postnoon e-paper for 18 december 2012

SHORT CIRCUITOR SABOTAGE?

As sabotage possibility is notyet ruled out, Chief Minister N

Kiran Kumar Reddy hasordered chief

secretary Minnie Mathew toconduct a probe into the firethat broke out at Begumpet

airport late last night and submit a report.

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

ROADS INRUINS, CoP

WITH IT

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 HYDERABAD WEATHER: A MIX OF CLOUDY AND CLEAR SKIES; 21°C 32 PAGES `3WWW.POSTNOON.COM

P3

REPORT ON P7

Two monthsafter CoP, works

undertaken forits sake contin-

ue at a snail’space in the City.

city eventsTUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

2

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES

Christmas Eve buffetTraditional turkey buffet and unlimit-ed beverages will be served atDeccan Pavilion. There will also belive entertainment. Where: Deccan Pavilion,

BegumpetWhen: December 24 Contact: (040) 2340 0132

Christmas brunchThere is a Christmas Day TurkeyBrunch at Marriott Hotel andConvention Center. Europeaninspired Ginger Bread House startedfrom December 15. Where: Okra, Hyderabad Marriott

Hotel and Convention CenterWhen: December 25,

12.30pm to 4pm

Pièce MontéeAlliance Française is screening aFrench film directed by DenysGranier-Deferre, starring JérémieRenier, Jean-Pierre Marielle andClémence Poésy.Where: Plot no 4, Road no 3,

Banjara Hills, Aurora colony,Road adjacent to Q-Mart

When: December 18Contact: (040) 2355 4485/86

Christmas carolsChristmas carols will be sung byGlobal Edge school till the end ofDecember at The Lobby. Where: Novotel & HICC Complex,

PO Bag No 1101, Cyberabad Post Office, Near Hitech City

When: December 3-31Contact: (040) 6682 4422

Myriad HuesArtist Dhiren Sasmal’s paintings willbe on display at Alankritha ArtGallery. The exhibition is titledMyriad Hues.Where: Alankritha Art Gallery

Residence Inn, Amar Co-Operative Society Plot No 72, Residence Inn Lane ,Jubilee Hills

When: Upto December 19from 9am

Contact: (040) 2311 3709

Eclectic iridescenceAn exhibition of Dhiren Sasmal’s artwork, based on various themes andstyles of painting.Where: Residence Inn,

Amar Coop Soc.,Lane Opp. Madhapur PS, Kavuri Hills

When: Upto December 19,11am onwards

Contact: (040) 2311 3709

Inertia Photography Photography exhibition on India byLona Lohan till December 31.Where: Rajiv Gandhi Airport,

ShamshabadWhen: Upto December 31

11am to 7pmContact: (040) 6625 0000

DelineationHaris Srinivas's art will be on display

at this exhibition at Taj Deccan.Where: Taj Deccan,

Road No 1 ,Banjara Hills

When: Ongoing,11am to 10pm

Contact: (040) 6652 3939

Photo competitionAlliance Francaise, Hyderabad, isconducting a photo competition. Thetheme is Professions of the world.The winning entries will be sent toParis.Where: http://hyderabad.afindia.orgWhen: December 3 to January 6

Transpersonal sessionArt & Science of Self-Actualization isa foundation course in transpersonalcounselling, by clinical psychologist

Sujata Potay. Life skills, self aware-ness skills will be imparted, amongothers.Where: Center for Organization

Development, Madhapur

When: January 19 to April 27Contact: 98494 53045

Christmas hampersTaj Krishna is giving out the LuxurySanta Hamper and Deluxe SantaHamper, which include Remy MartinXo, Lagavulin 16, luxury Canali tie,Rose petal jam with cane sugar,Kalmata Olives, assorted Christmaschocolate and plum cake to name afew. Where: Taj Krishna When: OngoingContact: (040) 6666 2323

Jewels by QueenieQueenie Singh, jewellery designerfrom Mumbai is having a privateviewing of her signature diamondcollection.Where: Kimaya store,

Shangrila Plaza,Near check post, Road no 2,Banjara hills

When: December 19 to 20

Chai-Pakora RunTo spread the word about India BikeWeek being held in Goa on 2-3February 2013, a chai-pakora run willbe organised in Hyderabad. Where: Secunderabad Parade

Ground, War Memorial on Lamba Theatre Road

When: December 23Contact: indiabikeweek.in/calendar

DINING

GAS BOOKING IVRS NO HP 9666023456Indane 9848824365

BSNL Complaints 198HMWS & SB Complaints 155313

POLICE CONTROL ROOMHyderabad 27852435Traffic Control Room 27852482DCP Traffic 23234065, 23243499FPollution Control Board 23887500

ELECTRICITYGeneral Complaints 155333Breakdown Section 23431178

23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

Commissioner & Spl Officer 2326226624166666R

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

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

WATER SUPPLYComplaint Cell 155313Sewerage Complaint 23307328Hyd. Water Supply 23313163

HOSPITALGeneral Hospital, Sec-bad 27505566Niloufer Hospital, Red Hills 23314095NIMS, Director, Punjagutta 23390933Osmania General Hospital 24600146Railway Hospital, Lalaguda 27001134Apollo, Jubilee Hills 23607777Care Hospital, Banjara Hills 30418888Care Hospital, Nampally 30417777Care Hospital, Musheerabad 30419000Care Hospital, Sec-bad 30416666Kamineni Hospital, LB Nagar 39879999

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

30417445

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

AIRLINES

Airport Director 27903785, 27906001For Air India Flight Information Toll free(from any network) for IC Flights

18001801407And for All Flights: 1800227722Air India has revised its flight timings.For more information call (Toll free)18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from otherlines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in

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

UK VISA OFFICEVFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A,Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7

Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills-34. Working hours are from 8 AM to1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM.

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

Helpline

Readers’ viewsWe invite you to write to

us comments, suggestions,viewpoint or just about

anything [email protected]

or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa,

Road No 62, Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad – 500 033

or even by way ofa call on 4067 2222

ART EXHIBITIONArtist M Narayan’s work is on display at Shrishti Art Gallery till January

2. Narayan graduated from the Ken School of Art and has been workingsince 1991. He has participated in over 30 solo exhibitions and is known

for his rural depictions.

BangaloreMax 28Min 15Mostly cloudy, clear

at night.

ChennaiMax 30Min 24

Partly cloudy.

MumbaiMax 33Min 22Partly cloudy, clear

at night.

New DelhiMax 21Min 10

Clear skies.

21°CClear with cloudy

periods.

15°CA mix of clear and

cloudy skies.

21°CA mix of cloud

and sun.

30°CA mix of cloud

and sun.

Weather for HyderabadEvening Overnight Morning Afternoon

OVERLOAD: A physically challenged person riding a bike with three people sitting behind him at Charminar. N SHIVA KUMAR

THEATRE

ARTMISCELLANEOUS

CRIME

Mohd [email protected]

This happened not inKandahar or Somalia. Ithappened in the hi-tech

city of Hyderabad. A minorgirl was brazenly kidnapped,forcibly married, used sexual-ly and after three months, wasthrown out. The hapless girl,whose life now shattered, andher mother have been knock-ing at the Santosh Nagarpolice station, but to no avail.

Guardians of law haverather been making jibes at thegirl and her mother. “Wepleaded with folded handsbefore them (the police) totake action against the manand his relatives who did thiscrime against our girl,” saidGhousia Begum, the mother ofthe girl. She now calls uponAllah to bring retribution onthe youth and his parents. Themother said that sub-inspectorRCK Reddy of Santosh Nagarknows what an injustice wasdone to her daughter. “Thepolice also know what vulgarwords that man used againstus. Is there justice in this

City?” she wailed. It happened on July 2.

Jawaduddin, a 30-year-oldresident of Kurmaguda inMadannapet, who works as amanager in a shopping mall,had his eyes on the minor,who had stopped studyingafter Class VIII due to poverty.She refused his offer, saying hebelongs to a middle class fam-ily and was educated, whileshe is neither rich nor educat-ed. Instead of taking it in theright spirit, Jawaduddinreportedly kidnapped herwhile she was going to shop,and married her forcibly onthe strength of a fake SSC cer-tificate. When she got preg-nant, she was turned out of hishome.

Adding insult to injury, theman and his parents sent her adivorce by post. The girl’smother said they are beingdenied justice because theman has the support of a localcorporator. “Don’t these menhave mothers and sisters?”she asked. Nor did she get anyhelp from the communityleaders who pay lip service towomen, she said.

Where’s justice,wails a mother

Liberal divorce prevalent in Muslimcommunity is being misused by men

against women. Cases of this sortgalore in the Old City.

CRIME

CRIME

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

3City YESTERDAY’S QUESTIONDO YOU THINK THE CONGRESS CONVENTION WAS A FARCE?

YES (A)

NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTIONWOULD NARENDRA MODI MAKE A GOOD PRIME MINISTER? A) YES B) NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

100%

0%

POSTNOON [email protected]

The Begumpet police teamhas arrested a seven-mem-ber gang which is said to

have been involved in a series ofthefts of BSNL cable wires fromdifferent places of Secunderabad.They also seized stolen cablesworth several lakhs, the policesaid. According to details, all the

accused belong to Amlapuram ofEast Godavari district and theyare all labourers by day andthieves by night, the police said.

The accused came to the Cityand saw a great opportunity inlooting public property likecables, copper plates, lights tomake an extra buck.

Last month, they were founddigging at SP Road and JubileeBus Station Road under the pre-

text of laying cable wires orrepairing them. This indiscrimi-nate digging damaged landlineconnections of many phones. Itwas then that a senior official ofBSNL, Suryaprakash, beganlooking for the cause. But hecould not locate the problem andhe informed the City policeabout this. On a recent nightpatrol, the Begumpet policecame upon the gang engaged indigging at SP Road and on inter-rogation, found them to bethieves engaged in taking outcables to be sold in the market.

The ACP of Begumpet,Suryanarayana, said the gang,who initially claimed to be work-ing on orders of their ‘superiors’,later confessed that they werestealing cables. They werearrested and lodged in jail.

Officials said that no work isassigned to anyone for diggingroads at night. If one sees such anoccurrence, the police should bealerted.


Was it a security lapseor sabotage? Themajor fire thatbroke out at Begu -

mpet airport late last night hasraised several questions whichare sought to be settled by ChiefMinister N Kiran Kumar Reddy,

as he has ordered a probe by thechief secretary Minnie Mathew.

At least four aircraft haveeither been severely damaged ordestroyed. Fire brigade officials,who fought for three hours tobring the conflagration undercontrol, said one hangar was gut-ted beyond repair. Several train-ing crafts were parked at the air-

port. The helicopter which isused by the chief minister wasalso damaged, it is reported.Residents around told the mediathey heard three loud blastsbefore the fire broke out. Manywere so afraid that they couldnot sleep afterward.

Though nobody was hurt, thequestion as to the safety of the

airport has rattled the State gov-ernment, sources said. With com-mercial operations shifted to RGIfour years ago, the airport is nowbeing used for training crafts andVIP planes.

This airport had witnessed afew mishaps in the past but thisone has generated a fear palpablein the corridors of power.

Sabotage or accident?The fire at Begumpet airport, which houses VIP planes,

has rattled the State government.

Four aircraft wereseverely damaged ordestroyed. The helicopter used by thechief minister was also damaged.

Night digging? Call the cops

N SHIVA KUMAR

FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLYFOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY

The column that teaches everyonesomething new about the way theCity functions.

1 There’s a new scapegoat in town.

Engineers are breathing a sigh ofrelief. For once, they aren’t beingblamed. It’s the turn of the townplanning department to bewhipped for not acquiring landand dragging projects.

2 Talk about a CoP-out! GHMCneglects residents again.

After all that frantic work for CoP,the GHMC is leaving work undoneagain. After all, there are no foreign delegates to see the Citynow, right?

3 Public policy gains favour in India.

Several institutes in India are nowoffering demanding courses inpublic policy to tackle issues ofgovernance and policy.

4 No love lost between theMIM and the Congress.

The eight-year marriage is over.The MIM recently attackedCongress for being anti-minority.

5No justice for minor who wasdumped.

A minor was kidnapped, marriedand dumped when she got preg-nant. And no action has been taken.

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 4

Not a social moveLast year, we had reported how the

traffic police were facing brickbatson their page on Facebook. Set up inorder to get feedback from the public,the page quickly became anembarassment for the traffic cops,with its ‘followers’ analysing and criti-cising the department’s every move.The officers who were to respond tothese comments did not have it easy.

DECEMBER 18, 2011

GHMC contractorcommits suicideBureaucratic red-tapeism claimed

the life of a contractor, who wasdenied encashment of his bills bythe GHMC. Shaikh Ramani, 45, onMonday is reported to have hanged himself as he faced severefinancial problems due to non-pay-ment of his bills by the civic corpo-ration. Ramani said as much in hissuicide note.

30-year-old falls offspeeding train, diesMohd Sadiq, 30, a resident of

Hassan Nagar in the Old City,died after he fell down from aspeeding train near Saphilguda rail-way station yesterday. The man wasreportedly travelling on the train’sfootboard and was thrown out whenthe trail gathered speed.Secunderabad railway police haveregistered a case.

Two new coursesoffered at UoHTwo new courses have been intro-

duced at University ofHyderabad, effective from the aca-demic year 2013-14. Master ofPublic Health and IntegratedMasters in Earth Sciences will beoffered from next year. The proce-dure of admission has also beenchanged; the university will nowonly accept online applications.

APTransco gets helpfrom the governmentAbudget of `1,200 crore has been

sanctioned for the APTransco toprovide three months of power sup-ply to protect the standing rabi crops. This followed theAPTransco’s announcement recently that the company wasunable to maintain seven-hour sup-ply for agricultural sector because ofpower shortage.

LAST YEAR... HERE CIVIC

NEWS BRIEFS

`22crthe amount spent on the Old Cityexclusively for repair, maintenance

and beautification works, accordingto officials from the corporation.

5THINGS WELEARNT TODAY

NUMEROLOGY

It is a great decision. Our

party had alreadypledged to defeat theCongress party. Thedominant T-JACwould play a keyrole in achievingthis aim.

K Eeswar, MLASee page 5

M ANIL KUMARRAHUL [email protected]

With CoP over, theGHMC is at its oldgame again.Shoddy and

incomplete work by the GHMChas left the residents ofPunjagutta area a vexed lot.Half-cured road works, dug-updrains are adding to the woes oflawless traffic.

One among many problemsis the senseless digging of roads.The corporation’s efforts to givethem a makeover are mostlyhalf-hearted. The lanes leadingfrom Punjagutta main road toJaffer Ali Bagh have been dugup and laid bare for almost amonth. Earlier, it was the pasteof sand and water left to curethe stretch that gave trouble tothe motorists and pedestrians.

While the road’s concretelayer has finally set, the munici-pal corporation has made noeffort to remove debris and thestale water. Residents fume thatthe stagnant water has caused aspurt in mosquito population.

Santosh Yadav, a vendor inthis area, said, “The road anddrainage works had been doneover a month ago. What the cor-poration officials told us wasthat the stormwater drains andthe sewerage lines fromErramanzil division were beingdirected here to join the nullahat Somajiguda main road.Nobody knows what work theyhave done, but the entry to thisarea has been blocked from themain road. Boulders and rubblelay strewn here.”

CS Ram, a resident of thearea, said, “There is no interac-tion with the corporator or the

municipal corporation. Wedon’t know who keeps diggingthe roads and why. People havebecome resigned to their fate.”

The GHMC is literally play-ing with fire, too. In case of a fire,there is no way that a fire enginecan reach this area, becauseaccess is cut off by the boulders.Furthermore, a local school’smain entrance lies a few feetaway from the half-finisheddrain pipes. In short, this is a trapjust waiting to claim a victim.

Efforts to reach the deputymunicipal commissioner

proved futile. Neither did thelocal leader, A Mahesh Yadav,respond, as his phone appearedto be switched off. In extenua-tion to his stance, someone closeto Yadav said he was busy withthe State Congress conventionbeing held at LB Stadium.

It must be recalled that bare-ly three months ago, the entirestormwater drainage system ofPunjagutta-Somajiguda hadfailed after the road above itcaved in. People are now wor-ried that a similar horror is wait-ing to happen.

Punjagutta suffersfrom civic neglect

Roads have been dug up haphazardly in the area, leaving drains exposedand causing trouble for both motorists and pedestrians.

In case of a fire, thereis no way that a fireengine can reach thearea, because accessis cut off by the boulders. Also, a localschool’s mainentrance lies a fewfeet away from thehalf-finished drainpipes.

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 5POLITICS

POLITICS POSTNOON IMPACT

INKESHAF [email protected]

AIMIM has clearlybegun its goal ofexpanding its horizon.After saying goodbye

to its 8-year-long relationshipwith the ruling Congress follow-ing the temple issue atCharminar recently, the MIM ledby Asaduddin Owaisi, has givenan aggressive call to the partyleaders in this regard.

The party’s new found lovetowards YSR Congress seems tobe getting stronger with eachpassing day. It was evident dur-ing the recent massive meetingorganised by the party inNizamabad, a predominantlyminority populated town of thestate, on December 8 under thebanner of United Muslim Forum.

Throughout his speech, MIMfloor leader in AP AssemblyAkbaruddin Owaisi trained hisguns on CM N Kiran KumarReddy. He called him an anti-Muslim and anti-minority leaderand alleged that the Congresswas treating Muslims merely as avote bank during the elections

and not as an integral part of thesociety.

He promised the gatheringthat his party would teach a les-

son to all political parties includ-ing the Congress who were usingminorities only for votes.

“We will not leave anybody

who uses Muslims and minori-ties as vote bank. We will doeverything to ensure the defeatof these political parties duringthe next general elections,”Akbaruddin said amid loudcheerings.

Interestingly, he did not uttera single word about YSRCongress giving a clear indica-tion that there is already an electoral understanding betweenthe two.

In all his speeches, Owaisi,singled out the chief ministerand Congress while it had noth-ing much to say about TDP orYSRC.

The MIM presidentAsaduddin Owaisi, during hismaiden press conference aftersevering ties with the Congress,

had also made it clear that theparty would have an electoralunderstanding with other politi-cal parties. However, he did notmention with which politicalparty the MIM would have analliance during the next assem-bly elections but publiclyannounced that YS JaganmohanReddy, the president of YSRCongress party, is his friend.

Commenting on the issue,MIM party senior functionaryadmitted that the goal of hisparty would be enhance thenumber of MLAs in Assembly byexpanding its base across theState and added that the partywould do everything to achieveits aim.

The party has already kept aneye on winning assembly seats,where Muslim population is pre-dominant. These seats includeJubilee Hills, Rajendranagar,Karimnagar, Nizamabad,Hindupur, Anantapur, Kadapa,Kurnool, Mahbubnagar andNandyal Assembly seats. Thebasic idea of the party seems tobe to win at least 15 Assemblyseats in the next General Elections.

MIM sets its goals highAs the ties between MIM and Congress continue to be strained, the former is now warming up

to the YSRC and is working towards wooing minorities away from the ruling party.


The TRS president KChandrasekhar Rao, whohad been staying mum

about the all-party meeting con-vened by the UPA on theTelangana issue, has finally con-firmed that he along with T-JACchairman Prof Kodandaramwill be attending it.

KCR’s olive branch to theprofessor is considered signifi-cant as the two had strained

relations in the recent past onthe modalities of tackling T stir.

T-JAC takes a view thatmore than politics Telanganawas important. For that pur-pose JAC would take the help ofthe devil if need be. But KCRwants political mileage, TRSobservers pointed out.

Welcoming the decision ofKCR, party leader G KishorKumar told Postnoon that thedecision would help them inacting more aggressively in theongoing T-agitation. Also hail-

ing the move was party MLA KEeswar. He said, “It’s a greatdecision. Our party had alreadyvowed to defeat the Congress.The T-JAC would play a keyrole in achieving this.”

Kishor Kumar alsoexpressed similar views. Thedecision of the TRS would helpthe party raise its strength in theAssembly, it is hoped. The partyis also hoping to win at least 100Assembly and 15 Lok Sabha MP seats in the next general elections with a soleobjective of emerging as a dom-inant force.

Party chief KCR is repeated-ly exhorting party activists andother leaders to work towardsthis aim. T-JAC is an umbrellaorganisation of various pro-Telangana groups. Its perceivedrole in helping the BJP winMahbubnagar Assembly seathad soured the relationshipbetween KCR andKodandaram.

KCR, Kodandaramfor all-party meet

Mayor relents, generalbody meet this monthMd [email protected]

Stung by criticism from vari-ous quarters Mayor MohdMajid Hussain held discus-

sions with opposition leaders onMonday and decided to hold thedelayed general body meetingthis month. Earlier, it was not clear when the meetingwould be conducted as the

mayor was unwilling to commit.Hectic discussions and meet-

ings continued in his chamber tillevening in which Commissionparticipated. During the meetingformer mayor, Mir Zulfiqar Ali,was seen going in and comingout with the GHMC rule book.

Later the mayor told somemedia persons present that thegeneral body meeting would beheld soon.

In all his speeches,Owaisi, singled outthe chief minister andCongress while it hadnothing much to sayabout TDP or YSRC.File photo of Asaduddin Owaisi coming out of Chanchalguda Jail after

paying YS Jaganmohan Reddy a visit.

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 6CIVIC MESS

POLITICS

5

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For once, engineers, the favouritewhipping boys of civic chief arespared. Blame of not completingutility projects now goes to the

town planning department that takes noefforts to speed up land acquisition.

In a recent meeting, the fact that itwas not always the engineers but thetown planning officials who are respon-sible for dragging projects came out.“Look at two major public convenienceprojects,” pointed out an engineer,“Lakdikapul RoB and Begumpet-Fatehnagar bridge. Both remain in limbofor other reasons than engineers’ laxity.”

The Lakdikapul RoB took almost twoyears for its completion. Now, it remainsto be inaugurated and open for trafficbut it is kept under wraps, while theBegumpet-Fatehnagar link will be completing its fourth year in Januaryand yet incomplete. Its foundation stonewas laid by the former CM, YSRajasekhara Reddy.

“Immediately after the decision istaken, we invite agencies and the pro-cess proceeds smoothly, until it hitsroadblocks in the form of propertyacquisitions,” says one of the seniorengineers. “But clearance from the townplanning remains a hurdle,” he says.

It is alleged that the officials in TownPlanning are interested only in givingpermission to new buildings, ignoringthe property acquisition. According tothe engineer, if this keeps on going likethis the agencies which are coming for-ward to take the GHMC work may bediscouraged. “The agency which con-structed the Begumpet-Fatehnagar Linkis awaiting bill clearance for about twoyears”, says the Engineer.

However, Mayor Mohd MajidHussain, came batting for the townplanning department. He points out theshortage of employees as one of the reasons for the kind of functioning ofTown Planning. “The town planning hasonly 90 staff including additional commissioner,” says the Mayor. “Itneeds more.”

Chief Minister N Kiran KumarReddy has made it clear todaythat the government was commit-

ted to providing 50 per cent reservationfor women in local body elections.

The chief minister, who was on atour of this district as part of his‘Indiramma baata’ programme, todayhad an interaction with the women self-help group members at the AndhraUniversity conference hall here.

He assured the women on this occa-sion that 1.20 lakh more memberswould be included in the ‘Abhayahastham’ scheme.

Kiran Kumar Reddy also opened theRajiv Smruthi (memorial) building inthe Beach road here. The CM also inau-gurated a project which would provide 24 hours water supply toCentral Visakhapatnam.

HAILS STATE’S WOMENSpeaking at a public meeting atMarkapuram as part of Indirammabaata programme, the CM said thatwomen of the State have brought prideto the entire country, by creating a confi-dence among the bankers that the loansadvanced to them would be repaidpromptly. He said following introduc-tion of Indira Kranthi programme,women got benefited in the State.Women were getting nearly `13,000crore loans from the banks and this wasa matter of pride for the State.

Kiran Kumar Reddy was happy thatthe banks were expressing confidencethat if loans were given to women, theywould promptly repay the same. He fur-ther said that the State government wasmaking efforts to see that women wereempowered economically.

NSS

50% quota for women in local bodies

Town Planning under fireMention delay in completing civic works, and fingers would instantly point towards engineers.

But now it is the Town Planning department that is being blamed for its lax attitude.

Abhayahastham scheme to add 1.2 lakh members

classifieds TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 7

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JYOTSNA [email protected]

The opulent ballroom inFalaknuma Palace is nostranger to music. It is saidthat the Nizam used to host

dances for visiting English gentryin this room, content to watch asthe dancers twirled under thegrand chandeliers.

On Sunday night, the ballroomcame to life once more, thanks to awonderful performance by accla -imed jazz pianist, Sharik Hasan.Sitting in the beautifully restoredroom, with its stunning woodworkand imposing chandeliers stretchinginto infinity in the mirrors that linethe walls, it is easy to imagine theroyal lifestyle. Sharik showed his vir-tuosity on the piano, playing piecesfrom genres as disparate as classicaland bossa nova. He interspersed theperformance with a few composi-tions of his own, and ended theevening with a rousing rendition ofGeorge Gershwin's I've Got Rhythm.

Sharik's performance was justthe beginning. Guests then moved to

the Jazz Bar, which was inauguratedby DCP (south zone) AkunSabharwal. The Jazz Bar, formerlythe Hookah Lounge, is the perfectsetting for an evening of leisure and

luxury, with its deep antique sofas,luxurious draperies and dark beams.

Providing a perfect foil to theweight of history in the room wasvocalist Kelly Johnson (in pic),

whose cheerful presence lit up theroom. Belting out her renditions ofclassics like Fever and SomewhereOver The Rainbow, Kelly brought lifeinto the formal room. The onlyincongruous note was the laptopperched on an intricately carveddesk, as it broke the spell.

The magic of the room is that itprovides enough nooks to have aprivate conversation and to soak inthe ambience. The well-stocked baroffers a carefully chosen selectionof hand-rolled Cuban cigars, singlemalts, cognac and wines. The grandbilliards table, one of the largest inthe world, is a perfect centrepiecefor a room so rich in history.

The very experience of being atthe Taj Falaknuma Palace is a royalone, and the newly inauguratedJazz Bar only heightens the feeling.The rich, rounded notes of jazzcould not have had a better settingthan this opulent palace.

The Bar will be open everynight, 7.30pm onwards. So make areservation, dress in your finest andbe transported to an era whereleisure ruled and the jazz played on.

RAHUL [email protected]

CoP has long been over butthe works GHMC under-

took in mending andmaking up City roads

remain unfinished. However, it is notclear if the bills have been promptly

paid for the works, as no official clari-fication is available.

The work on stormwater lines inOld City areas has been left half done.

Footpath work along the Madina-Chaderghat flyover has been under

construction for several months, shopowners and residents point out. Some credit ought to be given to

the GHMC, though. The wrecked con-dition of the road from Charminar to

Chandrayangutta was given a facelift.But the stormwater drains along

Chandrayangutta have not been com-pleted. The road to the famous

Falaknuma Palace with its chokedroads has no footpaths for pedestri-

ans. This work too has not been takenup, except for minor repairs such as

tile laying and painting. Another eyesore in the Old City is

the Grand Hotel area. The freshly laidpavement at Grand Hotel, done by

the GHMC, was disturbed when thepavement was dug up and defaced.

Apart from this, a few roads thathave been redone for the CoP or oth-erwise have already started eroding.

According to officials, a total of `22crore was spent on the Old City exclu-

sively for repair, maintenance andbeautification works. According to

GHMC chief engineer S Suresh: “Onlythe main water line near Madina is yet

to be finished. Whatever other littleworks we have, they will be finished

as early as February 2013.” It must be remembered that the

GHMC’s initial plan was to finish thecivic works before October. Two

months after the conference, the `400-crore beautification project has failed

to make any great mark or change.More importance was given to artifi-cal face-lift work like garbage clean-

ing and road repair, while moreessential work like stormwater drain

cleaning was neglected. A total of `54lakh was spent on the Siddiamber

Bazaar and Afzalgunj areas forstormwater drain works.

Two months after CoP concluded, works undertaken forits sake continue at a snail’s pace in the City.

GHMC drags itsfeet on road repairs

CIVIC

MUSICReliving the golden age

Step inside the Jazz Bar at Taj FalaknumaPalace, and be transported to another era.

M ANIL KUMAR

S BALAKRISHNA

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 8EDUCATION

ARUNIMA [email protected]

The John F KennedySchool of Governmentwas established atHarvard University inthe early 1930s as the

Graduate School of PublicAdministration. It quicklybecame one of the mostrenowned colleges offering cours-es in public policy and was givenits current name in 1966. Theinstitution was set up during theGreat Depression, at a time whenthe American government facedhistoric challenges at home andabroad. This is when Lucius NLittauer, a Harvard alumnus,donated $2 million to the univer-sity to establish a public affairsinstitution to educate a new pro-fessional governing class.

After several years, prominentuniversities around the world —including Universities of Oxfordand Cambridge — followed

Harvard’s footsteps and beganoffering courses in public policy.

Until 2001, India seemed torestrict public affairs training tojust a handful of institutes likeLal Bahadur Shastri NationalAcademy of Administration,Mussorie and Indian Instituteof Public Administration,Delhi. That training wasonly for civil service offi-cers until the IndianInstitute of Management,Bangalore (IIM-B), startedits Post GraduateProgramme in PublicPolicy (PGPP). During theinitial years, IIM-B admit-ted only officers from theIndian government to thecourse. In fact, it was creat-ed to fulfill the need for aneducational programme inpublic policy for governmentofficers.

Now, several decades later,the country seems to be wakingup to the need for courses in

DECODING PUBLICPOLICY

Both citizens and politicians haverealised that there is a governance

deficit. This is the fundamental rea-son why public policy education isgaining increasing importance.

Nitin Paico-founder, Takshashila Institution

Student Profile

Today, a public policy pro-gramme has studentsfrom a variety of disci-

plines such as engineering,finance, business administra-tion, media, arts, humanities,and social sciences. Whilemost are in the age group of25-45, one can also occasional-

ly spotsenior citi-

zens taking thecourse. Some institutes

even give scholarships topromising undergraduates toadd to the vibrancy of theclass.

So, does a course putthings in perspective for anaspiring policy maker?According to SharmisthaMukherjee, a PGPP student ofIIMB, it does. “I am interestedin working on policy imple-mentation for the health sector.

Having overfive years of

domain knowledgein healthcare across the

globe, I thought it was bestto integrate my experienceswith new concepts and toolsthat I will pick up from thiscourse. This will give me bet-ter understanding of policyformulation and issues inproper implementation,” saysSharmistha, who worked as anIT professional for last sixyears. “I plan to do consultingwith companies engaging gov-ernment verticals. In the long-term, I want to work withNGOs for children,” she adds.

Another success story isthat of Kingshuk Bishwas, whoplays a lead role in severalcampaigns of the Gujarat gov-

ernment. Amit Seth, an IIMBalumnus, has donned the hatof strategic analyst for a start-up that offers primary health-care services for people fromrural areas.

Meanwhile, some of thestudents of Takshashila’sGCPP — which is yet to com-plete its first year — havealready been hired by firmsengaged in public affairs. Onehas been selected to be part ofa ‘blue skies’ team at a majorindustrial conglomerate. Manyhave used the GCPP as a step-ping stone for Master’s or PhDprogrammes in public policy;while some have succeeded inclearing UPSC exams. Schoolofficials acknowledge that theprogramme is not recognisedby the UGC, AICTE or any

other government-body.Officials also note that theirprogramme is not targeted atcoaching candidates for UPSCexams, although the GCPPprogramme can provide asound foundation for a careerin the government.

Despite the strengths of thevarious programmes offered,institutes point out that it isnot easy to find jobs for theircandidates within local or stategovernment agencies. ProfRamesh stresses that govern-ment agencies often don’tabsorb their graduates. “Mostgraduates end up engaging inpolicy making through thepublic arms of corporations,”he notes. Still, it is hearteningto see the advances in educat-ing students in public policy.

city TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 9

Public Policy and Administration.More and more universities areoffering courses to equip a newbreed of policy makers to tacklethe issues related to governanceas well as policy research.

Contrary to the popular per-ception that the most ambitiousworkers prefer jobs in the corpo-rate sector, institutes like IIMs arereceiving applications from mid-level employees of the IT sector(which is traditionally consideredto be one of the most sought aftersectors), for public policy pro-grammes. This is precisely thereason why institutes like

Takshashila are offering coursesfor professionals from all

disciplines who wish tostudy public policy

while continuingtheir full-time

occupa-tions.

Beyondthe

IIMs, there are also other insti-tutes offering courses in PublicPolicy like the Jindal School ofGovernment and Public Policy,TERI University, ManagementDevelopment Institute, AzimPremji University, and IndianSchool of Business.

According to IIM-B officials,the Centre for Public Policy hasreceived nearly 500 applicationsfrom candidates outside govern-ment for its 2013 schedule ofclasses. “The fact that instituteslike IIM are offering the coursesshow that there is a demand inthe market for such courses,” saysG Ramesh, chairperson of Centrefor Public Policy, IIM-B, whichopened its gates for candidatesoutside the government in 2008.

Academics point out thatmore and more businesses haveto engage with governments, athome and abroad in a profession-al, transparent manner. To be

competitive, a business execu-tive will need to have a goodgrasp of government rela-tions, regulatory affairs, cor-porate social responsibilityand even "corporate diplomacy".

Nitin Pai, one of the cam-paigners for public policy edu-cation and the co-founder of

Takshashila Institution, consid-ers basic public policy skillsessential for today's executives.This awareness became a gamechanger as the Indian educationsector opened up.

“Both citizens and politicianshave realised that there is a gov-

ernance deficit because of a lackof capacity,” says Pai. He addsthat corruption, inefficiency orpoor quality of service is ulti-mately the result of inadequateknowledge, skills and training inpublic policy. There is no doubt inPai’s mind that both politiciansand citizens are realising thisdeficit.

“This is the fundamental rea-son why public policy educationis gaining increasing importance."

TEACHING METHODOLOGYIn looking at Indian programmes,one important question is: Arethey as demanding as thoseoffered by western universities?According to Pai, the answer is"yes." The Graduate CertificateProgramme in Public Policy(GCPP) is academically rigorousand meets the standards of a one-semester course in the best publicpolicy schools. "We havedesigned the curriculum for 'net-worked distance-learning'. Thisallows students to study at theirown time, from the convenienceof their homes or offices, on alearning management system(LMS) and interactive webinars.It also allows our global networkof experts to deliver guest lec-tures," he says.

In addition, the weekend poli-cy workshops bring the students,faculty and alumni together forface-to-face sessions where theyget to interact with top govern-ment officials, senior policy-mak-ers and experts.

INTER-DISCIPLINARYAPPROACHThe PGPP programme offered byIIMB covers a wide range of disci-plines — such as public policymaking, micro economics, evi-dence-based policy making,social marketing, general man-agement and public system management.

Is a good policy analyst amythical creature? Not anymore. More and more high

flyers are enrolling for publicpolicy courses in hopes of

finding alternatives to varioussocietal problems.

Contrary to popularbelief that most peopleprefer corporate jobs,institutes are receivingapplications for publicpolicy course.

BusinessTUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

10RBI KEEPS RATES UNCHANGED The RBI kept all key policy rates and reserve ratios unchanged in a reviewbut said its focus now shifts towards spurring growth. The bank rateremains unchanged at 9 per cent, the repo rate at 8 per cent, reverse reporate at 7 per cent, the CRR at 4.25 percent and liquidity ratio at 23 per cent.

Since our country is a union of states, weabide by its federal character and, there-fore, are bound by the consensus on theissue,

ANAND SHARMA,COMMERCE MINISTER

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PRUDHVI RAJU [email protected]

Sreekanth Katakam, a moviebuff, spent most of his collegedays on Internet to follow andshare film information. His

passion towards the film industryand Internet pushed him to evendrop out of his engineering course.Over time, his urge to do somethingon Internet, with the support of par-ents, helped him to create a success-ful antipiracy company,Antipiarcytool.com.

Talking about the college daysand his curiosity towards theInternet, he says, “It is the passion toshare film updates with a largeraudience that drove me to createfilm blogs. It was all for free — therewas no need to buy a domain nameor server space. After understandingthe technologies, I started a fewwebsites on film and jobs, which

were instant success and gave methe confidence to make it big.”

His business idea took birth fromthe problems he saw in the webspace during 2010. “It was the timewhen piracy was eclipsing the filmindustry. I want to do my bit to savethe industry with the expertise Ihave in the field. I could also man-age to control the piracy of Don

Seenu by sitting at home to check myskills and business idea.

However, getting an opportunityin the film industry is the difficulttask without proper networking.Since I was new to the industry, itwas the support of Sudhakar Reddyand RP Patnaik that helped me toestablish in the industry.

The business faced initial chal-lenges like any other.

Sreekanth says, “Though I haveexpertise in the field, it is difficult toget an opportunity with out success-ful track record to back our words.During early days, I did not demandany money from the producers butrequested them for an opportunityto prove myself. They also came for-ward seeing my enthusiasm towardsthe work as they were not losinganything.”

Talking about the process, hesays, “ We monitor various torrents,video sharing sites like YouTube,social networking sites, blogs andother file sharing sites. Email alertsare also in place to get updates onvarious film uploads. As soon as wesee some illegal upload or sharing ofthe file, we email the admin of thesite to remove the respective content.Later, we get the screen shots ofthese sites and update the producersand distributors with the web links.”

The business charges around `1lakh for a big budget film and`50,000 for a small film to control thepiracy for first 15 days.

“There is tremendous effortrequired to control piracy of bigfilms. The pirates try to upload inthe first two days of the release. Thenumber of links will also be morecompared to a small budget film.We also need to increase our team byhiring freelancers,” he explains.

The company is working underthe umbrella brand of SK Digi SoftSolutions.

The company is also expandingto various other services like BioMetric Security for students. It alsostarted Young Mantra, a digitalagency, which provides services likeWeb Hosting and Development andalso event management.

HONG KONG: Asianinsurer AIA said Tuesdaythat US giant AmericanInternational Group(AIG) had sold itsremaining stake in thefirm, raising $6.45 billionand completing an exit

that started two yearsago. AIG offloaded itsfinal 13.69 per cent hold-ing for HK$30.30 ($3.90)per share, AIA said in astatement, adding that itwas one of Asia's biggestsecondary placements.

Biz of battling piratesA young man, armed with knowledge of sharing technology available on the Web, helps Tollywood in fighting piracy losses.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Growth statsEstablished: November 2010

Team: 6-8 freelancersRevenues for 2010-11: `10 lakh

2011-2012: `15 lakhNumber of films worked for: 30Margins: Around 30 per cent

Target revenues for 2013-2014:`50 lakh

Target films for next one year:30

AIG raises $6.45 billion

DISPLAY OF MIGHT

Soldiers perform the martial art kalaripayattu during an Army exhibition at Khasa, some 15 km from Amritsar, onDecember 17, 2012. The Army Mela (fair), organised by the Vajra Corps, displayed weapons, tanks, aircraft and militaryequipment to students and civilian visitors of the event. AFP/NARINDER NANU

nationTUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

11MILITANT KILLED IN ENCOUNTER A militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmirtoday. The ultra was killed in a joint operation launched by police and Army,a police spokesman said. He said the operation was still in progress whenlast reports were received.

PICK YOUR

@

Stores Across Twin Cities

WASHINGTON: The Indian econo-my suffered $1.6 billion in illicitfinancial outflows in 2010, capping-off a decade in which it experiencedblack money losses of $123 billion,according to a new report.

India is ranked as the decade's8th largest victim of illicit capitalflight behind China, Mexico, Ma la -ys ia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, thePhilippines, and Nigeria, respective-ly in the report by Global FinancialIntegrity, a Washington-based rese -arch and advocacy organisation.

Titled "Illicit Financial Flowsfrom Developing Countries: 2001-20 -10," the report found that all devel-oping and emerging economies suf-fered $858.8 billion in illicit outflowsin 2010, just below the all-time highof $871.3 billion set in 2008-the yearpreceding the global financial crisis.

"While progress has been madein recent years, India continues tolose a large amount of wealth in illic-it financial outflows," said GFIDirector Raymond Baker.

"Much focus has been paid in the

media on recovering the Indianblack money that has already beenlost," he said suggesting policymak-ers should instead curtail the ongo-ing outflow.

"$123 billion is a massive amountof money for the Indian economy tolose," said Dev Kar, GFI lead econ -omist and co-author of the reportwith GFI economist Sarah Freitas.

"It has very real consequences forIndian citizens. This is more than$100 billion dollars which couldhave been used to invest in educa-tion, healthcare, and upgrade the

nation's infrastructure," he said.A Nov 2010 GFI report, "The

Drivers and Dynamics of IllicitFinancial Flows from India: 1948-2008," found that the Indian econo-my lost $462 billion to illicit financialoutflows from 1948 through 2008.

Authored by Kar, the report mea-sured India's underground economyas 50 percent of GDP, with cumula-tive illicit outflows accounting for anincreasing share of the total under-ground economy.

The new GFI study also esti-mates the developing world lost atotal of $5.86 trillion to illicit out-flows over the decade spanning 2001through 2010. The $858.8 billion ofillicit outflows lost to all developingcountries in 2010 is a significantuptick from 2009, which saw devel-oping nations lose $776.0 billion.

GFI advocated that world lead-ers increase the transparency in theinternational financial system as ameans to curtail the illicit flow ofmoney highlighted by Kar andFreitas' research. IANS

$123bn ‘blackedout’ in 10 years

Shiv Sena ‘clearsout’ of Shivaji parkThe clearing out was done amidst tightsecurity at around 2.30am.

MUMBAI: Exactly amonth after Shiv Senachief Bal Thackeray’sdeath, his public crema-tion site from the historicShivaji Park ground in cen-tral Mumbai was removedamidst tight security earlyTuesday, a party leadersaid.

The clearing out wasdone amidst tight securityat Shivaji Park around2.30am in the presence of afew top party leaders,including city Mayor SunilPrabhu, Subhash Desaiand Shewale.

The entire operationwas carried out peacefullyat the dead of the nightthough a group of ShivSainiks were assembled

outside the 28-acre ShivajiPark precincts.

Last week, after ameeting with ChiefMinister PrithvirajChavan, party executivepresident UddhavThackeray softened hisstance on the issue andsaid that the cremation sitewould remain at ShivajiPark, but at a new location.

IANS

The report puts India’s underground economy at 50 per cent of the GDP.

THE GREAT INDIAN LOOT TRICK

POLITICAL DRAMA

Eshwarappa under graft scannerSHIMOGA: Karnataka BJP president and deputy CMKS Eshwarappa on Monday joined the growing num-ber of BJP leaders in the state to face graft probe.

Karnataka police attached to Lokayukta onMonday filed an FIR here marking the formal begin-ning of the probe into charges that Eshwarappa hadamassed wealth disproportionate to his known sourcesof income. Shimoga is Eshwarappa's hometown. TheFIR was registered on a complaint by a Shimoga advo-cate B Vinod in the Lokayukta court which has directedthe police to complete the probe and submit a report byFebruary 4. IANS

HAND IN GLOVE

WorldTUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

12THE WORLD’S WORST THIEVESA group of Romans who broke into a designer clothes shop at the weekend have provedthemselves to be possibly the world’s worst thieves after being caught pretending to beclothes mannequins. The three men – aged 55, 70 and 78 – are veterans of scores of shopbreak-ins stretching back decades and are well known to police, the Guardian reported.

LUNAR CRASHTwo Nasa probes crashed into themoon on Monday after spendingmonths gathering data by orbitingmiles above the lunar surface. Thesite where the tiny probes, dubbedEbb and Flow, crashed will be namedafter astronaut Sally Ride, the firstAmerican woman in space. Ride,who died earlier this year, had ledthe GRAIL mission’s MoonKam pro-ject for students from around theworld to choose targets for theprobes’ cameras. “Sally was all aboutgetting the job done, whether it bein exploring space, inspiring the nextgeneration, or helping make theGRAIL mission the resounding suc-cess it is today,” GRAIL principal

investigator Maria Zuber said.

Japan’s presumptive premierShinzo Abe got his US leadersmixed up Tuesday, when he toldbusiness chiefs he had beenspeaking to “President Bush” aftera phone call from Barack Obama.The gaffe came in one of Abe’sfirst speaking engagements sincehis landslide victory in weekendpolls that saw his LiberalDemocratic Party returned topower. Abe, was prime minister in2006-7 during the final years ofGeorge W Bush’s presidency.

ABE STILL IN BUSH ERA

NUMEROLOGY

139journalists were killed on the job in2012, a 30 per cent increase over

2011, the Press Emblem Campaign(PEC) said Monday.

We've got tobring everybody

to the table, includingthe gun manufactur-ers and the gun rightsgroups and the enter-tainment industryand just regularpeople.

Joe LiebermanUS Senator

UN makes travelallowance for TalibanUNITED NATIONS: The UNSecurity Council renewed its sanc-tions regime against the AfghanTaliban on Monday, but adapted itto help those on the blacklist traveloutside of Afghanistan for peacetalks. There are 132 individuals andfour entities on the current sanc-tions list, sources said.

AFP

Murdoch pays tribute toloving late motherMELBOURNE: Tycoon RupertMurdoch on Tuesday led memorialtributes for his mother, philan-thropist Dame Elisabeth Murdoch,saying she had always taught him tounderstand the impact of his actionson others. Murdoch gave the eulogyduring a state memorial service atSt Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

AFP

Remains of man inarmour found in JapanTOKYO: The remains of a high-caste man wearing armour who wasburied by hot ash — possibly as he tried to calm the wrath of anerupting volcano — have beenfound in an area known as the“Pompeii of Japan”. Archaeologistssay they have unearthed the well-preserved body of a sixth-centuryman.

‘China resists moves tosanction N Korea’UNITED NATIONS: China isresisting US-led efforts to order newsanctions against North Korea overits rocket launch and the UNSecurity Council could take weeks todecide a formal move, diplomatssaid. Gary Locke, US ambassador toBeijing, said Monday that China andthe United States are deeply dividedover tackling North Korea crisis.

NEWS BRIEFS

FISCAL CLIFF

STEPHEN COLLINSONAgence France-Presse

WASHINGTON: USPresident Barack Obama andRepublican House SpeakerJohn Boehner on Mondaymade strides towards a deal toavert a year-end tax andspending crisis that couldspark a recession.

Obama offered Boehner hislatest counter-proposal in a

tortuous negotiating processnow homing in on a January 1deadline, offering a majorcompromise on the incomelevel affected by his demand toraise taxes on the rich.

The latest plan would raisethe threshold at which higherrates would come into force tohouseholds earning $400,000 ayear and above, up from the$250,000 level on whichObama had earlier insisted.

Obama’s new proposaloffers $1.2 trillion in revenuehikes and an identical level inspending cuts designed to trimthe deficit, a source familiarwith the plan, designed toavert the “fiscal cliff” crisis,said.

The president had initiallyinsisted in $1.6 trillion in high-er revenue from raising taxesand then lowered the numberto $1.4 trillion.

Obama tax movespurs hopes

The US President’s new proposal offers $1.2 trillion in revenue hikes and an identical level in spending cuts.

LOS ANGELES: A Hollywoodpremiere of notoriously violentdirector Quentin Tarantino’s lat-est film Django Unchained wascanceled Monday, the latest suchresponse to the Connecticutschool massacre.

A string of movies and TVshows have been pulled or postponed since Friday’s shoot-ings, while sporting events haveheld moments of silence and players have worn blackarmbands to honor the victims,20 of whom were young children.

The Weinstein Company saidthat a premiere scheduledTuesday in Los Angeles ofDjango Unchained — which is dueto open on Christmas Day in UStheaters — had been called off.

“Our thoughts and prayersgo out to the families of the

tragedy in Newtown,Connecticut, and in this time ofnational mourning we havedecided to forgo our scheduledevent,” said a WeinsteinCompany spokesperson.

The studio will still hold ascreening for cast and crew andtheir friends and families, indus-try daily Variety reported.

Tarantino is known for screenviolence, in his movies from1992’s Reservoir Dogs to 2009’sInglorious Basterds.

In his new film a slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out torescue his wife from a brutalplantation owner.

Djangoscreeningcancelled

MADAMA: Israeli soldiers react as Jewish settlers from the Yitzhar settlement throw stones towardsPalestinian farmers from the northern West Bank village of Madama, on Monday, in the Israeli-occupiedWest Bank, near Nablus. Israeli soldiers came to the area to intervene in the fighting with left treePalestinian and one settler wounded. AFP/JAAFAR ASHTIYEH

SCHOOL SHOOTING

iPhones are selling like hotcakesin China. In two weeks the com-pany has sold 2 million of its lat-est device. This response in Chinaset a new record for the companywith the best first weekend salesever in China, Tim Cook, thecompany’s CEO said in a state-ment on Monday. “China is a veryimportant market for us and cus-tomers there cannot wait to gettheir hands on Apple products,”he said. In comparison, sale ofiPhones in India is just in thethousands.


Turning games into movies isthe latest trend, but Activisionhas made it clear that it has noplans to turn their successfulCall of Duty (CoD) franchiseinto a movie. In a profile for theNew York Times, the companyreveals that it received severaloffers from movie studios tomake CoD a film, but hasturned down every single one.The company states bluntly that“movies based on video gamesrarely please devoted fans andcould taint the brand.” Whilemany may think Call of Dutywould lend itself quite well to amovie, Kotick wants to keep thebrand healthy rather than riskcheapening it with a poorlymade film.

LIKE HOT CAKES...

MOVIE? WHAT FOR?

Twitter has started rolling out afeature that will let all usersdownload all their tweets.Twitter CEO Dick Costolo hadpromised this option a coupleof months back. According tothose who have the service,Twitter will email all yourtweets as a zip file once yourequest a backup. This is simi-lar to the archive systemFacebook offers for its users inEurope, but it is expected to berolled out to users globally thismonth itself. Now the biggestquestion is, what will you dowith all those old tweets ofyours?

Download tweets

Technology 13NEXT FRONTIER

KIRUNA: Sweden’s smallArctic town of Kiruna surpris-ingly has a international air-port with regular flights toLondon and Tokyo, but it haseven bigger plans: to offercommercial space flights.Spaceport Sweden, a compa-ny founded in 2007, hopes tobe able to provide the firstflights within a decade fromKiruna’s airport.

“We’re working on estab-lishing commercial flightsfrom Sweden to space fortourism and research, and tocreate a launching pad at theairport,” explained the com-pany’s enthusiastic director,Karin Nilsdotter, seated in heroffice at the Swedish Instituteof Space Physics (IRF). Theidea is that space touristswould take off for a maxi-mum two-hour trip into spaceaboard futuristic spacecraftcurrently undergoing testing,which resemble a crossbetween an airplane and aspace shuttle and which cancarry between one and sixpassengers.

The sub-orbital flights willsend passengers 100 kilome-tres (60 miles) above Earthand allow them to experiencefive minutes ofweight-

lessness. Kiruna’s location inthe far north of Sweden, andEurope, makes it a prime loca-tion for space flights,Nilsdotter said. The spaceflights would not be disturbedby heavy air traffic, nor is theregion a densely populatedarea. The wide-open spaceswithin Sweden’s borders alsomean no bureaucratic red-tape to be resolved with othercountries. Kiruna also has 60years experience of spaceresearch to its credit.IRF was

founded in 1957 and theSwedish space research androcket centre Esrange, locatedin the town, was founded in1966.

“We have to use thisknowledge to create a uniqueadventure with global impact:space travel,” Nilsdotterinsisted. “Even if it’s too earlyto give any figures, marketstudies show there is potentialfor 14,000 travellers after 10years of business,” she added.

Spaceport Sweden is notbuilding its own spacecraft,but will instead collaboratewith a company that is doingso, she says, refusing to dis-close how many spacecraft itwill operate nor the identityof its partner. In the UnitedStates, several companies arealready developing aircraftcapable of carrying spacetourists, such as RichardBranson’s Virgin Galactic.

“The technology isn’t fullydeveloped yet,” Nilsdottersaid, adding that the compa-nies were currently car-rying out

test flights in the UnitedStates. The first commercialspace flights are expected totake place in the United Statesin 2014 and a few years afterthat in Sweden.

The head of the Esrangespace research and rocket site,Lennart Poromaa, is mean-while more measured in hisenthusiasm for the project.

“In a few years there maybe commercial space flights,but it will take longer thanpeople think,” he said.Esrange pulled out of the pro-ject “because we’re not aboutcreating adventure”, heexplained. But “we could helpthem if they need help in thefield of research, possibly”,the aerospace engineer said.

According to Nilsdotter,space flights could take offfour times a day. Esrangemeanwhile launches fourrockets a year.

As commercial space flights start to pick up, this small Swedish

town is vying for the spot of Europe’s first space airport.

GATEWAY TO SPACE

Even though it istoo early to give

any figures, marketstudies show thatthere is a potentialfor 14,000 travellersafter 10 years of business.

Karin Nilsdotterdirector, Spaceport

Sweden

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

CommentTUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

14HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTSA group of Romans who broke into a designer clothes shop at the weekend have proved themselves to be possibly the world's worst thievesafter being caught pretending to be clothes mannequins. And we thoughtthis just happened in movies!

While names likeCleopatra andQ u e e nElizabeth andQueen Victoria

are known to people all over theworld as the first women to holdpower over kingdoms, laternames like Golda Meier (ex PMof Israel) or SirimavoBhandaranaike (ex Sri LankanPM) may be less well known tothem. Benazir Bhutto and AungSan Suu Kyi, not to mentionBangladeshi PMs, SheikhHasina and Khalida Zia andmany others includingPresidential candidate HillaryClinton show that women beingin or next in line to power is anincreasingly common phe-nomenon. Indira Gandhi’sproved that women can be dic-tators too!

But despite this list ofnames, to which one could addonly a handful more, the fact isfrom the time of the freedommovement women have beenwoefully under-represented inIndian politics. Annie Besantwas there, but she was fromabroad, and India had nowomen in the forefront exceptfor Jhansi ki Rani and some oth-

ers. When India got freedomonly women like VijayalakshmiPandit, Rajkumari Amrit Kaurand Aruna Asaf Ali, all fromwealthy aristocratic back-grounds, mattered in the newscenario.

Here are some facts aboutwomen in Indian politics.

The first woman PresidentPratibha Patil was elected onlyafter 50 years after indepen-dence.

The women who are MPs,MLAs, CMs or in power are allstill mainly either from privi-leged backgrounds meaningelite ones or upper caste, orfrom abroad (Sonia Gandhi). Asit was during the freedommovement, so is it now.

Mayawati is the first womanto emerge from the large num-ber of Indian women who arefrom the depressed castes, towield power. She is a landmarkfigure, like Indira Gandhi andPratibha Patil. Today India hasmany women politicians at alllevels but the number is still toofew.

SOME STATISTICS MAY HELPUS IN UNDERSTANDING THEISSUE MORE:The reservation system forwomen in India was introducedfirst at the Panchayat level inKarnataka in 1983 where 25% ofthe seats were reserved forwomen. Then in 1996 one-third(27%) of the seats in the

Parliament and State legisla-tures were reserved for women.

Kerala’s female literacy rateis more than 90%. Yet the per-centage of women in the state’slegislature rose only from 1% to6 % from 1967 to 1991.

While 33 per cent compulso-ry reservation is balanced and tobe fought for strongly, as per theWomen’s Reservation Bill, thereservation must go hand inhand with ensuring that theones who come to powerinclude not only the so-calledupper class or upper castewomen.

The number of women rep-resentatives should be in pro-portion with the populationratio.

India could be better off if

the ratio is steadily fifty-fifty inthe upper echelons and corri-dors of power.

A strong constant battlemust be fought for this to begained, including raising thequestion of why the Women’sReservation Bill, Constitution’s108th Amendment, has still notbeen presented to the LokSabha, two years since its beingpassed in the Raya Sabha.

The clarion call for women’sequality must still be heardthroughout the land: It is not yettime for women to sit back andrest on their laurels.

Dr Bina Biswas is the Head ofthe Department of English, TRR

Group of Educational Institutions,Jawaharlal Nehru Technological

University, Hyderabad.

Everyone who has had something to do with cricket is on MSDhoni’s case. When his stars shined bright, everyone was

flocking to him, showering him with praises, making and singingnew paeans about what a cool captain he was. And the icing on

the cap was the World Cup and his standing among cricketersrose phenomenally that it seemed to catch up with or rival those

of legends whose efforts spanned more than a decade. Now,Dhoni is a fallen angel, fallen from grace of immortals in the sky

and mortals on the earth. From the pinnacle of cricketing success,not even Dhoni might have imagined that his luck would go this

sour and his has lost his knack of making the right decisions atthe right time. One doubts if his batting technique was flawless,

but by virtue of raw power and excellent coordination,

he was not a bad bat at all. Remember the helicopter shot?Remember the match-winning knock and the six that clinched thecup? Remember the IPL and Champion’s league victories? Theseare but memories now. Failures and consequent criticism havechanged Dhoni from the brave man to one overly cautious anddefensive in thoughts. Greats and ‘former’ greats are intent uponsome swift change at the helm; many want Dhoni sacked and thetalented Virat Kohli made skipper. Well, if Dhoni is to go, there aremany more ripe to plucked. Cricket is a team game and the flawsof the team may not be piled on the man at the helm. Of course,the man in question does not refrain from taking the blame. Thething is to find out what are the real issues that have crippled ourteam, the world champions still, and address it.

EDITORIALS

READERS’ VIEWSWe invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to [email protected] or#1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222. Editor: Dean Williams

If you wish to suc-ceed in life, make

perseverance yourbosom friend, experi-ence your wise coun-selor, caution your elderbrother, and hopeyour guardiangenius.

Joseph Addison English essayist, poet REALITY CHECK

Bina Biswas

MILES TO GO BEFORE WE REST

It’s just notabout calendar

OSCAR [email protected]

The most precise andsophisticated calen-

dar ever created is only one ofthe legacies of the ancient Maya,

who also left their mark on thearts, architecture and cooking,

experts say.The Mayan "Long Count"

calendar says an era of morethan 5,000 years ends on

December 21 -- doomsday forsome but a reason to rejoice for

many others in Mexico and cen-tral America, where the civiliza-

tion once flourished.Millions of tourists are

expected in the region on Fridayto celebrate with fireworks, con-

certs and other spectacles held atmore than three dozen archeo-

logical sites."The Mayan calendar is not

just a matter of counting sec-onds, minutes and hours,"

Guatemalan anthropologistAlvaro Pop, a member of the

United Nations PermanentForum on Indigenous Issues,

told AFP.The calendar also representsa model showing "the move-

ments of celestial bodies and theway it affects human life in a

cyclical manner," Pop explained.That expertise enabled the

ancient civilization to detect theinfluence of celestial bodies on

tides, births and plants, henoted.

But the contributions of theancient civilization — whichreached its peak between theyears 250 and 900 — far tran-

scend their understanding of thestars, touching on everything

from architecture to textiles tofood.

The Mayas were the first togrow corn, some 3,000 years ago.Today, it remains the main staple

in cuisines across the region.AFP

Fallen angel


15IT RULES After the government issued guidelines on the controversial Section 66A

of the Information Technology Act, it is expected to soon come out withsimilar guidelines to clarify the Information Technology (IntermediariesGuidelines) Rules, 2011, that have also been heavily criticised.

DID YOU KNOW...

20%stake in Baffinland Iron Ore Mines

was handed to Nunavut, a privatelyheld company backed by US private

equity firm, Energy and MineralsGroup by the Luxembourg-basedArcelorMittal. The measure was

undertaken in order to cut costs ina sluggish global market

Cognizant Cognizant provides informationtechnology, consulting and BPOservices. These include business& technology consulting, systemsintegration, application develop-ment & maintenance, IT infras-tructure services, analytics, busi-ness intelligence, data warehous-ing, CRM, supply chain manage-ment, engineering & manufactur-ing Solutions, ERP, R&D outsourc-ing, and testing solutions. Likemany other IT services firms,Cognizant follows a global deliv-ery model based on offshore soft-ware R&D and offshore outsourc-ing. The company has a numberof offshore development centersoutside the United States, mainlyin India.

Sarcasm is not alicense to belittlesomeone. Saying“I was just joking”

doesn’t cut it.The timely and

appropriate use of humour

is an asset.Likewise,

distasteful orinappropriatelytimed humour

can be a signifi-cant liability.

Good humour canbring people

closer, but poorhumour can be astrong repellent.

Don’t usehumour to singlesomeone out,use it to helpthem acclimate.This makeshumour a prover-bial two edgedsword — it canslice through thetoughest of situ-ations , or cutsharply againstyou. When levityis used to appropriatelyease a burden orrelieve tension itis greatly appreciated.

KNOW YOUR COMPANY

WORKPLACE HUMOUR

WHAT TO GIVE?

workplaceSince you've picked up that

slip weeks ago and foundyourself in the enviable

position of being acolleague's Secret Santa,

you've been meaning to getthem things. Only, you

didn't. Now, it'salmost time and

you're in a panic.Don't be. Here is

a last minutegifting

guide foryou!

Playing secret SantaPADMINI. [email protected]

GIFTS FOR HERIt's true. Women are not the eas-iest to please when it comes togifts. But that said, there aresome things few women canresist. No, we don't mean dia-monds. If you don't know any-thing about sparkle and sizzle,refrain. Instead, go for ones thatwill make her love you. Likeheavenly smelling beauty prod-ucts designed to drive womenmad. If you have no idea whatwe are talking about go to BodyShop. Or Lush. Or Bath & BodyWorks. Or Forest Essentials. Orto Flipkart. And look for wordslike Cocoa or Shea Butter orCherry Blossom or MidnightRaspberry or Festive Cranberryor Honeysuckle. You're wel-come.

BOYS AND THEIR TOYS Contrary to what many think,it's not too difficult to shop for

men. That is, if you are willingto do some recon and find abouttheir interests and hobbies.Almost all yuppies will swearby one franchise or the other —be it Star Wars, Lord of the Rings,Big Bang Theory, Batman, Hulketc...

Original collectibles, fig-urines, memorabilia from thesebig names are all over the net,from websites which ship toIndia. If you can't find any, sim-ply choose a design and a t-shirtand get it printed from Printo orany custom-design sites. If youwant more ideas that tech freaksand geeks will dig, try sites likewhyiambroke, the gift company,ebay etc... which store some bril-liant gifts of the esoteric variety.From death star icecubes toSuper Mario wall posters, youwill be spoilt for choice, not tomention, a sure shot nomineefor the best Santa ever!

GOURMET GURUThere's nothing that can match

the joy of arriving at your deskduring Christmas and finding ashiny hamper full of seasonalgoodies. Have a custom-madehamper replete with plum cake,brownies, truffles, chocolates,candles, wine, ginger breadordered from an online site likeNature's Basket, Zansaar or TheGourmet Co., have it beautifullydecorated and delivered to yoursecret child who we assure, willlove you forever.

TOO GOOD TO RESISTIf you are absolutely out of timeand ideas, this one here is foryou. What's the gift? You. That'sright. You. Wait, what? Let usexplain. Make them a get-out-of-jail card or a be-nice-to-mecard which means that for 24hours, they own you. They canmake you fetch their coffee, dotheir presentations, take the heatfrom the boss, deliver their loveletters, sing at a karaokenight...or anything else they canthink of. It's carte blanche, so

use this only as a last resort andif you trust your secret childimplicitly. Also, like any couponworth it's salt would have, addsome fine print!

SAFE BETS If all of these seem like they aretoo much effort, go for the safebets — books, mugs, soft toys,piggy banks, planners, movies,a small christmas tree, a box ofchocolates..the list is endless.Many places across the city offerinteresting titbits, check outdcube, intouch, archies,himalaya book store and othersfor some inspiring ideas.

But whatever you give, besure to give it a personal touch.Write a letter to go with yourgift, or a poem or decorate theirdesk, if nothing else, make acard with a Christmas carol.

You are going to makingsomeone very happy and inreturn for your good deeds,your Santa will do the same foryou! Merry Christmas.

A STORY TO TELL Actor Amala Akkinenilaunched A Sailor’sStory at Film Nagar,on Monday.TammareddyBharadwaja, Dr KVRamanachary, TPrasanna Kumar, ArjunKrishnan, John gracedthe event. The book isthe autobiography oflate vice admiral NKrishnan.


18INDULGE YOURSELFJukebox Media introduces a one of a kind ‘The Indian Luxury Expo’. The expo which is ontill December 19, caters to a broad selection of luxury categories including travel, privateclubs, home fashion, accessories, apparel, personal care, wines and spirits and more. Theexpo is being held at the N-Convention Centre, Madhapur.

MUSICAL NIGHTThe most-awaited audio launch of Mahesh Babu-Venkatesh starrer Seethamma VakitloSirimalle Chettu was held at a grand function at Ramanaidu Studios, Nanakramguda,

recently. The film’s female lead Samantha and director Dil Raju were also present.

DOUBLE ENTERTAINMENT

spotlight

KHANTAKESOVERSuperstarSalman Khanwas in theCity onMonday to promote hisupcomingfilm Dabangg2. The eventwas held atThe Parkhotel.

AT SUNDOWNGuests at the Sundowner party held at

Quiksilver, Timberland and SteveMadden stores, Jubilee Hills could stop

gushing over how they enjoyed DJs-Kan-i, Murthovic and Siddie Boy's music.The party was held to celebrate the first

anniversary of the stores’ launch in the City.

Samantha

Mahesh Baby , Venkatesh

Namrata Shriodkar and son

Prakash Raj, Srinu Vaitla

Suma Dil Raju

1

2

3

4

5 6

1 2

3

5 6

4

S BALAKRISHNA

NOROVIRUS AFFECTS 750,000 BRITONSVisitors are being turned away from hospitals across Britain as the deadlynorovirus, commonly known as the "winter vomiting bug", is believed tohave affected 750,000 people. A cruise ship Azura, docked inSouthampton, carrying 3,059 passengers, has also reported an outbreak.health


19

As bizarre as it might sound,addiction to cosmetic surgery is

a very real thing for many.Despite being blessed with per-

fectly good looks, the need toimprove on their features candrive people to go under the

knife several times.

When 17-year-oldBharath insisted ongetting a plasticsurgery done, his

family was stunned. The teenag-er had no visible flaws and infact had been blessed with somevery sharp features, makinghim one of the better lookingboys in his college. Yet, Bharathinsisted he didn’t look good andwanted a complete face change.Though initially his familythought it was just a passingphase, they grew alarmed whenthe boy became depressed andadamant that his demand bemet. Worried, they took him to apsychiatrist for help.

“I tried talking him out of it,but he would not listen.

Sometimes he’d say he wantedAkshay Kumar’s features andsometimes it was ShahrukhKhan’s face that he’d covet,” saysDr Minhaj Naseerabadi, consul-tant psychiatrist at ApolloHospital.

Addiction to cosmeticsurgery is a disturbing realityand affects less than one per centof the population. While the fig-ure seems rather small, theresults are often disastrous.Multiple cosmetic surgeries oftenend up ruining one’s face, not tomention the large amounts ofmoney spent in this quest for aperfect face. In fact, there havebeen cases of celebrities goingunder the knife a 100 times ormore to improve their image.

“It majorly stems from thefact that most people have idolsand aspire to be like them. Theywant a nose like one celebrityand lips like another. While not

everybody can afford cosmeticsurgeries, there are some whodo. This dissatisfaction with theirbody image is tied to a conditioncalled body dysmorphia, wherean individual is never happy

with the way he/she looks.Sometimes it is the eyes thatbother them, sometimes theircheeks, sometimes their nose,ears or shape of their jaw. To setthis right they want a cosmetic

surgery. But getting a surgerydoes not help as after that theywill be dissatisfied with anotherbody part and want to improvethat,” explains Dr Minhaj.

He adds that the real problemhere lies with the individual’smind and not his/her looks. “Iftheir desired body image is notachieved they go into depressionor display psychotic behaviour,”he says.

“This obsession for cosmeticsurgery can be treated with anti-depressants for those who aredepressed and anti-psychoticsfor those with more severe symp-toms. Behavioural therapy andcounselling also play a veryimportant role in such cases.While the success rate is notalways 100 per cent, there arequite a few patients who havebeen able to overcome this addic-tion for cosmetic surgery,” DrMinhaj says.

ADDICTIONS

RANJANI [email protected]

Just 6 weeksJust 6 Weeks has fiveprograms: 100 push-ups,200 sit-ups, 150 dips, 200squats and 20 pull- ups.Other features includeautomatic timer for rest

between sets, reminders that notifyabout the upcoming workout, statisticson exercises and export/import data. Ithelps improve your level of fitness andreach your goal in six weeks.

Lichen planusThe onset of the rash is usually gradual,often first appearing on the flexor sur-face of the limbs. After a few days therash becomes more widespread, and itmay continue to spread for severalweeks. The spots of lichen planus areflat topped and pink-purple in colour.About one in 50 people develop thecondition, which most commonly affectsthose between the ages of 30 and 60,and women more often than men.

Babies stronger than oxBabies are, pound forpound, stronger than anox. While a baby certain-ly couldn’t pull a cov-ered wagon at its pre-sent size, if the child

were the size of an oxen it just mightvery well be able to. Babies have espe-cially strong and powerful legs for such tiny creatures, so watch out forthose kicks.

Ben CarsonBenjamin Solomon Carson is anAmerican neurosurgeon and the directorof Paediatric Neurosurgery at JohnsHopkins Hospital. In 1987 he becamethe first surgeon to successfully separateconjoined twins who had been joined atthe back of the head. He was awardedthe Presidential Medal of Freedom, thehighest civilian award in the UnitedStates, by President George W Bush in 2008.

NEWS BRIEFSAPP-LY YOURSELF HOUSECALL DID YOU KNOW? PIONEERS

Fight the plastic

addiction

The addictsn Joan Rivers: She has had mul-

tiple procedures done on lips,nose, jaws, brows etc to retainand improve her looks.

n CatMan: The CatMan began histransformation after he dreamtthat he should ‘follow the waysof a tiger.’ He has since had2,000 hours of surgery and tat-tooing to modify his eyes,upper lip, teeth and ears. Hehas even had fibreglasswhiskers implanted on his face.

n Lizard Man: He has had anestimated $250,000 worth ofsurgeries to have his ears andseptum pierced, teflon hornsimplanted above his eyes,tongue bifurcated and get

green scales to resemble a rep-tile. Talk about creepy.

n Sarah Burge: This formerPlayboy model is in theGuinness Book of WorldRecords for her over 100 cos-metic surgeries. She’s alsoknown as the real life Barbieand has spent over $850,000on rejuvenation surgery.

n Jocelyn Wildenstein:Nicknamed the Bride ofWildenstein (a reference to TheBride of Frankenstein) JocelynWildenstein has spent almost$4 million on cosmetic surgery,ending up as one of the worstand most famous cases of plas-tic surgery addiction.

Study: Olympians live 3 years longerSYDNEY: Olympians live near-ly three years long er than thegeneral population, regardlessof the country of origin, the cat-egory of medals or specificsport, a study said.

Researchers from theUniversity of Melbourne com-pared life expectancy among15,174 Olympic athletes whowon medals between 1896 and

2010 with general populationgroups matched by country,age, sex, and year of birth.

All medalists lived an aver-age of 2.8 years longer in eightout of the nine countries stud-ied, the British Medical Journalreports. Gold, silver and bronzemedalists enjoyed roughly thesame survival advantage, as didmedallists in both end urance

and mixed sports, ac cord ing toa Melbourne statement.

Medallists in power sportshad a smaller but still signifi-cant advantage over the generalpopulation. Philip Clarke, pro-fessor at Melbourne, said thestudy was not designed todetermine why athletes livelonger. “There are many possi-ble explanations, including

genetic factors, physical activi-ty, heal thy lifestyle, and thewealth and status that comefrom international sportingglory Perhaps the one thingthose of us who do not makethe Olympic team can do toincrease our life expectancy isto do regular exercise, whichdecreases the risk of big killerslike type-2 diabetes.” IANS

health TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 20

WASHINGTON: Scientistshave successfully used a gene toconvert ordinary heart cells intosuper-specialized pacemakercells to correct erratic and failingheartbeats.

“Although we and othershave created primitive biologicalpacemakers before, this study isthe first to show that a singlegene can direct the conversion ofheart muscle cells to genuinepacemaker cells,” said Hee CheolCho from the Cedars-Sinai HeartInstitute.

“The new cells generatedelectrical impulses spontaneous-ly and were indistinguishablefrom native pacemaker cells,”added Hee, study co-author,reported the journal NatureBiotechnology citing a Cedars-Sinai statement.

Pacemaker cells generateelectrical activity that spreads toother heart cells in an orderlypattern to create rhythmic mus-cle contractions. If these cells goawry, the heart pumps erratical-ly. Of the heart’s 10 billion cells,fewer than 10,000 are pacemakercells, referred to as SAN cells.

But the Cedars-Sinairesearchers, employing a virusengineered to carry the Tbx18gene, that plays a key role inembryonic pacemaker cell devel-opment, directly reprogrammedheart muscle cells to specializedpacemaker cells.

Once reprogrammed, thenewly created pacemaker cells -“induced SAN cells” or iSANcells - had all key features ofnative pacemakers and main-tained their SAN-like character-istics even after the effects of theTbx18 gene had faded.

“This is the culmination of 10years of work in our laboratoryto build a biological pacemakeras an alternative to electronicpacing devices,” said EduardoMarban, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and profes-sor, a pioneer in cardiac stem cellresearch. IANS

Correctingheartrhythms

BREAKTHROUGH

WASHINGTON: The blockageof a tiny blood vessel in thebrain can alter behaviour, evenbringing on dementia andAlzheimer’s in the long run,says a new finding.

“I am afraid that tinystrokes in our patients con-tribute — over the long term —to illness such as dementia andAlzheimer’s,” said Patrick DLyden, study co-author andhead of neurology, Cedars-SinaiMedical Centre in Los Angeles.

“This data shows us, for thefirst time, that even a tinystroke can lead to disability.Better tools will be required totell whether human patientssuffer memory effects from thesmallest strokes,” added Lyden,the journal NatureNeuroscience reports.

“It was surprising thatblocking one small vessel couldhave a discernable impact onthe behaviour of a rat,” saidAndy Y Shih, who completedthis work as a postdoctoral fel-low in physics at the Universityof California, San Diego.

Working with rats, Shih,now assistant professor at theMedical University of SouthCarolina, and colleagues, usedlaser light to clot blood at pre-cise points within small bloodvessels, according to a state-ment issued by the Universityof California, San Diego.

When they looked at thebrains up to a week later, theysaw tiny holes reminiscent ofthe widespread damage in thebrains of dementia patients, asseen during autopsy.

These micro-lesions are toosmall to be detected with con-ventional MRI scans, whichhave a resolution of about amillimetre. Nearly two dozen ofthese small vessels enter thebrain from a square mm of thebrain surface.

“It’s controversial whetherthat sort of damage has conse-quences, although the tide ofevidence has been growing ashuman diagnostics improve,”said David Kleinfeld, professorof physics and neurobiology,who led the research group.

Scientists trained thirsty ratsto leap from one platform toanother in the dark to get water.The rats readily jump if they

can reach the second platformwith a paw or their snout, orstretch farther to touch it withtheir whiskers.

Many rats can be trained torely on a single whisker if theothers are clipped.

“The whiskers line up inrows and each one is linked to aspecific spot in the brain,” Shihsaid. “By training them to usejust one whisker, we were able

to distill a behaviour down to avery small part of the brain.”

FDA-approved drugmemantine, prescribed to slowone aspect of memory declineassociated with Alzheimer’sdisease, was found effective inmaking the rats more alert. Thebrains of rats that received thedrug found fewer signs of dam-age, and the rats were also bet-ter able to negotiate gaps. IANS

DISCOVERY

FITNESS

To check if minute damage could alter behaviour, scientiststrained thirsty rats to leap platforms in the dark to get water.

Tiny stroke could bringon Alzheimer’s

EntertainmentTUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

21GAUTHAM’S INSPIRATION

Pizza to release onDecember 28

Vijay Sethupathi, RemyaNambeesan starrer

Pizza is all set to hit thescreens on December 28.Karthik Subbaraj haddirected this criticallyacclaimed Tamil film andSuresh Kondeti is produc-ing the dubbed version inTelugu. Pizza has alreadybeen hailed as one of thebest Tamil films of the year.

Government cancels VATon films?

According to the latest reports,the AP state government has

decided to cancel the VAT it hadlevied on films. Apparently,Chiranjeevi, who's now a centralminister for tourism, was instru-mental in convincing the govern-ment to repeal this tax. Severalbigwigs in the industry have wel-comed this move and thankedChiranjeevi for making it possible.

Lawrence lands in a soup

Raghava Lawrence has beeninstructed by the Telugu film

producers council to pay `2.5crore to J Bhagawan and PullaRao, the producers of Prabhas,Tamannaah starrer Rebel. Fewmonths ago, the duo had filed acomplaint against Lawrence forovershooting the budget of thefilm despite agreeing to make itwithin a budget of `22.5 crore.

CINE BYTES

I am a big fan of Mani Ratnam's films Gautham Menon has carved a

niche for himself when itcomes to making romanticfilms and he confesses that he's

a big fan of Mani Ratnam's films. "ManiRatnam's Nayagan is the reason why Idecided to become a film director. Hisfilms, especially the way he shootsromantic scenes, have had a hugeinfluence on me. I still remembertaking down notes of shot divi-sions while watching ManiRatnam's Bombay in the the-atre," Gautham Menon says.His recently film YetoVellopoyindhi Manasu has a ref-erence to Mani Ratnam's Sakhi.“It's true that I was payinghomage to Sakhi in my film.The sequence where Varungoes to Manapad to meetNithya is inspired from a simi-lar sequence in Sakhi and youcan also spot the similarities inthe depiction of Nithya's sisters,"he confessed.

The break up scene justbefore the interval in YetoVellipoyindhi Manasu hascome under a lot of criticismin terms of how it was shot.So why did he chose to showboth Nani and Nithya from adistance instead of trying tocapture their emotions? "Thereare three break up scenes in thefilm and I wanted to try some-thing unconventional with thissequence. If you observe closely,the entire scene unfolds in real timeand I wanted to show the variation intheir body language. You can see that inthe way Nithya gets all excited whenVarun tells her about him going to IIMand later on how Varun trips while try-ing to argue with Nithya about theirrelationship. It was necessary to shootall this in a single shot rather thantaking close ups which would havebroken the flow," Gautham Menonexplains.

The film starring Nani andSamantha opened to a goodresponse in Andhra Pradeshand the US. C Kalyan, theproducer, stated that the filmcollected a share of close to `2 crore in the first three daysof its release and in US, thefilm grossed more than$150,000 in the first threedays. Ilayaraja has composedthe music.

Entertainment TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 22PARINEETI FORCED TO GIVE UP AKSHAY HOPES

Irrfan doesn’t taketitles seriously

Acclaimed actor Irrfan,who has international

projects like SlumdogMillionaire, The AmazingSpider Man and Life of Pito his credit, does not takeit seriously when peoplecall him a Hollywood star.“It feels great when peoplesay that, but honestly spe -aking I have never takenthese titles seriously. And Iwill never do,” Irrfan said.

IANS

Ishkq In Paris to releasein 2013

Preity Zinta’s comeback filmIshkq In Paris, which has been

getting delayed for various rea-sons, will see the light of the daynext year.

“For all of you asking why‘Ishkq In Paris’ will release in2013. We got delayed finishing itdue to my director falling sick.Besides that it looks great,” Preitytweeted Sunday. IANS

Won’t leave TV even afterTalaash: Pariva Pranati

Actress Pariva Pranati, whomade her Bollywood debut

with Reema Kagti’s Talaash, saysshe will not leave television forfilms, because this is where shehad started her acting career.“Television was where I startedand I will not leave it as I haveentered Bollywood. But I havealways tried to do different work,”Pariva says. IANS

CINE BYTES

While Ranveer Singhhas happily signed

films outside theYash Raj banner,

his Ladies v/s Ricky Bahl co-starParineeti Chopra seems tied

down by a binding contract thatdoesn’t give her the same free-

dom.It is being said that Parineetiwas very keen to sign for the

Hindi remake of Tamil block-buster Thuppakki, directed by A

Murugadoss. She was offeredthe film by producer Vipul Shah

on behalf of the director. Apparently, the Hindi ver-

sion’s lead actor Akshay Kumarwas also interested in getting

her on board for the project,but Yash Raj Films wouldn’t

release Parineeti to do the pro-ject, as she is bound by con-

tract.Aditya Chopra has refused

the idea of Parineeti workingin a film outside the YRF ban-ner, when she is shooting for

their new film with directorManeesh Sharma opposite

Sushant Singh Rajput.Akshay also inter-

vened in the hope of someflexibility in Parineeti’s

schedule, but to no availand hence Sonakshi

Sinha was signed on.Confirming this,

director A. Murugadosssaid, “We tried really

hard for Parineeti. Butshe was committed by

contract to a projectwith Yash Raj Films.”

Interestingly,Vipul Shah’s sched-

ules for the“Thuppakki”

remake don’t clashwith the ManeeshSharma film at all.

YRF putsParineeti

on aleash

Entertainment TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 23


Mark Wahlberg talksTransformers 4

When it was announcedthat Shia Labeouf

would not be returning forTransformers 4, the oddswere on Mark Wahlbergbecoming his replacement.According to the star, hecan’t wait to get started.“That’s why Transformerscame about, because we hadsuch a great time workingtogether [on Pain and Gain],”says Wahlberg.

Greta Garbo's personaleffects sell for $1.6mn

The personal effects of the lateHollywood actress Greta Garbo

were sold at auction this week-end. The belongings took in$$1.6m (£992,000), three timesthe estimated total. Garbo's sun-glasses, furs and Ferragamo shoeswere among the items sold."Greta Garbo commandedMarilyn Monroe prices today,"said Martin Nolan, executivedirector of Julien's Auctions.

Madonna has 2012’sbiggest tour

With 72 sold-out shows sup-porting Mdna, Madonna's

endlessly controversial tourearned $228 million, bestingBruce Springsteen's second-place$199 million earned over 72 gigsand way besting Lady Gaga's$125 million earned across 65concerts. Hot tickets like Jay-zand Kanye West, Justin Bieber,and Taylor Swift all raked in quitea bit less, but they also all playedless than half as many shows asMadonna.

CINE BYTESSHE’S GOT THE ‘LOOKS’

KATIE HOLMESvoted

'best revenge'body

Actress Katie Holmes' svelte figurehas been named 'best revengebody' of 2012, in an annual listcompiled by Fitness magazine.

The 33-year-old split from superstarhusband Tom Cruise in June after six yearsof marriage and won full custody of theirsix-year-old daughter Suri.

The magazine ranked the 33-year-oldactress' figure slightly ahead of singer KatyPerry's post break-up body, reports contact-music.com.

Holmes is frequently spotted attendingspinning classes here at the popularcelebrity exercise centre Soul Cycle. Shealso maintains her petite curves by stickingto a diet rich in vegetables and fruit.

Blake Lively was awarded 'best legs' inthe poll, while Jennifer Lawrence wasvoted 'best curves'.

IANS

Chai TimeTUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

26

ACROSS1 ‘If ___ a rich man ...’6 New newts10 Routine learning

method14 Early wake-up hr15 Tide between springs16 Wild goat with huge

horns17 Meaning of life20 Miles ___ hour21 Discharge, as radiation22 Prepares for the next

turn in the alley23 Fiber-___ cable25 K ennedy Space

Center org26 Central church area28 Functionless feature

on a furry foot32 Figure skating jumps34 ‘Could I interject?’35 Navigation system

display38 Exact duplicate42 Ending for extremists43 Negative votes44 ‘___ Marner’ (George

Eliot work)45 Subjects for analysts48 Egyptian Christian

church member49 ‘___ shalt not steal’51 Caused to hobble53 They show the Virgin

Mary

55 Distinctive atmo-sphere

56 Informal repaymentpromise

59 Best times for flying,weather-wise

62 Pepper mate63 Opening chip64 It's signaled by a

white flag65 ‘... and another thing’66 Military meal67 Made bearable

DOWN1 Words after ‘the jig’ or

‘your time’2 ___ E Coyote of

cartoons3 Certainly no

wallflower4 Thor Heyerdahl's

ill-fated papyrus craft5 Actor M ___ Walsh6 Dangle a carrot in

front of7 Parts of a yard8 Do some soft-shoe9 Cowboy's boot spike10 It cuts with the grain11 They're found among

the reeds12 Seed covering13 Former flames18 Surrounded by19 Gives a new title

24 Ill-gotten loot,perhaps

26 Scruff of the neck27 Tree fellers29 ‘America's Most

Wanted’ host John30 Tai ___31 Albanian currency

unit33 Sultry35 Tuneful36 Pronto, in office

speak37 Soft ‘Hey, you!’39 Playing hard-to-get40 Private eye41 Naughty alternative45 Kind of salad or

chips46 Ducks and dodges47 Garment of India49 Word with ‘basin’ or

‘wave’50 They may be kicked

off or kicked up52 Lusterless finish53 Leaning Tower city54 Grifter's forte55 Insects on farms57 Less than

occasionally58 Pre-owned60 Sixty minutes

past 1261 Nest egg component,

for short

KAKURO QUICK CROSSWORD

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

How to playkakuroKakuro is a populargame similar to sudokuin some ways. But is alsosuitably different. Thekey question: ‘How doyou play kakuro?’, wellhere are the rules ofkakuro. The answer: Thekakuro grid, unlike insudoku, can be of anysize. It has rows andcolumns, and dark cellslike in a crossword. And,just like in a crossword,some of the dark cellswill contain numbers.Some cells will containtwo numbers.

However, in a cross-word the numbers refer-ence clues. In a kakuro,the numbers are all youget! They denote thetotal of the digits in therow or column refer-

enced by the number.Within each collection

of cells — called a run— any of the numbers 1to 9 may be used but,like sudoku, each num-ber may only be usedonce.Let’s have anexample to explain thisconcept more clearly:

In the imageabove, which shows asection of a kakuro puz-zle, you will see thenumbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ inthe top row. Look at the14. This means that thetotal of the three cellsunderneath must sum to14. Therefore 9, 4, 1could be the answer, orperhaps 7, 4, 3 and so

on... So, how do you work

out the actual combina-tion? Well, this is donethrough elimination andcross-referencing. Forinstance, as you workout the answers forother kakuro clues, thiswill naturally limit thevalid combinations, andhence the answer forthis particular run.

Note the second cellin row two — it containstwo numbers, 30 and11. The 30 refers to thevertical run underneaththe number 30 and the11 refers to the two cellsto the right, horizontally,of the number 11.

Play & Winvoucher from VENKEY’S VEG Restaurant, Nampally


SUDOKU


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

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

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TAROT READ

Chai Time TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 27

STAR POWER

STRIP TEASE

Vol: 2, No 152 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 – 500033and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved.

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for 19-12-2012 As per Hindu panchang

for 19-12-2012

ARIESYou will execute your workswith patience. Your skills willget sharpened. Friends whobenefitted through you willextend their support and alsorequired help. Legal issues willbe over. You will earn a goodname in the society.

ARIES: Three of Cups – Athird person may be interfering in aromantic relationship. It could be amother or a sibling, who is anxiousand worried about you constantly.

GEMINI: Two of Wands –This is a waiting period. All yourplans have taken off but are takingtime to move forward. Be patientand don’t push the panic button yet.

LEO: Knight of Cups – Yo -u’re discovering the romantic in youand didn’t know you could be so sm -itten. Enjoy the time with partner andmake commitments carefully.

LIBRA: The Hermit – This isthe lonely hermit in search of thetruth. This is a journey you need toundertake on your own. You’ll comeout of it feeling more empowered.

TAURUS: King of Pentacles– Beware of jealous coworkers whomight try to ruin your well laid plans.You may not be able to avoid it. Butyou should know.

CANCER: Page of Cups –You’re young in love, and don’t careabout what the world thinks. You feelas though you’re ready to deepen acommitment. Think before you act.

VIRGO: Ace of Wands –This is a creative phase when youfeel that your creative ideas will takeyou the distance. This is true to alarge extent.

SCORPIO: Queen ofWands – You want to be left aloneand wish to spend time thinking andplanning your next phase of life. Yourfamily and friends will understand.

CAPRICORN: Three ofPentacles – You may feel you’re stuckin a rut or in a hopeless situation. Yo -u have the power to change this byproactively working towards goals.

SAGITTARIUS: The Hang -ed Man – Spiritual awareness is theneed of the hour. You find it difficult tostrike a balance between the de mandsof the material and spiritual worlds.

AQUARIUS: Five of Swords– Avoid conflict at all costs. But thisdoes not mean you should hide thereal person that you are while inter-acting with people.

PISCES: Death – There isgo ing to be a big change in your wo - rk, relationship and living situati ons.It’s change that you cannot really av -oid. Might as well go with the flow.

TAURUSChildren will make you proudby their wise activities. Parents'health problem will be over.Em ployees need to be alertwhile working. Complete allwork in time with perfection sothat your elevation will happen.Businessmen need to be alert.

GEMINIPoliticians will not get favourand full support of the highcommand. Avoid magnifyingissues and new efforts. Farmerswill sell their complete producewith a decent gain. They will actaccording to the competition.Avoid fresh investments.

CANCERYour mind will get clear and st -art thinking innovatively. Per so -ns of high esteem will extendhelp. Work delayed since longwill end successfully. Share fa -m i ly concerns with childrenwithout an ego. Businessmenmight face competition.

LEOFinancial position looks strong.Dissatisfaction over friends andrelatives will disappear. Litiga -tion in ancestral property willget cleared. House constructionheld up half way will resume.Employees may be overbur-dened with new responsibilities.

VIRGOBusinessmen will not get enou -gh co-operation from partnersbut they don't create any trou-ble either. Employees to adjustwell with their colleagues. Inco -me will be steady. Avoid expen -ses over luxurious things. Fath -er's health needs attention.

LIBRAEmployees will get co-opera-tion from their superiors. Alltheir demands will be acceptedby the management and ful-filled. Businessmen might faceminor hurdles but they managewell through bold decisions.Income will multiply.

SCORPIOYour bold decisions will yielddesired results. VIPs will be ofgreat help. You will fulfill wishesof spouse and children. Child -ren will realise their opportunityand act wisely. Friends and rela-tives from abroad will extendtheir wholehearted help.

SAGITTARIUSBusinessmen can expect attrac-tive margins. Avoid getting irri-tated. Religious thoughts willoccupy the mind. Those whowant to start new ventures cango ahead. You will achieve suc-cess in all work. You will helpthe needy with a kind gesture.

CAPRICORNFriends and relatives will ex -tend full co-operation to you.Though there may be differ-ences in opinions at home,harmony will not be affected.Businessmen will earn goodprofit but travel will increase.Women to take care of health.

AQUARIUSYou are destined to grow butcaution is needed in all effortsput in. At office, flexibility andsoft approach will pay off, rath -er than using power. Personsdealing with cash need to con-centrate as negligence couldprove very costly.

PISCESYou will complete all work bol -d ly and with a determination.Dull period in business will dis-appear and hard work will yieldbrisk business. You encouragesubordinates and get workdone smoothly. Those sufferingchronic disease will get relief.

AGNES

NON SEQUITUR

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

POOCH CAFE

BoggleBAY SEA POND LAKE OCEAN LAGOON

SUDU

KO

NUM

BER

GAM

ESC

RABB

LE

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 28Entertainment

The three-year-oldIndie music

festival NH7Weekender, afterhitting Pune and

Delhi, finally concluded inBangalore last weekend. Sixty

bands that included veteranIndie acts, new performers and

headliners packed in enoughnoise to keep the crowds cheer-

ing. Day one saw perfor-mances from the UK based

Fink who is known tohave worked with Amy

Winehouse, the IdanRaichel Project infusedsome fusion with theirmusic, local favouritesThermal and A Quarter

(TAAQ) played with a littlehelp from their friends, folk-

tronica veterans Papon &the East India Company

persuaded thecrowd to explode

THEBIG

DRAWS

SHALAKA PAI

ELIZABETH SOUMYA

ELIZABETH SOUMYA

ELIZ

ABET

H SO

UMYA

ELIZ

ABET

H SO

UMYA

The Staves

Testament

Fink

Warren Mendonsa of Blackstratblues

RandolphCorreia ofShaa’ir+ Func

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 29Entertainment

India's ‘happiest’ musicfestival, Bacardi NH7Weekender, saw performances from 60bands. We take youthrough the musicalmoments of the twodays in pictures.

into dancing. Day two saw per-formances from popular bandslike Indian Ocean, SusheelaRama, Bangalore-based RaghuDixit Project. The festival's rockstage turned out to be popularwith performances by InnerSanctum, Kryptos,Blackstratblues, Parikrama,Goddess Gagged, BangaloreMetal Project, Scribe andPeriphery. This stage also saw aperformance by the metal rockoutfit Testament, the biggestname in the line-up. The festivalmade space for an interestingreggae-hip-hop stage, the Dubstation, that saw a performanceby Reggae Rajahs and foreignacts such as Ziggi Recado andHerb-A-Lize It among others.All in all, it left some overwhelmed and most happy.

SHALAKA PAI DEV AMBARDEKAR

SHALAKA PAI

VIVEK MANEK

TestamentSusheela

Raman

MidivalPunditz

Raghu Dixit

Martina T

IndianOcean

ABHIMANYU GHOSHAL

SHALAKA PAI

sports TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 30

Brief ScoresAt Dhanbad: Jharkhand 257 &20 for no loss vs Andhra 410 (AMajumdar 180, D Shivkumar 57,AG Pradeep 56 S Rao 4/98).At Lucknow: UP 227 & 217/4(Tanmay Srivastava 73, EkalvyaDwivedi 51 n.o.).vs Haryana 276 (Rahul Dewan93, Joginder Sharma 65; AnkitRajpoot 6/68, Imtiaz Ahmed3/88).At New Delhi: J&K 85 & 269(Ram Dayal 58, Manik Gupta 62,Nishan Singh 5/73, Suraj Yadav4/79) vs Services.At Vadodara: Baroda 208 &116/4 (Aditya Waghmode 39;Jagannathan Kaushik 3/23) vsTamil Nadu 230 (RamaswamyPrasanna 75, Baba Aparajith 62;Murtuja Vahora4/36).At Rajkot: Mumbai 606/5 decl(Aditya Tare 222, Rohit Sharma166; Kamlesh) vs Saurashtra248/8 (Aarpit Vasavada 83 n.o.,Jaydev Shah 60).At Kolkata: Hyderabad 115 &181 (Shami Ahmed 6/71, LRShukla 3/38) lost to Bengal 116& 183/6 (Rohan Banerjee 56,Wriddhiman Saha 52 n.o.,Anwar Khan 3/68).At Agartala: Kerala 400 vsTripura 127 & 70 /3.At Porvorim: HP 338 (AmitKumar 86, Mukesh Sharma 73;Gauresh Gawas 4/109) vs Goa347/8 (Reagen Pinto 85 n.o.,Swapnil Asnodkar 81; RahulSingh 4/71).At New Delhi: Maharashtra 196& 266 (Harshad Khadiwale 96,Ankit Bawne 55, Sumit Narwal3/48, Pradeep Sangwan 3/64) vsDelhi 193.

Lotus retain Grosjean for 2013seasonPARIS: Formula One team Lotus signedup talented if sometimes reckless Frenchdriver Romain Grosjean for another seasonon Monday ending several weeks of spec-ulation over his future.

The 26-year-old Swiss-born pilot, whomade his debut in Formula One in 2009,finished a respectable eighth in last sea-son’s championship with a total of 96points.

He finished in the top three three timesbut also featured in several crashes.

The most notable and perhaps costlyone was at the beginning of the BelgianGrand Prix which claimed among its vic-tims Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who wasto go on and finish second in the worldtitle race, just three points behindSebastian Vettel.

Pope Benedict XVI denouncesdoping in sportVATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI hascalled on athletes to avoid “shortcuts suchas doping” to improve their performances,he told the Italian Olympic delegation onMonday.

“The pressure to obtain results shouldnever push athletes to take shortcuts suchas doping,” the Pontiff told a group ofsome 200 people who had gathered at theVatican .

“Sport should be marked by loyalty incompetition, respect for the body and thesense of solidarity but also joy and the sat-isfaction of a celebration,” he went on toadd.

“The culture of sport should be basedon the human being, a sport dedicated toman and not man dedicated to sport,” hesaid.

Disappointing that DRS wasn’tused: MorrisLONDON: England Managing DirectorHugh Morris feels India’s decision of notallowing the Decision Review System’susage in the just-concluded Test series wasdisappointing after touring captainAlastair Cook fell victim to a couple ofdubious decisions.

Cook, who was the hero of England’s2-1 series win with 568 runs in all, wasgiven out caught behind on the fourth dayof the fourth Test in Nagpur despitereplays suggesting no contact betweenbat and ball.

The opener was dismissed lbw in thefirst innings but replays suggested that theball was missing leg stump.

“We made our views pretty clear at thebeginning of the series. We believe DRSimproves decision-making on the field.

LONDON: Rory McIlroy (in pic) has ended theyear as world No.1 for the first time with acomfortable lead at the top of the official rank-ings over Luke Donald and Tiger Woods.

The 23-year-old Ulsterman won four tour-naments during the year including his secondmajor at the USPGA Championships in August

That allowed him to break free of a year-long logjam atop the rankings involving him-self, Donald and Lee Westwood.

Charl Schwartzel and Sergio Garcia end theyear 14th and 16th in the world respectivelyafter their weekend wins in South Africa andMalaysia.

Dane Thorbjorn Olesen held on to 50th spotby 0.01 ranking points from Australian GeoffOgilvy and so earns himself a US Mastersdebut next April.

NEW DELHI: The BCCI onMonday shot down BJP’s de -mand of cancelling the Indo-Pak cricket series in the wakeof visiting Pakistan InteriorMinister Rehman Malik“insulting” India, insistingthat the matches would beheld as scheduled.

“There is no question ofcalling off the tour. All the ar -rangements have been madeand the tour was plannedmuch earlier. Politics shouldnot be mixed with sports andthe tour will go on,” BCCIofficial and IPL ChairmanRajiv Shukla told PTI.

On Sunday in theParliament, the BJP hadaccused Home MinisterSushilkumar Shinde ofremaining silent by notresponding appropriately toMalik, who triggered contro-versy by equating 26/11Mumbai attack with BabriMasjid demolition anddescribing LeT terrorist AbuJundal as an operative ofIndian intelligence agency.

Won’t calloff Pakistanseries: BCCI

RANJI TROPHY

So Super pleasesSo Super, Maharadhi, Guiding Light and Over Shadow pleased when

the horses were excercised here this morning.Sand Track 800 Metres:Audacious (rb) 59, 600/44.5Moved freely. 2y.Symboll OfVictory (Nitin Singh) 1-2,600/46 Easy. 2y.Forest Finger(Joshi) 1-3, 600/48 Easy.Rosemead (S.Nayak) 1-2.5,600/47.5 Moved freely. CastleTown (rb) 1-0 600/46.5Unextended. 2y.Lots Of Love(Kiran Naidu) 1-0, 600/46 Easy.

Sand Track 1000 Metres:Maharadhi (rb)1-12.5, 800/58,600/43.5 Moved well. GuidingLight (Sai Vamshi) 1-13.5,800/58, 600/43 Moved well.

Sand Track 1200 Metres:Over Shadow (rb) 1-30,

1000/1-15, 8001-0, 600/46Easy. Saravagnya (Henrique) 1-31.5, 1000/1-16.5, 800/1-1.5,600/45.5 Moved freely. SoSuper (Kiran Naidu) 1-26.5,1000/1-12, 800/58, 600/44.5Pleased. Cristiano (KiranNaidu) 1-31, 1000/1-14,800/59, 600/44 Movedon the bit.Noted on Monday17/12/2012.

Sand Track 800 Metres:Vijays Winner (Togrolu) 1-3,600/47 easy. Ruffiano (app) 58,600/43.5 Moved on the bit.

Sand Track 1000 Metres:Rocking Racer (app) 1-18,

800/1-2, 600/46 Easy.

Sand Track 1200 Metres:Young Sapper (Togrolu) 1-33,1000/1-18, 800/1-3, 600/49Eased.

Mock Race 1000 Metres:Dartos The Muscle (MukeshKumar) Wolverton (M.Mark)Ground Crew (Dileep) YetAgain (Togrolu) In Reality(Harinder Singh) Emerald Reef(K. Alam) Maid For Love(Deepak Singh) 1-3, 800/49,600/38 Maid For Love slowlyoff and first three were thepick.Noted on Sunday16/12/2012.

Sand Track 800 Metres:2y.Sherman Oaks (S.Nayak)2y.Goldie (Christopher) 59,600/44 They moved together. Perfect (Pawar) 1-3,600/48 Easy. 2y.Fenway Court (S.Nayak) 2y.ParExcellence (Christopher) 58,600/44 Former finished alength in front. PrincePrashant (Christopher)Excluisve (S.Nayak) 59, 600/43They moved together.Caladium (rb) 58, 600/43Moved well. Saravagnya (rb) 59,600/44 Moved freely. SeaRunner (S.Nayak) 2y.Beau Ideal (Christopher) 58, 600/44 They movedtogether.

HYDERABAD TRACK WORK

GOLF RANKINGS

SPORTS BRIEFS

1. (3) Rory McIlroy (NIR) 13.22pts2. (1) Luke Donald (ENG) 8.623. (23) Tiger Woods (USA) 8.534. (18) Justin Rose (ENG) 6.425. (5) Adam Scott (AUS) 6.216. (40) Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 6.147. (2) Lee Westwood (ENG) 6.038. (21) Bubba Watson (USA) 5.309. (33) Jason Dufner (USA) 5.2910. (38) Brandt Snedeker (USA) 5.2311. (10) Webb Simpson (USA) 5.1312. (16) Ian Poulter (ENG) 5.0013. (31) Keegan Bradley (USA) 5.0014. (9) Charl Schwartzel (RSA) 4.9015. (13) Graeme McDowell (NIR) 4.8116. (17) Sergio Garcia (ESP) 4.7417. (14) Phil Mickelson (USA) 4.6918. (6) Steve Stricker (USA) 4.6519. (42) Peter Hanson (SWE) 4.5920. (12) Nick Watney (USA) 4.54

Final 2012 rankings(‘11 ranks in brackets) Rory ends year on top

sports TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012 31ENGLAND’S TOUR OF INDIA

SRI LANKA VS AUSTRALIA LEAGUE CRICKET

Captain Cook finally con-quered the one frontierwhich has been eludingthe England cricket

team for the last 28 years.A 2-1 series victory against

India away was well-deservedand did not fully reflect the com-mitment and hard work put inby Alistair Cook and his men.

Everything went against theEnglish at the start of the tour.They were denied practiseagainst spin by the Indianauthorities.

India blatantly called forspinning wickets at all venues.England certainly started theunderdogs and another bleakSub-continent demise was on thecards. This was reinforced asEngland slid to a defeat by ninewickets on a turning wicket atAhmedabad.

India were on course to dom-inate another home season. Itneeded a great effort by Englandto avoid another debacle.

And they did. It just meantbreaking away from the old for-mula of three pacemen and theone spinner syndrome.

How well it worked. Theyincluded Monty Panesar and thefortunes turned.

Both Panesar and GraemeSwann out-tricked and out-bowled the Indians on their ownbackyard.

Once they established thatdominance, England had the

ageing Indian team on the mat.The batting began to

improve. And Cook showed theway on how to play spin.

Cook went big with his bat-ting. And this helped Englandovercome the spin blues.

Every batsman contributedone way or another. KevinPietersen scored a magnificentcentury in Mumbai. His 186 on arank turner was sensational.

Nick Compton was steady

and helped Cook to set up bigopening stands.

Then Jonathan Trott and theout of form Ian Bell got hundredsas England cruised to safety andclinch the series. Joe Root wassuperb on debut.

As Cook was a major factor atthe top, so was Matt Prior in thelower middle. Prior showed hiscapability as a top order batsmanand used the sweep shot fre-quently to negate the spinners.

An unlikely hero was fastbowler Jimmy Anderson. Onunsuitable wickets, he resortedto using reverse swing to priseout the Indian batsmen.

India were down in thedumps after the victory in thefirst Test. The fighting spiritevaporated and they limpedthrough to defeat in the next two.

They were poor in all aspectsof the game. Renowned playersof spin were reduced to staticwillow wielders.

There was no attempt todominate the spinners. Many felldue to lack of judgement onwhether to play off the back footor front foot.

This approach angered fans.The call for spinning wickets fellflat on the Indians.

Sachin Tendulkar wentthrough the horrors. A nationalhero was often ridiculed for hisdismissals in almost the samemanner every Test.

It was not until the last Testthat some hope emerged. The outof sorts Virat Kohli and skipperMahendra Singh Dhoni put up afight.

The spin bowlers were dis-appointing. RavichandranAshwin batted better than hebowled. Pragyan Ojha could notextract the same venom asPanesar. It was ridiculous toinclude four spinners and thesole paceman for the final Test.As it was, Both Anderson andIshant Sharma did well.

India need to do a lot of soul-searching. The string of defeatsagainst major teams has to behalted, even if it means a clear-out of some of the star players.

Indian cricket must involveonce again. A few bold decisionswill have to be made.

The selectors will have to riseabove the petty politics andzonal and seek what is best forthe team.

The staunch Indian fansalways live in hope. Time to givesomething back to them.

HOBART, AUSTRALIA:Australia were struggling to fin-ish off the Sri Lankan resistanceand push on for victory on thefinal day of the first Hobart Teston Tuesday.

The Australians removed SriLanka's key batsmen MahelaJayawardene and Kumar Sang -akkara but were hitting a brickwall to make further inroadsinto the tourists' batting.

At tea, Australia were sixwickets away from victory withSri Lanka 186 for four withThilan Samaraweera not out 38and Angelo Mathews on 11.

Victory appeared out of thequestion for the tourists with SriLanka still 207 runs away fromthe 393-run target heading intothe final session of the Testmatch. Australian skipperMichael Clarke even broughtwicketkeeper Matthew Wadeinto the bowling attack with his

lively medium pace utilised fora maiden final over before thetea adjournment.

Samaraweera survived areview on 18 after being givenout leg before wicket to Siddlein the 74th over after the TVumpire found he was struckoutside the line. AFP

Brother John Of God U-14Bhavans Rama Krishna Vidyalaya315/5 (Junaid Ali 117, Vignesh 51,Vishnu 36, Shauhuk 4/55) bt ArmySchool 211 (Kapil 78, Vishnu 4/44).Bhegas HS 199/7 (Raja Shekhar 51,Balakumar 50, Rakesh 4/18) btHPS(R) 97 (Harshavarrdhan 4/30).St Joseph PS 362/5 (M. PratyushKumar 167, Santosh 116) btJubilee Hills PS 109 (Karan 4/32).Nizambad 312/4 (S. VamshiKrishna 123 n.o., Harsha 67) btMahabodhi Vidyalaya 49 (Munish4/7).A4-A11 divison one-daySouthern Stars 182 (NaveedSidhiqui 51, Sultan Ahmed 64) btMP Sporting 171/9 (Sridhar 52,Naveed Siddiqui 4/25).Abhinav Colts 108/9 lost toAmberpet 110/4 (Sandeep52 n.o.).Gowlipura 179/6 (K. Ganesh 55n.o., Srikanth 4/46) bt CheerfulChums 85 (Kiaran 5/21, Srikanth5/44).Future Stars 120 (K. Sager 5/31,Saikanth 5/57) lost to HyderabadPanthers 123/1, (Saket Reddy 78n.o.)Mayur CC 226 (Shanthan Reddy 53,M. Sridhar 6/68) bt Walker Town166 (Gopaljha 6/95, Sanjay Singh4/47).Victory CC 262/9 (K. Sharma 102,Riyazuddin 80, Sankeeth 7/65) btImperial 132 (Nadeem 4/2).

Lal Bahadur 205/6 (Gaffarkhan 51,Md Akber 67, Sridhar Sharma 52,Srinivas 4/39) bt Deccan Colts 170(Bh Raj 6/24, P. Vishal 4/43).Safilguda 119 (Sri Ram 5/29) lostto Satya 120/3Col Acralic 138 (Krishna Prasad5/38) lost to Shalimar 139/4Reliance 177 (Akhil 56, Vijayender59, Sharan Kusuma 4/14) lost to CkBlues 178/1 (Vijaysaradhi 81,Samuej Raj 68)Hyderabad Wanderers 153/9 (SyedAfzal 51) lost to Time CC 154/1(Kapil 90).Royal 139/7 (Jitesh 65,Harshavardhan 4/39) lost toConcorde 141/2 (Harsh 57 n.o.)Chums XI 104 lost to Sunshine107/2.Apex 182/7 (Pasha 60) lost toAggarwal Seniors 186/6 (Hashim50, Syed Ghouse 50 n.o.).Gun Rock 124 lost to Akshit 128/6(Nagesh Goud 52).Eklavya 66 (Abdullah 5/14) lost toVijaynagar 70/1 (Arun Kumar 58) Youngmaster 90 (Abubakar 4/25,Saleem 5/39) lost to Vijay Bharathi91/5MP Blues 229 (Venkat Swaroop 54,K. Praveen 67 n.o., Ramu 5/62,Kiran Yadav 5/58 ) bt Youth CC106 (Ramakanth 4/46, T.P. Varun4/4).Victor 101 (Amba Dass 4/21) lost toTaraknama 105/4

Conquering the final frontierEngland’s 2-1 series victory against India away was a well-deserved one which came after 28long years, though it did not fully reflect the commitment and hard work of Cook and his men.

TWELFTH MANBabu Kalyanpur

SL resist Oz victory push

Angelo Mathews (R) rolls on theground in pain after been hit by adelivery from Mitchell Starc in thefirst Test between Australia and SriLanka on Tuesday. AFP /WILLIAM WEST

HOBART: ICC match refereeChris Broad said Tuesday he hadreceived no official complaint fr -om Sri Lanka despite reportsabout alleged ball tampering byAustralia in the first Test. SriLanka's team manag ement hasexpressed concerns over foota -ge it believes shows pacemanPeter Siddle tampering with theball. The tourists' team managerCharith Senanayake sa id he hadspoken with the ICC officials ab -out this. "All that ha ppen ed iswe have had informal chats withthe match referee ab out whatwe saw on TV and we just askedwhat action are you going to doabout it, that's all," Senanayaketold The Australian newspaper.

Oz face tampering claims

Sri Lanka 1st innings 336Australia 450/5 decl and 278Sri Lanka 2nd Innings (overnight 65/2)D. Karunaratne b Starc 30T. Dilshan c Wade b Watson 11K. Sangakkara lbw b Siddle 63Jayawardene c Clarke b Siddle 19T. Samaraweera not out 38A. Mathews not out 11Extras: (b6, lb7, nb1) 14Total: (4 wkts, 94 overs) 186Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-47, 3-112, 4-151Bowling: Starc 22-6-46-1, Siddle 19-10-25-2, Watson 20-4-38-1, Lyon 27-9-51-0, Hussey 1-0-5-0, Warner 4-0-8-0, Wade 1-1-0-0

Scorecard

sportsTUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012

32RONALDO LOSES 17 KILOS IN REALITY SHOWFootball great Ronaldo — overweight like half of Brazil — has lost 17 kilo-grams (38 pounds) in three months as part of a television reality show.Over the past three months the portly ex-striker, now a member of Brazil’sWorld Cup committee, went through a series of gruelling exercises.

SAfrica launches matchfixing probe JOHANNESBURG: The SouthAfrican Football Association onMonday launched a probe intomatch fixing of friendlies beforethe 2010 World Cup and asked itspresident to step down. Followinga report by football’s governingbody FIFA into the rigged games,SAFA resolved that “a Commissionof Enquiry be set up.”

Boateng suspended fortwo CL matches BERLIN: Bayern Munich defenderJerome Boateng will miss both mat -ches of the Champions League sec-ond phase after UEFA slapped theGerman with a two-match ban fol-lowing a red card he picked up inthe 4-1 group victory over Belarusclub BATE Borisov. The Bundesligagiants, are already missing long-term injury victim Holger Badstuber.

Balotelli to appeal clubfine to league tribunal LONDON: Manchester City’sItalian striker Mario Balotelli is toappeal this week to the EnglishPremier League against a club fineimposed for on-field ill discipline,according to reports on Monday.The 22-year-old failed to overturnthe sanction internally and wouldnow take the case to a league tri-bunal, Press Association reported.

Ben Arfa facing lengthy lay-offLONDON: Newcastle’s Frenchinternational midfielder Hatem BenArfa is in danger of missing theChristmas programme after aggra-vating a hamstring injury. The 25-year-old missed Saturday’s 3-1Premier League defeat byManchester City and coach AlanPardew has said that his absencecould be prolonged.

BRIEFS

PREMIER LEAGUE

JON WESTAgence France-Presse

READING, UK: Spanish mid-fielder Santi Cazorla strucktwice in the first half after LukasPodolski’s opener and complet-ed his treble after the break onMonday to shatter Reading’shopes of inflicting more miseryon Arsene Wenger’s side.

Adam Le Fondre and JimmyKebe reduced the deficit forReading, but Theo Walcott’s latestrike confirmed Arsenal’s riseto fifth place, two points behindChelsea and Tottenham, and leftthe hosts bottom of the tableand six points adrift of safety.

It also gave Wenger and hisplayers some much needed bre -ath ing space after criticism fol-lowing last week’s sho ck LeagueCup quarter-final defe at atLeague Two minnows Bradford.

“It was important to staystrong and play football,”Wenger said. “Success comeswith playing (good) football.

And it was a very convincingwin tonight.”

Gunners midfielder JackWilshere hailed Cazorla’s con-tribution, saying: “His all-round

play is great. It’s tough for any-one to come from Spain into thePremier League, but he makes itlook so easy.”

Inevitably Wenger made

changes from the side that hadflopped so badly againstBradford.

Ivory Coast forwardGervinho was dropped to thebench as Wenger opted for anattacking formation featuringWalcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Podolski.

Walcott’s return to fitnessfollowing a calf injury was par-ticularly well-timed as theEngland international hadscored a hat-trick at Reading inOctober in the League Cupwhen the Gunners recoveredfrom being 4-0 down to win 7-5in extra time.

Walcott began as the centralattacker, the position he insistshe prefers, with Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right andPodolski on the left.

Oxlade-Chamberlain wasquickly into the action,exchanging passes with Cazorlabefore forcing Reading goal-keeper Adam Federici into adiving parry.

JASON MELLORAgence France-Presse

LEEDS, UK: Rafael Benitez hascalled on his Chelsea stars toerase the bitter memory of theirClub World Cup final defeat bymoving closer to their first silverware of the season withvictory over Leeds in theLeague Cup quarter-finals onWednesday.

Benitez’s team returnedfrom Japan just over 48 hours

before their trip to Elland Roadhaving lost to Brazilian sideCorinthians in the Club WorldCup final on Sunday.

Chelsea have already beeneliminated from the ChampionsLeague and were beaten in theCommunity Shield byManchester City in Augustwhen Roberto di Matteo wasmanager.

And for Chelsea interimmanager Benitez, whose sideare currently 13 points behind

leaders Manchester United in the Premier League, theLeague Cup appears to be their safest bet for silverware,

with Swansea, Aston Villa and League Two outfitBradford, the conquerors ofArsenal, already in the semi-final draw.

“I said before we have fivetrophies to challenge for, nowwe have four,” Benitez said.

“We go back, play Leeds inthe League Cup and then AstonVilla at the weekend, so weneed to be strong mentally. Wehave to be ready for the nextchallenge.”

LEAGUE CUP PREVIEW

Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder Santi Cazorla (L) runs past Reading’s Latviandefender Kaspars Gorkss (R) during the match at Madejski Stadium inReading on Monday. Arsenal won the match 5-2. AFP/ ADRIAN DENNIS

LONDON: Everton midfielderMarouane Fellaini (below) wasgiven a three-match suspensionon Monday after accepting acharge of violent conduct forheadbutting Stoke’s RyanShawcross.

Fellaini wasn’t punished byreferee Mark Halsey, who missedthe incident which occurred in the 59th minute of Everton’s 1-1 draw against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium onSaturday.

But the 25-year-old wascharged retrospectively after theFootball Association reviewedfootage of his clash with Stokedefender Shawcross, who hadgrappled with the Belgian justbefore the incident as they pre-pared for a corner.

A statement from the FA alsoreferred to two other clashesbetween Fellaini and Shawcross,but Halsey has confirmed he sawboth and did not consider themviolent conduct.

Fellaini had already apolo-gised for his conduct andEverton manager David Moyesalso condemned the incident.

“I apologise completely toRyan Shawcross, my team matesand to our fans at the game,”Fellaini said in a statementreleased soon after Saturday’smatch.

“There was a lot of pushingand pulling going on inside theStoke penalty area and I didn’tfeel I was getting any protectionfrom the officials.

“Nevertheless I know Ishouldn’t have done what I did. Ihave also apologised to the man-ager and the staff.

“I have no excuses. I was dis-appointed with the way I wasbeing treated and I lost my tem-per, which was unprofessional ofme.” AFP

Cazorla lifts Arsenal spiritsGunners bounced back from their earlier League Cup humiliation with

a 5-2 victory at Reading thanks to Cazorla’s hat-trick.

Benitez wants Chelsea to focus

Fellaini given3-match banfor headbuttoffence

For Chelsea interimmanager Benitez, the League Cupappears to be their safest bet for silverware.

postnoon e-paper for 18 december 2012

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