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`2MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 HYDERABAD WWW.POSTNOON.COM WEATHER: MOSTLY CLEAR.; 28°C 32 PAGES

HALFWAY HOMEThey wander the streets in searchof work that will help them getback on their feet. The City’s home-less shelters provide a much-need-ed space for society’s lost souls tofind some solace, before they begintheir arduous journey again.

HOME-OWNERS WAITFOR THAT LIQUID RELIEFIn Mehdipatnam, water scarcity ishitting residents hard, especiallythose looking to rent out their ho -mes. A number of houses lie vacant,hoping to hear the charge ofwater through the pipes. P7P4

IT’S THE ARTISTThe Artist ties with Hugo for most awards on

Hollywood’s biggest night of the year

P16&17

AFP

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

at Sri Sarathi Studio’s, Ameerpet.Where: Sri Sarathi Studios,

AmeerpetWhen: February 27, 6.30pmContact: (040) 2373 2050

Midnight BuffetMidnight hunger pangs? Head toBest Western for it’s midnight buffet where you can enjoyHyderabadi dum biryani and livedosa with chicken curry every night.Where: Best Western

Jubilee HillsWhen: Ongoing,

10.30pm-2.30amContact: 80083 00373

Cognac and CigarThe Seasons Bar opens upagain as a Cigar and Cognaclounge with a wide selection ofcognac, rare whiskies, single maltsand cigars.Where: Taj Krishna, Banjara HillsWhen: Ongoing, 7pmContact: (040) 6666 2323

Art from the heartMuse Art Gallery presents a charityart show by Anjum Mohammadi(Karachi) for Soul.Where: Muse Gallery, Tank Bund

Pakistani food festBidri at Hyderabad Marriott hotelis host to a Pakistani food festival-Train with chefs from Pakistan.Get a taste of various delicaciesfrom Pakistan.Where: Hyderabad Marriott,

Tank BundWhen: OngoingContact: (040) 2752 2999

Voice and VentriloquyGallery Space presents Voice andVentriloquy- a solo show bySubroto Chowdhury . The exhibi-tion is on till March 10.Where: Gallery Space,

Banjara HillsWhen: Ongoing, 11am to 7pmContact: (040) 6554 1836

ChowrastaCatch the painting exhibitionChowrasta featuring artistes suchas Natraj S, Thirumala M Thirupathi,Srinivas Mouni and Subodh Singh.Where: Shrishti Art Gallery,

Jubilee HillsWhen: Ongoing, 11amContact: (040) 2354 0023

A suitable lunchSyn presents three offers to su ityour needs. There is a lunch for th -ose in a hurry, a lunch for thosewho are cal or ie conscious and alunch for tho se who are planning afun-filled and food-filled reunionwith pals.Where: Taj Deccan, Banjara Hills When: Everyday, 12pm onwardsContact: (040) 6666 3939

Martini ‘n musicEnjoy your evenings with martinisand crooner Kelly. This is what youcall a perfect mix for a perfectevening!Where: Taj Krishna, Banjara Hills When: Every EveningContact: (040) 6666 232

Movie timeThe Whistleblower directed byLarysa Kondracki will be screened

Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery,Banjara Hills

When: Ongoing, 11am Contact: (040) 66564466

Get my food-ProntoIn a hurry? Head to Prego atWestin. It offers quick 45-minutelunch stop overs. Where: The Westin, MadhapurWhen: Monday-Saturday,

12pm onwardsContact: (040) 6767 6767

Khao GalliSample and expansive spread ofvegetarian and non-vegetariandishes at Khao Galli, Madhapur.Where: Khao Galli, MadhapurWhen: Ongoing, 8pmContact: 99120 22261

International pizzafestivalPizza lovers this is the newsfor you! News Cafe is host tothe International Pizza Festival.Sample pizza’s from aroundthe world.Where: News Cafe, Inorbit Mall,

Hitech City When: Ongoing, 12.30pmContact: (040) 40101234

Go SplashSplash lounge is the perfect leisuredestination for you to unwind atthe poolside. During the evenings,the atmosphere gets romantic withgreat music, martinis and apertifs.Where: The Westin, MadhapurWhen: Monday-Friday,

5pm-10.30pmWeekends, 8am-10.30pm

Contact: (040) 6767 6828

ReflectionsThe first annual photo exhibitionby Hyderabad Weekend Shoots(Team HWS) titled Reflections is on.Team HWS is an online photosharing community that conductsphoto walks.Where: State Gallery of Fine Arts,

Kavuri HillsWhen: Ongoing, 10am Contact: (040) 23113308

When: Ongoing, 11amContact: (040) 2752 2999

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

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

Life PortraitSoni- A portrait from life is alive portrait workshop being heldat Iconart Art Gallery. The work-shop features life portrait and lifesculpture demonstrations. Where: Iconart Art Gallery,

Banjara HillsWhen: Ongoing, 11amContact: 98499 68797

Conversations in timeKalakriti Art Gallery plays host toAshok Mullick’s collection of paint-ings on canvas titled Conversationsin Time.

MAKE A SPLASH! M ANIL KUMAR

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 2Spirit of Twin CitiesPage Two

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 3Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

MLCs are yet to spend funds in full U Srinivassrinivas.u@postnoon.com

Some members of LegislativeCouncil, the Upper Houseof the State legislature, havenot spent the fund given to

them for developing constituen-cies of their choice.

They failed to use the fundsallocated to them from time totime. While some of them havespent about 80 per cent, some oth-ers did not cross even 30 per centin spending. The Council, whichwas abolished by former ChiefMinister NT Rama Rao, was laterrevived by another Chief MinisterYS Rajasekhara Reddy.

While the twin cities are reel-ing under problems of variouskinds from time to time, the MLCsare thinking twice before makingany allocation of funds for thedevelopment schemes. People

would usually go to MLAs andministers to get the funds allocat-ed for the development works. Amajority of them do not go to theMLCs. Some MLCs are not knownto the people at all.

Some MLCs have not evenallocated 30 per cent of their fundsaccording to the statistics avail-able with Postnoon. Even in thefund allocated, a large portion of itneeds to be spent.

Details of funds allocated by MLCs in the City

1.K.R.Amos `1 crore released in 2010-11 - Allocated `55 lakhs`50 lakh released in 2011-12 - Allocation NilBalance - `94.98 lakhs

2.N.Indrasain Reddy`1 crore released in 2010-11 - Allocation for works-`91.23 lakhs`50 lakh released in 2011-12 - Allocation for works-`50.55 lakhsBalance - `8.32 lakhs

3.M.S.Prabhakar`1 crore released in 2010-11 - Allocation for works-`33.56 lakhs`50 lakh released in 2011-12 - Allocation for works-NilBalance - `116.44 lakhs

4.K. Janardhan Reddy`1 crore released in 2010-11 - Allocation for works-`88.99 lakhs`50 lakh released in 2011-12 - Allocation for works-NilBalance remaining - `111.01 lakhs

5.Ibrahim Abdullah Masqati`1 crore released in 2010-11 - Allocation for works-`49.19 lakhs`50 lakh released in 2011-12 - Allocation for works`24.32 lakhsBalance - `74.49 lakhs

6.Peer Shabbir Ahmed`1 crore released in 2010-11 - Allocation for works-`85.17 lakhs`50 lakh released in 2011-12 - Allocation for works-NILBalance - `114.83 lakhs

7. Syed Amin-ul-Hasan Jafri`1 crore released in 2010-11 - Allocation for works-`85.17 lakhs`50 lakh released in 2011-12 - Allocation for works-`60.29 lakhsBalance - `4.54 lakhs

8. Syed Altaf Hyder Rizvi`1 crore released in 2010-11 - Allocation for works-`76.11 lakhs`50 lakh released in 2011-12 - Allocation for works-NILBalance - `123.89 lakhs

CIVIC

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 4Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

GAS BOOKING IVRS NO:HP 9666023456Indane 9848824365

BSNL Complaints 198HMWS & SB Complaints 155313

POLICE CONTROL ROOM:Hyderabad 27852435Traffic Control Room 27852482DCP Traffic 23234065, 23243499FPollution Control Board 23887500

ELECTRICITY:General Complaints 155333Breakdown Section 23431178

23431179MUNICIPAL CORPORATION:Commissioner & Spl Officer 23262266

24166666RENC 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 SUPPLY:Complaint Cell 155313Sewerage Complaint 23307328Hyd. Water Supply 23313163

HOSPITAL:General 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 Hospitals, Musheerabad 30419000Care Hospital, Sec-bad 30416666Kamineni Hospital,

LB Nagar 39879999

BLOOD BANKS:Blood Bank,Narayanaguda 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

AIRLINESAirport Director 27903785, 27906001For Air India Flight Information Toll free(from any network) for IC Flights18001801407And 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. 7Beside 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, viewpointor just about anything to

feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road

No 62, Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad – 500 033

or even by way ofa call on 4067 2222

Osama Salmansalman.o@postnoon.com

The idea of homeless con-jures images of peoplewho have lost hopes of abetter life, sleeping on

the footpath, wrapping them-selves with cardboard boxes, orfinding shelter at bus stops.While this may be partially true,the people living in the nightshelter near Bible House,Secunderabad, are happy withthe facility provided to them.

The night shelter on RP Roadbelonging to the GreaterHyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC) run withthe help of Aman Vedika, anNGO, has bitter-sweet stories totell. It has helped 60 homelesspeople find a roof to live underand people here wear a smile ofrelief as they have moved onfrom living on footpaths to amore permanent place.

Not everyone living in thisshelter are unemployed. In fact, alarge number of them work ondaily wages. The one thing com-mon between all of them is thatthey can’t afford to live in a rent-ed home.

Inaugurated on December31, 2010, this night shelter has acapacity to house 50 peoplecomfortably. But as luck wouldhave it, there are currently 60people living here, and they areall welcome with an open heart

by the residents who have beenhere from the beginning.However, there are no women inthis shelter.

“We have divided the main-tenance work amongst ourselves.There are groups for cooking andcleaning and we do our workreligiously,” says Sayed Feroz, aresident since 14 months. Thelevel of hygiene is proof, as most rooms in the shelter arespotlessly clean.

The beds, mattresses, per-sonal lockers, electricity andwater have been provided free ofcost, but the residents have to

cook their own meals and gettheir own linen. Food is cookedonly in the evening and residentshave to buy it at `15. For a per-son who earns about `100 a day,this can be heavy on their pocket.

The night shelter is alsohome to children and the aged.And while the latter are in nocondition to earn money to payfor the food, the camaraderiebetween the residents’ makesthem share food with them.What moved us the most, howev-er, was that despite the lack ofbeds and space, the residents

“always accommodate anybodywho walks in asking for shelter.We can relate to what they aregoing through as we have beenthrough the same,” says residentV Gopal.

When it opened, it had 50beds, 25 mattresses, 40 towels, 40bedsheets and one TV. The threerooms, three bathrooms, kitchenand a balcony space are notenough for the residents that itholds. In winters, people haveslept under beds, near thekitchen, and even in the corridor.However, as summer is aroundthe corner, they have even start-ed sleeping in the balcony.

“During the colder months ofthe year, for people who couldnot afford blankets, they coveredthemselves with mattresses toescape the chill,” said SayedFeroz with a heavy heart.

Recently, 36 lockers were pro-vided by the Rotary Club, andpeople occasionally keep drop-ping off old clothes and utensils.But this isn’t enough.

“This night shelter does nothave filtered drinking water andthe drainage in almost always

blocked in the bathrooms,” saysRamulu, in-charge of the shelter.

He further adds that anotherproblem that hits the night shel-ter hard is that often residentscome in an inebriated conditiondisturbing others. “This is alsothe only shelter for the homelesson this side of town,” he pointsout.

Even with all the problems,one thing that is evident is thatnone of the residents are perma-nent as Sayed Feroz tells us,“People come and people go, sir.”

Home for the homelessNot all is lost for the homeless as the night shelter near Bible House

proves. It does its best to provide a home to those who need oneSOCIETY

SRINIVAS SETTY

Age wise details of theresidents who have usedthis night shelter (FromDecember 31, 2010 toDecember 31, 2011)

18-20 9521-30 11031-40 22041-50 8551-60 15Total 525

Qualifications of residents who have usedthe night shelter (FromDecember 31, 2010 toDecember 31, 2011)

Class I-Class VI 195Class VII-Class X 240Intermediate 45Degree 12Uneducated 33Total 525

Requirements in the night shelter

Personal lockers 2Camera 1Water filter 1Refrigerator 1Mats 100Bedsheets 100Towels 100Plate Stand 1Carrom boards 4Cricket kit 1

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 5Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

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U Srinivas srinivas.u@postnoon.com

The liquor syndicatesissue marred the pro-ceedings of theAssembly on Monday as

soon as it met. The TDP, lead byits president Nara ChandrababuNaidu, walked into the Housewith placards demanding theouster of minister for exciseMopidevi Venkatramana.

Before coming into theHouse, the TDP MLAs staged adharna at the Gunpark oppositethe Assembly building anddemanded that the governmentmust table the real report of theanti-corruption bureau (ACB)which has the names of minis-ters and MLAs in different dis-tricts.

They alleged that `15,000crore changed hands in theliquor scam and the sameamount was supposed to cometo the exchequer. As soon as theHouse assembled on Monday,the TDP members demandedthe ouster of the excise minister

and rushed into the podium.They did not heed to the requestof the Speaker that the QuestionHour be taken up first and thenthe other business could be han-dled.

As usual, the Speaker disal-lowed the adjournment motionsgiven by the Opposition onliquor syndicates, Telangana andalso NREGS. The TRS membersdid not come to the House andthe request for the resolution onTelangana was placed by BJP inthe House.

The Speaker, as usual, calledthe leaders of the Oppositionparties to his chambers to con-sult them with the options leftfor the conduct of the businessin the House. He told them thatenough time and opportunitywas given in the House on Fridayfor a detailed discussion andthat the government also madeit clear that since the matter wassub judice they could not pro-long the subject any further.

He also warned the membersagainst carrying placards and

other publicity material into theHouse without the permission ofthe chair. He advised them notto carry such material into theHouse.

Chandarababu Naidu, whoalso walked into the House fromthe Gunpark, said that theywould not spare the governmentuntil the ministers responsiblewere thrown out. But someCongress members said that hecould not do anything on thefloor of the House and now hewanted to create pandemonium.

M ANIL KUMAR

Spirited TDP stalls House

PEEK-A-BOO

Two children peek through the torn rear canvas of an autorickshaw. M ANIL KUMAR

POLITICS

Fresh notices on old buildingsPostnoon NewsFeedback@postnoon.com

Many owners of dilapidated build-ings are ignoring the noticesissued by the Greater Hyderabad

Municipal Corporation (GHMC). Satur -day’s incident of a building collapse atMonda Market in Secunderabad onceagain made the corporation officialsactive.

The officials are now planning to

serve fresh notices again on all these own-ers asking them to vacate the buildingsand allow dismantling of these structures.

“We have served notices to all thebuilding owners, whose buildings are indilapidated conditions. But many of themdid not respond to our notices and simplyignore them. This stalled their demoli-tion. We will again serve notices to theseowners to go ahead with building demoli-tion activity,” GHMC Chief City PlannerGV Raghu told Postnoon.

Pratyushacase: Bail forSidharthaPostnoon Newsfeedback@postnoon.com

The Supreme Court onMonday stayed the State’sHigh Court’s verdict award-

ing a two-year jail term to GSidhartha Reddy in the case ofdeath of film actress Pratyusha.The apex court also sanctionedbail for him.

Earlier, the State High Courtreduced the quantum of punish-ment to the guilty, SiddharthaReddy, from six years to two yearson December 28 last year.

Pratyusha, who fell in lovewith her classmate SiddharthaReddy, had actually planned tomarry him. However, the actresssuccumbed on February 23, a dayafter an suicide bid.

The Metropolitan SessionsJudge sentenced Sidhartha Reddyto undergo a five-year jail termand `1,000 on charges of abet-ment to commit suicide. He wasalso given a year’s term in jail andanother `1,000 fine for attempt-ing to commit suicide.

Siddhartha Reddy appealedto the High Court against the ver-dict of the lower court.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 6Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

THE FACES OF HYDERABADAnnapurna, Mirchi bhajji vendor, Peddamma Temple

A city is defined bythe people who liveand work in it. Herewe take a look at

the human threadsthat make up our

urban tapestry

Along queue ofpeople impa-tiently wait, asAnnapurna dips

the long mirchi (greenchilli) in the dough anddrops it into the sizzlinghot oil. Many men andwomen finishing theirday’s work make it apoint to make a stopoverat Annapurna’s mirchibhajji stall for a quickbite before they headhome. Her delicioussnacks are lip-smacking.

Annapurna and herhusband started theirmirchi bhajji businessthree years back. Earlier,they were working as

masons. Originally fromSrikakulam, they shiftedbase to Hyderabad toearn a better living. Butluck has always beenelusive to this mother oftwo. Though she makesdelicious bhajjis and hasmany takers, the profitmargin of her business isnot all that impressive.

Ask her if she wantsto once again switch pro-fessions and she saysthat she can’t rule outthe option as she needsanother job that willrake in more moolah.After all, she has to soon get her daughtersmarried.

Aishwarya Yerra

FABRICATION

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REAL ESTATEGACHIBOWLI TOVATTINAGULAPALLYORR FACING HOUSINGPLOTS FOR SALE. NEARMICROSOFT, WIPRO,ICICI, INFOTECH,KOKAPET IT SEZ.CONTACT - 9989354333

It is time for Holi feverAs winter draws to a close and spring begins to blossom, it heralds the festival of colours — Holi.The City is gearing up for the festival and Postnoon checks out the hottest colours of the season

Anubha K Singhanubha.k@postnoon.com

The festival of colours isright round the corner.Step into the BegumBazaar or the famous

Gulzar Houz in Old City and onecan see the preparations for thefestival are in full swing. Holi, thefestival of colours is also a sym-bolic fest which welcomes springand bids farewell to winter. Holimarks the season of greenery,blossoming flowers in gardensand the sweet calls of cuckoosechoing in the neighbourhood.

In the past, colours wereextracted from flowers that blos-som only during this season andthe spray pistons (pitchkari) weremade out of bamboo sticks.However, with the changingtimes, colours are being manu-factured artificially. The addedattraction to this year’s Holicolours is that they will smellgood too. The new colour comesin a decanter and is made ofcolours mixed in rose water. Theyhave to be sprayed like a perfumeon the face or body. A bottle costsup to `40 during festival time.

“I have been into making thiscoloured perfume from the pasttwo years. We start preparing it 15days prior to the festival. There isa lot of demand for them andthey sell like hot cakes in BegumBazaar and Gulzar Houz,” saysRadhe Krishna, shop owner,

Begum Bazaar.Like every year, gulal or the

pink colour has remained themost popular shade of Holi. Theshopkeepers from Begum Bazaarare known for making coloursmade from cornflour.“Depending on the customer’sdemand we sell these colours.Colours made from cornflour isnot as harmful as compared tothe colours made from chemi-cals. For children there is thecolours are made with cornflourthat is easy to wash off. Butyoungsters prefer 500 per cent asthis colour does not leave theskin even after three washes,”said Raman Singh, a Holi colourvendor from Gulzar Houz.

Other than colour, there areshops that exclusively sell flowersand garlands. The Holi Mala issold only during the festival is afavourite. This garland is special-ly made of sugar syrup; flatdumpling-shaped goodies of dif-ferent sizes and colours arelinked together by a thread andcast in sugar syrup. This malalooks just like a flower garland.“It’s a tradition in North India toexchange these garlands withfamily elders. Even Children wearit and keep eating one bead at atime,” adds Radhe Krishna.

With every passing yearHyderabadi’s have been celebrat-ing Holi with increasing gusto. Inall pockets of the City, residentialsocieties organise their own fes-tivities. From the narrow lanes ofOld City to the plush corners ofBanjara Hills, the bright coloursof Holi can be visible everywhere.

FESTIVAL

SASP chiefblasts TRS

The Samaikhya AndhraSamithi Party (SASP) pres-ident G Kumar Chowdary

Yadav has alleged that theTelangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)leaders were trying to get politi-cal mileage in every by-electionin the name of a separate Stateissue and are deceiving the peo-ple of region.

Launching the websitewww.samaikyandhrasamithi.org on Sunday, G KumarChowdary Yadav criticised theBJP for organising ‘TelanganaPoru Yatra’ to gain politicalground in the region instead ofaddressing the people’sgrievances. He demanded thatthe Congress immediatelydeclare its stand on a unitedAndhra Pradesh.

The Auto DriversUnions’ JAC will

observe ‘Auto Bandh’from the midnightof February 27 toFebruary 28. It willalso organise a rallytomorrow fromSundaraiah Park toIndira Park,demanding that theState governmentresolve all theirdemands.

Two dayauto bandh

N SHIVA KUMAR

N SHIVA KUMAR

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 7Campaigns, hard news and spirit of Twin CitiesHyper Local

Indira Atluri and Syed Shoaibfeedback@postnoon.com

In the narrow lanes of aMehdipatnam neighbour-hood is a newly painted two-storey house. The ground

floor is occupied by three menand the top floor — empty andlocked. Syed Abu Baqhar, one ofthe three residents of the housetells us, “We have our businessright opposite us and that is whywe have taken the house on rent.There is not a trickle of water inthe borewells, but we took it any-way as we needed shelter duringthe day. The owners were hesitantto give us the house as there wasno water, but we managed toconvince them.” This is just oneof the stories about the neigh-bourhood and many such housesthere have a story to tell.

Talk to Quamer Parveen,another of the residents, and herangst is clear, “Ground water isnot available anymore, and weget water only for an hour. Wehave filed umpteen complaintsbut all we get is acceptance num-bers — one after another. We aretold to pay around `60,000 to digup roads to create a new line ofwater facility. It’s too high for usto pay, so we prefer to suffer, butthere should be some solution.”

Nagaveni, deputy municipal

commissioner of Circle 7 areasays, “Many times, the MetroWater people dig up the roadswithout our permission, so wehave to stop them. We cannot letpeople dig up roads and leavethem open. To provide a platformto people, GHMC conducts regu-lar circuit programmes wherepeople can come and express

their problems.” There is a scary rise in com-

mercialisation of private proper-ties in many areas of the City dueto water scarcity. A common sightin the area as in many others alsois an increase in the number offlats up for sale. HyderabadMetropolitan Water Supply &Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB),

the governing authority of watersupply in the City is a long wayfrom providing a solution to theresidents of the neighbourhood.Nagender Kumar, the deputygeneral manager (operations andmaintenance), says, “We areaddressing all the complaints oneby one. The registered com-plaints at the Metro Customer

Care are all looked into by thedepartment. There are around9,000 sanctioned water connec-tions in Mehdipatnam. If there isa breakage in any of the waterlines, and if we are intimated, wesend water tankers for the line sopeople do not suffer.” Nagenderjustifies the taxes that peoplehave to pay for digging the roadsto lay new water connections,“People first need to get permis-sion from the GHMC to dig theroads. We then come into the pic-ture and lay the water line — thisis the protocol that is usually followed.”

There is no dearth in the ris-ing number of complaints and ofcourse, the assurance galore. Butthe mystery of the missing watercontinues, and till then for thelikes of Isna Begum, another resi-dent of the area, the only optionis to lock homes and jet set onanother complaint lodging spree.

Dry taps drive away the tenantsA common sight in a Mehdipatnam neighbourhood is the sight of locked homes — hostile to hungrytenants and decorated for sale. Blame it on water, or the lack of it. Here, tenants lock up on their own!

Md Inkeshaf Ahmedahmed.m@postnoon.com

Groundwater levels at dif-ferent places in the Cityand Ranga Reddy district

are depleting at an alarmingpace, even as the people arefearing frequent power cuts inthe scorching summer.

The inability of HyderabadMetro Water Supply andSewerage Board (HMWS&SB) isforcing thousands of residentsto depend on the private watermafia to meet their daily needs.

To add to the problem, this isposing a serious threat to theenvironment with waterresources being exploited. Outof a total of 16 mandals ofHyderabad, nine have recordedsignificant levels of groundwaterdepletion in the last one year.Incidentally, all these mandalsare part of GHMC with a popula-

tion of over 30 lakh. The most affected among

these mandals are Marredpally,Nampally, Saidabad,Bandlaguda and Asifnagar.

According to the latest officialstatistics collated by the ground-water department ofHyderabad, Marredpallyrecorded a level of 24.55 BGL

(Below Ground Level) metres,whereas Nampally mandalrecorded a level of 10.80 BGLmetres.

In January 2011 last year,Marredpally had a level of 15.45BGL meters and Nampally man-dal 5.45 BGL meters. When itcomes to Marredpally, there is adrop of 9.10 per cent, which isan indicator fall of water levels.Nampally mandal’s figure stoodat 5.20 per cent .

In Ranga Reddy district, allthe 37 mandals are sufferingfrom decline in groundwaterlevels. Among these mandals,those coming under the GHMClimits include Balanagar,Rajendranagar, Qutbullapur,Saroornagar, Serilingampally,Hayatnagar and Malkajgiri.

According to the officialstatistics, the ground water lev-els have fallen by 8.10 per centin Malkajgiri.

Uppal and Saroornagarmandals recorded 4.25 per centfall in water levels. The ground-water levels which stood at 10.60BGL metres in Malkajgiri lastyear fell to 18.70 BGL metre inJanuary this year. Similarly, inSaroornagar the water levels fellto 11.70BGL metre from 7.50BGL metre.

Officials are blaming theincreased activity in the realestate sector, a growing popula-tion and their requirements.These factors, they say, are natu-rally leading to depletion ofgroundwater levels.

Deputy director of ground-water department in RangaReddy district K Dhananjayasaid that construction of checkdams, watershed programmesand rain harvesting pits and ren-ovation and cleaning and dredg-ing of existing tanks willenhance the groundwater table.

CIVIC

For any pipelinework, people firstneed to get permission from theGHMC. Only thenwill HMWS&SB stepin to lay the line

N SHIVA KUMAR

Urbanisation depletes groundwater table

1 Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar Ameerpet 18.15 19.10 -0.95

2 Humayunagar Asifnagar 1.80 2.80 -1.00

3 Kulsumpura Asifnagar 4.50 6.65 -2.15

4 Chandrayangutta Bandlaguda 6.85 9.60 -2.75

5 Marredpally Marredpally 15.45 24.55 -9.10

6 Nampally Nampally 5.60 10.80 -5.20

7 Gachibowli Serilingampalli 2.90 3.65 -0.75

8 Juvenile Home Saidabad 3.00 5.95 -2.95

9 Bahadurpura Bahadurpura 3.60 3.95 -0.35

10 Malkajgiri Malkajgiri 10.60 18.70 ---

Figures Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districtsSl Village Mandal Depth to water FluctuationNo levels bgl.m. during (+Rise /- Fall)

January January Jan 2011 2011, 2012, to January2012

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 8The story behind the newsFocus

Jo Becker

When Aruna was ayoung teenager inSri Lanka, membersof the rebel Tamil

Tigers repeatedly came to herhome, telling her parents that itwas their duty to give a child “forthe cause.” During the war, theTamil Tigers routinely recruitedchildren as young as 12 into theirforces, sending them into front-line combat against governmentforces, and deploying girls likeAruna as suicide bombers.

When Aruna’s parentsrefused to let them take theirdaughter, the Tamil Tigersburned down their house. Thefamily fled the area, but thethreats continued. Finally, Arunaagreed to join. She told me, “Iwas afraid if I didn’t go, theywould take my younger sister.”Aruna was 15.

Incredibly, until a decadeago, it was legal under interna-tional law to recruit children asyoung as Aruna and send theminto combat. That changed 10years ago on February 12, 2002,when a new United Nationstreaty took effect, setting 18 asthe minimum age for conscrip-tion or direct participation inarmed conflict.

Thousands of children arestill participating in armed con-flicts. As a human rightsresearcher, I’ve heard dozens oftheir stories in countries like SriLanka, Uganda, and Burma. Butwhat is less-well-known is theremarkable progress made inending the use of child soldiers.

Two-thirds of the world’scountries have signed onto theUN treaty, prompting a seismicshift in how government andmilitary leaders address the useof child soldiers. In 2001, theCoalition to Stop the Use ofChild Soldiers identified over 30countries where children wereparticipating in armed conflict.Today, children are fighting inabout 15. In some countries, theuse of child soldiers stoppedwith the end of conflict. The endof civil wars in countries likeSierra Leone, Liberia, Nepal, andSri Lanka allowed the demobili-sation of tens of thousands ofchild soldiers.

But in other cases, interna-tional muscle has made a differ-ence. Every year the UN publish-es a list of governments andarmed groups that use child sol-diers. The UN Security Councilhas threatened sanctionsagainst those that refuse to endthe practice. As a result, 17 gov-ernments and non-state armedgroups in 10 countries have

signed agreements to stoprecruiting children and to releasechildren from their forces.

Today, recruiting or usingchildren under age 15 is consid-ered a war crime, and individualcommanders are being convict-ed and sent to prison. TheSpecial Court for Sierra Leoneconvicted eight people for brutalcrimes during Sierra Leone’s war.All were found guilty of usingchild soldiers and are servingprison sentences, ranging from15 to 52 years.

The United States is anotherillustration of how far we’vecome. In the late 1990s, the USwas one of the few countries tooppose setting 18 as the mini-mum age for combat in interna-tional law. The US armed forceshad long deployed 17-year-old

soldiers on the battlefield anddid not want to change its prac-tices. But growing attention tothe widespread use of child sol-diers persuaded the US to sup-port strong international stan-dards.

Not only did the US ratify thetreaty and raise its deploymentage to 18, but Congress adopted

groundbreaking laws to cut offUS military assistance to othergovernments that persisted inusing child soldiers.

The Obama administration iswithholding $2.7 million in for-eign military financing from thegovernment of the DemocraticRepublic of Congo until it endsits recruitment and use of childsoldiers.

To be sure, we are a long wayfrom eradicating the problem.Last year, children were recruitedinto forces in the conflictssparked by the Arab Spring inYemen and Libya. InAfghanistan, an alarmingincrease in suicide bombings bychildren has involved children asyoung as seven. Groups like therebel FARC in Colombia and theLord’s Resistance Army in central

Africa continue to use childrenwith impunity and with littleregard for international pressure.

The experience of the lastdecade, however, shows that thegovernments and groups stillusing child soldiers are increas-ingly considered pariahs, andthat strategic pressure and thenew consensus of internationallaw can protect children fromwar. The challenge now is tobuild on the momentum thatexists, and to make better use ofthe existing tools — includingsanctions, prosecutions, and UNnegotiations — to persuade theremaining outliers that childrenhave no place in war.

Ten years after the child sol-diers treaty took effect, there’s alot to celebrate, but still a lot tobe done.

A TALE OF TOY SOLDIERSTen years after UN treaty against child soldiers, much work is needed to end practice

I was afraid if Ididn’t go, theywould take myyounger sister

Aruna

SANDRA ARNDT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 9India unveiled India‑View

HOSHIARPUR (PUNJAB): Ele -ctors in a village in Punjab’sHoshiarpur district have ended upcasting their votes for the wrongconstituency and its candidates inthe January 30 Assembly polls.

The revelation came in theenquiry by the district adm in -istration following directions fromthe poll panel which got a com-plaint about the mistake.Koundla, 20km from Hoshiapurtown, was “mistakenly” clubbedby district election officials withthe adjoining village and pollingstation of Bassi Chaura, officialsources here said.

After delimitation, Koundlafell in the area of the Hoshiarpur

seat while Bassi Chaura cameunder the Chhabewal seat. Earlier,both villages had a commonpolling station in Bassi Chaura.The result was that the 156 votersof Koundla village cast their votesfor the Chhabewal assembly seatinstead of the Hoshiarpur assem-bly seat.

This came to light after ondus-try and local government ministerand the BJP candidate from theHoshiarpur assembly seat,Tikshan Sud, complained to theElection Commision. He said thatthe voters of Koundla village wereforced to vote for the Chhabewalseat instead of Hoshiarpur.Counting is on March 6. IANS

BANGALORE: With KarnatakaBJP strongman BS Yeddyurappare m aining defiant after beingrebuffed by BJP chief Nitin Gadk ariin his bid to regain chief minister-ship, all eyes are on the formerchief minister’s birthday bashtoday as he is expected to take a“drastic” decision whet her to con-tinue in the party or not.

Yeddyurappa turns 69 todayand has extended invitation to allhis supporting legislators to attenda lunch hosted by him at his resi-dence. He also will host a dinnerparty for mediapersons where heis expected to divulge his next step.

Yeddyurappa will be visitingSiddaganga Mutt pontiff Shiva -kumar Swamy in Tumkur, attend-ing a fun ction orgainsed byBackward Class Forum nearRailway Station and then hold ameeting with his supportersincluding legislators and MPs,sources close to him said.

Some BJP leaders expectYeddyurappa to bid adieu to the

BJP which he had built in the Stateover the years. Yet another sectionexpects Yeddyurappa to wait forthe outcome of the March 3 coreCommittee meeting convened byBJP President Nitin Gadkari inNew Delhi. PTI

NEW DELHI: Political partiesacross the spectrum on Sundayslammed Team Anna memberArvind Kejriwal for his “outra-geous” remarks that “rapists, mur-derers and looters” were sitting inthe Indian parliament.

The Congress and the BhartiyaJanata Party flayed the so cialactivist for the insulting rem arksand the RJD threatened to bring aprivilege notice against Kejriwal inthe budget session starting fromMarch 12. Congress spokespersonRas hid Alvi said Kejriwal hadinsulted parliament and the peo-ple who elect MPs.

“Parliament has a majority ofthose people, who are willing to doanything for the country. Theyreach there through hard work.Such statements not only insultthe democracy and parliament,

but also insult the people of thecountry,” Alvi told reporters, a dayafter the Team Anna member wascampaigning in Uttar Pradesh ask-ing voters not to vote for candi-dates with criminal records.

Alvi also criticised the mediafor highlighting the “outrageousremarks” at prime television slots.

Clarifying his controversialstatement, Kejriwal said: “One-third members of the existingparliament have criminal casesagainst them. Of these, 14 arethose booked for murder, 20 haveattempt to murder cases againstthem.

“Eleven members have caseof cheating and forgery againstthem while kidnapping caseshave been lodged against 13. Andcases of corruption have beenlodged against several parlia-mentarians which included MKanimozhi, A Raja, SureshKalmadi, Lalu Prasad Yadav andMulayam Singh Yadav.

“Had Central Bureau ofInvestigation been an indepen-dent investigating agency, peoplelike Chidambram would alsohave been facing cases.” IANS

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi with his partycandidate during an election rally in Khurja on Sunday. PTI

CHOSEN ONE

Actors Aimee Barua and Rimpi Das fly kites on the bank of the river Brahmaputra during a kitefestival in Guwahati on Sunday. PTI

UP IN THE AIR

Kejriwal stands by histake despite MPs’ fire

Yeddyurappa birthdayultimatum worries BJP

BSY should get keypost, says Gowda

GULBARGA: Karnataka ChiefMinister DV Sadananda Gowdasaid former chief minister BSYeddyurappa should be given animportant position in BJP.“Yeddyurappa should be given animportant position in the party ashe is a senior leader,” he toldreporters, adding it was for thecentral leadership to take a suit-able call. Gowda dismissed reportsof dissension in the party and saidthe March 3 core committee meet-ing at Delhi would address allissues. PTI

Bengal official’s wings clipped after taking on forest minister

KOLKATA: A day after he accusedhis minister of warning him to with-draw his order closing illegal sawmills, a top forest official in WestBengal had his wings clipped.

Principal Chief Conservator ofForests (PCCF) Mirza Asghar Sultan,who had made the allegationsagainst forest minister Hiten Burmanwhile speaking to a Bengali newschannel, lost much of his powers withthe government creating a new postPCCF-General and appointing AtanuRaha to it. Interestingly, Sultan hadtaken over as PCCF only on February7 replacing Raha.

“Raha has been reinstated as perthe chief minister’s wish,” saidBurman, who had earlier describedthe allegations leveled by Sultan as

“false”. Sultan had told the news channel

that Barman had twice threatenedhim for an order he passed February12 enforcing closure of illegal sawmills in the state.

“He (Barman) called me up andasked why I passed the order withoutasking him, to which I replied it wasmy routine job. I have just sent areminder to all the divisional forestofficers (DFOs) as to why no actionwas taken against the illegal sawmills. There is no requirement for yourpermission as whatever I was doingis under law,” Sultan said to thechannel on phone.

“While I was sitting in his office,he (Barman) called up someone andsaid that this PCCF is not obeying me.

He needs to be taught a lesson. Hethinks he is bigger than me. You col-lect people and take help from thepolice and teach him a lesson,” saidSultan about the minister.

The officer was at the state secre-tariat Writers’ Buildings on Thursdayto attend a meeting involvingBarman and other top officials of theforest department.

Burman said he has given a writ-ten complaint to Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee for initiating disci-plinary proceedings against Sultan.“She has promised action,” headded. Banerjee had summonedBurman to the state secretariatWriters’ Buildings on Saturday inorder to ascertain details of the case. PTI

Punjab poll babus goof up: Villagevotes for wrong constituency

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201210Around the World Beyond Borders

GLOBE AT A GLANCE10 killed in Afghanistanairport suicide attackKABUL: At least 10 people were killedand a dozen injured Monday when a suicidebomber blew up his car packed with explo-sives near the airport in Afghanistan'sJalalabad city, police said. Five civilians, twosoldiers and two local security guards wereamong the dead. Two American and sixAfghan soldiers were among the injured.Several cars were damaged in the blast thatoccurred at around 7 am.

Hindu girl kidnapped,forced to convert in PakISLAMABAD: A Hindu girl was kid-napped and allegedly forced to convert inPakistan’s southern Sindh province today,prompting President Asif Ali Zardari todirect authorities to investigate the inci-dent. Reports said the Hindu girl was kid-napped from Mirpur Mathelo in Ghotkidistrict. The President had called for areport on the incident

Three killed in Canadatrain derailmentMONTREAL: At least three peoplewere killed and dozens injured after a pas-senger train derailed Sunday nearBurlington in Ontario province, a reportsaid. The accident occurred when two traincame off the tracks between Niagara Falls,and Toronto, according to a Via Rail offi-cial. There were 77 people on board and atleast three people were killed, police said.

WikiLeaks publishesStratfor emails

Okinawa citizens protest againstthe visit of Japanese PrimeMinister Yoshihiko Noda in Japan’ssouthern island of Okinawa. AFP

Young boys play cricket even asthe building where Osama binLaden last lived is raised to theground. AFP

LONDON: Whistleblowing websiteWikiLeaks on Monday began publishingmore than five million confidential emailsfrom US-based intelligence firm Stratfor, thegroup said. The messages will revealStratfor’s “web of informers, pay-off struc-ture, payment-laundering techniques andpsychological methods,” claimed a release.

DAKAR: Senegal began tallyingresults in a contentious electionin which incumbent AbdoulayeWade, who is seeking to extendhis rule with a disputed thirdterm, was greeted by jeers as hecast his ballot on Sunday.

As night fell some votes werecounted by candlelight or lamps,and people sat listening to resultson their cellphone radios.

In an election fraught withtension, none of the 13 opposi-tion candidates emerged as afrontrunner before the poll.

Wade has said that he is cer-tain of a first-round win, whichanalysts say could spark moreviolence.Six people have alreadybeen killed in the unrest.

The Nation’s reputation as ahaven of stability has been tar-nished by the pre-poll violenceand the international communi-ty is closely scrutinising the polls.The US State Department’s Africapoint man Johnnie Carson saidthe polls had been “orderly,peaceful and well managed”, andthat it was critical for the countrythat they went well.

Wade lost his temper aftervoting as he was greeted by acacophony of boos.

The 2008 constitutionalchanges extending term lengthsfrom five to seven years allowhim to serve two more mandates,he says, an argument accepted by

the country’s highest court.The former French colony is

one of the continent’s pioneerdemocracies, boasting an unbro-ken series of elections since inde-pendence in 1960. Unlike manyof its troubled neighbours it hasnever suffered a coup. AFP

WASHINGTON: Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton on Sundaywarned against the United Statesarming rebels in Syria becausesuch a move could inadvertentlylead to support for Al-Qaeda andHamas.

Senior leaders of both groupswhich Washington classify as ter-rorist organisations haveexpressed their support for theloose-knit collection of Syrianrebels who have taken up armsagainst the regime.US officials,too, have expressed backing forthose intent on toppling Assad,and senior lawmakers includingSenator John McCain have saidit’s time to consider arming the

rebel groups. “We really don’tknow who it is that would bearmed,” the top US diplomatsaid, as she noted that Al-Qaedaleader Ayman al-Zawahiri hasexpres sed support for the rebels.

“Are we supporting Al-Qaedain Syria?” she said. “Hamas isnow supporting the opposition.Are we supporting Hamas inSyria?”

Clinton said she remains“incredibly sympathetic to thecalls” about the crackdown thathas killed more than 7,600.

Clinton also appeared to sig-nal to everyday Syrians that itwas time to rise against theregime. AFP

MOSCOW: Russia’s newInternet-savvy opposition isgoing online to protest and mon-itor the presidential elections onMarch 4, bringing its iPhonesand Twitter into the fray againstVladimir Putin.

As jokes and spoof videosabout Putin, expected to winback the presidency in Sunday’spolls, spread like wildfire onsocial networking sites andYouTube, opposition activists areusing the Internet to promotetheir cause.

After a slow start, Internetuse has sky-rocketed in Russia inrecent years and last year thecountry overtook Germany ashaving Europe’s largest number

of Internet users, a developmentthe opposition have not hesitat-ed to exploit.

This week a Moscow-basedprogramme developer, AlexeiChistyakov, 29, presented a newiPhone app to allow electionmonitors at polling stations toinstantly report violations.

Activist Ilya Yashin, of theSolidarity movement said hefeels equally at home with theaudience of his blogs as whenyelling out speeches at rallies.

Putin, who has slammed theInternet as “50% pornography”,has barely entered the Internetbattle. But worryingly for him,that’s hardly representative ofRussians today. AFP

M E L B O U R N E : A u s t r a li an Prime MinisterJulia Gillard emphaticallywon the Labor leadershipballot, handing her arch-rival Kevin Rudd aresounding defeat by 71votes to 31.

With the win in the103-member caucus, thecountry’s first femaleprime minister endedRudd’s hopes of returningaspremier any time beforethe General Elections nextyear, the Herald Sunreported.

Announcing the result,returning officer ChrisHayes said: “Julia Gillardhas won the ballot 71 votesto 31.” Hayes said Ruddhad made it clear he wouldnow unite behind Gillard.“He made it very clear toCaucus that dependingonwhat the result was hewas happy to support andwork towards a unifiedLabor team.” PTI

Scrutinizers count ballots at a polling station in Dakar, Senegalon Sunday. AFP

Supporters of Russia’s opposition protest in Saint Petersburgagainst Prime Minister Putin’s expected return. AFP

Senegal counts votesGillard winsleadershipballot

‘Arming rebels could help Al-Qaeda’

Syrian workers count ballots at the end of the voting day onthe referendum for a new constitution in Damascus. AFP

Russian opposition uses internet to target Putin

NSE1kg= `59,000

SILVER10g= `29,0005,359.05 70.25

GOLD`77.76

POUNDBSE17,715.89 207.68 `49.01

DOLLARMONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201211Matters of saving and spendingBusiness

BARCELONA: Asian telecom-munications giants fired the firstsalvo in the battle for the smart-phone market, premiering ultrafast and light phones hoursbefore Monday’s world’s biggestmobile phone show opened.

As the Mobile WorldCongress gathering tens of thou-sands of industry executivesgets set to open its doors inBarcelona, China’s Huawei,South Korea’s LG and Taiwan’sHTC rolled out the world’s firstquad core phones — with twiceas fast processing power as thecurrent generation of smart-phones.

Finnish giant Nokia, the for-mer undisputed mobile phonemaker, has meanwhile bookedthe early morning slot to show-case its new phones, which it islooking to help it reverse lastyear’s dismal result of over a bil-lion euros in losses.

The group has been strug-gling to secure a foothold in thefiercely competitive smart-phone market, with its flagshipline Lumia failing to correctfalling sales in the smartphone

business.In the fourth quarter, Nokia

sold just 19.6 million smart-phones, far behind market lead-er Apple, which reported 37 mil-lion units sold, and runner-up

Samsung, which announced36.5 million smartphone sales inthe three months endingDecember.

But Nokia will find otherkeen competitors.

China’s Huawei touted itsnew Ascend D as the “world’sfastest smartphone,” in its majorpush to shed its image of a low-end manufacturer and rebranditself in the premium market.

Huawei Device’s chief mar-keting officer Shao Yang toldAFP while the regular mobilephone’s market had been fullyexploited, there was a large mar-ket opportunity for the smart-phone. “With the transforma-tion of the smartphone market,we see an opportunity,” he said.

World wide smartphonesales grew 53.5 percent in 2011,and made up 34 percent of allmobile handsets sold in theyear, said Informa Telecoms andMedia research agency. It esti-mated that over a billion peoplewould own a smartphone by2013, underlining the massivemarket potential.

LG also sought to get a firmergrip on the smartphone marketwith a new quad core phone, theOptimus 4xHD.

Daniel Hernandez, thegroup’s marketing director forEurope, said that “there is noth-

ing more powerful (than themodel) on the market at themoment.” He added that thecolours were more natural onthe screen, thanks to the rapidprocessor.

Taiwanese giant HTC mean-while presented its new HTCOne series, which its chief exec-utive Peter Chou described as a“speed and performance beast.”Besides selling its quad corecapabilities, Chou sought to dif-ferentiate it from competitors byhighlighting the phone’s cameracapabilities.

“Our goal is to give you acamera that is so good that it hasa power of a true digital cameraon your phone,” said Chou,pointing out that the secondmost used function on a tele-phone, after making calls, is tak-ing photos.

The phone autofocuses in0.2 seconds — “literally fasterthan a blink of an eye,” andoffers continuous shooting. Italso plugs into a television’sHDMI port, allowing the photosor videos to be viewed on a bigscreen.

Asian mobile giants launch race

NMDC to evaluateforeign minesPostnoon News

HYDERABAD: State-ownedNMDC will soon appoint three dif-ferent agencies to conduct duediligence for three overseas pro-jects, where it is looking to acquirea stake, according to a top officialof NMDC.

Agencies will be appointed toconduct due diligence for Ridleyiron ore deposit of Atlas Mining,Wonarah phosphate reserve ofMinemakers Ltd in Australia andan iron ore project in Brazil.

NMDC has already enteredinto an exclusive agreement withMinemakers to acquire 50 per centstake in Wonarah deposits, whichare considered as one of thelargest under-developed phos-phate reserves in Australia, with anestimated resource of 1.26 billiontonnes at 12 per cent phosphate.

“The agencies will be submit-ting report in 45-60 days. Our fut -ure course of action will depend ontheir reports,” said N K Nanda(pic-ture), chairman and managingdirector (in-charge), NMDC. As theagreement will end by February 28,NMDC may request the Australiancompany to extend the deadline,he said. The Ridley project, wholly-owned by Atlas Mining, contains

970 MT of high grade iron orereserves and can produce 330 MTof ore over 30 years. Nanda, who isset to leave for Perth to attend theBoard meeting of Legacy Iron inwhich it recently acquired 50 percent stake, said NMDC will beinvesting USD 15 million over aperiod of three years for the explo-ration activity that is going on atLegacy’s Mt Beven iron ore project.

“So far indications are goodwith regard to the exploration atMt Bevan. We would make majorinvestment after the exploration isover,” he said. Replying to a queryon the proposed doubling of therailway line between Kirandul toJagdalpur, Nanda said the MoUwith Indian Railways is likely to besigned in the first week of March.

Postnoon News

HYDERABAD: SKS microfinan -ce has obtained a sanction forassignment of a rated pool ofRs354 crore from a major publicsector bank (PSB), which is thelargest rated pool assignment tra -nsaction in the Indian microfina -nce history. Simply put, the micro-finance company sold its loanportfolio of `354 crore to a PSB.

SKS has already drawn downthe first tranche of `78.7 croreconsisting of receivables fromwomen borrowers from weakersections, as defined by the ReserveBank of India. Pool receivables areidentified from 18 states (non-Andhra Pradesh), where the SKSmicrofinance operates.

The pool is well diversified witha single branch accounting for lessthan one per cent of the pool, withthe average loan am ount being`10,717. The pool is rated as CAREA1+ (SO) (highest safety), which isconsidered to have a strong capac-ity for timely payment of short-term debt obligations and carrythe lowest credit risk.

“Rated pool assignment is anexcellent instrument of confluencewhich achieves the amalgamation

of the funding capabilities of thebanking system and the creditdelivery skills of microfinancecompanies. This sort of confluencemay well be the real answer forfinancial inclusion. Our ability toconsummate the largest rated poolassignment in the Indian microfi-nance history clearly demonstratesthat funding concerns raised postthe AP MFI Act are behind SKSMicrofinance,” said S Dilli Raj(pic-ture), chief financial officer, SKSMicrofi nance. Earlier this month,SKS completed another rated poolassignment transaction for `243crore. The present transaction isSKS Microfinance’s eighth assign-ment/securitization transactionpost the AP MFI Act.

Sensex tumblesMUMBAI: The BSE benchmarkindex Sensex fell by over 200points in the early trade onMonday, as participants engagedin profit-booking amid concernsover rising global crude prices.

The 30-share barometer, whichhad lost over 500 points in the pre-vious three sessions, moved furtherdown by 200 points, to 17,712.27points in the early trade.

The wide-based Nifty of theNational Stock Exchange declinedby 27.35 points, or 0.50 per cent,to 5,401.95 points. Brokers saidcontinued profit-booking, mainly inrealty,banking, capital goods andauto stocks on concerns that risingcrude prices in global marketscould revive inflation worriesdragged the index down.

Rupee down 4 paise The rupee declined marginally by 4paise to `48.97 per dollar on theInterbank foreign exchange inearly trade on Monday on freshdemand from importers for theAmerican currency. Traders saidapart from dollar’s gains againstother currencies overseas, weakopening in the equity market andfresh demand for the dollar fromimporters, mainly put pressure onthe rupee. The rupee had gained26 paise to close at three-weekhigh of `48.93/94 per dollar in theprevious session on Friday.

Man speaks on hismoblie photo in frontof a bannerannouncing the 2012Mobile WorldCongress on February25, 2012 in Barcelona.The 2012 Mobile WorldCongress will be heldfrom February 27 toMarch 1, 2012 inBarcelona. AFP

SKS sells `354-crloan to a bank

TALK BACKInteresting storiesI loved yesterday’s article of Sunada PushkarTharoor, it was interesting to read about oneof the most talked about women, beingwritten about other things apartfrom her controversy. Its nice to seethat women are not just arm or eyecandy but much more than that.Way to go PostNoon, I hope to seemore of such stories. I also like thatyour paper explores angles to storiesthat are ignored by the morningpapers. These make for interesting readwhen you are relaxed in the afternoon. Ihave a suggestion that you should pub-lish readers’ stories too.

Rajesh NairEast Maredpally

Weekend lookThe new look of the weekend editions ofPostnoon is very impressive. I liked the new

layouts and it would be great ifthe rest of days have similarattention to detail in future.It’s good to see a city tabloidset great standards andimpress the readers.However, I have one sug-gestion. If there could besome more content whichdirectly affects the people

like saving tax, battling withinflation and fuel hike that would be reallygreat. Hope to see great work from yourteam in future as well.

Santosh ReddyMechal

Violation of basic rulesIt’s quite tragic that four people lost theirlives following the collapse of the old build-ing in Monda Market. The inci-dent could have been avoidedcompletely had the contractor fol-lowed basic rules while demolish-ing the building. Hyderabad hasseveral such old buildings whichmight crumble anytime soon. UnlessGHMC acts fast and brings in a regu-lation for demolishing buildings, suchincidents will keep occuring. The sad-dest part about the incident is that noone is going to take the moral responsi-bility and help the families of those who losttheir lives.

Q SudhakarKrishnanagar

Truly shockingThe drug menace in Hyderabad is not a new

phenomenon. Internet phar-macies, transporting throughcouriers will pose a big chal-lenge for our authorities tocurb this menace due tothe sheer volume ofparcels being shippedeveryday. Moreover, raidsare usually held whenthere’s a tip off from aninsider and there’s no

way that our authorities canstop such acts from happening. I hope thecity officials have a plan to actbefore it istoo late.

Sunil PrasadMadhapur

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201212Fair, free and forthrightComment

n Total business of Indian banking sector – `1crore crore

n Total deposits – `55 lakh croren Total credits (advances) – `45 lakh croren Total gross non-performing assets (NPAs) –

`1.21 lakh crore (2.7 per cent of totaladvances)These figures are calculated on the basis of

banking sector analysts up to March 31, 2011provided by research agency, ICRA, and theReserve Bank of India (RBI), taking an errormargin of 3 per cent into account.

All the Central Trade Unions have jointlygiven a call for general strike tomorrow onFebruary 28, 2012. Apart from wages, employ-ment security, opposing KhandelwalCommittee appointed to review the staff issuesin the proposed Banking Law (amendment)Bill, and outsourcing of work, there are a fewpertinent issues that are actually plaguing thebanking sector among the demands raised bythe staff unions. Ch Venkatchalam, general sec-retary of All India Bank Employees Association(AIBEA), listed out the issues that the staff isopposed to.

While we empathise with the employees ontheir genuine staff-related issues, I culled out afew of these concerns which are very just andrequire immediate attention of the society atlarge. n Amending the Banking Regulations Act and

Bank Nationalisation Actn Reducing government’s equity capital in

government/nationalised banksn Availing of loan from the World Bank to con-

tribute to the capital of banksn Merger of public sector banks n Allowing more foreign capital in Indian

banksn Allowing more voting rights in banks for for-

eign capitaln Encouraging private capital in PSU banks n Allowing corporate houses to start their own

banksn Write off of bad loans of the corporate sectorn Converting bad loans of defaulting compa-

nies as capital investments of banks in the

same defaulting company“All these measures are against the interest

of our banking sector and hence UFBU oppos-es the same,” said the AIBEA general secretary.

I fully support his views in respect of someof these ominous proposals, particularly thoseconcerning the corporate sector. The totaldeposits have gone up to `55 lakh crore in thebanks, while `70,000 crore was added to theburgeoning bad debts in the last one year. What does the government want to do? For instance, take the case of KingfisherAirlines? There has been a vehement opposi-tion from different quarters in the countryabout the proposed bailout package to thebleeding airlines company promoted by VijayMallya. What will happen if the `10,000 croreadvanced by the banks is converted into equityin his company? Will it be just and reasonable?If the SBI comes forth with another round offunding to the tune of `1,600 crore, the bank’s‘stake’ might go up to `3,000 crore, making it 25per cent stakeholder.

Well, doesn’t that open the proverbialPandora’s Box? Will banks eventually end upmanaging these units and drift away from theirprimary objective of offering banking andfinancial services?

The NPAs of the State Bank of India (SBI),stood in excess of a whopping `40,000 crore atthe end of the third quarter.

The ICRA’s research report put out last yearmade some startling revelations. The percent-age of NPAs may have dropped, but the abso-lute numbers would surely have gone up con-

sidering the growth in deposits too. The credit of entire financial sector —

banks, non-banking financial companies(NBFCs), and housing finance companies(HFCs) — stood at `49 lakh crores, as on March31, 2011. This is 62 per cent of the GDP of 2010-11. While 86 per cent of the total credit wasgiven out by the banks, 10 per cent was theshare of NBFCs and four is of HFCs. Within thebanking sector, 76 per cent was the share ofpublic sector banks thanks to their wider reachand nationwide footprint.

The gross NPAs in the banking sector areestimated at 2.3 per cent of nearly `45 lakhcrore of total banking business. This works outto Rs. 1.21 lakh crore, which is one and a halftimes of the annual budget of Andhra Pradesh.

The corporate loans, including the onesgiven to NBFCs, power sector, infrastructure,commercial real estate, come to a whopping`25 lakh crore. While housing loans accountedfor `3.46 lakh crore (as on March 31, 2011), thecredit card outstanding is just `18,100 crore.

The credit extended to utilities, especiallythe power sector, is a cause for concern, for thataccounts for a huge sum of `2,69,200 crore(seven per cent of the total banking credit). Ifthe banks are doing well, it is surely not becauseof the credit offtake by corporates alone. Thecorporates must learn some financial disciplineand translate their jugglery in books into solidreality to keep the banking activity afloat. And,the government must not pursue the abhorrentapproach of tampering with the loan policy.

The writer works for Postnoon

Editorials Bank staff justified intheir overhaul call

Readers’ viewsWe invite you to write to us

comments, suggestions, view-point or just about anything to

feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa,

Road No 62, Jubilee Hills,Hyderabad – 500 033

or even by way ofa call on 4067 2222

HIGH PRICE FORflouting safety rules

Even before dust settled fromthe tragedy at City’s MondaMarket that killed four peo-

ple, four children were crushed todeath when a parapet of an

under-construction building inDelhi collapsed on Sunday. Thereis hardly a day that passes with-

out reports of lives being snuffedout by construction/demolition

accidents. None of these are acci-dents in the true sense as they are

creations of violations of safetyrules. The sight of workers

perched precariously on multi-storey scaffoldings without any

safety gear is a common sight atany urban centre. Officials are

hand-in-glove with the buildersand there are rarely any effective

checks on the violations, let aloneprosecution. The authorities needto realise that these deadly actsof commission and omission are

not acceptable.

WHY WE LOVEMeryl Streep

Few actors can be nominated17 times, win only twice,

and still be so gracious thatwhen they finally get up on to

that stage to collect the goldenbaldie, they know where their

priorities lie. When Meryl Streepwon the Best Actress Oscar for

her sterling performance asMargaret Thatcher in The Iron

Lady, she first thanked her hus-band, and then her make-up

artist who has been by her sidefor over 30 years. There were no

paeans to god and producers,there was no gushing about hap-

piness, and there was certainlyno thanking an Academy thathas overlooked her talent for

decades. Meryl’s was a gracefulindictment of a fickle Academy

who once again passed over thereal talent on offer. But with

Meryl they chose well.

Money TalkA Saye Sekhar

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201213Holistic view of mind, body and soulH‑Factor

Dr P Raghu Ram

When Lancet published an articleon the new super bug New

Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM1) tracing it to India, there was, right-ly so, a huge uproar and protest fromthe Indian medical fraternity. To sug-gest that the ‘super bug’ originated inIndia and above all naming it afterNew Delhi is slanderous, to say theleast. This having stated, it certainlyis time for introspection – to look atsome of the facts and realties relatingto antibiotic abuse in India.

It is now a well recognised factthat there is widespread antibioticmisuse/abuse in our country, whichhas serious effects on public health.For example, upper respiratory infec-tion (URTI) accounts for the mostcommon presenting diagnosis to adoctor. More often than not, URTI iscaused by virus or fungus.

However, the vast majority ofthese patients are wrongly prescribedantibiotics which will not act onthese organisms. The fact remainsthat unless secondary bacterial infec-tion sets in; there is absolutely norole for antibiotics.

A majority of people not only selfmedicate but are also prescribedantibiotics carelessly by doctors‘willy-nilly’ even for low grade Pyrexia(fever) regardless of whether it isphysiological or pathogen induced. Itis precisely this careless phe-nomenon from both patients anddoctors that is leading to develop-ment of multidrug resistant bacteriarendering antibiotics useless.

With this frightening trend, in thenot too distant a future, antibioticswill not act on common bacterialinfections for most people and manymore ‘super bugs’ will develop thatcould potentially cause multi-antibi-otic resistant life threatening infec-tions. Isn’t it an irony that antibioticsare fast becoming ineffective by thevery bacteria that they are meant todestroy?

(This column will continue nextweek. The writer is the director and

consultant oncoplastic breast surgeonat KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for

Breast Diseases, Hyderabad)

You’ve tried everything, but gettingyour child to eat a wholesome,nutritious meal almost always is achallenging task. He’ll fuss and

refuse to eat, while you cajole, coax,spank, try to distract, spin numeroustales and even promise him that he’llbecome the next superhero if he eatsfood without a fuss. But no matter howhard you try you can’t seem to get morethan a couple of morsels down his throator end up running after him for the nextfew hours trying to get him to eat. A fussyeater is every mother’s nightmare.

But there’s hope yet. According to aresearch carried out by Benoist Schaal ofBourgogne University in Dijon, varyingone’s diet during pregnancy cuts downthe risk of the child being a fussy eater.“During pregnancy the womb is relative-ly permeable and what the mother takesin goes in a certain dose to the foetusduring a time when the brain is beingformed, probably with long-term conse-quences,” the Daily Mail quoted him as

saying.During the research it was seen that

babies reacted positively towards foodsthat their mothers had eaten duringpregnancy. Reason enough for you towant to eat a variety of nutritious food, toensure your baby is also positivelyinclined towards them after birth — andof course to make meal times an easieraffair.

Taking the notion further, paediatri-cian Dr Sharmila Asthana says,“Although it may not be scientificallyproven yet, it has been noticed that oftena pregnant woman craves for certainfoods and this may have a lot to do withthe unborn baby’s preferences.”

A few things however, that need to be

kept in mind during pregnancy includesabstaining from stimulants — be it tea,coffee, cigarettes or alcohol. “These canpass on to the baby through the umbili-cal cord or in case of nursing mothersthrough the breast milk and affect thebaby’s weight and health,” explains DrAsthana.

“It will also be wise to moderate dietduring pregnancy to ensure that a varietyof nutrients reach the baby, while takingcare to cut down on the intake of certainfoods like sugars. It has been seen that ifthe mother takes in too much sugar dur-ing pregnancy then it may lead to thebirth of a bigger baby,” says Dr RupaReddy, a gynaecologist.

So the next time you crave for some-thing sweet, extra spicy or simply junkfood, do keep your baby’s health in mind.Pick food that’s fresh and try includingiron and protein rich foods. So the nexttime you go grocery shopping load up ona healthy dose of nuts, fruits, fresh veg-etables and dairy products as well. As atreat for yourself an occasional bar ofchocolate or your favourite savourysnack will do too — as long as it is occa-sional. After all, you have a healthy babyto think of and not to forget fuss-freemeal times. So go ahead vary your dietand don’t just stick to boring dishes.

Watch what

you eat

What you eatduring

pregnancy hasa role to play in

your baby’sfuture eating patterns. So

keep a tab onthat diet

Antibioticresistance, thenew threat

Ranjani Rajendra

ranjani.r@postnoon.com

TEL AVIV: Avoiding exercisecould be bad for our mentalhealth too, pushing us into thepit of depression and causingburnout at work.

Sharon Toker, managementexpert at the Tel Aviv University,with Michal Biron from theUniversity of Haifa, discoveredthat employees who did engagein physical activity were lesslikely to experience a deteriora-tion of their mental health,including symptoms of burnoutand depression.

The best benefits wereachieved among those exercis-ing for four hours per week -they were approximately half aslikely to experience deteriora-tion in their mental state asthose who did no physical

activity.Toker and Biron say that

employers will benefit fromencouraging fitness of theiremployees. If the fight againstobesity is not enough of anincentive, inspiring workers tobe physically active lessens highhealth costs, reduces absen-teeism, and increases produc-tivity in the workplace, theJournal of Applied Psychologyreports.

Though depression andburnout are connected, they arenot the same, says Toker.Depression is a clinical mooddisorder and burnout is definedby physical, cognitive, and emo-tional exhaustion, according toa Tel Aviv statement.

But both contribute towards

a “spiral of loss” where the lossof one resource, such as a job,could have a domino effect andlead to the loss of otherresources such as one’s home,marriage, or sense of self-worth.

Originally designed toexamine the relationshipbetween depression andburnout, the study assessed thepersonal, occupational, andpsychological states of 1,632healthy Israeli workers in boththe private and public sectors.

Participants completedquestionnaires when they cameto medical clinics for routinecheck-ups and had three follow-up appointments over a periodof nine years.

The participants were divid-ed into four groups: one that

did not engage in physical activ-ity; a second that did 75 to 150minutes of physical activity aweek; a third that did 150 to 240minutes a week; and a fourththat did more than 240 minutesa week.

Depression and burnoutrates were clearly the highestamong the group that did notparticipate in physical activity.The more physical activity thatparticipants engaged in, the lesslikely they were to experienceelevated depression andburnout levels during the nextthree years.

The optimal amount ofphysical activity was a mini-mum of 150 minutes per week,where its benefits really startedto take effect. IANS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201214Holistic view of mind, body and soulH‑Factor

Skin peelsare safe

Anishaa Kumar

“Peels are not a new discov-ery they have been aroundfor a very long time. Even

during the time of Cleopatra milkwhich contains Lactic acid was usedto enhance one’s beauty,” mentionsDr K Sai Krishna. “Peels can be donefor many reasons such as fine lines,opening pores, lightening of theskin, removing acne scars and alsopigmentation. Peels are basicallydone using different kinds of acidswith glycolic acid being the mostcommon one. Depending on theproblem the kind of acid and quanti-ty varies. For Indian skins which areusually categorised under type threeor type five skin types a mediumquantity of the acid is used,” he says.

Dr Krishna explains that peelingcan be used to remove acne scars butit depends on the kind of acne. If theacne is too deep then peeling maynot be enough a combination ofother procedures such as lasers androller-bars are used. Sometimes evenfillers can be used. It all depends onthe desired effect and the location ofthe acne. Peeling usually takesaround 6-8 sessions. Initially the per-son’s skin is primed. After 10 daysonce the skin is ready, peeling isdone. Usually there is a 15 day gapbetween each priming session hencethe entire process may take aroundtwo-and-a-half months.

Usually, once a person gets peel-ing done, it is advised that peopletake caution while one is under thesun as peeling is basically exfoliationso immediately after the process, theskin is delicate and more fresh.Hence caution such as a good sun-screen and a cap or mask should beused. Both peeling and laser are safe.Dr Krishna mentions that no singletreatment is ultimate. A lot of pro-cesses come under considerationwhile choosing laser treatment orpeeling such as cost, time at handand the desired effect.

He concludes saying, “Ultimatelyit is important that a person gets theprocedure done from a qualifiedprofessional. Peeling is a safe andaffordable procedure. Problemsassociated with peeling usuallyoccur when it is done by someonewho is not well trained.”

SKIN DEEP

Dr K Sai Krishna, Dermatologist and CosmeticSurgeon, Sri Sai Skin Clinics,

ChaitanyapuriExercise to stay alert

LONDON: Exposure tohigher levels of rosemaryscent seems to perk upbrain power, tests show.

Mark Moss andLorraine Oliver, from the Brain,Performance and NutritionResearch Centre atNorthumbria University,tested cognitive perfor-mance and mood in agroup of subjects,exposed to Rosemary’saroma, especially 1,8-cineole, one of its mainchemical components.

Using blood samples todetect the amount of 1,8-cine-ole participants had absorbed,researchers applied speed andaccuracy tests, and moodassessments, to judge the rose-mary oil’s affects, the journal ofTherapeutic Advances inPsychopharmacology reports.

Results indicate that con-

centration of 1,8-cineole in the blood is relatedto an individual’s cognitive per-formance — with higher con-centrations resulting inimproved performance,according to a Northumbriastatement.

“Only contentedness pos-sessed a significant relation-ship with 1,8-cineole levels,

and interestingly to some of thecognitive performance out-comes, leading to the intrigu-ing proposal that a positivemood can improve perfor-mance whereas an arousedmood cannot,” said Moss.

Typically comprising 35-45per cent by volume of rosemaryessential oil, 1,8-cineole maypossess direct pharmacologicalproperties.

The plant is said to improvememory and is used as a sym-bol of remembrance, especiallyin Australia and New Zealandto commemorate ANZAC Day.

Rosemary scent perksup brain power

The Rosemaryplant is said toimprove memoryand is used as asymbol of remem-brance, especiallyin Australia andNew Zealand

Study

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201215Campus

Best thing aboutcollege

A lot of cultural activitiestake place. Sports are a rage

here too. The best part is thatwe are encouraged to take up

these activities, instead of beingasked to study all the time

Fashion trendsSince we have a uniform,

there aren’t any fashion trendsas such. But when we get the

chance, we like sporting funkysneakers or pretty kurtas

Music playing on ouriPods

The Kolaveri rage is still onhere. Besides that we’re

hooked on to songs fromAgneepath and Ekk Main Aur

Ek Tu

Favourite hangoutinside college

The cafeteria! There isnothing like bonding over

food

Favourite hangoutoutside college

There aren’t many placesoutside college. But we like to

spend time at Café Coffee Dayand various other

restaurants in the area

The one thing you’dlike to change about

collegeI know you thought we’ll

say uniforms. But no! We wishwe’d had an open-gate

system. That would have beenreally nice. Also, we aren’t

allowed cell phones in the college campus, which we

wish we could change.

Students Speak

Darshani Nenefeedback@postnoon.com

The minute you enterLittle Flower College, youcan whiff the difference.It’s because the students

here wear uniforms! Gasp! Uni forms in college?

Yes. You’ll have to see it to believeit.

Wearing uniforms to collegesounds silly. “I don’t think so. Imean yes, we do wish we didn’thave to wear uniforms, but it’sjust so much more easier! I don’thave to wake up every morningand sift through my wardrobe tofind what to wear. All I do is puton my uniform and run!” saysZoha, a BSc student.

Kundan Singh, a BCom stud -ent adds, “Do you know how

much money we save? I know itsounds silly, but there are a lot ofstudents who cannot af ford tospend money on clothes which iswhy a uniform is a good idea. Weget used to wearing formal attire,which comes in handy when weget a job.”

Uniforms are said to promoteunity and a sense of belonging.Apart from inculcating a sense ofdiscipline, they set you apartfrom the rest. Psychological stud-ies have also stated that wearinguniforms helps keep bullying

under check. But more than any-thing, uniforms bring everyoneto the same level.

Recently appointed as theprincipal of the college, BrotherJaico believes that when you’re ina uniform, you’re the same asanyone else. “It doesn’t matterhow rich you are, or where youcome from, because in the end,we are all equal. That was thewhole idea behind having uni-forms at the college level.Moreover, since our college is setinside the school and junior col-

lege campus, we could not riskour younger students beinginfluenced by collegians.”

But students don’t need towear their uniforms all week longeither. “Out of six working days,we get to come in casual wear fortwo days in a week, Wednesdayand Saturday, which is goodenough!” says Shiva Prasad, aBCom student.

So before you start pityingthese kids, STOP! If they don’thave a problem with it, then whyshould you?

l How long have you beenteaching at Little Flower?

I’ve been teaching Mathematics for 18years now. This is my first year in thecollege as a principal but I also teachMath here.l What is the approach of the

students towards the subject?Well, it depends on their interest andtheir intellectual level. Some studentshave a really good base due to greatteaching at lower levels, while somestudents aren’t that strong in theirbasics. It also depends on their mentalcapability; some students are fast ingrasping concepts while some arecomparatively slow.l Has the performance of your

students improved in the sub-ject?

Marks-wise, yes! But theoretically,their understanding of the conceptisn’t that good as was the case before.The theoretical knowledge my previ-

ous students had was more than thepresent batches. The present batchessee subjects with respect to their use-fulness. They find the practical usefuland don’t pay much attention to thetheory. They’re very much interested inthe computer application of the sub-ject.l Is there a dearth of good Math

teachers?Yes, there is. We need a lot more goodteachers for the subject who mustunderstand the subject themselvesbefore teaching it.l What’s the purpose behind

having a uniform in a degreecollege?

It ensures uniformity. All students fromdifferent backgrounds are brought toan equal level when they wear a uni-form. They also look dignified and stu-dents are quite happy with it. They alsoget a chance to wear regular clothes,two days a week.

l On the eve of exams, how’sthe preparation?

We’ve conducted the pre-finals andpractical exams and the students arenow coming to college to clarifytheir doubts. Special coaching isbeing given for IIT, EAMCET,AIEEE and CPT. With these cor-porate institutes, our collegehas been facing tough times,but things are definitelygoing to improve after awhile!l Finally, your message

to the students.Listen to your heart, butuse your mind. Choose agood company of friends,as they have a great influ-ence in your growingyears. Make the rightdecision for yourselfand for the society.

Br Jaico: Principal, Little Flower Degree College

Lecturer Speaks

Little FlowerDegree College is

one of the fewcolleges in India,which insists onuniforms for itsstudents whodon’t seem to

mind it

WHERE WEARINGUNIFORMS IS FUN!

An ex-IT professional,Shalima Jacob, decidedto indulge in her pas-sion for design, whichfetched her not onlylocal clientele butinternational as well.Read on

Sana Mirzasana.m@postnoon.com

Flexing careers and turninghobbies into full time jobsseems to be the currenttrend. Prior to her stint as a

designer, Shalima Jacob was an ITprofessional but her penchant forcontemporary design and sheercreativity led her to start her own

boutique called Shalima Designs. “Late last year, I decided to cre-ate a small collection of 30 saris

and showcase it online to myfriends and family. Since

then, I haven’t lookedback as orders poured in

from Australia, NewZealand, USA, Canada

and Muscat,” beamsShalima.

While inter-national

brands rulethe mar-

ket

for western clothes, stores catering toaffordable, good quality Indian wearare a handful. “I personally believe thatdesigner wear should be affordable andwithin the reach of those who appreci-ate good fashion. Most women shyaway from walking into a designerstore because of the heavy tag that isusually attached to it. That is the gapthat I would like to cater to,” admitsShalima whose saris are pricedbetween the price ranges of `2,000 to7,000.

Her designs are not only cleverlyunique but are fun and unconventionalwith never before seen motifs like zodi-ac signs, playing card designs to evenemoticons. “My saris are more of a cel-ebration of the creativity and the infi-nite possibilities that can be achievedin design The basic thumb rule I follow

when crafting my saris is whetherthey are wearable or not. After

that the inspiration comesfrom all things beautiful be it

a plant, a painting or evena stained glass,” she

explains. “I tend to use the

best quality of fabricslike georgettes, chif-

fons, silks to natu-ral hand woven

fabrics like the gheecha, tussar and rawsilk from various regions in India whichare then merged ethnically with differ-ent art forms,” explains Shalima.

She continues, “On one of my saris,I have used Warli art of Maharashtra ona natural gheecha silk which is fromWest Bengal. Another one haskalamkari motifs hand painted ongheecha and tussar silk.”

Unlike other designers who prefersetting up stores in different cities,Shalima believes in the clear advantageof online shopping. Due to the increasein retail activity over the web, it madeperfect sense to venture online andhave a wider reach than concentrateon a physical and localised presence.“Facebook is increasingly becoming amarket place for unique and highlypersonalised merchandise. As soon asthe new collection is uploaded, it isavailable to everyone, who then withthe comfort of their desks or phones,can view, select and pay for the prod-ucts which gets delivered to their doorstep in a matter of 2-3 days,” saysShalima.

For those who are unfamiliar withthe trade of online shopping can visitShalima’s studio, located at Sainikpuribut make sure to get a prior appoint-ment.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201218Because you are what you wearF‑Folio

The quirky side of design

Shalima Designs Studio, Milasha, Plot No 86-87, Lake View Residency, Sainikpuri Phone: 9959315577 /ShalimaDesigns

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201219Spotlight

Aaliah & Laila Khan

Sameera & Farath

Anees & Zareena

Salma, Saleha, Shahanr, Saba & Asra

Seema & Ayesha

Fatima & Mona

Yasneen

Budding cricketersActor Shraddha Das at the 20-20 cricket tournamentorganised by 9 Gems at the LB stadium on Sunday.

A fashionable soireeHere’s another winner for the fashion conscious women in the city. A newstore by the name of Soiree was launched on Road no 12, on Sunday. The

store opened with an exhibition of evening wear for women.

HAIR &

CAREActors Aksha

and Nakshatraat the launchof Naturals

Family Salon atShivam Road, Vidyanagar.

This isNaturals’ 127th

salon in thecountry. The

launch was fol-lowed by a

fashion show.

shruthi RubiAaliyah

DEEPAK DESHPANDE

DEEPAK DESHPANDE

An untitled film starringGopichand, to bedirected by

Chandrasekhar Yeleti,was launched yesterdayin Hyderabad. The duohad earlier workedtogether inOkkadunnadu. BVSNPrasad is going to pro-duce the film which istouted to be an actionadventure. “The film isabout a common manwho goes on a treasure huntin one of the most dangerouscountries in the world. This isdefinitely the most exciting film Ihave ever worked on,”Chandrasekhar Yeleti said. Thefilm will be shot in Jordan,Rajasthan and Ladakh. The starcast of the film is yet to befinalised. Sri is going to composethe music and Shamdat is thecinematographer. Apart from thisfilm, Gopichand will also be seenin Bhoopathy Pandian’s filmwhich was launched earlier thisyear.

Aday after asection ofthe mediareported thatNagarjuna may

join active politics, he put therumours to rest. “I am not get-ting into politics…thank you(sic),” Nagarjuna posted onTwitter. Couple of days ago,when Nagarjuna was inTirupati he said, “I amkeenly observing the pre-sent day politics in thestate, but I have not yettaken a decision as towhether to enter poli-tics or not. First of all, Iwonder whether I amsuitable for politics ornot.” Soon, TV channelsacross the state beganairing reports thatNagarjuna is likely to getinto politics and may evenplay an important role inthe elections to be held in2014. Now that Nagarjunahas reiterated his stand on theissue, it certainly looks like he’llcontinue to act in films, apartfrom managing his business ven-tures.

T-TOWN TWEETIES

@RanaDaggubati“@ReallyEpic: We live in theera of smart phones andstupid people.”

@shrutihaasanFinally wrapping up the daysuper exhausted but content :)I think I need a bed time storyand my pink panther cuddly...One of those days :p

@IsumanthAmazing 5-2 comeback win by#Arsenal over Tottenham. Weleapfrog Chelsea to 4th place:)Sorry, Harry Redknapp.

@richyrichaHey guys,sorry I’ve been MIA!Have been relaxing, gymming ncatching up. Needed this break.Bk 2 shoot tomorrow 4 bothmy films (Telugu&Bengali)

@actor_nithiin)Powerstar congratulatd me ond success of ishq n is goin towatch Ishq in a couple of days.

@shraddhadas43Before I sleep, link to the picsof the charity cricket match atLb stadium whr I was the chiefguest today, select ur fav pics nI’ll retweet.

@taapsee)Shooting at picture perfectlocations for gundello godari.E1 fone camera captures it sobeautifully

@trishtrashersThank u all my tweeps for alld wishes for VTV’s 2ndanniversary... haha... Think I’mgonna change my name fromTrisha to Jessie ;) Big hug

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 20The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

I AM NOTGETTING INTO

POLITICS

Gunasekhar has announced that he’ll beginworking on his dream project RudramaDevi. “I have been planning to make this

film since Okkadu’s release. Since it’s going tobe a big budget film, it requires state-of-the-arttechnology, I chose to wait for a long time andnow I feel the time is right to make the film,”Gunasekhar said. Since it’s a female orientedfilm, a top heroine is going to be cast in the leadrole and already names of actresses likeAnushka, Nayanthara and Priyanka Chopra arebeing considered. More details about the filmwill be announced soon.

Gopichand’snext is anactionadventure

Gunasekharwants to reviveRudrama Devi

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201221The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Stars shine on small screenThe explosion of TV Channels in Andhra Pradesh has opened up a plethora of opportunities for film

actors and some of them have already made it big on the small screen. Postnoon finds out moreHemanth Kumarhemanth.k@postnoon.com

Over the past few years, televisionchannels in Andhra Pradeshhave grown by leaps andbounds, both in terms of reach

and size. The number of news channelsalone has crossed twenty and generalentertainment channels like ETV, MAATV, MAA Gold, Zee Telugu and Gemini TVcontinue to vie for better viewership. Thecompetition to create better content tolure the viewers has opened up newdoors for Telugu film actors and some ofthem are slowly dominating smallscreens as well.

In the past few years, actors likeSaikumar, Brahmanandam, Aamani, Roja,Lakshmi Manchu, Jayaprada and Ali havehosted various shows on TV and thistrend is likely to continue in the nearfuture as well. So what’s luring them tothe small screen? “TV channels have alarger reach compared to films and unlikefilms, actors have the opportunity to con-stantly engage the audience. When film

actors host TV shows, the viewership isnaturally higher which in turn leads tohigher advertising revenue,” says SanjayReddy, Business Head of Zee Network’sSouth cluster. Currently, the revenue gen-erated from advertising on TV in AndhraPradesh alone is more than `800 crores.TV Soaps continue to dominate and filmscome second in terms of viewership andthese two are followed by various realityshows, game shows and talent shows. Sofar, most film actors have found theirfooting in game shows and talk shows likeWOW!, Ali 369, Who is the Katravalli?,Lakshmi Talk Show, Prema Tho MeeLakshmi, Nene Satyabhama and ModernMahalakshmi. “When a film actor hostsa TV show, it brings in more viewersfrom rural areas and TRPs are highlydependent on such audience.Moreover, the remuneration for afilm actor hosting a TV showis much higher comparedto other anchors,”says Vrinda Prasad,AssistantManager(CelebrityRelations),MAA TV.

The demand for floor space toproduce content for TV hasincreased so much that all themajor studios such as Ramoji FilmCity, Annapurna Studios andRamanaidu Studios have addedmore floors to accommodateshooting of more serials andother non-fiction shows.Moreover, film producers likeShyam Prasad Reddy,Gunnam Gangaraju andTammareddy Bharadwajhave been producing showsand serials for several yearsnow and the latest news isthat Dil Raju and SureshBabu are also planningto join the club.Production cost forcontent on TV costsmuch less than filmsand this seems to bethe driving forcebehind this trend.“Of late, three tofour episodes are

being shot in a single day and TVChannels are ready to pay Rs 3-4 lakhsper episode. And the production cost forthe entire day doesn’t exceed Rs 3 lakhsin most cases. The economics behindproduction of content for TV seems to beluring bigwigs from the film industry.The investment is quite low when com-

pared to the returns,” opines Pradeep,a popular anchor on TV and adds,

“Besides, it’s a great mediumfor film actors. The host is the

hero of the show and there’smore screen time com-pared to what he or she

gets in films.”

Cinema adaptations of novelsare a challenge and helps forgenew synergy between thescreen and literature, speakers

at a forum at the World Book Fair said.The debate over the superiority of cine-ma and literature in the world of adap-tations is now passé, speakers at aforum “Filming Fiction” hosted by theOxford University Press at the 20thWorld Book Fair in the capital said onSaturday evening.

The forum marked the release of ananthology of critical essays,Filming Fiction to commemorate100 years of Oxford UniversityPress in India. “The last 100 yearshave seen a growing body of filmsand people still complain of lack ofgood scripts. Very few peoplehave turned to novels to adaptthem into cinema. Young peopleoften write their own scripts butthey don’t have the wealth ofexperience,” film critic and writ-er Aruna Vasudev said at theforum.

She recalled the successfuladaptations of RabindranathTagore’s short stories andnovellas by Bengali maestroSatyajit Ray in his movies, GhareBaire, Charulata and Teen Kanya.She said filmmakers sometimesmake the mistake of adapting novelsthat cannot be transposed liberallyinto a film.

“The question of comparing abook and a film is wrong. They aretwo different mediums. We have toget out of the fidelity fixation - theidea of the betrayal of the fidelity

which in this case is the original text. Ifa film is an interpretation of a book,then it is not right to talk of fidelity. Inthe 1999 romantic comedy MansfieldPark by Patricia Rozema loosely basedon Jane Austen’s eponymous novel, it issaid a lot of what was revealed was hid-den in the novel…,” filmmaker Sohini

Ghosh, a professor offilm studies at

Jamia Millia

Islamia, said. It adds a lot of worth tonovels being represented outside theirown territory, she added.

Film critics look for what is cine-matic from the cinema’s point of view -even in an adaptation. “I am interestedin the adaptation of books that havethe potential for cinema,” Ghoshadded.

“Adaptations forge relationshipwith cinema rather than proclaimingitself independent of it,” Ghosh said,adding “that Internet was opening upmany new possibilities in adaptationsand it was to the filmmakers and scriptwriters to make full use of it.”

According to Ira Bhaskar, a profes-sor of English, cinema cannot be hand-made into literature but the two musthave a positive, creative and interpreta-

tive relationship with cinema. Therelationship between literatureand cinema had been parasiticalin the first phase, said professor

Anuradha Ghosh, who has co-edit-ed an anthology, Filming Fictionwith M Asaduddin, a professor of

English at Jamia Millia Islamia. “This (parasitical relation-

ship) had occasioned the disdainof several writers like DHLawrence, who considered it(cinema) a vulgar mediumbecause it homogenised cul-

ture, EM Forster who had refusedpermission to film his novels forfear of falsification of the origi-nal content and Virginia Woolfwho passionately affirmed the

power of the figure of speechover the limited objective ofcinema,” Ghosh said. IANS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012 22The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Amitabh Bachchan, who isrecuperating at home afterabdominal surgeries, isenjoying a “no time-table”

life. Apart from doing other things, hewatched Oscar nominated The Artistand said it was a “delight” to view thesilent black and white French movie.

“Being by myself and almost insolitary confinement, is getting conta-gious. I am beginning to rather likethis state. No where to go, nothingobligatory to perform, random timingsand the liberty to do what I desire. Ieat whenever, sleep whenever, watch amovie whenever and happy doing so,”

Big B posted on his blog. “The ‘little one’ comes up to

meet me by the evening, wideeyed and now on the verge ofrecognizing things...On occa-sion she smiles and the vol-

ume of affection aroundincreases a few decibels.

Wonder if she feels whywe must change the

tone of our soundduring our conversa-

tions with her, and whether it reallyhelps to connect more effectively.Always a mystery.” he wrote.

He added “I watched a lovely filmThe Artist via the UFO set up in thehouse and it was a delight to see ablack and white, silent movie inFebruary of 2012!! In an age whencolour and music and speech andsound play such an important role incinema today, it was most innovativeon the part of the makers to presentsomething like this. I believe it is upfor the Oscars, which are out tomor-row on Sunday.”

The 69-year-old was operatedupon Feb 11 for abdominal issues,and was under observation at theSeven Hills Hospital for 12 days. Hewas discharged Feb 23 night. He saysthat he is feeling better.

“I think gradually the body gainsstrength. A few movements that wereprohibitive earlier, seem to be easingin and I do hope this trend continues.Your prayers and wishes remain withme each moment. Thank you againfor it!,” he wrote. IANS

‘Cinema, literature on apar, building new synergy’

B-TOWN TWEETIES

@rampalarjunHope everyone doing fine Ihave been filming non stopsince my return so pardon theabsence, love u.

@NeilNMukeshYesterday Sonu Nigam hasproved it that why he is SonuNigam. Truly talented a greathuman being and a true artist.God bless him and his fam

@bipsluvurselfRelaxed dinner last night,wokeup late,went 2 gym,met upwith friends fr lunch, did gro-cery shopping, hung out withniece n nephew nw reading!

@imarshadwarsiToday my son Zeke won thegold medal in his Taekwondocompetition. Had 2 fights, hewon both. In his normal life henever fights...

@FarOutAkhtarRemember I said somethingabout burning the track today!The sun got there before me...32 degrees this morn!!!!

@RGVzoomin@SunidhiChauhan5 I can’t evrforget the way u sang wth ureyes closed nd with an intensi-ty as hard as iron whn I frst swu recording fr Mast.

@bomaniraniI am convinced that dogs arejust like human beings... orbetter still, good humanbeings!!!

@SrBachchanT 666 - Jubilation for HockeyOlympic qualification... timewas when we were the auto-matic choices for Gold !!

The Artist a delight to watch: Big B

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201223Magic Screen

` 150 sq. cm

For Further DetailsPlease

Contact

Abhinay 9989399972

Nandlal 9951467988

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201224The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Just a couple of weeks after the for-mer Survivor producer was extra-

dited to Mexico to stand trial for the2010 murder of his wife, Beresford-Redman proclaimed his innocencein an interview.

“This is the first time I’ve cho-sen to speak…everyone seems tohave decided that I killed my wife,”Beresford-Redman said from hisMexican prison cell. “I didn’t killmy wife…I really didn’t.”

Beresford-Redman was firsttaken into police custody back inApril 2010 after the body of histhen missing wife was found nakedand beaten in a sewer near theirCancun resort, where the couplewas vacationing with their twochildren.

He was later released, butremained under investigation untilUS marshals arrested him again inNovember 2010. Mexican prosecu-tors believe he killed his wife by

asphyxiating her in their hotel roomat the resort, after the couple had analleged violent fight.

When Adam Sandler’s bad,he’s really bad, accordingto voters for the Razzies,an Academy Awards

spoof that singles out the worstmovies of the year. Sandler receiveda record 11 nominations for theRazzies as star, producer or writer onthree 2011 movies — Jack and Jill,Just Go with It, and Bucky Larson:Born to Be a Star. That more thandoubled the previous record of fiveRazzie nominations held by EddieMurphy for2007 sNorbit.

Sandler’s nominations includeworst actor for both Jack and Jill andJust Go with It — and worst actressfor Jack and Jill, in which he plays afamily man and his own twin sister.Sandler also had two nominations asworst screen couple oppositeJennifer Aniston or Brooklyn Deckerin Just Go with It and opposite KatieHolmes, Al Pacino or himself in Jackand Jill.

“It’s almost karmic for someoneto have made that much razz-ablestuff in one year,” said Razziesfounder John Wilson. “He hasangered someone really powerful, Iwould say.”

Razzie nominations werereleased on the eve of the Oscars.Winners will be announced on AprilFool’s Day.

The group traditionallyhas announced its nominees theday before the Oscar nominationsand its winners the night beforethe Oscars. But Wilson and theroughly 600 voting members forthe Razzies decided to experimentwith an April 1 date this time, figur-ing April Fool’s Day was an idealtime for their mock ceremony. “Ihave always wondered if westepped slightly away from lock-

step with the Oscars, whatwould happen,” Wilson

said. “We just kepthoping theOscars woulddo their cere-mony onApril 2, butthey justnever did.”

Sandler sets hisRazzie record

Survivor producer finallybreaks his silence

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201225The glamour behind the glitzMagic Screen

Michelle Williamsmight be the under-dog in a battlebetween Oscar pow-

erhouses Viola Davis and MerylStreep, but for now she is a

winner..And from what

she’s got to sayabout taking on

Marilyn Monroe, the award iswell earned “I feel like whateveryou’re working on in themoment feels like the hardestthing that you’ve worked on,”Michelle said when we askedwhether it was more dauntingcreating a character or adaptingone that already exists. Michellecontinues, “Because it’s what’sconfronting you on a daily basis

with your shortcom-ings and what you’re

trying to get

better at.”Though, that doesn’t mean

playing a legend was anythingeasy. “Gosh, sometimes I can’teven believe I did it because thechallenges were just… ” Michellebegan before trailing off. “In away, you had to remove the factthat she was an icon and putthat out of your mind because itwould be too daunting. Andinstead try to think of her as anordinary girl, which is what shewanted to be thought of as.”

Playing a legend is not easyTaylor invites cancerpatient to ACM Awards

In yet another step in herapparent bid for sainthood,

country music superstar TaylorSwift has invited 18-year-oldleukemia patient KevinMcGuire to be her date to theAcademy of Country MusicAwards in April. The invitationgrew from a Facebook cam-paign launched by McGuire’s

sister, Victoria, who started upthe Facebook page. “TaylorSwift take KEVIN McGUIRE TOPROM!” to persuade the Meansongbird to attend McGuire’sprom at Sterling High School inSomerdale, NJ.

“Kevin is the kindest, mostnoble 18 year old a personcould even fathom meeting,”Tori wrote on the site, “andthroughout his ups and downsKevin never even questioned‘why me?’ Nothing, and I meanNOTHING brightens Kevin’sday more than Taylor Swift.”

Swift was unable to take upVictoria’s invitation, but shewent one better and invitedhim to the ACM Awards, whichtake place on April 1 at theMGM Grand Garden Arena inLas Vegas.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201226Chai Time

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

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

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

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

will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. Thismeans that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14.Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on...

So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is donethrough elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work outthe answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid com-binations, and hence the answer for this particular run.

Note the second cell in row two - it contains two numbers, 30 and11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

KAKUROACROSS1 Vandalize7 Letterman’s turf10 Farthest or highest

(Abbr.)13 Prayer14 Saintly attribute15 Declining answers16 Most insignificant17 Shout from the congre-

gation18 Contender for your title19 Petty dictator21 Terror-struck23 Suffix with “claim” or

“cool”25 Evening repast27 Nights before holidays28 “Gimme a few ___”30 What the rich live in?31 Traditional folk tales32 Faded to the extreme34 Fire engine gear36 Member of one of four

suits37 Mover’s vehicle38 Related maternally41 Glossy fabric43 “Lawrence of ___”44 Better than better46 King with the golden

touch48 Box spring support49 “So what ___ is new?”50 Omits a syllable52 Ending for “lion,”

“host” or “priest”53 Tributary55 Brother’s boy57 Lab eggs58 Popeyed60 River between Texas and

Louisiana63 Soak flax64 Arabian and Caspian65 Dry cleaner’s employee66 Minnesota twins?67 “Warm” or “cold” end-

ing

68 Elvis Presley’s “Returnto ___”

DOWN1 Perignon’s title2 Poet’s “before”3 Airline money-makers4 On an ark, e.g.5 Prices paid6 Confide in7 Twin-___ engine8 Made misty9 Something to break into10 Flight hindrance11 Like clothes after a diet12 African fly14 “Bon voyage” kin20 Fit for the job22 Rubinstein and Bonham

Carter23 Vile Nile creatures

24 Tide type26 Brio29 Under, in the O.R.33 Ready-go link35 ___ Spiegel (German

magazine)37 Secrecy fabric?39 Aunts in Acapulco40 Diner sign42 Comes out

of hiding43 Absence of

germs44 Part of B.C.45 News time,

often47 Lemon drink

ending51 Portion54 Facilitate56 Black, in

poetic circles59 Nosebag tidbit61 Born, in the society

pages62 Stray from the straight

and narrow

SCRI

BBLI

NG P

AD

SUDOKU

Never forgetthat it is thespirit withwhich you

endow yourwork that

makes it usefulor futile.

THOUGHT OFTHE DAY

Take a shot at the brain game while sipping your cuppa

QUICK CROSSWORD

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

– Adelaide Hasse

27Chai TimeCO

MIC

SFr

ed B

asse

tSt

one

soup

ARIESYou will plan the works well and exe‑cute them with perfection. Financial sit‑uation looks strong. Friendshipwithhigh level politicians is likely. Pendingcourt cases will end in your favour.

CANCER

LIBRASelf confidence level will be high.Financial flow will improve. Purchase ofasset will get completed. Expected helpsfrom relatives will come. You may beupset as no one will understand you.

CAPRICORNYour administrative abilities will getsharpened. New responsibilities will beentrusted to you. Held up house cons‑truction works will resume.Financialhelp from expected sources will come.

TAURUSBy adopting innovative techniques,your success will be certain in theworks undertaken. Old friends willsupport you and extend help. Mariagetalks will end favourably.

LEOOne of your biggest plans will be imple‑mented. You will renovate the ancestralproperty.You will encourage your childrenand support them to score good marks.Financial flow is good.

SCORPIOYou will think in a different way and sortout problems with ease. Family will bepeaceful. Children will do well. Friendsand relatives will extend support. Be care‑ful while driving or crossing the roads.

AQUARIUSYou will follow the straight forwardpath alone.Tensions with court caseswill disappear. Relatives will respectyour feelings. You will show anaggressive attitude which works.

GEMINIWork will be completed as per plans. Goodevents to take place in a line. Daughtermight get MNC job. Son's marriage will befinalised. Those recently married will beblessed with an offspring.

VIRGOYou will get friends who are very success‑ful in career and life. You will change resi‑dence. Chances of misunderstanding like‑ly with relatives,.House construction planwill get appr‑oval.

SAGITTARIUSYou will face challenges but will besuccessful. Friendship with rulingparty politicians is likely. Daughter'smarriage takes place. Son will go forhigher studies or get a good job.

PISCESExpectations get fulfilled without anyhurdles. Speculative deals might bringgains. Strained relationship with in lawswill resume and bonding will becomemore stronger than earlier.

For

Bette

r or

for

Wor

seIn

k pe

n

King of Cups – Youʼregetting too emotionaland this may not bethe best time to showyour emotions to theworld. Guard againstbad decisions.

Temperance – Bepatient and work outa plan based on howmuch time you candevote to a project.Jumping the gun is asure way of wreck‑ing it.

The Fool – Youʼre inthe mood to explorenew tastes, newflavours – in every‑thing, including cul‑ture, food, travel andbooks. Do the new, isyour new motto.

CANCER LEO VIRGO

Two of Swords –Youʼre taking the ext ‑reme step in everysituation and thatʼsnot a go o d thing.There is a middlepath and yo uʼre not awimp if you took it.

Five of Wands –Someone is plottingagainst you. Theydonʼt want you to dowell and you may betoo blind to this fact.Be more shrewd andaware.

Six of Wands – Goodluck will bring manynew things your way.A new job offer, a for‑eign trip, a relation‑ship are just somethings that fall inyour lap.

LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS

King of Swords –Donʼt act in panic.Your intellect is at itspeak and your bosseswant to utilise yourknowledge. You sho ‑uld ask for the rightremuneration.

The Empress – Love is

in the air. Singles will

meet someone attrac‑

tive at a public place.

Those committed will

find love again in their

partners.

The Moon – Moodswings are possible.Donʼt let this affectyour relationships,especially with family.Guard against mak‑ing hasty decisions.

CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES

SOLUTIONS

Sudu

ko

Scrabble

Num

ber g

ame

Boggle

SALSA TANGO LIMBO MAMBO

You act very swiftly and progress very well.Certain important issues get completed withthe help of VIPs. Flow of money will besteady. Debt problems will be under con‑trol.Travel will bring benefits as well stress.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2012Your tomorrow today̶Star Power and Tarot

Vol: 1, No. 225 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No. 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad–500033 and printed by himat Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad–500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

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

SUMAA TEKURtarotreadhyd@gmail.com

THIRUVAIKUMARthiruvaikumar@yahoo.co.in

040-27177230 / 9177596118As per Hindu panchang TAROT READ FOR 28-2-2012

Four of Cups – A joboffer will take you bysurprise. Just whenyouʼre about to decide,a counter offer takesyou by a bigger sur‑prise.

Seven of Wands –Youʼre tired andexhausted withbeing in the rat race.At the end, youʼreonly a rat, you tellyourself. Take theplunge.

Four of Pentacles –The money flow isgood and itʼs givingyou the confidenceto do the unknownand go into unfamil‑iar territory. Getadventurous.

ARIES TAURUS GEMINI

STAR POWER FOR 28-2-2012

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201228Telly sitcoms, news and movie listingsChai Time

1400 Naadi Aadajanme1430 Pavitra1500 Movie1800 Kodala Kodala Koduku

Pellama1830 Vasantha Kokila1900 Chinnari Pelli Kuturu1930 Anna Chellelu2000 Missamma 2030 Edureetha2100 Bhale Chancele2200 CID2300 Challenge 0730 Maa Gramadevatalu0800 Ayurvedam0830 Chaganti Sanatana

Dharmam0900 Challenge1100 CID

1400 Kannavaari Kalalu1430 Maavichiguru1500 Sumangali1530 Movie 1800 Jai Shri Krishna1830 Shraavani Subramaniam1900 Mandhara1930 Auto Bharthi2000 Swathi2030 Mogali Rekulu2100 Aparanji2130 Devatha2200 Mamathala Kovela2230 Heartlo Battery2300 Gemini Vaarthalu0800 Gemini Talkies0830 Movie 1130 Aha Emi Ruchi1200 Jeevitha Chakram1230 Maa Inti Aada Paduchu1300 Chittemmaa 1330 Gorintaku

1400 Abhishekam1430 Aadade Aadharam1500 Antahpuram1530 Aakasa Ganga1600 Prema Mandiram1630 Jagadeeswari1700 Adurs1800 Devimahathyam1830 Puttadi Bomma1900 Kumkuma Rekha1930 Manasu Mamata2000 Chandra Mukhi2030 Bharyamani2100 Etv News2130 Paduta Teeyaga 2245 Movie 0800 Jeevana Jyothi0830 Tollywood Time0900 Movie 1130 Abhiruchi1230 Star Mahila

1400 Nagani 1430 Movie1800 Meera1830 Kalavari Kodallu1900 Chinna Kodalu1930 Pasupu Kunkuma2000 Muddu Bidda2030 Radha Kalyanam2100 Kanyadanam2130 Comedy Club2230 Shree2300 Bindas2330 Latest Songs0800 Gopuram0830 Bhakti Samacharam0900 Sri Raghavendra Vybhavam0930 Mahadevi1000 Bindass 1030 Luckku Kickku1130 Jeevana Vignanam 1200 Mee Inti Vanta

‘Wipeout’ at 1900 Hrs onAXN

1250 Movie - Event Horizon1450 Whacked Out Sports 1515 Wipeout1605 Mondo Magic Singapore1635 Magic Asia - India1700 Destination Truth 1800 Chuck 1900 Wipeout2000 Supernatural 2100 Minute To Win It 2200 Fear Factor 2300 Top 20 Countdown 0900 Sky Teleshopping0930 Whacked Out Sports 1000 The Millionaire

Matchmaker 1100 Minute To Win It 1200 Got To Dance 1250 Movie - The Librarian 2

‘Mi Aaji Aur Saheb’ at2130 Hrs on IMAGINE1400 Haar Jeet 1430 Mi Aaji Aur Saheb 1500 Baba Aisa Varr Dhoondo 1600 Mi Aaji Aur Saheb 1630 Baba Aisa Varr Dhoondo 1700 Mi Aaji Aur Saheb 1730 Haar Jeet 1800 Sawaare Sabke Sapne –

Preeto 1830 Mi Aaji Aur Saheb 1900 Haar Jeet 1930 Gyaan Guru 2000 Dwarkadheesh - Bhagwan

Shri Krishn 2030 Sawaare Sabke Sapne –

Preeto 2100 Jamuna Paar 2130 Mi Aaji Aur Saheb 2200 Baba Aisa Varr Dhoondo 2230 Haar Jeet 2300 Jamuna Paar

‘Kyaa Hua Tera Vaada’ at2200 Hrs on SONY

1400 Saas Bina Sasuraal1430 Bade Achhe Lagte Hai1500 Kuch Toh Log Kahenge1530 Crime Patrol - 4 1800 Saas Bina Sasuraal1830 Bade Achhe Lagte Hai1900 Crime Patrol - 21930 Shubh Vivah2000 Kuch Toh Log Kahenge2030 Dekha Ek Khwaab2100 Saas Bina Sasuraal2130 Parvarrish - Kuchh Khatti

Kuchh Meethi2200 Kyaa Hua Tera Vaada2230 Bade Achhe Lagte Hai2300 Kuch Toh Log Kahenge2330 Crime Patrol - Dastak0900 Parvarrish - Kuchh Khatti

Kuchh Meethi0930 Dekha Ek Khwaab1000 CID 1200 Shubh Vivah

‘[V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance’ at1900 Hrs on CHANNEL [V]

1400 [V] Vignettes1430 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance1500 [V] Humse Hai Life1530 [V] Trailers1600 [V] My Big Decision1700 [V] Zabardast Hits1800 [V] Fresh Songs1830 [V] Humse Hai Life1900 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance1930 [V] Humse Hai Life2100 [V] Vignettes2130 [V] Trailers2155 [V] Fresh Songs2200 [V] My Big Decision2300 [V] Humse Hai Life2330 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance0700 [V] Trailers0730 [V] Zabardast Hits0800 [V] Mind Blasting Mornings1100 [V] Fresh Songs1200 [V] D3 Dil Dosti Dance1230 [V] Humse Hai Life1300 [V] My Big Decision

‘Business Tonight’ at 2100Hrs only on ET NOW

1400 The F And O Show1430 Closing Trades1530 Tomorrow's Trades1600 Business Day1730 Markets Tomorrow1800 Rush Hour1900 Global Business Report1930 Business Express2000 Business First2030 Markets Tomorrow2100 Business Tonight2200 Top 10 At 102230 Investor's Guide2300 Zigwheels 0900 First Trades1000 Hot Stocks1100 Buy Now Sell Now - The

Stock Game1130 Buy Now Sell Now1200 Market Sense1300 Business Day1330 Markets Now

‘The Game’ at 1930 Hrsonly on TIMES NOW

1300 News Now At 11330 News Now1800 6 Pm1830 Live Report1900 Primetime1930 The Game2000 News Now At 82030 Live Report2100 The Newshour2200 The Newshour - Plus2230 E Now2300 News Now At 110800 The Morning News0900 News Now1200 Live Report1230 News Now

‘Style Strip’ at 2100 Hrson ZOOM

1400 Movie - Shikari1730 Star Bonanza1800 Let'z Go!1900 Planet Bollywood 1930 Link'd2000 Telly Talk2030 Let'z Go!2100 Style Strip2130 Let'z Go!2200 B - Tonite2230 Business Of Bollywood2300 Bollywood Bonanza0700 Fresh Mornings0800 Red Carpet0805 Fresh Mornings1100 Your Likes1200 Garama Garam1300 Planet Bollywood 1330 Telly Talk

‘Rookie Blue’ at 2200 Hrson ZEE CAFE

1400 My Wife And Kids1430 Scrubs1500 Rizzoli And Isles1600 Rookie Blue1700 My Wife And Kids1730 Scrubs1800 E News 1900 The Tonight Show With Jay

Leno 2000 My Wife And Kids2030 America's Funniest Home

Videos2100 My Kitchen Rules2200 Rookie Blue2300 My Wife And Kids2330 Scrubs0800 Rizzoli And Isles0900 Rookie Blue1000 My Wife And Kids1030 America's Funniest Home

Videos1100 Rizzoli And Isles1200 Rookie Blue1300 Slot1330 America's Funniest Home

Videos

‘The Big Bang Theory’ at2300 Hrs on STAR WORLD1400 Supernatural 1500 Charlie’s Angels 1600 The Big Bang Theory 1630 The Simpsons 1700 The Shield 1800 Supernatural 1900 Desperate Housewives 2000 Two And A Half Men 2030 The Simpsons 2100 Supernatural 2200 The Shield 2300 The Big Bang Theory 2330 Two And A Half Men 0700 The Shield 0800 Las Vegas 0900 Pan Am 1000 The Shield 1100 Desperate Housewives 1200 Two And A Half Men 1230 The Simpsons 1300 The Big Bang Theory 1330 Friends

‘Na Aana Is Des Laado’ at2300 Hrs on COLORS

1400 Parichay 1430 Balika Vadhu1530 Uttaran 1630 Parichay - Nayee Zindagi

Kay Sapno Ka 1700 Sasural Simar Ka 1730 Na Bole Tum Na Maine

Kuch Kaha 1800 Uttaran 1830 Balika Vadhu1900 Hawan 1930 Sasural Simar Ka 2000 Balika Vadhu 2030 Veer Shivaji 2100 Phulwa 2130 Parichay - Nayee Zindagi

Kay Sapno Ka 2200 Uttaran 2230 Na Bole Tum Na Maine

Kuch Kaha 2300 Na Aana Is Des Laado 2330 Balika Vadhu

‘Deception With Keith Barry’at 2100 Hrs on DISCOVERY1400 Human Body1500 My Naked Secret1600 One Man Army1700 Discovery Showcase1800 Wild Discovery1900 Man Woman Wild2000 Flying Wild Alaska2100 Deception With Keith

Barry2200 One Man Army2300 The Survivors1000 Breaking Point1100 Swords1200 Walking The Amazon1300 Wild Discovery

‘Taarak Mehta Ka OoltahChashmah’ at 2030 Hrs onSAB TV

1430 R. K. Laxman Ki Duniya1500 Lapataganj 1530 F.I.R1600 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah1630 I Luv My India1700 Gutur Gu1730 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah1900 R. K. Laxman Ki Duniya1930 Lapataganj 2000 I Luv My India2030 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah2100 Chidiyaghar2130 R. K. Laxman Ki Duniya2200 Lapataganj 2230 F.I.R2300 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah2330 Chidiyaghar0900 Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah

Chashmah0945 Gutur Gu1030 I Luv My India1100 F.I.R 1130 Chidiyaghar

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‘Yeh Rishta Kya KehlataHai’ at 2130 Hrs on STAR PLUS1400 Sajda Tere Pyaar Mein 1430 Mann Ki Awaaz… Pratigya1500 Navya 1530 Diya Aur Bati Hum1600 Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri

Behnaa Hai1700 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya1730 Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon1800 Navya 1830 Ruk Jana Nahin1900 Saath Nibhaana Saathiya1930 Sasuraal Genda Phool2000 Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam

Doon2030 Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri

Behnaa Hai2100 Diya Aur Bati Hum2130 Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai2200 Sajda Tere Pyaar Mein 2230 Mann Ki Awaaz… Pratigya2300 Maryaada ... Lekin Kab Tak?

Shubh VivaahStoryline - Shubh Vivaah isthe story of every averagemiddle class girl in India.Every girl cherishes a dreamsince her childhood; thedream about an ideal hus-band and a picture perfectmarriage.

‘Shubh Vivaah’ at 1930 Hrs onSONY

Storyline - What happenswhen talented yet shy VidhiMalhotra from South Delhifalls in love with the care-free & free spirited Bijjufrom Jamuna Paar?

‘Jamuna Paar’ at 2100 Hrs onIMAGINE

Jamuna Paar

‘Weapon Masters’ at 2230Hrs on DISCOVERYSCIENCE

‘Jerry Springer’ at 2200Hrs on BIG CBS PRIME1400 Frasier1430 Jerry Springer 1530 Aspire1600 Galileo Extreme1700 Survivor1800 Entertainment Tonight1830 Galileo Extreme1930 Frasier2000 Entertainment Tonight2030 Galileo Extreme2100 Hawaii 5.02200 Jerry Springer 2300 Survivor0700 Big Wheels 0730 Aspire0800 Galileo Extreme0900 Survivor 1000 Bellator 1100 Jerry Springer 1200 Aspire1230 Entertainment Tonight1300 Galileo Extreme

1430 How It's Made1500 The New Inventors1530 Discovery Science Classics1630 World's Strangest Ufo

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With Mike Brewer1830 Best Of Discovery Science1930 Junkyard Wars2030 Sports Science2230 Weapon Masters2330 Everything You Need To

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1346 The Dark Knight 1635 Batman Forever1855 Lethal Weapon 2 2100 Harry Potter And The Goblet

Of Fire 0750 Nikita0840 Friends 0940 Crocodile Dundee Il1145 The Midnight Meat Train1325 The Island

1405 Speedy Singhs1620 Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story1855 How To Train Your Dragon2100 IP Man2320 Red 0810 Lost In Translation1015 Old School 1205 How To Train Your Dragon

‘Punar Vivah’ at 2230 Hrson ZEE TV1400 Hitler Didi1430 Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch

Bahuein1500 Afsar Bitiya1530 Yahaaan Main Ghar Ghar

Kheli1600 Pavitra Rishta1630 Shobha Somnath Ki1730 Ram Milaye Jodi1800 Hitler Didi1830 Punar Vivah1900 Afsar Bitiya1930 Choti Bahu 22000 Hitler Didi2030 Yahaaan Main Ghar Ghar

Kheli2100 Pavitra Rishta2130 Ram Milaye Jodi2200 Mrs. Kaushik Ki Paanch

Bahuein2230 Punar Vivah2300 Afsar Bitiya

‘IP Man’ at 2100 Hrs on HBO

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201229The games people playPlaying Field

Double delight for MahanHunter Mahan beat Rory McIlroy to win the World Golf Championships Match Play crownSunday, denying the Northern Irishman’s bid to claim the world number one ranking.

Mahan moved 4 upthrough 10 holesthen held off thereigning US Open

champion to become the firstAmerican to win the title sinceTiger Woods in 2008.

McIlroy and Mahan hadreached the title match withsemi-final victories on Sundaymorning. McIlroy roared backfrom 3 down to beat England’sLee Westwood 3 and 1, whileMahan never trailed in a 2 and 1victory over fellow AmericanMark Wilson.

McIlroy admitted it wastough to bounce back after thetense battle with Westwood —who also had a chance to sup-plant England’s Luke Donaldatop the world rankings by lift-ing the trophy.

“I knew that was going to bethe toughest thing for me today,because I was getting myself upfor that semi-final match,”McIlroy said.

“That’s not an excuse,” headded. “He was solid as ever.He’s a deserving champion.”

After McIlroy and Mahanhalved the first five holes,Mahan stuck a nine-iron two

feet from the pin for a concededbirdie to win the par-three sixth.

That started a run of threestraight holes won for theAmerican, who went 4-up bywinning the 10th hole, wherehis approach from 179 yards outnearly found the cup.

McIlroy didn’t win a holeuntil the 11th, where hechipped in for eagle to lie 3down.

He rolled in a birdie puttfrom within eight feet at 14 totrim Mahan’s lead to 2 up.

“He’s the best player in theworld right now,” Mahan said. “Iknew he’d make a charge, and

he did.”After they halved 15 with

birdies, Mahan had a chance toclose it out at 16, where his puttfor the title brushed the edgeand didn’t drop.

He made the three-footercoming back to halve the holewith McIlroy, whose birdieattempt from 38 feet hadstopped less than two feet fromthe hole.

They were both on the greenin two at 17, but McIlroy, need-ing to win the hole to extend thematch, left his 29-foot puttshort. Mahan left his birdieattempt from 21 feet about afoot away and McIlroy conced-ed the tap-in to end it.

“I tried to claw myself back,but I left myself too muchwork,” McIlroy said.

With his victory Mahan willmove into the top 10 in theworld rankings for the first timein his career. Mahan also addedanother elite WGC title to hisresume, after his triumph at the2010 Bridgestone Invitational.

He became only the sixthplayer to win multiple WGCtitles, joining Woods, AustralianGeoff Ogilvy, Northern Ireland’s

Darren Clarke, South AfricanErnie Els and Phil Mickelson.

McIlroy looked a differentplayer from the one that ralliedpast Westwood in the marqueesemi-final.

After Westwood seized theearly advantage, winning threestraight holes from the secondto seize a 3 up lead, McIlroywon three of the next four tosquare the match, and won theninth to make the turn 1 up.

A fortuitous bounce on acart path at the 11th helpedMcIlroy halve the hole with apar. He then won the next twoholes to go 3 up, sinking a 25-foot birdie putt at 12.

At 13 Westwood’s drive intothe gallery found its way intothe back of a woman spectator’ssweater as she ducked to pro-tect her head as McIlroy foundthe green.

Westwood pulled one backat 15 -- the first hole he’d wonsince the fourth, but two holeslater McIlroy closed it out with apar at 17.

Mahan won the first twoholes of his semi-final andnever trailed en route to his vic-tory over Wilson.

Hunter Mahan kisses his wife Kandi after winning the championship match during the final round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on Sunday in Marana, Arizona. SAM GREENWOOD/AFP

WorldsaysUh-Huh!21-year-old PGA Tourrookie John Huh edgedRobert Allenby and cap-ture the Mayakoba GolfClassic.PLAYA DEL CARMEN: Huhparred all eight holes in a playoffthat matched the second-longestin PGA Tour history behind therecord of 11 set over 60 years ago.

“It’s amazing,” said theAmerican. “It’s my rookie year,especially, and playing in my fifthevent on the PGA Tour. I justcouldn’t put it in words. It’s reallyhard to explain this. It’s major. Imean, it was my dream.”

The playoff switched betweenthe par-four 18th and par-three10th holes.

Cary Middlecoff and LloydMangrum hold the record for thelongest playoff when they weredeclared co-winners of the 1949Motor City Open.

It also marked the first timesince 1983 and the fifth playoff inhistory to go eight holes.

Huh fired a final round eight-under 65 to reach 13-under 271which put him into a tie withAllenby.

The 40-year-old Allenbyappeared to be headed to a com-fortable lead at the end of hisround on the El Camaleon courseas he had a two-shot cushionafter 17 holes of regulation. But adouble bogey on 18 helped set upthe playoff with Huh.

“Obviously, disappointed,disappointed that I didn’t like hitthree-wood off 18 in regulation,like I should have,” Allenby said.“But that’s the way it goes. Youmake some mistakes sometimes,and that was a major one, obvi-ously. I mean, I had this tourna-ment in the bag, a two-shot leadwith one hole to play and justplayed it like a rookie, prettymuch.”

WITH HIS VICTORY MAHANWILL MOVE INTO THE TOP10 IN THE WORLD RANK-INGS FOR THE FIRST TIME INHIS CAREER. MAHAN ALSOADDED ANOTHER ELITEWGC TITLE TO HIS RESUME,AFTER HIS TRIUMPH AT THE2010 BRIDGESTONEINVITATIONAL.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201230The games people playPlaying Field

Star MVP Kevin Durant #35 of the Oklahoma City Thunder and theWestern Conference celebrates with hip-hop artist Lil’ Wayneduring the 2012 NBA All-Star Game at the Amway Centre onSunday in Orlando, Florida.

NO PAIN, NOGAIN, PROVES

MELZERJurgen Melzer wasn’t about to let an

aching toe get in the way as he facedone of the hottest players on ATP Tour, who

was making a second-straight appearance in the Memphis final.MEMPHIS: The unseededMelzer defeated Milos Raonic 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) in the final of the $1.37million ATP and WTA MemphisOpen to capture his fourth careerATP title on Sunday.

“Who would have thought Iwould come here break my toeand end up winning the tourna-ment,” Melzer said.

Melzer broke the big toe onhis right foot when he trippedover his bed in the hotel room onThursday night.

He decided against putting awrap or cast on it and went outthe next day and beat top seedJohn Isner in the quarter-finals.

Melzer, who upset Isner andthird seed Radek Stepanek enroute to the final, clinchedSunday’s victory in a second settie-break when Raonic ham-mered a backhand into the net.

The left-handed Austrianearned $278,000 in prize money

for his first win since successfullydefending his crown in his home-town of Vienna two years ago.

“This is a very important timefor me,” Melzer said. “I am happyI pulled it through.”

It was the second year in arow the fourth-seeded CanadianRaonic lost in the Memphis finalafter winning the week before inSan Jose.

Melzer broke Raonic’s mightyserve in the seventh game of thesecond set to cut Raonic’s lead to4-3. Melzer then survived a setpoint in the 10th game beforeboth players held serve to set upthe tie-break. Melzer also brokeRoanic’s serve in the 11th game ofthe first set to take a 6-5 lead. Heended the 41-minute opening setwith an ace out wide on his sec-ond set point that Raonic couldn’treach with his backhand.

By taking the first set, Melznersnapped Raonic’s 2012 win streak

at 19 consecutive sets. Raonic hadnot lost a set since he fell toAussie Lleyton Hewitt in the thirdround of the Australia Open inJanuary.

Melzer reached a career highranking of eighth in the world inearly 2011 but then struggled inthe second half of the season, los-ing in the first round in threestraight tournaments in Augustbefore finishing the year with a22-23 record.

“I went through a hard timelast year with a lot of back prob-lems this is finally an achieve-ment that puts me out of the darktimes,” Melzer said.

Raonic, who lost in last year’sfinal to American veteran AndyRoddick, came into Sunday’schampionship match riding anine-match win streak and wasseeking to add the Memphiscrown to titles he already wonthis year in San Jose and Chennai.

Durant helpsWest best EastORLANDO: Kevin Durant scor ed36 points as Team West held on tobeat Team East 152-149 in the 61stNBA All-Star Game on a nightwhen Kobe Bryant broke MichaelJordan’s career points record.

Durant, who was named mostvaluable player of the game, shot14 of 25 from the field and finishedwith seven rebou nds and threeassists for the West at the AmwayCenter arena.

“This is a dream come true,”Durant said. “These guys fed methe ball I am glad to be taking thistrophy (MVP) back to OklahomaCity. “I am happy I got MVP. Every -thing has been fun this weekend Iam glad we came out on top.”

The three-time all-star Dura ntgot offensive support from team-mates Blake Griffin, who had 22points and eight rebou nds, andBryant who finished wi th 27points to surpass Jordan for themost career all-star points.

Four-time all-star MVP Bryantvaulted past Oscar Robertson andKareem Abdul-Jabbar before get-ting the record-setting points. Hepassed Jordan’s previous mark of262 points by finishing off a dunkin the third quarter.

Bryant was making his 14thstraight all-star appearance whichtied him with Jerry West, Karl

Malone, and former Laker team-mate Shaquille O’Neal for themost consecutive all-star berths inleague history.

In last year’s showcase in LosAngeles, hometown hero Bryantscored 37 points in the West’s 148-143 win over the East at StaplesCenter arena. Eight-time all-starLeBron James finished with 36points, seven assists and six threepointers for the East who rallied inthe fourth to make a game of it onSunday.

The West had a commanding88-69 point lead at the half and led124-112 at the end of the third butthe East, behind the three-pointshooting of James, who made sixof eight attempts from beyond thearc, battled back. Deron Williamsand Dwyane Wade both missedthree-point attempts in the finalseconds that could have given theEast a lead or sent the game intoovertime.

“They beat us up all game andwe wanted to make a game out ofit,” James said of the late rally. “Ihad a key turnover when we hadopportunity to tie game and so Iam mad about that.

“But it was a great weekend.All-star weekend was a great suc-cess and I am happy to be a part ofit.”

MADRID: Cristiano Ronaldoscored a wonderful, backheeled

goal while Lionel Messi hit the tar-get with a deadly accurate free-kick as Real Madrid and Barcelonaboth emerged victorious fromtesting La Liga trips on Sunday.

Ronaldo gave Real a 1-0 winover neighbours Rayo Vallecanowhile Messi scored his team’s sec-ond goal in a 2-1 win at AtleticoMadrid as Spain’s two box officeattractions took their league goalstally to 29 and 28 respectively.

The results also kept Real 10points in front of the defendingchampions.

At Rayo Vallecano, the secondhalf was eight minutes old whenthe home defence failed to clear acorner at the first attempt.

Portuguese superstar Ronaldo,facing away from the goal, back-heeled the ball so powerfully from15 yards out that it evaded fourRayo defenders on its way into theleft hand corner of the net.

The game was competitivethroughout and the main talkingpoint of a goalless first period waswhether or not Madrid’s SergioRamos had intentionally used anelbow to stop Diego Costa in thepenalty area after already receiv-ing a yellow card.

Meanwhile, Barcelona domi-nated the first half at Atletico andthe breakthrough came on 35 min-utes when Dani Alves finished off aswift attacking move started byMessi who presented CescFabregas with the chance to giftthe Brazilian the opener.

However it was a differentAtletico that emerged for the sec-ond period and they were soonlevel when Colombian strikerRadamel Falcao met a corner tograb his 15th league goal of theseason on 48 minutes.

The game seemed to be head-ing for a draw until GabiFernandez tripped PedroRodriguez on the edge of theAtletico area.

As Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut

Courtois was lining up his defen-sive wall Messi surprised everyonewith a curling left-foot shot intothe far corner.

There was time for Juanfran tohave a shot blocked at close rangeby Victor Valdes before the Barcakeeper then had to stop a GabiFernandez piledriver in injurytime. For Atletico it was their firstdefeat in 10 games since the turnof the year when Diego Simeonetook over as coach. AFP

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201231The games people playPlaying Field

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi (left) celebrates with Xavi after scoring intheir Spanish league football match against Atletico de Madrid atthe Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid. AFP/DANI POZO

Messi, Ronaldo turn on magic

Greatestgoal?Naah!

ROME: Claudio Ranieri’s future asInter Milan coach was plunged into fur-ther doubt on Sunday when his side lost1-0 at Napoli, a seventh defeat in theirlast eight matches. Beaten by an injury-time goal in Marseille in theirChampions League last 16 first-leg clashin mid-week, Inter are in seventh placein Serie A, nine points off the third andfinal qualifying place for next season’spremier European tournament. Interhave not won a league match at the SanPaolo in Naples since a 2-0 win in 1997.

Inter suffers seventh defeat

LONDON: Arsene Wenger praised TheoWalcott’s two-goal contribution toArsenal’s 5-2 derby win over Tottenham,but admitted he considered substitutingthe winger to spare him more abuse fromhis own supporters. Walcott came in forheavy criticism from fans at the EmiratesStadium as Spurs raced to an early two-goal lead. But after the home side drewlevel, Tomas Rosicky and Walcott complet-ed a comfortable win. Walcott admittedhe had endured a difficult first 45 minutesbut was satisfied with his response.

Wenger happy withTheo’s good show

LONDON: Ryan Giggs marked his900th game for Manchester Unitedwith a stoppage-time winner in a 2-1victory over Norwich here on Sunday intheir Premier League clash. The champi-ons had been in danger of falling fourpoints behind leaders Manchester Cityafter Norwich captain Grant Holt hadnetted a late equaliser.That had cancelled out Paul Scholes’goal for United but Giggs was in theright place at the right time two min-utes into added time to score.

Super Giggs toasts900th gig in style

MADRID: RealMadrid’sCristianoRonaldo said hisbackheeled win-ner against RayoVallecano onSunday was amemorablemoment, butrefused todescribe it as hisgreatest evergoal.

ThePortuguese starhit his 29thleague goal of theseason inSunday’s 1-0 winat his side’sMadrid neigh-bours.

“A backheel isalways different.It was a great goalbut I’m not sure ifit was the best ofmy career — Ihave to see itagain on TV,” hesaid.

“The mostimportant thingis the victory andthe points. Rayoare a great teamand it was a veryhard game.”

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 201232The games people playPlaying Field

‘This is just the beginning’An emotional Kenny Dalglish desc ribed

Liverpool’s Carling Cup final victory asthe start of a new era of success for theAnfield club after they overcame a latescare and dramatic penalty shootoutagainst Cardiff City to collect their first tro-phy in six years, reported The Guardian.

Dalglish claimed the triumph wouldwhet the appetite of his developing team.

The Liverpool manager, still pursuingChampions League qualification and theFA Cup this season, said: “We are delightedto have won a trophy. It was a difficultgame and I thought Cardiff representedtheir club very well. They tried everything.

“We deserved our first trophy in sixyears but we need to continue to workhard and see where it takes us. We didn’tthink six years ago that it would take thislong to win our next trophy.”

Reds end 6-yr cup droughtRob Woollard

LONDON: Liverpool ended theirsix-year trophy drought here onSunday after winning a penaltyshoot-out to shatterChampionship side Cardiff in theLeague Cup final at Wembley.

The Merseysiders just aboutheld their nerve in an error-strewnpenalty decider, prevailing 3-2after the two sides had finishedlocked at 2-2 after a thrilling peri-od of extra time.

The Premier League club’s vic-tory was clinched when Cardiffsubstitute Anthony Gerrard —cousin of Liverpool captain StevenGerrard — shot wide with Cardiff’sfifth and final spot-kick.

The Cardiff player’s miss cameafter Liverpool had seen StevenGerrard’s opening spot-kick savedand Charlie Adam’s second blazedover the bar.

But Cardiff misses from KennyMiller, Rudy Gestede and finallyGerrard proved decisive for thebrave Welsh club from the secondtier of English football.

The win was Liverpool’s firsttrophy since their FA Cup triumphin 2006, and the first since Kop leg-end Kenny Dalglish returned asmanager last year.

Liverpool skipper Gerrardextended sympathy to his familymember after the penaltyheartache.

“It’s always cruel when it goesto penalties. There has to be aloser. Cardiff were superb today,”Gerrard said.

“One (of us) was going to besad, one was going to be celebrat-ing. It happens. I’ve got mixedemotions at the moment but I feelfor Anthony and Cardiff.”

Dalglish expressed relief afterthe win. “It was a long way to winbut the name is on the trophy,” hesaid. “Cardiff were always going to

be difficult. They were never goingto lie down and were a great credit.It’s not a nice way to win a cup butwe’ll take it.

“It’s sad that the boy missed itand you always feel for the personthat misses in that situation.”

Cardiff manager Malky McKaypraised his side’s valiant effort.

“You have to lose with dignityand that’s what we did today,” hesaid. “There is a lot of emotion outthere because it is a young side

and emotions are running highbut I am so proud of them all.”

The match had gone to penal-ties after a dramatic period of extratime that saw Cardiff force theshoot-out with a leveller from cen-tre-back Ben Turner with just twominutes remaining.

Turner jabbed home fromclose range to send Cardiff’s largecontingent of travelling fans intoraptures.

Liverpool had seemed poised

to claim victory after substituteDirk Kuyt fired the Premier Leaguegiants 2-1 ahead after 108 minutes.

The extra-time drama unfold-ed after the game finished 1-1 afterregulation time, Liverpool level-ling in the second half throughMartin Skrtel after Joe Mason hadgiven Cardiff a shock first-halflead.

Earlier, a full house of 89,041had watched Liverpool make aferocious start, hitting the wood-

work through Glen Johnson afteronly two minutes.

But the deadlock was brokenon 19 minutes as Miller picked upthe ball just outside the area andslipped in Mason, who took histime and drilled a shot beyondPepe Reina.

A shellshocked Liverpoolstruggled to respond but slowlypicked up the pace to keep Cardiffon the back foot.

AFP

Liverpool celebrates with captain Steven Gerrard after beating Cardiff City in a penalty shoot out in the League Cup Final at WembleyStadium in London. AFP/ADRIAN DENNIS