Postnoon E-Paper for 06 December 2012

If you've ever won-dered if money

does indeed makethe world go

round, take a lookat some of the

world's mostexpensive things

this year on our listwhich will lay all

your doubts to rest. P16&17

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 HYDERABAD WWW.POSTNOON.COM WEATHER: MOSTLY CLEAR; 24°C 32 PAGES `3

THE LUXE LIST DOWRYSHOULD BE FIRED FROM THEIR JOBS

56% OF INDIAN MEN SAY THOSE WHO DEMAND

REPORT ON P9

FLASH

YEAR INREVIEW

T SOLUTION IN SIGHT? A day after the T-Congress MPs revoltedagainst the party for ignoring the Telanganastatehood issue but voted with the government on FDI Bill, party chief SoniaGandhi and other leaders today held discus-sions with the Telangana Congress parliamen-tarians. An all-party meeting is being consid-ered on the issue, reports say.

IN CHANCHALGUDA,JAGAN TURNS TOBOOKS, PRAYER Many wonder how YS JaganMohan Reddy passes the timeat Chanchalguda jail. Postnoonmakes enquiries and finds aman searching for god.

P3

A survey conducted by amatrimonial website on dowrygives some inter-esting statistics.

city eventsTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

2

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES

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

Banjara Hills,Rd No 3

When: December 8 onwards,from 9:30am

Contact: (040) 2335 0473

Tales of an idyllic worldAlliance Française, Hyderabad, ishosting an exhibition of paintings:Tales of an Idyllic World by BalaAbhiram. The exhibition is on tillDecember 14. The exhibition will beinaugurated on December 6.Where: Alliance Francaise,


When: December 7 onwardsfrom 9am

Contact: (040) 2355 4485

Po10tialA show of recent works by variousartists like Anand Bekwan, JinsonJospeh and Maredu Ramu.Where: Kalakrithi Art Gallery,


When: Ongoing,11am onwards

Contact: (040) 6656 4466

The Maasai MaraA wildlife photography exhibitionwill be held for 3 days .

Where: Goethe Zentrum,Banjara Hills,Rd No 4

When: December 8-10from 9:30am-5:30pm

Contact: (040) 2335 0443

Inertia Photography Photography exhibition on India byLona Lohan till December 27Where: Rajiv Gandhi Airport,

ShamshabadWhen: 11am-7pmContact: (040) 6625 0000

The last ChristmasThe last Christmas is a large-scaleproduction featuring live singing,dancing and acting, is the heart-warming story of Retired Gen Roywho recounts his seven favourite

Christmases.Where: RNR auditorium,


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

Célimène and the CardinalAlliance Française of Hyderabad &Qadir Ali Baig theatre foundationpresent Célimène and the Cardinalby Jacques Rampal.Where: Nift Auditorium,

MadhapurWhen: December 11,

7pm onwardsContact: (040) 2355 4485

Khamma ghani saThe Westin Hyderabad Mindspace ishosting a Rajasthani food festival

from November 23 to December 7 atHitec City.Where: Westin,

Hitec CityWhen: Ongoing, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 6767 6838

Pizza and Past treatPizzas, pastas, sandwiches and moreat Taj Krishna's multi-cuisine restaurant, Encounters.Where: Taj Krishna,

Road No.1, Banjara Hills

When: Ongoing11am onwards

Contact: (040) 6666 2323

Rajasthani food festivalThere is a Rajasthani food festival atDeccan Pavilion. Where: Deccan Pavillion, BegumpetWhen: Upto December 9

Contact: (040) 23400132

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

Music workshopThere is a 3-day workshop onHindustani classical music and ghaz-al singing by Ustad Rajkumar RizviSutradhar and Naadbrah.Where: 3-6-145/9/1/1,

Himayatnagar When: December 7-9

5:30pm-9pmContact: 77990 00792

Story Writing ContestAnnapurna International School ofFilm and Media has launched thepreliminary phase National LevelStory writing Competition. It is opento both UG and graduate students.Where: www.script2screen.inWhen: Before December 10

Public speaking workshopThere is a four-day workshop oneffective public speaking.Where: Media Junction,

Parthani Towers, , Golconda Cross Roads, Musheerabad

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

Contact: 98488 42471

ART

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

BLITHE SPIRITAs part of the Samahara Theatre Festival, St. Francis Degree College ForWomen will perform the play Blithe Spirit at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan onDecember 8. Blithe Spirit was written by Noël Coward, an English play-

wright known for his wit.

BangaloreMax 28Min 17Chances of shower

ChennaiMax 29Min 23

Partly cloudy

MumbaiMax 32Min 24

Sunny, clear skies

New DelhiMax 24Min 11Mix of sun and cloud

24°CClear

18°CMostly clear

23°CSunny with

cloudy periods

31°CSunny with

cloudy periods

Weather for HyderabadEvening Overnight Morning Afternoon

HERE WE GO: Students during a marchpast ceremony at a City school sports day event that took place at Gachibowlistadium on December 4. SRINIVAS SETTY

DINING

MISCELLANEOUS

SHOWS

CRIME

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

3City YESTERDAY’S QUESTIONDID INDIA DESERVE TO BE SUSPENDED FROM OLYMPICS?

YES (A)

NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTIONSHOULD PERFORMANCE OF DEPARTMENTS BE THE CRITERIA FORPROMOTION OF OFFICIALS?A) YES B) NO

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

67%

33%

MOHD [email protected]

The Chanchalguda jail’sVIP catch, YS JaganMohan Reddy (pic-tured), has taken

refuge in books and prayer oflate, as opposed to his initialdays of imprisonment in thedisproportionate assets case,when he was politically hyperactive, jail sources tellPostnoon. Jagan has complet-ed six months in prison, as hisbids to get bail have beenrepeatedly rebuffed by the

court.It is learnt that the other

nine political–bureaucrat pris-oners, including NimmigaddaPrasad, Brahmanand Reddy,Sunil Reddy, MopideviVenkatramna, Gali JanardhanReddy, Srinivas Reddy andRajgopal, along with Jagan,are in one barrack, earlierknown as “Old Hospital,” forsecurity reasons. But jail staffresponsible for their securityhint that Jagan does not comeout of his cell just for the heckof meeting co-prisoners. “Infact, he has reduced the num-

ber of visitors he receives.” Hisroutine, as per the sources, islike this:n 6am, gets up and prays.n Goes out, plays shuttle and

meditates.n Takes tiffin consisting of

light food and fruits.n Meets visitors if appoint-

ment is fixed. n Retires to cell and reads

biographies of national lead-ers like Gandhi andDr.Ambedkar.

n Around 2pm is his lunchtime and siesta.

n Again resumes reading and

comes out of his cell forfresh air.

n It’s then more reading, din-ner and sleep.

He has been allotted a 10-member security team wholook after his safety needs andcomfort. Jail sources say thathe has lost the initial zeal ofmeeting people. He has con-sciously reduced the numberand is relying more on intu-ition than receiving advice.His mother, Vijayamma, meetshim frequently to acquainthim with the progress of hissister Sharmila on padayatra.

In Chanchalguda, Jaganturns to books, prayer

Many wonder how YS Jagan Mohan Reddy passes the time at Chanchalgudajail. Postnoon makes enquiries and finds a man searching for god.

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

1 Dowry still looms large overIndian weddings.

Over six dowry-related deathsoccur in India every day, shows asurvey conducted in 2007. Thedark underbelly of the big fatIndian wedding still remains,despite education and prosperity.

2 Few takers for Doomsdaytheories in City.

While the Mayan calendar predictsthe end of the world on December21, City Christians are not allowingthe doomsday theories to affecttheir celebrations.

3 Serious study tour or aleisurely holiday?

After having visited Gangtok andShimla, GHMC corporators mightnow have to visit places that willteach them how to run the City.

4 Don’t rejoice the stay on fuelsurcharge yet.

The HC stay on fuel surcharge maystill be circumvented by a tariffhike next summer.

5UPA stumps parties by calling all-party meet.

After clamouring for an all-partymeet to address T-issue, partiesseem stumped when it happens.

city THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 4

A blot on policemenLast year, we had reported how a 14-

year-old girl was repeatedly rapedby two people, including a constable.Another constable was arrested forabetting the crime. The girl had losther mother and was living with heralcoholic father. Taking advantage ofher vulnerability, the accused offeredto help her financially, but insteadraped her.

DECEMBER 6, 2011

India ranks 94th oncorruption indexIndia’s image on tackling corrup-

tion has not improved, withTransparency International’sCorruption Perception Index rankingit 94th out of 176 nations this year.Though India was ranked 95th lastyear, the watchdog said it has start-ed evaluating the positions througha different formula and cannot becompared to last year’s ranking.

GHMC disqualifiesLanger House corporatorThe GHMC election authority and

the commissioner, MT KrishnaBabu, said on Thursday that theHigh Court of Andhra Pradeshupheld the decision of the City CivilCourt, declaring the election of BRavi Yadav, corporator of LangerHouse, as void on grounds of hav-ing more than two children. TheGHMC has now disqualified him.

Congress leaders meetparty T-ministersCongress AP in-charge Ghulam

Nabi Azad and political secre-tary to AICC president Sonia GandhiAhmed Patel held discussions withparty MPs from Telangana thismorning. The meeting revolvedaround holding the proposed all-party meeting of UPA with AP politi-cal parties on the contentious issueof separate Telangana.

50th day of Sharmila’spadayatra todayYSRC chief YS Jaganmohan

Reddy’s sister YS Sharmila’s3,000-km padayatra, launched withan objective to consolidate the posi-tion of the party across the State, iscompleting its 50th day today. Partyleaders are planning to hold a spe-cial programme to commemoratethe occasion. Sharmila has complet-ed 686.60 km in 49 days.

LAST YEAR... HERE CIVIC

POLITICS

NEWS BRIEFS

62%Indian women believe that the girl’s

family should be punished forencouraging the practice of dowry,according to a survey conducted by

a matrimonial website.

5THINGS WELEARNT TODAY

NUMEROLOGY

We will all visiteach and every

village of Telanganaregion and interactwith our people. Wewill form committeesfrom grassrootlevel to strength-en our party.

D Vinay Bhaskar, TRS MLASee page 5

Md NIZAMUDDIN [email protected]

Thanks to theLokayukta’s recentdirective, GHMC corpo-rators are now in a fix as

to where to go for their lateststudy tour, even as the datesdraw near.

With the study tour beingperceived as a holiday for cor-porators on taxpayers’ money,the Lokayukta recently soughtan explanation from the GHMCas to how the earlier trips hadhelped in developing the City.The Lokayukta demanded adetailed report in the directionsgiven to the GHMC. The corpo-ration is yet to produce anexplanation.

Recent tours taken byGHMC corporators had raisedmany eyebrows, as the locationschosen were small corporationsthat have nothing in commonwith the City. Many politicalobservers criticised the waypublic money was being wasted.

One of the last tours the cor-porators took was to Gangtok,with a population of just overone lakh. The other places forthe study tours included tourist

destinationsl i k eD a r j e e l i n gand Shimla.Even thoughabout `2 to`3 crore wasspent onthese trips,most of the reports produced asa result are rarely used for devel-oping the City.

Every year, a study tour iscarried out for 150 corporatorsand five ex-officio members.The matter of the tour was pro-posed in the standing commit-tee meeting more than a monthago as part of the table agenda.

The ‘secret’ nature of the agendaitem was such that some of thecorporators learnt about it onlya week later, and that too fromnewspaper reports.

A standing committee mem-ber, who was absent the otherday, expressed surprise at thetour being approved withouthis knowledge. “When was itplaced in the meeting? How is itthat it did not catch my atten-tion?” he asked.

Deputy mayor G Raj Kumarsaid, “We are planning the tripin January, but the place is yet tobe decided. Keeping in mind theLokayukta’s directives, it willmost likely be a big city.”

GHMC corporators rethink travel plans

Owaisis face wrath of votersMohd [email protected]

The Owaisi brothers, whovirtually rule the collec-tive mindset of Old City

Muslims, are at the receiving

end for once. The two MIMleaders — Asaduddin Owaisiand Akbaruddin Owaisi — arefacing uncomfortable questionsfrom citizens in their constituen-cies, who want to understandtheir sudden change of mind

about the MIM’s alliance withthe Congress.

Akbaruddin recent attack onChief Minister N Kiran KumarReddy in the Assembly, wherehe branded the CM as anti-minority, has caused anguish

among voters, who remindedthem how they praised the samechief minister last year when hehad released compensation forsome Muslim youths who hadbeen ‘wrongly’ jailed on terrorcharges.

After the Lokayukta demanded an explanation as to how study tours helpthe City, corporators are mulling over where to go this time.

We are planninga trip in January,

but the place is yet to be decided.Keeping in mind the Lokayukta’sdirectives, it willmost likely be abig city.

G Raj KumarDeputy Mayor


INKESHAF [email protected]

TRS, the champion of sep-arate Telangana agitationfor the last 12 years, hasnow shifted its focus to

strengthening itself from thegrassroot level.

The party, which kept itsemphasis on intensifying its agi-tation and holding various typesof protest programmes instead ofconstituting organisational hier-archy has finally embarked on anovel programme called PalleBaata (Village Yatra) with the soleobjective of forming committeefrom village level.

The party did not have per-manent committees from villagelevel since the year 2008 and hasbeen operating on with the helpof ad hoc committees. This hasnot only resulted in severe disap-pointed among scores of partyleaders but also discouragedmany Telangana supporters fromjoining the party.

Through Palle Baata, the ideaof the party top brass is to visit

every village across all Telanganadistricts and invite all Telanganasupporters to join the party andconstitute party committeesaccordingly.

“We will visit every village ofTelangana region and interactwith our people. We will invitethem into our party. Finally, wewill form committees from grass

root leve,” TRS MLA D. VinayBhaskar said.

The MLA further informedthat the party’s programme willboost the confidence of existingparty cadres and encourage them to participate in large num-bers.

Apart from strengthening theparty, the programme also aims

at targeting the next GeneralElections.

It may be emphasised herethat the party president KCR,during the party’s brainstormingsession in Karimnagar lastmonth, said that the party wouldstrive win 100 Assembly seats inthe entire Telangana region.

“The programme is alsoaimed at preparing the party forthe next elections. We stronglyfeel that the time has come forour party to consolidate its posi-tion by increasing our tally ofMLAs and MPs in Assembly. Itwould play a crucial role in ourfight for separate telangana stateas we would be in a crucial posi-tion in dictating terms for thegovernment,” he said.

Party MLA G Govardhandenied reports that the party islaunching the Baata to emulaterival parties, and said that therewas no need for so.

“Our party lives in the heartsof Telangana people. We havenot lost credibility. Our yatra isaimed at strengthening ourselvesfrom within,” he said.


In a bone-chilling incident thatmocks at the law of the land,

a man, M Bassapa, 45, and hisminor son, M Ravinder Kumar,committed suicide on Tuesdaynight after they were beaten upby elders in the panchayatcharging them with a fakeoffence.

Basappa, aged 45 was amason, and his son, Ravinder,15. The boy was a Class X stu-dent. According to reportsKumar, lived with his son aloneafter the death of his wife.

Recently, a teacher is report-ed to have found a black magicbook in the possession of twoof his classmates, Mallkappaand Pratap Reddy. Teacherupbraided the students for pos-sessing such books. Pratap toldthis to his uncle MadhukarReddy and claimed the bookswere given to them byRavinder. Enraged, Madhukarcalled a panchayat and sum-moned them and accused them

of misleading youths. Not satis-fied, some elders had abusedand beat them up.

It is said that the father andson were locked in embraceand crying on the road. It isbelieved that the boy said hewas going to end life to whichhis father said he too would doit. They bought a bottle of poi-

son and went home.The neighbours got suspi-

cious when after the two didthey did not come out of theirhome. The boy’s classmates toomade enquiries when Ravinderdid not turn up for class. Theysearched and found the homelocked and the two lying dead.A suicide note was found.

POSTNOON [email protected]

The announcement ofTelangana Congress MPsthat the UPA government

has agreed to hold an all-partymeeting on December 28 has cre-ated a buzz in political circles.

This came as a shock formajor political parties like theTDP and YSRC, which have firm-ly cemented their presence in allthree regions of the State.

These two parties were bid-ding for time by choosing totread on the middle path on theissue of a separate Telangana.Reacting to the announcement,YSRC leader G Ramchandra Raotold Postnoon that the party willmake its stand clear on the issueof a separate state during the all-party meeting. But the tensionamong the TDP leaders is palpa-ble as its president NChandrababu Naidu, keepinghis recent padayatra inTelangana region in mind, wrotea letter to PM Manmohan Singh

asking him to immediately con-vene an all-party meet to taketheir opinions on the T-issue.

Interestingly, keeping hisparty's interests in Andhra andRayalseema regions in mind,Naidu did not spell out theTDP’s stand on the issue in hisletter. But he wisely used hispadayatra to declare that hewhole-heartedly supports thecreation of a separate Telangana.This has created a flurry of sortswithin the leaders. While theTelangana TDP forum leader E

Dayakar Rao welcomed the deci-sion of the UPA government onthe meet, the Andhra andRayalaseema leaders are yet toreact.

The ruling Congress is alsofaced with a similar situation. Ata conference on Wednesday, CMN Kiran Kumar Reddy desistedfrom giving a direct answer.

He confined himself to say-ing that the party high commandwill present its stand on theTelangana issue. "I don't knowwho will attend the all-partymeeting. The party high com-mand will take a call on theissue," he said.

On the other hand, seniorCongress leader and a staunchsupporter of united AP, G VenkatReddy, said that the Centre mustinvite two leaders from tworegions of the State. Anotherstaunch supporter of united APand Cabinet minister TGVenkatesh felt that the govern-ment will be able to functionproperly again if a favourabledecision is taken on Telangana.

TRS launches ‘Palle Baata’Telangana Rashtra Samithi is now looking towards strengthening its position at the grassroot level withPalle Baata, an initiative wherein they will interact with Telangana supporters.

Party MLA GGovardhan denied thereports that the partyis launching the Baatain an attempt to emulate rival parties.

The boy and hisfather resorted to thisextreme step afterbeing humiliated andbeaten up by the panchayat.

POLITICS

All-party meet creates buzzThe announcement of the all-party meet on December 28 hascome as a shock to major political parties.

CRIMEAccusations drivefather-son to suicide

POLITICS

city THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 6DOOMSDAY COUNTDOWN FESTIVITIES

ANALYSIS

PICK YOUR

@

Stores Across Twin Cities

SHANKAR [email protected]

The last few days have seenheightened emotions on theissue of an Indian couple

being prosecuted in Norway forallegedly maltreating their child.Indian culture vs. Norwegian cul-ture is the prime focus of debate,whereas the moot point should be amore critical question — ‘Who ownsthe child? The family or society?’

To answer this, we need to goback and see what changed inNordic societies. Is it possible thatthe threat of human extinction trans-ferred the ownership of a child fromthe family to the state?

The first quarter of the twentiethcentury in Sweden saw declining

fertility. In 1910, a law was enactedto ban public information beingmade available on the sale of contra-ceptives. By the 1930s, the problemhad been exacerbated as total fertili-ty rates dropped from four childrenper woman at the turn of the centu-ry to less than two.

The Crisis of the PopulationQuestion, written in 1934 by GunnarMyrdal and Alva Myrdal, bothsocial democrats, addressed thischallenge head on. They advocatedmeasures aimed at improving thequality of life for women by helpingthem combine family life with work.The social democrats, who came topower in 1931, acted on their advice.Their reforms included universalantenatal and child healthcare. Theban on contraceptives was lifted and

instead, family planning servicesoffered. The reasoning for this wasto promote childbirth as a consciouschoice rather than as an accident, ascaptured in the popular phrase ofthat time, ‘Love without children isbetter than children without love’.

Given the historical backdropthat transferred ownership of a childfrom the family to the state in theseNordic countries, do Indians mov-ing to these countries need to beeducated on this major cultural dif-ference before they get their visa?Even if the change in visa processtakes some time, could the Indianemployers take on this obligation toensure that this kind of avoidableembarrassment is averted?

(The writer is the author of Wisdomof Ants: A Short History of Economics)

ANUBHA K [email protected]

On one hand, Christiansin the City are prepar-ing for Christmas, andon the other, there are

many who believe that the worldis going to end on December 21.

The Mayan calendar has pre-dicted that the world will endbefore Christmas this year, andthis theory has quite a few takers.“The Mayans were good mathe-maticians and did a lot ofresearch. They predicted manyother events which came true.This is why I strongly believe the

world will end on December 21.But that doesn’t mean I am sittingin a corner and waiting for thatday to come. I have begun prepar-ing for Christmas,” said RebeccaLazarus, an Anglo-Indian.

However, there are manywho say that the belief in thedoomsday predictions have a lotto do with the hype createdaround it. “This has become a bigtopic of discussion now, especial-ly after the release of Hollywoodmovies on it. There is nothingrelated to Christianity orChristians in the Mayan calen-dar, but I know many peoplefrom the community that believe

it. The Bible has no mention of aparticular date on which theworld will end. In fact, it saysthat no man will know the day ortime of his death,” says BinoyJacob, a resident of Kachiguda.

Youngsters are certainly not aworried lot. “Whatever the casemay be, no one should miss outon Christmas shopping and cele-brations. The Mayan calendardoes not predict the end of theworld, or anything like that.They made the calendar thou-sands of years ago and it proba-bly just didn’t go past December2012,” feels Anita D’souza, amedical student.

Cake, wine, carols and of course, Santa

The Anglo-Indian community is all setto welcome Christmas. They battle

with changing times and governmentrestrictions to keep tradition alive.

POSTNOON [email protected]

Christmas is just aroundthe corner, but for theAnglo-Indian commu-

nity, celebrations begin asearly as October and continuetill January 6. ComeDecember, and the festivitiesare at an all-time high.

Most Anglo-Indians in theCity live in and aroundSecunderabad, and many stillpractice Christmas traditions.One such custom is makingwine. This is no longer prac-tised as the government hasbanned homemade wine underthe excise law. Waren LaTouche, president of the TwinCities Anglo-IndianAssociation, says the govern-ment must reconsider this rul-ing. “They should make anexception and allow Christiansto make wine during Christmasat least. Since the ban, we havehad to make-do with localwines,” he said.

Like every year, there aremany events planned forChristmas this year, too. Apartfrom midnight Mass and carolsinging, Christmas tree deco-ration and the arrival of SantaClaus will be held at SouthLallaguda Railway Instituteon December 23. The celebra-tions will conclude onDecember 26 with ballroomdancing at Tivoli Gardens.

“Times have changed andnow emails and SMS havereplaced greeting cards. Butthere are still many of us whofollow the tradition of sendinggreeting cards and goodies toour loved ones. Earlier, weused to send homemade cakesto relatives in other countrieswho could not come home forChristmas. This has turned intoa tradition and many of us fol-low it,” said Rosy Lazarus.

Anglo-Indians livingabroad too make it a point tocome home at least every twoyears. Many offers are avail-able on airfare, and companiesoffer them around 15 days ofleave. Most choose not to comehome during the rest of theyear so that they can save upand be home for Christmas.

The midnight Mass on theintervening night of December24 and December 25 is thehighlight of Christmas. Thecelebrations continue for manymore days and January 6 is,formally, the last day of the fes-tival season. It is said that thisis when the Three Wise Menvisited infant Jesus at his stablein Bethlehem. Traditionally,Christmas decorations areremoved on January 7.

Families are busy preparingplum cakes and other goodies.Ball curry, pork vindaloo,guava cheese and coconut riceare the staples on the specialmenu on Christmas day.

Who owns the child?

Christians rubbishdoomsday hype

According tothe Mayan

calendar, theworld will end

on December21, four days

beforeChristmas.

Postnoon findsout if the

Christian com-munity believes

the predictionand whether it

is impactingcelebrations. A still from a recent doomsday movie

classifieds THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 7INTERIOR

HEALTH/CLINIC

WANTED

RAHUL [email protected]

AP High Court’s stayorder on collection ofFSA (fuel surchargeadjustment) for 2010-11

comes as a relief for domestic con-sumers but Discoms continue toreel under a financial crunch. Whilethe High Court’s stay orders havebeen limited to the first quarter of2010-11, the same batch of con-sumer applicants who had peti-tioned a similar request on a stayorder for FSA for the financial year2011-12 was not entertained. Nowthe question is, what will the cash-strapped Discoms do to fill theircoffers?

Officials from APERC suggestthat another tariff hike will be sug-gested despite the recent tariff hikefor both domestic and commercialconsumers in March 2012.According to commissioner secre-tary of APERC Manohar Raju, “Thestay order was limited only to 2010-2011 but further collection of FSAfor the financial years of 2011-2012are yet to be entertained by thecourt. If that too happens theDiscoms might actually suggest atariff hike for cost recovery.”

The pinch will obviously be felt

by both domestic and industrialconsumers who will have to shellout more if the proposal does man-age to materialise.

Which means if the additionalcosts included in your bill as fuelsurcharge availability do not fallthrough, then the power compa-nies will inevitably force anincreased tariff hikes on con-sumers.

Currently, all the four Discoms

in AP show a collected spending of`3,992 crore for the first sevenmonths of this fiscal year while therevenue-expenditure gap stands at`6,103 crore.

Last year, Discoms had spent asmuch as `3,498 crore buying powerfrom other states. “Additionalpower purchases have increasedevery year for the last three yearswith `2,082 crore incurred in 2010-2011. And to top it all, all the four

Discoms have accumulated lossesof `10,000 crore ,” says an officialfrom ACPDCL.

TARIFF HIKES SO FARThe proposed tariff hike in Aprilwas partially rolled back after thechief minister decided to make iteasy for the two categories ofdomestic consumers within the LTcategory- those with a connectedload of 500 watts and those without the connection.

The final tariff hike was cappedat a uniform charge of `1.45 perfirst 50 units in both categories.This was after the state governmentcame under immense pressurebecause of a 40 per cent increase intariff rates.

Now however, Discoms areconsidering another tariff hike of16 per cent on domestic, commer-cial and industrial categories.

“The price hike will exemptthose under the consumption slabof 100 units per month, but thosewho exceed the limit will have 30to 80 paisa extra per unit of con-sumption. Commercial categoryconsumers will have 50 to 70 paisaand industrial category consumerswill have 20 to 80 paisa hike,” offi-cials from AP ElectricityRegulatory Commission say.

Another dose of power tariffs?It seems a losing game for consumers. HC stay on fuel surcharge for first quarter2010-11 will be circumvented with a tariff hike by the onset of summer.

RANJANI [email protected]

Anything to do with the roy-als sells like hot cakes, be itPrince William and Kate

Middleton’s wedding memorabil-ia or the Duchess of Cambridge’sstyle statement. So would it be lit-tle surprise that the news of herpregnancy and subsequent hospi-talisation has most of the world’smedia and twiterrati excited andtalking. While speculation is rifethat this form of acute morningsickness could signal Kate carry-ing twins, we speak to City expertsabout what exactly morning sick-ness is and how many womenexperience it.

“Most women experiencemorning sickness due to the ele-vated levels of certain hormonesduring pregnancy. The hormoneHCG is closely linked to nauseaduring this period and womenwho have elevated levels of HCGare likely to have morning sick-ness. However, not every pregnantwoman experiences nausea,” saysDr Divya T Sudarshan, gynaecolo-

gist and obstetrician, HappyWomen Clinic. “Hyperemesisgravidarum or acute morningsickness, as it is more commonlyknown, usually affects womenwith very high levels of the hor-mone. HCG levels are usually

more elevated in women whohave multiple pregnancies (arecarrying more than one foetus) orhave an abnormal pregnancy(molar pregnancy),” she adds.

Women with acute morningsickness usually have severe vom-

iting and find it hard to hold downeven a drop of water, let alonefood.

“This leads to dehydration,starvation and even weight loss.Sometimes women can continueexperiencing nausea till the fourthmonth of pregnancy as well,” saysDr Anuradha Panda, gynaecolo-gist at Apollo Hospital.

Since this condition could indi-cate an abnormal pregnancy aswell, doctors keep a close watchon the development of the foetusand get regular scans done to ruleout any abnormality. The inci-dence of Hyperemesis gravidarumusually peaks between eight and12 weeks of pregnancy.

“Since the severe nausea caus-es the mother to dehydrate androbs the foetus of nutrition, thewoman is hospitalised and put onIV fluids and other nutrients torehydrate her and to replace nutri-ents,” says Dr Divya.

Dr Anuradha adds, “We alsoprescribe injections and oral medi-cation to control the vomiting. Thenausea usually wears off within afew months of pregnancy.”

Those morning sickness blues

POWER

HEALTH

AFP

OLD CITY

city THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 8BABRI ANNIVERSARY


Fear of possible trou-ble on the BabriMasjid day todaygenerated a bandh-like situation in the

Old City, whose spill-overeffect was felt in few areas offthe City too. Normal life washit in almost all parts of OldCity, as shops, educationalinstitutions and many publicutility services remained

closed as a precautionary mea-sure.

Traffic was normal in themorning, though few auto rik-shaws and city buses wereseen plying. Private vehicles,especially two-wheelers, con-stituted most of the traffic.City police had taken extrameasures with a large numberof additional forces posted atall potential trouble-spots.Police had also made preven-tive detention of elements whoare likely to generate tension.

FEAR FORCES

TO DOWN SHUTERS N SHIVA KUMAR

OLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITYOLD CITY

SURVEY

53%of Indians believe that the peo-ple who demand dowry should

be forced to pay twice thedemanded amount to the

bride’s family instead

56%of Indian men firmly believethat men who demand dowryshould be fired from their job

44%of men believe that dowry-seekers should be forced topay five times their current

income tax to the government

52%of Indian men feel that thegroom’s parents are more

responsible for dowry in India

52% of Indian women believe thatwomen misuse the dowry law

62% of Indian women agree that a

girl’s family should be punishedfor encouraging the practice ofdowry, while 38 per cent menbelieve that the boy’s parentsdeserve a harsher punishment.

48%of Indian women hold the

brides’ parents more responsiblefor encouraging the dowry sys-

tem in Indian marriages

6dowry-related deaths occur inIndia every day, according to a

2007 study by NCRB

A survey conductedby a matrimonial website on dowry

gives some interesting

statistics.

Stricter laws needed fordowry harassment?


SOURCE: SHAADI.COM

BusinessTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

10ECUADOR GETS $200M LOAN FOR METROEcuador has received a $200 million loan for its first metro line, inQuito, from the Inter-American Development Bank. The capital’sfirst metro line should be built by 2016, and authorities estimate itcould carry almost 360,000 passengers a day.

PARKING SERVICES

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

ANAND SHARMA,COMMERCE MINISTERBSE 17,179.95

98.90 NSE 5,209.0533.65SILVER `53,000 for 1kg

GOLD `29,500 for 10gPOUND `86.60DOLLAR`55.14

BSE 19,245.37146.49

NSEPOUND `87.70DOLLAR `54.51

SILVER `62,098 for 1kg24CGOLD`31,458 for 10g

5,856.4544.05

PRUDHVI RAJU [email protected]

Rapid urbanisation coupledwith increase in vehiclesmakes parking a trouble-some experience. Shoppers

undoubtedly prefer to buy from ashop which has quality parking ser-vice and space. The evolution ofparking management services is notonly making the sector organisedbut also making parking a hassle-free experience for the customer.

This unorganised sector, which isslowly turning organised, is grow-ing at 35 per cent (CAGR) is creatingnew business opportunities. “Indiais already the third largest market inthe world for automobiles and park-ing is directly linked to the automo-bile population, and infrastructuregrowth. Today, the consumers wantconvenience and are willing to payfor such services. With the growthrecorded and market potential, webelieve there is ample scope for pri-vate players in this business. Moreplayers will not just expand the mar-ket but drive in greater efficienciesas well,” said N Sathyanarayanan,MD, Central Parking Services.

Private businesses slowly under-stood the importance of parking.“Parking has traditionally been seenas a support facility and enoughattention hasn’t been given to it. Oflate, commercial establishmentshave realised that parking lots are animportant part of the overall cus-tomer experience. Parking is the firstand last point of customer experi-ence and a consumer expects a has-sle-free and delightful experience.”

He says there is tremendousneed to reduce the congestion andefficiently manage services.

“The solution is multi-dimen-sional — starts with more practicalmunicipal norms which holistically

capture parking needs of a buildingdepending on the building use.Further, urban planning with a atleast a 10-year window in terms oftraffic planning needs to be adheredto. Parking lots needs to be createdin various open land parcels, therebyreducing illegal on-road parking andcongestion,” he explains.

Talking about the value additionfor various stakeholders, he says,“Parking management companieslike us bring in their expertise bettertraffic management, quickerturnaround times, and better utilisa-tion of a given space by careful plan-ning and efficient and transparentoperations ensure better revenuesfrom a given space in addition toleading to higher levels of customersatisfaction.

“As of now, parking is a labour

intensive process. However, deploy-ment of technology helps in betterrevenues for the businesses.Electronic handheld ticket-issuingmachines are also getting popular.For instance, we have India’s onlyparking command centre inBangalore which connects everyparking lot on IP and we have real-time access to traffic, revenues, livestreamed video , and other businessparameters to help us makeinformed decisions.

“We are also introducing a CPS1card, a prepaid RFID card which willmake the entry and exit hassle-freeand cashless. This can cause tremen-dous convenience in terms ofchange, exit time etc. Similarly, allour parking lots are insured toensure that consumer is protected inour parking lots,” he adds.

ROME: Italian energygiant ENI’s chief finan-cial officer and the CEOof its oil services sub-sidiary Saipem resignedover a probe into briberyallegations in Algeria.

The investigation byMilan prosecutors is anoffshoot of a broaderinquiry in Algeria overcontracts worth hun-dreds of millions ofeuros. AFP

Italian oil chiefs resign over Algeria bribery

Making hay in theurbanisation shine

Parking is the first and last point of customer experience anda consumer expects a hassle-free and delightful experience.

Akali leader arrested for killing police officialAMRITSAR: A leader of Punjab’s rulingShiromani Akali Dal and an accomplice werearrested Thursday for allegedly killing a policeofficial who had objected to them harassing hisdaughter, police here said. The main accused,Ranjit Singh Rana, was arrested from the borderbelt of Amritsar districtal ong with anotheraccused. Rana had been stalking ASI Ravinder PalSingh’s daughter for the last few days. Two otheraccused in the killing are absconding.

Counting begins for J&KLegislative Council pollsSRINAGAR: Counting for thefour Legislative Council seats inJammu and Kashmir under thePanchayat quota began today. Thepollswere held after a gap of 38years as the Panchayat elections inthe state were held last year after agap over three decades. As manyas 33,450 panchayat members willdecide the fate of 37 candidates.

NEWS BRIEFS

nationTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

11FIVE VEHICLES SET ON FIREFive vehicles which were parked near the Tamluk Municipality office were seton fire by miscreants, police sources said today. Five vehicles including anambulance and four taxis were parked in the road near the municipalityoffice last night. Late in the night some miscreants set the vehicles on fire.

MAHARASHTRA

REALPOLITIK

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Naga tribesmen perform a traditional dance during the fifth day of the Hornbill festival in Kisama nearKohima on Wednesday. PTI

5

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NCP cautionsChavan on FDIMUMBAI: Ally NCP has askedMaharashtra Chief MinisterPrithviraj Chavan not to take anydecision regarding implementa-tion of multi-brand FDI in retail inthe state without consulting it,even though the party voted infavour of the move in the LokSabha.

A letter signed by NCP StatePresident Madhukar Pichad wasdelivered to Chavan by formerDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawarlast night. The party has said theissue of implementation needs tobe discussed in the co-ordinationcommittee first.

“We have issues which need tobe discussed and clarified. Thereare Mathadi labour unions,Market committees and we haveto ensure that their interests arenot harmed while implementing

FDI in retail,” Pichad said.The coalition partner in

Maharashtra government has toldChavan that no one-sided decisionshould be taken.

The UPA government of whichNCP is a key constituent at theCentre won approval for FDI inLok Sabha yesterday after theOpposition motion seeking imme-diate withdrawal of the decisionwas rejected as the BSP and SPwalked out.

218 voted in favour of theOpposition motion, while 253voted against it in the Housewhere 471 members participatedin the voting. The total strength ofthe House is 545. Yesterday, soonafter the voting, NCP leader PrafulPatel said that his party did notsupport implementation of thedecision in Maharashtra. PTI

WASHINGTON: India’s rulingCongress president Sonia Gandhi andPrime Minister Manmohan Singh areranked 12th and 19th respectively on theForbes list of ‘The World’s MostPowerful People’ with President BarackObama retaining his top position.

As leader of India’s ruling party,Sonia Gandhi, 65, who was ranked sixthon Forbes list of Power Women, “has thereins of the world’s second-most-popu-lous country and tenth-largest econo-my”, the US business magazine said.

“Son Rahul is next in line to takeover India’s most famous politicaldynasty,” it suggested.

Listing Manmohan Singh, 80, 19thon the power list, Forbes says: “Oxford-and Cambridge-educated economist is

the architect of India’s economicreforms, but Singh’s quiet intellectual-ism is increasingly seen as timid andsoft.”

German Chancellor Angela Merkelmoves up to number two from fourthplace last year, followed by RussianPresident Vladimir Putin (No. 3), Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation Co-chair BillGates (No. 4) and Pope Benedict XVI(No. 5).

Rounding out the Top 10 are USFederal Reserve Chairman Ben SBernanke (No. 6), Saudi Arabian KingAbdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud (No. 7),ECB President Mario Draghi (No. 8),General Secretary, Communist Party ofChina Xi Jinping (No. 9) and British PMDavid Cameron (No. 10). IANS

Sonia, PM on Forbeslist of ‘most powerful’

WorldTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

12THE CENTENARY OF DISCOVERING NEFERTITIBerlin will open a major new exhibition Thursday celebratingthe centenary of the discovery of the 3,400-year-old fabled bustof Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti as a feud with Cairo over its owner-ship rages on.

UNICORN LAIR, EH?An apparent North Korean claim tohave uncovered a “unicorn’s lair”that created an Internet storm waspartly the result of mistranslation byPyongyang’s much-mocked propa-ganda machine. In a report carriedon its English service last week, theofficial Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) cited archaeologists who“reconfirmed” the discovery of “a lairof the unicorn” ridden by KingTongmyong. Tongmyong is a quasi-mythical figure — similar to the leg-end of King Arthur — credited withfounding Kokuryo, one of the threeancient kingdoms of Korea, in 37BC.

GUATEMALA CITY, USInternet security guru JohnMcAfee, on the run from authori-ties in Belize over a murderprobe, was arrested byGuatemalan police Wednesdayfor illegally entering the country,officials said. “National policeagents have taken Mr John DavidMcAfee before immigrationauthorities... He has entered ourcountry illegally,” policespokesman Pablo Castillo toldAFP.

MCAFEE ARRESTED

NUMEROLOGY

200,000are homeless and more than 300

dead after the Philippines sufferedits worst typhoon this year, TyphoonBopha, reaching out for internationalaid to cope with the scale of the dis-

aster.

Whether the finalblow comes from

flesh-eating zom-bies, demonic hell-beasts or from the totaltriumph of K-Pop, if youknow one thing aboutme it is this — I willalways fight for youto the very end.

Julia Gillard Oz PM in a spoof vidoe

US support for same-sexmarriage goes up: PollWASHINGTON: Support isgrowing in the United States formarriage equality, two polls showedon Wednesday. According to a newGallup poll, 53 percent of Americanrespondents believe same-sex mar-riage should be legal with the samelegal rights as traditional marriage.The figure is back at the samerecord high it hit in May 2011.

Japan polls tip big winfor oppositionTOKYO, Japan’s main oppositionparty will comfortably win the gen-eral election this month, opinionpolls showed Thursday, the firsttime surveys have indicated any-thing other than a fragile coalition.The hawkish chief of the conserva-tive Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)Shinzo Abe is also tipped to winback the premiership.

‘Camps in unrest-hitwestern Myanmar dire’YANGON: The UN’s humanitari-an chief has described conditionsfor thousands of displaced MuslimRohingya in western Myanmar as“dire” and said both Muslim andBuddhist communities are living infear. Valerie Amos said in a state-ment released overnight that shewas “very concerned” by the situa-tion there.

Beijing to allow visa-free transit tripsBEIJING, China will allow transitpassengers from 45 countriesincluding the US, Canada and allmembers of the EU to spend up to72 hours in Beijing without a visafrom next month, city authoritiessaid. The move would “strongly spurthe development of the tourismindustry, speed up building of aninternational city”, sources said.

NEWS BRIEFS

EGYPT ERUPTS

The five were killed by gunfire or buckshot as nearly350 wounded when allies and foes of Morsi clashed.

CAIRO, Five demonstratorsdied overnight Thursday inthe worst violence sinceMohamed Morsi becameEgypt’s first Islamist presidentin June. The five were killed bygunfire or buckshot as nearly350 others were woundedwhen allies and foes of Morsiclashed around the presiden-tial palace in Cairo, state newsagency MENA said.

They started off by lobbingfire bombs and rocks at eachother on Wednesday as theirsimmering standoff over thepresident’s expanded powersand a new constitution turnedviolent.

Morsi drew the wrath ofthe opposition and many in

the magistrature by assumingexceptional powers under aNovember 22 decree.

Bloodied protesters wereseen carried away as gunshotsrang out and the rivals torchedcars and set off fire crackersnear the presidential palace,where opponents of Morsi hadset up tents before his support-ers drove them away.

Riot police were eventuallysent in to break up the vio-lence, but clashes still tookplace in side streets near thepalace in the upscale Caironeighbourhood of Heliopolis.

In the early hours ofThursday gunshots rang outintermittently and sporadicviolence continued, an AFP

correspondent said.Many of the opposition

had left and a few hundredprotesters remained outsidethe palace.

The violence spreadbeyond the capital, withprotesters torching the officesof the powerful MuslimBrotherhood in theMediterranean port city ofIsmailiya and in Suez, witness-es said.Sobhi Saleh, aBrotherhood official and mem-ber of the constituent assembly-- the body that drafted thecontroversial charter -- wasattacked and beaten by opposi-tion protesters in the northerncity of Alexandria, MENAreported.

RIO DE JANEIRO, OscarNiemeyer, the Brazilian icon whorevolutionized modern architec-ture and designed much of thecountry’s futuristic capitalBrasilia, died in Rio Wednesday,his doctors said. He was 104.

A statement from Samaritanohospital, where the star architecthad been hospitalized sinceNovember 2, attributed thedeath to a worsening of his respi-ratory infection.

A pioneer in the use of rein-forced concrete to produce soar-ing, curvaceous forms, Niemeyerdesigned 600 works around theworld and had some 20 otherprojects under way.

“Brazil today lost one of itsgeniuses. It’s a day for mourn-ing,” President Dilma Rousseffsaid in a statement posted on herofficial blog. Rio State GovernorSergio Cabral Filho highlightedNiemeyer’s contribution to theglobal skyline.

“Niemeyer was Brazil’s lead-ing architect. A genius of worldarchitecture. Soft in the treat-ment, firm in his convictions andbeloved by the Brazilian people,”he said.

The architect’s body was tobe flown to Brasilia Thursday fora funeral wake at the presidentialpalace, one of his major works.

The body was then to returnto Rio for another funeral wakefollowed by the burial, accordingto Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes. AFP

OBITUARY

EGYPT, Cairo : Egyptian policemen protect an opposition demonstrater after a scuffle with members of theMuslim Brotherhood and supporters of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Morsi during clashes outside thepresidential palace in Cairo on Wednesday. AFP/MAHMOUD KHALED

Father ofBrasilia passes away

5 die in Cairo clashes

THE COST Microsoft has a decent share inFacebook, so it was a bit surprisingwhen they announced a social net-work — Socl — last year. Now theyhave removed the invite system andopened it up to the public. Thesocial network lets you create col-lections and might remind you ofPinterest, albeit a less interestingversion. Though the site is imageheavy, it does not have the visualappeal of Pinterest and looks like ahobby project by Redmond. If you’reinterested, head over to http://so.cl/and check it out for yourself.


Facebook will replace Infosys aspart of the NASDAQ 100, the bas-ket of companies that determinethe movement of the NASDAQindex. Facebook has lost valuesince its IPO, but the company hasstabilised, and is turning in resultsthat could be construed as consis-tent. At current point, its marketcapitalisation is roughly $59.5 bil-lion. That makes Facebook theonly tech company that IPOedrecently but went on to succeed inthe market. Others such as Zyngahave struggled, losing market-share and share value at a stag-gering speed. As far as Infosys isconcerned, they would be hopingthat some other company getsrelegated so they get their spot.

ARE YOU A SOCL PERSON?

INFY LOSES SPOT

Google Chairman Eric Schmidthas called out Apple for suingtheir partners instead of targetingthe search giant directly. Applehas been going after Samsung,HTC and other companies thatmake Android-powered devices.Many netizens believe Apple isonly trying to slow down themarch of Android phones bygoing for the limbs than thebrains at Google. There is also alegal wrangling underwaybetween the now Google-ownedMotorola and Apple, but thatagain comes under the proxy warterritory. It needs to be seen ifApple will accept the bait and sueGoogle for copying their interfaceand design from iOS.

WE DARE YOU TO SUE US

Technology 13BUILDING THE DEATH STAR

THE BIRTH OF A STAR?

Defensive weapons10,000 Turbolasers2,500 Laser cannons2,500 Ion Cannons768 Tractor beams

The manpower265,675 operating crew

52,276 gunners607, 360 troops

25,904 Stormtroopers42,782 Support

staff167,216 Pilots

and fighter support staff

Vehicles in the Death Star7,200 TIE Fighters4 Strike Cruisers3,600 Assault Shuttles1,400 AT-ATs1,400 AT-STs1,860 Drop ships

$13.25quintillion

Is the cost to produce the estimated134 quadrillion tonnes of steel

required to build the Death Star.According to a study

earlier this year by economics students at Lehigh University,

it is estimated that it would takeroughly 800,000 years to manufac-ture little more than a quadrillion

tonnes of steel.

$13.8septillion

Is how much it would cost to trans-port the various Death Star elements

into space.

$2.87septillion

The cost of the 8.23 quintillion cubicmetres of nitrogen required to allow

people to live in the Death Star.

$15.96septillion

Is the total estimated cost of con-structing an operational Death Star.

0The chance of a Death Star actually

being built.

What does a DeathStar do?

The Death Star is a moon-sized spacestation. It is capable of destroying a planetwith a single destructive ener-gy beam.

Fast fact

160kmIs the diameter of the Death Star,making it 21 times smaller than

the Moon.

A petition posted to the White House’s We The Peopleplatform advocates the construction of the universe’sultimate weapon, Star Wars’ Death Star, as a way toboost the economy. But what will it take to build theplanet-destroying superweapon? We find out, with alittle help from the Force.

ALL THAT GLITTERS...

CommentTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

14HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTSThere is a din over the incident in which two Aussie RJs pretending to be the Queen phonedand tricked the nurse at the King Edward VII private hospital where the Duchess of cam-bridge is undergoing treatment for morning sickness, into divulging her condition. Wonderwhat would happen if the real Queen called.

In 1998 I was forced to takea Microenomics classwhile in university. I didwhat most Indians did atthe time, signed up for the

course taught by the one Indianprofessor on campus. Dr Vaniwas an amazing professor, andfurthermore she treated all theIndians like her kids, but that isnot to say she made it easy forus in class. Fourteen years havepassed since her class and one ofthe two lessons that still sticktoday is diamonds are worth-less!

Yes, people I said it, dia-monds are one of the most over-priced useless materials thatexist. The thought of what peo-ple pay for diamonds is ratherdisgusting and borderlinemoronic. I’ve gotten into numer-ous discussions with friendsand family about what a wasteof money diamonds are. Thesame arguments are alwaysmade in defence of a diamond’sworth.

Diamonds are forever — sois herpes! So what’s your point?

Diamonds are rare – no, theyare not. The DeBeers DiamondCompany has bought up all thediamonds and only release a lit-tle at a time to give you the

appearance it is scarce. An hon-est politician, now that is rare!

Diamonds are a good invest-ment – no they are not. Studieshave shown that if you adjustfor inflation, overall a diamondwill never be worth what youpaid for it. If you don’t believeme, take the diamond youbought five or ten years ago tothe same jeweler and see whathe offers to buy it back fromyou. Diamond companies arevery aware that there is a

greater chance you will lose thediamond before you try to sellit. Most people don’t everintend on selling their dia-monds, but rather pass it downto their kids, who in turn willeither lose it or sell it to buy anew iPhone. A person has to beexperiencing severe financialdistress before they reach thepoint that they need to sell theirjewelry. Knowing that you are infinancial distress, most peoplewill offer you 50% or less of theproposed worth of the jewelry.So you will never fully recoverwhat you paid for it on the retailmarket.

This brings me to the“Diamond-Water Paradox”. Aglass of water is worth penniescompared to a piece of dia-mond. The paradox is that we

place such arbitrary values onthose two items, but if the sce-nario where such that you aredehydrated (a common occur-rence in sub-Saharan region)due to lack of water then all of asudden a glass of water is worthmore than the diamond. Youmight say, “Oh I’ll trade the dia-mond for the water.” To which Iwould say, “No, you moron: I’lldrink the water, and wait foryou to die from dehydrationand then take the diamondaway from you for free!”. Lifecan exist without diamonds; lifecannot exist without water.

The other lesson I learnedfrom the class was ‘Supply andDemand’ and right now mystomach is demanding food, soits best I go supply it with achocolate cake.

Another child who was supposed to be nurtured by his teachershas died at their hands. The incident in Bhopal is many in the

series of similar reports from all over the country. In this case theboy had merely gone up to them to complain about a broken

bucket in the toilet. And for that the 10-year-old was mercilesslybeaten up, that the boy suffered severe injuries to his neck and

spine and died while undergoing treatment. The idea is not to pinthe blame for such cruelty on the teaching fraternity, but there are

serious issues to be addressed and there are wolves amongst themthat must be identified so that kids being beaten to death for tri-

fles like complaining about a broken bucket do not become anevery day news. Are teachers given proper training in nurturing

kids? Is there is any sort of mechanism or test to check and findout if the individual enrolled for teacher’s training has the apti-tude to teach, guide and be a role model that inspires students

to learn the proper, right values of life? Can they be patient withkids? Perhaps the accused in this case and in many others were

having a bad day, but that’s no excuse to take it out on wardsentrusted with them. Or perhaps they do not have it in them tobe teachers. If that’s the case, they must ask themselves if they

can do justice to their job and if the answer’s no, they must seeksome other sort of employment, because not everyone can be

teachers and parents do not expect their kids to die because theysent them to school.

When teachers become monsters

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

Do not ever saythat the desire

to "do good" byforce is a goodmotive. Neitherpower-lust norstupidity aregood motives.

Ayn Rand Author

BUT... SERIOUSLYAjay Hotchandani

Diamonds are bright,shiny and worthless!

Of humanroadkill

Driving to and from workevery day I am still

stunned at the callous-ness shown by motorists to their

own lives, but also to others’lives as well. Is life in India so

cheap that we can afford to losefathers, mothers, brothers and

sisters so easily?I might be flogging a dead

horse here, but the reason thisrankles is the fact that nobody

seems to care, least of all theeducated youth. Motorcyclists

ride without helmets, under theinfluence of alcohol, and breaktraffic rules like they’re brittle

bones. The traffic police throwtheir hands up in exasperationciting ignorance and the devil-

may-care attitude of citizens. Butthe number of cops you seedoing exactly what they’re

meant to be stopping, is stagger-ing. I have tried explaining to

youngsters in my organisationthat if they have a death wish,there are far more flamboyantways to go than dying on the

road simply because they weretoo lazy or thought they weretoo cool for helmets and seat-

belts. What are the parents of theseyoungsters doing? There’s no

point weeping in front of a coffinor by a funeral pyre when allyou had to do was take their

vehicle keys off them. Idiocy isnot genetic; it’s a social con-

struct, founded on an apatheticethos. As much as the human

roadkill is to blame for his fate,so are we.

Let’s not shed a tear for thosefoolish enough to court death on

our highways. Instead, let’s beenraged that we were too cow-

ardly to stop them.

THE HUMAN CONDITIONDean Williams

The same arguments arealways made in defenceof a diamond’s worth.For instance, diamondsare forever. So is herpes!

BONES (STAR WORLD)

Apassionate FBI officer teaming upwith a detached scientist to catch

criminals might not sound like some-thing that happens in real life, but theTV show Bones is not entirely ficti-tious. The series is inspired by the lifeand writings of Kathy Reichs, a foren-sic anthropologist, who is also one ofthe producers of the show. Reichsacknowledges that she is a lot like DrBrennan (Bones) in temperament andat her work. While the nature ofcrimes and the relationship betweenBooth and Bones is all fiction, Reichsensures that the show gets its scienceright. What makes the show evenmore meta? On the show, Dr Brennanwrites mystery novels about a forensicanthropologist called Kathy Reichs.

DID YOU KNOW...

FawltyTowers

Each episode’s opening shot of theFawlty Towers hotel sign shows

rearranged and misplaced letters.Variations include: Watery Fowls ,

Farty Tower, Flay Otters, Fatty Owls,Warty Towels, Flowery Twats andFarty Towels. Production team-

member Iain McLean supplied thehotel sign anagrams.

CultThe CW announced Tuesday thatthe new thriller Cult will premiereon February 19 at 9/8c, replacingthe recently cancelled EmilyOwens M.D. The meta series cen-tres around Jeff (The VampireDiaries’ Matt Davis), a journalistblogger who, after his brothergoes missing, starts an investiga-tion along with a young produc-tion assistant (Melrose Place’sJessica Lucas) on a popular TVshow called Cult. Their theory?That the show’s rabid fans may bere-creating the crimes from theprogramme.

Jason Alexander istaking a field trip to

Community.TVLine has con-firmed that theSeinfeld vet willguest-star in a

Season 4 install-ment of the NBC

comedy.“Filming a crazy

episode ofCommunity this

week,” Alexanderrevealed via TwitterTuesday. “Can’t saymuch about it, but

it’s a fun one.”

Anderson Cooperis back to goodhealth after he wasrecently blindedon the job! Luckilyfor the AndersonLive host, the eyeaffliction wasn’tpermanent.“Temporarilyblinded last weekwhile on assign-ment,” the 45-year-old posted onInstagram with aphoto of a largewhite patch cover-ing his right eye.

NEW SERIES TO WATCH

TRENDING...

FROM BOOKS TO TV

tELEVISIONTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

SEAN REPLACES BRENDAN FRASERSean “The One Who Always Turns Traitor and/or Dies” Bean is replacing BrendanFraser as the lead of TNT’s Legends. The project, from Homeland exec producerHoward Gordon, details deep-cover operative Martin Odum (Bean), who has anuncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. 15

BOOK MY SHOWWith JK Rowling’s book for adults Casual Vacancy being adapted into a TV series,the focus is back on some of the best adaptations of books that shot to fame on TV.

GAME OF THRONES (HBO)

If anyone had said even a year ago thatGeorge R. R Martin’s epic fantasy series A

Song of Ice and Fire could be faithfully repli-cated on the big screen, bibliophiles acrossthe world would have had a hearty laugh.But little did they know that HBO would takeit up and have legends like Tim Van Allenand Alik Sakharovnot lend their excellence,and not only do Game of Thrones justice butmake it an unparalleled mini-series in itsscope. The mythical, fantasy land ofWesteros comes alive in their hands, repletewith violence, sex, blood and gore of a mag-nitude that was hitherto inconceivable on tv.Brilliant acting, combined with epic sets, abudget of $5-10 million per episode, adap-tations can get no better than this.

SHERLOCK (BBC)

It may not be set in the 19th century,but the modern update of Sherlock

Holmes remains faithful to Sir ArthurConan Doyle’s novels. Benedict

Cumberbatch, who plays the iconicdetective in Sherlock, epitomises clas-

sic Holmes — lean, spare and coldlyintelligent. Martin Freeman provides

ample support as the more lovable DrWatson, the army doctor troubled by

his experiences in Afghanistan. TheBBC series has done a fine job of

recreating and updating classics like AStudy In Scarlet to the 21st century.And it is a pleasure to see Sherlock

revelling in all the latest technologyavailable. Doyle would have approved.

SEX AND THE CITY (HBO)

It is the TV series that defined a whole new outlook and lifestyle for young working women in bigcities, but Sex And The City initially started off as a book of the same name by Candace Bushnell.

Bushnell’s life reads very much like the life of Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker), asshe too wrote a column called Sex And The City focusing on the love lives of her friends and herself.Carrie gets by only with the help of her friends Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte, who are equallyclueless about life and love. Bushnell also has a series of books called The Carrie Diaries, whichfocuses on Carrie as a teenager.

DEXTER (STAR WORLD)

Sometimes, an extremely visual bookbecomes extremely popular and

lends itself to a series. At others, aseries becomes a runaway hit and

increases the sales of the books. Thetelevision series Dexter, based on Jeff

Lindsay’s books of the same name,belongs to the latter category. An ami-

cable Miami police forensics expertmoonlights as a serial killer of criminals

who he believes have escaped justice.Do we need to say more?

ALL THAT GLITTERSActress Nayanthara and John Alukka, Managing Director of Jos Alukkas

unveiled the new Platinum Jewellery Season's Collection at Jos Alukkas on Wednesday.

IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME AGAINKids from Passionate Foundation were invited over for the launch of the

gingerbread house which which will be stocked with a range of Christmas goodies this season.


18LOVE FOR ROCK MUSICZedde, Indian rock band based in Mumbai will be performing live at HardRock Cafe tonight. So, head to HRC for a night of rock & roll.

MAKING MERRY

spotlight

S BALAKRISHNA

FUN-FILLED NIGHTLadies made a beeline to Kismet to let their hair down and dance the nightaway. The pub hosted Ladies Night on Wednesday night and PYTs put their

stylish foot forward, glamming up the evening.

Rashmi

Deepak, Satwar

Dorin, Raghu

Rehan, Muskan

Monica, Simy

Bhavya

Pinky, Brinda, Ritika

Lauren, Megan

Shilpa Karishma

Mona

Tejaswini

Akansha

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10

11

12

13

12 3 4 5

6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13

EATING TOMATOES WARDS OFF DEPRESSION?Researchers analysed the mental health records and diet habits of justunder 1,000 men and women aged 70 years or over. They found thoseeating tomatoes two to six times a week were 46 per cent less likely tosuffer the blues than those eating the red fruit less than once a week.health


19Dodge pain this winter

Winter along with the chills, coughs and sniffles can also cause joint pain in those sufferingfrom arthritis. Appropriate care and preparation to brace this season can help.

The winter chill had setin. Meera had spent aday with her grandchil-dren at a relative’s party.

She awoke the next morningwith excessive pain in her kneejoints. Initially considering it tobe due to the long tiring day shehad her regular pain killer andwent to sleep. It was during aconversation a few days laterwith a friend that she came toknow about the effects of harsh

and cold winters on her joints. According to Dr KJ Reddy,

senior consultant orthopaedist,Apollo Hospital, “Painful jointsduring winter is very normal.One of the reasons could be thatduring winter the pain thresholdof a person comes down. Hence,we notice that even a smallinjury causes excessive pain incomparison to how one wouldreact during the warmer cli-mates. The second reason couldbe that because of the cold theblood supply to the joints comesdown.”

The low supply of blood tothe joints make them stiff thuscausing pain during movement.

These aggravated joint painstend to occur in people who are

already suffering from arthritisor orthopedic problems.

Dr Reddy says, “The weatheras such does not cause the prob-lem it only aggravates it. It also does not cause and perma-

nent disabilities.”

STAY WARMStaying warm is an essential toprevent such a situation. DrReddy says, “People should

wear warm clothing, cover jointswith a warm support (for exam-ple a knee cap in case there isknee pain), stay in a warm envi-ronment, have a bath with warmwater, avoid touching cold

things, massage the joints andalso drink warm fluids.”

PREVALENCEExcessive joint pains can occurin age although it is more com-mon among people who are inthe older age groups (50, 60plus) says Dr Reddy. He addsthat such cases in the City arerare as the weather is not thatcold though it may occur in veryold. This is more common in thenorthern parts of the country. Incase one does not get relief fromthe remedies than doctor’sadvice should be taken.

JOINT PAIN

ANISHAA [email protected]

Brain and nervesBrain and nerves is aunique app that helpsone discover importanttopics when it comes tonerve and brain disease.It covers various topicssuch as dizziness, faint-ing , migraine, memory,pain, concussions etc.

The app for iphone and ipad users canbe downloaded free-of -cost.

Miner’s lung diseaseThis disease gets its name from the factthat coal miners are the ones that aremostly effected by it. Coal dust can irri-tate the sensitive tissues of the lung andlead to the development of several dis-eases. This can ultimately lead to variousdisabilities. The symptoms includeshortness of breathe, chronic cough,increased phlegm, chest infectionetc.Treatment depends on the kind ofrespiratory disease it causes.

Tears, a sign of emotionWe cry when we arehappy, when we aresad and even when weare angry. But we arethe only ones who doso. Humans are theonly animals to produce emotional tears.In the animal world, humans are thebiggest crybabies, being the only animalswho cry because they’ve had a bad day,lost a loved one, or don’t feel good.

John F BurkeJohn F Burke was an American medicalresearcher at Harvard University. He isknown for his invention of synthetic skinwith Dr Ioannis V Yannas. Burke was alsoknown for developing a system of infec-tion control in hospitals and showingthat antibiotics given before surgerylower risks of post-operative infections.Burke was head of the Shriners BurnsInstitute and chief of trauma services atMassachusetts.

NEWS BRIEFSAPP-LY YOURSELF HOUSECALL DID YOU KNOW? PIONEERS

n Cover up your joints whengoing outside. Wear kneesocks or stockings under yourtrousers, long gloves thatcover the wrists, and so on.

n Loosen up your joints under-water, take a nice warm bathor shower after spending awhile outside.

n Follow a regular exerciseroutine that test the rangeand mobility of your joints.But know your limits. Stopwhen things become toopainful.

n Get the right nutrition andregulate your weight, thisnot only keeps the jointshealthy, but the lighter youare, the less pressure isexerted over your joints.

n It is recommended that yousleep on a firm mattress.

n If you are suffering fromarthritis you are advised touse assistive devices (such asknee, wrist, elbow,) on themost painful areas.

www.EzineArticles.com

Protect your joints

WINTERCARE

health THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 20RESEARCH

ANKARA: Inflamed gums, caused bysevere periodontal disease, tripledchances of erectile dysfunction (ED)among men in their 30s, according to aTurkish study.

Turkish researchers who compared80 men aged 30 to 40 years with EDwith another group of 82 without ED,found that 53 per cent of the men inthe first group had inflamed gums,compared with only 23 per cent in thesecond group.

When the results were rationalised,the men with severe periodontal dis-ease were found to be 3.29 times morelikely to suffer from erection problemsthan men with healthy gums.Periodontal disease attacks the gumand bone and around the teeth.

“Erectile dysfunction is a majorpublic health problem that affects thequality of life of some 150 million men,and their partners, worldwide,”says Faith Oguz fromInonu University inMalatya, Turkey, wholed the study.

“Physical factorscause nearly two-

thirds of cases, mainly because ofproblems with the blood vessels, withpsychological issues like emotionalstress and depression accounting forthe remainder, according to a Malatyastatement. “Chronic periodontitis (CP)is a group of infectious diseases causedpredominantly by bacteria that mostcommonly occur with inflammation ofthe gums,” said Oguz.

“Many studies have reported thatCP may induce systemic vascular dis-eases, such as coronary heart disease,which have been linked with erectionproblems,” Oguz added.

The average age of the men in bothgroups was just under 36 and therewere no significant differences when itcame to body mass index, householdincome and education.

Their sexual function was assessedusing the International Index ofErectile Function and their gum healthusing the plaque index, bleeding onprobing, probingdepth and clin-ical attach-ment level.

IANS

Risk factorsn Medical conditions, particularly diabetes or

heart problems.n Using tobacco, which restricts blood flow to

veins and arteries. Over time tobacco use cancause chronic health problems that lead toerectile dysfunction.

n Being overweight, especially if you’re veryoverweight (obese).

n Certain medical treatments, such as prostatesurgery or radiation treatment for cancer.

n Injuries, particularly if they damage the nervesthat control erections.

n Medications, including antidepressants, anti-histamines and medications to treat highblood pressure, pain or prostate cancer.

n Psychological conditions, such as stress, anxi-ety or depression.

n Drug and alcohol use, especially if you’re along-term drug user or heavy drinker.

n Prolonged bicycling, which may compressnerves and affect blood flow to the penis, canlead to temporary erectile dysfunction.

Source: www.mayoclinic.com

Researchers who compared men with ED with another group without ED, foundthat 53 per cent of the men in the first group had inflamed gums.

Diet is a fourletter wordHi doctor, I am 26, weigh 80kgsand my height is 5’5. I have nor-mal periods and my hormonesare fine. Many of my friendskeep telling me to lose weight. Ihave tried many techniques butnothing seems to help. Pleaseadvise. I remember reading somewherethat ‘it is not what you eat, it’swhat’s eating you’. We all havereasons for what, why and whenwe eat, and if we can sort outthose reasons, we will automati-cally be comfortable in our skins.

So all I am going to give youis advise and a little push to dothe right thing the right way. Onemust also not expect any wonderdrug to help you lose weight,because if something like thatreally existed, you would neverfind any chubby doctors, would you?

It may seem odd, but everytime a patient asks me how tolose weight, I cringe a bit. Eventhough I am a doctor, and I knowthe things to do, I rarely actuallydo them.

I keep throwing up excusesthat my schedule is busy, mytimings crazy, my stresses toomany and that my life is unpre-dictable but underneath all thatis the single truth that I really amtoo lazy to care and right nowsince nothing seems to be goingwrong except those seven extra kgs!

But seven extra kgs means700 metres of capillaries feedingthe fat and that much strain onthe plodding heart.

So again, with the comingnew year, I am bravely pullingup my socks and making thesimplest possible changes to helpthe weight loss. I don’t believe inmeal plans and special foods.

I believe fads never last, solets go over tried and tested rea-sonable ways for hardworkingwomen like us to lose a few kilos!

(column will continue next week)The writer is a gynaecologist

and obstetrician at Happy WomenClinic. You can write in to her at

[email protected] orcall her on 9959729444/

9581952485.

Dr DivyaT Sudarshan

Doctor’scorner

Inflamed gums triples riskof erectile disorder

EntertainmentTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

21Kumki to be dubbed as GajarajuVikram Prabhu, Lakshmi

Menon starrer Kumki isgoing to be dubbed in Teluguas Gajaraju. Prabhu Solomon,who had earlier made Mynaa,has directed the film.Bellamkonda Suresh is dis-tributing the film in AP.Gajaraju is slated for releaseon December 14.

Ganesh Venkatramanbags a biggie

Ganesh Venkatraman, whorecently played the vil-

lain’s role in Dhamarukam,has bagged one of the lead

roles in Sundar C’s upcomingbilingual film. Siddharth and

Hansika are playing the othertwo lead roles in the roman-

tic comedy and it’s said to bea triangular love story.

Parvati Melton, who waslast seen in

Srimmanaryana, is all set totie the knot with her long-

time boyfriend ShamsuLalani, a Mumbai-based realestate tycoon. The weddingis expected to take place in

Mumbai on December 29.Parvati Melton will soon be

seen in Yamaho Yama.

Parvati Melton set to tie the knot

CINE BYTES

DIFFERENCES CROP UP AGAIN!

Ram’s upcoming film to be directed by SantoshSrinivas has hit a roadblock once again.Bellamkonda Suresh was supposed to producethe film. Last year, the trio had teamed up withKandireega and it went on to become a big hit at

box office. However, not everything was goingwell between Ram and BellamkondaSuresh. Initially, the two had differencesover remuneration and it took a long timebefore the issue could be settled amicably.Their latest film was formally launchedearlier this year and before the film couldgo on sets, Santosh Srinivas lodged a com-plaint on Bellamkonda Suresh alleging thatthe latter had hit him. Several big wigs fromTelugu film industry got involved to resortthe issue between the two. Few days ago, theproducer even informed the media thatShruti Haasan was going to star oppo-site Ram in this mass entertainer.After all these twists and turns,the project is once again innews for all the wrong rea-sons. If the grapevine is tobe believed, Ram has beendropped from the project.The reason behind thissudden change in plans isnot clear yet, but there’s astrong buzz that NTR isgoing to star in the samefilm. Apparently,Bellamkonda Suresh hadasked Santosh Srinivasto narrate the script toNTR and we hear thatthe actor has reportedlygiven the green signal. Aformal announcement isexpected to be made soon. If allgoes well, the film is likely to go onfloors after NTR wraps up shootingfor Baadshah and HarishShankar’s film.

NTR replaces RAM inSantosh Srinivas’ film?

fashionTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

KATE BOSWORTH, NEW FACE OF TOPSHOPKATE BOSWORTH is the face and voice of Topshop’s first ever Christmas campaign. The actress stars in a short

film, in which she sings festive song Winter Wonderland, directed by her fiancé Michael Polish.

Balenciaga announcedthe appointment ofNew York starAlexander Wang as itsnew top designer, tak-

ing over from NicolasGhesquiere at the helm of theFrench fashion house.

“Balenciaga and PPR arepleased to announce theappointment of Alexander Wangto the post of Creative Directorof the Balenciaga fashion house,as of today,” said a joint state-ment from Balenciaga and itsowner, the PPR luxury group.

One of the hottest names inUS fashion, Wang will be respon-sible for designing the brand’swomen’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories collections,as well as for Balenciaga’simage, the text said.

The 28-year-old, born inCalifornia to Taiwanese par-ents, will continue with hisindependent New York-based

house, turning out relaxed chicwith a streetwise edge, along-

side his new duties atBalenciaga.

“I am deeply honoured toembark on this new role for abrand and house that I havesuch great admiration andrespect for,” Wang was quoted assaying in the statement.

PPR took the fashion worldby surprise last month byannouncing the departure ofGhesquiere, its designer of 15years, who put the house found-ed by Spaniard CristobalBalenciaga in 1919 back on thefashion map in his time there.

The trade magazineWomen’s Wear Daily had report-ed — that Wang had been pickedto succeed him.

Isabelle Guichot, Balenciaga’schief executive, paid tribute inthe statement to Wang’s “proventalent, modernity and individualand cosmopolitan vision ofdesign.”

She predicted hewould “naturallyembrace and enrich

the unique heritage of this fash-ion house which will soon beone hundred years old.”

PPR, whose fashion labelsinclude Gucci, Yves Saint-Laurent, Alexander McQueenand Stella McCartney has ownedBalenciaga since 2001.

Turnover had been multi-plied by 11 since the house wasacquired by PPR, with two-fig-ure growth for the first ninemonths of this year.

Industry experts suggestedthe choice of Wang, who speaksMandarin and whose own-namebrand has been pushing intoAsia, could signal a willingnessto focus on the vast Chinese mar-ket, building on PPR’s strongpresence in the region.

In Paris meanwhile, thedesigner has already received ahigh-profile endorsement afterKarl Lagerfeld let slip at an exhi-bition launch this month that he

was wearing an AlexanderWang overcoat.

— AFP

22&23MARION COTILLARD DESIGNS DIOR BAGMARION COTILLARD is designing her own handbag for Christian Dior. The French actress is creating herown “personal” take on the fashion house’s recognisable Lady Dior bag, of which she is currently the face.

The US-based designer Alexander Wang will besucceeding Nicolas Ghesquiere who served as the

top designer at Balenciaga for the past 15 years.

Balenciaga’s

ALEXANDER

WANG

designernew is

Entertainment THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 24


Chai TimeTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

26

ACROSS1 Address to a lady5 Cry of dismay9 Breads with pockets14 Spanish stew pot15 Close by, old-style16 Make a grand speech17 Examine oneself, lit-

erally or figuratively20 Put off, as loan pay-

ments21 Yard contents, some-

times22 Two-syllable poetic

foot23 Axed-tree remnants26 Pool table material28 Change the wall

color30 Buster on the silent

screen34 It may be put on37 They may lie in a

boat's tholes39 Shoulder scarf40 One step in prepar-

ing for sleep44 Female parents45 Trivial tiff46 One who's had tee

many martoonis?47 Provide storage for

forage49 Surrealist artist Max52 Guide one's dance

partner

54 Where flag pins canbe spotted

57 Native of world'slargest peninsula

60 Home to manyschools?

62 Social creme de lacreme

64 Get out of a foggysituation?

68 Gold measurement69 Nuts for Coke?70 Baker's dozen?71 Arboreal mammal72 Careless misstep73 Observe the Sabbath

DOWN1 It appears when

things go bad2 Lotion lilies3 Among the clouds4 Lipstick, rouge, liner,

etc.5 Raggedy doll6 Like burning candles7 Turkish title8 Pantry part9 Baked Hawaiian dish10 Get one's goat11 Scarlett's refuge12 Tiny bit of matter13 Romanian's neighbor18 " ___ la Douce"19 "... the ___ shall

inherit the earth"

24 Subatomic particle25 Bumps along the way27 A smaller amount of29 Metaphor, for one31 Santa's load32 Substitute spread33 Cardinal's residence34 Crowning point35 Scot's family36 "Uncle ___ Cabin"

(Harriet BeecherStowe classic)

38 Traffic problem41 Catamaran, for one42 Very small landmass43 Volcano of Sicily48 Relaxed condition50 Many writers work

on it51 One with lots of bills53 Classroom furnish-

ings55 Feudal lord, or his

subject56 Big bucks?57 Is inquisitive58 Not faux59 Prefix with "dynam-

ic" or "lite"61 Off base, like a bad

soldier63 Former, formerly65 Advanced degree?66 Thrilla in Manila

boxer67 Mouth, slangily

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


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

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Chai Time THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012 27

STAR POWER

STRIP TEASE

Vol: 2, No 140 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 7-12-2012 As per Hindu panchang

for 7-12-2012

ARIESNeed to act with caution todrive away difficulties. Neveract in a hurry at the office.Avoid locking horns with familymembers as this will affecthappy events to take place athome. Children's health needsattention.

ARIES: The Devil – You’retempted by what you see aroundyou. You feel others are getting abetter deal than you. The grass isalways greener on the other side.

GEMINI: Ace of Wands –You’re brimming over with creativeideas and you take pleasure in tasksthat make you feel happy. It could becooking, gardening, pottery, etc.

LEO: Page of Cups – You’refeeling adventurous and emotional.Strive to strike a balance betweenthe two. Go with your instinct ifyou’re feeling impetuous.

LIBRA: Six of Swords –Overseas connections will determineyour course of action in the next fewmonths. Work on some projects willneed to be stepped up.

TAURUS: Two of Wands –Don’t be in a hurry to get what youwant. Wait for things to happen toyour advantage. Also, don’t antago-nise those who want to help.

CANCER: Knight of Cups –This is a time to manage your emo-tions and ensure you do not trampleon the feelings of others. Be empa-thetic to others’ problems and needs.

VIRGO: Queen of Wands –You’re feeling content in the world ofyour own making. It’s fine for now,but you cannot ignore the outerworld for too long.

SCORPIO: Seven of Cups– The focus is on material posses-sions. You’re at a stage when youbelieve money will solve most ofyour problems. It’s a passing phase.

CAPRICORN: Three ofSwords – You’re disappointed withsomething or someone as youexpected more. Grieve if you have to.But get up and move on.

SAGITTARIUS: Nine ofCups – This is a great time when ideasclick; every thought brings a newopportunity. Make a wish and it isabout to come true.

AQUARIUS: The Star –You’re perhaps failing to see it butthere’s a silver lining in the midst ofyour troubles. Keep the faith and goahead with what you believe.

PISCES: The Moon –You’re feeling temperamental andmay force your opinions and moodson others. Watch out for extrememood swings.

TAURUSGood and drastic changes arelikely to take place. This is thetime you should act withoutany laziness. Your abilities anddecisions will be welcomed byall and earn a good name foryou. Hurdles will disappearand work will go smoothly.

GEMININeed not grumble about thesudden transfer and accept thesame as it will be good foryou.Be careful while handlingofficial and confidential docu-ments as chances of gettingblame likely due to your negligence.

CANCERSlow and steady policy to beadopted to achieve success inthe works undertaken.Employees need to dischargetheir duties perfectly. Financialsituation looks strong. Avoidluxurious expenses and beconservative.

LEOYour self-confidence andcourage will increase.Unwanted apprehension willdisappear. Pay hike and promo-tion on cards .You will be happyas superior too will support.Take good care of spouse'shealth.

VIRGOAvoid friends who always talkwrong about others.Employees will be suitablyrecognised for their sincereand hardwork. Never everneglect the valuable advises ofexperienced persons. Avoidnight travel.

LIBRAPlanning will ensure success.Avoid anger and emotionaldecisions. Avoid extravagantexpenses. Children will do wellin studies and will make youhappy. Government officialsneed to work with patience toavoid getting into trouble.

SCORPIOA patient approach with bolddecision will bring desiredresult. Avoid blaming others foryour inept handling of issues.Be careful in the financial trans-actions and keep a perfect trackof them to avoid future ten-sions.

SAGITTARIUSSome have bright chance tobuy a house or land.Government officials and politi-cians are advised not to shareany confidential matters withnew friends. Attend to theproblems with the vehicleimmediately.

CAPRICORNAll your sincere and well-planned efforts will yieldresults. Surprise good news onthe cards. Parents’ health willbe a cause for concern.Government officials need toexercise extra caution whileimplementing important plans.

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PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS


Hathaway

Tarantino awarded atMoma

Quentin Tarantino was theman of the hour at the

Museum of Modern ArtMonday night, when he washonoured at the museum’sfifth-annual Film Benefit.Many of the stars of thedirector’s films turned out topay tribute, includingResevoir Dogs stars SteveBuscemi and Harvey Keitel,Diane Kruger and patronHarvey Weinstein.

Matt Damon enters TheMonuments Men

George Clooney has a new manfor The Monuments Men.

“Yes, I will be in that movie!” MattDamon exclusively confirmed toE! News. Damon had been in talksto join the cast of Clooney’s latestdirectorial effort—a period dramathat sounds like it’s about Mt.Rushmore but is actually set inGermany toward the end ofWorld War II, when Hitler’sregime was trying to cover itsgenocidal tracks.

Hollywood’s mostoverpaid actor?

Eddie Murphy might have oncebeen a hit on Saturday Night

Live and Beverly Hills Cop, butthese days the actor’s claim tofame is landing the title of MostOverpaid Actor in Hollywood.Murphy came in at the No. 1 spotfor the most overpaid actor thisyear. A series of recent box officeflops — like A Thousand Words,Meet Dave and Tower Heist — leftstudios with $2.30 for every $1they paid Murphy.

CINE BYTES THE PITFALLS OF FAME

frets over body issues

She may be one of themost beautiful

women inHollywood, but

Anne Hathaway hasher insecurities — and a lotof them revolve around her

weight. Hathaway covers theJanuary issue of Glamour

magazine and admits shestill feels out of place in the

spotlight. “I still feel thestress over ‘Am I thin

enough? Am I too thin? Ismy body the right shape?’”

the Les Miserables star, 30,explains to Glamour. “There’san obsessive quality to it that

I thought I would’ve grownout of by now. It’s an ongo-

ing source of shame for me.”Hathaway says the samegoes for her fashion deci-

sions— whether she’s goingto the supermarket or head-

ing to the Oscars. “I justthink about the ridicule youget if you have an off day,”

she admits. “If peopleweren’t watching, I’d be so

much more eccentric. I knowit makes me sound weak, but

rather than make myselfhappy and wear the silly hat

and say, ‘Oh, I don’t care.’ Iactually really don’t feel like

getting made fun of,” theactress adds, “So I put on

something boring and navyand go out and try to

disappear.”

BRYANT REACHES30,000-POINT MILESTONE

Kobe Bryant became the youngest player to reach 30,000 career points in the NBA as hehelped the Los Angeles Lakers to a 103-87 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

NEW ORLEANS: KobeBryant became the

youngest player to reach30,000 career points in theNBA on Wednesday as he

helped the Los AngelesLakers to a 103-87 victory

over the New OrleansHornets.

With 1:16 left in thesecond quarter, Bryant

drove into the lane androse to connect on a jump

shot, taking his tally forthe contest to 14 and for

his career to 30,001.“It’s a huge accom-

plishment,” Bryant said ofbecoming just the fifth

player in NBA history toreach the milestone.

He joined KareemAbdul-Jabbar (38,387),

Karl Malone (36,928),Michael Jordan (32,292)and Wilt Chamberlain

(31,419).“It feels good,” Bryantadded. “I’ve been veryfortunate that I haven’treally had any serious

injuries. It’s been a lot ofsacrifice on my part and

my family’s part — a lot oftime away and just work-

ing extremely hard.”At 34 years old, he’s

the youngest player inhistory to reach the mile-

stone. Chamberlain was35 years old, while

Malone and Abdul-Jabbarwere both 36 and Jordan

38.However, Bryant was

the fifth-fastest player interms of games played to

reach the milestone,achieving it in his 1,179thcontest. Chamberlain got

there in 941 games.NBA Commissioner

David Stern was on handto see the feat, but Bryant

was just as concerned thatthe Lakers reversed their

recent fortunes with a vic-tory.

He finished with 29points and six rebounds

as the Lakers ended a two-game skid. They bounced

back from a disappointingloss at Houston — wherethey surrendered a dou-ble-digit fourth-quarter

lead — to win for just thesecond time on the road

this season.Dwight Howard

added 18 points, eightrebounds and five blocks

for the Lakers.“We came out very

focused in the secondhalf,” Bryant said, prais-

ing Howard in particular.“We just kept on rolling.”

sports 29LEAGUE CRICKET

NBA


HYDERABAD: Machiavelianism,Custodian, Kallu Mama, Vijayshaurya,Vijaykeerti and Plenipotent Impressedwhen the horses excercised here thismorning.

SAND TRACK 800 METRES:2y.Zorro The Legend (rb) 1-1,600/45Easy. 2y.Kallu Mama (Joshi) Vijays

Best (rb) 57,600/43 They movedtogethr. FineRacer (app)Classic Wish

(N.Rawal) 58, 600/44 Former fin-ished infront. Plenipotent (Togrolu)

52.5, 600/40 Caught the eye. SuperDuper (Joshi) 57, 600/44 Moved

freely. Vijaykeerti (Ravinder Singh)54.5, 600/41.5 Impressed. Ice

Rain(app) 2y.Colorful Trip (Anil) 57,600/43 They moved together.

Jaden Gil (M.Mark) 1-1, 600/45 Easy.Aegis (Joshi) 55, 600/41 Pleased.

Ashwa Shakti (Ravinder Singh) 54,600/41 Moved well. Sea Runner (rb)

Prince Of Arabia (Togrolu) 56,600/43 They finished together. San

Ramon (Christopher) Ocean Side(Kuldeep Singh) 54, 600/41 They moved

together. Mr.Glorious (M.Mark) 57,600/43 Moved well. 2y,Palm Springs

(Christopher) 2y.Coralsprings(S.nayak) 57, 600/443 They moved

together. Perfect (Kuldeep Singh)Rio Grande (Togrolu ) 56, 600/43 A

fit pair. Rose Queen (app) 2y.Chocolate Soldier (Ravinder Singh) 58,

600/44 Former finished in front.2y.Wow O Wow (Joshi) Silver Lid

(app) 1-2, 600/46 Theymoved freely.Rebut (K.Alam) 58, 600/44 Urged.

Red Magic (AK Pawar) DeccanStorm (Christopher) 1-1.5,600/45 Former

finished a length in front. Star Value(Imran Khan) 1-3, 600/45 Easy.

Crimson Look (K.Alam) 2y.RainbowIn The Sky (Alikhan) 56.5, 600/43

They finished together. Montpelier(Kuldeep Singh) 1-3, 600/47 Easy.

Carson Troy (rb) 59, 600/43 Speedy.Geography (rb) Chayanandan (rb)

58.5, 600/44 They finished together.Saravagnya (rb) 1-0 600/44 Easy.

Maximus (I.Pasha) 57, 600/42Moved well.

SAND TRACK 1000 METRES:Machiavellianism (Ravinder Singh) 1-10,800/54, 600/41 Impressed.

Vijayshaurya (Ravinder Singh) 1-12,800/55, 600/42 Pleased.

Custodian(app) Lavish Kid (Anil) 1-10, 800/55, 600/42 They moved

together. 2y.Roma Rouge (app)Molla (rb) 1-16, 800/1-1, 600/46 They

moved freely. Valentine (Togrolu) 1-12, 800/58, 600/44 Easy. Robust

(Joshi) 1-14, 800/59, 600/45 Easy.2y.Lots Of Love (Imran Khan) Inner

Strength (Kiran Naidu) 1-18, 800/1-2600/47 They moved together.

SAND TRACK 1200 METRES:Golden Rule (Kuldeep Singh) GoldenPalace (Christopher) 1-27.5,

1000/1-11, 800/57, 600/43 They fin-ished together.

SAND TRACK 1400 METRES:Malabar Prince (M.Mark) 1-38,1400/600in 53 Impressed but a bad starter.

Kallu Mama,Custodian excel

‘A’ DIVISION TWO-DAYSCCOB 383 (Maqbool Baig 87,SK Mohammed 121, AkbarKhan 100, Sultan 4/80) btTelangana 220 (ParamjitSingh 30, Vikram 40, Ramesh91, Syed Muzzamil 6/100).

Continental 326/7 (BRahul 102no,Y Harish 79,Rohit Reddy 39, YashwanthReddy 39, Rajender 3 for 60)vs Galaxy CC

A4-11 DIVISION ONE-DAYMP Youngman 230/4 (BalaBrahma Chary 71, Nithin 75,

Sandeep 33 n.o.) bt RKPuram 188 (Pushkar 35,Srikanth 3/20).

Aggarwal Seniors 232(Syed Ghouse 72, Khaled 30,Syed Mauinuddin 5/38,Shaiva Bhaskaran 4/27) btHUCC 220 (SyedMauinuddin 55, Mohd BilalAhmed 61, Md Azhar 32 n.o.,Syed Shakir 7/39).

Sutton CC 86 (YashwanthReddy 30, Bhvvandhar 30, ESreecharan 3/23, G Arjun4/21) lost to Dhruv XI 87 forno loss (E Sreecharan 56 n.o.).

Superstars 323/4 (Vamshi121, Vikas 153, Haseeb 3/66)bt PN Youngstars 87 (Murali4/24, Gopi 3/22).

Rushiraj 127/9 (SyedMohammed 34, Pavan 4/54,Ravi Kumar 4/25) lost toKakatiya 128/4 (Krishna 30,Ramana 56 n.o.).

CK Blues 269/8(Chaitanya 58, Saradhi 49,Udaya Kiran 56, ShivaSantosh 30, Yash Kapadia3/41) bt HCA Academy192/8 (Varun Goud 42, YashKapadia 56, K Shiva 3/38).

HYDERABAD: Parth Jhala willcaptain the Hyderabad ‘A’ forthe match against Andhra ‘A’side in the Col. CK NayuduTrophy.Squad: Parth Jhala (Captain), K.Sumanth, L. Naveen, Mohanty,Benjamin Thomas, PraneethKumar, Aakash Bhandari, VishalSharma, Shiv Prasad, VishwajeetPattnaik, Mudassar, Rajendra,Mehdi Hasan, Neeraj Bist,Surinder Singh.

Jhala to leadHyderabad ‘A’

HYDERABAD TRACK WORK CK NAYUDU TROPHY

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers waits for a playagainst the New Orleans Hornets at the New Orleans

Arena on Wednesday in New Orleans, Louisiana.Bryant scored his 30,000th point in the game mak-

ing him the fifth player in NBA history to reachthe achievement. STACY REVERE/GETTY IMAGES/AFP

sports 30IOA ELECETIONS

DAVIS CUP DOPING TROUBLE


NEW DELHI: Abhay SinghChautala on Wednesday tookover as the president of theIndian Olympic Associationwhile the tainted Lalit Bhanotbecame the secretary generalafter the IOA conducted its con-troversial elections defying theIOC’s directive not to go aheadwith the polls.

Chautala and Bhanot weredeclared elected unopposed inthe polls conducted by anElection Commission made up ofretired High Court Justices, just aday after the IOC suspensed thenational Olympic body.

The world body had yester-day said that the IOA electionswill be “null and void” followingits suspension.

Just after his election to thehigh-profile post, Chautala

defended the decision to goahead with the polls despiteIOC’s directive, saying that theIOA had to abide by the Delhi

High Court order.“We have completed a free

and fair election under three emi-nent retired High Court Justices.

I want to re-iterate that we havenot done anything wrong bygoing ahead with the polls. Wehave to obey the law of theland,” he told reporters.

“It was an unanimous deci-sion of the House that we havedone nothing wrong. The IOAhad to bear the brunt of the tus-sle between the government andthe IOC. Now we will explain tothe IOC the circumstances underwhich we had to go ahead withthe elections. We hope that wewill be able to convince the IOCto reconsider the suspension. Wewill also meet the SportsMinister and the Prime Minsterand plead before them to dropthe Sports Code which hadbrought us to this situation. Wewill work to lift this suspensionas soon as possible,” he said.

Bhanot, who was jailed andlater released on bail for hisalleged involvement in theCommonwealth Games corrup-tion scandal, said that he wouldquit from the post of IOA secre-tary general if he is proven guiltyby the law of the land. “I havenot been proven guilty. I will quitif I am proven guilty by the lawof the land,” he said. VirendraNanavati and N Ramachandranwere respectively elected unop-posed to the posts of senior vice-president and treasurer.

The elections were held forthe eight posts of vice-presiden -ts, six joint secretaries and 20 Ex -ecutive Council Members. Therewere seven candidates in the frayfor vice-presidents’ posts, 15 forjoint secretaries and 28 forExecutive Council Members. PTI

Chautala elected presidentAbhay Chautala took over as the president of the IOA while tainted Lalit Bhanot became the

secretary general after the IOA conducted its controversial elections defying the IOC’s directive.

IOC bides time withArmstrong medal LAUSANNE: Disgraced cyclistLance Armstrong will be able tohold on to his Olympic bronzemedal from the time-trial eventat the 2000 Games in Sydney forat least a little longer, theInternational OlympicCommittee has said.

Armstrong was stripped ofhis seven Tour de France titlesand banned from the sport forlife in October after the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) pro-duced evidence of widespreaddoping by him and his formerteam-mates.

But the IOC said it would notbe stripping Armstrong of hisbronze medal because of a tech-nicality that demands that worldcycling’s governing body theUCI be first to inform the Ameri -

can, who would then have recou -rse to sport’s highest court, theCourt of Arbitration for Sport (C -AS). “On the Armstrong case, theIOC will not move today,” IOCpresident Jacques Rogge said.

Radwanska headlines Sydney draw SYDNEY: Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska will lead a fieldfeaturing seven of the top 10 women players for nextmonth’s Sydney International, organisers said on Thursday.World number four Radwanska is the likely top seed but willface a fierce challenge from three Grand Slam champions,China’s Li Na, the Czech Republic’s Petra Kvitova andAustralia’s Samantha Stosur. Angelique Kerber, French Openfinalist Sara Errani and former world number one CarolineWozniacki are the other top 10 players in the draw. Themen’s line-up features the French pair of Jo-Wilfried Tsongaand Richard Gasquet. The Sydney International takes placefrom January 6 to 12. AFP

Ag2r back for Tour Down UnderSYDNEY: French cycling outfit Ag2r La Mondiale willreturn to Australia next month for the team’s 15th start inthe Tour Down Under, organisers said. Ag2r La Mondiale isthe only team to have competed every year since the firstevent in 1999, race director Mike Turtur said. The Frenchteam has the most successful record in the Australian roadrace with previous winners including Martin Elmiger (2007),Simon Gerrans (2006), Mikel Astarloza (2003) and GillesMaignan (2000) and also Blel Kadri (in pic). “The Ag2r LaMondiale team will be very competitive. They are bringinga group of experienced riders including Yauheni Hutarovich,the 2012 Belarus national road race champion,” Turtur said.

SPORTS BRIEFS

SYDNEY: Captain Pat Rafterwill not select troubled BernardTomic for Australia’s openingDavis Cup tie next year amidconcerns over his on and off-court behaviour, TennisAustralia said on Thursday.

Tomic, 20, has fallen foul ofTennis Australia several timesover the past 18 months sincereaching the quarter-finals ofWimbledon in 2011.

“As a team, we just felt thatpart of the commitment that wemake to athletes and athletesmake to the sport is they alwaysput 100 percent commitmentand effort in competing for theircountry,” said Craig Tiley,Tennis Australia’s director oftennis. “It’s not one specific inci-dent, just an aggregation of hisapproach to the game. We justfelt that this decision shouldprovide additional motivation

every time he walks on thecourt to be a total professionalin his approach to not only hispreparation but competing inthe match and post-match. Andit would be no different if hewas the number one player inAustralia, or the number 100

player, or a junior.”Rafter had been particularly

scathing of Tomic’s perfor-mance in losing to AndyRoddick in the second round ofthis year’s US Open, describinghis final set capitulation as “dis-graceful”. AFP

It was an unani-mous decision

that we have donenothing wrong. TheIOA bore the brunt ofthe tussle betwe -en the govern-ment and the IOC.

Abhay Singh ChautalaIOA President

Tomic axed over behaviour

sports 31ENGLAND’S TOUR OF INDIA

AUSTRALIA VS SRI LANKA


SYDNEY: Phillip Hughes (in pic)is in line to replace newly retiredRicky Ponting after being namedThursday in the Australian squadfor the opening Test against SriLanka, starting in Hobart nextweek.

Hughes, whose last Testappearance was against NewZealand in December 2011, waspreferred ahead of Rob Quineyand Usman Khawaja to fill thevacancy left by former skipperPonting.

Ponting, the second-highestTest run-scorer of all-time behindIndia’s Sachin Tendulkar, playedhis final and record-equalling

168th Test for Australia againstSouth Africa in Perth, which fin-ished on Monday.

Selectors also recalled pacebowlers Peter Siddle and BenHilfenhaus for the December 14-18 Hobart opener after they wereleft out of the third South AfricaTest, won by the Proteas whosealed the series 1-0.

Hughes, who has played 17Tests as an opening batsman, getsanother chance to establish him-self after technical issues with therising ball led to his axing.

“Phillip Hughes has beenselected to fill the vacancy createdby Ricky Ponting’s retirement,”

chairman of selectors JohnInverarity said.

“Hughes, Usman Khawaja,Rob Quiney and Alex Doolanwere the four batsmen to comeunder consideration to bat high inthe order.

“Phillip is an improved playerand his recent and overall careerstatistics present a compellingcase,” Inverarity said.

“The selection panel holds theview that he, having just turned24, is a very significant part of thefuture.”

The chairman said captainMichael Clarke would decide onhis batting order during the nextfew days, with Hughes an optionat number three in Ponting’splace.

“The dressing-room will bedifferent without the presence ofRicky Ponting. His absence cre-ates both the opportunity and thenecessity for others to grow andfill the gap,” Inverarity said.

Pacemen John Hastings andJosh Hazlewood were not consid-ered because of injuries.

“The squad welcomes thereturn of Ben Hilfenhaus andPeter Siddle. Neither bowler wasconsidered to be 100 percent fit toperform and (they were) notincluded in the final squad of 12for the Perth Test match againstSouth Africa,” said Inverarity.Australia: Michael Clarke (capt),Shane Watson, David Warner, EdCowan, Phil Hughes, Mike Huss -ey, Matthew Wade, Peter Siddle,Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc,Ben Hilfenhaus, Nathan Lyon. AFP

KOLKATA: Off-spinnerHarbhajan Singh, AjinkyaRahane and Bengal speedsterAshok Dinda were todayreleased by the Indian teammanagement for their up -coming Rani Trophy encoun-ters, starting December 8.

While Harbhajan andRahane have been releasedfor the Group A Ranjiencounter between Punjaband Mumbai, Dinda wasreleived off the national dutyfor Bengal’s match againstSaurashtra in the same group.

The three cricketers, whowere not inculded in the play-ing eleven for the ongoingthird Test against Englandwhich began at the EdenGardens here today, werereleased for their respectiveRanji encounters to get prop-er match practice. WhileHarbhajan has played the sec-ond Test in Mumbai, Rahaneand Dinda are yet to play apart in the series.

Parthiv hopeful ofIndian team comeback

NEW DELHI: Indiadiscard Parthiv Patel stillnurtures hope of returningto the Indian cricket teamand feels that his goodshowing with the bat in theongoing domestic seasonwill attract the attention ofthe national selectors.

“There’s been ups anddowns in my career since Imade my debut. But I amquite happy with the way Iam playing at the momentin domestic circuit. I amgoing through a good Ranjiseason with the bat. I amhoping to return (to theIndian team),” Parthiv said

on the sidelines of a func-tion here.

Parthiv, who was lastseen donning the Indiacolours against Sri Lanka inBrisbane in February thisyear, said he is keepinghimself ready to make acomeback as and when hegets a call from the selec-tors. “I am waiting for mychance. Whenever I got achance to play for the coun-try, I had performed to thefullest,” he said. But off lateParthiv has been been outof favour with the selectorsas they have been favour-ing Wriddhiman Saha. PTI

KOLKATA: Despite a fightinghalf-century by skipperMahendra Singh Dhoni, Englandmanaged to bundle out India for316 before reaching 22 for no lossat lunch on the second day of thethird Test here today.

At break, the visitors were inan advantageous position withcaptain Alastair Cook and NickCompton unbeaten at the crease.

India’s first innings total cer-tainly seems inadequate on a bat-ting-friendly flat Eden track.

Resuming on 273 for seven,overnight batsman Dhoni, start-

ing on 22, went on to hit a fine 52to help India cross the 300-runmark. But Monty Panesar’s twowickets in the first five overs ofthe day enabled England dictateterms.

Pacer James Anderson, afterstarting the proceedings, createdpressure from one end, whilePanesar bowled cleverly using alot of variations.

With two wickets today,Panesar’s figures read an impres-sive four for 90, while Anderson,though could not add any morewicket to his yesterday’s tally,

finished with three for 89.India had a jittery start as

Zaheer Khan, on 2, edged theball at the second slip in the thirdover of the day but only to bedropped by Graeme Swann offAnderson’s bowling.

Anderson once again trou-bled the hosts with his reverseswing but was unlucky in givinghis team the first breakthrough.

Zaheer, however, failed tomake the most of his droppedchance, as in the very next overhe was trapped by Panesar. Hedeparted for six.

Panesar seemed to be on aroll as he returned to castleIshant Sharma (0) in his nextover, and India looked in dangerof being skittled out short of 300.

With the hosts reeling at 296for nine, Dhoni stitched a 20-runpartnership with Pragyan Ojha,who gave a good support to hisskipper without scoring a singlerun. Field was spread out forDhoni, who preferred to score inboundaries or taking a run offthe last ball trying to save Ojha.India crossed the 300-mark withDhoni lofting Panesar for a six.PTI

Despite a fighting half-century by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, England managed to bundle outIndia for 316 before reaching 22 for no loss at lunch on the second day of the third Test.

scoreboardIndia 1st Innings (overnight score) 273/7MS Dhoni*† c Swann b Finn 52R Ashwin b Anderson 21Z Khan lbw b Panesar 6I Sharma b Panesar 0PP Ojha not out 0Extras (b 5, lb 13, w 5, nb 1) 24Total (all out) 316Fall of wickets: 1-47, 2-88, 3-117,4-136, 5-215, 6-230, 7-268, 8-292,9-296, 10-316Bowling O M R WJM Anderson 28 7 89 3ST Finn 21 2 73 1MS Panesar 40 13 90 4GP Swann 16 3 46 1

England 1st Innings AN Cook* not out 17NRD Compton not out 5Extras 0Total (0 wickets) 22Bowling O M R W

Z Khan 5 2 14 0

I Sharma 5 1 8 0

R Ashwin 1 1 0 0

Hughes recalled inplace of Ponting

RANJI TROPHY

RAY OF HOPE

Players released fordomestic duties

England take control

sportsTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

32DEL PIERO SIDELINED BY HAMSTRING INJURY Italian superstar Alessandro Del Piero will miss Sydney FC's weekend tripto play Wellington Phoenix in Australia's A-League with a hamstringinjury, the club said on Thursday. Officials said scans revealed he suffereda strain during last weekend's scoreless home draw with Melbourne Heart.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

GRAHAM CHASE Agence France-Presse

MANCHESTER: Luis Alberto scoredthe only goal as Cluj secured a 1-0 winover Manchester United but were stilleliminated from the Champions Leaguehere on Wednesday.

Alberto put the Romanian champi-ons ahead just before the hour but withGalatasary coming from behind to win2-1 in Braga, Cluj were eliminated onthe head to head ruling. Paulo Sergio'sside, who must have believed a victoryat Old Trafford would take them to thenext stage, will now feature in theEuropa League in the new year.

United were through even beforethe 1-0 defeat at Galatasary last monthand progress as group winners.

But despite making 10 changesahead of the Manchester derby withCity on Sunday, Alex Ferguson will stillbe frustrated at his team's second suc-cessive European defeat. It was histeam's first home loss since a 1-0 defeatto Besiktas in November 2009.

But, having taken the unusual stepof criticising the defending of his side,who have now conceded 33 goals thisseason, before the game, he will beangry to have witnessed more errorsagainst Cluj.

Alberto's goal was the 15th occasionUnited have fallen behind this seasonand they have only kept four cleansheets in 23 matches in the current cam-paign. Danny Welbeck went close to

giving United an early breakthroughbut his header from a Ryan Giggs crossflew wide of goal.

There was more evidence of whathas been troubling Ferguson when aloose Giggs backpass put ChrisSmalling under pressure and theEngland defender's poor clearanceallowed Rui Pedro to shoot, only forDavid De Gea to make a smart save.

The Romanians pressed forwardwhenever they could and Pedroswapped passes with Modou Sogoubefore the striker's effort was deflectedwide by United youngster ScottWootton. Camora found more spacewhen he got in behind Phil Jones onlyto see his cross cleared wide by TomCleverley with Sogou about to pounceat the near post.

United slump to defeatLuis Alberto scored the only goal as Cluj secured a 1-0 win over Manchester

United but were still eliminated from the Champions League.

TIM HANLON Agence France-Presse

BARCELONA, Lionel Messiwas stretchered off with a kneeinjury as Barcelona drew 0-0with Benfica at the Camp Nou, aresult which saw Celtic gothrough at the expense of thePortuguese from ChampionsLeague Group G.

The club later confirmed theinjury was only bruising to theleft knee, but added that theArgentine "is still awaiting moretests to determine the extent ofthe injury". Benfica needed onlyto match Celtic's result againstSpartak Moscow and they wast-ed a number of excellent chancesagainst a weakened Barca, espe-cially in the first half and were torue them as Celtic snatched a 2-1win over Spartak Moscow.

Messi was brought on as asecond-half substitute but wentdown clutching his knee later on.The Catalan side cruised throughthe group stage with just one

defeat, away to Celtic, in whathas been a prolific start to theseason where domestically theyhave established a new record of13 wins from 14 games.

Cluj's midfielder Luis Alberto (R) celebrates with Cluj's Portugese defender Ivo Pinto afterscoring during the Champions League group H match between Manchester United andCFR Cluj-Napoca at Old Trafford in Manchester, on Wednesday. AFP/PAUL ELLIS

Chelsea exit CLPARIS: Chelsea made the wrong sort ofhistory on Wednesday as they became thefirst holders to exit the Champions Leagueat the group stage despite winning theirfinal group game.

Their 6-1 thumping of Danish minnowsNordsjaelland - their biggest ChampionsLeague win, having previously twice won5-0 - proved pointless as Juventus won 1-0and inflicted a rare home defeat onUkrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk.

Chelsea's despair was in contrast to thejoy in Glasgow as Celtic reached the Last 16with a 2-1 home win over Spartak Moscowand become the first Scottish side to garner10 points from the group stage.

Chelsea's victory gave interim coachRafael Benitez - who has received a lessthan warm reception by the Chelsea fanssince he replaced Roberto di Matteo - hisfirst win in four games at the StamfordBridge helm.

"The other game was out of our hands,so we couldn't do anything about it," saidBenitez, who will not have enjoyed seeingsome Chelsea fans holding up posters ofanother former Chelsea manager, JoseMourinho, imploring him to return.

"I said before that we just had to do ourjob. As a manager, you have to be reallypleased with the performance of your team.

"People ask about the Europa League.Every competition is important for us. Wewill try to challenge and win where wecan."

Juventus progressed thanks to an owngoal by Olexandr Kucher, although theyalso spurned several chances of their ownand left assistant coach Angelo Alessio ahappy man. "We are really happy with thisvictory, to have reached the next round andto have finished top of our group," he said.

Messi scare for BarçaALISTAIR WATSON Agence France-Presse

GLASGOW: A late KrisCommons penalty sealed a 2-1win for Celtic over ten-manSpartak Moscow that saw theGlasgow giants progress to thelast 16 of the ChampionsLeague after Benfica couldonly manage a goalless drawin Barcelona.

Spartak had come closethrough Kim Kallstrom andEmmanuel Emenike beforeGary Hooper pounced on aSpartak defensive error to fireCeltic into a 21st minute lead.

The goal spurned Spartakon and the Russians grabbedan equaliser in the 39th minutewhen Ari showed good com-posure to lob Fraser Forsterfrom a difficult angle.

Georgios Samaras smacked

the post with a volley just afterthe break and Mikel Lustigsaw a header tipped just overas Celtic chased a winner.

With just 10 minutesremaining Samaras won apenalty after a push in the boxfrom Kirill Kombarov andCommons kept his cool tosmash his spot-kick in off thebar. Both sides ended with tenmen after Kallstrom saw astraight red in the 88th minutefor a high challenge onCommons, that saw the Celticplayer stretchered off with thehome side having made alltheir substitutions.

The win sees Celtic becomethe first Scottish side to achieveten points in the competitionas they progress out of thegroup stages for only the thirdtime in their history behindGroup G winners Barcelona.

Celtic through to last-16

Barcelona's forward Lionel Messi leaves the pitch on a stretcher after beinginjured during the CL match against SL Benfica on Wednesday. AFP/JOSEP LAGO

Postnoon E-Paper for 06 December 2012

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