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REPORT ON PG 3

WAS IT FOUL PLAY?The CPI sees a Congress hand behind the tragic fire

at Sainagar, in LB Nagar, yesterday, where a 10-year-old girl lost her lifeand some 550 hutments were gutted.

M ANIL KUMAR

SAVING SUSHIJapan has applied toUnesco to have its cuisinelisted as a global cultural treasure.

PG 15

RUN,FORHEALTH,WOMENTOLD

‘My health,my concern’ wasthe motto of the5K run organised

as part ofInternational

Women’s Day.

PG 4

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

painting exhibition is being con-ducted at Kala Bhavan, Saifabad.The exhibition is by Bhavana andSindoor.Where: Kala Bhavan/ ICCR Art

Gallery, SaifabadWhen: Ongoing, 11am onwardsContact: (040) 2323 6398

Momo CafeMomo Café at the Marriotpresents a new A-La-Carte Menuwith delicacies such as Thai,Classic Western and Oriental. Where: Hyderabad Marriot,

Tank BundWhen: OngoingContact: (040) 2752 2999

Daiquiris And MargaritasHead to Seasons Bar for Daiquiris

A tale of dreamsMy Theatre Cafe presents a MarathiPlay — Chuhe. The play deals witha common man fondly called theMarathi Manus. It discusses hisdreams, his struggles and big andsmall achievements. Where: Lamakaan,

Banjara Hills, Rd No 1

When: March 11, 7.30pmContact: 96427 31329

Dimsum BrunchSyn-Asian Grill and Bar offersDimsum Brunch every Sunday.Sample delicious and appetizingdimsums along with white tea.Thebrunch is priced at `700 + taxes.Where: Syn—Asian Bar and Grill

Taj DeccanBanjara Hills, Rd No 1

When: March 11, 12pmContact: (040) 6666 3939

Cotton and silk melaMake your Sunday evening a classi-cal delight. A bharatanatyam recitalby disciples Of Guru ManjulaRamaswam will be held at KeyesHigh School.Where: Keyes High School,

SecunderabadWhen: Ongoing, 11am onwardsContact: (040) 2770 3219

Bengali food festivalA Bengali food festival is being heldat Firdaus, Taj Krishna. Sample avariety of Bengali delicacies.Where: Firdaus, Taj Krishna,

Banjara Hills, Rd No1When: Ongoing,

11.30am onwardsContact: (040) 6666 2323

Celebrating vivahWedding shopping on your mind?Head to Celebrate Vivah 2012 —Wedding Exhibition, a luxuriouswedding exhibition. The exhibitionis being held from March 16Where: Hyderabad Marriot Hotel

and Convention Centre,Tank bund

When: March 16 onwards, 11am onwards

Contact: (040) 2752 2999

Women in IndiaWomen changing in India is anexhibition of books and paintingsthat depict women. The exhibitionis being presented by MagnumPhotos and Zubaan.Where: Kalakrithi Art Gallery,

Banjara Hills,Rd No 10

When: March 10 onwards, 11amContact: (040) 6656 4466

Reflecion of womenAiana — Reflection of Women, a

And Margaritas with flavouredcocktail recipes.Where: Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills,

Rd No 1When: Ongoing, 12 pmContact: (040) 6666-2323

Cotton and silk melaBring out your shopping bags.Lepakshi Cotton and Silk Mela is onat Kalinga Cultural Centre. Choosefrom a variety of cotton and silksarees and dress materials.Where: Kalinga Cultural Centre,

Banjara Hills, Rd No 12.When: Ongoing, 11am onwardsContact: (040) 2330 3889

Midnight BuffetMidnight hunger pangs? Head toBest Western for it’s midnight buf-

CITY 2SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

PICTURE PERFECT

M A

NIL

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fet where you can enjoyHyderabadi dum biryani andlive dosa with chicken curryevery night.Where: Best Western

Jubilee Hills, Rd No 36When: Ongoing,

10.30pm - 2.30amContact: 80083 00373

Acting workshopSamahaara — an acting anddancing workshop is beingheld. The workshop focusses on avariety of topics such as under-standing the basics of stage actingand character analysis, stage.Where: The Actor’s studio,

MadhapurWhen: Ongoing, 7pm to 9pmContact: 98854 04784

Go SplashSplash lounge is the perfectleisure destination for you tounwind. During the evenings,theres great music, martinis andaperitifs.Where: The Westin, Mindspace

MadhapurWhen: Monday - Friday,

5pm - 10.30pmWeekends,8am - 10.30pm

Contact: (040) 6767 6828

Temple ArtAn exhibition titled, Templetown is on display at IconartArt Gallery. The exhibition presentsart work by Karunakaran &Satheesh Kanna. Where: Iconart Gallery,

Banjara Hills, Rd No 12

When: Ongoing, 11am onwards

Contact: 98499 6879

Mystic FiveAlankritha Art Gallery presentsMystic Five. The exhibition ofpaintings by Anand Panchal, ArvindKolapkar, Dilip Chaudhury, NityamSingha Roy and Sanjay Raut is ondisplay till March 17.Where: Alankritha Art Gallery,

Jubilee HillsWhen: Ongoing, 11am onwardsContact: (040) 2311 3709

KalighatVictoria Memorial andLondon’s Victoria hall and Albertmuseum present Kalighat, an exhi-bition of paintings fromKalighat.The exhibition features100s of paintings done by 15 cur-rent contemporary artists from ruralBengal.Where: Salarjung Museum,

CharminarWhen: Ongoing, 10amContact: (040) 2452 3211

CITY 3SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

Members of the family of theerstwhile Nizam are plan-

ning protests in Delhi dur-ing the Budget Session of Parliament.At the centre of the row is `8.99 croretax dues being demanded by the I-T

department from 120 family mem-bers,beneficiaries of the proceeds

from the `206 crore sale of the jew-ellery of Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan.

Nizam’s kin to protest tax

North Zone task force team bust-ed duplicate Zarda racket andarrested four persons. The Task

Force has seized generator, machine,400 tin boxes, 20kg of duplicate tobac-co, all together worth `6 lakh from ahouse in Falaknuma Achireddy Nagar.The raid followed complaint by theoriginal Zarda companies about thespurious products in circulation.

Fake Zarda racket busted

VR Venkateshwar Rao, 69, isbelieved to have committed sui-cide by hanging at his home

Vasanthapuri colony last night. He wasseen hanging by a lungi tied to theceiling fan. Rao was a retired railwayemployee and his son had died in anaccident six months ago. He had fallento a depression since. His wife haddied a couple of years ago.

Man commits suicide

Reds see Hand behind blazeCPI which had godfathered the Sainagar slums believe the Congress leaders

have a hand in the fire

The CPI sees a Congress hand behindthe tragic fire mishap at Sainagar inLB Nagar yesterday where a 10-year-old girl lost her life and some 550 hut-

ments were gutted in a major blaze.While the fire officials and police haz-

arded a guess that a short-circuit caused thefire, the CPI leader and MP Aziz Pasha toldPostnoon on phone that the local Congressleaders had been clamouring for getting the5-acre government plot cleared.

“I don’t think it is accidental. Thesepoor villagers had been performing an eco-nomic duty to the City but the rich wouldnot like to see them around. I know that theCongress MLA Sudheeer Reddy and hissupporters had submitted memorandum tothe Ranga Reddy collector B Sheshadri awhile ago demanding that the slums beremoved.” Pasha regretted the attitude of

the Congress which on the one hand swearsby aamm aadmi and serves the amir aadmi.

Pasha said it is not just Reddy, Memberof Parliament; S Satyanarayana also sup-ported the removal of the slums. He said‘convenient fire’ had happened inNandanavanam and Singareni Colony inLB Nagar too had witnessed fire mishaps inthe labour colonies last year.

Eyewitnesses and people in the neigh-bourhood said the colony was unregulatedand there was not a shred of safety con-sciousness anywhere. “Right in the midstwas a scrap shop where even gas cylinders(don’t know empty or full) were kept.Nobody has ever forbidden this,” saidParvathalu, who lived close by the scene ofmishap.

Officials have told this paper that thegovernment had plans to build small puccahouses for the labour families. Postnoon’sefforts to get in touch with Sudheer Reddyand other local Congress leaders were invain as nobody responded to the telephonecalls.

The government has announced freeration and monetary compensation to thehomeless families.

M ANIL KUMAR

[email protected] SUBHAN

4SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

CITY

Shiba [email protected]

Hundreds of women fromall walks of life and of

different age congregat-ed at People’s Plaza on

Necklace Road and took part in5K run walk as part of the

International Women’s Day onThursday. There were students,working women, home makers

and corporate entities.Around 6am, master of cere-

mony Sahron Amir addressedthe participants briefly mention-ing the benefits of walking and

running to maintain health. Onepurpose of the event was to edu-

cate women on the need toinclude a 30-minute walk intheir daily schedule. Dinaz

Vervatwala,the fitness guru ofHyderabad, who also is one ofthe committee members of theHyderabad 10k Run foundation,was heard saying, “Women are

important and so is their health.It’s important that they take

care of their health and this is agreat way of celebrating us!”

Surekha Chiranjeevi flaggedoff the run while Laxmi

Gopichand held the torch.The first prize was won by G

Uma Maheshwari from St AnnsCollege, the second prize went toB Pramada and third to Natasha.

The Hyderabad 10K RunFoundation, a no-profit organisa-tion, continues to encourage and

support various social issuesrelated to health and fitness and

intend to take on more suchinitiatives.

‘My health, myconcern’ was themotto of the 5Krun organised aspart ofInternationalWomen’s Day.

Run, for health, women told

SRINIVAS SETTY

FOCUS 5SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

At last China seems tohave altered their out-look towardsHollywood. AlthoughAmerican films were

being screened in China for sev-eral years, it was Avatar whichopened the floodgates. Couple ofmonths ago, Barack Obamawrote a letter to China’sPresident Hu Jintao suggestingthat China should allow moreHollywood films to be screenedacross China and the Chineseauthorities promptly obliged tohis request. With Hollywood hit-ting the bull’s eye and getting abroader access to one of the

fastest growing movie marketsin the world, China has alsoincreased the number of the-atres as well. While this movietrade takes place between thetwo thriving cine markets, wewonder what Bollywood has tosay about this.

Trade analyst Taran Adarshfeels Bollywood can surely makeits mark in China if they areintroduced to our movies.“China is huge market and I feelIndia should present its moviesto the Chinese government. It’s atotally unexplored market butonce the market is open to us, wecan surely dub the movies andrun it there. Considering howbig a market it has got, we willbe able to generate a lot of rev-enue. Right now the only hin-drance is that Chinese have notbeen introduced to our moviesexcept a few like Lagaan, 3

Idiots and some more,” heshares.

Bollywood has been a knownentity in the global film marketfor quite some time now. FromDilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge to

3 Idiots, it has never failed tokeep the international audienceglued to its favourite stars or themovies. While US, UK and manyother countries have been loyal-ists to Bollywood market, Chinafollows strict guidelines regard-ing the showcasing of foreignfilms. In that too, India gets onlyfour slots a year.

Producer Ramesh Tauranifeels the popularity of the Indi -an film industry also depends onthe number of Indians living inthat country. “It depends on thenumber of Indians living inChina. For instance, Hong Kongalso has lot of Indians livingthere but there has never beenan extensive release of ourmovies there. Having said that,with the growing popularity ofour industry in unexplored mar-kets, it will soon become a bigmarket for Indian films,”

he says optimistically.Though Bollywood might not

have a very huge fan followingacross the globe, with SlumdogMillionaire winning at theOscars, the Hindi film industrynow is a name to reckon with.

Sriram Raghavan, director ofsoon to be released Agent Vinodfeels China is a potential marketfor Indian movies. “We saw how3 Idiots did a fabulous job inChina when it was releasedthere. China definitely is a bigmarket. In fact, they have beenwatching our movies for a longtime as there is a certain vibran-cy about our movies. It will bean, add-on to our presence in theglobal market and also in termsof revenue,” he says.

So, if going by the looks of itsoon Bollywood tunes will beplaying all over China. It’s just amatter of time.

Looking the dragon in the eye

China has a new source of interest and investment — Hollywood.With American films being allowed a much wider audience there, we find out

whether Bollywood should also jump onto the bandwagon

ISHA MUKOO

[email protected]

China is huge marketand I feel India shouldpresent its movies tothe Chinese govern-ment. It’s a totallyunexplored marketbut once the market isopen to us, we cansurely dub the moviesand run it there.

Taran Adarsh

NATION 6SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

PATNA: Passengers on boardthe New Delhi-DibrugarhRajdhani Express had a miracu-lous escape when only theengine of the train derailed atBarauni junction in Begusaraidistrict early today (Sunday), rail-way sources said. Nearing theBarauni junction, it went off trackallegedly due to a wrong signal.

Rajdhani derailsNEW DELHI: The city policehas been asked by a Delhi courtto verify if Harish Sharma, a closeaide of slain BJP leader PramodMahajan and co-accused in thedrug abuse-cum-peddling caseinvolving Rahul Mahajan, hasdied. Additional Sessions JudgeLal Singh issued notice to thepolice seeking the information.

Proof of death soughtNEW DELHI: A youth has beensentenced to two years in jail forsodomising an eight-year-oldboy with a city court terming hisoffence as “sexual perversion”that is “on rise” in recent times.Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ)Sanjay Garg jailed Aligarh resi-dent Aash Mohammad, 21, forsodomising the minor boy.

2 years jail for sodomy

The poorperformanceof the Congress

in the Assemblyelections may havesome bearings onthe Budget propos-als as Mukherjeewould be con-strained in announc-ing tough steps toreduce rising subsi-dies and contain fis-cal deficit.

The fiscal deficitduring 2011-12 isexpected to exceedthe budget target of4.6 per cent of theGDP by one per-centage point.

Despite politicalcompulsions,Mukherjee mayannounce somesteps to keep it with-in the manageablelimit.

His main task,however, would beto arrest declininggrowth throughfiscal and other mea-sures. Having grownat 8.4 per cent fortwo consecutiveyears, the growthrate is likely to fall to6.9 per cent in thecurrent fiscal.

PTI

Poll resultscould decideBudget

FABRICATION

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LUCKNOW: Amid hectic activityin the Samajwadi Party (SP) campfor the swearing in of the newchief minister, Akhilesh Yadav,and government formation, outgo-ing Chief Minister Mayawati hascalled a meeting of the BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) national execu-tive today (Sunday).

In the meeting, called at theparty headquarters in the statecapital, Mayawati would be dis-secting her party’s poor show atthe hustings and brainstorm withparty leaders and assess the politi-cal situation in the state, a closeaide to Mayawati told IANS.

The meeting will be attendedby the new elected members of thestate assembly, member of the leg-islative council, Rajya Sabha andLok Sabha members of the BSP.

All state party units of theBSP, district office bearers andzonal coordinators have also beeninvited for the National Executivemeet.

The party, which plummetedfrom 203 seats in 2007 to 80 seats inthe 2012 state assembly polls, hasalready blamed the “mass votingby Muslims” in favour of theSamajwadi Party (SP) as thebiggest reason for the party’s deba-cle in the assembly elections.

Swami Prasad Maurya, thestate president of the BSP andclose aide of Mayawati, has beenappointed the BSP’s legislatureparty leader.

It is reliably learnt that

Mayawati might opt for a RajyaSabha seat — Uttar Pradesh willsend 12 Upper House members inthe coming by-polls later thismonth, and move to national poli-tics.

With the NHRM and MNREGAscams out to hound her in times tocome, and a hostile government inthe state, this is the “best and thesafest way ahead for Behenji”, aparty leader said.

The state politics, sources say,would be left to her close aide

Naseemuddin Siddiqui andMaurya.

At its present strength of 80 inthe legislative assembly, Mayawatican send two members to theRajya Sabha.

Sources say that Mayawati’sentry into the Upper House was anear certainty, the outgoing chiefminister might pitchfork her closeaide and former cabinet secretaryShashank Shekhar Singh to theRajya Sabha.

IANS

Mayawati calls meetto take stock of rout

NEW DELHI: An Indian jour-nalist arrested in connectionwith a bomb attack last monthtargeting an Israeli diplomat hadlinks to Iran, but played no rolein the attack, his son and fellowprofessionals said Friday.

Syed Mohammed Kazmi, a50-year-old veteran reporter, wasarrested by the police in NewDelhi on Tuesday and was laterremanded in custody for 20 days.

“It is true that my fatherworked for Iran’s new agencyIRNA as a freelance journalist.He was in touch with officials ofthe news agency but that doesnot make him a terrorist,” hisson Shauzab Kazmi toldreporters in New Delhi.

“My father is a journalistwith impeccable credentials. Hehas been targeted by the policeand there is no evidence againsthim,” he said at a meeting at thePress Club of India.

A 42-year-old Israeli diplo-mat, the wife of the defenceattache at the embassy, wasbadly wounded in an attack incentral New Delhi on February13 when a motorcyclist attacheda bomb to her vehicle.

Israel immediately accusedIran of carrying out the carbombing which came on thesame day as another attemptedattack on an Israeli embassy carin Georgia. Tehran has deniedany involvement in the allegedplots. IANS

Journalistwronglyheld: Kin

Amit Agnihotri

RANCHI: Maoists might not wel-come roads — fearing these wouldprovide access to their hideouts —but extend full “cooperation” tothe government machinery whenit comes to drinking water, sayofficials working in Jharkhand’srural areas.

“There are no problems fromthe Maoists, as everyone needswater...in fact, they help us,” astate government official toldIANS on condition of anonymity.

Large parts of the backwardbut mineral-rich state are underMaoist rebel influence, with asmany as 20 of the 24 districts con-sidered to be under the sway of

Left-wing extremism.The official said lower-level

Maoist functionaries interact withthe government staff on a dailybasis when it comes to repairingold handpumps and borewells orsetting up new ones to provide

drinking water to tribal popula-tions.

As the water stress months —March to June — have set in, thedemand for drinking water workswould go up in the rural areas.

“Some of their (Maoists’)demands are genuine,” said anofficial involved with the surveyand setting up of borewell projectsin the rebel dominated areas.

Though waterfalls in the hillyparts of the state have been con-ventional sources of drinkingwater, bacterial contamination inrecent years has rendered thewater bodies unfit for human con-sumption, say officials.

Though plans to increasepiped water supply, which remains

low at seven percent in the state,may take some more years, offi-cials said borewells and hand-pumps are the only viable meansto provide drinking water in ruralareas. As a result, Jharkhand hasthe highest density of handpumpsin the country with 61 persons perunit.

In Jharkhand, large swathes ofthe population do not have accessto safe drinking water and sanita-tion. About 30 per cent of habita-tions have partial drinking waterfacilities and groundwater sourcescontain fluoride, arsenic and iron.

The state aims to increasespending on it from 3 percent to 10percent during the 12th Five YearPlan from 2012-13 to 2016-17. IANS

For water, Naxal-govt bhai bhai

7SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

WICHITA: Rick Santorum pickedup a solid win in the caucus in conser-

vative Kansas on Saturday, keepinghim in contention in the Republicanpresidential contest on the heels offrontrunner Mitt Romney. Christian

conservative Santorum won Kansasafter Romney took sweeping wins inPacific US territories Guam and the

Northern Mariana Islands.

Santorum wins KansasTOKYO: Anti-nuclear protesters onSunday gathered in front of the head-quarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co,operator of the crippled power plantat Fukushima, a year to the day afterthe tsunami struck. About 50 demon-strators chanted slogans demandingall nuclear plants be shut down andthe nation’s largest utility be brokenup.

Protests on anniversaryROME: An Italian cargo ship ranaground in high winds and seas offSicily on Saturday, the coastguard said,adding that the 19 crew were taken offby helicopter amid worsening weather.

The 150-metre (500-foot) Gelso Mwas driven on to rocks near Syracuseand began letting in water, and thecaptain ordered it to be abandoned,the coastguard said in a statement.

19 rescued from ship

WORLD

PARIS: Moebius, the French comic-book artist whosespectacular science fantasy-based work wrought itsmagic on Hollywood classics such as Alien and Tron,has died after a long illness. He was 73.

“He died this morning following a long illness,” afriend and colleague told AFP on Saturday. Such wasthe appeal of Moebius — or Jean Henri Gaston Giraud— that he won a devoted following as far afield as Japanand the United States, countries working in radicallydifferent comic-book traditions. Giraud, who grew updrawing cowboys and indians, published his first draw-ings in 1957 and found fame with the western characterLieutenant Blueberry in 1963. He became the most icon-ic figures in French comic-book history. AFP

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama called onCongress on Saturday to invest more money in clean ener-gy technologies and end multi-billion-dollar subsidiesgiven each year to oil companies. “I want this Congress tostop the giveaways to an oil industry that’s never beenmore profitable, and invest in a clean energy industrythat’s never been more promising,” Obama said in hisweekly radio and Internet address. The comments cameas the president faced mounting criticism fromRepublicans, who have blamed his energy policy for spik-ing gas prices. The American Automobile Association(AAA) predicts gasoline prices across the United Statescould average $4.25 a gallon by May, up from over $3.60today. AFP

BANGKOK: A second Russian has died after beingcaught in a fire at a major tourist hotel in Bangkok,which injured about 20 others in a popular visitor dis-trict, hospital staff and officials said on Saturday.

The blaze broke out in a function room at the 221-room Grand Park Avenue Hotel off the SukhumvitRoad in the Thai capital on Thursday evening, and afemale tourist died of suffocation the following day. Amale tourist, who was taken into intensive care, diedearly on Saturday, according to a senior nurse at theKluay Nam Thai hospital. The Bangkok MetropolitanAdministration released a statement saying both of thedeceased were Russian, while most of the wounded hadalready been discharged. AFP

Hotel blaze claimssecond victim

The world powers are oncourse for a new diplo-matic clash over Syriawhen foreign ministersfrom the main UN

Security Council nations meeton Monday.

What was intended by theBritish organizers of the eventto be a review of the ArabSpring uprisings will be over-shadowed by the divide over howto stop President Bashar al-Assad’s deadly assault on oppo-nents.

US Secretary of State HillaryClinton and foreign ministersSergei Lavrov of Russia,William Hague of Britain, AlainJuppe of France and GuidoWesterwelle of Germany will beamong top officials at the event.

The council’s failure to agreea resolution condemning theSyria violence, the worseningtoll in Syria — well over 7,500according to the UN — andAssad’s refusal to allow humani-tarian groups into the protestcities have all cast a dark cloudover preparations for Monday’smeeting.

“Assad is determined not togive in and the divide is growingbetween Russia and the Westerncountries,” said one seniorenvoy from a Security Councilmember.

“Kofi Annan’s meeting inDamascus seems to have gonenowhere. It is difficult to seeanything but new friction at thismeeting,” the envoy added,speaking on condition ofanonymity because of the sensi-

tivity of the topic.Russia and China have twice

used their powers as permanentmembers of the SecurityCouncil to veto resolutions con-demning the Syria violence.Talks on a new US-led attempt toagree a resolution have hit adead end, though Clinton andLavrov will meet on the side-lines of the UN meeting.

Russia and China say theWestern nations only want a res-olution to back regime change.Lavrov said Russia opposes“crude interference” in Syria’sinternal affairs, his ministrysaid after a meeting betweenLavrov and UN-Arab League spe-

cial envoy Kofi Annan in Cairo.Russia wants any resolution

to call equally on the govern-ment and opposition groups to

halt the violence. The Westernmembers say the security forceassault and attacks by opposi-tion groups cannot be put on thesame level.

UN Secretary General BanKi-moon, who will briefMonday’s meeting, has bluntlyaccused Assad forces of using“disproportionate” force againstwhat started out as peacefuldemonstrators.

But Lavrov insists he isdefending “international law”,while the United States andEuropean members of the coun-cil say Russia is only blockinginternational action to prop upits main Middle East ally.

Russia, the second biggestarms supplier to Assad’s govern-ment, faces growing criticismfrom some Arab countries.

China has meanwhile pro-posed its own plan for talksbetween Assad and the opposi-tion, which an envoy will pressin the Arab world and Europethis week.

The envoy, Zhang Ming, willbe in Paris on Wednesday aftertalks in Egypt and Saudi Arabia,but faces a difficult time.

“We’ll listen to him but thenwe’ll remind him, if it’s still nec-essary, of our view of the situa-tion and the importance ofChina changing its position inthe Security Council,” Frenchforeign ministry spokesmanBernard Valero said.

There are worries that thediplomatic tensions on the 15-nation Security Council couldspread. “Already nothing is hap-pening on Syria, but the risknow is that this diplomatic dis-pute could spill over into otherareas such as Iran and theIsrael-Palestinian conflict,” theSecurity Council envoy said.

The foreign ministers ofPortugal, Guatemala andMorocco are also expected at theSecurity Council meeting, orga-nized by Britain as president ofthe Security Council for March.

Clinton, Lavrov, Ban and EUforeign affairs representativeCatherine Ashton will hold ameeting of the diplomaticQuartet on the Israel-Palestinianconflict before the SecurityCouncil battle starts. AFP

Comic book greatMoebius dies

A picture released by the Egyptian military press office on Saturday shows Field Marshal Mohammed Hussein Tantaw(R) meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Cairo. AFP PHOTO/HO

Assad gaining from UN council ministers clash

Kofi Annan’s meetingin Damascus seems tohave gone nowhere. Itis difficult to see any-thing but new frictionat this meeting.

Senior envoy,UN Security Council

Obama: Invest inclean energy

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

COMMENT 8SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

This is with regards to your storyon George the giraffe. Yourapproach to the fact that there

are no other giraffes in the city zooand that it needs a mate, was abso-lutely brilliant and very touching. Ihope that George finds a mate verysoon.

Paroma Banerjee Venkatgiri Colony

George’s story interesting

Women like Arshia Ayub are aninspiration to the whole soci-ety. She has taken up the

responsibility of busting stereotypesand it’s truly the need of the hour. Alot of us don’t understand why Muslimwomen wear a hijab. I hope Arshia’sendeavours brings about somechange in perception. Reshma Azhar

Abids

Breaking barriers Inspiring story

EDITORIALS

EDITORIALS

JAPAN RISESfrom the ashes

It’s been one year since thatdark day when Japan was hit byan earthquake and the ensuing

tsunami hit the Fukushimanuclear power station like a

tonne of bricks. But if any nationknows about picking itself out of

the rubble and dusting off thedebris of catastrophe, it’s Japan.

Time and again the Japanesepeople have shown immense

grace under fire. Pictures ofthem peacefully queuing up toget their aid, were in stark con-

trast to the pell-mell riot forfood that succeeded a natural

disaster in other parts of theworld. Japan’s industries also

took a battering, especially theirauto industry. But if the recently-

concluded Geneva Auto Showproved anything is that you can’t

keep them down. Both Nissanand Toyota are well on the roadto recovery, and are at the van-guard of a country once reeling

from the double blows of anuclear disaster and an econo-

my deep in recession, that isnow emerging once again as a

global player. So today let’sspare a thought for the dead,

but also for a country that refus-es to roll over.

WHY WE LOVE...badgers

The British government’sdecision to kill tens of thousands

of badgers in an effort to stopcattle TB is horrific. For those of

us who grew up with Wind inthe Willows badgers have a spe-

cial place in our heart. Number10 should look for an alternative

method to dealing with theissue. Also, the move is certainlygoing to be in contravention ofEuropean humane laws, so the

badgers might yet fight anotherday. After all, what would Toad

Hall have done without MrBadger and his supreme fight-

ing ability. Gone to the WildWooder we presume.

It was good to read women’s page onBreaking Barriers. It is good to seewomen like her creating cultural

bridges and helping make a differ-ence. Today, when people are killingeach other on the name of religion,some people like Arshiya are there tomake this society worth living and itsurely inspires us. Ravindra

Khairatabad

India is such a wonderfulplace to live in; I was think-ing to myself that if I were togo around the world to choose

a homeland, I would chooseIndia time and again. We’re allfamiliar with the rich culturalheritage of our land. If there’sone downer to being Indian,however, it is living with themassive large-scale corruptionthat thrives here. Much as Icringe to admit it, Sir WinstonChurchill was right after all —India has fallen into the handsof rascals, rouges and freeboot-ers. And all the other nastythings he said are spot on too!

If we gained our freedom in1947, why are martyrs still bei -ng sacrificed every other day?

Some of the most honourableIndians are losing their livessimply because they dare to,well, be honourable. In Nove m -ber 2003, Satyendra Dubey wasmurdered. Who was he? He wasa brother to five sisters, bo rn inan impoverished village family.However, he pursued his dreamof becoming an engineer, andbecame the first person fromhis village to get into an IIT.

While he was with the min-istry of surface transport, heonce called the police when hewas offered a bribe! Later, whileworking with the NationalHighways Authority of India,he yet again raised his voiceagainst the rampant corrup-tion, and was killed by the high-way mafia for daring to write aletter to the Prime Minister’sOffice about corruption in high-way building.

In 2005, ShanmugamManjunath was murdered. Whowas he? Manjunath was an

MBA graduate from IIM-L, andhad joined the Indian OilCorporation as a sales managerin 2002. He was just an honestofficer trying to do his job right.And so he ordered two petrolbunks to be sealed for sellingadulterated fuel. The enragedfuel mafia shot him down incold blood.

In 2012, just the day beforeyesterday, Narendra Kumar wasmurdered. Who was he? He wasa young IPS officer of the 2009batch. He was taking steps tocurb illegal mining in MadhyaPradesh. So the angry miningmafia murdered him, crushinghis body and his spirit forever.

I morosely stare at the tele-vision as I watch tea manufac-turers and telecom companiestelling me that corruption issoon going to stop if we wakeup and do something about it.Well, just like most other folks,I want to live and grow old.

And from the accounts

above, I can see that the priceone pays for integrity is one’svery life. So what is one sup-posed to do?

At one point, I almostbelieved that we were on a bet-ter path as a nation. After all,the NYPD changed from a hor-ribly corrupt force around1920s, to an exemplary depart-ment. The Hong Kong policehave taken so many steps tocounter corruption within theirforce. So why are we stuck?

I don’t know how manymore lives will be lost to ruth-less mafia of various kindsbefore we start becoming a bet-ter nation. But what I do knowis that I feel like I’m living in adystopian nightmare; and may -be one day I’ll wake up and rea -lise that it was, after all just abad dream; and that the India Iam living in, is the lovely Indiathat I had chosen to live in.

The writer is a Hyderabad-based commentator

The martyrs of anindependent India

PerceptionsMINI SINGH

ELJAS S

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

Concerned over large complaintsagainst private sector and for-

eign banks, Finance MinisterPranab Mukherjee asked them to

focus on improving customer service.“Private sector and foreign banks

which account for only 12 per cent ofthe rural deposits, contribute 35 per

cent of the totalcomplaints,”Mukherjee said.

Complaints on pvt banksBudget Tip

In a bid to provide hassle free travel,Nordic carrier Finnair Saturday said itwill start a unique pilot project to

test a revolutionary headset technolo-gy which helps in fighting jet lag.“Introducing the Valkee bright lightheadset is one way of adding interest-ing experiences onboard Finnairflights,” Finnair vice president JarkkoKonttinen said.

Anti-jet lag headsets

BUSINESS 9

There have been toomany red-letter days inthe seven-year che-quered history ofKingfisher airlines,

whose name itself is embossedin red letters literally on thefuselage of the aircraft owned bythe company.

People jostled to rub shoul-ders with promoter Vijay Mallyawhen he was sighted at thevenue of India Aviation 2010.Photo journalists wanted him topose for pictures, while TV crewjutted out their long mikes tomake the flamboyant industrial-ist speak into them.

Despite the presence ofindustry tycoons like GVKs,GMRs, and business heads ofBombardiers and Sikorskys,Mallya was the cynosure of alleyes. But this year, for obviousreasons, the airline is not partic-ipating in the gala event in theCity. Despite their financial con-straints, Jet Airways and AirIndia are taking part in the AirShow 2012.

But why conduct an eventjust to make sure that it did notmiss the periodicity? It canalways be conducted whenthings are back in black.Significantly or ironically, thisyear is the 100th year of worldcivil aviation also. Should wecelebrate the lack of salaries topilots and airline industry hit-ting an air pocket? Nobodyknows.

As one and all were exchang-ing pleasantries soon after theinaugural where Praful Patel, KRosaiah and other senior politi-cians were also present, and thevisitors were looking in awe atthe sky being painted in Indiantricolour by Sagar Pawan forma-tion of Indian Navy, suddenlysmoke was seen billowing outfrom a corner of the horizon.The worst fears came true with-in no time as one of the aircraftseparated and crashed on ahouse in Bowenpally, killingboth pilots.

This unsavoury incident nat-urally made the organisers keepthe aerobatics away from theinaugural. Lt. Col. VivekKodikal, regional director (trade

fairs), Federation of IndianChambers of Commerce andIndustry (FICCI), told reportersthat there was no point in bring-ing in the element of servicesinto a civil aviation show.

But the bleeding Air India istrying to make the most out ofthe situation by jacking up itsnumber of services. AddingDreamliners to its fleet is anoth-er silver lining.

WHO IS AKHILESH’S FRIEND?When Akhilesh Yadav gavean interview to a Telugu TVchannel on his party’s victory,he was bubbling with energyand enthusiasm. Soon after theelection results of the country’slargest State, Uttar Pradesh,were announced, Telugu DesamParty supremo N ChandrababuNaidu began basking relatingthe victory to himselfbecause he sees the electionsymbol of both parties, bicycle,

as the common thread. Chandrababu Naidu could

not conceal his joy when someTDP leaders began tellingpresspersons on the Assemblylobbies: “There (in UP), it isAkhilesh. Here (in AP), it will beLokesh (Naidu’s son).” Trying tocamouflage a smirk on his face,he told a group of newsmen:“Oh! You are also discussing it?”

Akhilesh Yadav’s observa-tions with the Telugu TV chan-nel that his father had a closeassociation with ChandrababuNaidu surely jacked up the spir-its in the TDP camp. The twoleaders actually worked on anti-Congress plank together on a lotof occasions. Mulayam SinghYadav served as the DefenceMinister of India in the UnitedFront Government, which wascobbled up by Naidu with the“outside support” from theCongress.

But, Akhilesh’s utterances

that he was pretty close to YSJagan Mohan Reddy, son of thelate YS Rajasekhara Reddy, didnot go well with the rank andfile of the TDP. When the TVreporter tried to elicit the viewof the UP Chief Minister-elect ifhis party would align with theTDP or the YSR Congress inAndhra Pradesh, he did not givea direct response.

On the other hand, he saidsuch decisions would be takenby his party depending on thecircumstances.

What circumstances, isAkhilesh talking about? Surely,the winning prospects of eitherof the parties. Political analystsin the State, however, feel thatAkhilesh is smart and is makingcalculate moves. For now, he isthe most attractive politician inthe country. His elevation to theposition of the Chief Minister’sgaddi after attaining a “three-term” experience in the Lok

Sabha will surely add to theadvantage.

Newspapers made a note ofhis meetings with Jagan on thepremises of Parliament, espe-cially after the latter distancedhimself from the ruling combi-nation. Akhilesh is playing hiscards close to his chest, but sure-ly did not brush aside the optionof alignments. He only said: “Welook at non-Congress and non-BJP alliances and pursue thempositively.”

When in trouble, the father-son duo can smell the rat andwhen in advantage, they cansniff out the truth with theiraquiline noses.

Interestingly, as the resultswere pronounced, Naidu spoketo Mulayam over phone and con-gratulated him, while Jagan hada tete-a-tete with Akhilesh com-plimenting him for theSamajwadi Party’s triumph atthe hustings.

Sunday SoupA SAYE SEKHAR

Too many red-letter daysN SHIVA KUMAR

No PAN for mobileconnection

Cellular Operators Association ofIndia (COAI), the GSM industrylobby, has urged the Ministry of

Finance to do away with the need forPer manent Account Number (PAN) whiletaking a new mobile connection. “Manyof these low-end subscribers do nothave a PAN.”

“Ibullied one ofmy friends,Natasha, intoposing for me.That’s how my

first maternity shoot hap-pened,” recalls Shreyasmiling. It’s a far cry fromthe status quo. Now Shreyadoesn’t have to bully to-bemothers, they are readyand willing.

Maternity photography,already an established phe-nomenon in the West issteadily gaining ground inthe country. “I want to pro-mote the idea of pregnancyas the time for a family torejoice, to treasure and tocherish. It can’t be turnedback in time, so capturingthat experience is valuable.More and more people arewarming up to it,” con-firms Shreya.

But it looks easier saidthan done. Pregnancy, formany women, is still a peri-od when they suffer from acrisis of confidence andself-worth. So coaxing themto let go of their inhibi-tions, especially on camerais a challenge, whichShreya says, she’s learnedto me et. “It’s true. A lot ofmy cli ents are very con-scious. After all, their bod-ies have changed beyo ndrecognition. So the re issome reluctance initially.That’s wh en I ask them totrust me to capture thebeauty of how they feel andnot how they look. Afterloo king at a few pictures,they realise they havenever felt more be a u tiful.

“From then, it becomesuncontrollable. They willhave so many ideas, it’sbecomes hard to fit them allin. Especially sin ce my onegolden rule is that younever say no to a mother-to-be!” ru es Shreya in a mockcomplaint.

It’s mock, because thereare few things in the worldShreya enjoys more thancapturing the “miracle oflife.” Needless to say, she isa self-confessed romantic.“Most of my clients arefirst time mums, so it’s avery exciting time forthem. To watch a couple’sinteractions with theirbaby, the joy on thefather’s face when he feelshis baby’s kick for the first

time. To capture those veryreal, very beautifulmoments is priceless,”gushes Shreya.Incidentally, Shreya’s USPis her candid shots, concep-tual settings, and minimalpost-production touch-ups.

For the young photogra-pher from Mumbai, therewere no precedents. Allthat she knows today iswhat she taught herself.After a pursuing a degreeand a career in Psychology,she realised that her call-ing was elsewhere. “Myaim has always been toobserve people, captureemotions and help make adifference. Photography

was the next best way toget there. So, I trained withthe photographer R Burman and learnedeverything I could abouttechnicalities like lightingand composition. But Iwanted to do more thanfashion photography. Sowhen I saw a pregnantwoman sitting on a beachin Goa, talking to her baby,I knew that was what Iwanted to do.”

There’s little doubtshe’s living her dream, butdoes she still harbour onedream project? “It’s been agreat journey so far. Butyes, I do. My dream projectis to do an underwatermaternity shoot which isvery complex and forwhich I need volunteers!”she quips, before leaving, tomake a new mum happy!

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201210INTERVIEW

Pregnant and ProudShreya Sen is not your average shutterbug. Her area of interest is enough to set her

apart. She specialises in what is fast becoming a rage in the country — maternity photography

PADMINI C

[email protected]

I BULLIED ONE OFMY FRIENDS,NATASHA, INTO POS-ING FOR ME. THAT’SHOW MY FIRSTMATERNITY SHOOTHAPPENED

SHREYA SEN

Karachi, PakistanPakistani Hindus pose for

a photograph during thecelebration of the Holi fes-

tival in Karachi on March7, 2012. Holi, a Festival of

colours and is a popularHindu spring festival

observed at the end ofwinter season on the lastfull moon day of the lunar

month.

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201211WEEK IN PICTURES

United Kingdom, London

Britain’s swimmer Robert Renwick competes in men’s

200m freestyle final at the British Gas Swimming

Championships, the British swimming team trials for the

London 2012 Olympics, at the Aquatics Center in London

on March 5, 2012. Robert Renwick won the gold medal.

France, ParisA model presents a creation by Chanel fashion designer

Germany’s Karl Lagerfeld during the Fall/Winter 2012-2013ready-to-wear collection show, on March 6 at the Grand

Palais in Paris.

AFP/ LOUISA GOULIAMAKI

Athens, GreeceA man walks by a wall

adorned with graffiti inAthens on March 8, 2012.Greece added up pledgesby private debt holders to

cancel half the moneyowed to them in a tense

countdown to an eveningdeadline critical for a newbailout and to cooling the

Eurozone crisis.

Russian Federation,

Moscow A Russian flag featur-

ing Prime Minister

Vladimir Putin flies

above his supporters

as they celebrate

Putin’s victory at a

rally in central

Manezhnaya Square

just outside the

Kremlin in Moscow on

March 5. Police said

that some 15,000

people were taking

part in a rally in

support of the

Russian strongman

outside the Kremlin

walls.

Awash with colourFrom protests in Russia to celebrations in Pakistan, we bring

you this week in pictures

Dominic Republic, Santa Domingo A reveller performs during a carnival parade in SantoDomingo on March 4.

AFP/ ALEXANDER KLEIN

AFP/0 HASSAN

AFP/ ALEXANDER NEMENOV

AFP

/ E

RIK

A S

AN

TELI

CE

S

AFP

/ FR

AN

CO

IS X

AV

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RIT

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201212ART AND CULTURE

In the 1880s, a bunch of artistsin France came together tostart a movement called

Synthetism. It was derived fromthe French verb synthétiser,which means, to synthesise. Itemphasised two-dimensional flatpatterns and explored the ideathat art should be a synthesis ofthree features: the outwardappearance of natural forms, theartist’s feelings about his subject

and purely aesthetic considera-tions of line, colour and form.

Post impressionist artistsPaul Gaugin and Emile Bernardand Louis Anquetin were theforerunners of the movement.While impressionists sought tocelebrate nature, the synthesistssought to capture the essence oftheir subjects through the powerof the artist's imagination.Emile Bernard explained fur-

ther, saying “A painter shouldnot paint the object in front ofhim, but should seek to recap-ture it in the mental image hehas collected for the memorydoes not retain everything, onlywhat is striking. So, colours andshapes become uniformly sim-plified. By painting from memo-ry, I have the advantage of abol-ishing the useless complexity ofform and tone.

In November 2011, a Germanband named Mignuet Quartetperformed to a packed crowdat a cultural event inHyderabad. It was unlike any

other show Hyderabadis hadseen in recent years. MignuetQuartet isn't the only bandwhich made a profound impacton art lovers in the city. Of late,an increasing number of eventsorganised by cultural institu-tions like Goethe Zentrum,Alliance Française and also theUS consulate have been catchingthe attention of Hyderabadis.For a city which is famous for itslaid-back lifestyle, attractinghordes of art lovers for everyevent is an achievement in itself.

Cultural organisations like

Alliance Française and GoetheZentrum are funded by the gov-ernments of France andGermany respectively to pro-mote their culture all over theworld. Alliance Française hasbeen promoting French lan-guage and culture in the city forthe past 31 years. “People hereknow that any programmebrought in by Alliance Françaisecarries a guarantee for qualityand exclusivity. Most of theFrench artists visiting the cityare really impressed by theresponse and find the audiencevery enthusiastic and involved.Besides bringing cultural pro-grammes, we are also layingemphasis on interaction withlocal artists, and in the nearfuture we are planning eventsput together with French andIndian artists,” says Jean-Manuel Duhaut, director,Alliance Française, Hyderabad.On the other hand, thanks to theongoing German festival, whichis being held to celebrate 60

years of diplomatic relationsbetween India and Germany, alot more artists, writers, poets,filmmakers, choreographers andmusicians have been interactingwith the people in the city.“People are travelling a lot thesedays and they are exposed to dif-ferent cultures. A first-handexperience of German culturewill be quite helpful before going

to Germany. We are passionateabout what we do and the eventswhich we organise are part ofour efforts to create a culturaldialogue,” says Monika Hirmer,cultural programme co-ordina-tor at Goethe Zentrum. So arethey pleased with the responsefrom Hyderabadis so far?“Hyderabad has been growingexponentially over the past fewyears and it's only after the ITboom that more number ofexpats have come to the city.What I have realised is that peo-ple here are very receptive abouteverything. Be it a jazz perfor-mance or electronic music,there's a section of audiencewhich is always interested. Theyare willing to experience andexplore more and it's a pleasureto see them appreciating our cul-ture,” Monika adds.

Ever since the US Consulatebegan its operations inHyderabad in 2008, it has beenquite actively supporting filmscreenings, art exhibitions and

various other events. “The USConsulate hosts a broad range ofevents and cultural programmesthat aim to strengthen ties andmutual understanding betweenour two countries. We havereceived tremendous responsefrom locals and we'll be lookingfor more innovative ways toreach out to Hyderabadis,” saysCarla Benini, public affairs offi-cer at the US Consulate here .

Aparajita Sinha, founderof Moving Images, a filmclub in the city, agrees that col-laboration with all these cultur-al organisations has helpedthem reach out to a larger audi-ence. “There's a great sense ofcommunity and a sharing ofpurpose. We are doing anearnest attempt to promote cul-ture in various forms,”Aparajita Sinha says.

Whatever the reason behindorganizing these cultural eventsmay be, they have given the artfraternity in the city a lot tocheer about.

A growingnumber of artistsfrom France,Germany and theUS have beenenthrallingHyderabadis inthe recent past.We find out howit is all done

Be it a jazz perfor-mance or electronicmusic, there's a sectionof audience which isalways interested.They are willing toexperience and exploremore and it's a plea-sure to see them appre-ciating our culture

Monika Hirmer, Goethe Zentrum

A group of painters trying to break away from status quo foundthemselves at the helm of a new art movement — Synthetism

Artful Rebellion ART FOR DUMMIES

N SHIVA KUMAR

ROME: In 1971 a gang of thievesslipped into the plush residence of a

construction magnate in the upmarketParioli neighbourhood and walked outwith 42 rare paintings, including works

by Van Dyck and Poussin. Now, fourdecades on, Italian police have recov-

ered some of the stolen paintings froma house in Rome, where they were

hanging proudly on the walls.

Stolen art recoveredLONDON: Paul Graham has beennamed as the winner of the 2012Hasselblad award, which is presentedannually to "a photographer recog-nised for major achievements". It isthe first time a British photographerhas won the prestigious internationalprize. Previous recipients includeRobert Adams (2009), Nan Goldin(2007) and William Eggleston (1998).

Graham wins HasselbladLONDON: The Tate has acquiredapproximately 8m individual sculp-tures, its largest number of works ofart ever, although each is smaller thana little finger nail: 10 tonnes of AiWeiwei's famous porcelain sunflowerseeds. In the Chinese artist's installa-tion in 2010, the piece was roped offas the ceramic dust was condemnedas a danger to health.

Tate buys 8mn Weiweis

[email protected] KUMAR

Bringingcultures

closer

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201213ENVIRONMENT

UNITED NATIONS: The UN climate chiefhas warned that US voters risk ceding

progress to China if they opt for apresidential candidate who denies cli-mate change. Christiana Figueres, the

executive secretary of the UNFramework Convention on Climate

Change, told an audience: “The[Republican] frontrunners do not

believe in climate change.”

Climate chief’s warningPUNE: Union minister for rural develop-ment Jairam Ramesh on Saturday saidthat the mining sector in the countryneeds a complete rethink. “It’s not justillegal mining but legal mining too is aproblem and has a very seriousadverse environmental consequence,”he said in context with the recentkilling of a young IPS officer, NarendraKumar, at Morena in MP.

Call for mining revampLONDON: UK badger culling planscould kill thousands of the animals,worsen the cattle TB problem, and putthe country in breach of a Europeanwildlife treaty, advisers warned. Thegovernment is to allow culling inEngland to curb cattle TB, with a simi-lar move in Wales. Campaigners saidthey were seeking leave for a judicialreview of the government’s position.

Badger cull under fire

Fukushima: One year laterA visit to the

scene of Japan’sworst nuclear

accident, almosta year after thearea was struck

by a powerfulearthquake and

tsunami, is astudy in

contrasts

Justin McCurry

Elsewhere along the vaststretch of coast hit bythe March 11 tsunamithere are palpable signsof progress. Almost all

of the 23 million tons of rubblehas been removed, althoughrebuilding is yet to start.

But at the FukushimaDaiichi nuclear power plant, theclean-up looks like it has barelybegun. Instead, the real work isbeing done, unseen, deep insidethe crippled reactors, wheremelted fuel remains cool, butwhose precise state and locationremains a mystery.

The destructive force ofthree reactor meltdowns is evi-dent as soon as the bus carryinga small group of journalistsinvited by the plant’s operator,Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco),enters the 20-kilometer (13-mile)exclusion zone imposed after thefirst reactor building explodedon March 12.

In the town of Naraha, mostof the buildings emergedunscathed from the quake, butthe streets are deserted. We pass

a convenience store with itsstock sitting untouched onshelves, and a parking lot dottedwith cars that were abandonedin the panic.

During the short journey tothe plant from J.Village — a soc-cer training complex that is nowthe logistical base for theFukushima Daiichi clean-upoperation — radiation monitorsalert us to the invisible enemythat has driven 80,000 peoplefrom their homes.

Radiation levels rise and fall,soaring to 35 microsieverts perhour in Okuma, a farming vil-lage two kilometers from theplant that could remain unin-habitable for decades. The aban-donment of entire communitiesis troubling enough, but littlecan prepare you for a close-upview of Fukushima Daiichi’sdamaged reactors.

One is shrouded in a vinylcover while another appearslargely intact, its mottledturquoise and white patternclearly visible on a cold, but bril-liantly sunny winter afternoon.The Nos. 3 and 4 reactors, how-ever, are a tangled mess of steel

and debris.This low-lying area near the

coast is by far the most hazardous part of the site. Highradiation levels have hamperedwork to clear the wreckage andinspect the state of the meltedfuel. The day before our visit, arobot sent inside reactor No. 2reactor found 200 millisievertsper hour at one spot.

The reactors proximity tothe ocean made them easy tar-gets for the 14-meter (42-foot)tsunami, which effortlesslybreached the plant’s protectivewall. Along one side of thecoastal road, mesh sacks filledwith rocks provide makeshiftreinforcement; on the other arethe exposed innards of the reac-tors’ turbine buildings,crammed with twisted metal,warped shutters and trucksswept up and deposited by thewaves.

But the clutter tells only halfthe story. From the outside, theappearance is one of utter chaos,but inside, damaged nuclear fuelis being kept cool by vast quanti-ties of water, which is thenstored in tanks covering almost

every spare patch of ground onthe site, before being decontami-nated and fed back into the reac-tors.

At the apex of theFukushima Daiichi operation isTakeshi Takahashi, a serious-looking, quietly spoken manwho became the plant’s managerlast year after his predecessor,Masao Yoshida, took early retire-ment after being diagnosed withcancer (Tepco says the illness isnot related to his work at theplant). Takahashi concedes thatthe situation on the ground isstill fragile. “We need to avoidmajor releases of radioactivematerials of the kind we sawafter the accident,”he said.

“We achieved cold shutdown[a stable state in which reactortemperatures remain below boil-ing point] in December, but wemust ensure we keep makingimprovements because we stillcan’t say for sure that the facili-ties on site are totally trouble-free.”

Takahashi made no attemptto deflect criticism of Tepco’sconduct in the early days of thecrisis, when information was

scarce, and sometimes contradictory. His priority, hesays, was to pave the way for areturn home for at least somenuclear evacuees.

“We often hear that we didn’tcommunicate properly, and I amsorry about that,”he said. “Itwas never our intention to sup-press information, but there wasa chaotic time after the accidentwhen we tended to neglect effi-cient communication.

Reports suggest that radia-tion levels in some areas nearthe outer edge of the evacuationzone are low enough for a smallnumber of residents to return inthe coming months.

They will not include SaoriKanesaki, a resident ofTomioka, a town in the evacua-tion zone, who until last yearguided groups of visitors aroundFukushima Daiichi.

“Before the accident it wasmy job to tell people that nuclearpower was safe,” said Kanesaki,who now works at the plant for aTepco affiliate. “But given thesituation, if I were to tell themthat now ... I would be lying.”

GLOBAL POST

AFP

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201214FOOD

Specialty: French, MolecularGastronomy

Arguably one of the most famouschefs in the world, this Spanishmasterchef is more famously

known as “The Salvador Dali of thekitchen.” His restaurant, El Bulli, wasnamed best restaurant in the world fora record five times by the prestigiousRestaurant magazine until it closeddown. It is set to reopen in 2014 as a cre-ative center. Adria has said that his longterm vision is “to make El Bulli, therestaurant, into the El BulliFoundation, so that we can be at theforefront of seeking out the best condi-tions to nurture creativity.”

Incidentally, Adria began his culi-nary career in 1980 as a dishwasher at aFrench restaurant in the Hotel Playafelsin Castelldefels, Spain. There he wasintroduced to classic culinary tech-niques. After a brief stint in the navy, at22, he was given the chance to do a stage(tryout) at El Bulli and ighteen monthslater he became its head chef. Underhis leadership, El Bulli managed totransform from an little-known isolatedseaside restaurant to a dream destina-tion for gourmets the world over with 3Michelin stars. In 2010, Adria wasawarded Best Chef of the Decade.

It’s no surprise considering thatAdria is known for his expertise inMolecular Gastronomy, his dishesdesigned to surprise and enchant hisguests. In his own words, Adria’s goal isto “provide unexpected contrasts of fla-vor, temperature and texture. Nothing iswhat it seems. The idea is to provoke,surprise and delight the diner.” He hasthe unique distinction of having creat-ed the “culinary foam”, which is nowused by chefs around the world.

Maybe it was a good thing after all,that Adria did not realise his childhooddream of becoming a footballer for FCBarcelona. At 44, there’s little doubtAdria is just getting started.

Top Chef FERRAN ADRIA

LUN

CH TALK

Powerfulconversations and

important decisions areoften made over powerlunches. And we know

exactly which places youneed to head to for those

dynamic meetings.Indira Atluri gives

a list

FUSION 9 This Mediterranean,

multi-cuisinerestaurant is one ofour top-picks forpower lunches. Withthree types of culi-nary choices – Indian,Chinese andContinental, lunchesare far frommonotonous. You havea choice of threestarters and salads,main course anddesserts. So, Fusion 9is definitely a placeyou want to visit. Alsodon’t forget to try theSchezwan Chicken inthe Chinese menu andthe desserts in thecontinental menu.n Place: 1st Avenue,

Road No. 1,Banjara Hills

n Price: Chinese andContinental – Rs325+ taxes, and Indian– Rs 275 + taxes

n Time: Noon – 3 pm

ZAFFRAN EXOTICA

The best place to goto if you are look-

ing for Hyderabadi,North Indian, Chineseand Thai cuisines.With a choice ofsoups, appetizers, sal-ads, three non-vegetar-ian main courses,eight vegetarian maincourses, three vari-eties of rice, one vari-ety of noodles, assort-ed Indian breads,accompaniments andsix desserts, Zaffran’sspread will only leaveyou wanting for more.And yes, not to forgetthe complimentarymocktails, or Pint ofBeer with the menu!n Place: 5th floor,

12th SquareBuilding, Road no12, Banjara Hills

n Price: Rs295 + taxesand service charges

n Time: 12.30 pm –3.30 pm

THE SQUARE

Novotel’s spreadsare popular across

the corporate city-folk.From healthy saladsranging from blanchedbeetroots and carrotsto hummus and Greeksalads, the starters area great indicator formore to come. Checkout their marinatedfish with red onionsalads, tenderloin withzucchini salad withThai dressing if youare there. And do notforget to have thePineapple Devil cakeand their sugar-freedesserts for that per-fect way to end yourmeal.n Place: Novotel &

HICC Complex,Cyberabad PostOffice

n Price: Rs850 + taxesn Time: Noon – 3 pm

MOMO CAFE

MoMo Café in theMarriott offers

Pan-Asian, Westernand Indian cuisines,and is the place to goto. For those whonever compromise onthe menu or the meet-ing, the drive from theHitech city all the wayto the Marriott is nodeterrent. Apart fromthe healthy and tastysoups, salads and themain courses, thechefs at the live dosacounter will dish outvarieties of tastydosas, right beforeyour eyes. Set yoursights on the deliciousspreads, and yes, don’tforget to try theMousse slice cake, andthe eggless fruit crum-bles.n Place: Lower Tank

Bund Road n Price: Rs350 + taxesn Time: Noon – 3 pm

PREGO

There is nothing likeconventional in a

Westin Menu – withthree menu optionsthat keep alternating,you are bound to besurprised each timeyou go there for yourPower lunch. Fromexotic deep-friedsquids, Baked egg-plant and zucchini lay-ers with tomato sauceto Penne Arrabiatta,Pollo parmigian andbaked ratatouillelasagna, Westin is theperfect place with theperfect food and a wel-coming ambience thatmakes it a delight forthose seeking a placeaway from the mun-dane office cafeterias. n Place: The Westin,

Mindspace n Price: Rs 850 -

Rs1050 + taxesn Time: Noon – 3 pm

NEW YORK: Being involved in a healthy,loving relationship is good for the

heart, says Vanderbilt Heart andVascular Institute cardiologist Julie

Damp. “People who are married orwho are in close, healthy relationships

tend to be less likely to smoke, aremore physically active and are more

likely to have a well-developed socialstructure, she said.”

Healthy and in loveWASHINGTON: Melinda Manore anOregon State University researcher hasreviewed the body of evidence aroundweight loss supplements — a $2.4 bil-lion industry — and said no researchevidence exists that any single productresults in significant weight loss — andmany have detrimental health benefits.It was reported in the Intern’l Journalof Sport Nutrition and Exercise.

Diet pills are no goodLONDON: Vitamin D may be associatedwith a lower risk of developing stressfractures in preadolescent and adoles-cent girls, especially among those veryactive in high-impact activities, accord-ing to a report published by Archivesof Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.Stress fractures occur when stresses ona bone exceed its capacity to with-stand and heal from those forces.

Vit. D lowers fracture risk

The shawarma andfalafel at Mid-EastXpress give you theauthentic feel,

because both them are rolledin the pita bread called“khubus”, as opposed to thebreads used in most shawar-

ma outlets, which makesthese snacks yummmm! The owners reveal that thesecret to this authentic tastelies in the special herbsthat are being importedfrom Lebanon. The shawar-ma is a snack is madeout of sliced pieces of roastedchicken breast mixed withgarlic sauce, fresh greensalad, dill pickles, jalapeñosand mayonnaise all in just theright proportions wrapped inthe pita bread and served hot.

This place will soon beincluding Arabian muttonsheek kebab and grill chickenalong with hummus and tab-bouleh in their menu.

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201215FOOD

Place: Road # 11, BanjaraHills, near DilipSupermarketPrice: Chicken Shawarma -`60, Chicken Shawarmaplatter (Sahan)- `100,Falafel- `50

A taste of Arabia

The nightmare

for Japan isfar from

over, butthey are notones to giveup. In order

to restoreglobal

confidencein its food,

the countryhas applied

to Unesco tohave its cui-sine listed asa global cul-

tural treasure

Tokyo is to ask theUN’s educational, sci-entific and culturalarm to register“Washoku:

Traditional dietary culturesof the Japanese” as part ofthe intangible heritage ofhumanity, the foreign andagriculture ministries said.

Washoku or the Japanesediet, is traditionally based onrice, fish and vegetables, butthe varied and highly season-al cuisine of the country haswon it plaudits around theworld.

If approved, it will be

Japan’s first food-related asseton the Unesco list of intangi-ble cultural heritage.

The country has 20 assetson the list, including Nogakutheater, Kabuki theater andGagaku. The government saidwashoku was characterisedby respect for nature and theimportance placed on the wayin which dishes are served aswell as the quality of ingredi-ents used.

The nation also “needs torestore confidence inJapanese food, which hasbeen adversely affected byrumours due to the nuclear

accident” at Fukushima, thegovernment said.

The accident sent poi-sonous radioactive particlesinto the air and water, blan-keting crops grown near thepower station and pollutingwaters where seafood is har-vested. A number of productswere taken off shelves, withgovernment bans on beef,milk, mushrooms and somegreen vegetables. Severalcountries banned the importof some Japanese produceamid fears for its safety.

Japan would apply for thelisting “as a symbol of

Japan’s reconstruction fromthe disaster,” the governmentsaid.

Sunday marks the firstanniversary of the 9.0 earth-quake and resulting tsunami,which triggered meltdowns inreactors at Fukushima.

The application will befiled with the Unesco by theend of March, with a decisionexpected by late 2013.

Certain kinds of tradi-tional theatre and music, aswell as the gastronomy ofFrance, are recognised byUnesco as intangible culturalheritage. AFP

Cuisine to help inreconstruction of Japan

Ingredients:1. Fresh full cream Paneer - 200gm

2. Poppy seeds (Roasted and powdered) -30gm

3. Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp

4. Handi powder 1/2 tsp

5. Dhanya powder 2tsp

6. Kitchen king masala 1 tsp

7. Ginger garlic paste 3tsp

8. Fresh hung curd - 50gm

9. Fresh cream 2 tsp

10.One medium size onion thinly slicedand fry till pink and crispy

11.1/2 cup tomato puree

12.Kasuri methi 2tsp

13.Salt to taste

14.Oil - 30-50ml

15.Coriander leaves and Green chillies forgarnish

Preparation Method1. Cut a paneer slab in 6-8 pieces in

different shapes as per choice.2. Grind all the masalas and mix it

with the hung curd3. Crush the fried onions and add it

to the masala4. Marinate paneer with all the

masalas for about 30 minutes5. Use the remaining oil, add ginger

garlic paste, tomato puree andgently toss in the marinated paneerpieces.

6. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.7. Add Kitchen King masala and

kasuri methi, if required 1/4 cup ofwater can be added for gravy.

8. Cover it and switch off the gas.9. Top it up with fresh whisked cream

and coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Paneer is a wonderfuldish to have with maincourse

Noor’s KitchenNOOR JAFRI

PaneerRassila

(Note: Paneer if overcooked getsrubbery)

Chef’s note:- High calorie contentand rich in protein andcalcium. It can increasecholesterol levels ifconsumed unchecked.

SHIBA MINAI

[email protected]

Contactn Noor’s Kitchen

n Mobile - 91-9441282318

The most popular Arabic snacks, shawarma and falafels are now available in pocket friendly prices at Mid-East Xpress

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201218HISTORY

March 111702 - First regular English newspa-per: The Daily Courant, the firstregular English newspaper waspublished.

March 131994 - First women priests:The Church of England ordained itsfirst women priests.

March 131852 - Uncle Sam cartoon debuts:The New York “Lantern” newspa-per published the first “Uncle Samcartoon”.

March 121894 - First bottled Coke:Coca-Cola was sold in bottles forthe first time.

March 111969 - The bell bottoms era:Levi-Strauss started selling bell-bot-tomed jeans.

17th March1999 - Marijuana’s little triumph:A panel of medical experts concluded thatmarijuana had medical benefits for peoplesuffering from cancer and AIDS.

March 161850 - First publication of The Scarlet Letter:The novel “The Scarlet Letter,” by NathanielHawthorne, was published for the first time.

March 151938 - The great oil discovery:Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.

March 141891 - Cables across English Channel: The sub-marine Monarch laid telephone cable alongthe bottom of the English Channel to preparefor the first telephone links across the Channel.

March 131930 - Pluto discovered:It was announced that the planetPluto had been discovered by sci-entist Clyde Tombaugh at theLowell Observatory.

March 131991 - $1 billion in fines:Exxon paid $1 billion in fines andfor the clean-up of the Alaskan oilspill.

March 15 44 BC - Caesar assassinated: Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated by high ranking Roman Senators.The day is known as the “Ides of March.”

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201219SPOTLIGHT

A mystical evening

Dances &DramaticsDay 2 of Spring Spree, the annual cultural fest

of NIT Warangal, saw the same enthusiasticparticipation from crowds as the previous day.

Showcasing brains to match the beauty highlightedin the previous day’s events, over 80 participantsfrom various colleges formed panels and discussedthe right of minorities and torture as a mode ofpunishment. A video conference with the NDTV’sBarkha Dutt was a delight and inspiration for all.

Visitors to Spree got a chance to groove to beatsas Bboyers’ set the stage on fire in the Bboying com-petition “Tear it up”, judged by ‘Crazy Geun’. Whilethe Gamedome kept the gaming nuts rooted on thesecond day, dance and dramatics club enthralled theaudience with ‘pair dances’ and skits.

There could have been no better treat for music-lovers than Sanama— a Sufi fusion night at the Heart Cup Coffee

Navneet and Rashi

Sanaz and Neda

Ananya and Mitra Nooran Jackie and Ryan Safe and Krishna Singh

DEEPAK DESHPANDE


CINEMA 20 T-TOWN TWEETIES

@Amala_amsGood morning tweety pies .. . HaPpy SuNdaY :)

@me_sushanthExcited about this new addi-

tion :-))) http://t.co/VRolIsFi

@Actor_SiddharthYou may know about all myexes but you will never knowmy y's - old loser proverb

@prakashraajInd/pak Border. Spent time

with our soldiers and peoplethere. I Salute them for liv-

ing 4us cheers!!http://t.co/J2U5fY2Q

@shrutihaasanThankyou @suku for mybelated birthday presentxoxo I love my uber coolscomp bag

@trishtrashersHeres welcoming my pal

Samantha aka Sam back ontwitter

@samanthaprabu2..Missd yaSam..

@actorsubbarajuScrew silly movie rants -Watch Kony 2012http://t.co/gKShreKv

@shraddhadas43Listenin to sir osthaara songfrom businessman on repeat

on my way back to dcity..love dis song!

Out of actionR

am Charan Tej will be out of action for at least 3-4weeks following an injury on the sets of his

upcoming film Rachcha. Recently, a song wasbeing filmed at Annapurna Studios and Ram

Charan badly injured his leg due to muscle tear.The doctors have reportedly advised him not to indulge in any

heavy physical activity. The film’s audio which will be launchedlater today will happen as per the schedule. Ram Charan’s

spokesman confirmed saying, “Ram Charan is safe now andthere’s no need to worry. The audio launch will take place as

planned.” Two songs are yet to be filmed and as of now it lookslike the film’s release will be postponed by at least a month.

Directed by Sampath Nandi, the film has Ram Charan Tej,Tamannaah and Ajmal Ameer in lead roles. NV Prasad and

Paras Jain have produced the film on Mega Supergood Filmsbanner. Mani Sharma has composed the music.

Aa ante amalapuram, a popular item song fromAllu Arjun starrer Arya is all set to dazzle theHindi movie audience. We hear that Sonu Sood

has bought the rights of this song and it’ll be featuredin his upcoming film titled Maximum. Sonu Sood,Neha Dhupia and Naseeruddin Shah are playing thelead roles in this film. Few days ago, there were wide -spread rumours that Tabu is going to dance for thisitem number; however, that’s not the case anymore.“We were in talks with Tabu in the past; however, wehave now decided to cast a new actress or a model forthis song. The song will be shot from March 15 on -wards,” Sonu Sood told Postnoon. Given the craze foritem numbers in Hindi films, Sonu Sood is leaving nostone unturned to make Aa ante a rage in Bollywoodas well. Devi Sri Prasad had composed this song inTelugu. Incidentally, this is the second time afterDinka chika that the rights of a Prasad’s compositionhas been bought by a Bollywood producer.

Rebel’s budgettouches `40crRebel has turned out to be the most expensive film in

Prabhas’ career. Raghava Lawrence is directing thefilm and Prabhas, Tamannaah and Deeksha Seth

are playing the lead roles. Producers J Bhagavan and JPulla Rao said, “We are spending `40 crore on this pro-ject and it’s the most expensive film ever in Prabhas’career. Recently, a flashback episode, worth `2 crore, wasshot with the lead characters and over 1,000 juniorartists in the backdrop. The shooting will be completedby April and we are planning to release the film in thesecond week of June.” Earlier, Thaman was supposed tocompose the film’s music; however, Raghava Lawrencetook over the mantle of composing the music afterThaman walked out.

Aa anteamalapuram

goes toBollywood


CINEMA 21 B-TOWN TWEETIES

@SrBachchanT 679 -' Down Town Abbey'have seen .. interesting ..But yes 'Game of Thrones'just recommended byShweta .. will watch

@konkonasEveryone go and watch

Sujoy Ghosh's super coolKahaani!

@juniorbachchanChelsea celebrate their107th birthday with a win atthe bridge. #KTBFFH

@NeilNMukeshPlayers was a memorable

experience.

@AnupamPkherWell some of you got itright. These athletic bicepsbelong to one and only@akshaykumar.:)pic.twitter.com/Pb71nbed

@iamsrkI miss being a baby..cos so -metimes as an adult one fe -els one is just repeating triv-ial maintenance duties inste -ad of discovering new things

@udaychopraI thought life had no mean-ing and then I discoveredgummy bears!

@sonusood18A still from

"Maximum"..13th april..herev come..

I’ve got more than Iexpected: Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan, who won the bestactress National award forher bold and beautiful perfor-mance in The Dirty Picture,says she has achieved a lot

more than she ever expected to in herseven-year Bollywood career.

"I am feeling very good. Actually, Iam speechless to tell how wonderfuland happy I am feeling,”the 33-year-oldsaid here at an event.

"I always thought of receiving atleast one National award in my career.I am just seven years old in the indus-try and I already have a Nationalaward to my credit. As I said, I havegot much more than I had expected. Iam feeling very content,”she added.

Vidya forayed intoBollywood in 2005 withParineeta and

received the Filmfare award for bestfemale debut for her role as Lolita.

The year 2011 proved to be splendidfor the actress, whose No One KilledJessica and The Dirty Picture receivedaccolades.

Vidya’s latest Kahaani is also fetch-ing the actress rave reviews for herperformance as a pregnant womanin search of her missing husband.IANS

Kicking and boxing in front ofthe camera is far easier thanmaking the audience laugh,

says Bollywood star AkshayKumar.

"Action is easy, it is very easy.Comedy is difficult,”Akshay saidin a chat on the sets of NeerajPandey’s Special Chabbis. After a

shot, the 44-year-old relaxed inthe balcony of an old-structuredhouse in Connaught Place here.

"You know...you can kickyour legs, punch someone veryeasily and do action. In fact,action can even look greatthrough camerawork. Also, foran emotional scene, you can putglycerine in the eyes and make any artist cry, and theviewers think he is crying, sopeople also start crying,”said theactor, looking fit and smart introusers, a shirt and sleevelesssweater.

"But to make someone laugh,you have to work very hard. It’svery difficult to make peoplelaugh. So comedy is tough...thetoughest,” he added.

IANS

Action is easy, comedytoughest: Akshay Kumar Paan singh team help former athletes

Who says actors andfilms do not make adifference? A biopic on

the life of athlete-turned-out-law Paan Singh Tomar hasmade its makers aware oftheir social responsibility.They are set to establish acharitable trust to look afterretired, out-of-favour athletesand sportspersons.

The film’s directorTigmanshu Dhulia, lead actorIrrfan Khan and producersUTV Motion Pictures arespearheading the trust, whichis being called SOS - Save OurSportspersons.

Dhulia laments the state offormer athletes in the country.

"Four-time Olympics hock-ey gold medalist Shankar

Laxman died due to lack ofmedical attention. KD Yadav,the 1952 Olympics bronzemedalist, died penniless.Sarwan Singh, the 1954 AsianGames gold medalist, had tosell his medal for money.

"Asian Games gold medalwinner Parduman Singh diedpenniless. We want to do some-

thing to help such peoplebefore it’s too late,” he added.

Dhulia says the move toinitiate a trust for needy ath-letes arose from megastarAmitabh Bachchan’s concernfor them, after he watchedPaan Singh Tomar.

"He saw the film and grewvery concerned about how wetreat our sportspersons.

"Our initiative towardshelping athletes who have fall-en on hard times comes fromhim,”he said.

Armed with the determina-tion to get this project on theway, Dhulia and his team areset to get the SOS projectgoing. Hopefully, Big B wouldbe the face of the project.

IANS

Tom Cruisemay star in

A Star is Born


CINEMA 22

Aniston,Cox nolongerfriends?









Clint Eastwood is gearing up to dip histoe back into the acting game withthe upcoming drama Trouble with

the Curve, but the director is still pullingthings together for his adaptation of A StarIs Born. Production was pushed back when

star Beyoncé Knowles became pregnant,then Leonardo DiCaprio—Eastwood’s firstchoice for the project—passed. Alternates

for the male lead were rumoured to beChristian Bale and Will Smith, but Varietynow reports that Warner Bros. is courting

Tom Cruise to take the part. Several adapta-tions of A Star Is Born have come to the

screen, but the most notable is the 1954 ver-sion starring Judy Garland and James

Mason. The story concerns a movie starwith a career on the decline who helps a

young showgirl ascend to stardom. Tensionsarise when her star rises and he fades fur-

ther into obscurity.

Actor EwanMcGregor

isshocked at the num-

ber of comic bookmovies dominating

the big screen.The 40-year-old

says it is becomingincreasingly difficult

to find good rolesbecause of the likes of Superman, Spider-

Man and Captain America. “It just seems inthe last three or four years that it’s harder

to find the kind of drama where I’ve alwaysworked,” showbizspy.com quoted McGregor

as saying. “My area of filmmaking, which issort of in the mid bracket — films about

people in real situations —- it’s the onethat’s taking the biggest kicking after the

financial crisis.” IANS

McGregor hates comic

book movies

Jennifer Aniston’s friendship withCourteney Cox has reportedlybecome “strained” since she starteddating Justin Theroux. The pair havebeen inseparable since meeting at

the F.R.I.E.N.D.S audition in 1994, but Coxapparently feels Aniston has “forgotten”about her since moving in with Justin.“Jennifer’s priorities have obviouslychanged since meeting Justin,” contact-music.com quoted a source as saying.“Courteney must feel that Jen (Jennifer)has completely forgotten what it’s liketo be the single girl and that will hurtgiven how supportive she and Davidwere to Jen over the years,” thesource added.

IANS



CINEMA 23

` 150 sq. cm

For Further DetailsPlease

Contact

Abhinay 9989399972

Nandlal 9951467988

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CINEMA 24

Soccer player DavidBeckham’s son Brooklynreceived a memorable sur-prise on his 13th birthday —

a musical wish by his favouritesinger Usher. Brooklyn’s celebrityparents David and Victoria decidedto call in a favour from their friendUsher, asking him to serenade

their eldest son down the phone,reports dailystar.co.uk. “Brooklynis naturally quite shy and isn’t onefor courting attention, even on hisbirthday. As he was unwrapping anew Arsenal football kit, Davidcasually walked in telling himthere was someone on the phonewho wanted to wish him happy

birthday,” said a source. “When he picked up the phone,

Usher sang Happy Birthday.Brooklyn is crazy about Usher andhas met him a few times. He wentbright red and started to get reallyshy. He told his dad afterwards thatit was ‘the best birthday presentever’,” the source added. IANS

Taylor Swift is making itrich in the music world.The country music star hasbeen named top money

maker of 2011 by a website. The22-year-old singer didn’t releaseany album in 2011. But her esti-mated $35.7 million wealthamassed from her Speak Now

Tour profits, album sales and digi-tal successes gave her an edge overU2 and fellow country star KennyChesney on the rich list byBillboard.com, reports contactmu-sic.com. Some of Swift’s popularsongs include Love story andTeardrops on my guitar.

IANS

is top money makerTaylor Swift

Usher’s

Brooklyn,Beckham’s

musical gift to

son


CINEMA 25

Britney Spears has rejecteda $10 million offer to judgethe next season of The XFactor, TheWrap has

learned. So the question is: Howmuch is Fox going to have topony up? Try $20 million. Thesinger rejected that offer threeweeks ago and is instead think-ing about an offer to become aresident performer at a LasVegas hotel in the fall, a la CelineDion. So here comes a game ofchicken. Fox desperately needs abig name to announce on thejudge’s panel of Simon Cowell’sshow, now that NBC’s hit showThe Voice will be competing withthem in the fall. Spears’ campwants $20 million.

MichaelMadsen

jailed

Actor Michael Madsen wasarrested on charges of

child endangerment by Los AngelesCounty sheriffs today. The Kill Bill

star was taken into custody justbefore 4 pm on Saturday after a dis-

pute with his underage son. Whensheriffs arrived in response to a

domestic disturbance call atMadsen’s home in Malibu theyobserved signs of injury on hisunderage son. Madsen was also

believed to be intoxicated. Madsen’s

son did not require medical atten-tion. Police have not released his

name since he is a minor. Madsenwas booked on the felony charge of

“child endangerment with crueltyto a child” and is being held on

$100,000 bail. Perry Wander,Madsen’s attorney, told TMZ, he“found his son smoking pot and

they got in an argument when hetried to take it away. It’s a familymatter and Michael asks that his

family’s privacy be respected.”

Olsen is alicencedreal estateagentActress Elizabeth Olsen recently obtained her real

estate licence for extra income to help put herselfthrough college. The break-out star, and younger sisterto designer twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, hasdreamed of gracing the big screen ever since she was ayoung girl, but she refused to rely on her last name as away to make it happen. She tells Reuters, “I started todevelop this complex thinking: ‘If I’m going to be anactor, no one’s going to take me seriously, so I’m going toovercompensate and do as much training as possible, sothat I know that I have something no one can take awayfrom me.’”

SpearsrejectsX-factoroffer

CHAI TIME 26SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

ACROSS1 Rio rhythms7 Evaluates12 Volunteer17 Berne's river21 Moralise22 Dubai royalty23 Magna —24 Rugged cliff25 Shoe-happy Marcos26 Auto accessory

(2 wds)28 Large lot29 Caribou kin30 Lounge chairs32 Suggestive33 Has a rash35 Wolf's expression37 Herd member38 Author — Grey39 Most pale40 Wheat stem42 RCA products43 Takes home44 From memory

(2 wds)45 Pretty in Paris47 Cocoon dweller48 Bad-tempered49 Shot meas52 Mdse bars53 Pounce54 ‘The Hoosier Poet’55 As blind as — —59 Travel stopovers61 Disney pachyderm62 Priests' attire63 ‘Bad, Bad Leroy

Brown’ singer64 Got wrong65 Pound sound66 Monsieur's son67 Complained68 Unsubstantial69 Pamper70 Astarte or Isis72 Valerie Harper role73 Mouth, slangily74 Goes to the left75 Indicate direction76 Brandy letters77 Apiece80 Joyous outburst82 Search for weapons83 Basalt, once84 Texas town85 Kind of magnetism87 Mask feature88 Edible seaweed89 King of Judea90 Kind of eclipse91 Voices an opinion92 Annoy94 Glass container95 Weary exhale96 Get lost!97 Call it — —98 Planet warmer99 Want-ad abbr100 Anticipate101 Band's bookings102 Hatfield foe104 Sounds uncertain107 Grape producer108 — Paulo109 Ceremonially attired113 Tropical fruits114 Chocolate-coloured

dogs

115 Suitably117 Taboo (hyph)118 Devise119 Handle problems120 Made fun of122 Ames inst123 Two fives for — —124 Jurassic creature27 Wind god129 Damsel130 Fluffy quilt131 Like most jackets132 Exacting133 ‘La — Bonita’134 Famous last words135 Pageant headgear136 Exchanged

DOWN1 Hard sells, maybe2 Kind of bracelet3 Milder4 Checkbook amt5 ‘Moneytalks’ group6 Persian monarchs7 Ease, as a headache8 Keeps in stitches9 Powerful predator10 Joule fractions11 FICA funds it12 Continental separators13 Broad comedy

14 Come unraveled15 And so on16 Jauntily17 Locust tree18 Sagittarius19 Least done20 Discharge27 Persona non —31 Storage area34 — went thataway!36 British rule in India38 A Marx brother39 Actor Lew —41 Is willing to43 Without feeling44 Fall plantings46 CD predecessors47 Woman's shoe48 Lacking sense 49 Like beef jerky50 Jazz pianist Chick —51 Husky53 Midsummer54 ‘Nick of Time’ singer55 Bone-dry56 Waterloo loser57 — in the hole58 Koppel or Knight60 Mouse alert61 Rookie socialites63 Use a hatchet

65 Gape open66 Stool pigeon67 Cowboy's shout69 Jezebel adored him70 ‘That oughta — —!’71 Gasthaus cubes72 Invitation addendum74 Get an earful75 Chandelier pendant76 Forum farewell78 Paris school79 Bronco-riding event81 Calcutta nanny82 Assail (2 wds)83 Tax84 Hose down85 Pacino and Unser86 Rapa —87 Graceful wraps88 New Zealand parrots89 Privilege91 Duelers' pride92 Great care93 Advantage94 Tampa Bay pro96 Climbing flower

(2 wds.)98 Berate100 Stratford's river101 Taunted102 ‘Waltzing —’

103 Over there104 Australian carrier105 Disclose106 Docket107 Fog and steam108 More nimble110 Let simmer111 Guarantee112 Put out the fire113 Orange Bowl city

114 Sophia — of films115 Hartford competitor116 Breadmaking need119 Grant territory120 Roman 602121 Forest ruminant125 Tool man — Allen126 Neighbor of CTRL128 Anatomical eggs

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SUNDAY CROSSWORD

CHAI TIME 27SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 2012

CO

MIC

SFr

ed B

asse

tSt

one

soup

TAROT READ

The High Priest –Most of us don’t likevery much to lookwithin but it’s impor-tant to self-evaluateour actions andgoals to see wherewe’re headed.

The Tower – There’sno easier way to de -al with difficult chan -ges than to accept t -hem with open arms.All your hesitation a -n d discomfort will go.

Four of Swords – Youseek stability andlook for it in unusualplaces. It might be agood idea to take up a meditationcourse to calm those nerves.

ARIESMarriage talks will be fruitful. Held-upwork will get completed surprisingly ata speed higher than expected. Yourthoughts will travel in a new path andyou will be a creator of new ideas.

CANCER

LIBRAHeld-up work will get completed withease. Good financial inflow possible.Court verdicts will go in your favour.You will receive a powerful post. Son'snegligent attitude will change.

CAPRICORNSudden fortune will surprise you andbring cheer. Confusion in the familywill come to an end. Delayed govtworks will now take place with minorefforts. Forgotten due will come.

TAURUSYour administrative ability will be app -re ciated by all, as your efforts will yieldthe best results. Enemies too will be -come your followers. Persons of highesteem and position will befriend you.

LEOCertain work that got deviated fromyour plan will now get into the rightdirection and get completed withouthurdles. A satisfactory financial situa-tion. You will complete all work.

SCORPIOYou will achieve a lot by putting up ahard struggle.Those who are trying fora job will be successful. Blood relativeswill support your growth. Pregnantwomen need to avoid travelling.

AQUARIUSGood financial flow expected. You willpurchase jewels. Some have brightchances to buy a vehicle also. You will clear a portion of a debt for which ahigher rate of interest is being paid.

GEMINIYou will plan to buy a new asset andmake an advance part payment also.Help from various sources will let yousettle old debts. Court verdicts will goin favour. You will control expenses.

VIRGOExpected help will come and let yourelax. Powerful govt officials' friendshiplikely. Couples may face ego clashes buttry and avoid it to be happy. Frequenttravel possible. Minor accidents likely.

SAGITTARIUSHouse construction plan will get ap -proved. Court verdict will go in yourfavour. Good turning points likely withthe help of friends staying abroad. Yo -ur influence in law matters will increase.

PISCESSelf-confidence level will be at its high.Payment, for asset you have paid ad -vance for, will now be made and regis-tration too will be over. Sister's mar-riage will be performed successfully.

For B

ette

r or f

or W

orse

Ink

pen

The Hermit – Ans -wers come to younaturally, ins tincti -ve ly, without yourhaving to go look-ing. Your desire tounderstand howthings work is impt.

Nine of Wands –There’s a lighteningof the burden you’vebeen carrying for along time. It may bea secret or some-thing more serious,like a commitment.

Six of Cups – You’relikely to get a mes-sage from an oldfriend or someonespecial from yourpast. This is likely tomake you nostalgic,crave a slice of y’day.

Three of Pentacles –Skill and training pro-grammes are impor-tant for you to getahead in your job.Why just job, maybea lesson or two in da -ting might help, too.

Judgement – Thingsdon’t ever come easy.The fruits of your lab -o ur are about to begifted to you, thoughyou least expect it.So mewhere, you feeljustice is done.

King of Swords – Th -i nk logically befo reyou make any har shdecisions that im pa -ct your day-to-day li fe. Use gift of youri ntellect to betteryo ur own situations.

The Hanged Man –It’s a spiritual time.You’re perhapsthinking of taking upa study course toalleviate boredom orto appease yourcurious side.

Four of Wands – Cr -e ativity rules all yo urwork. You’re ahe adof your time and th -ink differently. Bewa -re that it might takea while for your pee -r s to understand you.

Knight of Pentacles –You’re pensive. Weig -h ing pros and cons isgood but also bepre pared to go withthe flow, as decisionsmay not be in control.

STAR POWER SUMAA [email protected]

[email protected]

040-27177230 / 9949870449

Challenges are just like eating cakesfor you. You will act very wisely to man-age them and conquer. You will com-plete construction of your house. Putin hard work for son's higher studies.

Date 12-3-2012 Date 12-3-2012

Republicans say ‘MerryChristmas!’

Democrats say ‘HappyHolidays!’Republicans help the poor dur-ing the holidays by sending 50,one buck at a time, to panhan-dlers on the street.Democrats get back at theRepublicans on their Christmaslist by giving them fruitcakes.Republicans re-wrap them andsend them to in-laws.Democrats let their kids openall the gifts on Christmas Eve.Republicans make their kidswait until Christmas morning.When toasting the holidays,

Republicans ask for eggnog ormulled wine.Democrats ask for a ‘Bud.’When not in stores,Republicans use a catalogue.Democrats watch for ‘incredibleTV offers’ on late night TV.Democrats do much shoppingat Target and Wal-Mart.So do Republicans, but theydon't admit it.Republican parents have noproblem buying toy guns fortheir kids.Democrats refuse to do so.That is why their kids pretendto shoot each other with dolls.

... more next week

Republicans and Democrats

Vol: 1, No 238 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

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As per Hindu panchang

CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES

SAGITTARIUSSCORPIOLIBRA

CANCER

ARIES TAURUS GEMINI

LEO VIRGO

SUNDAY, MARCH 11, 201228WACKY WORLD

Now here’s a hobby that’s bound to leave abad aftertaste. Ani K, from Kerala, India,

makes paintings using his tongue. He actuallyslathers paint on it, which he then transfers onto canvas to create beautiful images. Ani, who

works as a drawing teacher, says he wasinspired by an artist who painted with his foot

and wanted to do something like that. He start-ed off using his nose, but he realized that was

done before and he wanted something unique.

Artist paints with his tongue

Mahika Mano, a popular Tokyovenue, is better known as the

Hammock Cafe. Located in theKichijoji district of Tokyo, a placerenowned for its chill-out atmosphere,Mahika Mano fits in just perfectly, withits hammocks hanging from the ceilinginviting passers-by to just sit back andenjoy a tasty drink. Who needs chairs,right?

Tokyo’s hammock cafe

A95-year-old Chinese woman,thought to be dead and placed in a

coffin, terrified her family and neigh-bours by climbing right out after sixlong days. Xiufeng who lives alone wasfound by her neighbour motionless onemorning. Thinking her to be dead theyplaced her in a coffin. A day before thefuneral, the box was discovered empty,and the body was gone.

Return of the dead

Fake Flintstoneshouse up for saleAre you a die-hard fan of the Flintstones and have

an extra $3.5 million to spare? If the answer is yes,then you actually have the chance to live in a

house styled in the theme of the popular cartoon. If not,well then you can just make do with looking at the pic-tures. The house, located in Malibu, presently belongs toTV and radio legend Dick Clark and his wife, but is upfor sale and pretty fresh on the market.

‘Attitude’ gets 6thgrader handcuffedAColorado sixth-grader was handcuffed and taken to

a juvenile holding facility for disobeying an assis-tant principal and being “argumentative and

extremely rude,” according to an incident report.“She told me that I need to quit giving her my atti-

tude,” Yajira Quezada was quoted by a news channel assaying of the administrator at Shaw Heights MiddleSchool in Westminster, a suburb of Denver.

In the incident report, the unidentified administratorsaid she was on hall patrol on February 22 when she cameacross Quezada and started questioning her. She said shewas in mid-sentence when the 11-year-old “turned andwalked away saying, ‘I don’t have time for this.’”

“Why would they handcuff me? I’m not the type ofgirl to get arrested,” added Quezada, whose mother latermoved her and her sister out of the school.”They’re treat-ing them like criminals. And they’re not, they’re kids,”Quezada’s mother, Mireya Gaytan said.

The local sheriff ’s office said handcuffing a child dur-ing transport is standard procedure.

A school district spokesman agreed. “Once they stepin and take over a case, it is really in their hands,” SteveSaunders said of the handcuffing by the school’s resourceofficer.

Quezada said she’d have a different response if shehas another encounter with school staff. “Not to givethem attitude,” she said.

Now shut thosechatter mouthsIt’s a Japanese invention that could very well be the

perfect answer to all the talkative people out there.The device is said to be powerful enough to jam a per-

son’s speech from up to 98ft away. The prototype inven-tion supposedly records the obnoxious speech with adirectional microphone, adds a 0.2 second delay, andthen fires it right back at the prattler with the help of adirectional speaker. So there’s basically a delay betweenwhen the person says something and when they heartheir own speech. This would mess with the person sobad, that they would soon be rendered speechless for awhile.

AFP/ LOUISA GOULIAMAKI

A woman walks by awall adorned with graffi-ti in Athens on Friday.Greece added uppledges by private debtholders to cancel halfthe money owed tothem in a tense count-down to an eveningdeadline critical for anew bailout and to cool-ing the eurozone crisis.

STREETARTS


SPORTS 29NEW DELHI: India's cricketing legendSachin Tendulkar on Saturday dismissedspeculations that he would announce hisretirement after getting his much awaited100th international ton.

Zee News reported that Tendulkar, inan SMS sent to the channel, has rubbishedall speculations about his retirements.Speculation was rife that Tendulkar wouldhang up his boots after getting the centuryin the Asia Cup.

Tendulkar rubbishes reportMIAMI: Dwyane Wade scored 28 points,including the game-winning basket with .01of a second remaining in over-time, to liftthe Miami Heat over Indiana 93-91 onSaturday.

LeBron James, who sank a 3-pointerwith 11 seconds remaining in regulationthat pushed the game into the extra peri-od, scored 27 points and grabbed eightrebounds. The Heat’s home win streak of 12games is the longest since 2007.

Wade lifts Heat in last secCHENNAI: Karnataka Lions survived alate surge by Chennai Cheetahs to post a5-3 win, their second only in six matches ofthe World Series Hockey tournament hereon Saturday.

Goals by Ravipal Singh (26th, 63rd),Vinayak Bijwad (32nd, 57th) and DeepakKullu (68th) saw Karnataka, sorely missingskipper Arjun Halappa, veteran DhanrajPillay and striker Amar Aiyamma, shruggingoff a tentative start against Cheetahs.

Lions pull off thrilling win

Richard Eaton

BIRMINGHAM: Lin Dan saidhe would “cherish” his meetingwith Lee Chong Wei after bad-minton’s two biggest stars wonthrough for another showdownin the final of the All-EnglandOpen.

Lin’s 21-18, 21-17 semi-finalvictory over Kenichi Tago, therising 21-year-old Japanese play-er, left the World and Olympicchampion from China in senti-mental mood as he contemplatedanother dream final with theworld number one fromMalaysia.

“I just want to have a goodmemory of this,” Lin said. “Ijust want to have good memoriesof the big four. I don’t know howoften we will see each otheragain.”

He was referring not only toLee, whose defence of the All-England title carried him to athird successive final with a 21-19, 21-18 win over Lee Hyun-Il.

Lin was including TaufikHidayat, the former World andOlympic champion fromIndonesia, and Peter Gade, theformer world number one fromDenmark, all of whom are intheir last year of competitivebadminton.

Lin described his perfor-mance against Tago a “normal”

one, though many watchingthought it anything but.

There were moments whenhe played with a languorousswagger, as if challenging hisopponent to get the shuttle pasthim, moments when he appearedto be treating it almost as anexhibition, and moments whenhe changed character andexploded into sudden fieryattacks.

He trailed 12-15 in the firstgame, and allowed Tago to recov-er from a five-point deficit to par-ity in the second. But when he

needed points, he usually tookthem, good as Tago was.

Earlier Lee moved to withinone win of his third successiveAll-England Open title by edgingpast Lee Hyun-Il, the formerworld number one from Korea.

No men’s singles player hasachieved that since RudyHartono, the Indonesian great of38 years ago, but Lee’s move-ment and ability to respondquickly to changing situationssuggest he is capable of it.

The world number one fromMalaysia established an early

four-point lead over the Korean,but was caught at 17-17 andagain at 18-18.

Lee Chong Wei was patientand accurate at the net and withclears at that stage, but he had tocope with an even greater come-back from Lee Hyun-Il in thesecond game.

Often defending brilliantly,and finding unexpected angleswith his left-handed slices, theKorean came back from 9-18 to16-18 before Chong-Wei managedto force some smashes throughand close the match out.

“I was well prepared today,but I have to improve my attack-ing,” the champion said.

“I woke up with some pain inmy hand today, but I managed toplay through it all right.”

Sunday will see his 28thmeeting with Lin Dan, who hasprevailed in 18 of them so far.Lee however won well againsthim in last year’s final.

Lin says he doesn’t care whowins, but if he regains the All-England title he will earn it afifth time, a record in the profes-sional era. But he doesn’t careabout that either. Only a matchsuitable for a farewell is hisdesire.

A new women’s singleschampion is certain.

That is because WangShixian, the third-seeded title-

holder from China, was beaten20-22, 21-18, 21-18 by her compa-triot Wang Yihan, the top-seededworld champion.

It lasted fully 85 minutes,and two matches on the adjacentcourt were completed in almostthe same time it took for thismanouevring encounter toevolve to its conclusion.

Yihan, a good attacker, wasmuted for much of the match,while Shixian, better known as afine mover, often become moreaggressive, in a strange reversalof their usual modes.

It is also became certain thata Chinese player will take thewomen’s title for the eighth timein 10 years.

That happened after LiXuerui, a rising 21-year-old whois coached by two-time Olympicgold medallist Zhang Ning, halt-ed the surprising Taiwaneseplayer, Tai Tzu Ying.

The seventh seeded Chinesebeat her unseeded opponent 19-21, 21-16, 21-10, getting complete-ly on top in the final game.

China is sure of the women’sdoubles title as well, but cannotrepeat its achievement of all fivetitles of three years ago.

That became impossibleafter the mixed doubles title-holders, Xu Chen and Ma Lin,were beaten by Thomas Lay -bourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl.

INDIAN WELLS: Second seed MariaSharapova routed Gisela Dulko ofArgentina 6-2, 6-0 in the second round ofthe WTA/ATP Indian Wells tournamenton Saturday.

The former Indian Wells champadvanced to the third round, where shewill face qualifier Simona Halep ofRomania who ousted 28th seeded CzechPetra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-4.

Novak Djokovic may not be off toanother perfect start to the year, but heremains consistent when it comes towinning his opening match at theATP/WTA Indian Wells Tournament.

Defending champion Djokovicdefeated Andrey Golubev in the secondround for the second year in a row, easi-ly beating the Kazakh qualifier 6-3, 6-2in a 62-minute center court match onSaturday.

Last year, Djokovic needed just 60minutes to oust Golubev before goingon to capture his second Indian Wellstitle.

“It was a good start,” Djokovic said.

“We didn’t play a beautiful match.There were a lot of unforced errors butit was the opening match and I am stilltrying to adjust to this court and getused to the conditions. Hopefully thenext match will be better.”

World number 1 Djokovic, who cameinto Indian Wells last year riding a winstreak that he eventually stretched to 41matches, is now 11-1 on the season.

The lone blemish on his record is adefeat in the Dubai semi-finals lastweek to Andy Murray, who was due onthe Indian Wells court in a later match.

Djokovic, who won his fifth GrandSlam title at the Australian Open inJanuary, advanced to the third round,where he will face South African KevinAnderson, who won in a walkover whenGerman Philipp Kohlschreiber with-drew.

Djokovic broke Golubev to go up 5-2in the second set, winning the gamewhen his shot struck the net cord anddribbled over to the other side. Thatcame after Golubev had double faulted

three times in the game.That allowed Djokovic to serve for

the match and he clinched the victoryon his second match point when Golub -ev failed to return the Serb’s first serve.

Both Indian Wells defending cham-pions advanced in straight sets onSaturday as Caroline Wozniacki ofDenmark kick-started her bid tobecome just the second woman to winback-to-back titles here.

Wozniacki broke EkaterinaMakarova of Russia in every servicegame to post a 6-2, 6-0 win.

“I don’t like to be out there for toolong if I don’t have to,” Wozniacki said.“I like to play tennis and I love grindingit out, but if I have the opportunity tofinish it off fast, I like that.”

Fourth-seeded Wozniacki advancesto the third round, where she will facetop Swede Sofia Arvidsson, who beatMonica Niculescu of Romania 6-3, 6-3.

Wozniacki has now won threestraight matches against Makarova allin straight sets. AFP

Lin, Lee in dream All-Eng final

Sharapova thunders ahead


SPORTS 30ICC toprobe fixingclaimsLONDON: The InternationalCricket Council (ICC) is investi-gating claims that Indian book-makers are fixing the results ofEngland county games and inter-national fixtures, Britain’sSunday Times reported.

The newspaper said it haduncovered evidence that tens ofthousands of pounds (dollars)was on offer to players to throwpart or all of internationalmatches, including last year’sWorld Cup semi-final betweenIndia and Pakistan.

It cited one Delhi bookmakerboasting that English countycricket was also a “good newmarket”, as it involved “low-pro-file matches and nobody moni-tors them. That’s why goodmoney can be made there with-out any hassle”.

The allegations come justweeks after former Essex bowlerMervyn Westfield became thefirst English cricketer to bejailed for corruption after admit-ting accepting money to fix amatch against Durham inSeptember 2009.

Last year, Pakistan playersSalman Butt, Mohammad Asifand Mohammad Aamer werealso jailed in Britain for theirrole in an entirely separate ‘spot-fixing’ scandal concerning a 2010Test match against England. AFP

MIAMI: Tiger Woods and RoryMcIlroy played their way intocontention on Saturday at theCadillac Championship butAmerican Bubba Watsonremained atop the leaderboardat the World GolfChampionship event.

Watson fired a five-underpar 67 to stand on 17-under 199through 54 holes. He was threestrokes ahead of England’sJustin Rose and AmericanKeegan Bradley entering thefinal round of the $8.5 millionevent at Doral.

“I wanted to play good,”Watson said. “I just tried tokeep my head down and I some-how grinded out a pretty goodscore.”

Watson, who fired a 62 onFriday to grab the lead, openedeagle-birdie, answered a bogeyat the par-3 fourth with a birdieon five and had back-to-backbirdies before closing the frontnine with another bogey.

Birdies at the par-5 12th andpar-4 14th and a bogey at thepar-4 16th followed by a pair ofpars closed out his round inmixed fashion.

“I’m looking at it as a posi-tive,” Watson said. “Two 3-putts, which is not technical ormental. I just didn’t hit thespeeds I needed to hit. I’m justlooking forward to the chal-

lenge tomorrow.”Bradley fired a bogey-free

66 and said that was a greaterfeat than sinking six birdies.

“It’s playing real tough outthere,” he said.

Rose, who ran off fourbirdies in a row from the eighththrough 11th holes, closed witha bogey to fall out of the finalpairing on Sunday with around of 69.

Sweden’s Peter Hanson wasfourth on 204, one stroke aheadof Americans Matt Kuchar andZach Johnson with AmericanJohnson Wagner alone in sev-enth on 206.

McIlroy and Woods werenext on 207 in a group that alsoincluded England’s LukeDonald, Germany’s MartinKaymer, South African CharlSchwartzel and AmericanWebb Simpson.

McIlroy, playing his firstevent as golf ’s World No. 1,birdied the par-4 second on achip-in and added another atthe third, then ran off threebirdies in a row from the fifththrough seventh holes anddropped another at the ninth.

“I chipped in a birdie attwo. That sort of got me going,”McIlroy said. “To shoot 30 withtwo pars on the par-5s is prettygood.”

AFP

Tiger, McIlroy catchfire but Watson leads

All teams in the Asia Cupare facing the problem ofproving their credibilityin the shorter version of

the game.India will have to wipe out

the disaster Down Under fromtheir memory and take freshguard in conditions which aremores suited to their game.

Consistency will be the key toIndia’s success. They have moreor less the same players whowent through the nightmare inAustralia. This series gives them

a chance to prove that theirstrength lies not on paper alone.

India’s captain MahendraSingh Dhoni will need to infusethe enthusiasm which wasshown in India’s last match inthe Commonwealth Bank Serieswhen the team came back strong-ly to beat Sri Lanka.

This match was the only shin-ing light amidst the gloom inAustralia. There were other vic-tories in the one-dayers, but theywere eked out rather than bull-dozed.

The focus will once again onSachin Tendulkar over whetherthe elusive 100th hundred will becompleted finally. It would be bet-ter for Indian cricket ifTendulkar gets it over with.

It may clear things up overthe future of India’s master bats-man and whether he would fol-

low suit and quit like RahulDravid.

Hopefully, India have thrownthe rotation policy out of thewindow particularly now thatVirendra Sehwag is out of thetournament.

At least, India must be in topgear before they face Pakistan inDhaka on March 18.

Pakistan come into thisseries with their confidence dent-ed by the sound beating byEngland in the UAE.

However, over the past yearor so, Pakistan have been consis-tent. Skipper Misbah-ul-Haq hasproved a steadying influence onthe often volatile side.

Pakistan’s bowling will betheir main strength. Saeed Ajmalmust be the best off spinner inthe world at the moment. He issure to get help in Bangladesh

and will be the key once again toPakistan’s success.

Paceman Umar Gul has alsofound his rhythm and this hasgiven Pakistan’s attack the extraedge. Shahid Afridi seemed tohave tapered off in the UAE andit is only a matter of time whenhe finds top form again.

Pakistan’s batting seems tobe the worry. The loss of form ofopener Mohammed Hafeez hashit Pakistan badly. He alwaysgave his team a good start.

Sri Lanka will be on a highdespite losing the CommweathBank series finals. They foundtheir magic touch again inAustralia under MahelaJayawardene. The skipper alsohit form, which has added morebackbone to the team.

Tilakaratne Dilshan is alsoback at his best, which has

augured well for the team. ButSri Lanka will have to prove thatthe Australian performance wasno flash in the pan.

Bangladesh have been hitwith controversies even beforethe tournament started. TamimIqbal had been axed and thenagain recalled to the side on fickle grounds. This promptedselector Akram Khan to quit his post.

The team has also beencaught in a bad patch and willneed all their best resources togive a good showing. The returnof former skipper MahrafeMortaza may prove crucial as heis one of the best bowlers in thecountry.

As hosts, Bangladesh willneed to find that elusive consis-tency to make the tournament afour-horse race.

Twelfth ManBABU KALIANPUR

Asia Cup may be an all-horse race


SPORTS 31

Ian Winrow

LONDON: Roberto Di Matteosignalled a break with Chelsea’srecent past by insisting his teammust adopt a stronger winningmentality.

Di Matteo oversaw a 1-0 vic-tory over 10-man Stoke in hisfirst Premier League game sincebeing placed in caretaker controlfollowing the dismissal of AndreVillas-Boas.

Villas-Boas maintained theimportance of playing with styleduring his eight-month stay atthe club.

But Di Matteo conceded thevictory over Stoke — that camecourtesy of Didier Drogba’s100th Premier League — hadbeen hard-fought.

And he insists Chelsea mustmaintain that approach duringthe final games of the season asthey attempt to force their wayinto the top four.

“Today was a step in theright direction and sometimesyou have to win like this to getthree points,” he said.

“It’s not easy and sometimesyou have to win scrappy. Thereare 10 league games to go andTottenham could be drawn backinto the fight for fourth.”

Asked whether this approachmarked a change in directionfrom that set in place by Villas-Boas, Di Matteo added: “I’mlooking forward and getting theteam in the right frame ofmind.”

Drogba proved to be hisside’s saviour after RicardoFuller was sent off in the 25thminute for a stamp on BranislavIvanovic.

The Ivory Coast striker isout of contract in the summerand Di Matteo refused to bedrawn on whether the clubshould offer the forward a newdeal.

“It was a big goal for himand a winning goal for the team.

“His contract is a matter forthe club. It’s not for me to dis-cuss. He has been a great playerhere.”

Chelsea’s focus now switchesto the midweek ChampionsLeague tie with Napoli atStamford Bridge when DiMatteo’s side will attempt toovercome a 3-1 first leg deficit.

“They are a very good teamwith some exceptional players,but they will face a good teamand we will make it difficult forthem,” Di Matteo said.

Juan Mata will return to the

starting line-up for that gameafter being left on the bench forthe visit of Stoke.

The Spaniard was introduced as a first half substitute and provided theassist for Drogba’s goal in the68th minute.

And Di Matteo said: “Ithought it was going to be physi-cal against Stoke, that’s why Ileft him out.”

Di Matteo: It’s OK

to win ugly

‘No hangoverfor Gunners’Ian Winrow

LONDON: Arsene Wengerinsists there will be no hang-over from Arsenal’sChampions League defeat toAC Milan when his sidereturn to Premier Leagueaction against NewcastleUnited at the EmiratesStadium.

The Gunners fell just shortof overcoming a four-goal firstleg deficit against the Serie Aside last week but there wasenough in the 3-0 second legvictory to suggest Wenger’sside are on the rise.

And having beatenTottenham and Liverpool intheir previous two games, con-fidence is surging as Arsenalstep up their challenge to fin-ish third.

“The disappointment isthere but we produced the per-formance that we wanted, wewere just a fraction short, “Wenger said ahead ofMonday’s clash.

“If we have regrets it ismore down to the fact that wemissed our first game and thatwe had many players out on anight that any player you puton at that level has a massive

importance. In midfield wewere a bit short.”

The recent run of resultshave reinforced Wenger’s viewthat his squad is good enoughto secure a place in next sea-son’s Champions League.

The upbeat mood has beenenhanced by back to backdefeats for third-placedTottenham while Chelsea,lying fifth, are in a state oftransition following the depar-ture of manager Andre Villas-Boas.

Another victory overNewcastle will confirm theGunners’s resurgence whileeffectively eliminating AlanPardew’s side from the racefor a top four finish.

“I always believed in thespirit and quality of this team.I am sure if we keep goingthat will come out and the tar-get until the end of the season

is to be faithful to that,” hesaid.

Full-back Kieran Gibbsshares his manager’s opti-mism, particularly as theinjury list has been reduced.

“Now we have a biggersquad, we can rotate more,players won’t be as tired andthe team looks a lot stronger.You can obviously see the ben-efits from that,” Gibbs said.

“Everybody has cometogether now and we haveovercome a difficult period.We need to be consistent likethis now for the rest of theseason.”

Andre Santos is fit againafter a three-month absencewith an ankle problem butAbou Diaby has been ruledout after picking up an injuryat Liverpool. Pardew admitshis side’s slim hopes of quali-fying for the ChampionsLeague will be extinguished ifthey fail to beat Arsenal.Newcastle travel to the Emi -rates Stadium hoping to repe -at their outing 16 months ago.

Everybody has cometogether now and wehave overcome a dif-ficult period. We needto be consistent likethis now for the restof the season.

Kieran Gibbs


SPORTS 32

Graham Chase

LIVERPOOL: Nikica Jelavicscored his first goal for Evertonas David Moyes celebrated 10years in charge at GoodisonPark with a 1-0 victory overTottenham on Saturday.

Jelavic’s impact had beenlimited to two substitute appe -arances due to abdominal prob-lems since making a £6 millionmove from Rangers in January.But the Croatia striker markedhis first Premier League startwith a first goal to extendEverton’s unbeaten league runto seven matches and movethem within two points ofLiverpool ahead of Tuesday’sMerseyside derby at Anfield.

For Spurs, it was a thirdstraight Premier League defeatfor the first time since manag-er Harry Redknapp, who hasbeen linked with the vacantEngland job in recent weeks,replaced Juande Ramos in 2008.

Redknapp’s side are onlyfour points clear of fourthplaced Arsenal and their localrivals can close that gap with awin over Newcastle on Monday.

Seamus Coleman started onEverton’s left flank, due to on-loan Tottenham winger StevenPienaar being ineligible, andthe Irishman went close with

just a couple of minutes gone,thumping wide from 20 yards.

Tottenham threatened forthe first time when Gareth Baletook a throw quickly forJermain Defoe to surgethrough, holding off SylvainDistin only to slice a disap-pointing shot well wide of goal.

Everton carved out the firstdecent chance when Australiamidfielder Tim Cahill laid offfor Marouane Fellaini and theBelgian’s curling shot wasblocked by the legs of BradFriedel.

But Friedel had no answerto Jelavic’s 22nd minute strikeas the Toffees took the lead inslick fashion.

Leighton Baines playedthrough for Leon Osman, whosurged into the area and pulledback for Jelavic to calmly shootpast the Tottenham goalkeeper.

Everton continued to pressand, after cutting in off theright flank, Dutchman RoystonDrenthe’s shot cannoned offLedley King and was held byFriedel.

But Bale was always dan-gerous and, after stepping in-field past Coleman, he thumpeda drive wide from 30 yards andthen narrowly missed with afree-kick from a similar dis-tance. As Everton struggled to

clear, Luka Modric had a long-range effort held by TimHoward, but Friedel was forcedinto a scrambling save to keepout Jelavic’s powerful free-kick

just before half-time.Spurs wasted no time in

pressing after the restart and,after yet more clever work fromBale, Defoe forced a flying savefrom Howard. Howard onceagain denied Defoe after thestriker was slipped through byScott Parker.

Former Everton forwardLouis Saha was brought off thebench 10 minutes into the sec-ond period as Redknapp lookedto spark his team, but the nextopportunity fell to Sandro, whoheaded wide at the far postafter being left unmarked for aModric corner.

Younes Kaboul also missedwith a free-kick and Howard

managed to grab anotherdeflected Defoe effort as

Everton struggled toget out of their

own territory.As Saha

attempted to worry his oldteam, his prod at goal flewstraight at Distin’s face beforeFriedel did well to blockOsman after a quick Evertonbreakaway.

Defoe had another effortcorrectly ruled out for offsidebefore King headed wide froma lofted free-kick from Bale.

The hosts had to hold on forfive minutes of added time,with Howard denying Kaboul’sheader from a Benoit Assou-Ekotto cross before Saha had alate effort turned on to the postby Howard.

Jelavic drowns Tottenham

Jason Mellor

SUNDERLAND: Kenny Dalglishrefused to give up on Liverpool’shopes of qualifying for theChampions League despite miss-ing out on an opportunity to closethe gap on the Premier League’stop four.

Danish international NicklasBendtner’s (right) fortuitous 56thminute winner at the Stadium ofLight was enough to liftSunderland up to eighth and with-in two points of Liverpool, wholost a third consecutive leaguegame for the first time in eight-and-a-half years.

Dalglish’s side are 10 pointsfrom fourth place and the gap willbecome 13 if Arsenal overcomeNewcastle at the Emirates onMonday.

Liverpool, who play Evertonon Tuesday, have just 11 matchesremaining to bridge the gap, but adefiant Dalglish is not prepared to

write off the Champions Leaguejust yet.

“It’s up to us to keep going,and keep our mouths shut,” saidDalglish. “As I’ve said all season,we see how many points we havecollected by the end of the cam-paign, and see where that takes us.“We’ll play all our matches andsee where we are. We’d prefer tohave taken more points at home.“If we were to get into the top four,it would be fantastic, just as it waswinning the League Cup andbeing in the sixth round of the FACup.” Dalglish could count him-self unlucky that Liverpool lost alacklustre clash featuring just afew half chances at either end.

It was no surprise that thegoal which separated the two waslucky — even if there was no signof the beach ball which helpedSunderland to a 1-0 win overLiverpool in October 2009 thanksto Darren Bent’s never-to-be for-gotten effort.

Defiant Dalglish won’tgive up on top-four bid

postnoon e-paper for 11 march 2012

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