men...much, much, older men.

J Howard Marshall & Anna Nicole SmithOn June 27, 1994, Smith, 26, and Marshall, 89, marriedin Houston. This resulted in a great deal of gossipabout her marrying him for his money. Though shereportedly never lived with him, Smith maintained thatshe loved her husband, and age did not matter to her.Thirteen months after his marriage to Smith, Marshalldied at age 90 on August 4, 1995, in Houston. Smithdied in 2007.

Rod Stewart & Penny LancasterIn 1999 Lancaster had the chance to meet singer RodStewart (27 years her senior) who offered to let her takephotos of him whilst on tour. When the pair begangoing out it caused a large tabloid interest as Stewarthad recently separated from his wife and mother of twoof his children Rachel Hunter. Lancaster and Stewartmarried on Saturday, June 16, 2007 at La Cervara nearPortofino, Italy.

Peter Brant & Stephanie SeymourShortly after her break up with Guns N’ Roses frontmanAxl Rose, Stephanie Seymour began dating billionairePeter Brant (21 years her senior), who was married andthe father of five children. Seymour and Brant marriedin July 1995 in Paris, France. In March 2009, Seymourfiled for divorce from Brant after almost 14 years of mar-riage. The couple reconciled and got back together in2010.

Jim Clark & Kristy HinzeIn October 2008, she became engaged to James HClark, founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape. Theymarried on March 22, 2009. Clark is 36 years Hinze'ssenior, the marriage attracted a lot of criticism. Shereportedly bought a home in Australia online while tak-ing a break from filming Adam Rifkin's Without Charliein LA. She gave birth to their first child, a daughternamed Dylan Vivienne, in September 2011 in New York.

Donald Trump & Melania KnaussKnauss met Donald Trump (24 years her senior) in thelate 1990s. Knauss's relationship with Trump grew asshe launched her modelling career, and also becameinvolved with the social set of New York. Trump andKnauss were engaged in 2004, and married on January22, 2005. On March 20, 2006, Knauss-Trump gave birthto a boy, whom the couple named Barron WilliamTrump. It was Trump's fifth child.

Sylvester Stallone & Jennifer FlavinIn 1988, Flavin met Sylvester Stallone in California at aBeverly Hills restaurant. They were married nine yearslater on May 17, 1997 in a civil ceremony at TheDorchester Hotel in London, England, followed by achapel ceremony at Blenheim Palace in Oxford. Sheand Stallone currently reside in the Los Angeles neigh-bousrhood of Beverly Crest. Together, they have threedaughters.


SPORTS 29

Cooch Behar Trophy U-19 Elite Group-AHyderabad vs Mumbai (Day 1)Mumbai 304/2 (Amog Bhatkal 60, Akhil Herwadkar 172 n.o., Shreyas Iyer 24,Vikranth Auti 29 n.o., Vamshi Vardhan Reddy 1/46, Ahmed Askari 1/39).

A4- 11 Division one-dayHyderabad Patriots 100 (Farhan Ahmed 6/37, Mohd Sami 3/15) lost to Green Turf101/2(Mohd Muzammil 40, Farhan Ahmed 35 n.o.).HCA Academy 270 for no loss (Mohd Taha Shaik 114, MSR Charan 140) btReliance 131 (Sanketh 37, Samith 4/44, Yash Kapadia 3/38).

HYDERABAD: Eightplayers Avikshith, B.SJaitheerdh, B.Srinath,Harshithkrishha,Rishiteja, ShankarBharadwaj, Rishab andSiddarth were in the leadwith 3 points out of 3rounds in Juniors catego-ry of 79th Brilliant tro-phy held at the BrilliantGrammar High School,Dilsukhnagar onSaturday.

In open category, 10players Amithpal Singh,Raja Rithwik, P.Ramakrishna, GovindlalSharma, P. Kranthi, D.Suresh, Sriram, ChetanSharma, VenkataKishore, PratyushSrivastava were leading

with 3 points after 3rounds.

Selected Results(Round 3): Juniors cat-egory: Tarun gopal (2)lost to Avikshith (3), B.SJaitheerdh (3) btRamakrishna Reddy (2),Varun gopal (2) lost to B.Srinath (3), RamanaMNV (2) lost to HarshithKrishna (3), Rishiteja (3)bt Ganesh Anrayan (2).

Open Category:Amithpal Singh (3) bt M.Satyanarayana (2), M.YRaju (2) lost to RajaRithwik (3), Naresh Naik(2) lost to P. Ramakrishna(3), V. Varun (2) lost toGovindlal Sharma (3),Karthik Kumar Pradeep(2) lost to P. Kranthi (3).

HYDERABAD; The Brother John ofGod HCA under-14 Tourney is set tokick start from December 12.

The draws have been displayed onthe notice board at the GymkhanaGrounds.

The teams should collect the drawsand ID cards from the HCA office onDecember 10 between 11am and 6pm.

Before collecting the respective IDcards, the schools will have to produce adeclaration from the principal of theschool, duly certifying the identity andage proof of the participating players.Schools which do not submit this decla-ration, will not be permitted to partici-pate in the tournament, accorsing to aHCA press release.

HYDERABAD: The Semi Finalsof the Zonah LaserMaxx Cuplived up to the expectations. Inthe first game, Zonah developerswere chasing a modest total of123 but Ivy Comptech bowledreally well as Zonah fell short by2 runs.

In the Second game Aaqiband Swapnil were standout per-formers for IBM's SARM but inthe end Sagar's 5 wicket hauland Qutub's 60 gave HCCL theedge.

Selected scores Ivy Comptech bt ZonahDevelopers by 2 runs - HasanAzam 17/6, Atif Hyder 43,Prashant C 40.

HCCL bt IBM's SARM by 8 runs -Sagar Rayaprolu 23/5, QutubAlam Khan 60, Aaqib 6/3.

Corvette For FeatureHyderabad: RH Sequeria trained Corvette ran 4th in race No 24, she has improved well and is fancied in The Jockey

Purtu Singh Parmar Memorial Cup, the feature event of Monday afternoon races here at Malakpet.

1st Race: The Crack Regiment Plate (Div-I) (about) 1100Metres,Cat-III.A handicap for horses, 3 year olds and upward, rated upto25. 12-40 P.M.1 Bacardi Time 61 (Prasaad R) RB Shinde 82 Sprint Saloni 61 (Netto) A Imran Khan 93 Sushen 61 (Hassan) J Vikas 24 Niha 60.5 (KV Srinivas)G Sai Vamshi 75 Classic Crown 59.5 (Kassam) S.Nayak 36 The Parliament 57.5 (Silvester) Laxmikant 67 Cannon Aim 57 (Prasad R) N.Rawal 108 Star Sensation 56.5 (Prasad R) B Shanker 59 Amber Rose 54.5 (S,suddin) M F alikhan 410 Hard Hit 53.5 (Srinagesh) NitinSingh 7Selections: 1 Sprint Saloni 2 Sushen 3 Nihal

2nd Race:The anmol Ratan Plate (about) 1200 Metres,Cat-III.A handicap for horses, 3 year olds and upward, rated upto50. 1-10 P.M.1 Exclusive 60 (D’Silva) Christopher 42 Inner Strength 59.5 (S Abbas)A ImranKhan103 Mr.Glorious 59.5 (Hassan) J Vikas 54 Pakat Pakat Pakat58.5(Srinagesh) AM Togrolu 115 Transition 57 (Satheesh) KAnil 96 Montego Bay 54 (Prasad R) N Rawal 77 Empire Rose 53.5 (S,suddin) Withdrawn 08 Desert Radiance 53 (S’narayan) Khurshad Alam 89 Symbol Of Beauty 53 (A Sharma) C Henrique 610 Baba’s Gift 51 (Kassam) Ravinder Singh 311 Classic Wish 51 (N.Rao) PSai Kumar 112 Red Magic 49.4 (H’ibulla) AK Pawar 2Selections:1 Inner Strength 2 Red Magic 3 Excluisve

3rd Race:The OwnVision Plate (about) 1000 Metres,Cat-II.Terms for Maiden horses, 2y ear olds only. 1-40 P.M.1 Fair And Sqaure 55 (Satheesh) K Anil 62 Greek Star 55 (N Rao) G Sai Vamshi 13 Amicable Advisory 53.5 (Fayaz) MF Alikhan 24 Kohinoor Punch 53.5 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 45 Pink Band 53.5 (Satheesh) Deep Shanker 36 Rock Heights 53.5 (Prasad R) N.Rawal 5Selections:1Amicable Advisory 2 Fair And Square 3 KohinoorPunch

4th Race:The Crack Regiment Plate (Div-II) (about) 1100Metres,Cat-III.A handicap for horses, 3 year olds and upward, rated upto

25. 2-10 P.M.1 Lady Of Grace 61 (Prasad R) MF Alikhan 52 Sugar Deal 61 (Hassan) AM Togrolu 83 Young Power 61 (Laxman S) Harinder Singh 14 Saint Luis 60 (Kassam) Ravinder Singh 25 Smart Striker 59 (Prasad R) N Rawal 36 Deccan Queen 57.5 (Prasad R) P Sai Kumar 97 Inspiring Tunes 56.5 (Silvester) G Sai Vamshi 48 Prayer Call 56 (KV Srinivas) A Ramana 69 Bold Brigade 55.5 (Kassam) Ch K Chary 710 White Wind 49 (Srinagesh) NitinSingh 10Selections: 1 Young Power 2 Lady Of Grace 3 Deccan Queen

5th Race:The Haridwar Plate (Div-I) (about)1200 Metres,Cat-II.A handicap for horses, 5 year olds and upward, rated upto75. 2-40 P.M.1 Alberton Star 62 (Prasad R) PS Chouhan 112 Jewel In The Crown 62 (N Rao) B Dileep 53 Kohinoor Victory 59.5 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 104 Kings Cruise 57 (Netto) A Imran Khan 75 Metaforce 54.5 (S Abbas) KiranNaidu 86 Young Sapper 54 (Srinivas R) DK Ashish 97 Kohinoor King 52 (Vatsalya) Ravinder Singh 68 Brianna 51 (A Sharma) Laxmikant 49 One One One 50.5 (N Rao) AK Pawar 210 Rich And Famous 50 (Satheesh) NitinSingh 111 Flowers Of Music 49 (KV Sinivas) G Sai Vamshi 3Selections:1.Alberton Star 2 Metaforce 3 Jewel In The Crown

6th Race:The Jockey Purtu Singh Parmar Memrial Cup(about) 1400Metres,Cat-II.Terms for horses 3 year olds and upward. 3-15 P.M.1 Yakshagana 62 (A Sharma) Ravinder Singh 12 Corvette 60.5 (Sequereia) DK Ashish 53 Castle Town 60 (Deshmukh) PS Chouhan 24 Front Line 60 (LaxmanS) Deep Shanker 35 Lumier Blanche 60 (LaxmanS) PA Culhane 66 Aegis 58.5 (Deshmukh) AM Toggrolu 97 The Leader 57.5 (S Abbas) A Imran Khjan 48 Rosemead 56 (D’Silva) AK Pawar 89 Ruffiano 54.5 (Sequeria) M Mark 7Selections:1 Corvette 2 Castle Town 3 Lumier Blanche

7th Race:The Satavahana Cup (about) 1400 Metres,Cat-III.A handicap for horses, 3 yea rolds and upward, rated upto50. 3-45 P.M.1 Dark Avanger 61.5 (S Abbas) A Imran Khan 4

2 HiddenPower 59.5 (N Rao) Withdrawn 03 Dakshayani 56 (A Sharma) C Henrique 64 Rocking Racer 54.5 (LaxmanS) PA Culhane 55 Bold Reason 52 (Prasad R) N Rawal 76 Pantita 52 (Hassan) MF Alikhan 17 Joel 51.5 (Laxman S) Harinder Singh 28 Perfect 49.5 (D’Silva) AK Pawar 3Selections: 1 Dark Avanger 2 Perfect 3 Rocking Racer

8th Race:the Haridwar Plate (Div-II) (about) 1200 Metres,Cat-II.A handicap for horses, 5 year olds and upward, rated ujpto75. 4-15 P.M.1 Arabian Dancer 62 (Prasad R) PS Chjouhan 22 Splendid Act 62 (Hassan) J Vikas 53 DreamDeal 59 (S’narayan) Khurshad Alam 74 Fine Racer 56.5 (Prasad R) P Sai Kumar 95 Ziglar 53.5 (Vatsalya) Ajit Kumar 16 Winning Strides 53 (Sequeria) M Mark 107 Rose Queen 51.5 (Laxman S) `C Henrqiue 68 Chayanandan 50.5 (Srinagesh) Nitin Singh 49 Ashleen State 50 (Deshmukh) Laxmikant 310 Divin Ganges 49 (KV Srinivas) Harinder Sinjgh 8Selections: 1 Arabian Dancer 2 Splendid Act 3 Dream Deal

9th Race:The Zurbaran Plate (about) 1800 Metres,Cat-III.A handicap for horses, 3 year olds and upward rated upto 50.4-50 P.M.1 Great WEarrior 62 (LaxmanS) P S Chouhan 62 Green Bay 61.5 (D’Silva) S Nayak 73 Bharatanatyam 60.5 (A Sharma) C Henrique 14 Custodian 59 (Satheesh) K Anil 55 Vijays Winner 59 (Deshmukh) AMTogrolu 46 Fashionista 55 (KVSrinivas) A Ramana 87 Jaz Elle 52.5 (Z Shaikh) Deep Shanker 98 Shadow In The Mist 51 (S,suddin) Ravinder Singh 39 Anagalekha 49 (A Sharma) Laxmikant 2Selections:1 Great Warrior 2 Green Bay 3 Vijays Winner

Days Best:Arabian DancerJackpot Race Nos:5,6,7,8, and 91st treble Race Nos:1,2 and 32nd Trebel Race Nos:4,5 and 63rd Treble Race Nos:7,8 and 9Tanala pool will operateon all races where there are five or more startes.No False Rails.

Eight playersshare lead

Mumbai standstrong against Hyd

HCCL,Ivy infinals

U-14 tourney from Wednesday


SPORTS 30

NEW DELHI: The adminis-tration of Olympic sports inIndia could face a major over-haul after world bodies andthe government cracked downon the power games played byself-seeking politicians.

In a week of dramaticdevelopments, India was sus-pended from the Olympicmovement, the boxing federa-tion was thrown out of worldmeets and the governmentwithdrew recognition fromthe archery association.

Until the suspensions arelifted, Indian athletes will bebarred from the Olympics,and the boxers and archersexcluded from world meets.But many see the currentmess as an opportunity toclean up the system.

“Indian sports DETOXbegins,” tweeted rifle shooterAbhinav Bindra, India’s onlyindividual Olympic goldmedallist who won the 10mevent at the 2008 BeijingGames.

Tennis star MaheshBhupathi told theespnstar.com website that itwas a “culmination of dirty

politics”.But the doubles specialist

added the suspensions wouldbe a blessing in disguise forIndian sports “as long assomeone in a position to makea difference takes the lead andstarts cleaning up the messone by one”.

Politicians and officials,who regarded national sportsfederations as their personalfiefdoms, suddenly foundthemselves cornered — buttypically remained unrepen-tant. The InternationalOlympic Committee (IOC) sus-pended India’s membership onTuesday for unethical prac-tices during a controversialelection process in the IndianOlympic Association (IOA).

The IOA still went aheadwith the polls a day later,despite the IOC insisting theywere unauthorised and illegal,and even elected tainted offi-cial Lalit Bhanot as its secre-tary-general unopposed.

Bhanot is on bail afterserving 11 months in jail lastyear on corruption chargesduring the CommonwealthGames in New Delhi. PTI

India seek changeafter suspensions

Syed [email protected]

HYDERABAD: The 10th WorldJunior Table TennisChampionships got underwaytoday at the Gachibowli IndoorStadium in the City. Players ofparticipating countries theworld over diligently went abouttheir task in perfect conditionsin the stadium.

The only sounds one couldhear in the big stadium were theping-pongs of eight balls bounc-ing off the tables placed on thenow-famous blue floor – thesame that was used in theLondon Olympics Games – andapproval claps from teammates.The colourful empty chairs inthe stadium – probably a sign ofextreme security measures forthe international event – did not distract them in any way.

All this projected India invery good light, hosting as itwas, an important internationaltournament, till the limitationsof an inexperienced organisershowed up in the very firstrounds of the championships...the lights went off, pitching thestadium in complete darkness.While the players of many coun-tries may have enjoyed a first-

time thrill, it certainly provedan embarrassment to the organ-isers and the host country.

Fifty seconds of bewilder-ment – in total darkness – andhalf an hour of stoppage wait-ing it out under emergencylamps is not the idea of anysportsperson vying for interna-tional achievement. Loss of play-ing rhythm apart, a player whogoes to all lengths to warm up

the body for the onslaught in thefield can’t afford to let the bodycool down in between a game.

Some players were seen jog-ging or jumping in their place toensure their bodies coped withthe unscheduled, unexpectedand unwanted break.

Much to the relief of every-one play resumed... only to beinterrupted again as the powerdid an encore to the dot: 50 sec-

onds of pitch darkness and mak-ing players wait under emergen-cy lamps.

Twenty-nine participatingcountries and many more follow-ing the championships on TVare not getting a very good pic-ture of our Mahaan Bharath.About three hundred table ten-nis players are wondering iftheir skill is enough to landthem international laurels.

Belarus’ B Katshryna is seen in action against Wales’ P Ancharad on the first day of the World Junior Table TennisChampionships being held at the Gachibowli indoor stadium. SRINIVAS SETTY

n At Vadodara: Odisha 181(Govind Podder 82,Bhargav Bhatt 6/73) vsBaroda 34/1.

n At Bhubaneswar: MP212/5 (Rameez Khan 82n.o., Krishnakant Upadhya2/36) vs Railways.

n At Pune: Haryana257(Jayant Yadav 63,Anupam Sanklecha 3/38,Shrikant Mundhe 3/61) vsMaharashtra.

n At Bangalore: Karnataka192 (Stuart Binny 61,Parvinder Awana 5/81) vsDelhi 44/2.

n At Ahmedabad:Rajasthan 182/5 (RakeshDhurv 3/47) vs Gujarat.

n At Agartala: Tripura 106(Ajay Yadav 6/38) vsJharkhand 95/3.

n At Guwahati: Assam213/4 (P Das 90) vs HP.

n At Rajkot: Saurashtra 209(Ravindra Jadeja 70, IreshSaxena 5/17) vs Bengal 7/0.

n At Mumbai: Punjab 288/4(Ravi Inder Singh 76,Mandeep Singh 102 n.o.,Ajit Agarkar (2/54),Dhawal Kulkarni (2 for 61)vs Mumbai.

n At Porvorim: Services:284/4 (Soumik Chaterjee103, Yashpal Singh batting92; Saurabh Bandekar2/74) vs Goa.

n At Nagpur: UP 248/4(Dagar 116, Kaif 85;Sandeep 3/56) vs Vidarbha.

Ranjiround-upBlackout at play

Players of participating countries the world over diligently went about theirtask in perfect conditions in the stadium... till the lights went out.

Marquez knocksout Pacquiao

Greg Heakes

LAS VEGAS: A bloodied JuanManuel Marquez knocked outManny Pacquiao with a righthand with one second left in thesixth round to win their welter-weight fight Saturday at theMGM Grand Garden Arena.

The 39-year-old Marquez sentPacquiao face first to the canvas,giving him his first victory overthe Filipino star in the fourthfight of their epic rivalry.

Marquez ended the fightwith a overhand right that hitPacquiao flush, sendingPacquiao down hard. Pacquiaolanded under the ropes and laythere for a couple of minutesbefore getting up and returningto his corner. The shocking end-ing stunned the crowd of 16,348as Marquez had held his own intheir first three fights but failedhe to get a victory and had neverknocked down Pacquiao untilSaturday night. There was notitle on the line but plenty ofpride as four division champMarquez showed he was willingto go toe-to-toe with Pacquiaoeven after getting knocked down

in the fifth round of this fight.He knocked Pacquiao down forthe first time in 39 roundsbetween them in the third roundwith a right hook over the top.

But Pacquiao kept comingand Marquez appeared to beheading to his third defeat toPacquiao after he was bloodied

and knocked down in the fifth.Pacquiao came out attacking

from the opening bell throwinglefts over the top of Marquez’sgloves.

Pacquiao was the aggressorearly, landing a solid left halfwaythrough the second that joltedMarquez. AFP

Manny Pacquiao is knocked down in the third round while taking on JuanManuel Marquez during their welterweight bout at the MGM Grand GardenArena on Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP


SPORTS 31

Tapan Mohanta

KOLKATA: A listless India suc-cumbed to their second succes-sive humiliating defeat on homesoil has England overcame a fewhiccups to clinch the third crick-et Test with an emphatic seven-wicket victory and take an unas-sailable 2-1 lead in the fourmatch series here today.

Needing 41 runs to win thematch after dismissing India for247 in the second innings, thevisitors lost three quick wicketsto add a tinge of excitement toan otherwise lop-sided contestbefore cruising home with morethan two sessions to spare.

Captain Alastair Cook (1),Jonathan Trott (3) and KevinPietersen (0) were out cheaplybut Ian Bell (28 not out) held hisnerve to take the team to the vic-tory target at the Eden Gardens.

Bell took a single off RAshwin to bring about England’smoment of triumph, triggeringof scenes of celebrations in thedressing room as the playershugged each other and took around of the stadium.

With another resounding vic-tory, England kept themselves oncourse for their first series winon Indian soil in 28 years sinceDavid Gower-led team won aseries 2-1 in the 1984-85 series.

Though the Indian bowlerstook three wickets in the secondinnings, they looked completelyineffective in the first inningsunlike the English bowlers whoexploited the conditions far bet-ter.

After the humiliating 10-wicket defeat in Mumbai, thehosts once again seemed cluelessin their own den with neitherbatting nor bowling clicking,raising questions on whethersome players need to bechanged.

The two teams will now trav-el to Nagpur for the fourth andfinal cricket Test beginningDecember 13. England just needa draw to record a historic seriestriumph while India have nooption but to win to level theseries and save the blushes of aseires defeat in their own den.

Ravichandran Ashwin shonewith the bat with a gritty 91 notout in India’s second inningsbefore the off-spinner dentedEngland’s 41-run chase, knock-

ing off the wickets of Cook andPietersen.

But before it went from badto worse, Ian Bell (28) and NickCompton (nine) steered the teamto a seven-wicket victory to handIndia back to back Test defeatsat their own backyard, for thefirst time in 12 years.

It was India’s first loss at theEden Gardens in more than adecade as the last time thay hadlost at the historic venue toPakistan in the Asian TestChampionship on February 16,1999.

India had last lost two Testson the trot at home to SouthAfrica in 2000 when Tendulkar-

led the country to back to backdefeats in Mumbai andBangalore.

In 2004, Rahul Dravid-ledIndia drew against Australia ina match interrupted by rains inChennai in between two Testdefeats in Bangalore andNagpur. In that series, India hadwon the last Test in Mumbai togo down 1-2, the last time Indiahad lost a series at their ownbackyard.

The back to back losses willcome as a humiliation for Indiawho had revenge on their mindfor their four successive Testlosses in England during July-August last year.

Resuming at 239 for nine,India were bundle out for 247 toset England a target of 41.

Pragyan Ojha (3) was bowledby Finn in the fourth ball hefaced as Ashwin remainedstranded at the other end for anunbeaten 91 from 157 balls andlaced with 15 boundaries.

Ashwin began the proceed-ings watchfully before drivingand pulling Finn for back toback boundaries, that broughtup his 50-run partnership for thelast wicket with Ojha.

But that were the only runsthat came off today as in thenext over Ojha perished toAnderson’s fury with the pacer’sfourth ball clipping the Indialast-man’s bail to see theirinnings fold for 247.

Ashwin’s three-hour-two-minute stay at the creasedelayed the inevitable forEngland as India yesterdayavoided the humiliation of aninnings defeat at their own back-yard. In-line for a hattrick,Ashwin began the proceedingsfor India and the off-spinnertook the prized scalp of in-formEnglish skipper Cook in his veryfifth ball.

Cook tried to step out butonly to be miss the line withDhoni doing the needful asEngland were four for 1 after five

balls, chasing the paltry 41.Adding some twist to the

tale, Ojha trapped Trott (3) infront of the middlestump, whilea pumped-up Ashwin dismissedPietersen for a duck in the nextover to reduce England to eightfor three. Earlier, India tried toshake off the blues unwindingwith a football match afterovernight batsman PragyanOjha did some net practice.

Skipper Dhoni meanwhilewas seen busy discussing withthe selection committee chair-man Sandeep Patil and southZone selector Roger Binny todecide on the squad for thefourth and final Test.

From the English perspec-tive, they will now seek to con-quer the final frontier afterdefeating Australia in the 2009Ashes at home before chokingthem Down Under two wintersago (in 2010-11). PTI

England demolish IndiaDhoni blames

batsmen for lossKolkata: Embarrassedand dejected after beingoutplayed for the secondsuccessive time byEngland, Indian captainMahendra Singh Dhonitoday held his batsmenresponsible for the deba-cle, saying that theyfailed to convert startsinto substantial innings.

England won byseven wickets in the thirdTest here today to takean unassailable 2-1 leadin the four-match series,which India were expect-ed to dominated giventheir formidable homerecord.

But the home teamhas completely fallenapart in the last two Testsand is currently lookingdown the barrel ahead ofthe series-decider inNagpur startingDecember 13.

“We need to givebowlers a few more runs.We haven’t scored con-sistently over 300. Onthis wicket we shouldhave scored 450 orabove. The batsmen whogot starts didn’t make itmatter,” a livid Dhonisaid at post-match pre-sentation ceremony.

“In the secondinnings, it was like alandslide we couldn’tstop,” he added refer-ring to the collapse thatsaw the team fold up for247, leaving Englandwith a victory target ofjust 41 runs. Dhoni, how-ever, tried to put up abrave face by stating thatthe team would make astrong comeback in thefourth Test in Nagpur.

“We have everythingto play for in Nagpur.Everybody needs to pullup their socks. Of coursethe better team wonhere. They bowled in theright areas they fieldedwell... They played wellbut we need to retali-ate,” he said.

In contrast, his oppo-site number and man ofthe match Alastair Cookhad a huge grin on hisface after being the heroof England’s win with afirst innings personalscore of 190. PTI

THE HOSTS ONCE AGAINSEEMED CLUELESS INTHEIR OWN DEN WITHNEITHER BATTING NORBOWLING CLICKING,RAISING QUESTIONS ONWHETHER SOME PLAYERSNEED TO BE CHANGED.

With another resounding victory, England kept themselves on course for their first series win onIndian soil in 28 years since David Gower-led team won a series 2-1 in the 1984-85 series.

scoreboardIndia: 316 and 247England 1st Innings 523England2nd Innings: Cook* st †Dhoni b Ashwin 1NRD Compton not out 9IJL Trott lbw b Ojha 3Pietersen c †Dhoni b Ashwin 0IR Bell not out 28Extras 0Total(3 wickets ) 41Fall of wickets: 1-4 , 2-7, 3-8Bowling O M R WR Ashwin 6.1 1 31 2PP Ojha 6 3 10 1


SPORTS 32

Tom Williams

LONDON: Fernando Torres(pic) claimed a brace as Chelseaended a run of seven PremierLeague games without victoryby prevailing 3-1 at Sunderlandon Saturday in their last gamebefore the Club World Cup.

The Spaniard had not scoredin the league since October 6 buthe found the net twice in themid-week thrashing of FCNordsjaelland in the ChampionsLeague and was in unforgivingmood once again at the Stadiumof Light.

He opened his account in the11th minute, guiding EdenHazard’s cross into the top-leftcorner with a fine volley to end a770-minute goal drought in theleague.

Torres had been overlookedfor penalty-taking duties in the6-1 win against Nordsjaelland,but he notched his second goalfrom the spot on the stroke ofhalf-time after SebastianLarsson slid in on Ramires.

Juan Mata made it 3-0 earlyin the second half, side-footinghome after a Torres shot cameback off the crossbar, before afine effort from Adam Johnsongave Sunderland a consolation.

“It was a long time not toscore in the Premier League, butI have scored a few this week,and I was very happy to see theteam winning,” Torres told BBCRadio 5 Live.

“We are playing a bit differ-ent now. We do not pass the ballas much as we did in the finalthird and we play a bit moredirect. We are attacking moreand creating more.”

It was a first win in fourleague games for interim manag-er Rafael Benitez and sawChelsea close to within fourpoints of second-placeManchester City, who trail lead-ers Manchester United by three

points ahead of Sunday’s derby.Arsenal also returned to

winning ways after three gameswithout victory, beating WestBromwich Albion 2-0 at theEmirates Stadium through apair of Mikel Arteta penalties toclimb to sixth. Both penaltiescarried an air of controversy.

Prior to Arteta’s 26th-minuteopener, Steven Reid was penalis -ed for a foul on Santi Cazorladespite failing to make any con-tact with the Spanish midfielder,who collapsed theatrically.

Arteta’s second arrived inthe 64th minute and althoughthere was no doubt about ChrisBrunt’s foul on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, West Brom felt theEngland winger had committedan offence of his own in thebuild-up. “I spoke to Cazorla andhe said that he (Reid) tappedhim,” said Arsenal coach ArseneWenger. “Overall, we playedwell, created chances, and kept aclean sheet. There was no roomfor dropping any points and Ifeel it is a positive day.”

LONDON: A Swansea Citysupporter has been arrestedon suspicion of racially abus-ing Norwich City defenderSebastien Bassong (pic) dur-ing Saturday’s PremierLeague game between thesides, the Welsh clubannounced.

Bassong scored the secondgoal in a 4-3 win for Norwichat the Liberty Stadium but theincident is alleged to haveoccurred after RobertSnodgrass claimed the visi-tors’ fourth goal in the 77thminute.

The Cameroon interna-tional indicated to refereeHoward Webb that he hadbeen the victim of a racist ges-ture as he celebratedSnodgrass’ goal with his team-

mates.Webb subsequently relayed

Bassong’s complaint to thefourth official and a male fanwas then arrested.

“There was an incidentafter Norwich’s fourth goal.Sebastien Bassong made thereferee aware there was aracist gesture towards himfrom a Swansea City fan,” saida Swansea spokesperson.

“Within 10 minutes of thereport, the stewards had gothold of the TV footage,replayed it, identified thealleged person in question andwithin that period, he wasarrested for a racially aggra-vated public order offence.

“The matter is with thepolice, but from the club’spoint of view, we abhor

racism and we have workedhard over the years to makethis a family club. We will lookinto it and a further statementwill follow in due course.”

Early reports suggestedthe arrested fan made a mon-key gesture towards Bassong.

Norwich manager ChrisHughton expressed sadness atthe thought that his side’s firstaway win of the campaignmight be overshadowed by theincident.

“I was made aware at theend of the game there was agesture made towardsSebastien and I have to say,credit to a very good footballclub in Swan sea City,” he said.“They have identified it andthe matter is now with theright authorities and they are

Torres strikes a doubleTorres who had not scored in the league since October 6, found the net twice

against FC Nordsjaelland and was in an unforgiving mood once again.

Chelsea back in the groove says BenitezSimon Walton

SUNDERLAND, UK: Chelseainterim manager Rafael Benit -ez claims his side’s confidenc -e couldn’t be any higher asthey turn their attention tothe Club World Cup in Japanthis week. The Blues crashedout of the Champions Leagueon Wednesday and travelledto Sunderland’s Stadium ofLight on Saturday on theback of their worst domesticrun for 18 years.

However, a comprehen-sive 3-1 win over the BlackCats made it nine goals in thespace of four days afterWednesday’s 6-1 rout of

Danish side Nordsjaellandand provided a timely moraleboost ahead of the trip toYokohama.

Chelsea take on eitherSouth Korean side UlsanHyundai or Mexican outfitMonterrey in their openingClub World Cup fixture onThursday and Benitezbelieves it could be a suc-cessful trip given his side’supbeat mood. “I was pleasedwith the way we played in theChamp ions League game,with pass ion and desire rightto the end, and this wasanother good performance,”Benitez said.

Results on SaturdayArsenal 2 (Arteta 26-pen, 64-

pen) West Brom 0Aston Villa 0 Stoke 0

Southampton 1 (Puncheon 61)Reading 0

Sunderland 1 (Johnson 66)Chelsea 3 (Torres 11, 45-pen,

Mata 49)Swansea 3 (Michu 51, 90, De

Guzman 59) Norwich 4(Whittaker 16, Bassong 40, Holt

44, Snodgrass 77)Wigan 2 (McCarthy 19, 74) QPR

2 (Nelsen 26, Cisse 71)

Today’s fixturesEverton v Tottenham

(1330GMT)Man City v Man Utd (1330GMT)

West Ham v Liverpool(1600GMT)

OzilscorestwiceDermot Ledwith

MADRID: Mesut Ozil (pic)grabbed two goals as RealMadrid twice came from be -hind to defeat Valladolid 3-2on Saturday to close to with-in eight points of Barcelonaat the top of La Liga.

The German internatio -nal’s brace included an exq -uisitely-curled, left-footedwinner from a free-kick tokeep Madrid on the tails ofBarca and second-placedAtletico Madrid.

Former Manchester Uni -ted striker Manucho twicegave Valladolid first-halfleads that Karim Benzemaand Ozil cancelled out.

Barcelona go to Real Be -tis on Sunday while Atletic -o, now only two points ahe -ad of their city neighbours,entertain Deportivo La Cor -una. Afterwards JoseMourinho sent out his assis-tant Aitor Karanka to facethe press and he was full ofpraise for the match winner.

Arrest for ‘racist gesture’

US womenbeat ChinaDETROIT, MICHIGAN:Carli Lloyd and SydneyLeroux each scored secondhalf goals to lift the UnitedStates women’s footballersto a 2-0 victory over Chinaon Saturday.

With the win in thephysical match, before acrowd of about 17,371, theAmericans remainedunbeaten on their post-Olympic tour.

The US women claimedgold at the London Gamesin August with a 2-1 tri-umph over Japan in theOlympic final.

Lloyd opened the scor-ing in the 50th minute, col-lecting a pass from TobinHeath near the edge of thepenalty area, cutting leftand beating Chinese keeperZhang Yue at the near post.

Leroux added the insur-ance goal in the 84thminute.

postnoon e-paper for 09 december 2012

Documents