postnoon e-paper for april 27th 2013

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APRIL 27, 2013 HYDERABAD

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HELLO, THIS IS Was your mobile stolen?

It might well be on its way to the international market.

DUBAICALLING!

REPORT ON PG 3

GET READY TOREPLACE

YOUR VEHICLENUMBER

PLATES

The Road Tra ns -port Authorityis planning on

implementing adrive to replace

vehicular numberplates in the State.According to high

ranking officials, thepilot project’s

implementation issupposedly set to

begin by next week,making it the third

state in the countryto implement the

new drive. The newnumber plates,

called High SecurityRegistration Plates,

are designed on thesole basis of being

better traceable.

PG 4

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Royal Retreat packages for theircustomers. tÜÉåW Ongoing, Till September30

Music & danceBharatanatyam arangetram ofKshipra S Iyer will be held.tÜÉêÉW=Keyes Girls High School,

SecunderabadtÜÉåW April 27, 6.30 pm

Tomorrow’s gentlemenA personality development work-shop for children above the age of7 years. tÜÉêÉW=Saptaparni, Banjara HillstÜÉåW April 27, 10.30 am to

12.30 pm

The joy of readingOxford Bookstore in association

Radio showThe Physicists, radio play by TheLittle Theatre will be staged. tÜÉêÉW=Muffakham Jah College

Of Engineering AndTechnology (MJET),Banjara Hills

tÜÉåW April 27, 8 pm

Back to the jungleRudyard Kipling's "The JungleBook" — children's play in Hindiwill be staged.tÜÉêÉW=Lamakaan, Opposite

GVKOne Road No 1,Banjara Hills

tÜÉåW April 27, 7 pm`çåí~ÅíW (040) 64603341

Expression of artMehendi designing workshop is on.tÜÉêÉW=Colorama Printers,

Begumpet tÜÉåW Till April 27, 10 am to 1

pm

Floral feastWorkshop on how to make flowervases and gel candles will be organ-ised.tÜÉêÉW=Lamakaan, Banjara HillstÜÉåW April 27, 2 pm to 4 pm

Fit for royaltyThe Taj Group of Hotels is offering

A show featuring furniture byNeeta Kumar, jewellery by Tansi andart will be organised.tÜÉêÉW=Taj Vivanta, BegumpettÜÉåW April 27, 7 pm

The DeviantDigital art on canvas by AekkaYadagiri Rao. tÜÉêÉW=ICON Art Gallery,

Road no 12 Banjara Hills

tÜÉåW On till May 3, 11.30 amto 7 pm`çåí~ÅíW www.iconart.in

It’s showtimeShort film Do Pahar will bescreened.tÜÉêÉW=Lamakaan, Banjara HillstÜÉåW April 28, 7.30pm`çåí~ÅíW 96427-31329

Mega mugsTGI Friday's announced TGI Friday’smega mugs offer to coincide withthe start of the IPL.tÜÉêÉW=TGIF, RK CineplextÜÉåW Ongoing

Filmmaking workshopfor childrenYavanika Films will conduct aunique filmmaking workshop thissummer vacation for children. tÜÉêÉW=Begumpet tÜÉåW Ongoing,

2pm to 7pm,

Summer campTailoring training camp for childrenbetween the age group of 6 and16 is being organised.tÜÉêÉW=Shilparamam, Madhapur tÜÉåW Till May 20, 11 am to 1pm and 2 pm to 4 pm`çåí~ÅíW 97013-83359

DNA talkIsolate Your DNA: DWIH hands-onworkshop by Dr Sunil K Varma.tÜÉêÉW=Muffakham Jah College

Of Engineering AndTechnology (MJET),Banjara Hills

tÜÉåW April 27, 11 am to 1 pm

Lights, camera, actionFilm Jeeves And Wooster will bescreened.tÜÉêÉW=The Secunderabad Club,

Secunderabad tÜÉåW April 28, 6.30 pm

with GHAC and LICH is organisingan informative, exciting and fun-filled workshop in social sciencesand Humanities for kids.tÜÉêÉW=Oxford Bookstore, The

ParktÜÉåW Ongoing, Till May 12,

9:30 am to 2:00 pm`çåí~ÅíW 92461-12461

Summer campOakridge is conducting a camp forchildren in which they can learnstory telling, clay modelling andmore.tÜÉêÉW=Oakridge International

School, Nanakramguda Road

tÜÉåW Ongoing 9 am onwards`çåí~ÅíW (040) 20042460

Art, Vivanta & Jewellery

PAGE TWO 2

Akhila K enthralled the audience with her performance at RavindraBharathi on Friday.

AN ENCHANTING SPECTACLE

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

CITY 3

An unidentified person stole anexpensive CD player from a carparked outside the police station.

According to details, the incident hap-pened in front of the Market police stationin north zone. The thief broke the glass ofa Santro car, which was seized by trafficinspector of Mahankali, G VenkatramanaGoud, from a person who did not have the

required documents with him during apolice check.

Right under the police’s nose, the thiefnot only took the CD player, but also thecar glass. The constable who was on guardinformed the higher officials, who are saidto have been shocked at this ‘daring’ theft.

A case has been registered and investi-gations have started.

Thieves rib police?The CM will tour Karimnagar dis-

trict today as part of his State-wide campaign to promote his

pet programmes. He is scheduled toinaugurate a newly constructed modelpolice station at Vangara. He will thenparticipate in a public meeting to pro-mote ‘Amma Hastham’. The CM willalso launch Stree Nidhi (women fund)and SHG-bank linkage credit plan.

CM to tour Karimnagar

TDP president N ChandrababuNaidu will conclude his marathonVastunna Meekosam padayatra

(walkathon) in Vizag today. The party isorganising a massive public meetingto mark the conclusion of the padaya-tra at AU engineering college ground.According to an estimate, over fivelakh people are expected to attendthe public meeting.

Naidu concludes walkathon


Dabeepura policeseized mobilephones worthlakhs of rupees

from two mobile thieves inthe City and arrestedanother ‘purchaser’ whosells them in the interna-tional market.

Mohd Amir, 24, a resi-dent of Kishan Bagh and aglass fitter by profession,and Shaik Khaja, 30, a resi-dent of Nataraj NagarJerrah, Tappachabutra,and a furniture worker, areinvolved in dozens ofmobile thefts in the Cityand Cyberabad, said KMadhusudhan Rao, sub-inspector of police.

The duo target intoxi-cated people leaving barsand software engineersfrom Madhapur-Hitec Cityareas, it is reported. Theythen take these phones toZakir, a resident ofFarhath Nagar of

Dabeepura, who owns amobile shop in JagdishMarket, Abids.

Zakir purchases thesestolen phones from the duoat very low prices and sellsthem in Dubai, SouthAfrica, Nigeria and othercountries. He selectsexpensive phones and sellsthem at low rates in coun-tries where they cost a lotmore, with the help of hisfriends and relatives.

Dozens of mobileshave been stolen fromSantosh Nagar, KanchanBagh, Mirchowk,Charminar, Shahalibanda,Dabeerpura, Madhapur,Raidurgam and Punjaguttaareas.

Police said Amir hasbeen involved in severalthefts in the City and hasserved three prison termsfor various offences. Hecame out on bail threemonths ago and startedstealing mobile phoneswith his friend Khaja.

On a tip-off, the policebusted the racket andrecovered nearly 87 mobilephones belonging to differ-ent companies like Nokia,Samsung and Micromax.iPhones and mobiles man-ufactured in China werealso seized.

The three were arrested and produced incourt, sub-inspectorMadhusudhan Rao said.They have been sent toprison.

To Dubai,with love

Was your mobile stolen? Itmight well be on its way to the

international market.

[email protected] SUBHAN

THE MOBILE PHONESARE SOLD AT LOWRATES IN DUBAI,NIGERIA, SOUTHAFRICA AND OTHERCOUNTRIES.

4CITYSATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

The Road TransportAuthority is planning on aimplementing drive to

replace vehicular number platesin the State. According to highranking officials, the pilot pro-ject’s implementation is suppos-edly set to begin by next week,making it the third state in thecountry to implement the newdrive. The new number plates calledHigh Security RegistrationPlates (HSRP) are designed onthe sole basis of being traceable.The process of inviting tendershas been finalised and the con-tract was awarded to Link PointInfrastructure and Utsav Safety

Systems, a consortium of manu-facturers. The responsibility ofthis project is being undertakenby the APSRTC in collaborationwith AP Transport Department.The drive is currently beingaimed at two and four-wheelersin the State. The design detailsof the new vehicular numberplates are as follows;n An aluminium-based number

plates with 1 mm thicknessand rounded edges.

n A chromium-based “chakra”(wheel) hologram with INDinscribed at 45 degree on theedges.

n A laser code containing aunique identity number willbe inscribed below the holo-gram, that can be read usingany IR-based barcode scanner.

n The ultimate selling point ofthis new number plate is itssnap-lock design that willmake installing another num-

ber plate impossible.n The unique ID will bear

details of the chassis, engineand the vehicle registrationnumber in addition to the reg-istration details of the owner.This way, even in the highlyimprobable case of the num-ber on the plate being tam-pered or erased, the laser scan-ner will reveal all the details.According to the joint commis-sioner of RTA, twin cities, GPanduranga Rao, “The pilotproject is expected to belaunched within a week or tendays, since the contract hasbeen finalised. We are finalis-ing the process of rule imple-mentation.”

FEATURES OF THE NEWNUMBER PLATES

The RTC central zone officialssay the price of the numberplate is expected to be set at` 220. “The new numbers can bereplaced at the road transportoffices located in any of theCity’s zonal divisions once theimplementation phase begins,”officials say.

THE NECESSITY OF THESENUMBER PLATES

According to RTA and trafficpolice officials, the new technol-ogy will make it easy to tracetraffic offenders and rule viola-tors. “The number of hit and

run cases have come downmarginally, but this technologywill help nail the offenders. Forinstance, the traffic police hadnoticed that autorickshaw-drivers had become increasinglyclever in hiding their numberplates using fancy decorations.And there have been certaincases where several drivers,including two-wheelers, havecome to us with challans. Oninspecting the records, we foundthat many of these offenderswere not actually involved in thecrime but rather somebody elsewas faking their number plates,”says Baig, record keeper fromthe computer section of the Citytraffic police. The snap-lock design aspect ofthe new number plates has cer-

tainly found its takers amongthe police department.Additional commissioner CVAnand say, the move will helpboth traffic and law order policein effective policing.

“ When this new technologyis implemented, it will help totrace traffic violators and otherrule breakers. Tracing stolenvehicles will also become easi-er,” he says.

The number of vehicle theftcases are on the rise. “Comparedto 2009, the number of cases,especially in hit and run cases,have risen from 700 to over 1,900in 2012, in and around the Citylimits. The vehicle theft caseshas also risen by over 20 percent,” say an official from thecrime records bureau.

Prudhvi Raju [email protected]

The average property ratesin the City grew by about 12per cent in the first quarter

of 2013 (January- March, 2013)when compared to the corre-sponding quarter of the previ-ous year (January-March. 2012),according to the report releasedby 99acres.com.

The Indian real estate mar-ket in 2013 continued to growdespite subdued GDP trends andeconomic conditions. However,drop in home loan rates and dipin domestic inflationary num-bers has infused a sense of buoy-ancy among buyers. The proper-ty market of Hyderabad hasbeen upbeat for a while.

The Hyderabad Information Technology Engineering Consultancy City, abbreviated as HitecCity registered the highestgrowth of over 29 per cent. Withincreasing presence of corporate

offices in Hitec, the demand forproperty in and around Hitechas drastically increased fromboth buying and renting per-spective.

Commenting on thereport,Vineet Singh, business

head, 99acres.com, said, ”HitecCity and Gachibowli haveemerged as the best investmentbets owing to increased presenceof corporate offices. Prices arecurrently attractive for projectsnear completion, offering readyto move-in in next three tofo4months. However, the developersare not very keen on launchingnew projects as the demand isnot very high.” Hyderabad sawthe highest average increase inrentals across seven major met-ros. Banjara Hills showed themaximum increase in rentalsover the past year with an aver-age growth of 47 per cent.

Some of the other metroshave also witnessed double digitpercentage growth in propertyprices. Mumbai, Bengaluru,Pune and Chennai have wit-nessed property price apprecia-tion in the range of 12-15 percent in the first quarter of thisyear compared to the same peri-od in the last year.

Get ready to replace your vehicle number plates

The new technology will help both the traffic and law and order cops in effective policing as itenables them to trace the vehicles of traffic offenders.

City property rates go through the roof

Vehicle thefts in the City in 2012ZONES 2-wheeler 3- wheeler 4-wheeler TotalEast Zone 249 5 3 257West Zone 430 10 5 445North Zone 275 1 1 277South Zone 187 23 3 213Central Zone 372 31 6 409Traffic 292 50 2 345CCS 65 1 30 97TOTAL 1,870 121 50 2,043

[email protected] RAMAKRISHNA

Q1-13(Jan-Feb-Mar 2013)

LocalityHi-tec City

Price per sq feetin Q1 of 2013

`3,820Price per sq feet

in Q1 of 2012`2,950

Increase in per cent29.49

LocalityMiyapur

Price per sq feetin Q1 of 2013

`2,900Price per sq feet

in Q1 of 2012`2,600

Increase in per cent11.54

Q1-13(Jan-Feb-Mar 2013)

LocalityBanjara Hills

Rental for 3 BHKin Q1 of 2013

`30,000Rental for 3 BHK

in Q1 of 2012`20,400

Increase in per cent47

LocalityKondapur

Rental for 3 BHKin Q1 of 2013

`19,600Rental for 3 BHK

in Q1 of 2012`17,000

Increase in per cent15

CITY 5SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

With the Board ofIntermediateannouncing the results well inadvance this

year, students from the CBSEboard are now anxious abouttheir marks.

The CBSE has scheduled therelease of the marks for May 28;meanwhile, various privatedegree colleges across the Cityhave already started the admis-sion process. This is creatingmore anxiety among studentsfrom the Central board, who feelstudents from the State boardnow have more chances com-pared to them for entry intoreputed colleges.

Most of the private degreecolleges have announced admis-sion dates. Colleges like StFrancis will be giving out admis-sion forms from May 1 and thesubmission of forms will beaccording to merit. Since most ofthe private colleges start the aca-demic year in the first week ofJune, students from the CBSEboard are apprehensive aboutthe whole admission processbecause their results will be outonly in the last week of May.

“We have to wait for onemore month for our results.Seeing all our friends from theState board relieved of the fear,it’s disappointing that we willhave to wait for another month.Also, since most of the collegeswill start the admission processnow, we hope that we won’t missout on seats in good colleges inthe City,” says Swathi, a ClassXII student from KendriyaVidyalaya.

Private colleges, however,say that though they will have todeal with the applications rushat the last minute, the deadlinefor the last submission dates willbe extended so that CBSE stu-dents won’t miss out on admis-sion. “Every year there is ademand for seats for variouscourses in the college. Hence, westart the admission processearly. We will ensure that thedeadline for the submission ofthe application forms is extend-ed by a few days after the CBSEresults are announced so thatthe students will not miss out onadmission. But this leaves uswith no option but to rush withlast-minute admissions,” said aspokesperson from St FrancisCollege for Women.

INTER RESULTS BRINGRELIEF, ANXIETY

Every year, thou-sands of studentsapply for revalua-

tion and recounting,However, this year, theboard officials expectthe number to double,thanks to the weigh-tage given to theIntermediate marks.

“Every year therehas been constancy inthe number of papersthat would come forrevaluation andrecounting. We wouldget around 15,000-20,000 papers. Thisyear, we are expectingmore papers to flow insince students whoscored less might wantto improve their per-centage,” said a boardofficial

The intermediateboard has announcedthat candidates whowish to avail therecounting facility haveto pay `100 per paperand `600 for a photo-copy of the answerscript through e-seva orAP Online. The lastdate for the online pay-ment is May 7 and theboard will not beextending the date.

Meanwhile, manystudents do not seemconfident about therevaluation or recount-ing. “It’s just a waste ofmoney to give thepapers for recounting. Iknow of seniors whowere toppers in collegeand scored less in theboard exams. Evenafter giving theirpapers for revaluation,there was no improve-ment. Instead, it is bet-ter to write improve-ment exams and expectmore marks ratherthan giving the paperfor revaluation,” saidNavnith, who complet-ed his Class XII from aprivate college.

Morerequests for revaluationexpected

ALEENA ALICE

[email protected]

Pass percentage takes a leap by seven per cent this year

Compared with last year,this year, the State saw anincrease of seven per cent

in the pass percentage with anoverall of 65 per cent pass in

the Intermediate Second-Yearexams. Like last year, this timetoo girls scored more, with 69.04per cent passes as against boyswith 62 per cent passes.

Students from BiPC toppedthe State by scoring five marksmore than the MPC topper. NAnusha and D Nandini, bothfrom Guntur, scored 993 marksout of 1,000. Khaja Ausafullahfrom Nizamabad topped theState in MPC by scoring 994 outof 1,000.

The Intermediate Second-year results held more signifi-cance this year since majorityof the competitive exams,including EAMCET and JEE(Mains), gave 40 per cent weigh-tage to the intermediate marks.Also, only those students whofigure in the top 20 per cent inthe Intermediate Second-yearexams will be allowed to appearfor the JEE (advance) foradmission into the IITs.

Majority of the toppersfrom the City are students fromSri Chaitanya and NarayanaJunior Colleges.

The academic director ofSri Chaitanya, Sudhmasri, saidthat the toppers will easily be able to crack various nation-al-level competitive exams this year.

Chairman of Narayanagroup of institutions Dr PNarayana said, “Since theIntermediate marks have agood weightage for variousentrance exams, our studentswill have a better position toapply and crack those exams.”

Toppers from SriChaitanya are R GuruPrasad, V Nikhil, and

Varda Khana, all from BiPC,who scored 987, while KSowmya scored 990. DRamya, who scored 998 andS Sasi Bindu with 986 marksin MPC stream were amongthe other toppers.

Students from NarayanaJunior College also cameout on top. B Sai Priyanka,J Bhavya and B DhanunjayKrishna secured 990 marksin MPC. K Trishala Reddyand Sana Afsiya scored 967and 986 out of 1,000 marks in BiPC and MECrespectively.

Top of the charts

M ANIL KUMAR

State Board students got their Intermediate results yesterday, but CBSE students can expect theirs onlyon May 28. They are worried that this will affect their chances of getting into a good college.

6NATION

Compounding the miseries ofWest Bengal’s rulingTrinamool Congress,

employees of a news channel run bythe collapsed Saradha Group lodged

an FIR against party MP Kunal Ghosh while protests continued to

rock the city and the districts over the chit fund muddle

Friday.

FIR against Trinamool MP

With rescue operations in fullswing at the site of a col-lapsed hospital building in

Bhopal, which claimed two lives andinjured 26, salvage teams have beenable to retrieve and save severaltrapped persons from the debris lateon Friday. The ceiling of the two-storeyed Kasturba Gandhi Hospitalcollapsed on Friday.

26 hurt in hospital collapse

Militants lobbed a powerfulgrenade at the residence ofManipur Irrigation and Flood

control Minister Ngamthang Haokip inthe heart of Imphal town but it failedto explode, officials said on Saturday.The grenade was hurled by two mili-tants at Haokip’s house at NewChekon area, amid tight securitydeployment in Imphal West district.

Minister residence attacked


Sarabjit Singh incoma: Pak doctorsEven as Sarabjit was in a coma, doctors carried

out X-rays, MRI, CT scans on him.

Pakistani policemen stand guard outside an emergency ward where an injured Indian spySarbajeet Singh was admitted following an attack at the Jinnah Hospital in Lahore on April26, 2013. AFP/ ARIF ALI

Sagar Kulkarni

LAHORE/ALMATY: Indian death rowprisoner Sarabjit Singh, who wasattacked by two prisoners in a Lahorejail, is in “coma” and put on ventilator,Pakistani doctors told Indian officialstoday. “Doctors attending to SarabjitSingh informed the Indian officials thathe is in coma on ventilator and receiv-

ing IV drip,” External Affairs Ministryspokesman Syed Akbaruddin said.

“The officials of India’s HighCommission in Islamabad obtainedaccess to Sarabjit in the ICU of Jinnahhospital, Lahore at 2:00 am,” he said.Earlier, India has sought consularaccess to 49-year-old Sarabjit.

Even as Sarabjit was in coma, doc-tors carried out X-rays, MRI, CT scanson him. Doctors have been carrying outtrauma control and await stabilisationin condition before further tests,Akbaruddin said. Officials of India’sHigh Commission at Jinnah Hospital inLahore were in regular contact withMedical Board attending to Sarabjit.

The attack occurred when the vic-tim and other prisoners were broughtout of their cells for an hour-long break.The two prisoners assaulted Sarabjitwith blunt objects and he sustained asevere head injury. Sarabjit was initiallytaken to the hospital within the prison.After his condition worsened, he wasmoved in an ambulance to the state-runhospital, officials in Lahore said.Sarabjit was convicted for allegedinvolvement in a string of bomb attacksin Punjab province that killed 14 peoplein 1990. His mercy petitions were reject-ed by the courts and former PresidentPervez Musharraf. The outgoingPakistan Peoples Party-led governmentput off Sarabjit’s execution for an indef-inite period in 2008. Sarabjit’s familysays he is the victim of mistaken identi-ty and had inadvertently strayed acrossthe border in an inebriated state. PTI

ISLAMABAD: A case of attemptto murder has been registeredagainst the two prisoners whoviciously attacked Indian deathrow prisoner Sarabjit Singh inLahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail, a mediareport said. A case of attempt tomurder has been registeredagainst main accused Aamir andMudassar, reported the NewsInternational. Sarabjit sufferedcritical head injuries in the assaultFriday. The assault on Sarabjitcomes a few months after thedeath of Indian prisoner ChamelSingh in the same Kot Lakhpatjail after he was allegedly assault-ed by jail staff. The FirstInformation Report (FIR) says thatthe two prisoners attackedSarabjit Singh soon after the gateof Barrack No.7 was opened.

Murder charges registered

NEW YORK: UP Chief Minister AkhileshYadav has cancelled a reception to be host-ed in his honour by the Indian ConsulGeneral here today, even as the Missionsaid it would strongly take up with the USauthorities the issue of his minister AzamKhan’s detention at the Boston airport.

A communique from the IndianConsulate in New York merely stated, “thatdue to unavoidable circumstances, thereception scheduled to be held in honour ofAkhilesh Kumar Yadav, Hon’ble ChiefMinister of Uttar Pradesh on April 27 atthe Consulate General of India, New York,has been cancelled”.

Neither, Consul General AmbassadorDnyaneshwar Mulay, who took charge onWednesday after his assignment asAmbassador of Maldives, nor Minister(Press and Information) M Rajaram were

available for any comments to the media onthe reason for cancellation of the recep-tion.

This was to be the first official functionof the Consulate after Mulay took charge.Yadav, yesterday had also boycotted theHarvard lecture he was due to deliver inprotest against Khan’s detention. Invitationto the reception were sent out to all theprominent Indian-Americans, communityleaders, elected officials, friends of India.

Azam Khan detention

UP CM cancels NY fete

US President BarackObama issued a newwarning to Syria Fridaythat using chemical

weapons would be a “gamechanger” as he faced rising pres-sure at home and abroad tointervene in the civil war.

But a day after US officialssaid they suspected that thedeadly agent sarin had alreadybeen fired off in small-scaleattacks, Obama warnedWashington must act prudently,and establish exactly if, how andwhen such arms were used.

Obama, who had previouslytold Syrian President Bashar al-Assad the use of chemicalweapons would cross a “redline,” promised a “vigorous” USand international probe into thelatest reports.

But he appeared wary oflaunching military action basedon initial intelligence reports ofchemical weapons use, even asother official comments andmedia suggested that is exactlywhat had happened.

Obama did reiterate that theuse of chemical weapons wouldbe “a game changer,” as he metJordan’s King Abdullah II in theOval Office.

“I think all of us, not just inthe United States but around theworld, recognize how we cannotstand by and permit the system-atic use of weapons like chemi-

cal weapons on civilian popula-tions,” he said.

But the US leader, who hasbeen reluctant to plunge the USmilitary into action in Syriaafter extricating it from Iraq,warned: “We have to act pru-dently. We have to make assess-ments deliberately.”

“We have seen very badmovies before when intelligenceis perceived to have driven poli-cy decisions that in the full lightof day have proven wrong,” a US

defense official said on conditionof anonymity.

The official was referring toassertions — later proven false— by former president GeorgeW. Bush’s administration ofweapons of mass destruction inIraq, the justification for a 2003invasion that brought eightyears of war that killed nearly4,500 US soldiers and tens ofthousands of Iraqis.

Adding to the political heaton Obama, the Syrian opposition

urged the UN Security Councilto take immediate steps, possiblyeven by imposing a no-fly zone.

And British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron said the growingevidence that Assad had turnedchemical agents on his own peo-ple was “extremely serious.”

The fighting in Syria, whichthe UN says has left more than70,000 dead since March 2011,showed no signs of abatingFriday, with fresh clashes out-side the capital Damascus andelsewhere across the country.

The United States opened apotentially serious new dimen-sion to the Syria conflict when itsaid for the first time onThursday that Damascus hadlikely used chemical weaponsagainst rebel forces.

White House spokesman JayCarney said Friday the WhiteHouse wanted to establish “cred-ible and corroborated” facts todetermine whether the red linehas been crossed.

He stressed that “all optionsremain on the table,” aeuphemism hinting at possiblemilitary action.

Washington backs a UnitedNations investigation into theuse of chemical weapons inSyria. Damascus has asked for aUN probe but has since refusedto let a UN team into the coun-try.

AFP

7WORLD

SEOUL: North Korea said Saturday that it would puta US citizen on trial for trying to overthrow the com-munist regime, in the face of soaring tensionsbetween Pyongyang and the West. The North’s officialKorean Central News Agency (KCNA) said US citizenPae Jun-Ho had admitted to the charges and wouldsoon face “judgment”. Pae was arrested in Novemberas he entered the northeastern port city of Rason,which lies inside a special economic zone near NorthKorea’s border with Russia and China. The announce-ment follows a months-long standoff on the Koreanpeninsula stoked by the North’s nuclear test inFebruary, which prompted the UN Security Council toimpose fresh sanctions on the isolated nation.

C Africa jumbo countdown by 62% in 10yrsBRAZZAVILLE: - Poaching on an “industrial” scale hasslashed the elephant population in the countries of cen-tral Africa by nearly two-thirds, a group of internationalnon-governmental organisations (NGOs) said on Friday.“A recent study shows that the population of forest ele-phants has dropped by almost two-thirds or 62 percent inthe past 10 years, victims of large-scale ivory poaching,”the group of eight NGOs said in a statement. “The situa-tion is dramatic and worrying. It’s very dangerous,”Jerome Mokoko, assistant director of the WildlifeConservation Society, told reporters at a news confer-ence in Brazzaville. “Nearly 5,000 elephants have beenlost in the northern zone of Congo between 2009 and2011,” said Mokoko.

NEW YORK: Students at one of America’s mostprestigious schools were abused by pedophile teachersfor more than three decades but prosecutors areunable to file charges because the crimes happened toolong ago, officials in New York said Friday. The BronxDistrict Attorney’s Office said in a statement policehad uncovered evidence of “systemic” abuse of pupilsat the famous Horace Mann School, spanning a 34-yearperiod from from 1962 to 1996. However no chargeswould be filed because of New York State’s statute oflimitations laws. Horace Mann, seen as offering thebest education money can buy with an annual tuitionof almost $40,000, was the subject of an expose in theNew York Times Magazine last June.

N Korea to indictAmerican citizen

China’s southwestern Sichuanprovince stopped Saturday

to mourn the victims of adeadly earthquake that struck exactly a

week ago, state media reported. Thepublic mourning began with the sound

of sirens at 8:02 am (0002 GMT), themoment the tremor struck, followed by

three minutes of silent remembrance,the Xinhua news agency reported.

China mourns quake dead

Australia has vowed not to boy-cott the Commonwealth Headsof Government Meeting

(CHOGM) in Sri Lanka over allegationsof human rights violations, despitemounting calls not to attend. ForeignMinister Bob Carr said it would becounter-productive to skip the summitin the Sri Lankan city of Hambantota inNovember.

Oz won’t boycott SL meet

OMore Guantanamo prisonershave joined a hunger strike

to protest their indefinitedetention at the US-run military jail,

with 97 out of 166 detainees refusingfood, officials said Friday. Among the

strikers, 19 have been given nasalfeeding tubes, and five of those are

hospitalized but do not have life-threatening conditions.

Gitmo hunger strike continues


Use of chemical weapons a game changer: Obama

Obama, who had previously told the Syrian President the use of chemical weapons would cross a‘red line’, promised a ‘vigorous’ US and international probe into the latest reports.

What is Sarin?

US President Barack Obama meets with King Abdullah II of Jordan in theOval Office at the White House in Washington,DC on April 26, 2013.

Systemic abuseat Horace Mann

One of a group of nervegas agents invented by

German scientists as part ofHitler’s preparations forWorld War II.

20 times more deadlythan cyanide: A drop thesize of a pin-head can kill aperson.

Kills by crippling the ner-vous system through block-ing the action of an enzymethat removes acetylcholine -a chemical that transmitssignals down the nervoussystem.

I think all of us, notjust in the UnitedStates but around theworld, recognize howwe cannot stand byand permit the sys-tematic use ofweapons like chemi-cal weapons on civil-ian populations

Barack Obama

COMMENT 8EDITORIALS

Ijust finished reading the

third installment of theShiva trilogy, The Oath ofthe Vayuputras, by authorAmish. Plot, strategy and

clever references to mythologi-cal stories apart, what struckme most about this much-await-ed book, which sold millions ofcopies, is not what the bookblurb says: Evil has risen. Onlya God can stop it. But it’s thefact that the very idea of eviland good keep changing withtime, and the real trick to sur-vival is to quickly identify whatharms us and re-fashion ourbelief systems, ideologies andour lives according to this newinformation.

The subtext about changingperspectives – that what wasgood at one point can becomeevil and what was perceived asevil all along may actually begood – is at the very crux of thebook and its philosophy. TheOath of the Vayuputras under-scores the need to constantlyrevisit our own ideas and to

check the systems we’ve put inplace hoping they would pro-mote good for eternity. Truth isthat they never really do. Thetruth changes with time, and sodoes our understanding oftruth.

It’s the same way in whichwe consume stories and ideas.Hindu Gods and mythologicalstories lend the best example.The same stories of Gods andprinces and their subjects,when read at different points inour life, communicate very dif-ferent meanings. How we under-stood them as children whenour parents or teachers narrat-ed these stories to us, is not howwe understand them when, asteens, we read comic book ver-sions of these. These very sto-ries take on a different mean-ing, hue and colour when, hav-ing experiencing several shadesof life, we re-read them, andfind new meaning. The storiesstay fresh, insightful and neweach time we read them.

This is perhaps why mygrandmother never tires ofreading the Bhagvad Gita or itsmany different versions. Sheread them over and over asthough it were the very firsttime she was reading about

these philosophies. One of the most prominent

physicists of the twentiethcentury, Paul Dirac, is anotherexample of this shiftingperspective. Dirac made somevery significant contributionsto the quantum theory. There isconflicting informationon where and when he saidthese things about religion.Some say that he said this at aconference in Brussels in 1927when he was invited to talkabout religion. Some others saythat this was in a private con-versation Dirac had with otherphysicists and scientists,including Einstein, Pauli,Schrodinger, etc. Dirac said: “Icannot understand why we idle

discussing religion. If we arehonest—and scientists have tobe—we must admit that religionis a jumble of false assertions,with no basis in reality. Thevery idea of God is a product ofthe human imagination. It isquite understandable why prim-itive people, who were so muchmore exposed to the overpower-ing forces of nature than we aretoday, should have personifiedthese forces in fear and trem-bling. But nowadays, when weunderstand so many naturalprocesses, we have no need forsuch solutions. I can’t for thelife of me see how the postulateof an Almighty God helps us inany way.”

Later in life, Dirac changedhis mind about religion andGod. As a 60-year-old scientist,when invited to contribute anarticle in the 1963 edition of theScientific American, Diracwrote that God (the Big Guy)was a super-mathematicianwho’s fashioned the cosmos onmathematical principles thatwe, as budding arithmetic andgeometric pupils, are onlybeginning to comprehend. Hewrote that nature is so con-structed and we simply have toaccept it.

WHEN IN ROMEbe a Roman

UP minister Azam Khan hastaken offence at an airport

official in the US holding himup for 10 more minutes than

usual as part of security proce-dure at the Boston Airport.

Now, this is morally wrong onthe part of the US and it couldbe accused of racially profiling

people, but in the real world,the experiences that nation

has been going through makeit exceedingly vigilant in leav-ing no stone unturned when itcomes to security. Azam Khanhas the right to feel offended

because he may have beentargeted because of his name,

but it must not be forgottenthat the incident happened at

a place that is still reeling fromthe blow served by a terror

attack. And with its primesecurity agencies being

panned for a slip-up when itcame to the spelling of a ter-

ror suspect’s name, no onewould spare any effort to

ensure that everything is safeand secure. So it is best that

visitors understand their senti-ments before and when visit-ing them. It is only meet that

one complies with the rules ofa foreign nation that one is vis-

iting.

TIME’S RUNNINGout for Assad

If chemical weapons wereused in Syria against innocent

civilians in Basher al-Assad’sefforts to quell the civil war inhis country, he has also given

up his moral right to be at thehelm of affairs. And he is notfar from resemblances to thedemon who first made it with

the aim of killing millions in hispreparations for World War II

— Adolf Hitler. Now that hehas crossed the red line, he

has only himself to blame if hebrings upon his country

American troopers, as is widelyexpected. He will not be able

to shift the blame for the massmurders ordered by him in hisattempts to curb the national-

ist fervour and desire fordemocracy, which are “fall-outs” of his and his father’sgolden rule. If he wishes to

avoid the fate of Gaddafi, hehad better quit power without

any delay and transfer powerto the people, who have paid

in blood and tears for freedom.

THE REAL TRICK TOSURVIVAL IS TO QUICKLYIDENTIFY WHAT HARMSUS AND RE-FASHIONOUR BELIEF SYSTEMS,IDEOLOGIES AND OURLIVES ACCORDING TOTHIS NEW INFORMA-TION.


Soul CurrySUMAA TEKUR

THE SHIFTING SPIRITUAL PLANE

COMMENT 9

When Elisabeth Fri -tzl emerged in Ap -ril 2008 to her firstbreath of fresh airand ray of sun-

light in a quarter of a century,she had been raped countlesstimes by her father Josef andhad born him seven children.

Five years after the horrorsof Austria's Fritzl case shockedthe world, revealing 24 years ofincest rape, captivity and child-birth in a damp cellar, victimsand perpetrator are noticeableby their absence from the publiceye. International media initiallyconverged on the small town ofAmstetten, 100 kilometres (60miles) west of Vienna, to reporton this shocking case, andpaparazzi besieged the clinicwhere the victims were held. Buteven today, there is no sn apshotof Elisabeth, now 47, and the sixsurviving children she gavebirth to in the windowless dun-geon below her parents' flat.

The family was given newidentities and moved to an undis-closed location where they havelived quietly, with no detailsseeping out even in the Austriantabloids, usually so eager toreport on scandalous cases.

Josef Fritzl, now 78, has beensimilarly quiet.

Found guilty of murder forthe death of one of Elisabeth'sbabies, as well as incest, seques-tration, grievous assault and3,000 instances of rape, he wasjailed in 2009 for life -- a sentencecarrying a minimum 15 years inAustria.

His name has now becomesynonymous with horror anddepravity, with foreign mediaquick to label particularly horrif-ic incest cases as the Brazilian,Chinese or British "Fritzl".

But the "Monster ofAmstetten", as he was dubbed by

the press here, has given onlyone interview since his trial,telling the German daily Bild inNovember 2010 that he loved hiswife Rosemarie -- with whom healso had seven children -- andhoped to get out of prison oneday to take care of her.

He refused to comment onhis crime.

A contrast to KampuschElisabeth was 18 when she

was locked in her father's pur-pose-built cellar in 1984.

Fritzl told his trusting wifethat their daughter had joined asect and over the years, broughtthree of the dungeon childrenupstairs to live with him andRosemarie, pretending Elisabethhad left them at their door totake care of.

Three other children livedtheir entire lives underground,never seeing the sun.

The Amstetten case eventual-ly broke in the media on April27, 2008 after the oldest cellarchild, 19-year-old Kerstin, fellinexplicably ill and had to behospitalised.

The search for the youngwoman's mother brought the 24-year incest ordeal to the surface,quite literally.

What will happen to the"House of Horrors" has longbeen a topic of debate, withauthorities initially concerned itmay become a gruesome touristattraction.

Fritzl's lawyer said in 2011that a precondition of any sale ofthe building, which Fritzl owns,would be to fill in the basement.

"Nobody will ever enter thecellar again," said WalterAnzboeck.

At Stein prison in northernAustria where he is serving hissentence, Fritzl was well-inte-grated and there were "no notice-able problems", according toprison authorities.

His only appearance in thenews recently was an Austrian

report that he had divorced hiswife because she never visitedhim in prison.

Earlier reports said the chil-dren he had with Rosemariewanted nothing to do with him.

The noticeable silence on theFritzl case has stood in sharpcontrast to the never-endingmedia obsession with anothershocking Austrian criminal case,that of Natascha Kampusch, kid-napped at age 10 and held captivefor eight years before she man-aged to escape in 2006. Whileinvestigators regularly pore overthe Kampusch case, looking formissed clues and alleged accom-plices, international media cov-erage on Fritzl has died down

since his March 2009 trial.The two cases, which

occurred within two years ofeach other, prompted much soul-searching in Austria, amid fearsthe country could be known as a"Land of Dungeons".

New cases of incest — con-firmed or not — have immediate-ly made national headlines.

Filmmakers like MarkusSchleinzer and Ulrich Seidl havealso drawn from these cases fortheir work, including the Palmed'Or-nominated "Michael".

But five years after their firsttaste of freedom, Elisabeth andher children have been allowedan anonymous life, away fromscrutiny.

HIS NAME HAS NOWBECOME SYNONYMOUSWITH HORROR ANDDEPRAVITY, WITH FOREIGNMEDIA QUICK TO LABELPARTICULARLY HORRIFICINCEST CASES AS THEBRAZILIAN, CHINESE ORBRITISH "FRITZL".


Unthinkable?Pounds withoutpols

Perhaps the only realargument for a heredi-tary monarch is to

keep political egos incheck; for all the retrogres-sive baggage that goeswith the crown it should atleast prevent uncrownedreal power from fallinginto the "L'État, c'est moi"delusion.

But a week after theunstated state funeral ofMargaret Thatcher, itemerges that another ofthe Queen's PMs will serveas her B-side on the £5note. Yes, Churchill pro-vided the roar of Britain'swartime lion, but he wasalso a peacetime partisanwho sent troops intoTonypandy, peddled impe-rial pipe-dreams aboutIndia, and warned thatmild-mannered Attlee

would create "some form ofGestapo". Start playingparty top trumps withpromissory notes, andthere will be no end.

"The blue Thatcher"sounds only too like a spe-cial-issue note for somequirky quantity, say £25,for which the Telegraphcampaign may havealready begun.

The Labour tribewill respond by lobbyingfor a reissued oncer por-traying Wilson, above thestrapline "the pound inyour pocket".

Where will it end –with Brown tens, and somesort of a minor Majornote? Before we reach suchabsurdities let us banishpoliticians from banknotesentirely, leaving the side ofthe paper that is notalready stuffed full ofQueen free for the tradi-tional cross-party heroes

and heroines likeShakespeare andNightingale, or for mod-ern-day equivalents likeLennon or Lennox.

Stuffier sorts mayresist rock'n'roll sterling,but it is preferable tomoney that's tainted byparty animals of the othersort.

Global editsThe Guardian (UK)

START PLAYINGPARTY TOP TRUMPSWITH PROMISSORYNOTES, AND THEREWILL BE NO END.STUFFIER SORTS MAYRESIST ROCK'N'ROLLSTERLING, BUT IT ISPREFERABLE TOMONEY THAT'S TAINT-ED BY PARTY ANIMALSOF THE OTHER SORT.

Letter from AustriaSIM SIM WISSGOTT

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Synonym of horror

Portugal said Friday it will takebanking giants JP Morganand Santander to court to

make them renegotiate deals thathave left state-run companies paying

hefty interest rates. Treasury SecretaryMaria Luis Albuquerque said the gov-

ernment had failed to reach a dealwith the two bankd to overhaul so-

called "toxic swap" contracts.

Banks in court over swaps

Russia’s largest airline Aeroflot mis-spent 13.9 billion rubles (over $443million) in 2010-2011 and the first

nine months of 2012, according to anAudit Chamber report. Aeroflot said theauditors' conclusions were contrary toindustry and experts' assessments. Italso dismissed the complaint that it hadsigned contracts worth more than 10million rubles without holding tenders.

Aeroflot misspent $440 mn

Hackers broke into a daily dealswebsite backed by online retailtitan Amazon.com and breached

the accounts of 50 million members,according to a report Friday by AllThings Digital. Names, birth dates andencrypted password information wasswiped in a cyber-attack atLivingSocial, according to a report atAllThingsD.com.

Deals website hacked

BUSINESS 10SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Want to enjoy andexperience sound inyour home as it wasrecorded in a world-

class studio? Want to replicatethe big screen viewing experi-ence in your living room? TheAudio People, the largest retailstore in the City offering high-end audio and video equip-ment, can be a one-stop shopfor home theatre needs.

The founders of the storestress that it is not sales thatdrives them to be in businessbut the passion to educate andto offer customised and finestvideo and audio solutions to thecustomers. The business, whichwas started by GVN Bobby (inpic) and Jalal in February 2012,grew over time and made itsmark in the hearts of musiclovers. Explaining the reasonsbehind kick-starting the busi-ness, Bobby says, “It’s the lovefor music that pushed me tostart the business. I am a musicenthusiast from childhood butdid not get into composing orthe learning part of it. However,I had a desperate urge to listento sound at its best quality. Iused to experiment for the rightsound quality by changing dif-ferent components of home the-atre systems — amplifiers,speakers, sub-woofers andequalisers.”

After doing a diploma inaudio engineering from SAECollege, Chennai, in 2003, Bobbyretuned to the City and workedas an assistant sound engineerat Prasad labs. Later, he startedto work as an acoustic consul-tant (freelancer), wherein heused to provide video and audiosolutions on his own. He is alsoone of the few individuals in thecountry who got Level 2 THXcertification for providing quali-ty sound.

On the inception of the com-pany, he says, “To take my workto the next level, I partneredwith Jalal from Chennai, whoowns distributorship of manyinternational brands under the

brand name of The AudioPeople. We started The AudioPeople store in the City, andlater brought many other inter-national brands to the countrythrough our distributorship.”

He adds, “There’s a desper-ate need to bring these compa-nies to the country. This willenable customers to have aworld-class sound experience.For instance, we are the sole dis-tributors of MK Sound (inIndia). The brand is knownworld-wide for its presence invarious studios like DOLBYLaboratories, DTS, UniversalStudios, Disney and LucasFilms. The sound recordings ofmany Hollywood films like KingKong, Star Wars, and Lord ofthe Rings were made and testedon these speakers at studio level.Now, customers can exactlyexperience sound as it washeard in these studios.”

Any audio or video productcan optimally deliver its valuewhen the technicalities and

installation is appropriate.Moreover, the choice or selec-tion of a sound system or ascreen should also be based onvarious parameters. The compa-ny is trying to get this in placeto attract customers.

“We don’t just sell productsto customers like any otherstore but offer solutions basedon the customer’s budget, roomand taste. We try to enhance theexperience of sound by provid-ing acoustics — wall proofing,ceiling, flooring — based on var-ious techniques of absorption,reflection and positioning of

speakers. We aim to see a happycustomer with our sound solu-tions, which in turn will provideus with word-of-mouth publicityand eventually turn into rev-enues,” said Bobby.

The business also offersturnkey solutions and workswith architects and interiordesigners from the constructionphase. “We will provide cus-tomised solutions based on theclient’s requirement. Forinstance, a large screen can betoo big for a small room or viceversa. An angular positioning ofseating in the room can bring alot of difference in the process.Each amplifier or speaker hasits own sound, which may ormay not be liked by the buyer.Customers’ tastes should bekept in mind before offering thesolution. The reason to startthis store in a huge space was tofit in a wide variety of productslike Horn speakers and Tubeamplifiers, which enable a cus-tomer to have an ear for differ-

ent sounds irrespective ofwhether he is buying the prod-uct from us or not,” he says.

About the businessprospects, Bobby says, “Today,entertainment has become partof everyone’s life. After a lot ofstress and hard work duringthe day, the couple or familywant to enjoy a movie or anIPL match on their largescreen. The frequency of goingout for seeing a film has fallenwith the advent of home the-atres. We can recreate the expe-rience and allow people toenjoy without stepping out oftheir home.”

The biggest challenge forthe company is to educate cus-tomers.“Many have a good earfor music but are unaware ofthese technicalities. We makethem understand the impor-tance of each product, fromcables to speakers, and its valuein creation of quality sound,”said Bobby.

With the growth of economyand real estate market in theCity, the company is upbeatabout the home entertainmentindustry. It plans to expand itsnetwork to other tier-2 cities inearly 2014 with proper demorooms and technical teams.

THE SOUND OF MUSICHis love for music and quest for the perfect sound led GVN Bobby to set up The Audio People in

Hyderabad, which offers tailor-made solutions for all your audio needs.

More about The AudioPeople, Hyderabad

Employees: 12Expected operationalbreak-even: End of 2014Services: Custom hometheatre solutions, homeautomation, multi-roomaudio solution, conferencehallsBrands: MBL, Thiel,Monitor Audio, MKSound, Bryston,MusicalFidelity, Sunfire,Avalon, Auralex, AcapellaAcoustics, ProAudioTechnologies,Halcro, Pathos, StraightWire, SMX screens,Pioneer,Denon, Da-LiteScreens, MarantzDemo: 14 music systemswith two large home the-atre roomsProducts: More than 200

THE COMPANY ALSOOFFERS TURNKEYSOLUTIONS AND WORKSWITH ARCHITECTS ANDINTERIOR DESIGNERSRIGHT FROM THECONSTRUCTION PHASE.

[email protected] RAJU K

11FOCUSSATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

PICK YOUR

@

Stores Across Twin Cities

Taliban, taboos bar womenfrom Pakistan vote

Sami ZubeiriAgence France-Presse

Next month’s electionsshould mark the first demo-cratic transition of powerin Pakistan, but Taliban

threats, social taboos and poororganisation will likely deprive mil-lions of women their right to vote.

Out of a population of 180 mil-lion, 37 million women and 48 mil-lion men are registered to vote inthe May 11 polls in a country thathas been ruled by generals for halfits life and where military coupshave repeatedly interrupted democ-racy. But in the conservative north-west Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prov -ince, adjoining tribal areas on theAfghan border and southwesternprovince Baluchistan, few womenvoted at the last election and offi-cials fear it will be the same again.

“We waited the whole day... butnot a single woman turned upbecause of a ban imposed by tribalelders,” remembers BadamaBegum, a 33-year-old teacher whoworked at a polling station in 2008in the north-western district ofMardan.

Election authorities set up a sep-arate station staffed only by womento guarantee around 350 registeredfemale voters complete privacy, butit was a waste of time.

“We closed the polling station inthe evening, returned the blank ballotpapers and empty boxes to the elec-tion commission, and left,” she said.

In 2008, not a single vote wascast at 564 of 28,800 women’s pollingstations - 55 per cent of them inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials said.In the most conservative areas, offi-cials estimated women’s turnout at10-15 per cent of those registered.

That year, 76 women ran for par-liament and 16 won seats. The elec-tion commission says there aremore women candidates this time,but had no precise number.

Registering to vote is a routineprocess conducted by officials whogo door-to-door to compile a list ofadults with ID cards in each house-hold. But this in itself leaves mil-lions of women disenfranchised.

Women’s rights activist FarzanaBari estimates that at least 11 mil-lion eligible women will not be ableto vote simply because authoritieshave not granted them national iden-tity cards. The elections themselvespresent further barriers to women,with some religious leaders believ-ing women voting is un-Islamic.

Voting for a man they do notknow, some mullahs counselled in2008, was grounds for automaticdivorce - a social taboo few are pre-pared to entertain.

“Our society does not allow usto bring our women to vote,” saidSharif Khan, 50, a solar energydealer in Miranshah, the main town

in the tribal district of NorthWaziristan, the most notoriousTaliban and al-Qaeda stronghold inPakistan.

“We are afraid of the Taliban.They oppose women voting, so whyshould we take the risk?” he asked.

In tribal communities such asthese, women live in purdah, con-fined to women’s only quarters athome. They do not go shopping,they do not work outside the houseand they only go to the hospital in adire emergency.

Literacy rates are low, evenlower for women. General disillu-sionment also runs high in some ofthe most remote and deprived partsof the country.

“Women in our area don’t evenknow how to vote,” said Miranshahcloth merchant Adam Khan, 35.“Our MPs do nothing for our wel-fare. So it’s not just our women, Iwon’t vote this time either,” hefumed.

In urban areas, politicians layon transport to ferry voters to andfrom polling stations, but in thecountryside it becomes more com-plicated when women are not

allowed to travel without a closemale relative.

Aware of the problem, the elec-tion commission tried to introducereforms that no candidate could winwith less than 10 per cent of thewomen’s vote in his constituency,but it was rejected in parliament,said spokesman Khurshid Alam.

He says the commission will tryto enforce legislation against thosewho try to stop women from voting,although it remains unclear how.

“Preventing a person from cast-ing his vote falls in the purview ofcorrupt practices and is punishableby three years in jail and fine of`5,000 ($50) or both,” Alam told AFP.

The result of a by-election inBatagram was declared null threeyears ago when few women partici-pated having been threatened withdivorce. They took part in the re-run at which the threat of divorcewas not raised, he said. KhalidaBibi a 39-year-old housewife fromthe northwestern town of Dargaitold AFP that she was hopeful that atough election commission wouldhave some impact.

Women supporters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), political party representing the Urdu-speaking majority, raising slogans as they take part in anelection public meeting in Karachi. AFP PHOTO/RIZWAN TABASSUM

The result of a by-election in Batagram was declared null three years ago when few womenpaticipated having been threatened with divorce.

12TECHNOLOGY

It is a free RDP and VNC viewer. It can beused to access and control your MAC,Windows, Linux computers on the net-

work. ezDesktop can dis-cover the active computerson a network and givereports on the same.

ezDesktop If you need to relax in today'seconomic crisis and imaginethat you have all the gold anddiamonds you want (as CharlieBrave), play this interesting andcute game. In the game, youare Charlie Brave and the goalfor you is to catch as muchgold and diamonds you can.

www.crunchGear.com

It’s your daily dose of geek gad-gets: Cellphones, gaming hard-ware, software, computers.

Techcrunch’s gadget arm com-petes with Engadget in the gadget news and reviewsarena.

MOBILE GAME REVIEWWEBSITE OF THE WEEKCHARLIE BRAVE

APP OF THE WEEK


BACKUP DONE RIGHTSD cards are boring pieces ofplastic and metal which suckup most of the data from yourcamera, but they also tend tofail far too often. For this rea-son most professionals go forhigh-end SD cards, but Wiseseems to have taken that to anew stretch with their ExpressCards. These cards work in aRAID like formation to createan image of the data to ensuremaximum reliability. Wise S2and S3 cards are available in32GB and 64GB variants thatare shock resistant. S3 varianthas USB 3.0 for faster datatransfers so one can get start-ed with editing as soon as it isrecorded. This product isbeing distributed in India byRoyal Broadcasting based outof Delhi. According to the

company the card works onlywith professional level equip-ment and the whole unit withthe cards cost more than`15,000.

STREAM EVERYTHING LIVEYouTube is slowly becomingthe default destination for livestreams these days, but what ifyou want your companiesbranding and don't want toworry about bandwidth andsuch? IVB7, a Chennai-basedcompany has a solution thatlets you stream an event live ata very reasonable price. Thecompany has a custom stream-

ing box with separate input forvideo and audio channelswhich when connected to acomputer with Internet con-nection will set up a stream onits own. They offer variouspackages ranging from `20,000to `49,000 depending on yourrequirement. There is a one-time fee for the streaming boxand you have the option ofpurchasing additional storagespace for a very nominal price.The costliest streaming boxoffered by the company doesnot even need to be attached toa computer and the companysays that this can even replaceOB vans used by most TVchannels.

LOGIN TO BLESS THE COUPLEWhile most companies are con-centrating on streaming

events, SeeMyMarriage.comoffers an end-to-end solutionfor those who want to streamtheir weddings. The companydoesn't just provide a platformbut also sends people to thevenue to record and live-stream the whole function.According to the representa-tives at the demo stall, thecompany charges according tothe duration of the stream andadded that they get most oftheir customers are Tamilianswho have a lot of relatives inSingapore. The live-stream willbe available on the companywebsite for a year and a half,

but according to the represen-tatives they are available formuch longer too. They alsohave a Facebook app whichlets a user watch the streamfrom within Facebook. Theyalso offer a highlights packagemuch like in sports shows.Now you don't just watch awedding and move on, thecompany also lets you postyour greetings and blessingsas texts or as an audio clipnext to the stream.

(The expo is open tillSunday. It is open to the public

between 10.30 am and 6pm.)

Beyond megapixelsPhoto Expo 2013kicked off in theCity yesterday at

Ramoji Film City.Here are three

products towatch out for at

the expo.

SeeMyMarriage.comoffers an end-to-endsolution for thosewho want live-streamtheir weddings. Thecompany sends peo-ple to the venue torecord the event.

[email protected] BALANARAYAN

N SHIVA KUMAR, NT BALANARAYAN

Some look upon their dog as astatus symbol, more like anitem that is bought on animpulse to show off their

wealth. After accomplishing this andflaunting the dog to all and sundry,the owner gets bored and the dogends up tied outside the gates, lest itspoils the carefully maintained lawnor garden. Being tied up for thewhole day, without even being takenfor a walk, these animals are tor-tured and made to feel miserable.This frustrated lot is the ones thatbite their owners and wait for anopportunity to escape. According toPeople for Animals, the organisationgets at least one complaint a dayfrom neighbours who take pity afterseeing these animals being treatedbadly.

“We get around 20 to 30 com-plaints about pet abuse and most ofthe times, these are fancy breeds.These families are counselled andthey usually fall in line fearingarrest. We keep a tab on them after-wards and make sure that these ani-mals are not ill treated. Many ofthese owners are under the wrongimpression that if tied up all day,these dogs will become more fero-cious and thus guard the house well.However, it is the nature of dogs tosafeguard their territory and it can-not be inculcated by tying them up.These dogs are prone to biting theirowners since they are frustrated andfeel miserable being tied up.

Imported, western breeds are notused to the climate here and insteadof rightly being treated extra-nicely,they are left to fend for themselvesunder the hot sun. Imagine theplight of a Saint Bernard stuck inthe City with coat as thick as what ithas,” Vasanthi Vaadi, secretary ofPeople for Animals says.

There are times when ownersgive up and abandon these fancydogs. Blue Cross is flooded with suchdogs that are abandoned at the NGO.

“They are left tied up to the gatesand left outside the NGO. We havegot a security guard to make surethat they do not leave their dogs andgo. However, it is more dangerous ifthey leave them on the road.Normally, people pay huge sums ofmoney and buy these fancy dogsunaware of the responsibilities andwork that come along with it. And atother times, these animals are giftsfrom others. I think gifting an ani-mal is the worst present you canoffer because you never know howthese animals will be treated,” DrLakshmi Ramana says.

Keeping a pet and taking care ofit is not an easy task and one has tothink many times before taking thedecision to bring a pet home. Thereare times when families leave thetask of taking care of the pet totheir caretakers and are not awarewhen it suffers. If one comesacross cases where animals

are ill-treated and abused,you can call:

+91984999334

AMY ROSE THOMAS

[email protected]

Pet friendly travels

Albuquerque hasbeen named

America's bestcity for four-legged travel-

ers. The travel bookingsite Priceline.com compiled the top 10

list of the most friendly for travellerswith pets.

13ANIMAL KINGDOM

The crouched stancedeveloped to com-

pensate for thegrowth of larger fore-limbs that eventually

made flight possible, according to newresearch that digitally "fleshed out"

fossils to show physical changes.

Birds' crouching gait

While serving inAfghanistan

airmanmechanic Tom Burright

struck up a friendship with apuppy that was scavenging for food in the

streets. Puppy Rescue Mission raisedenough money to bring the puppy Lyla over.

CATS AND DOGSThe Animal Care Clinic

040-2335 2474Pet’s World Dog Clinic

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CRIES for help

For many, dogs are items bought on an impulse toshow off their weath to all and sundry. People forAnimals gets more than 20 complaints from neighbours who take pity on these tortured animals.

14BOOKS

Title: Cooked Author: Michael PollanPublisher: Penguin Press HCMichael Pollan is one of thebest food writers around, delv-ing into the intricacies of diet,life and science. Cooked

explores, with child-like glee, the magicof transformation in a kitchen through fire— the conversion of humble ingredientsinto something sublime

Title: ParisAuthor: Edward RutherfurdPublisher: Knopf DoubledayPublishing GroupThe City of Love has been thesetting for so many epic sto-ries, so could Edward

Rutherford be far behind? The king ofmulti-generational dramas sets his sightsof Paris, and weaves a story of beauty,charm and romance.

Title: Dirty Wars Author: Jeremy ScahillPublisher: Nation BooksThe world is a battlefield, andJeremy Scahill is right there onthe frontlines. Elite forces havebeen formed by the govern-

ment to track down and eliminate thosedesignated as enemies of the state.Sounds like a novel? In this hard-hittinghistory, Scahill shows us ground reality.

Title: Fly AwayAuthor: Kristin HannahPublisher: St. Martin’s PressA childhood friendship comesto a tragic end when one ofthe women dies. Now, Tully isasked to take care of her

deceased friend’s children, though shedoesn’t know the first thing about raisingkids. Love, loss and motherhood arerecurrent themes in this tearjerker.

SHORT READS

If you were to tell anyone thatyou were a tour guide or atravel writer by profession,you are bound to elicit anawestruck reaction and sighs

of how they wish they were inyour place and could trade pro-fessions. If you were to readAkhil Bakshi’s account of hisjourneys you would do the same.With four significant interna-tional motoring expeditions tohis credit, this born tramp hasbeen vagabonding around theworld since his early years, find-ing telling beauty everywhere.

I’ll Follow the Sun comesafter Akhil’s Back toGondwanaland, which retraceshis 90-day-long passage through16 countries. This book, howev-er, chronicles the author’s non-linear journeys around theworld and to the ends of theearth and going by his accounts,this adventure-loving junkie hasno plans of hanging up his ruck-sack anytime soon.

The journey begins downunder with descriptions of histrips to Auckland, encounterswith the Maoris to interestinginteractions with penguins,kiwis and cackling seagulls.

His next is to the exoticlocales of Bali and Kalimantanwhere he finds the Chinese netsstrangulating more than justmarine life. There are refer-ences to the conditions andeconomy of the place that hetravels to. His interest in devel-opment economics shinesthrough in many places.

From Bali he moves on, find-ing his way to plenty of other

places. His travel itinerary willmake any seasoned travellerjealous. From the ruins ofAngkor, the rocky terrain ofLhasa, Khardungla — the ulti-mate allure for bikers — itboasts the highest road in theworld. Closer to home, Akhiltakes on Jaisalmer andLakshadweep Islands. His jour-ney to Jaisalmer dispenses withthe geography lessons we have

grown up —Jaisalmer desert —it is not there. “There is nodesert. The goats ate it.” All itboasts is of the Sam Dune whichapparently a French poet wasenamoured about.

Akhil’s account of his tripsacross the world, as mentionedin the foreword, pack a punch.They are stories, packed withwit, wisdom, relevance and hehas a great eye for detail. Unlike

boring travelogues where a lotof jargon puts the reader tosleep, Akhil’s narrative is moreflowy, conversational,humourous and educative in afun way. It catches the readersattention and though the weightof the glossy-paged book mightbe a deterrent for some, the pureease of his narrative mightappeal to the others.

His boots are made for walkingLike the title of his literary travelogue Akhil Bakshi too seems to enjoy an indefinite love affair

with travel, the great outdoors and adventure. His book tells us all about it.

Title:I’ll Follow the Sun

Author:Akhil Bakshi

Publisher:Odyssey Books

Pages: 527


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15BOOKS

Travel broadens the mind; so does reading. Combine the two to truly escape the crowds, the stress and the hustle-bustle of everyday life.

The best travel companion


Jared Diamondcaught

our atten-tion withGuns,Germs, andSteel,where heexploredwhyEurasiancivilisationshad sur-vived andconqueredothers. Inhis latest offering, he looks at tradi-tional societies and proposes thatmany of the problems we face todaycould be solved by going back toour roots. What is particularly greatabout this book is that Diamonddoesn't try to romanticise traditionalliving; he merely observes that wecould all do with some good old-fashioned sense in our lives.

WHY PACK IT?If you're complaining about havingto leave the city to go off to a smallvillage in the middle of nowhere,this book might give you new perspective.

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Twilight.Vampireshave got alot of badpress in thepast fewyears, con-sidering allthe fictionalones were,well, rathersappy andboring. ButKarenRussell gets the balance right —her vampires are bloodthirsty buthuman, passionate yet faithful. Therest of the short stories in the col-lection are just as delightful.Monsters, bullies and massage ther-apists discover their hidden selves in the tales, and Russell'sclear prose will leave you asking for more.

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THE WORLD UNTIL YESTERDAYBY JARED DIAMOND

LET’S EXPLORE DIABETES WITHOWLS BY DAVID SEDARIS

BEST KEPT SECRETBY JEFFREY ARCHER

QUIET: THE POWER OF INTROVERTSBY SUSAN CAIN

VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVEBY KAREN RUSSELL

THE GREAT NORTH ROADBY PETER F HAMILTON

THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHERPEOPLE BY MANU JOSEPH

THE MAN WITHIN MY HEADBY PICO IYER

Jyotsna [email protected]

18WOMEN

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WEBSITES OF THE WEEK

All About EveNIDHI BHUSHAN

Too hot tohandle?

For a change, something asridiculous as deportingsomeone from a country

because of good looks didn’tcome from the KhapPanchayat. This is a momentof glory for Haryana and therest of India as Saudi Arabiahas just beaten it in stupidity.

Reports emerged that threeUAE nationals were deportedfrom Riyadh by theCommission for the Promotionof Virtue and Prevention ofVices in Saudi Arabia. Thereason: they were really, reallyridiculously good lookingmen! Of course. If they werewomen, they would have beenpublicly stoned for ‘exposing’their beauty.

The funniest part of thisentire story is the fact that ofall places, it is Saudi Arabiathat did something againstmen; you see, in their minds,they were genuinely savingthe women from naughtythoughts. I think that’s theonly glimpse of equality I’veseen in the past couple ofyears. Strange, isn’t it?

Omar Borkan Al Gala, whowas one among the trio to bedeported forcefully, is a pho-tographer, actor and poet fromDubai. Lowered to just beingeye-candy for women in SaudiArabia, Al Gala has been mak-ing headlines all over the restof the world.

However, my argument isthat Al Gala and gang cannotbe the first species of goodlooks in an Arab country. And,deportation, certainly, cannotbe a long-term solution to thishuge problem. So, what is itthat the Commission forPromotion of Virtue andPrevention of Vices can reallydo to tackle the issue?

Enforcing burqas for goodlooking men is a much betterpermanent solution, don’t youthink so? Since, Saudi Arabia isall for an eye-for-an-eye kind ofjustice, burqas for men wouldpretty much serve the samepurpose they serve for women.

Another possible solutionis to send these good lookers toIndia, as we certainly face adearth of hot men here. Ohwait, the Khap might just bannoodles for them!

Parenting parents


O f the many childrenthat FathimaKhader worked withduring her career as

Life Skills Facilitator, a girlfrom her Anger Managementworkshop brought somethingto her notice. “She camethanked me later but askedhow she could help her par-ents who also had angerissues,” says Fathima. Whensome more children who ben-efitted from the workshops,came back asking how theycould help their parents dealwith these behaviouralissues, she knew she had tomove a step forward, or back-ward rather. “I realised thatparents influence a child’sbehaviour more than anyoneelse. If children have tolearn to manage anger andconflicts, it has to be fromtheir parents’ example andnot someone who comes oncea week to their schools,”notes Fathima.

So she began her journeyto be a parent coach, andpursued a course on parent-ing. A mother of two herself,through the course, sheimproved her relationshipwith her children. Now wasthe time to reach more par-ents. For a year now, FathimaKhader has been working as

a parent coach, visitingschools and corporate compa-nies, conducting short termand long term interventionprogrammes.

The short-term pro-grammes make the parentsaware, and the long termones emphasise on imple-mentation. Most of these ses-sions are interactive includ-ing group discussions, semi-nars, video clippings, roleplays, etc. Some parents askfor one-on-one counsellingsessions too which they arealways welcome for. “Theidea is to empower them,”she says. Those who havebeen parents for many yearshave always assured first-time parents that parentingcomes gradually and natural-ly as days go by nurturing

your child. However, timeshave changed. So havelifestyles. “Today life is dif-ferent than compared to 20years ago. The definition oflife has changed. Earlier, par-ents considered basic provi-sion as food, shelter, clothesand education. Today, it isthe best of toys and cars.When I was a child my fatherwould share his life experi-

ences to introduce values tous. Earlier families workedas teams. Children werecherished then. Today quali-ty time means watching TVtogether with food on theirplates. Today having morechildren only means moreresponsibility. We want themto slow down and understandtheir relationship. The ideaof coaching parents is toinculcate a connection withchildren.”

In a span of nine years asa life skills facilitator and ayear of parent coaching, peo-ple have come back withfeedback. “What I love aboutmy job is that people feel adifference in the way theythink and feel about them-selves. Habits take time tochange, but the will tobecome better makes all thedifference. It is the approachand attitude towards chil-dren that has changed. Forexample, if a woman takestea to her mother-in-law andif she spills it, she won’t yellat her mother-in-law. But ifthe child had spilled or bro-ken any cutlery, she wouldhave yelled at him sayingthings like “Who asked youto carry it? You are such anuisance. Why do you keepbreaking things? Can’t youhandle a cup properly?”These parents now respondto their children withrespect. They now under-stand that their childrenneed respect”.

[email protected] AGARWAL

In this day and age, when tempers are short and patience is passé, there is a need toget to the root of it all. Parent coach Fathima Khader shows us how.

19SPOTLIGHTSATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

WATERWORKS

Water Walk was launched at Shilparamam instyle on Friday. Adventure junkies made abeeline to Shilparamam to try out the sport.

FASHION FIESTABling alertActress Samantha unveiled GRT Jewellers'new platinum jewellery collection at GRTjewellers, Somajiguda.

A dose of glamourTollywood celebrity Sri Reddy inauguratedVastra Varnam expo at Sri Satya SaiNigamagamam on Friday.

Story timeStudents of AnnapurnaInternational School of Film andMedia staged mime skits atLamakaan.

New in townThe new Sony Center outlet

was inaugurated by Sony IndiaPvt Limited Managing DirectorKenichiro Hibi at Banjara Hills.

DesignerShravan Kumarput up a dazzling showat The Park.AmalaAkkineni,Deeksha Sethand Taapseewere a few whowere present athis show PinkWedding.

S BALAKRISHNA

S BALAKRISHNA S BALAKRISHNA

20RELATIONSHIPS

My girlfriend found her ex-flame on Facebookrecently. At first I

thought it was just harmless ban-ter, since they had lots of catching

up to do. But now I notice she getsfrequent calls and emails from him.

I confronted her on this and shebrushed it off saying I am jealousand insecure. What should I do?

Dear worried boy, Now don’t tell me you have not looked up yourformer flames on Facebook even once. Whenone partner spends too much time on Facebookit can arouse suspicions and jealousy from withintheir other half. But don’t let your imagination runahead of you. Establish some FB free time for thetwo of you. Time and again tell each other of thenew friends you have added and yes... ex-flamesshould be off-limits.

It's hard not to catch sight of at least oneblack crow in the pursuit of our daily lives.For most of us, however, that is where the

interaction ends. For Binghamton UniversityAssociate Professor of Biological SciencesAnne Clark, that single sighting is the opendoor to hours of observation. According toClark, behavioral ecologists study AmericanCrows, almost as often as primates, to gaininsight into the evolutionary underpinnings ofsocial relationships.

I AM ALL EARS


The roommate from hellNidhi [email protected]

While most of ushave been luckyenough not to haveshared a room or a

flat with, excuse the expres-sion, a complete psychopathlike the one in Single WhiteFemale, many of us have gonethrough something close tothat. Whether it's sharingstuff, splitting bills or keeping

the house clean, all of us tendto think differently. And, when the disparity in thesesensibilities goes beyondexpected and accounted-for bad luck, things become superugly.

Take the case of NadiaBalooshi*, a 24-year-old mediaperson, who had to put up withthe antics of her “psycho”roommate. “I used to stay alonein a one BHK flat till I began

feeling a little lonely and decid-ed to have a roommate. It was aterrible decision! Initially,things were smooth betweenthe two of us. However, when itwas time to split bills — elec-tricity, water and groceries —all hell broke loose. Apart from the rent money, she was-n't willing to pay anything. Thefirst few months, she made the excuse of not earning allthat well, and I let it be. Butthen I realised that she waseating up all that I would buy

for myself. After a lot of coax-ing from my friends, I wasconvinced that I was being

taken for granted and I mustcorrect the situation. Like allother confrontations, even thisone was terrible. While it started with her saying shedoesn't have the money to payfor expenses other than rent,she eventually accused me ofleading an 'unaffordable' life.

She said she doesn't need'waste expenses' like garbagebags, for instance. She repeat-edly said she can't 'afford' theway I live. All previous months,my lifestyle didn't bother her, itwas only when she was askedfor her fair share, did it pinch,”recalls Balooshi, who is livingalone again and says is happythat way.

Another case is that ofAnkita Dayal's*, who had todeal with a calculative andstingy flatmate for a few

months. “When I moved into ahouse with my friend, we had an understanding that allour bills would be shared.Whether it's rent, electricity orwater, both of us will deal with 50 per cent of it. However,my flatmate, who was surprisingly a good friendbefore we moved in together,said that she won't be paying50 per cent of the electricitybill as she wasn't utilising the air conditioner as much asI did. We split the bill 70-30 percent. Then, when I gaveher the same logic about not

paying half for the groceriesas I didn't eat anything sheused to buy, she picked afight with me. We tried towork it out for a month, butthings had just become toosour after that shoutingmatch,” says Dayal, who also lives alone now. Whilethere are lots of parasite-like

roommates, there are alsothose who 'borrow' stuff anddon't bother returning. “Myroommate had borrowed mybrand new pair of earrings —a gift from my boyfriend — foran office party. Months passedand there was no trace of theearrings. I didn't know how toask for it so I made an excusesaying that I need to wearthem. My roommate said she'llgive but didn't bother andhoped I would forget about it.After another week passed by, Iasked her firmly – 'where aremy earrings?' She told me shelost them. I was angry, notbecause she lost them butbecause she didn't bothertelling me that herself,” recallsJyoti Nambiar*. So, if you'reone of those who believes thatchoosing a roommate is anabsolute no-brainer, thinkagain!

* names changed on request

Sharing a room/ flat with someone is probably as tricky as being in a live-in relationship withyour partner. Only in this case, you don't really love the other person. Postnoon talks to a few

people who have borne the brunt of devilish roommates, especially in money matters.

CINEMA 21SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Five minutes after you walkout after watching a film likeShadow, every question thatwas raised by those whobelieve in existentialism

begins to make sense. For the unini-tiated, the concept of existentialismdeals with the sense of disorienta-tion and confusion in the face of anapparently meaningless or absurdworld. In existentialism, humanexistence is regarded as unexplain-able and it also stresses freedom ofchoice and responsibility for theconsequences of one's acts. It mayseem too far-fetched to connect exis-tentialism to a no-brainer film likeShadow, but delve deep into theimpact which this film leaves on you,everything boils down to one ques-tion — Why did I choose to watchthe film?

There comes a stage,while watching Shadow,where you begin to ques-tion the motive behindmaking such a film whichdoesn’t really elicit anyresponse other than bewil-derment. What gave themthe idea that a particulargag, involving the leadcast, was funny? What ledpeople to believe in the film while itwas being made? It does seem quiteunreasonable that we, as the audi-ence, write off such an effort by theentire team of the film whichpoured their heart, blood and sweatinto making it. This is preciselywhere you begin to question whypeople make the choices they makeand it turns out that nothing makessense. Like why was the film madein the first place? Why didn’t anyonesee what was right in front of theireyes? Questions like these are quiterhetorical and the only thing onecan do under such circumstances isto pray to Goddess Mnemosyne toerase your memory for some timeuntil you are exhausted.

There are few good things whichdo stand out in a swamp like this.One of them is the earnestnessshown by the lead actors Venkatesh

and Srikanth to pull off their respec-tive roles. You can’t blame them fornot making an impact in a film likethat, after all the emphasis, through-out the film, is more on style ratherthan the story itself. For a moment,you are tempted to cheer for Shadow,a role played by Venkatesh, as hewalks in slow motion during theintroduction song but before any ofthat happens, the story quickly turnsso mediocre that it doesn’t reallymatter what happens next. The storyisn’t completely new either nor is itsnarration. With more than six vil-lains, who just seem to be waiting tobe killed by Shadow, a major part ofthe film turns into a show reel forhow innovatively the hero canaccomplish his job.

In the end, the film is too bad tobe true and you end upthinking if you have beentoo harsh or too hasty inconcluding that the filmwas terrible. It takes a lotof time and effort to forgetthat you have watchedShadow and in a bizarreway, it might be the biggestachievement of the film.Not many films linger inyour mind long after you

have seen it and the fact that itkeeps you thinking why was it sobad is proof of the kind of impact ithas had on you. Let’s assume for amoment that none of us know any-thing about filmmaking and what ittakes to conceive a story like that ofShadow, the only thing we can askthe director, writers and everyoneelse associated with the film is, atleast for a moment, put on yourthinking caps and ponder wherethey went wrong. Did you take theaudience for granted? If youranswer is an emphatic no, then youhave quite successfully and glorious-ly managed to break the trust theaudience had in you. It’s high timeyou find a way to mend that. Fornow, the aftermath of witnessing theawesomeness of this film is quitesimply— terrible, in its worst possi-ble sense.

Pawan Kalyan’s upcoming film underTrivikram Srinivas’ direction is

expected to hit the screens onAugust 7. Samantha is playing the lead

role opposite Pawan Kalyan andPraneetha Subhash is the other actress.The film’s cast and crew will soon head

to Barcelona for a long schedule.Producer BVSN Prasad said, “The filmis going to be a very good family enter-

tainer. There are a lot of expectations onthe film since Pawan Kalyan and

Trivikram Srinivas are teaming up aftera long gap. We’ll announce the film’stitle pretty soon.” Recently, the film’s

distribution rights for the Nizam regionwere bought by Global Cinemas for an

undisclosed amount and buzz is that it’sthe highest ever for a Telugu film.

Similarly, Naveen, an NRI who used tofund overseas distribution companies,has reportedly bought the US distribu-tion rights of this film for a whopping`7.5 crore, which is a new record. Devi

Sri Prasad is scoring the music and thefilm also stars Nadiya and Boman Irani

in important roles.

Movie: ShadowCast: Venkatesh,Srikanth, Taapsee

Directed by: Meher Ramesh

Rating:

HEMANTH KUMAR

[email protected]

TOO BAD TO BE TRUEShadow is so bad that it leaves you reeling with pain long after the film is over.

PAWAN KALYAN-

Trivikram’s film to

release on

AUG 7

Farhan onwomen’ssafety

Farhan Akhtar, who hasstarted an online cam-paign “Men against Rape

and Discrimination” (MARD),says the responsibility to cre-ate a safer environment forwomen lies not just with thegovernment, but with everycitizen.

“If we say that it’s onlythe police’s job and we onlysit at home and play victimand keep watching what ishappening, then that’s wrong.At an individual level weshould try and bring about achange,” he said.

“The responsibility can’tjust lie on the government ser-vants, as citizens it is ourresponsibility as well,” addedthe Rock On! actor said. IANS

Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor saysthat she feels blessed to be a part ofRaanjhanaa. The actress will beseen playing different ages in the

film and said that it was an incredibleopportunity.

“It was a great process. I play twodifferent ages. You have to perform dif-ferently and your voice is different too.It was an incredible opportunity. I amblessed to be a part of Raanjhanaa,” shesaid.

Talking about the look in the film,Sonam said that it was simple.

“I have a simple look for Raanjhanaa.I am not so beautiful and glamorous inthe film,” she said.

Sonam will be seen opposite Tamilactor Dhanush in the film. The actress alsoadded that she had fun shooting the film.

“It was fun. I had the most incredibletime. You will be able to see the chemistryon screen,” she said.

Talking about the brands which sheendorses, Sonam said that she goes for classicbrands which ensure her quality as well asexclusivity. The actress added that she has con-vinced her father, actor Anil Kapoor to also dothe same.

“The kind of brands which I do are all clas-sic brands. I don’t sign anything that I don’tbelieve in. I have explained this to dad too,” shesaid. IANS

BLESSED TO BEA PART OFRAANJHANAA


A LENGTHY LOVE STORY Shraddha and Aditya have convincingly played their parts, yet both of them cannot do much for Aashiqui 2.

The movie suffers because of a sluggish pace and director Mohit Suri is at fault here.

Inspired from fiftiesHollywood musical A Staris Born and Imtiaz Ali’sRockstar comes a tale ofAashiqui 2. RJ (Aditya Roy

Kapur) is a fading rockstarwho is addicted to his liquor.His work doesnt excite himanymore and wants to turn ayoung talented girl AarohiShirke (Shraddha Kapoor)into a star. They fall in lovewith each other and he break-ing all odds ends up makingher a star. However, their rela-tionship is ruined by insecuri-ty that exists among musi-cians and RJ’s obsession withdrinking. In spite of Aarohigoing the extra mile to securethe relationship, RJ fails.

While the sequel is differ-ent than the first partAashiqui, fans of the original,will recognise the parallels inthe story, and also what hasbeen changed. The directorhas ditched the sleazy formu-la of sex and skin show asso-ciated usually with the Bhattsand has reinvented theromance of the nineties.Shraddha and Aditya haveconvincingly played theirparts, yet both of them cannotdo much for the film.

Aditya Roy Kapoor strug-gles and delivers the aggres-

sion and intensity in bits andpieces. Shraddha Kapoordevotes the perfect innocencewhich her character requires.However, the movie suffersbecause of a sluggish paceand director Mohit Suri is atfault here. While the music isgood as an album, it justlengthens the film. Puttingeleven songs in a moviedoesn’t make it a musical. So,watch it simply if you arecurious and want to knowhow different it is from theoriginal.

Movie:Aashiqui 2

Cast: Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor

Directed by:Mohit Suri

WHILE ADITYA ROYKAPOOR STRUGGLES,SHRADDHA KAPOORDEVOTES THEPERFECT INNOCENCEWHICH HER CHARACTERREQUIRES.

Iron Man 3 is BEYOND atypical summer movie. It’severything an entertainingmovie should be, andmuch, much more.

Marvel's Iron Man 3 pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Sta rk/Iron Man against an enemy whosereach knows no bounds. When

Stark finds his personal world destroyed athis enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrow-ing quest to find those responsible. This jour-ney, at every turn, will test his mettle. Withhis back against the wall, Stark is left to sur-vive by his own devices, relying on his inge-nuity and instincts to protect those closest tohim. As he fights his way back, Stark discov-ers the answer to the question that has secret-ly haunted him: Does the man make the suitor does the suit make the man?

There's a serious subtext to the story andit leaps out of the very first moments of thefilm. The brilliant, hard-drinking, fast-talk-ing, now traumatised superhero charms fromopening scene until the last. The movie getseverything right but maybe its number onestrength is the fact that they cover new andexciting ground. Downey again brings a winningpersonality to play as Stark; he finds his pathos,too. Don Cheadle certainly has the acting chops tohang with Downey. Ben Kingsley's Mandarin is notwhat he seems and wonderful. No one, not even thevillains are one dimensional characters. Guy Pearceis perfect in his role and, at the end, you can see whyhe was cast. Gwyneth Paltrow and Rebecca Hall cer-tainly add sex appeal but beyond that they also deliverreal performances and truly deep characters. This isPepper Potts best film by far and is every bit the perfectmatch for Stark. The interaction and the relationships allwork well and are truly a highlight of the entire movie. Allthe dialogue is superb. You would expect nothing less from aShane Black film. This ranks right up there if not surpassesLethal Weapon and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. IMDB


Actress Eva Longoria'sdivorce from basketballstar Tony Parker led her to

suffer health problems as shehad started living on coffee andignored her vitamin intake.The former Desperate

Housewives star received flat-tering comments about herweight loss post herdivorce in 2011, but deepdown she was depressedand putting her health atrisk, reportsdailystar.co.uk.

In a new interview withUS TV doctor Mehmet Oz,

Longoria said: "I was so skin-

ny. I was not eating. I wasdepressed. I was sad. My dietwas coffee. People kept saying,'You look amazing, divorceagrees with you.' And I was like,'I don't feel good. I have no ener-gy. I didn't know I wasdepressed."

However, she knew some-thing was wrong with her.

"I went to the doctor to getsome blood tests because I said,'Something's wrong.' I was justdepleted of every vitamin. Hesaid, 'It's as if somebody took astraw and sucked everything outof your body. You don't have anyiron, your liver's overacting.' It

was like all these things werephysically wrong with my body,so I had to saturate with vita-mins and kind of get back onthis track," she added.

That is when the actress tookthe doctor's advice seriously andstuck to a strict diet.

"I cut out all sugar, anythingthat turns into sugar, is sugar. Ilove a soda, I'm not a chocolatecandy person, but, I like pasta inanything. For about threemonths, I did a really strict no-sugar diet, and I had more ener-gy than I've ever had. My palatewas different. Things tasted bet-ter," she said. IANS

Divorce led to healthissues for Longoria

Singers Katy Perry andRihanna, who were closefriends at one time, seem to

have patched up.Though Perry was the one to

break off their friendship afterRihanna reconciled with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, shetweeted Rihanna and jokedabout missing her, reportsstarpulse.com.

Katy wrote: Ermm...I was inLA Saturday night...Should I beproud or offended I wasn’t invit-ed @rihanna #WHOISTHIS-DOPPLEGANGER.” (sic)

Rihanna tweeted back:“@katyperry erm I wasn’t! Lol!#miaminights howeverrrrr....I’llstill let you spank me!”

The two singers then fixed adate for meeting. IANS

Rihanna,KatyPerrybond onTwitter

A SUMMERBONANZA

Movie: Iron Man 3Cast: Robert Downey Junior,Rebecca Hall, Guy Pearce,

Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle,Gwyneth Paltrow

Directed by: Shane BlackRating:

CHAI TIME 26SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

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

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

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

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

you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14.This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and soon...

So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this isdone through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as youwork out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limitthe valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run.

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

KAKUROACROSS1 Counter, as an

argument6 Apparatus for lifting11 Crater's edge14 Acid type15 Start of the Beatles'

walrus song16 Half and half?17 Common yuletide

tools19 Many a time20 Geller of mind

games21 ___ for tat22 Finder's take23 Hurler's foes27 They may be current

or foreign29 ‘That turns my

stomach!’30 Not mean32 Ripped33 Cold and ___ season34 ‘___ of Endearment’36 Buick fit for a king?39 Arial, eg41 Wrecks43 Diarist Frank44 Ancient Biblical city46 Oven setting48 ____ Arbor, Mich49 ‘Tears in Heaven’

singer Clapton51 Divas' deliveries52 Suffix with ‘Christ’53 Pays the registration

fee, as for college56 In all respects58 ‘Spare’ item at a

barbecue59 Baby beaver60 Always, to an old poet61 Artist/musician Yoko62 Tool belt fixture68 Costa ___ Sol69 Site of many Chicago

touchdowns70 Parenthetical

comment71 '70s self-improvement

method72 North American

flycatcher73 ‘Last but not ___ ...’

DOWN1 Bled in the wash2 Flightless bird3 Part of a stand-up's

routine4 Like a film before

editing5 Great downpour6 ‘Andy Capp’ sound

effect7 Acorn bearer8 ‘___ man with seven

wives’9 With ‘short,’ a curt

rejection10 Determine the

presence of11 Shingle fastener12 Surmise13 ___ and bounds18 More ventilated23 Angry fits24 ‘Nanook of the North’

dwelling

25 Discharge of lightning26 Cancel, as a rocket

launch28 Length X width31 Arab chieftans35 Schnozz37 Historical record38 Pioneering comic

Bruce40 Bull in a

fight42 In storage,

as grain45 Cream puff47 Like some

translations50 Tired phrase53 Eat into54 WXYZ

phone buttons

55 Back -breaker, in aproverb

57 Pop up, as a question63 Preposition in poetry64 Itty-bitty65 Word on Italian street

maps66 O'Neill and Asner67 Abbr after a general's

name, maybe

SCRI

BBLI

NG P

AD

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

QUICK CROSSWORD

Everybody getsso much

information allday long thatthey lose theircommon sense.

SUDOKU THOUGHT OFTHE DAY

– Gertrude Stein

CHAI TIME 27SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo VirgoThe High Priest

Work –You have thesolutions to a prob-

lem. You just need the con-fidence to go ahead withwhat you think is right.Romance – If you are con-fused about making a com-mitment, it’s best to waitfor some more time. Don’trush into anything unlessyou’re absolutely sure.Health – Be careful withyour diet. Make sureyou’re following the doc-tor’s orders and are stick-ing to the prescription.Don’t get adventurous withfood. Money – You havethe opportunity to makemore money. You need todecide if you are willing tosacrifice those extra fewhours per week. Tarotmessage – You have thekey. Decide what you wantto do with it. Open thedoor of opportunity orwait for some more time.

Ten of Cups

Work – Team work isexcellent. You gel

well with team membersand all goes well throughthe week. Your ideas gainmore power. Romance –Family life is in focus.Women may be thinkingof expanding the family.This is the right time todo so. Health – Do notlag behind on your exer-cise routine, no matterhow difficult it may be tomake time. Get back intothe routine as quickly aspossible. Money – Moneyis stable. There is noth-ing to worry about aslong as the unnecessaryexpenses are cut down.Don’t overspend on shop-ping. Tarot message –Togetherness, communi-ty and bonding are infocus. You make the mostof being in good compa-ny.

Four of Wands

Work – Stability isimportant to you at

this time. If you’re think-ing of a job change, thismay not be the best timeto do it. Do your home-work. Romance – Youtake comfort in the famil-iar routine. Singles willnot be in the mood to goout looking to date.Health – Pay attention tomental health and takeup meditation to clearyour mind. You need tothink clearly to be able tomake the right decisions.Money – Finances are ingood shape. You’re in acomfortable position towork through your loansand still save somemoney. Tarot message –Do what makes youhappy at this moment. Nopoint thinking aboutwhat others expect ofyou.

The High Priestess

Work – Intuition playsan important role in

getting you what you needat this point. Don’t takecoworkers head-on about atechnical issue. Romance– Passions run high butare you and your partneron the same page?Candlelight dinners,romantic movies and late-night conversations workwonders. Health – Youfeel great about where youare right now and thisreflects on your physicalhealth as well. Keep thepositive vibes coming.Money – Though youhave a philosophical viewtowards money, it takes upyour time and attention.Much planning is neededfrom your side. Tarotmessage – Go with yourgut feel about what isright and what you needto do.

Justice

Work – Keep your angerin check and do not

react, no matter how muchyou’re itching to make yourstand clear. Speak onlywhen spoken to and staycalm. Romance – You andyour partner may need abreak from each other. Dothings that you enjoy andcome back refreshed andrenewed. Health – Makesure your body can with-stand what you put itthrough. If you plan to runa marathon, for example,ensure you have the stami-na to undergo the rigoroustraining. Money – Identifythe loopholes in your bud-geting and work quickly toplug them. Time is runningout and you have loans toclear. Tarot message –Work quickly and intelli-gently. Think clearly aboutyour requirement and whatyou need to do.

Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces

King of Wands

Work – If it was a caseof ‘who’ll blink first’

for a long time with a col-league, be assured that itis about to end. Either youor your coworker willmove jobs. Romance –God is in the details butalso don’t lose sight of thebig picture while makingcrucial decisions. Health –Take care of your mentalhealth. Meditation andyoga help to a large extent.You may also want to con-sider laughter therapy.Money – If you can avoidit, additional expenditureis best deferred to a timewhen you’re absolutelycertain you can afford it.Tarot message – Weighthe pros and cons carefullybefore jumping into anunfamiliar situation. Besure of what you’re gettinginto.

Four of Cups

Work – A job offer ispossible. Even if you

aren’t looking for a job,consider the offer andmeet people as a way tocollect good experiences.Romance – If a relation-ship is not working out,don’t push it. It will die anatural death if it has to.There are many fish inthe sea. Health – Get asecond opinion to treat acomplex medical issue ifyou aren’t satisfied withwhat one doctor says.Consider natural healingmethods, too. Money – Afreelance gig or extrawork for additionalincome is a good idea.Don’t, however, let it bur-den you so much that youdon’t have time to enjoythat money. Tarot mes-sage – Consider all youroptions before deciding.

Seven of Wands

Work –Those in brand-ing and media jobs

will do well. You come upwith innovative ways toattract your target audi-ence. Romance – It’s nevera good idea to keep secretsfrom your partner. Honesty,really, is the best policywhen it comes to together-ness. Health – A naggingpain or ache should not beignored. Consult a physi-cian immediately and donot self-medicate. Money –Your monthly budget willneed some tweaking. Youneed to address expendi-ture issues in view of yoursaving goals. Tarot mes-sage – There are ways toreduce confusion andincrease transparency inall your transactions. Beaware of what you’re head-ed toward and you willknow what to give up.

Two of Pentacles

Work – A colleaguemay confess about

something and it may putboth of you in a spot. Dealwith it in your own inim-itable way. Romance –Work-life balance needsattention. Are you unableto stop working and take abreak? Don’t overdo yourcommitment to work.Health – Sore throat, badstomach may upset you. Becareful of the quality ofdrinking water. Make sureto consume only freshlycooked foods. Money –Finances are in goodshape. They’re steady andyour investments are ingood shape. Be careful notto overdo the hoarding.Live well. Tarot message– Balance is important.These are testing timesand your intelligence willbe under the scanner.

Ace of Swords

Work – Investigate fur-ther into a problem if

you’re not convinced of theanswers your colleaguesgive you. Make sure foryourself that all is well.Romance – Some con-frontation is required withyour partner to address anissue that has been bother-ing you both for a while.Talk it out. Health – Fruitjuices, fresh fruits and alight diet to detox yourbody is a good idea. Somelight exercises also willtake the fatigue away.Money – Big ticket pur-chases like a car or houseare in the offing. These areto be made carefully, afteraccounting for all expensesand making sure you canafford them. Tarot mes-sage – Be proactive in yourinteractions and put yourbest foot forward.

Eight of Swords

Work – You willencounter avenues to

promote yourself as thefrontrunner for an impor-tant project. Nothing wrongin showcasing your talent.Romance – Celebrateimportant days likeanniversaries and birth-days. These are importantto keep the passion alive.Health – Be kind to yourbody and do not push itmore than it can handlewith excessive eating ordrinking. Money –Expenses increase and youmay have to cut down onyour regular entertainmentneeds. Be creative and lookfor alternates. Tarot mes-sage – It’s an uphill taskwith this time testing yourlimits and making you dothings you’re not used to.But you will come out ontop without a doubt.

The Chariot

Work – Travel relatedto work is on the

cards. This will be animportant journey whereyou learn new things andexperiment with newideas. Romance –Distance makes the heartgrow fonder. Those com-mitted benefit from takingtime out. Singles enjoytheir space and indepen-dence. Health – All is welland there is nothing toworry about on the healthfront. Continue to eat rightand pay attention to yourweight. Money – Your sav-ings come to good use now.You may be consideringinvesting in a house. Dothe background checkthoroughly before goingahead. Tarot message –Travel to distant landsopens up the mind to newpossibilities. Let yourmind wander for a bit.

Vol: 2, No 281 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by himat Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

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

SUMAA [email protected] Date 28-4-2013

KNOW YOURCOUNTRY

THE SATURDAY QUIZ 28

1.Which is the third highestmountain in the world?

2. In which year was the Americanmodel Cindy Crawford born?

3. How many children does theGreek god Cronos have?

4. Which planet has the highestvolcano in the solar system ?

5. How many wings does a pray-ing mantis have?

6. Which dance name meansdouble step?

7. In what year were theAcademy Awards first held?

8. How many times a year do youhave an equinox?

9. How many Star Wars films havebeen made till now?

10. How many colours are therein the flag of Sri Lanka?

11. In what year was the Energydrink Red Bull introduced?

12. Which vitamin is soluble inwater?

13. Which financial crisis startedon a day now known as BlackThursday?

14. How many Chileans have wonNobel prizes in Literature?

15. In which of the arts does

decoupage appear?16. In which year were the

Munich Olympics held?17. Researchers working on the

accurate calculation of thedistance of Milky Way to thenearest galaxy found theexact distance to our nearestgalaxy, Large MagellanicCloud. What is it?

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

TEST YOURSELF

1What are the first threecolours in the rainbow?

2How many colours arethere in the rainbow?

3What are the three pri-mary colours?

4Is pink a real colour?

5Which colour in theIndian tricolour is pros-perity represented by?

6Which two colours mixto make green?

7Is the colour orange inthe rainbow?

8Which is the darkestcolour?

9What rain fell forMichael Douglas inRidley Scotts Japanesethriller of the 80s?

DO YOU KNOW YOURCOLOURS?

IN THE NEWS

1Which country is ranked first onlist of countries which distributespam all over the world, accord-ing to a new report ofSophosLabs?

2Which research centreannounced that it was develop-ing the largest magnet of theworld? This magnet would weigh50000 tons.

3According to the study conduct-ed by University of Minnesota, inthe first week of March 2013,which species from Africa woulddecline to almost extinction overthe period of coming 20-40 yearsif conservation measures werenot undertaken?

CURRENT AFFAIRS

WHO AM I?India has formally protestedto the US over the briefdetention of another of itsministers. I was accompany-ing UP Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav for the pre-

sentation of aHarvard studyon the KumbhMela pilgrim-age. Who am I?

Answers11.Kanchenjunga2.1966 3.64.Mars 5.46.Paso Doble7.1929 8.29.6 10.411.198712.Vitamin C13.The Wall Street Crash 192914.215.Decorating16.2012 17.1972 18.163000 light years

Answers : 1.Red, orange, yellow 2.7 3. Red, Green and Blue 4.No 5.Green6. Blue and Yellow 7. Yes 8.Black 9.Black

Answers1.USA 2. India 3. Wild Lion

1Which compost plantbecame first in India toreceive carbon creditsworth `25 lakh from theUnited Nations FrameworkConvention on ClimateChange?

2Which confectionary giantwas slapped with a noticedemanding `250 crore bythe Directorate General ofCentral Excise Intelligenceon the grounds of exciseduty evasion?

3Microsoft launched the newversion of which softwarefor the businesses runningin India? This software willfacilitate sharing the dataseamlessly across the com-puters and mobiles withthe help of cloud comput-ing technology.

Answers1. Okhla Compost Plant 2.Cadbury India Ltd 3.MS Office 365

DO YOU KNOW THESE FILM DIRECTORS?Answers: 1. Tigmanshu Dhulia 2. Dibakar Banerjee 3. Mira Nair 4.Sekhar Kapur

Answer: Urban DevelopmentMinister Mohammad Azam Khan


with SantoshGhule

Is this your cup oftea? What do yousee in it then?

PICTUREPUZZLE 64

Answer for 63:Zebras, two of them.

1 2

4 3

SPORTS 29SYDNEY: Cricket Australia said Fridayan Achilles injury that forced paceman

Ryan Harris home from India was notserious and he was expected to be fit

for the Ashes series in England. The injury-prone Harris returned

home for tests on his left Achilles raising fears about his fitness

11 weeks ahead of the first Ashes Test in Nottingham.

Harris to be fit for AshesLISBON: Top seed Juan Martin delPotro has withdrawn from next week'sPortugal Open, organisers confirmedon Friday. Officials said they receivedword from the player's agent that hewas ill with a stomach virus and wouldnot make the trip to Europe. Theworld number seven's absence fromthe tournament leaves Swiss StanislasWawrinka as the main draw card.

Potro out of Portugal OpenICHEON, SOUTH KOREA: AustralianWade Ormsby and Thais ArnondVongvanij and Kiradech Aphibarnratseized the halfway lead at the weather-interrupted Ballantine'sChampionship on Saturday. Ormsby and Arnond had shared theovernight clubhouse lead at seven-under 137 at the par-72 BlackstoneGolf Club.

Three seize halfway lead


Gowtham Model School –Hyderabad: 129 All out in 44.2overs (MS R Charann – 37 runs(90b, 5X4), Abhinay – 29 runs (35b 1X6, 2X4), Sai kiran 15 runs (40b 2X4); Chander Prakash 2 for 12in 8.2 overs, Shoeb Khan 2 for 17in 9 overs, Hashir Dafedar 2 for11 in 5 overs) lost to Anjuman I-Islam Allana Eng School –Mumbai: 133 for 4 in 27 overs(Shaikh Mehboob – 44no (41b7X4), Hashir Dafedar 37 runs (52

b 1X6, 3X4), Aman Farooqui 13runs (20 b 2X4); Ankit 3 for 35 in9 overs, Varun 1 for 22 in 3overs).Salwan Boys – Delhi: 237 for 6in 45 overs (Kaif Ahmad 74 runs(45b 4X6, 6X4), PrashantVashisnt 53 runs (71 b 3X4),Vikas Dixit 43 runs (89 b 2X4);Anuj Singh 3 for 24 in 9 overs,Harsh Sharma 1 for 33 in 4overs) bt CAV Inter College,Allahabad UP: 199 All out in 41

overs (Rangrajan Divedi 48 runs(53 b 1X6, 4X4), Abhishek Yadav42 runs (38 b 2X6, 3X4), AnupamKumar 28no (34 b 4X4); VikasDixit 3 for 36 in 9 overs, ManishSehrawat 2 for 30 in 8 overs,Nitin Tanwar 1 for 13 in 3.1overs).Sree Valmeeki High School —AP: 87 All out in 40.3 overs (PGReddy 39 runs (70 b, 3X4), C SaiKarthik Rao (13 runs 47b, 1X4),PG Chaithanya 16 runs (36 b,

2X4); Ankor Das 2 for 8 in 6overs, Suroit Roy 2 for 13 in 9overs, Hrishikejn Roy 2 for 8 in2.3 overs) lost to Balurghat HighSchool — West Bengal: 88 for 7 in22.1 overs (S Chakraborty 20runs (45 b 2X4), Ankit Das 16runs (32 b 1X4), MrinmoyMahato 13 runs (18 b 2X4); PGirinatha Reddy 2 for 31 in 6.1overs, C Sai Karthik Rao 2 for 25in 7 overs, B Ajay Rahul 1 for 10in 5 overs).

Gowtham Model School go down to Anjuman I-Islam

The Aster Minds AP StateRanking Tennis

Tournament 2013 for under-10, -12 and -14 for boys andgirls will be conducted at theAdvantage Tennis Academyfrom May 5. More details canbe had on calling cell num-bers 9246168429, 9391170377.

Rankingtennis tienext week

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS:The New York Knicks spoiledthe Boston Celtics' homecomingon Friday, cruising to a 90-76victory for a commanding3-0 lead in their NBA EasternConference first-roundplayoff series.

Carmelo Anthony scored26 points for the Knicks,which moved within one gameof notching their firstplayoff series victory since the1999-2000 season.

For the Celtics the outlook isbleak. No team has ever comeback from an 0-3 deficit towin a best-of-seven NBA post-season series.

Knowing that the Celticscould ride the emotion of thefans in their first home game

since the April 15 Bostonmarathon bombings. the Knicksmoved fast to gain the upperhand and quiet the crowd.

New York led by 16 points athalftime and were never serious-ly challenged after the break.

Raymond Felton added 15points and 10 assists for theKnicks, who are now on thebrink of avenging a first-roundloss to the Celtics two years ago -- in Anthony's first season inNew York.

"Any time you get swept,that's a bitter taste," Anthonysaid of that four-game seriesdefeat. "We remember that."

Perhaps that was a contribut-ing factor when the game turnedtesty in the fourth quarter, withNew York's JR Smith elbowing

Boston's Jason Terry in the facewith 7:06 remaining, and withNew York holding a comfortablelead. Smith was ejected and

could face a suspension, whileBoston coach Doc Rivers held onto Terry to prevent the incidentfrom escalating. AFP

LAUSANNE: BelgianGianni Meersman (above)won the third stage of theTour of Romandie onFriday following a 181kmride around Payerne.

The 27-year-old OmegaPharma rider beat ItalianFrancesco Gavazzi andSwitzerland's MichaelAlbasini in a sprint finish.

It was Meersman's sec-ond stage win in the tourafter his success inWednesday's first stagebut Britain's ChrisFroome still held the over-all lead.

However, Meersmanmoved up to third in theoverall standings thanksto time bonuses collectedon the stage, and trailsthe Team Sky rider by justnine seconds. AmericanAndrew Talansky remainssecond at six seconds.

For Meersman it was asatusfying finish andhelped make up for losingout to Lithuania'sRamunas Navardauskason Thursday.

"I was disappointedwith my sprint yesterday(Thursday) and I wantedto put things right today,"he said.

AFP

NEW DELHI: Badminton'sThomas and Uber Cups worldteam championships will beheld in India for the first timenext year, the president of theBadminton Association of Indiaannounced Friday.

The Thomas Cup for menand the women's Uber Cup willtake place in New Delhi fromMay 18-25, Akhilesh Das Guptasaid.

"We are thankful to the BWF(Badminton World Federation)for giving us the opportunity tohost the prestigious ThomasCup and Uber Cup in the coun-try for the first time," Gupta told

reporters in New Delhi."I'm confident India will

organise a world class tourna-ment."

India hosted the world bad-minton championships inHyderabad in 2009.

"We have seen the risingstandard of the tournamentsheld in India over the years andare confident about their capa-bilities," BWF secretary-generalThomas Lund said.

China are the reigningchampions in both the Thomasand Uber Cups, having won athome in Wuhan in 2012.

PTI

India to host Uber,Thomas finals in ’14

Carmelo Anthony scored 26 pointsfor The New York KnicksMeersman

claimsRomandiestage three

Carmelo Anthony #7 of the New York Knicks looks to drive to the basketagainst Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics on Friday in Boston. AFP

A participant displaysher skills at the AnnualSummer CoachingCamps 2013 SouthZone conducted by theGreater HyderabadMunicipal Corporationthat was inauguratedby Mayor of HyderabadMohammad MajidHussain, at Quli QutubShah stadium onFriday.

YOUTAKETHAT!

Knicks beat Celtics

30

Ryland JAMES

STUTTGART, GERMANY:Defending champion MariaSharapova (right) had anothertough battle on Friday as shebooked her place in the semi-finals of the Stuttgart WTA tour-nament with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 quar-ter-final win against formerworld number one Ana Ivanovic.

The 26-year-old Sharapova,who is using the claycourt tour-nament to help prepare for thedefence of her French Open titleat the end of May, was againtaken to three sets as Ivanovicrallied in the second set.

Having needed three hoursto beat Lucie Safarova inThursday's second round, thestatuesque Russian has nowplayed more than five hours oftennis inside 24 hours afterneeding two hours, 16 minutes tobeat Ivanovic.

"It's good to face differentstyles of playing from different

opponents," said Sharapova."It was a tough battle, it was

hard to get my body going againafter the last game, but it wasgood to get another three setsunder the belt."

After Sharapova took thefirst set, claycourt specialistIvanovic rallied in the secondwith plenty of aggressive shotson her forehand and is on herway back up the rankings, butlacks consistency. AFP

KARACHI: Pakistan vowedFriday to keep its cricketersunder a strict vigil in England toavoid any repeat of a 2010 spot-fixing scandal that resulted inbans and jail for three players.

An undercover reporter ofthe now defunct News of theWorld exposed former captainSalman Butt along with pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer in ascandal that shook the cricketworld during Pakistan's tour of England.

The three players agreed tobe part of deliberate no-balls atthe Lord's Test against Englandin August 2010 in return formoney in a deal brokeredbetween the reporter and theiragent Mazhar Majeed.

The International CricketCouncil (ICC) banned three play-ers for a minimum of five yearsand the trio was jailed by aBritish court in 2011.

Aamer pleaded guilty duringthe trial, but appeals from Buttand Asif were last week rejected

by the Swiss-based Court ofArbitration for Sports.

Pakistan Cricket Boardchairman Zaka Ashraf saidstrict measures would be inplace when the team compete inthe eight-nation ChampionsTrophy in June.

"What mistakes we commit-ted last time will not be repeat-ed," Ashraf told journalistswhen asked to comment onreports that a vigilance officerwould accompany the team toEngland. AFP

Pakistan vows fixing vigil in England

NEW ORLEANS: LucasGlover (right) fired a five-under par 67 on Friday tohold a one-shot lead over BooWeekley after two rounds ofthe US PGA Tour's $6.6 mil-lion Zurich Classic of NewOrleans.

Glover, a former US Openchampion who is seeking hisfirst win since the 2011 WellsFargo Championship, had a36-hole total of 12-under 132.

Weekley carded a four-under par 68 at TPCLouisiana for 133. D.A.Points also notched a 68 andwas a lone in third on 134.Morgan Hoffmann's 69 gavehim a nine-under total of135, one shot ahead of lastyear's runner-up, SouthAfrican Ernie Else, whoposted a 69 for 136.

Glover had eight birdiesin his round, including a

four-footer at the first.He followed that up with

a birdie at the second, wherehe chipped his third shot toseven feet and made the putt.

Glover, who won the USOpen title in 2009, bogeyedthe third, but reboundedwith birdies at three of hisnext four holes.

He made a bogey from abunker at the 10th, butresponded with birdies at11 and 13 before a bogey at17 -- which he promptlyfollowed with an 18-footbirdie putt at the last.

"Ball-striking wise,I've been where I'mused to being. But Idon't know that I'veever putted like Ihave the past twodays," saidGlover. AFP

Masson clingsto LPGA leadIRVING, TEXAS: Germany'sCaroline Masson (in pic)endured a tough finish butstill held on to the lead at theinaugural North Texas LPGAShootout on Friday at thehalfway stage.

Masson followed up abogey-free first-round 64 withan even par 71 for a seven-under total of 135 -- one strokein front of Carlota Ciganda ofSpain.

Ciganda, the Rookie of theYear on the Ladies EuropeanTour in 2012, fired a one-under70 for 136.

"I didn't play as good asyesterday, but I expected thatafter that round yesterday,"Masson said.

"I was off to a good startwith a birdie on one, whichwas really nice. And it calmedme down a little bit, and afterthat I just made a few goodpars, but I also made somegood putts for birdie."

But Masson ran into trou-ble late in the round, withbogeys at three of the last fourholes. That included cappingher round with a bogey at thepar-five 18th.

Thai teenager MoriyaJutanugarn rocketed up theleaderboard with a five-underpar 66 that moved her into atie for third on 137 along withworld No. 1 Park In-Bee ofSouth Korea and AmericanKathleen Ekey. AFP

BARCELONA: Rafael Nadal(right) continued to re-estab-lish his impeccable clay cre-dentials as the seven-timechampion scored two victoriesFriday to reach the semi-finalsof the Barcelona Open.

Due to rain on Thursdaywhich wiped out much of theprogramme, the second seeddid double duty in both thethird round and quarter-finals,defeating Frenchman BenoitPaire 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in the morn-ing and following up with amore substantial victory overSpanish compatriot AlbertRamos 6-3, 6-0 in late after-noon.

Ramos had booked hisplace against Nadal by puttingout Japanese sixth seed KeiNishikori 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in adelayed third-round match.

Nadal will play a Saturdaysemi-final against Canadianfifth seed Milos Raonic, who

beat Ernests Gulbis 6-2, 7-6(8/6) and followed up by win-ning a hard-fought battle withSpanish veteran TommyRobredo 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/2)in almost two and a half hours.

Nadal has won seven of thelast eight editions at the RealClub de Tenis.

The Spaniard, sidelined forseven months until Februarywith a knee injury, appeared tobe well on the road to recoveryafter his loss in the MonteCarlo final last week to NovakDjokovic.The 26-year-old Nadal

improved to a 38-1 careerrecord in Barcelona with hisonly loss against current DavisCup coach Alex Corretja in the2003 second round.

He now stands 24-2 this sea-son and 19-2 on clay.

In his win against Paire,Nadal shook off a slow start.As the morning match woreon, he found his familiar clay-court groove, lifting the firstset in a tie-breaker and domi-nating in the second to take histhird-round win.

"It wasn't a brilliant matchbut winning was the mostimportant thing," said Nadal."It's a long day today, sostraight sets is not a bad way tostart."

Nadal could not have beenhappier with his day's work: "Iplayed my best match of thetournament so far," he saidafter dispatching Ramos in 65minutes. AFP

Nadal does double dutySharapova in semis

LONDON: Controversial Pakistanleg-spinner Danish Kaneria (left)failed in his appeal to overturn hislifetime ban from cricket on Friday.

Kaneria was banned last year forhis role in a spot-fixing plot, butdenied all involvement and immedi-ately indicated his intention to con-test the decision.

Kaneria loses appeal against life ban

A rookie on theUS women'stour,

SPORTSSATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

Glover grabs New Orleans lead


31

METRE 6S 281 34ChrisGayle(RCB) 175*HIGHEST

SCOREBESTBOWLER 4-134S 936 40Michael

Hussey (CRK)

SunilNarine(KKR)

Chris Gayle(RCB)

It never got bigger than this inthe Indian Premier League:Two big teams, both coming

off victories, clash in one of thebiggest cricket-loving cities ofthe country. Royal ChallengersBangalore take on MumbaiIndians in an away match aftera resounding win over PuneWarriors India.

Mumbai Indians are also inan upbeat mood after winningtheir away match againstKolkata Knight Riders. SunilNarine’s heroics with the balljust not being enough for thehome team, which last on thepenultimate ball of the thrillingmatch.

If there is one factor that isgoing to weigh in favour of theMumbai Indians, it is the factthat the RCB have home condi-tions to thank for their run tothe top of the points table thisfar in the tournament.

Close finishes notwithstand-ing, truth is that RCB ended uplosing the two matches they

have played away; those againstSunrisers Hyderabad andChennai Super Kings. While thematch against SRH they lost inthe Super Over, CSK beat themwith one ball to spare.

How Chris Gayle is able toadapt to conditions at Mumbaiis going to be the deciding fac-tor in this match. For, if theconditions here do not botherhim and he is able to continuethe way he has so far in thetournament, especially the wayhe batted in the last match, thenMumbai Indians have a matchon hand.

Though the Bangalore

crowds adore him and cheerhim on providing the catalystfor the big-hitting Jamaican,Mumbai’s cosmopolitan andcricket-loving crowd is notgoing to make him feel out ofhome. A good game of cricket ismuch appreciated inTendulkar’s backyard.

Whatever the outcome, thematch itself promises to be onebig treat.

SYED SHOAIB

It’s cricket. I am notafraid of him (Gayle).It takes one ball toget a batsman out.It’s just a case ofpitching the ball inthe right area. It’s forhim to stay long andscore runs

Dwayne SmithMumbai Indians player

Tendulkar hiton right handwhile battingat the netsMUMBAI: Sachin Tendulkar washit on the right hand while bat-ting at the nets during MumbaiIndians training session onFriday ahead of their IPL matchagainst Royal ChallengersBangalore. Tendulkar tried to cuta delivery from Jacob Oram,when the extra bounce caughthim unawares hitting him on theright hand.

“I should be fine for tomor-row,” the veteran said. His team-mate Dwayne Smith also said the40 year old should be fit to play intomorrow’s match.

“He should be ok. Just a caseof him getting checked up, butnothing is wrong, I think,” Smithsaid in the pre-match media con-ference at the WankhedeStadium. PTI

RR VS SRH AT 4PMMI VS RCB AT 8PM

ON SET MAX

MI take on the Gayle force

IPL 6 BATTLE OF THE TITANS

[email protected]

Two teams with proven win-ning capability and nowequally hungry for a win

meet at the Sawai MansinghStadium in Jaipur today.

That both SunrisersHyderabad and Rajasthan Royalsmeet today after losing their pre-vious matches gives themenough reason to put in animproved performance, and thatcould provide the cutting edge tothis match.

One decisive factor in thetournament has been the homeadvantage. Most wins by allteams this far have been in theirhome towns, and that could bene-fit RR in this match.

It boils down to the crowdsupport more than better knowl-edge of the pitch conditions thathas been favouring the home

team. With at least four foreignnationals playing each matchand good number representingthe home team but coming fromother parts of the country, thepitch is not ‘home’ to many inthe team.

And that is an interestingfactor. Irrespective of the state aplayer or even the country comesfrom, the crowd roots for theirteam.

While RR have the homeadvantage, the return of ShikharDhawan will work in the favourof SRH. All victories of SRHhave been without the swash-buckling southpaw, who got intothe grove immediately afterreturning from injury in theirmatch against Chennai SuperKings. That could tilt the scale inthis match. SS

SRH to battle an equalSCORECARDKOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS V KINGS XI PUNJAB

Kings XI Punjab innings

Gilchrist*† c Morgan b Bhatia 27(27)

Mandeep c Morgan b Kallis 25(20)

Vohra c Das b Balaji 31(21)

DHussey c Senanayake b Kallis 21(20)

DA Miller b Ladda 10(8)

Gurkeerat Singh not out 28(15)

Azhar Mahmood run out 2(7)

PP Chawla not out 0(2)

Extras (b 1, lb 4) 5

Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 149

Bowling O M R W Econ L Balaji 4 0 44 1 11.00Senanayake 4 1 29 0 7.25SP Narine 4 0 22 0 5.50JH Kallis 4 0 14 2 3.50S Ladda 2 0 18 1 9.00R Bhatia 2 0 17 1 8.50

Kolkata Knight Riders innings(target: 150 runs from 20 overs)

MS Bisla† not out 51(44)

G Gambhir* b Azhar Mahmood 8(6)

YPathan c †Gilchrist b A Mahmood 0(1)

JH Kallis c †Gilchrist b H Singh 37(33)

Morgan c G Singh b A Mahmood 42(26)

SMSM Senanayake not out 0(1)

Extras (b 4, lb 5, w 2, nb 1) 12

Total (4 wickets; 18.2 overs) 150

Bowling O M R W Econ

P Kumar 4 0 28 0 7.00

A Mahmood 4 0 35 3 8.75

BA Bhatt 3 0 21 0 7.00

PP Chawla 4 0 33 0 8.25

H Singh 3.2 0 24 1 7.20

Kolkata Knight Riders won by 6 wickets

P W L T PT NRRCB 8 6 2 0 12 +1.254

CSK 8 6 2 0 12 +0.591

SRH 8 5 3 0 10 -0.112

RR 7 4 3 0 8 +0.588

KXIP 8 4 4 0 8 +0.217

MI 7 4 3 0 8 -0.135

KKR 8 3 5 0 6 +0.072

PWI 8 2 6 0 4 -1.467

DD 8 1 7 0 2 -0.954

P-played; W-win; L-lost; T-tie;NR-net run rate; PT-points

S Narine (KKR), AMishra (SRH),D Bravo (CRK)

14 wickets

Chris Gayle(RCB) 432 runs

SPORTS 32SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2013

SOLUTIONS

Sud

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Num

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Scr

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Boggle DAD SON AUNT NIECE COUSIN NEPHEW

Tom WILLIAMS

LONDON: Manchester Unitedmanager Alex Ferguson (right)says he has no concerns aboutthe prospect of Robin van Persiefacing abuse from fans of his for-mer club Arsenal when theteams clash at the EmiratesStadium on Sunday.

Van Persie left Arsenal in anacrimonious £24 million ($37million, 28 million euros) trans-fer last year and has been a reve-lation in his first season at OldTrafford.

His hat-trick at home toAston Villa on Monday took histally for the campaign to 24league goals and secured thetitle for United, which Arsenalhave pledged to acknowledge byforming a guard of honour forthe visiting team.

The sight of Van Persiebeing applauded on to the pitchas a league champion by his for-mer team-mates is liable to pro-voke strong feelings among theArsenal support, but Fergusonbelieves the Dutchman will notbe fazed.

“I don’t bother about it, and Idon’t think Robin should botherabout it either," said the Unitedmanager.

“There was a bit of booingwhen he played (againstArsenal) at Old Trafford, and Iexpect a portion of fans will dothat. That is the modern genera-tion, I am afraid.

“For Arsenal to have one oftheir players go to their biggestrivals of the last 20 years doesn’t

sit well with their fans, norArsene (Wenger, the Arsenalmanager) for that matter.

“But it does happen. You justhave to move on. Arsenal havemoved on now. They are chal-lenging for a Champions Leagueplace and have every chance ofgetting one."

Ferguson has urged Unitedto go on and break the Premier

League points record of 96 bywinning their four remaininggames, but Sunday’s showdownwill be of far greater signifi-cance to the fight for ChampionsLeague qualification.

Arsenal, in third, fourth-place Chelsea, and fifth-placeTottenham Hotspur are current-ly separated by just two points,but Wenger’s side are at a disad-

vantage as they have played agame more than both of theirrivals.

However, their form is excel-lent, with six wins in their lastseven matches, and Wengerbelieves his side’s performancesprove that Van Persie has notbeen unduly missed.

“What you want to focus onis that when the big players go,you just want to get around itand try to find a new organisa-tion that is efficient," he said

“You always miss a big play-er. The only thing I can say is ittook us a while to get around it,but if you look at the number ofgoals we’ve scored, it’s similar tolast season (1.91 goals per gamecompared to 1.95). It took us awhile to find a different waybecause the game went throughhim (Van Persie) a lot.”

RIO DE JANEIRO: Rio’s mythi-cal Maracana Stadium reopenstoday (Saturday) for an exhibi-tion match that will serve as afirst test ahead of theConfederations Cup in June andthe World Cup next year.

Built for the 1950 World Cup,it underwent two years of exten-sive renovation in order to beready to host fourConfederations Cup matches aswell as seven World Cup gamesnext year, including the finals ofboth tournaments.

Saturday, “friends” of formersoccer stars Ronaldo and Bebeto,

who both won the World Cupwith the national squad, face offin the iconic arena in front of25,000 spectators, includingPresident Dilma Rousseff and21,000 workers involved in therenovation as well as their rela-tives.

It is the first of three tests inthe renovated 78,838-seat sport-ing complex before theConfederations Cup kicks off inBrasilia on June 15.

The first Confederations Cupgame in Rio will be a Mexico-Italy game on June 16.

A second test is scheduled

for May 15 with 50 percent capac-ity, to be followed by the officialinauguration on June 2 with aBrazil-England friendly.

“The objective of a testmatch is to check the teams,facilities and infrastructure sothat eventual adjustments can bemade to ensure everything runssmoothly when Maacana is inau-gurated," the Rio state govern-ment said in a statement.

Maracana, which hosted aworld record crowd of around200,000 for the climax of the 1950World Cup, will be the fifth ofsix host arenas to be complete.

LAUSANNE: Inter Milan and Benficawere hit with fines from UEFA on Fridayover the behaviour of their fans and poororganisation during the Europa Leaguelast 16 round.

Inter were fined 45,000 euros aftermonkey chants were reported during

their clash with Tottenham on March 14.Benfica copped a 32,000-euro fine for

the actions of their fans during theirgame with Bordeaux a week earlier.

Inter have already been hit with a finefor racist chanting by their fans during aSerie A clash against AC Milan. AFP

Arsenal jeers won’t rileVan Persie: Ferguson

Ronaldo outof Madridderby

MADRID: Real Madrid’sPortuguese star CristianoRonaldo (above) will missSaturday’s derby againstAtletico Madrid, the club’sassistant coach Aitor Karan -ka confirmed on Friday.

Ronaldo, 28, picked up athigh strain in Wednesday’scrushing 4-1 ChampionsLeague semi-final, first legdefeat at Borussia Dortmundand did barely five minutesof jogging on Friday beforereturning to the indoor gymat Real’s training complex,Spanish media reported.

“He has a muscle prob-lem and he wasn’t able totrain today and he isn’t inthe squad for tomorrow,"Karanka said.

“We hope to have himback for the return matchagainst Dortmund," headded.

Resting Ronaldo giveshim an extra three days torecover in time for the sec-ond leg against Dortmund onTuesday.

Real need to get a resultin the derby to maintaintheir hold on second place inLa Liga with their city rivalsjust three points behind inthird.

Ronaldo is the top scorerin the Champions Leaguethis season with 12 goals.

LONDON: ManchesterUnited manager AlexFerguson has revealed he isready to embark on a majorspending spree if the rightplayers become available toimprove the PremierLeague champions.

With the English titlealready secured, Fergusoncan turn his attention toplanning for next seasonand he estimates he onlyneeds a couple of playersto freshen up his squad.

Fergie won’t rule outspending spree

Ian Winrow

LONDON: Chelsea goalkeep-er Petr Cech believes the bat-tle for a place in next season’sChampions League will not beresolved until the final day ofthe season.

Cech and his Chelsea

team-mates face Swansea atStamford Bridge on Sundaylooking to bounce back afterdropping two points followingLuis Suarez’s late equaliser atLiverpool last weekend.

That left the Blues infourth place going into thelatest round of matches.

Cech expects Euro battle to go to the wire

Rio’s iconic Maracana reopens for key test game

Van Persie left Arsenal last year for a bigger pay packet.

Inter, Benfica fined for fans’ behaviour

postnoon e-paper for april 27th 2013

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