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MAY 12, 2013 HYDERABAD

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REPORT ON PG 3

DROPOUTSTATETalk about trying to build high-rises on a shaky foundation.Despite open schools and largebudget allocation for education,dropout rate in schools is high.With poverty maintaining itsstranglehold on economicallyweaker sections, the well-meaningschemes to boost mass literacy arelosing steam.

WELCOME TO

MOTHER CAN’T BE REPLACED

Rajeshwari NM is a retired teacher, activist andfounder of Thodu Needa, a senior-citizens’

movement. More than this, she says, she is first adaughter and a mother. She shares with Postnoonthe challenges she faced while rediscovering herpotential and establishing a career — all made possible because of the steadfast support from herfamily, especially her mother.

PG 4

PG 16&17

THE BILLIONAIRE’S PLAYGROUND

The French Riviera is, undoubtedly,one of the most popular

destinations for billionaires the world over. Theyarrive in hordes every summer to spend time at the

breathtaking locales, beaches, bustling resort townsand quaint villages. Cannes Film Festival, which will

begin on May 15 this year, is one of the most important events which is held on the French Riviera

and here are few places which you must visit whenyou go to the Billionaire’s playground.

PG 28

DEFYING ALL ODDS

There’s an uncanny similari-ty between how Kamal

Haasan’s Vishwaroopamand how Kuljinder SinghSidhu’s Sadda Haqwere treated by thegovernments of TNand Punjab respec-tively just beforetheir release.

FOR

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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

Listening postWestern classical Beatles and Jazzwill be conducted.Where: Lamakaan, Banjara HillsWhen: May 12, 4 pm to 5.30 pm

A musical voyageRaahie, a musical show will bestaged.Where: Hard Rock Cafe, GVK 1,Banjara HillsWhen: May 16, 9 pm

Magic of danceKuchipudi dance workshop byrenowned dancer Veena Ganeshwill be conducted.Where: Our Sacred Space,SecunderabadWhen: May 10 to May 12, From 5pm

Mother’s day outAlong with a gala brunchspread,plan a perfect day for moth-ers filled with activities like mehen-di, bangle making, foot massageand salsa class.Where: The Square, NovotelWhen: May 12.

Show your loveFisher-price will convert Mother’sDay message into a special song.Where: Inorbit Mall, MadhapurWhen: May 11 and 12.

Perfect gift for motherMother’s day special collectionby Global Desi, AND andShoppers Stop.When: May 12.

Fun dayThe Westin HyderabadMindspace has designed a spe-cial and enjoyable brunch menuto celebrate this important day.Also treat her to a day at theHeavenly Spa.Where: The Westing HyderabadMindspaceWhen: May 12

Women empoweredCoffee session with Yudhajit Baul (Martial Arts Specialist).Where: Anavila, Banjara HillsWhen: May 12, 5 pm

Treat your leading ladyTake your mother out for a fabu-lous brunch.Where: Encounters, Taj KrishnaWhen: May 12, 12 noon to 3.30pm

Fans galoreSunrisers fans meet-up will beheld.Where: Rush Sports Cafe & Bar,Madhapur When: May 13, 8 pm

Music to serve a causeKaruna, musical concert dedicatedto kids with HIV. Concert will fea-ture singer Usha Uthup and oth-ers.Where: HITEX, MadhapurWhen: May 17, 5.30 pm

Junior masterchefJunior Gourmet is on.Where: The Park HyderabadWhen: Till May 17, 10 am

Play pursuitsChildren’s theatre workshop bySamahaara.Where: Lamakaan, Banjara HillsWhen: Till June 1, 5 pm to 7 pm

Expert talkGoethe-Zentrum Hyderabad andBirdwatchers Society of AndhraPradesh present expert talk byPankaj Sekhsaria on the post December 2004 ecological scenarioin the Andaman and NicobarIslands.Where: Goethe-ZentrumWhen: May 16, 6 pm

It’s showtimeMovie Char Adhyay will bescreened.Where: Prasads Lab PreviewTheatre, Banjara HilsWhen: May 12, 11 am.

Spirit of SummerA contemporary jazz workshop.Where: Rang Manch,HimayathnagarWhen: Till June 1, 8 am to 9 am

CITY 2SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

On the occasion of Mother's Day, Bollywood actress and mother of twinsCelina Jaitley wants people to know that animals who are locked up inzoos suffer and that their true natures can't possibly be appreciatedwhen they are kept in captivity.

APPEAL FROM CELINA JAITLY

CITY 3SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

Five deaths have been recordedacross the State due to sunstroke. While three persons

died in Warangal district, one eachdied in Karimnagar and Guntur

districts. Warangal has recorded atemperature of 46 degrees Celsius.The City also has been witnessing a

temperature of 42 degrees Celsius ormore for past two days.

5 die in heat wave

In a freak incident, G Mallesh, a 38-year-old man, was found dead inhis seat in a cinema theatre

yesterday where he was watching amovie. His death was noticed an hourafter the film was over. Kushaigudapolice have registered a case andinvestigations have started. The initialreport says that he suffered a heartattack.

Man dies in accident

Awoman, Rama Devi, a residentof Hamal Basti, suffered seriousinjuries when her neighbour,

Kranti, and others attacked her to takerevenge on her husband Venkatesh,who had reportedly picked up a quar-rel with Kranti a day before. She is inGandhi Hospital with severe injuries,and the Chikalguda police are investigating the case.

Neighbours attack woman

It was the longest chase by theCity police in recent times.Finally, they caught up with thecriminal and recovered most of

the stolen gold, cash and vehicles.Chikalguda police had to give a

5,000-km chase across four states tocollar Nikhilesh Kumar, a native ofAllahabad, UP. When the law finallycaught up with him, he had in hispossession 70 tolas of gold and aFord car, said crime inspector MohdKhaja Mohiuddin.

Kumar, 30, came to the Cityseven years ago and was employedas a driver by a man named

Rajvardhan in Meddibavi,Seethaphal Mandi. Last week, whenRajvardhan and his family hadgone on a vacation, he looted all thegold ornaments and cash and

escaped in the employer’s car. Toprevent being traced, he destroyedhis mobile phone and threw the simcard in a well. Only whenRajvardhan came home two daysago did he realise what had hap-pened. He lodged a complaintagainst the missing driver with theChikalguda police.

On May 6, a police team setforth in search of him. Based onsome clue the employer supplied,the team had to travel to Maha-rashtra, Madhya Pradesh and UttarPradesh, where he had relatives.Every time the police reached onespot, they would be told that Kumarhad come but is now gone. Finally,he was nailed at the Allahabad rail-way station. Kumar, taken aback bythe AP police’s enterprise, is said tohave confessed to the crime. Hepleaded financial difficulties to jus-tify his crime, police said.

Postnoon Newsfeedback@postnoon.com

Under mysterious circumstances, a groom wasfound hanging dead by the ceiling fan in his home

in Vijaysri Colony of Vanasthalipuram, just two daysbefore his marriage. The marriage of M Ranaga Rao,30, was fixed on May 11 and his parents had gone totheir native place n Kangatla of Guntur district forinviting relatives. Rao, who works with a privatetransport firm, was alone at home, police said.

Neither his parents nor neighbours could throwlight on why he took this extreme step. Parents say hewas normal and showed no stress. In fact, he hadgone to purchase a dress for his wedding the otherday. No suicide note was found. Police said the neigh-bours saw his home was locked and there was noactivity. They made enquiries and found the frontdoor locked from inside. Breaking open the door, theyfound the body hanging in the bedroom. Police sur-mised that he was not interested in this marriage butwas forced into it by the worried parents who wereconcerned at his remaining unmarried at 30.

Criminal caughtafter long chase

Groom founddead beforemarriage

mohd.s@postnoon.comMohd SUBHAN

Heavy dropout mars literacy drive in AP

Rahul Ramakrishnarahul.r@postnoon.com

Andhra Pradesh’s latestsocio-economic surveyreport indicates an

increase in drop-out rates inschools. Contrary to the commonbelief that several educationalschemes such as Sarva ShikshaAbhiyan and Mid Day Meal haveencouraged enrolments inschools, the report points outhow it is all negated by the highdropout rate.

According to AP’s socio-eco-nomic survey report for 2012-13,enrolment in all types of schoolsin the State during 2011-12 was133.91 lakh, out of which 4.10lakh were in pre-primary, 70.84lakh in Classes I–V, 26.06 lakh inClasses VI and VII, 32.67 lakh inClasses VIII-X and 0.23 lakh in XIand XII classes (52.91, 19.46, 0.17and 3.06 per cent respectively).

The report shows that dur-ing 2011-12, dropouts at Classes I-V were 15.60 per cent, at ClassesI-VII were 20.79 per cent and

45.71 percent at Classes I-X. According to government

statistics, 2011 registered thelowest level of dropouts fromschools. In 2010-11, the dropoutrate was 46.21 per cent, in 2009-10it was 53.36 per cent and in 2008-2009 it was 60.73 per cent. Thestatistics also show the highestnumber of dropouts wererecorded in the last decade in2003-04, when the dropout per-centage was 66.70 per cent.

Experts say it takes morethan just free education and afree meal scheme to tackle thisproblem. According to academi-cian Charul Sharma, “We mustnot assume that children opt outof schooling because they have achoice. In the hundreds of caseswe have rehabilitated, we realisedthat education for children fromBPL families was a burden astheir hands could be used for gen-erating income. While the govern-ment promises free education andthe Right to Education, in reality,its infrastructure is yet to gear upto these basic challenges of

money requirements.” The limpfunctioning of the Rajiv VidyaMission and the lack of clarity onRTE are some of the main draw-backs. He also says that most ofthe survey’s reports are botchedup in an attempt to present a bet-ter picture; reality is far worsethan presented.

Union leaders say the abso-lute lack of welfare systems forBPL families is why children areopting for employment ratherthan education.

Says M Ravinder, presidentof AP Teachers Federation,“Poverty and immigration arethe main reasons for this braindrain. The fact that the Stategovernment can spend crores ofrupees on political icons who areembroiled in corruption chargesbut cannot spare enough for athree-meal scheme for childrenis an indication of its serious-ness. Even after RTE came intoeffect, they could not implementit because they have no controlover the private players in theeducation market.”

Govt’s claim of growing literacy rate in the State is not borne out by facts. Despite open schools and a largebudget for education, dropout in schools is high. It’s because of the govt’s inability to reduce poverty and

tame the private players whose commitment to commercial gain outweighs desire for mass literacy.

Class Enrolment Enrolment(percentage)

Dropout rate(percentage)

Actual figureof dropout

I-X 129.57 lakh* 96.77 45.71 59,22,644.7

*Excluding pre-primary enrolment of 3.06 per centTotal enrolment 133.91 lakh

FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSE ONLY

4SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

CITY

Rajeshwari NM is a retiredteacher, activist andfounder of Thodu Needa, asenior-citizens’ movement.

More than this, she says, she isfirst a daughter and a mother.

“I was the only child for myparents for many years. As thesole offspring, I was a spoiltchild, I believe. Everything athome was taken care of by mymother while my father tookcare of all my needs outside. TillI was into my 30s, I didn’t evenknow how to write a cheque.

Incidentally, as sheltered as Iwas from the outside world,there was no hiding from therealities of my own world. I wasmarried off at the tender age of13 and delivered my first childthree years later. Curiously, mymother also delivered her secondchild soon after.

The next few years when Iwas slowly discovering the trialsand travails of motherhood, thi -ngs changed. My marriage wasfalling apart and suddenly, I fou -nd myself at the head of a hou -sehold, with three children andtwo aging parents to care for.

Left with few choices, I wentback to school. I took up the dis-rupted studies along with myson! Mom and son studyingtogether! I completed mydegrees and at 34, got anappointment as a teacher.

Marriage gone on the rocks,I slowly rebuilt my life. Today,my two sons and daughter areall settled well in life. But whatnone of us has forgotten is therole of my mother and father inmaking this happen.

People are often surprisedwhen they find out that now, at63, I’m still caring for my 85-year-old bed-ridden mother, as Idid for my father until he passedaway a few years ago.

After the initial surprise,they always ask me if I’m doingit out of a sense of duty or someunshakeable obligation. Evenmy mother often tears up whenI’m feeding her or washing her,feeling that she’s become a bur-den on me.

I can never forget the timewhen I went back to school, whenmy mother raised not just mysiblings, but also my children,kept house, and took care ofeverything for me so that I couldsingle-mindedly pursue my edu-cation. She never once com-

plained, or even considered it asa sacrifice. Taking care of hernow is the least I can do to payher back for all that she’s donefor me. Everything I am and Ihave today is thanks to them.

And as a mother, I’m soproud that my children andgrandchildren share the samevalues and have been helpingtake care of her, as well or evenbetter than me.

But no, I will not celebrateMother’s Day. Sadly, as many sto-

ries of selflessness and sacrificeof mothers (and fathers) therewill be, there are not half asmany children doing anything tosee the same kindness and grati-tude repaid.

Go to an old-age home on aSunday and you’ll see mothershanging by the door, with theirhearts in their mouths, heart-breakingly eager to see theirsons, the very children who’veabandoned her there. Even thosewho are at home are being used

as care takers, cooks or cleanersin households as if they are useand throw entities. Children seemto have forgotten that real ances-tral property is not in the willsthey are hotly contesting incourts, but their own parents,who bring with them the wisdom,wealth and culture of their ances-tors. The day I will celebrateMother’s Day is the day I see nochild or mother left orphaned.Until then, any celebration willbe for namesake only.”

Mother can’t be replacedHere’s an inspiring story of a daughter who, at 63, takes care of her

bed-ridden mother aged 84. She did the same for her father when he was alive.

PADMINI C

padmini.c@postnoon.com

I think that taking careof her now is the least Ican do to pay her backfor all that she’s donefor me. Everything thatI am and I have todayis thanks to them.

Rajeshwari NM,founder of Thodu Needa

Md Nizamuddinnizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

Following the encroach-ment and dumping atManikonda lake, the

Save our Urba Lakes (SOUL)has decided to go to courtagainst the offenders, whichprominently includes LAN -CO group. Under the initia-tive of Mayor Mohd MajidHussain, some of the encr o -achments in this lake bedwe re removed last week. Butit has not deterred big sha -rks, say SOUL functionaries.

A SOUL team that visitedthe Manikonda Lake (Mysa -m ma Lake) was shocked tosee the recent developments,wi th construction activity in

full swing everywhere. Oncea big lake, it has shrunk toone-thi rd its size with build-ing materials and debrisdum ped all around.

“As per the HMDA no r -ms, no construction activityshould be made within 30meters from the boundary,but several constructionshave been found violating th -is norm. The daring devilrycan be gauged from the factthat an entire road is bu ilton the Tankbund ar ea”, saysRajkumar Singh, convener.

It was observed that alarge amount of debris, sandand boulders are regularlydumped on the tank bedarea to create partition.“This has come in handy for

new constructions after thewater dried up. I have neverseen like this before. Theconstruction activity is rightin the lake bed,” lamentedJasveen Jairat, co-convenor.

According to Jasveen, theauthorities have completelyignored the ‘catchment area’of most of the lakes, whichshould have been protected.This is the main reason fordrying up of lakes in theCity. When construction ispermitted, there is no scopefor water, coming from topto reach the lake. “The ironyis that the authorities havefocused only on Full TankLevel (FTL). Even this istechnically incorrect inpractice,” she noted.

Rape of lakes, SOUL to move judiciaryA SOUL team that visited the Manikonda Lake was shocked to see the recent developments, with construction activity in

full swing everywhere. Once a big lake, it has shrunk to one-third its size with debris dumped all around.

MOTHER’S DAY

WHEN HEROESTURN VILLAINS

READERS’ LETTERS 5SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

Win `500every weekWe are giving `500 to thereader who writes in thebest letter every week. So

get to work. You can e-mailus at

feedback@postnoon.com, orwrite to us at Postnoon,#1246, Level 3, JubileeCasa, Rd nos 62, Jubilee

Hills, Hyderabad, 500033.ALSO SEND US YOUR

PHOTOGRAPHS.

Here’s an ‘ex-ardent’ fanof the Mega family pouringhis heart out in the wake of

the road brawl in whichChiranjeevi’s son Ram

Charan Tej was involved.He still cannot seems torecover from the shock

from hearing aboutthe real nature of

his reel hero. Thereare others too: one

found our reporter’sstory one-sided;

another finds RamCharan Tej’s stand ridicu-

lous.

Our Society has become a very tough place to live in these days. An ordinary citizen alwayslives in fear of one or the other. It might be police or a rich man or a politician. And nowjoining the list are our beloved heroes as we call them with pride. I was stunned when I

saw the news about Ram Charan Teja .How could he do what he did because someone blockedhis way? Some channels reported that he hit the two techies, some others reported that it were

his bodyguards. Whatever the case, it’s disturbing to see a star, whom we thought was a goodhuman being, involving in brawls on roads. I was a big fan of Ram Charan, but since that

incident, I cannot say that anymore. Let me also make a request to Ram Charan: Pleasedo not be in the illusion that you can hit anyone in real life as you do in your films. Youvery well know these are the people that make you what you are: your fatherChiranjeevi garu should know. Remember, you are a part of a very famous family andsuch incidents are bad for the reputation of not just yours but of the whole family. And

if there’s more to the incident than meets the eye, please speak out, as there are manylike me who want to believe that the news is false.

AJ An ex-ardent fan of Mega Family.

In response to Fighting a lost cause (May 10)via email

We cannot expectresponsespecifically

only from techies… asthe truth about theincident is yet to beunravelled. It is humanto react and respond,but Charan’s act is ter-rible and his stand onthe incident is evenmore ridiculous.

AVINASHin response to

Fighting a lost cause(May 10)

Probably the techies thought, it’s useless to waste their time on it. Or maybe they are too busywith IPL or Iron Man. In any case, what can a blog, tweet or FB post do, what the policecouldn’t in broad day light? Let them release the CCTV footage to the public first. Then we

will know what exactly happened. Even cops acted like impotents, not reacting to it properly (forthe obvious reasons). There were morphed pictures and there were a series of pictures, whichshows RCT passing by. Nevertheless, what would one do when u get mobbed at a traffic signal.You wait till it is green and zoom off. The same thing you do with beggars at signal posts. Butbeating them up, tearing up their shirt is unpardonable (just because you are powerful and body-guards). Makes you look like an arrogant idiot. It’s true we lack traffic sense: we drive likemorons. So it could be the techies fault. But again, beating them up is far too extreme, unless theyhit your Aston Farting!

AMARin response to Fighting a lost cause (May 10)

TOP LETTER

One sided arti-cle. Pay atten-tion. Techies are

not telling the whole truth.

XEROin response to Fighting

a lost cause (May 10) Viaemail

Well saidThis reader thinks the writer hasnailed it. He says India shouldnot expect China to behave in ajust and responsible manner.

Well said, Surendran. Thecommon man are fadeup with the behaviour

and the action shown by this rul-ing congress party. Even thoughwe believe in peace but retalia-tion of Chinese army in Indianterritory is highly shameful andwe should as a united nationwith such a high profile armyshould react bravely instead oftalking such rubbish things andwaiting for a miracle.

PRAMODin response to India-China

conflict: Bullies don’t play byrulebook (May 3)

Let them be!The reader is furious about therising instances of crueltyagainst animals.

Ihave fought with some peoplewho were abusing a pup andthese were people who had no

shame in calling themselves edu-cated. If you can, help them, elsejust leave be, but please do notharm them.

BHARATin response to Animal abuse

on the rise in Hyderabad (Apr 19)

RANT OF THE WEEKSo WTF are these officialsdoing about it ?

Sunil in response to Watch

out! 95 percent mangoesartificially ripened using can-cer-causing calcium carbide

(May 9)

6SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

MALE: Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde willvisit Jharkhand on Tuesday to take stock of the security

situation and development initiatives in the Naxal-affected state. The Centre is worried over

unabated violence in Jharkhand where there were 542abductions and nearly 200 killings perpetrated by

Maoists in last three years, a Home Ministry official said.In the last four months alone, there were 55 incidents ofabduction and more than 30 killings in violence carried

out by Naxals in the state.

Shinde to review Jharkhand securitySILCHAR: At least 550 grams of hero-in, worth an estimated `1 crore in thestreet market, was seized by BSF fromtwo persons in a hotel in Assam’s Silchartown today, official sources said. On atip off, BSF personnel recovered thecontraband from the two persons stay-ing in a room of the hotel, the sourcessaid. The duo confessed having broughtthe heroin from Myanmar.

Heroin worth `1 cr seizedTHRISSUR: Two persons hailing fromCoimbatore have been arrested herefor their suspected involvement in theApril 17 bomb blast in front of the BJPoffice in Bangalore, police said today. They were arrested from the house ofShabeer’s relative at Kecheri nearKunnamkulam in the district yesterday,they said. A total of 17 persons havebeen arrested so far.

Bangalore blast: 2 arrested

NATION

KOLKATA: Braving the inborn difficul-ty to read numbers and symbols, 21-year-old dyslexic Malayasian pilot CaptJames Anthony Tan has managed to flyhalf-way around the world in a tiny, sin-

gle Cessna 210 Eagle aircraft.“I wanted to do something to

inspire and motivate people and conveythe message to youngsters from all overthe world that nothing is impossible,”

Tan, a commercial pilot who has a fly-ing record in North Africa and the US,said after arriving here from Nagpurvia Karachi yesterday.

Narrating his flying experience,Tan told a press conference that he hadmoments of concern about sufficientfuel and weather “while I was flyingfrom Russia to Alaska and when I sawfrozen waves.

“It was a simply incredible scene asI was crossing an icy zone and I had towarm the engine with a heating deviceand hand gloves were not enough.Temperature was minus 30 degrees cel-sius,” he said.

To overcome his inborn difficulties,the Malayasian youth maintained atracking system on his website whichindicated the progress of his journey.

With a pilot licence from Australiaand UK civil aviation, Tan claimed tobe the youngest pilot to fly alonearound the world in a single engine air-craft, besides achieving the feat in theshortest duration.

He said he has always tried to raiseawareness about problems faced bychildren with special needs and motivate them to chase their owndreams.

Covering 6,400 nautical miles, Tanstarted his flight from Langkawi inMalayasia on March 26 and will returnto Kuala Lumpur via Phuket on May 15.

PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi HighCourt has granted 13 daysparole to Santosh KumarSingh, undergoing life sentencein the riyadarshini Mattoo rapeand murder case, to appear inhis LLM examination. Thecourt directed Singh to furnisha personal bond of `25,000before the Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Saket while allow-ing his plea against the singlejudge’s order dismissing hisapplication for parole.

A bench of Chief Justice DMurugesan and Justice JayantNath granted Singh parole

from May 16 to 28 and directedthe Tihar jail authority to allowhim to appear for LLM 2nd yearexamination after his personalbond is accepted by the magis-trate. Singh, a law student fromthe Delhi University, had raped

and murdered Mattoo, a third-year law student, in January1996. He was acquitted by thetrial court on December 3, 1999,but the Delhi High Court hadon October 27, 2006 reversedthat decision, holding himguilty of rape and murder.

The high court had alsoawarded death penalty to himin the case. Singh, son of a for-mer senior IPS officer, had chal-lenged his conviction and deathsentence awarded by the highcourt; the SC reduced the sen-tence to life imprisonment.

PTI

Priyadarshinikiller gets parole

Dyslexia doesn’t stopthis plucky pilot’s flight

Naxals attack DDtower, 3 cops die

Search operation launched in the region to nab the attackers.

Covering 6,400 nautical miles, Tan started his flight fromLangkawi in Malayasia on March 26 and will return toKuala Lumpur via Phuket on May 15.

RAIPUR: Three police personnelwere killed and another injuredwhen Naxals attacked a Door -darshan TV tower in Maoist-hitBastar district of Chhattisgarhearly this morning.

“The attack took place at theDoordarshan TV tower at Mare -nga village under Parpa policestation in the district this morn-ing, leaving three police person-nel killed and one injured,”Inspector General of Police (IG)Bastar Range Himanshu Guptasaid over phone.

Marenga village is around 15km from Jagdalpur, the district

headquarters. The injured jawanhas been referred to Raipur fortreatment. Security forces havelaunched a search operation inthe region to nab the attackers.

PTI

Maoists are known toattack isolated governmentfacilities to draw reinforcements intotheir ambushes.

TO OVERCOME HIS INBORNDIFFICULTIES, THEMALAYASIAN YOUTHMAINTAINED A TRACKINGSYSTEM ON HIS WEBSITEWHICH INDICATED THEPROGRESS OF HIS JOURNEY.

7SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

TRIPOLI: Libyan militiamen besiegingthe foreign and justice ministries in

Tripoli have now withdrawn and hand-ed control of the compounds back tothe authorities, Justice Minister Salah

al-Marghani said. “Those who were atthe two ministries have handed over

the two ministries to a committeeformed by the government and the

General National Congress.”

‘Libya gunmen end siege’ REYHANLI: Twin car bombs killed atleast 43 people and wounded 100Saturday in a Turkish town near theSyrian border. The bombings were thedeadliest in Turkey, a key supporter ofthe Syrian opposition, since the conflictstarted more than two years ago.Rescuers were hunting for possible sur-vivors buried underneath the rubble ofbuildings destroyed by the blasts.

Twin blasts kill 43 in TurkeySYDNEY: A strong 6.5-magnitudeearthquake struck off the Pacific nationof Tonga on Sunday, US seismologistssaid, but no tsunami warning wasissued. The under-sea quake hit at08:46 am (2046 GMT Saturday), 139kilometres (86 miles) from the town ofNeiafu, on the south coast of theisland Vava’u, at a depth of 205 kilo-metres, the US Geological Survey said.

6.5 quake strikes off Tonga

WORLD

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COMPUTERS

Damon Wake

Agence France-Presse

LAHORE: Partial, unofficialresults from Saturday’s electionrepresented a stunning comebackfor a man deposed in a 1999 mili-tary coup — but Nawaz Shariflooked short of an outright majori-ty, raising the prospect of anotherweak coalition government.

Former prime minister NawazSharif appealed to all parties tojoin him in tackling Pakistan’smountainous problems after secur-ing victory in historic electionsthat defied Taliban violence.

Partial, unofficial results fromSaturday’s election represented astunning comeback for a mandeposed in a 1999 military coup --but he looked short of an outrightmajority, raising the prospect ofanother weak coalition govern-ment.

The party of former cricketstar Imran Khan — whose promis-es to end corruption resonatedwith middle-class and youth voters-- conceded defeat but vowed toform the next provincial govern-ment in the restive northwest,where Khan has vowed to end USdrone strikes.

The landmark polls mark thefirst time an elected civilianadministration completed a fullterm to hand power to anotherthrough the ballot box, in a coun-try where there have been threemilitary coups and four militaryrulers. Official results were emerg-ing only slowly early on Sundaybut TV projections suggested nosingle party would win a simplemajority of 172 seats in the nation-al assembly.

According to the private TVnetwork Geo, Sharif ’s centre-rightPakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) was leading the race with 126seats and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had 34.

With just 32 seats so far, theBhutto clan’s Pakistan People’sParty (PPP) -- which led the outgo-ing government with 125 seats inthe old national assembly -- wasrelegated to a humiliating thirdplace.

Flanked by his brotherShahbaz and his daughterMaryam, Sharif gave a victoryspeech late Saturday to hundredsof jubilant supporters at PML-Nheadquarters in Lahore.

“We should thank Allah that hehas given PML-N another chanceto serve you and Pakistan,” hesaid, after nearly 60 percent of the86 million electorate turned out to

vote despite polling day attacks bythe Taliban that left 24 dead.

Sharif, who has vowed a pro-business agenda to revivePakistan’s crippled economy,struck a conciliatory tone follow-ing Khan’s high-voltage campaign.

“I appeal for all parties to cometo the table and sit with me andsolve the country’s problems,”Sharif said.

The election was fought overthe tanking economy, an appallingenergy crisis that causes powercuts of up to 20 hours a day, thealliance in the US-led “war on

terror” and chroniccorruption. Prime

minister twice

before in the 1990s, Sharif ’s his-toric third term will begin onlyafter he brokers a deal with politi-cal rivals to form a coalition.

But his supporters hailed anew day for the nuclear-armedcountry. Youths in Lahore dancedin the streets holding stuffed tigers— the PML-N’s election symbol —and people offered sweets to cele-brate the win.

Political analysts said the resultwould most likely

be a hung parlia-ment in whichthe PML-Nwould have toteam upwith its

former opponents from the outgo-ing government led by the PPP.

“(Sharif) needs to solve theissue of terrorism and other prob-lems crippling the economy. If hedelivers quickly, fair enough, if notthen he will face crisis and criti-cism,” pundit Hasan Askari toldAFP. Chief Election CommissionerFakharuddin Ebrahim praised theauthorities for their cooperation“which enabled us to hold free andfair elections” and recorded aturnout of nearly 60 percent, thehighest since 1977.

Both Sharif and Khan won atleast one of the seats they had con-tested, but the PTI, which hadpromised a “tsunami” of support,quickly conceded defeat.

Asad Omar, a senior PTI leader,sent his congratulations to Sharif ’sparty and said Khan, who is in hos-pital after falling from a makeshiftlift during a campaign rally, wastaking the results like a sportsman.

Newly elected PTI memberShaukat Yousafzai said: “It is veryclear that PTI has emerged as thelargest party in KhyberPakhtunkhwa, so we will form ourgovernment here with the help oflike-minded political parties.”

Pakistan picks SharifPartial, results

from Saturday’selection repre-

sented a stunningcomeback for a

man deposed ina 1999 military

coup.

Former Pakistani prime minister and head of the Pakistan Muslim League-N(PML-N) Nawaz Sharif waves to supporters after his party victory in general elec-tion in Lahore on May 11, 2013. AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI

We should thank Allah that he has given PML-N another chance to serve you and Pakistan.

Nawaz Sharif

No simple majority

Official results were emerg-ing only slowly early on

Sunday but TV projectionssuggested no single partywould win a simple majorityof 172 seats in the nationalassembly.

PPP humiliated

With just 32 seats so far,the Bhutto clan’s

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) -- which led the outgoing gov-ernment with 125 seats in theold national assembly -- wasrelegated to a humiliatingthird place.

Imran concedes defeat

The party of former cricketstar Imran Khan -- whose

promises to end corruptionresonated with middle-classand youth voters -- conced-ed defeat but vowed to formthe next provincial govern-ment in the restive northwest,where Khan has vowed to endUS drone strikes.

Supporters of former Pakistani Prime Minister and head of the Pakistan MuslimLeague-N (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif, cheer as they listen to Sharif outside his residence

COMMENT 8SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

EDITORIALS

THE EXECUTIVE IS at fault

There has arisen a mutedoutcry among politicians against

judiciary saying the court rulestoday. On the face of it, it

sounds true because everyaspect of governance is called

into question. Government isperpetually on the brink vis-a-vis

judiciary. But then who is toblame, the government or the

judiciary? Of course, it is theExecutive that has, by serious

omissions and commissions,leads the situation to judicial

intervention for every aspect ofgovernance. Take the example

of several major scams thatcame up during the current UPArule. Is any of it the handiwork of

Judiciary? The judiciary has, onthe contrary, saved the systemfrom collapse with its interven-

tion and sagacious advices andadmonitions. The latest, to takeanother cue, is Supreme Courtstance asking the government

to come out with a Bill to makethe CBI independent of the gov-

ernment of the day. It is in thelight of brazen interference in

the CBI’s functioning in the coal-gate investigation. A report thathas to be given in confidence to

the Court is vetted by juniorfunctionaries of the law ministry.

How could any self-respectingjudicial official tolerate it? So it

the Executive that is at fault andrequires to introspect and cor-

rect, not judiciary.

THERE WOULD HAVEbeen blood

Ram Charan Teja has deniedthat his security men had

assaulted the techies who wereinvolved in a roadside brawl

with him. He seeks to assert thisby saying that there would havebeen blood had his “strappingsix-footers” laid hands on them.

That’s very generous and verythoughtful on his part. Imagine

the scene if Ram Charan had lethis bodyguards take over. But

who were the men in safari suitswho rushed out of nearby five-star hotel to rough up the two

techies? There’s no clarification.Rumour has it they were men

deployed for Ram Charan’sfather Chiranjeevi’s security, a

Union minister. But why were men alloted for a minis-ter’s duty doing “errands” for

his son? There’s is certainly more to this than

meets the eye.

The second Sunday inMay is celebrated asMother’s Day. AnnaJarvis who first held amemorial for her moth-

er, a caregiver for wounded sol-diers during the civil war, inGrafton, West Virginia in 1908was particular that Mother’s Dayshould “be a singular possessive,for each family to honour theirmother, not a plural possessivecommemorating all mothers inthe world.”

It’s interesting that differentcountries celebrate Mothers’ Day(plural possessive) or MothersDay (plural non-possessive) ondifferent days in a year followingtheir respective cultural and reli-gious practices. Thank God, aconcept so universal yet daily tothe essence of our life is notrestricted to a holiday alone. InIndia, additionally, mothers arespecially remembered onSaraswati pooja day during DeviNavratri and Maatri Pooja (wor-ship of mother).

In Mexico, several mothersmarch through Central MexicoCity to demand the federal gov-ernment to trace the tens ofthousands children who go miss-ing in the wars against drug car-tels. President of the UnitedStates of America, BarackObama, on the other hand, tooka policy-oriented approach to theholiday by pitching the benefitsof his healthcare reforms tomoms nationwide. The WhiteHouse also marked the day bycelebrating free birth controlprovided by Obamacare.

There’s always pain, suffer-ing, resilience and several suchsustaining qualities that welearn, particularly from our ownmother. Mine, taught me how tocontinue the battle of life, afterlosing a son (my younger broth-er) a 20+ good looker to thewhirls of water during a groupholiday, which I was a part of.Despite the heavy sedation shewas put into to overcome thememories of having to give awayone of her three children to fate,mum still reels off the rightrecipe for an aromatic biryani orthat delicious sweet, which shecould not prepare anymore.

There are many who wouldhave bitter-sweet memories oftheir mother, but even in possi-

ble failures, mothers teach ushow to learn from mistakes.Look at the courts and you willbe surprised with the number oflawsuits filed against mothersand complaints even in policestations against some for variousproperty or other issues. KobeBryant, long-time Los AngelesLaker and future Hall-of-Famer,is in a bitter feud with his moth-

er over ownership of memorabil-ia worth more than $ 1.5 million.

Mother Nature, the ultimatemother, has also taught us aboutthe vagaries of seasons. So,many seasoned mothers jokehow there is not just a Mother’sDay but also a Mother’s Night,particularly for those who arenew mothers and never imag-ined how to handle the difficult

part of the bundle of joy thrustinto their hands. Some remarkthat celebrating a day for her issexist. That’s okay, as Father’sDay is just a month away. If chil-dren are difficult to handle phys-ically or psychologically and thefather gives up, the mother isalways there and vice-versa too.

For those who have a lost amother, this day might just be apainful reminder of the severalundone tasks. Relive it in yournext generation. As Indian actorGulshan Grover remarked dur-ing a bitter divorce battle aboutthe care of his son, “Exceptbreastfeeding, a father can alsobe a mother.” Maternal instinctsare universal and like animals,men also can take up the role ofa mother, where need be.

Just imagine what it could beif an average stay-at-home mumcould collect a salary check fordoing laundry, cooking, child-care and in most households,working outside too. So if youhave a heart, do not buy yourmother a greeting card orcoloured flowers, as Jarvis vehe-mently opposed the commerciali-sation of this day. Just write toher a personalised letter or makea call reminding her how every-thing in your life, except her canbe replaced.

Happy Mother’s Day

From the hipSYED SHOAIB

IT’S INTERESTING THAT DIF-FERENT COUNTRIES CELE-BRATE MOTHERS’ DAY (PLU-RAL POSSESSIVE) ORMOTHERS DAY (PLURALNON-POSSESSIVE) ON DIF-FERENT DAYS IN A YEAR FOL-LOWING THEIR RESPECTIVECULTURAL AND RELIGIOUSPRACTICES.

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

Offshore-centric IT services major Cognizant has paid itsIndia-origin CEO Francisco D’Souza a pay package of$10.61 million in cash, stocks and other benefits. The

US-listed company, which has a large portion of its 1.63 lakhworkforce in India, paid Frank a base salary of $590,000, stock

awards worth $9.59 million and a non-equity incentive plancompensation of USD 405,780 for the last year. However, his

$10.61 million package for 2012 was lower than $11.76 millionpaid to him in 2011 when 44-year old Frank had got stock

awards of over $10 million.

$10-mn pay package for Cognizant CEO

Overseas investors are showingrenewed interest in the Indianequity market, with investment

of a whopping over `7,500 crore thismonth so far amid political and economic worries. With this, the totalforeign investor investments in thecountry’s equity market has reached`68,561 crore since the beginning of2013.

FIIs invest `7,500 cr in May

The panel formed to devise a poli-cy on Public Private Partnershipwith CIL as one of the partners to

augment coal production may deliber-ate on various models suggested bydifferent ministries on the PPP route ina meeting likely this week. The coalministry has set a production target of482 million tonne and off-take of 492million tonne for CIL for 2013-14.

Coal panel meet this week

BUSINESS 9

Ben PerryAgence France-Presse

The Group of Sevenadvanced economiessmoothed over US-European differences at a

weekend meeting on how to bal-ance deep austerity measureswith ways to support fragilegrowth.

G7 finance ministers andcentral bank governors alsopledged Saturday their commit-ment to tackling tax evasion onthe second of two days of talksin the English countryside,British finance minister GeorgeOsborne (pictured) said.

The G7 additionally vowednot to intentionally set out toweaken currencies, after the yenon Friday hit its lowest pointagainst the dollar in more thanfour years.

The United States has putpressure on European nations toscale back their spending cutsamid fears they may harmgrowth, but Osborne said themeeting in Aylesbury, northwestof London, revealed much com-mon ground.

“This meeting confirmedthere are more areas of agree-ment between us on fiscal policythan is commonly assumed,” theChancellor of the Exchequertold a press conference after-wards.

He said the G7 had “dis-cussed the importance of havingin place credible, country-specif-ic, medium-term fiscal consoli-dation plans for ensuring sus-tainable public finances and sus-tainable growth”.

French Finance MinisterPierre Moscovici appeared toecho Osborne’s remarks.

“The consensus is gainingmomentum in the way we bal-ance support for growth and fis-cal consolidation,” he toldreporters.

“There is still a real will toreduce the deficits but certainlythere is a change of tone” amongG7 members, Moscovici added.

The G7 is meanwhile com-mitted to “nurturing” world eco-

nomic recovery, said Osborne.“Overall, our discussions

over the past two days have reaf-firmed that there are still manychallenges to securing sustain-able global recovery, and we can’ttake it for granted,” he said.

“But we are committed asthe advanced economies in play-ing our part in nurturing thatrecovery and ensuring a lastingrecovery so that we have pros-perity in all our countries.”

The talks, also attended bytop representatives from the

European Union andInternational Monetary Fund,built on last month’s widerGroup of 20 meeting while look-ing ahead to next month’s G8summit in Northern Ireland.

The G7 comprises Britain,Canada, France, Germany, Italy,Japan and the United States. TheG8 is the G7 plus Russia.

The IMF has welcomed gov-ernment efforts to cut spendingbut also urged Britain to lessenthe pace of its austerity pro-gramme to support the country’sfragile economic recovery.

On Friday, US TreasurySecretary Jacob Lew said theworld’s biggest economy feels“strongly there needs to be theright balance between austerityand growth”, amid accusationsthat Germany has forced heavilyindebted eurozone colleaguessuch as Spain and Italy down apath of deep spending cuts.

The G7 also used its latestgathering to firm up its commit-

ment to combatting tax evasion,which is illegal, and tax avoid-ance, which occurs when indi-viduals and companies takeadvantage of legal loopholes.

“Today, we all agree on theimportance of collective actionto tackle tax avoidance and eva-sion,” said Osborne.

Britain has made the issue apriority of its presidencies ofthe G7 and G8, and Osbornesaid: “It is vital that both devel-oped and developing countriescollect the tax that is due tothem.”

The G7 also reaffirmed itscommitment to reforming finan-cial regulation.

“It is important to completeswiftly our work to ensure nobanks are too big to fail,”Osborne said.

“We also agreed on the needfor structural reforms to boostcompetitiveness of growth,including new trade agree-ments,” he added.

G7 smoothes divisions,agrees on currency policyThe G7 also used its latest gathering to firm up its commitment to combat-

ting tax evasion, which is illegal, and tax avoidance.

THE UNITED STATESHAS PUT PRESSURE ONEUROPEAN NATIONS TOSCALE BACK THEIRSPENDING CUTS AMIDFEARS THEY MAY HARMGROWTH

Japanese auto majorHonda’s pursuit for the

number one position in theIndian two-wheeler marketis not only hurting its erst-while partner HeroMotoCorp but anotherhomegrown firm, BajajAuto is also facing the heatin the motorcycles segment.

According to the latestdata released Society ofIndian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM),while both Hero MotoCorpand Bajaj saw their bikesales decline in April,Honda Motorcycle andScooter India (HMSI), thewholly-owned arm of theJapanese firm postedincreased numbers.

Hero’s domestic motor-cycle sales declined by 12.5per cent to 4,32,657 units asagainst 4,94,473 units in thesame month last year.Similarly, Bajaj also posted0.19 per cent dip at 1,99,838units compared 2,00,228units in April 2012.

Contrary to this, in adeclining market HMSIsaw its bike sales in Indiagrow by 48.76 per cent to1,15,536 units as against77,665 units in April lastyear. In the last fiscal,HMSI’s motorcycle salesgrew by 53.77 per cent to11,86,726 units as comparedto 7,71,715 units in the pre-vious fiscal.

On the other hand,market leader Hero saw itsbike sales decline by 4.72per cent in FY13 to53,62,730 units from56,28,513 units in 2011-12.Likewise, Bajaj’s domesticmotorcycle sales dipped by4 per cent to 24,63,863 unitsin FY13 as against 25,66,757units in 2011-12. PTI

Hero, Bajajlose groundas Hondagains

HMSI’S MOTORCY-CLE SALES GREW BY53.77 PER CENT TO11,86,726 UNITS ASCOMPARED TO7,71,715 UNITS INTHE PREVIOUS FISCAL.

Michael ThurstonAgence France-Presse

LOS ANGELES: StevenSpielberg will bring a Hollywoodveteran’s eye to the more art-house Cannes Film Festival nextweek-but he insists he has nopreconceptions and will be astrictly “democratic” jury head.

The legendary filmmaker,who first came to Cannes for thepremiere of ‘ET’ in 1982, says heis looking forward to being onthe Croisette, even if he is a lit-tle ‘rusty,’ not having served on afestival jury for over 25 years.

The 66-year-old-the thirdAmerican to head the Cannesjury in four years-chairs a panelthat also includes Nicole Kid m -an and Oscar-winning directorAng Lee to pick who wins thecoveted Palme d’Or at the May15-26 festival.

The prospect of watchingand critically assessing 19 filmsin 12 days might be daunting tosome, but Spielberg is unfazed.

“Not me! Every weekend Iwatch between four and sixmovies. I catch up on what I’vemissed during the workingweek. So two films per day in

Cannes, I’m rather looking for-ward to it,” Spielberg said in apre-Cannes interview.

“It’s a great honour, but it’sabove all the promise of greatpleasure,” he told the Frencharts magazine Telerama, in com-ments published in French.

The director, who has wononly once at Cannes-best screen-play for 1974’s ‘SugarlandExpress’, has had a disappoint-ing run of late on the awardsfront, with his two latest Oscarentries ‘War Horse’ and ‘Lincoln’coming up short.

But over the years Spielberghas made some of the biggestblockbusters and award-winningfilms of modern cinema, includ-ing ‘Jaws’ (1975), ‘Jurassic Park’(1993), ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)and the ‘Indiana Jones’ movies.

Asked if as jury head hewould reward films with popularpotential, or more difficultworks, he demurred.

“I believe that, before theyare shown, all films are equal.Whether they are small or big,they are a sum of the personalvisions and collaborative efforts.

“Each time the filmmaker’sintentions are the same, whether

it is Christopher Nolan orMichael Haneke: to express whathe has inside,” he said, referringto the blockbuster ‘Dark Knight’director and Haneke, whoseunderstated ‘Amour’ won lastyear at Cannes. The possibilityof a cultural clash betweenSpielberg’s Hollywood sensibili-ty and those of his fellow jurors-an international bunch, to saythe least-has not gone unnoticed.

The jury also includes Indi -an actress Vidya Balan, Japan e -se director Naomi Kawase, Scot -tish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay,French actor Daniel Auteuil,Romanian director CristianMungiu and Oscar-winningAustrian actor Christoph Waltz.

“No roster of Cannes jurorsin recent memory has been asstacked with influential, distinc-tive, high-profile global filmindustry figures,” wrote filmcritic Jon Frosch, in a piece pub-lished by The Atlantic online.

“The common strand run-ning throughout Spielberg’sbody of work is the filmmaker’spalpable desire to reach directlyfor the viewer’s emotions.Cannes fare, on the other hand,is often cooler, less

accessible.Spielberg and theCannes Film Festival should be afascinating confrontation of cin-ematic and cinephilic tastes andtendencies,” he wrote.

Spielberg has been tight-lipped about what kind of jurychairman he will be when hetakes his seat in the Palais desFestivals, where stars will hitthe red carpet on Wednesday.

“Democratic!” he said, whenasked by Telerama. “But give mea bit of time. I haven’t been on ajury since the Avoriaz festival in1986, when we gave the prize to‘Carrie,’ by Brian de Palma. I’ma little rusty,” he said.

US jury heads at Cannes arenot rare: there have been threeor four per decade since the1960s, before which they wereFrench. Figures on Spielberg’slevel have included MartinScorsese in 1998, and FrancisFord Coppola in 1996.

Two of the last three wereAmericans: Tim Burton in 2010and Robert de Niro in 2011. Inthat year the Palme d’Or went to“Tree of Life,” one of twoAmerican films in competition,but hardly a crowd-pleasingblockbuster.

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 201310FOCUS

The possibility of a cultural clash between Spielberg’s Hollywood sensibility and thoseof his fellow jurors has not gone unnoticed.

The jury also includes Indian actor Vidya Balan.

Spielberg has madesome of the biggestblockbusters andaward-winning films ofmodern cinema, includ-ing ‘Jaws’ (1975),‘Jurassic Park’ (1993),‘Schindler’s List’(1993) and the‘Indiana Jones’movies.

Masterpieces

Each time thefilmmaker’sintentions are thesame, whether it isChristopher Nolanor Michael Haneke:to express what hehas inside,

Steven Spielberg,Filmmaker

You’re counted amongAustralia’s most versatileand prolific authors with over 35 books span-ning various genres to

your credit. How and when didyou begin writing for Indian read-ers, is there an Indian connection?India captured my imaginationimmediately when I first visited in2006. When I returned home toAustralia, I started reading a lot ofIndian books and planning my nextvisit. In 2008 I was selected for anAsialink Fellowship, funded by theAustralia-India Council, whichenabled me to write for threemonths in Delhi. I had intended towrite only one story, but I wrote sev-eral — I couldn't stop! After present-ing sessions at the MussoorieInternational Writers Festival, Ireturned to Delhi and wrote a bookcalled Advaita The Writer, which isabout a girl who goes to boardingschool in Dehradun. In the story,Advaita meets Ruskin Bond atMussoorie, and he gives her someimportant advice. That book was myfirst with Indian characters and set-tings, and was published by Tulika, afine Chennai-based publisher.

Since late 2008, I have spentalmost one fifth of my time in India.Do I have an Indian connection?Well, perhaps some Anglo Indianteachers during my primary schoolyears planted a seed that has sprout-ed in later life.

What are the challenges of livingin Australia and writing within anIndian context? A writer must be immersed in theworld of the story, so the challenge isno greater for a writer living in Perth,Hyderabad or Timbuktu. RohintonMistry lives in Canada but writesabout Mumbai. Some authors writeabout other planets or past cen-turies, but we live on earth now. Ivisit India and carry it in my headwherever I go, all the more becauseI enjoy reading Indian authorsbest of all.

What is it about writing thatappeals to you?Freedom. I have never liked confine-ment, and in my imagination I havethe freedom to do anything and goanywhere. I can create a world, a sit-uation, a problem... And I can havethe power to resolve the situation orissue. Imagination is a power we allhave, and sometimes people under-

estimate the preciousness of it.Without imagination, a movie wouldjust be pictures and sound on ascreen, and we wouldn’t feel excitedor scared or sad. Books would bejust words on a page. Because thosewords connect with our imaginations,we can experience feelings as weread. It's magic!

With the current generation sotaken in by gadgets and gizmos,how can parents get them inter-ested in reading?Parents need only to provide an envi-ronment in which books are availableand talked about. Books should bepart of the natural habitat of a child,

just as computers and tablets arenow part of the natural habitat formany children. TV, games and gadgets are all okay, but they aregreat consumers of time. Parentsshould be aware of that and provide

some boundaries, some time inwhich children are freed into a moresilent world where their imaginationscan grow.

Why or how did you decide towrite specifically for young readers?I was always going to be a writer — Istarted as a poet and writer of shortfiction. Then I made a living by writ-ing nonfiction. But I always knew thatfiction was my calling. Along the wayI had kids, and I loved reading tothem in a very animated way. It recre-ated the delight I'd felt readingbooks as a kid, so I used that feelingto create my own children's stories.

What was the response to yourfirst book, Advaita The Writer? The reviews and feedback have beensensational. Imagination triumphsover homesickness, a girl meets herhero Ruskin Bond, some humour...What more could you want?!

What else have you written forIndian readers?The Daydreamer Dev series... Thereare three books to date, publishedby Puffin. Dev has wild adventures inhis daydreams, and they are funnytoo. So far he has crossed theSahara, climbed Mount Everest,traced the Amazon. I will soon begoing to Mumbai to sign a deal for apilot movie for Daydreamer Dev —animated!

What inspired your latest book,Radhika Takes the Plunge? In Australia, there have always beenmany migrant kids. I wanted to writea story about a fairly recent arrival,and because I have met so manyIndian kids, that was the easiest.Radhika is such a hilarious kid, andexaggeration is her forte. So I gaveher a big challenge in the book, andof course she triumphed! I'm veryfond of the Radhika character, andI'm writing another book about her.

How are Indian readers differentfrom Australian readers?Hmmm. Kids all over the world lovehumour, adventure, stories thatengage emotions. If there is a differ-ence, it is that Australian kids aremore sceptical, more worldly. That'snot a good thing!

Are you working on any newsbooks for India?Yes! I have a picture book forthcom-ing from Pratham books — it's aboutan auto rickshaw. I have anotherbook about cricket, for Scholastic. Iknow my Indian fans are going tolove that!

For more information onSpillman and his books, visithttp://www.kenspillman.com

11INTERVIEW

PICK YOUR

@

Stores Across Twin Cities

Australian author Ken Spillman finds an enthusiastic fanbase among his young Indian readers.

Desi tales fromdown under

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

feedback@postnoon.comSUNORY DUTT

A writer must beimmersed in the world ofthe story, so the chal-lenge is no greater for awriter living in Perth,Hyderabad or Timbuktu.I visit India and carry itin my head wherever Igo, all the more becauseI enjoy reading Indianauthors best of all.

Ken Spillman,Australian author

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 201312ART AND CULTURE

In October of 1964, in an arti-cle describing this new style

of art, Time Magazinecoined the phrase Optical Art

(or Op Art, as it's more com-monly known). The term refer-enced the fact that Op Art com-

prised illusion, and oftenappears — to the human eye —to be moving or breathing dueto its precise, mathematically-

based composition.

After (and because of) amajor 1965 exhibition of OpArt entitled The Responsive

Eye, the public became enrap-tured with the movement. As aresult, one began to see Op Art

showing up everywhere: inprint and television advertis-ing, as LP album art and as afashion motif in clothing and

interior decoration.As an "official" movement,

Op Art has been given a life-span of around three years.

Bridget Riley is one note-worthy artist who has moved

from achromatic to chromaticpieces, but has steadfastly cre-

ated Op Art from its beginningto the present day.

First and foremost, Op Artexists to fool the eye. Op com-

positions create a sort of visualtension, in the viewer's mind,

that gives works the illusion ofmovement. For example, con-

centrate on Bridget Riley'sDominance Portfolio, Blue(1977) — for even a few sec-

onds — and it begins to danceand wave in front of one's eyes.Realistically, you know any Op

Art piece is flat, static and two-dimensional. Your eye, howev-

er, begins sending your brainthe message that what it's see-

ing has begun to oscillate, flick-er, throb and any other verb

one can employ to mean:"Yikes! This painting is

moving!". As it is geometrically-based

nature, Op Art is, almost with-out exception,

non-representational.

Optical Art is a style of visual art that makes use of optical illusions.These abstract works have better known pieces made in black and white.

Looking at a visual illusion ART FOR DUMMIES

The National Portrait Gallery has spent£329,000 on a postcard-sized paintingabout which it knows almost nothing,except that it is more than 400 years

old, exquisitely painted, and outra-geously flattering. Elizabeth I was in

her late 50s and losing teeth and hair,when the image of a girlish round-

faced queen, dazzling in cloth of goldand diamonds, was created.

Elizabeth I in a portraitA collection of Chinese paintings,some more than 1,000 years old,including many classified as nationaltreasures in China and so fragile thatthey have never before left Asia, iscoming to the V&A in London for amajor exhibition this autumn. It willinclude loans from the Forbidden Cityin Beijing as well as museums and pri-vate collections across the world.

Chinese paintings in UKUnesco has declined to comment onreports in the Egyptian press that itplans to set up a regional centre forworld heritage in Cairo. According tothe website Ahram Online, Unesco’sdirector general Irina Bokova dis-cussed establishing such a centre inthe Egyptian capital with MohamedIbrahim, the minister of state for antiq-uities, during a recent meeting.

Heritage centre in Cairo?

KANCHAN AGARWALkanchan.a@postnoon.com

This was an internationalexhibition fully commis-sioned by theGovernment of India. The

paintings have been picked fromhis works at Rabindra Bhavanaand Kala Bhavana atSantiniketan, and the NationalGallery of Modern Art.

Well known as the composerof our national anthem JanaGana Mana and national songVande Mataram, Tagore hasmany appraised literary titles tohis credit such as Gitanjali (an

anthology of songs), ChokerBali, Gora and Ghare-Baire. Areformist, he abandoned the for-mal system of education impart-ed at schools at an early age andembarked his own free-willedjourney on it. Tagore was also atheatre enthusiast, and is said tohave been naturally adept atthese skills except painting. Butbeing surrounded by painters,he was inspired to try his handat this medium, too.

His career as a painter essen-tially started with doodles. Athinker, it was as part of the nat-ural process to doodle, as heattempted to transfer into words,

his profound thoughts. It was in1990 when he was nearing 40that he sat with a sketchbook toconsciously draw. He was usingthe eraser more than the pencil,he notes. Realising that he wasnot meant to be a painter, hewithdrew. This is how the manwho made about 2,000 paintingsin his lifetime, began painting.

It was a lady called VictoriaOcampo who found value in hisevolved doodles in 1923 which bynow had more structure andgrasp. After four years ofinvolved doodling, he was nowpainting, and by 1930, was readyto exhibit. His first exhibition

was supported by Victoria, andwas held in Paris.

Next venues were Russia,England and America.Recognising his doodles as thenascent stage of his art, he said“The only training I had frommy young days was the trainingin rhythm in thought, therhythm in sound. I had come toknow that rhythm gives realityto that which is desultory, whichis insignificant in itself. Andtherefore, when the scratches inmy manuscript cried, like sin-ners, for salvation, and assailed

my eyes with the ugliness oftheir irrelevance, I often tookmore time in rescuing them intoa merciful finality of rhythmthan in carrying on what wasmy obvious task.” He alsocalled this his “unconscioustraining in drawing”. Lookedupon as an artist of modern art,he spoke of lines and colours:“Their ultimate purpose is notto illustrate or to copy someouter fact or inner vision, but toevolve a harmonious wholenesswhich finds its passage throughour eyesight into imagination. Itneither questions our mind formeaning nor burdens it withunmeaningness, for it is, aboveall, meaning.”

RabindranathTagore’s The LastHarvest, a collec-

tion of paintings, ison display for a

month at theSalarjung Museum.The Last Harvest is

a selection from his2,000 paintings,

that was firstexhibited to mark

his 150th birthanniversary.

His painting careerstarted with doodles— it was natural todoodle, as he attempt-ed to transfer intowords, his profoundthoughts.

REVISITING TAGORESRINIVAS SETTY

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 201313

A ban on the clearing of tropical forestsin Indonesia is on the verge of being

extended in a historic deal that couldprotect some of the world’s most

threatened habitats. For the past twoyears the government has imposed a

moratorium on felling forests in aneffort to halt the deforestation that has

laid waste to much of the country’svirgin habitat.

Clearing forests bannedPlants might be able to eavesdrop ontheir neighbours and use the soundsthey "hear" to guide their own growth,according to a new study that suggestsplants use acoustic signaling to commu-nicate with one another. "We haveshown that plants can recognise when agood neighbor is growing next tothem," said study co-author MonicaGagliano, an evolutionary ecologist.

Plants ‘hearing’ helps growthThe European Union (EU) hasannounced that it will ban, for two years,the use of neonicotinoids, the much-maligned pesticide group often fingeredin honeybee declines. The US hasn’t fol-lowed suit, though this year a group ofbeekeepers and environmental and con-sumer groups sued the EPA for notdoing enough to protect bees from thepesticide onslaught.

The plight of the honeybee

ENVIRONMENT

Rise in greenhouse gaslevel sparks calls for actionKerry Sheridanfeedback@postnoon.com

Climate scientists saythe threshold is largelysymbolic and has beenexpected for some time,

but warn that it serves as animportant message that peopleneed to reverse the damagecaused to the environment bythe heavy use of fossil fuels.

The Earth has not seenthese levels of CO2 in three tofive million years, long beforehumans existed, in a timewhen temperatures were sever-al degrees Celsius warmer andthe sea level was 20-40 meters(yards) higher than today,experts say.

“We are creating a prehis-toric climate in which humansocieties will face huge andpotentially catastrophic risks,”said Bob Ward, policy directorat the Grantham ResearchInstitute on Climate Changeand the Environment at theLondon School of Economicsand Political Science.

“Only by urgently reducingglobal emissions will we be

able to bring carbon dioxidelevels down and avoid the fullconsequences of turning backthe climate clock.”

Data showing that the dailyaverage CO2 over the PacificOcean was 400.03 ppm as ofMay 9 was posted online by theNational Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration’smonitoring center in MaunaLoa, Hawaii.

A separate monitor at theScripps Institution ofOceanography in San Diego,California concurred, with itsmeasurements showing atmo-spheric carbon dioxide at400.08 ppm.

Michael Mann,director of theEarth SystemScienceCenter atPennState,said themainconcernis thespeedwithwhich

the concentrations of CO2 arerising.

“There is no precedent inEarth’s history for such anabrupt increase in greenhousegas concentrations,” Mann,who has authored two books on

climate change, told AFP.“It took

nature

hundreds of millions of yearsto change CO2 concentrationsthrough natural processes suchas natural carbon burial andvolcanic outgassing,” he said.

“What we are doing isunburying it. But not over 100million years. We’re unburyingit and burning it over atimescale of 100 years, a mil-lion times faster.”

Experts have long expectedthe 400 ppm threshold would bepassed.

“In itself the value 400 ppmof CO2 has no particular sig-nificance for the physics of theclimate system,” said JoannaHaigh, atmospheric physicistand head of the department of

physics at Imperial CollegeLondon. AFP

“However, thisdoes give us the

chance to markthe ongoing

increase inCO2 con-

centrationand talkabout

why it’s a problem for the cli-mate.”

Haigh said that unless swiftaction is taken, “the planet willwarm by more than twodegrees Celsius, which is thetemperature threshold that sci-entists are worried about.”

Pre-industrial measure-ments of CO2 were about 280ppm. Greenhouse gases haverisen steadily since recordsbegan in the 1950s, and arelikely to soar by the end of thecentury, said the GranthamInstitute’s director BrianHoskins.

“We’ll certainly see themrise higher than they are now.Given current human activity,levels of CO2 could be near 800ppm by end of century,” hesaid.

“Unless as a society wedevise ways to remove CO2directly from atmosphere, suchas through negative emissionstechnologies, we’re going to bestuck with a very slowdecrease of CO2 from peak lev-els, and everybody will have todeal with the implications of

global warming.”

The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has surpassed 400 parts per million for the first timein human history, US monitors said, sparking new calls for action to scale back greenhouse gases.

The planet will soonbe warm by morethan two degreesCelsius, which is thetemperature thresh-old that scientistsare worried about.

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 201314FOOD

Compounds found in a glass of bub-bly can stimulate signals in the parts

of the brain that control memory andlearning, a study has found.

Researchers at the University ofReading say our ability to remember

routes or events are known todeplete with age, which could lead to

poor memory in old age or evendementia.

Champagne improves memoryEven after a Florida eatery’s decisionto serve lion meat sparked a storm ofprotest via social media, the restaurantthat specialises in exotic foods put lionmeat tacos on its menu this week.Despite receiving death and bombthreats, the eatery has gone aheadwith the offer at $35 per serving. Themeat is legal in the US as lions are onlyconsidered a threatened species.

Lion meat tacos on offerVisiting the supermarket when yourstomach is rumbling not only increasesthe amount you buy, but also leadsconsumers to increase the amount ofhigh calorie food they purchase by athird. Even short term food deprivationincreases overall grocery shoppingand impacts the calorie content of thefoods we purchase according to thelatest study at Cornell University.

Shopping whilst hungry

Ideal for an evening during the winter, The Park's outdoorbar Aqua manages to keep it cool even in this hot summer.

So, if you’re in the mood to chill with friends, Aqua definitely makes it to the top five in the list of hangouts.

Postnoon reviews.

Where: Aqua, The Park Must-haves: Fruit-based cocktails

Summer in this City canbum any of us out. Evengoing out for dinnerfeels like torture thanks

to the stillness in the airaround, let alone drinking out-doors. However, The Park'sAqua does a great job in beat-ing the heat. Despite being anoutdoor bar, drinking and eat-ing by the pool side works atAqua. The ambiance, decorat-ed with timed, coloured lightsmakes it work. I was surprisedto see the number of people —families, friends, colleaguesalike — gathered at the bar toenjoy an otherwise mundaneFriday night.

Unlike most bars in theCity, Aqua doesn't boast anysignature cocktail collection.Instead, friendly waiters justsurprise their customers withinnovative concoctions. “Wedon't have a collection of sig-nature cocktails as such, butwe try and create newdrinks for people who like

to experiment. So many peoplewho sit at the island bar askthe bartenders to surprisethem with something differ-ent... and, at Aqua, we do justthat,” says Reggie, who waitedour table throughout theevening. Talking about experi-menting, I was one of thosewho asked Reggie to surpriseme. And, he did so with a glassof musk melon juice spikedwith Bacardi white rum. Idealfor the summer, the fruitycocktail was refreshingand worth a repeat.The best part aboutthe cocktail was thatit wasn't filled withspoons full of sugarsyrup that normallyoverpowers the taste ofalcohol. The drinkallowed the muskiness of themelon to blend perfectly withthe Bacardi.

From the regular cocktails,Pina Colada (a tropical mix ofpineapple juice, coconut creamand rum) and Manhattan orRob Roy (Bourbon or Scotch,sweet vermouth and bitters)are must-haves. While the Pina

Colada at Aqua, unlike atmost other places, is a per-

fect blend of coconut, rum andpineapple with none of theflavours overpowering theother, the Rob Roy is a treat forthose who like a refreshingwhiskey-based drink. “It is ourclassic Mojito which is themost popular drink at Aqua. Itis most in demand,” addsReggie.

Moving on to theambiance, while Aqua has itsnegatives for being an outdoor

bar especially because it'sso hot, it scores with its

live band perfor-mances. Because,really, who wouldworry about the heatwhen you have songs

like Hotel California(Eagles), Summer of 69

(Bryan Adams), ComingBack to Life (Pink Floyd), etc,

to enjoy your drinks with? And, that too, being per-

formed well! Probably, that'sthe secret to Aqua's livelyatmosphere — its Friday liveperformances.

The Mezze and the Non-veg Kebab Platters are must-haves among the finger foods.

So, if you want to forgetabout the heat, head to thevery cool Aqua, you won’tregret it. I don’t!

nidhi.b@postnoon.comNIDHI BHUSHAN

CHEERS

TOA GOOD TIM

E

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 201315FOOD

Noor KitchenNOOR JAFRI

Contact us @ Noor kitchen -Mobile + 91 9441282318

Residence + 91 40 23356947Like us @ https://www.face-

book.com/Noorkitchenfollow us @

https://twitter.com/NoorKitchen

Kanchan Agarwalkanchan.a@postnoon.com

In a busy commercial areasuch as Ameerpet, there is aspot just as busy to munch

on a delicious snack calledmirchi bhajji. The place pop-ularly is referred to asBhaiya Bhajji but the boardoutside the shop is so fadedthat you can barely make

anything of the peeling painton it.

For `10, you get a coupleof bhajjis with mint chutney,onions and what I like to call‘the magic masala’ sprinkledall over. If you ever decide to

visit after 6pm, be preparedto be surprised. There is achance you may feel offendedunless you are ready to givewhat it takes to savour goodfood—patience. Why I saythis is that you will findmany (and when I say many, Ireally mean it) patrons onbikes, a few in cars, eagerlywaiting for their turn whilefresh bhajjis are fried in ahuge wok. After waiting forabout 10 minutes, when hestarts serving, the huge batchmight be exhausted in lessthan a minute as you standwatching.

But when you finally getyour turn, at the first bite,you instantly know it was allworth it. When the hot andcrisp coating of fried batter,and the tangy, juicy, slightlyspicy chilli melts in yourmouth, you can’t help butnotice that a lot of thoughthas gone into making it.

Missi Roti A quick roti for a lunch,pack-in picnics or travel. Ingredients Quantity n Wheat /atta 1 cupn Roasted besan 1 cupn Soaked green gram dal 1/2 a cupn Red chilli flakes 2 tspn Chopped green chillies 2 tspn Chopped fine ginger 1 tspn Jeera powder 1 tspn Haldi 1/2 a tspn Salt to tasten Oil or ghee as required

Proceduren Roughly grind soaked moong

dal, with little salt and haldi.n Add wheat flour and roasted

besan flour with the dal paste.n Also add chopped green chillies,

ginger and all the masala pow-ders.

n Mix everything into a soft doughand leave it for sometime.

n Roll out into medium thick rotis.n Cook it on a hot tawa (pan), with

medium flame applying oil orghee from both the sides.

n It should turn golden brown,keep pressing it with a fryingspoon.

Chef’s note:n It's a protein-packed, delicious,

low fat and low calorie dish.

Str

eets

ide

vie

w

Place: Bhaiya BhajjiLocation: BehindHanuman temple,AmeerpetCost: `10 per plate

SPICE IT UP

Asoon as you enterThe Farm, itimmediately trans-ports you to aMediterranean set-

ting. You can’t help but spenda few moments studying theinteriors. The wooden seatsin the patio make visitors feelwelcome immediately. Theseating inside is quite com-fortable as well. The wallsare done in a refreshingshade of orange, and hereand there, you spot a fewquaint cupboards which onlyadds to the beauty.

The Farm is like yourneighbourhood coffee shop—small, cosy, quiet and com-fortable. For a true musiclover, this can easily becomea favourite haunt, because oftheir conscious choice ofmusic including jazz, folk,dubstep and dub qawwali,even.

We ordered minestroneverdure, it’s a tomato-basedsoup with diced capsicum,

carrot, cabbage and beansgarnished with parsley andcheese for `130. It is a nice

blend of flavours, and as sat-isfyingly rich as it is, themany vegetables in it might

make you feel less guilty.What came next was myfavourite—mushrooms inginger and chilli. It was a joyrelishing those fresh mush-rooms. The lebanese starter,referred as just that by thestaff, was a delicious chickenstarter spread on freshlymade pita breads. The wellknown chinese chilli chickenwas another of the dishesgiven to us.

I would have left withgood memories of sipping onThe Farm’s special lime mintmocktail, and swaying on themusical notes if the manage-ment had been just as pleas-ant. Restaurants usually goout of their way to be at theirbest with all customers. Butfor all the upmarket hypethat can be associated with it,their service was just disap-pointing, leaving us with abitter taste in spite of thedelicious food. In conclusion,poor quality service, mightbe The Farm’s only demerit.

DINING AT THE FARM

TheFarm

is like your neighbourhood coffee shop — small, cosy,quiet

and

com

forta

ble.

kanchan.a@postnoon.comKANCHAN AGARWAL

Where: The FarmAddress: 715, Road 36, Jubilee Hills

Meal for two: More than `1,000 + taxesTime: 9am to 11pm

M ANIL KUMAR

M ANIL KUMAR

18HISTORY

May 151957 : Britain tests first hydrogenbomb on the Christmas Islandarea in the Pacific Ocean, the

arms race between countriescontinues to escalate as

each country tests big-ger and more

destructive nucle-ar devices

May 152012 - The Beau Sancy, one ofthe world's most famous andoldest diamonds, was sold

at auction for $9.7 million.

2010 - Jessica Watsonbecomes theyoungest person tosail, non-stop andunassisted around theworld solo.

May 15

May 17

2007

- Tra

ins fro

m N

orth an

d South

Kore

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Par

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in a te

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s hav

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ed the D

emilit

arize

d Zone si

nce 19

53.

May 16

1929- The First ever Academy Awards of M

otion Picture Arts

and Sciences Awards were handed out at a banquet held at

the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

May 14

1998- The legendary singer, actor and show-business icon Frank

Sinatra dies of a heart attack in Los Angeles, at the age of 82.

May 13

1999

- In M

oscow, t

he impeac

hment o

f Russ

ian P

resid

ent Boris

Yelts

in began

.

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

May 14 1897 - Guglielmo Marconi made the first communication by wirelesstelegraph.

May 16 1975 - Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach thesummit of Mount Everest.

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 201319SPOTLIGHT

Tollywood actress Nisha Agarwal spent timewith underprivileged children on the eve ofMother’s Day. The event was organised bySakri Bai, who shelters more than 1,000

homeless children in the City.

Saluting motherhood

TO A BEAUTIFUL FUTURESecunderabad Club's annual May Queen Ball, held yesterday, is an attempt to establish future beauty queens.

The colourful event saw hundreds of youngsters parade around in fancy clothes. Here are a few pictures.

Shruthi, Rahul

Nandita, Babita

Shreshta, Avantika

Himanshi, Ashitosh

Ankita

Nelofar

Seema

Deepanjali

Swati

Poornima

Akshara

Aparna

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1 3 4

6 7

8

5

2

9 10 11 12

S BALAKRISHNA

CINEMA 20

RGV is back and this time he’streading familiar turf. Hisupcoming film Satya is aboutan intelligent guy who takesthe path of crime.

Sharwnanad is playing the titularrole and Anaika Soti is thelead actress. AmitriyaanPatil and Anjali Gupta areplaying other importantroles. The film’s trailerwas recently launched inHyderabad and the leadactors of the film gracedthe event, along with RGV.Talking about the film, RGVsaid, “Back in 1998, I made Satyabased on what was happening in theunderworld in Bombay. A lot haschanged over the years and my newversion of Satya is completely differ-ent. I believe that crime will nevercome to an end. No matter how hardyou try to eradicate crime, there’ll beat least one person who’ll take thisroute. I’m more interested in the psy-chology of a criminal and whatdrives him to follow this route. Satyais the story of such person who’sextremely intelligent. For that mat-ter, I have a lot of respect for row-dies. They have been an importantpart of my filmography and I drawinspiration from a lot of things theydo.” Sharwanand revealed that hewas delighted to team up with RGVand that it was his longtime dream.Sumanth Kumar Reddy has producedthe film. Vikas Saraf is the cine-matographer. Nitin and SanjeevDarshan have scored the music. Thefilm will release in July.

I have hugerespect forrowdies :

RGV

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

When moneyrules all...

Nani, Catherine Tresa starrerPaisa is Krishna Vamsi’sbiggest film in years and

it’s said to be yet another hard-hit-ting film based on a contemporaryissue. Explaining the idea behind

the film, Krishna Vamsi said,“These days, money has become

more important than relation-ships. We have reached a situation

where the entire world is aftermoney and things like human val-

ues, relationships which werequite important a decade ago are

slowly losing their importance.The concept of Paisa originated

from this change that I haveobserved in the society. It’s goingto be a trendy film. When I wrotethe script, I knew that Nani will

do complete justice to the film. I’mglad that he immediately agreed.”The principal shooting of the filmhas been completed and currently

it’s in post-production stage.Nani’s character in the film is

named as Pra’Cash’, who’sobsessed with money. Sidhika

Sharma and Charan Raj are play-ing important roles. Sai Karthik

has scored the music and theaudio will be launched on May 19.

Fans of Nayanthara andArya were in for a big shockwhen a ‘wedding invite’

announcing their marriagebegan doing rounds on the inter-net. For the past few months,rumours have been rife thatArya and Nayan thara were morethan just frie nds despite vehe-ment denials from both of them.No wonder the wedding invite,which even mentioned the dateand time, co n vinced a lot of peo-ple that the two are getting mar-ried for real. The invite wentviral and at last producers of aTamil film Raja Rani, in whichNayanthara and Arya are play-ing lead roles, confirmed thatthe wedding invite was part ofthe publicity campaign for thefilm. It’s a smart move indeedand the wedding invite managedto capture a lot of eyeballs, espe-cially on the internet.

ASMART

ACT

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

CINEMA 21

Salman helped me whenI was battling cancer:

PREM SONI

Filmmaker Prem Soni, who has recoveredfrom cancer of gallbladder, says his friendand Bollywood star Salman Khan stood byhim during his trying times.

Prem Soni is the director of Preity Zinta’sdebut production venture Ishk In Paris.

“Salman was very concerned when he got toknow about my health issues. He got in touchwith me and was very supportive when I was bat-tling with cancer. Salman bhai is just a call awayand his call makes a huge difference to me,” saidSoni.

“He must be a huge star, but he is a far betterhuman being. However, now I am healthy and fineand thanks for all the support,” he added.

After Soni was diagnosed with cancer, IshkqIn Paris, which was supposed to release inNovember 2012, was pushed to May 2013.

Soni has added a song with Salman in the filmand says he considers him as his mentor.

“Salman is beyond work for me... I look up tohim. He is my mentor and the song was writtenkeeping him in mind right from the beginning,”said Soni.

Ishkq In Paris features Preity, RhehanMalliek and Isabelle Adjani.

We are like friends:Sharman on father-in-law

Actor Sharman Joshi, son-in-law ofveteran actor Prem Chopra, saysthey bond really well.“I am very close to him. He is a

wonderful person and a fine actor withsuch a rich body of work,” Sharman,who is married to Prem Chopra’s daugh-ter Prerna, said.

“There is so much to learn from him. Wehave spent so much time together that nowme and my father-in-law are like friends.We bond well. We have a great rap-port,” added the 34-year-old seen infilms like Golmaal, 3 Idiots andFerrari Ki Sawaari.

Prem Chopra, 77, is knownfor his roles as villain inBobby, Do Anjaane, PurabAur Paschim, Woh Kaun Thiand Daag.

Sharman says his father-in-lawhas achieved so much in his lifethat he is an inspiration for others.

“He has accomplished a lot. Heis constantly working. He is oneperson who loves his work. Hedoesn’t need any encourage-ment,” said Sharman who also

praises the senior actor’s“disciplined” life.

“I like the way heleads his life like

exercise, routineand diet. He has

a lifestyle tofollow,” he

added.

IANS

Star-power drives BO winsbut won’t make typical films:DIBAKARThough star power and box-office

success of a movie are interde-pendent, Dibakar Banerjee won’tmake a typical film by just bankingon big names and then manufactur-ing collection figures to draw theaudience. “Cinema has been astar-driven medium and it has beenso since the beginning. There isnothing wrong in that as stars makea film profitable,” Dibakar said.“Almost 70 per cent of the time peo-ple go to theatre to watch stars andthe rest 30 per cent is what you playwith, to make the experience more

rewarding and that’s the way it willbe,” he said. Dibakar, however,prefers to cast new faces as they pro-vide a balance. PTI

CINEMA 22

Actor Arjun Kapoor, who playsdouble role in Yash Raj's upcom-ing crime thriller Aurangzeb,

will also promote the film in a doublerole.

The makers of the film have decid-ed to opt for a unique way of promo-tion, and urged Arjun to promote thefilm through double role for a strongimpact. The 27-year-old will now giveinterviews to news channels in a dou-ble role. He himself worked on thescript and penned down questions andanswers for the interviews.

A source close to the teamrevealed: “Taking the double role onenotch higher... Arjun will be inter-viewing Arjun on news channels.”The film is directed by AtulSabharwal and also features Prith -viraj, Rishi Kapoor, Jackie Shroff,Sikandar Kher, Amrita Singh, DeeptiNaval, Tanvi Azmi and Swara Bhas -kar and launches Sasha Aagha. IANS

Model-turned-actor RhehanMalliek, who is debuting onthe big screen with Preity

Zinta's maiden production ventureIshkq In Paris, says he is notmarginalised in the film.

Directed by Prem Soni, Ishkq InParis features Preity, Rhehan andIsabelle Adjani.

“I don't think I am sidelined inIshkq In Paris. It is like Preity'scomeback, so obviously all her fansare eagerly waiting to see her. She isa huge star and I am the lead actor inthe film. For the first time peoplewould watch the film for her, butthey will watch it for the second timefor me,” Rhehan said.

A successful model, who has beenpart of many music videos and TVshow Sanjeevani, says he got his firstbreak in Bollywood a little late.

“I know I got my break a littlelate, but better late than never.Basically, I am not from Mumbai. Iam from Delhi, so I have no filmybackup. I have struggled a lot and thisfilm is worth the wait,” he said. IANS

National-award win-ning actressKangana Ranaut,who registered herfirst hit this yearwith Shootout at

Wadala, says the ups and downsin her filmy career have all beenworth it as she got to work withbig names and bigger projects.

After tasting success withGangster, Fashion, Once Upon ATime In Mumbai, Raaz-2, TanuWeds Manu, the 26-year-old alsowent through her share of flopsin Tezz, Miley na Miley Hum,Knock Out, No Problem andRascals among others. But thisyear looks promising to her asshe has an interesting range ofmovies lined up for release.

“I have been very lucky tohave worked with some of thebiggest names and been part ofsome interesting projects. Myjourney has been a roller-coasterride but it has all been worth it,”Kangana told PTI in an inter-view. Ask her how she deals withsuccess and failure, she says, “Idon't let the two of them get tomy head.”

In Shootout at Wadala,Kangana played the love interestof gangster Manya Surve,essayed by John Abraham.

“I am glad that the filmhas done well. And ironically,films where I have played agangster's moll have been suc-cesses. But I don’t read too muchinto it. I’m an actor and at theend of the day delivering a goodsolid performance is my priori-ty,” she said.

The actress is gearing up toplay a nautch girl in her nextfilm Rajjo, to be directed by new-comer Vishwas Patil. The filmwill trace the journey of anautch girl who goes on tobecome a classical dancer.

“There was a lot of researchthat went into my role for Rajjo. Ihave visited 'kothas’ and metwith women working there tounderstand their body languageand mindset,” she said. PTI

My film journeyhas been a

great ride

Rhehan Malliekfeels fine inIshkq in Paris

Arjun KapoorpromotesAurangzeb

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

CINEMA 23

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

CINEMA 24

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

CINEMA 25

GWYNETHPALTROWActress Gwyneth

Paltrow and hersinger husbandChris Martin

approached South Koreanrapper PSY for a picture fortheir son.

Paltrow's son is a fan ofGangnam Style singer, sowhen she spotted him atthe Costume Institute Galain New York City, she askedhim for a snap, reportsfemalefirst.co.uk.

“Our son is obsessedwith him. So Martin seeshim and says, 'Oh my God,there's PSY'. I thought it

was P-S-Y, so I was like,'Who's PSY?' she said.

“So we went up andMartin was like, 'Hello, I'mfrom the band Coldplay'.PSY didn't seem to knowwho he was, but then he putit together and he was real-ly happy to meet. We said,'We're so sorry to botheryou but can we have a pic-ture for our children?' Andwe sent it to the kids, like,'Yeah, check it!'”, she added.

Paltrow and Martinhave two children — Apple,eight, and Moses, seven.

IANS

Our son isobsessed withhim. So Martinsees him andsays, 'Oh my God,there's PSY'. Ithought it was P-S-Y, so I was like,'Who's PSY?'

Gwyneth Paltrow,Actress

MEETS PSY

Actress DemiMoore se -

ems to havereconciled

with daughter RumerWillis. The two were

seen partying together.“Moore and Willis

have been workingon repairing their

relationship," radaron-line.com quoted a source

as saying. “But the problem is

that Moore wants to goout and party with her(Willis) again, and that

is where all the prob-lems started before," the

source added.Moore has three

daughters — Rumer, 24,Scout, 21, and TallulahWillis, 19, with her sec-

ond husband actorBruce Willis.

Her relationshipwith her daughters hadgone downhill after she

split from her third hus-band Ashton Kutcher in

November 2011."Moore's girls are

really apprehensiveabout letting their moth-

er back into their lives.They want her to be

totally over (husband)Kutcher and healthy,"

the source added. IANS

Demi Moore seeks toreach out to daughters

Adam Levinetalks feeling"insecure" overacne-prone skin

Adam Levine'ssmug mug

may be eno -u gh to send rabid

fans into a tizzy. Butaccording to the Voi -ce coach himself, he

didn't always givegood face.

The 34-year-oldrocker recently

signed on as aspokesman for

Proactiv+, and in thisexclusive clip, Levine

recalls how he wasonce riddled with

insecurity over hisacne-prone days.

"When I was inhigh school and hadacne, I spent a lot of

time sulking in myroom and being

upset," he says."I was

depressed, Iwas not

happy," headds.

Through hisProactiv+

spokesman gig,Levine says hewants "peopleto understand

that eventhough we are

celebrities or aresuccessful or what-

ever, that we're nodifferent than every-

body else.Everybody's insecure

to a certain extent."

CHAI TIME 26SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

ACROSS1 Gave medicine to6 Duelers’ pride11 Consomme16 Fountain in Rome21 Banquet host22 Vietnam capital23 Get more out of24 Sank, as a putt25 Puts in the post26 Walking — —27 Pentium producer28 Minneapolis exurb29 Channels 14 and up30 Construction piece

(hyph.)32 More judicious34 Least36 Marsh bird38 Improve the highway40 Sounded like a crow42 Nuisances43 Fridge maker45 Holds down a job47 Vote to accept49 “Whole” thing52 Sensational53 Glistening54 Big wheel57 Golfer — Ochoa58 More than uptight59 Relieve60 Baylor’s home61 Where Asia begins62 Mead subject63 Coil of yarn64 Moon rings65 Rural rtes.66 Cooks dinner (2 wds.)68 “M*A*S*H” setting69 Old movies, maybe70 Baby chick sound72 Equinox mo.73 Silver bar74 From Mandalay75 Aspirin targets77 Adjust the tires78 Krishna devotee79 Broke to bits82 Join83 Cross the creek84 “Lettuce pray” and

more88 Audiences89 One-celled plants90 Singer — Brewer92 Starfish arm93 More boorish94 Enjoyed a banquet95 Made like sheep96 Eva or Zsa Zsa98 Camelot lady99 It repels moths100 Happy rumbles101 Cold cut102 Insect killer103 Becker or Pasternak104 Daddy’s mate105 Funnel-shaped flower106 Feel nostalgic107 Phi Beta —108 Family tree, to some109 Pals111 Webfoot113 Imitation chocolate115 Faction119 Public esteem

121 Untrue (2 wds.)123 Hall or Hannah125 Murmur126 Maintains possession127 Kiddie ride129 Spread sand or salt131 Coffee shop lure133 Murphy of “Beverly

Hills Cop”134 Cantata performers135 S-shaped moldings136 Meted out137 Bottle- — dolphin138 Whets139 Shake awake140 Nail groomer

DOWN1 Express doubts2 Insurance center3 Asimov genre (hyph.)4 Sushi fish5 Hubby of Lucy6 Blacksmith’s job7 Celine’s country8 “Me, — — I callmyself”9 Vive le —!10 Business salutation11 Robber in the forest12 Extends the lease

13 Unconventional, plus14 Mao — -tung15 Mr. Sulu’s place16 It could be a group

effort17 Hamster or mouse18 Beethoven dedicatee19 Air ducts20 Ms. Lupino31 Safari boss33 Pungent35 Deep black37 Brand name39 Nerve cell41 Shaggy flower44 Vicar’s residence46 Part of WATS48 Zoologist Fossey49 Drink noisily50 Vast multitude51 Backspace on a PC52 Boundary53 Frozen rain54 Hold dear55 Click-on items56 Search party58 Yellow jackets59 City near Canton60 Stretch, perhaps (2

wds.)62 Knight’s mount

63 Not crisp64 Cowboy’s charge67 Hibachi residue68 Tarzan’s weapon69 Viking letters71 Pulled ahead73 Homer opus74 Stuck around76 The ex-Mrs. Bono77 Rile up78 Cottontails79 Destroy a document80 Stack81 Check for fraud82 Forearm bones83 Exhausted85 Built-up86 Supermodel —

Campbell87 Damascus’ land89 Facilitating90 Runway surface91 Banded quartz94 Earl — Biggers95 Nudge97 Grads99 Seashore100 Vatican figures101 Save (2 wds.)103 Perplexed104 Learns well

105 Most inferior106 BMW driver, maybe107 “Lend me your

comb” guy108 Vestiges109 Tenet110 Pays attention112 Stew ingredient114 It’s often bid116 Mademoiselle’s school

117 Promising rookie118 Curry favor120 One way to sketch122 Skunk’s defense124 Do dock work126 Purview128 Pi successor130 Freud topic132 — -com movie

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SUNDAY CROSSWORD

CHAI TIME 27SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

STR

IP T

EAS

EAG

NES

PEAR

LS B

EFOR

E SW

INE

TAROT READ

The Sun – Time toruminate on yourlife’s journey andreflect on all thethings that couldhave been. Don’t usethis reflection as atime to regret.

The Empress – Theperson who falls willalso stand again.Don’t feel depressedif things are notgoing your way.Keep a positive atti-tude.

Ten of Swords – Youmay be asked tocounsel someoneabout taking someimportant decisions.Don’t get too per-sonal while doingthis.

ARIESFinancial helps expected from varioussources will come by. Unexpected turn-ing point likely with which will makeyou cheerful. Be careful with newfriends and keep them at a distance.

CANCER

LIBRARecently married will be happy, to hearthe news of arrival of the offspring. Youwill complete the works with a deter-mination without giving up, thoughyou face hurdles and obstructions.

CAPRICORNYou will undertake challenging tasksand complete them successfully.Happy events are likely to take placeat home. Influx of visitors and close rel-atives will bring cheer to family.

TAURUSBusinessmen will take stringent actionagainst erring staff. Couple will bemore affectionate towards each other.Delayed marriage talks will resume andend favourably.

LEOBe careful in food habits as healthproblem is likely. Employees will workwith a focus and complete the worksfor the fullest satisfaction of the man-agement and the superior.

SCORPIOGovt. works will get delayed beyondexpectation which might make youupset. You will be participating in thegrand celebrations performed at yourVIP friend’s place.

AQUARIUSWritten off dues will be received whichwill make you cheerful. A major portionof the debts will get cleared whichwere haunting you all these days andhence you will feel relaxed.

GEMINIChildren will make you happy andproud. Minor misunderstanding likelywithin the family members but willsoon get resolved. Spouse will be co-operative and more affectionate.

VIRGOHeld up marriage talks to resume andprogress well. Some are likely to under-take pilgrimage or jolly trip with familymembers. Separated couple may bereconciled.

SAGITTARIUSAll the worries and tensions existedwill reduce gradually and long pend-ing wishes will get fulfilled. Employeesneed to focus well in discharging theirduties so as to earn recognition

PISCESYou will feel happy to see children’sachievements. Ego clashes and misun-derstanding between couple will dis-appear. Debt issues will be under con-trol.

NON

SEQU

ITUR

POOC

H CA

FE

Two of Wands –Take stock of yourfinancial situationand do what’s bestfor you. No pointtrying new thingswhen you don’thave the energy.

Three of Pentacles –Continuity is veryimportant in all thework that you do.You need to stay sta-ble and focused onyour work. Don’t getbored of the routine.

Eight of Cups – Youseek validity ofsomeone/some-thing before youcan trust. Do yourhomework; ask peo-ple before you givein to something.

Ten of Pentacles –Your actions aregoing to attractsome reactions fromcoworkers and fami-ly members. Keepan explanation howthis will work.

Eight of Wands –Some form of guilt iseating you up. Youhave done some-thing with the inten-tion to harm some-one and you’re can’tbear the the guilt.

King of Swords – Bea team player. Youlearn to be part ofthe larger group andrealize that all peo-ple can’t think thesame way as you do.

Ace of Wands – Youwill be receivingsome importantnews — good or baddepends on how youare going to use thatinformation. Don’ttrust someone new.

Six of Wands – Thefrequency with whichyou are meetingsomeone or doingsomething new isgiving people mixedideas about yourintentions.

Eight of Swords –You are fightingsome withdrawalsymptoms even asyou’re trying to beatan addiction. Keepstrong and let yourwill power take over.

STAR POWER SUMAA TEKURtarotreadhyd@gmail. com

THIRUVAIKUMARthiruvaikumar@yahoo. co. in

040-27177230 / 9949870449

Brokers and commission agents mightface a decline in their income. Yourstock is set to pile up. You will receivegood support from parents in all thegood efforts undertaken.

Date 13-5-2013 Date 13-5-2013

What follows are ACTUALannouncements from ACTUALchurch bulletins:

1. Don't let worry kill you — letthe church help.2. Thursday night -Potluck sup-per. Prayer and medication tofollow.3. Remember in prayer themany who are sick of ourchurch and community.4. For those of you who havechildren and don't know it, wehave a nursery downstairs.5. The rosebud on the alter thismorning is to announce thebirth of David Alan Belzer, the

sin of Rev. and Mrs. JuliusBelzer.6. This afternoon there will be ameeting in the South andNorth ends of the church.Children will be baptized atboth ends.7. Tuesday at 4:00 PM there willbe an ice cream social. Allladies giving milk will pleasecome early.8 Today the pastor will preachhis farewell message afterwhich the choir will sing "BreakForth into Joy".9 On a New York convalescenthome: "For the sick and tiredof the Episcopal Church."

Funny church bulletins

Vol: 2, No 296 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by himat Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act

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As per Hindu panchang

CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES

SAGITTARIUSSCORPIOLIBRA

CANCER

ARIES TAURUS GEMINI

LEO VIRGO

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

28INDIASCOPE

CHARULATA (1964)

Based on Nastanirh, a storywritten by RabindranathTagore, Charulata is about

a lonely housewife who findsherself drawn towards herbrother-in-law. Directed bySatyajit Ray, the film, starringSoumitra Chatterjee, MadhabiMukherjee and SailenMukherjee, is one of his mostacclaimed works of Ray’s. In1965, the film was screened atBerlin Film Festival and Raywon the Silver Bear award forBest Director and the Indiangovernment also conferred itwith the Best Film Award.

GirishKasaravalli’s

first feature film

in Kannada,

Ghatashradhawhich

released in1977, was one

of the 100films and the

only Indianfilm to be

chosen at theFilm Archive

of Paris in2002, as a

part ofCinema’s

100th anniver-sary.

In 2003, VidyaBalan was all setto play the leadrole oppositeSrikanth in aTamil film titledManasellam.Santosh wasdirecting the filmand after a fewdays, she wasdropped fromthe film since thedirector was nothappy with herperformance.Eventually, therole went toTrisha. A decadelater, the tableshave turned andhow!

Every morning Iwake up wantingto make a film. ButI don’t think I will.Writing has beenpassion, though,and I continuedoing it.

Mrinal Sen,director

DID YOU KNOW?

There’s an uncannysimilarity betweenhow Kamal Haasan’sVishwaroopam andhow Kuljinder Singh

Sidhu’s Sadda Haq were treat-ed by the state governments ofTamil Nadu and Punjabrespectively, just before theirrelease. While Tamil NaduChief Minister Jayalalithaimposed an interim ban onVishwaroopam citing law andorder problem, a similarstance was taken by Punjab’sCM Parkash Singh Badal inApril this year just beforeSadda Haq was slated forrelease.

“It is our priority to main-tain peace and communal har-mony in the state... we don’twant that the movie to vitiatethe communal atmosphere ofthe state,” Prakash SinghBadal said while trying to jus-tify the ban imposed on SaddaHaq.

It’s probably the firstPunjabi film in recent yearswhere the makers had to fightagainst overwhelming pres-sure from various political andreligious groups in Punjab thatwere demanding a permanentban on the film.

So what exactly was thereason behind the long battlebetween Kuljinder SinghSidhu, the writer, producerand lead actor in Sadda Haqand the others? The film isbased on real incidents, whichoccurred in the 1980s and early1990s, and narrates a storybehind what prompted youngmen in the state to rise up andfight against a corrupt policeand government system. Thecensor board refused to give acertificate initially and finallyit was cleared by Film

Certification AppellateTribunal earlier this year.Meanwhile, several politicalparties including BJP, PunjabMahila Congress, Shiv Senaand few other religious groupsclaimed that the film glorifiedthe Khalistan movement. Eventhe police officers who saw thefilm prior to its release werehighly critical of how thepolice officials were depictedin the film.

Sadda Haq, as per reports,is inspired from the lives ofKhalistan movement support-ers Jagtar Singh Hawara andBalwant Singh Rajoana, whowere accused of assassinatingerstwhile Chief MinisterBeant Singh in 1995, apartfrom throwing light on howseveral civilians were brandedas terrorists by the police offi-cials during their fight againstinsurgency.

The film has already beentermed as a huge hit at thebox-office in foreign countrieslike Canada and the UK, wherethe film released a few weeksago and it opened to packedhouses in Chandigarh andother cities upon its release onMay 10. Not surprisingly, therole of censor board hasonce again come underthe scanner with severalfilmmakers and actorsfrom Punjabi film indus-try questioning how thegovernment can ban afilm after it has beenpassed by the censorboard. What’s evenmore surprisingis the fact thefilm was initiallygiven an ‘U’ cer-tificate and afterthe SupremeCourt allowed thefilm to release,the censor boardgave it an ‘A’ cer-tificate. Theintervention ofpolitical partiesis another causeof concern

and quite rightly so. As in thecase of Vishwaroopam, thisturned out to be a battlebetween freedom of speechand hurting people’s senti-ments.

Indian cinema has just cel-ebrated its 100th anniversaryand yet we shy away from mak-ing hard-hitting films andevery time people make a hueand cry about the negativeimpact a film isgoing to haveon people atlarge, itbringsus backto

square one. It’s high time we ask our-

selves, where does one draw aline? We are becoming anextremely intolerant societyday by day. We find it extreme-ly hard to take a joke, a satireis a big no-no and questioningthe injustice done in the past isnothing short of blasphemy. Ifcinema indeed has the powerto incite communal violence,then it also has the power tobring about drastic changes inthe way we think. The latterdoesn’t happen in most of thecases which brings us to thepoint — do people take moviesso seriously that it’ll alter theway they view the worldaround them? The fact thatnothing about our society has

changed, except tilting onthe negative side,

proves the realimpact films haveon us. Sadda Haqis, after all, justa film whichdefied all oddsin its journeyand emergedtriumphant.

hemanth.k@postnoon.comHEMANTH KUMAR

DEFYINGALL ODDSSadda Haq, a Punjabi film set during the political turmoil in the state in the 1980s andearly ‘90s, finally released a few days ago after along battle between the makers of the film andthe various religious and political groups thatdemanded a ban on the film.

THE FILM HAS ALREADYBEEN TERMED AS AHUGE HIT IN FOREIGNCOUNTRIES LIKECANADA AND THE UK

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

SPORTS 29

Australia’s Bernard Tomic has pulledout of next week’s Rome Masters

as his father fights an assaultcharge in a Spanish court. Tomic, the world

number 53, was missing from Saturday’sdraw for the crucial French Open warm-upwhich starts on Monday in the Italian capi-

tal. On Tuesday, John Tomic is due toappear again at a Madrid court facing

charges of assaulting his son’s practice part-ner in the Spanish capital last week.

Tomic pulls out of Rome

Fresh from a brilliant victory against Ves -elin Topalov, world champio n Viswana -than will next take on Hikaru Nakamura

of United States in the fourth round of Nor -way chess 2013 Super Tourna ment. The thr -ee rounds for Anand have be en contrastingso far. It was s sedate start with an easy dra was white against Levon Aronian and then akind of moral victory when Anand gave awaynothing to his world championship chal-lenger Magnus Carlsen and drew again.

Anand to meet Nakamura

America’s Cup officials pressed onSat urday with their probe of thecapsizi ng of a catamaran that killed

Andrew Simpson, seeking answers to keepworld sailing’s most prestigous eventafloat. Arte mis Racing member Simpsondied when the Swedish team’s AC72 over-turned while training on San Fra ncisco Bayon Thursday. The accident plun ged theCup into uncertainty, fueling concerns overthe safety of the 72-foot catamarans.

Clouds over AmCup future

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA:Roy Hibbert finished with 24points and 12 rebounds andGeorge Hill hit five three point-ers as the Indiana Pacers beatthe New York Knicks 82-71 ingame three of their secondround NBA playoff series.

“The pre-game mantra I hadwas, ‘tonight’s my night, tonigh -t’s my night’,” Hibbert said.“Luc kily my hooks (shots) werefalli ng. I was around the basket,tipping balls and creating extrapossessions.” Paul George finish -ed with 14 points, eight assistsand five steals, while David Westhad 11 points and 12 boards forIndiana, which rebounded froma 105-79 loss in game two.

Hill also had 17 points for thePacers, which went 10-of-33 frombeyond the arc in front of acrowd of 18,165 at Bankers LifeFieldhouse arena Saturday.

The Indiana Pacers nowhead into game four lateTuesday with a 2-1 lead in thebest-of-seven series.

Carmelo Anthony finishedwith 21 points for the Knicks,which got Amare Stoudemireback in the lineup after hemissed two months because of

right knee surgery. Stoudemirescored seven points in nine min-utes of playing time.

Knicks J.R. Smith, who issuffering from an illness and

almost didn’t play Saturday, hadnine points.

“We know if we take thethree (pointer) away from thisteam they are going to struggleto score,” Indiana coach FrankVogel said. “We were able toguard the paint and the three-point line and that is the goalwith this team.”

Indiana’s biggest problem ingame two was turnovers whenthey committed 21. But they cutthat to 17 on Saturday.

Vogel said he was pleasedwith the job Hibbert did, notonly on offense but also ondefense in helping to shut downAnthony, who is battling a shoul-der problem.

“This is his best playoffgame ever,” Vogel said ofHibbert. “He is oozing with con-fidence. Everybody wanted tokick him when he was downearly this season when he wasn’tplaying with confidence. Now heis playing extremely well onboth ends of the court.” AFP

Roy Hibbert #55 of the Indiana Pacers goes to the basket during the GameThree of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the New York Knicks dur-ing the 2013 NBA Playoffs on Saturday. AFP/NBAE/RON HOSKINS

BARCELONA: Fernando Alonso gavehis stricken Ferrari technical directorPat Fry a good news bulletin onSaturday when he forecast he couldstill win his home Spanish Grand Prixdespite starting from fifth on the grid.

The 31-year-old Spaniard said hewas not surprised to miss out on poleor the front row after seeing Mercedesdominate qualifying, but added that hebelieved he could be much stronger inrace trim.

That opinion was sure to encour-age technical boss Fry who was rushedto hospital on Saturday for an append -ix operation after falling ill and com-plaining of pains.

Fry was at first thought to be suf-fering from kidney stones. He was exp -ected to undergo surgery later on Satu -rday and to be unavailable to workagain this weekend.

Despite being quick in practice,Alonso was only able to qualify in fifthafter which he said: “I think today wasnot a surprise for anyone in the team.

“We were three or fourth tenths offpole position in the last two or threeGrands Prix, and here some peoplebrought new parts so we are half a sec-ond off... We need to recover this half-second.

“Our car on one-lap pace is not asquick as the others, but on the long-run pace it’s as quick as the others, oreven better. That is our strong pointand we need to take every opportunity

that comes tomorrow. We need to beoptimistic and try to be on the podium,or even something better.

“We have the car to do a goodrace.”

Warned that it is almost unknownfor a car that does not start on thefront row to win, he said: “It is time tochange that record.

“Every race is unique, but if youlook at races in this championship, we

see that Mercedes is struggling a lot inthe races.

“So, Kimi and Sebastian may bemore of a target for the race itself th -an the Mercedes guys, and also in thechampionship Sebastian is first andKimi is second. It would be nice to fin-ish the race in front of them. And I thi -nk if you finish in front of them, youwill be very close to victory here.”

AFP

BARCELONA: Nico Rosberg secured histhird career pole position as Mercedes com-pleted a hat-trick of qualifying successes -and then warned that he is worried histyres will let him down in Sunday’sSpanish Grand Prix.

The 27-year-old German led the way ashis team locked out the front row ofSaturday’s grid but he was immediatelyconcerned afterwards that he does notendure a repeat of his problems at lastmonth’s Bahrain Grand Prix where helimped home ninth.

“I had a really good lap at the end andit is great motivation for the team but wehave to be cautious because of what hap-pened in Bahrain,” he warned.

“Everybody’s been working hard backin the factory. We will face different issueswith the tyres than we did in Bahrain, butit will still be a big challenge with thetyres tomorrow.”

Rosberg clocked a dazzling best lap timeof one minute and 20.718 seconds to out-pace his nearest rival and Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by two-tenths of asecond. After poles secured by Hamilton inChina and Rosberg in Bahrain, this was amagnificent treble top for the resurgentMercedes outfit as they outclassed theirrivals at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Defending triple world championSebastian Vettel gave his best for Red Bullto qualify third ahead of Kimi Raikkonenfor Lotus as well as local hero and two-timechampion Fernando Alonso. AFP

Rosberg cautiousdespite pole

MEMPHIS, TENNESS -EE: Marc Gasol scored 20points and Memphis madeall six of its free-throwattempts in the final 63seconds to beat OklahomaCity 87-81 in game three oftheir NBA playoff secondround series. Gasol scored16 of his points in the sec-ond half on Saturday forthe Grizzlies, who retainedhome court advantage bytaking a 2-1 lead in thebest-of-seven WesternConference series.

Gasol attempted justfour shots in the first halfand finished six-of-14 fromthe field in front of a crow -d of 18,119. The Spaniard,who was named the NBA’sdefensive player of the ye -ar last month, drained eig -ht of his nine free-throwattempts and pulled downnine rebounds. AFP

GrizzliesdefeatThunder

Hibbert powers Pacers past Knicks

Ferrari’s Spanish driver Fernando Alonso sits in the pits during the first practice session atthe Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona on Saturday ahead of the SpanishFormula One Grand Prix. AFP/TOM GANDOLFINI

Alonso forecasts win

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

SPORTS 30

ROME: The leading trio ofNovak Djokovic, Roger Federerand Andy Murray all have workto do before the start of theFrench Open in a fortnight, withthe Rome Masters the last tour-nament chance to whip theirclay games into top condition.

Of the three leading seeds atthe event, which begins onSunday at the picturesque ForoItalico, only number threeMurray lasted until the quarter-finals in Madrid last week.

Defending champion Federerwas ambushed in the third rou -nd by Japan’s Kei Nishikori wh -ile Djokovic, the world’s top play-er, exited a round earlier at the

hands of Bulgarian Grigor Di -mitrov. Federer’s strategy of tak-ing seven weeks off to rest somephysical niggles and train back-fired as he went down to Nishi -kori in his second match back.

As a result, the Swissremains the only player in thecurrent top 10 not to have playeda final this season.

He and Tomas Berdych, whoput out Murray in Madrid, arethe lone members of the elitewithout titles in 2013.

“I’m going to make sure I’mgoing to be as well prepared as Ican be for Rome,” said 17-timeGrand Slam winner Federerbefore leaving Madrid.

“Clearly I have no choice butto hit the practice courts.”

Federer has never lifted thetrophy in Rome, where RafaelNadal (six titles) and Djokovic(two) have hogged the honoursfor the last eight editions.

Djokovic confessed to anklepain from his injury sufferedlast month in the Davis Cup.

Though he won Monte Carloat the expense of Nadal, andthen did not play for a fortnight,the Serb said that his fitness stillneeds work. “The only positivething is that I didn’t injure myankle worse before Rome andParis,” he said.

Djokovic hopes to remedy hislack of Madrid preparation bythe time he begins in the secondround in Italy.

He can also look for morerespect from sympathetic Italianfans than he got in Madrid,where he was jeered relentlessly

by the Spaniards.Murray may send an SOS to

coach Ivan Lendl in the US forsome extra clay tutoring afterhis Madrid loss, with the Scotheading to Rome in hopes of sur-passing his 2011 semi-final,which he lost to Djokovic.

Murray expects no particu-lar extra trouble from the backproblems which traditionallyarise for him on clay.

“I’m a bit sore at the begin-ning of the matches, and thenonce I warm up, I start to feel alittle bit better.”

David Ferrer takes thefourth seeding ahead of Nadalwhile Berdych is sixth.

Djokovic, Federer and Murray all have work to do before the start of the French Open, with theRome Masters being the last tournament chance to tune their clay game into top form.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLO -RIDA: Sweden’s David Ling me -rth drained a a birdie putt at 17to seize a two-stroke lead at thePlayers Champion sh ip, wheredarkness halted Saturday’sweather-hit third round. The USPGA Tour rookie was two strok -es in front of 14-time major cha -mpion Tiger Woods, Spain’s Ser -gio Garcia and fellow Swede He -nrik Stenson when play was sus-pended. The horn had sounded

to signal the end of play, butLingmerth had the option ofcompleting the hole he was on.

In the waning light he hadhit his tee shot at the par-three17th, featuring TPC Sawgrass’famous island green, to ninefeet. He calmly rolled it in to getto four-under for the day, 12-under for the tournament.

“I was rolling it pretty goodhere towards the end on theback nine,” Lingmerth said. AFP

Lingmerth leads atsuspended Players

Rafa des cribed reaching the final as a “dream” after he stormed into hisseventh consecutive final since returning from his injury layoff.

Kieran CANNING

MADRID: Rafael Nadal des -cribed reaching the final of theMadrid Masters as a “dream”after he stormed into his seventhconsecutive final since return-ing from a seven-month injurylayoff with 6-0, 6-4 win over com-patriot Pablo Andujar. TheSpaniard will play StanislasWawrinka in the final on Sundayafter the Swiss beat sixth seedTomas Berdych 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 inSaturday’s other semi-final.

“To be able to return to afinal here at home, in Madrid isa dream,” he said. “I am veryhappy and thankful for what Ihave been able to complete dur-ing this season. To be in thefinal of this Masters gives me aspecial excitement, now all thatis left to do is wait for the finaltomorrow.” World number 113Andujar was blown away in theopening set, winning just ninepoints, as Nadal broke threetimes to take it 6-0 and the 11-time Grand Slam champion said

he was happy with the aggres-sion he showed early on.

“I played very aggressivelyin the first set. In the secondPablo began to play at a betterlevel and more aggressively.

“I want to congratulate himfor his tournament, because thiswill serve him well for the futu -re.” Andujar had progressed tohis first ever Masters series se -mi-final and he believes Nadal isin even better than in their onlyprevious meeting at the French

Open in 2011 when the seven-time champion at Roland Garrosprogressed in straight sets.

“I think that Rafa played bet-ter. He committed very fewunforced errors. In the first sethe was very aggressive, and Iwas a little bit nervous,” he said.

“But I remember thatmatch where in the first set Iwas also nervous and Rafacommitted a few more errors. Iwas able to step in a little bitmore in the court. AFP

DavidLingmerth ofSweden playshis secondshot on the11th hole dur-ing round threeof THE PLAY-ERSChampionshipat THE PLAY-ERS Stadiumcourse at TPCSawgrass onSaturday inPonte VedraBeach, Florida.

AFP/ANDYLYONS

Top 3 look for Rome boostOF THE THREE LEADINGSEEDS AT THE EVENTWHICH BEGINS ONSUNDAY, ONLY MURRAYLASTED UNTIL THEQUARTER-FINALS INMADRID LAST WEEK.

Nadal to face Wawrinka in final

SCORECARDPUNE WARRIORS VS MUMBAI INDIANS

Pune Warriors innings (20 overs maximum)RV Uthappa† lbw b Malinga 11AJ Finch* c Smith b Johnson 10MK Pandey c Rayudu b Malinga 29Yuvraj lbw b Harbhajan Singh 33AD Mathews run out (Tendulkar) 0Nayar c Harbhajan Singh b Ahmed 11Richardson c Harbhajan b Johnson 8Parvez Rasool not out 4B Kumar c Smith b Ahmed 2Extras (b 1, lb 2, nb 1) 4Total (8 wickets; 20 overs) 112Bowling O M R W Econ MG Johnson 4 0 8 2 2.00AN Ahmed 4 0 27 2 6.75SL Malinga 4 0 27 2 6.75PP Ojha 3 0 28 0 9.33Harbhajan 4 0 14 1 3.50GJ Maxwell 1 0 5 0 5.00Mumbai Indians innings (target: 113 runs from 20 overs)DR Smith b Dinda 0SR Tendulkar c Pandey b Mendis 15KD Karthik†c Pandey b Yuvraj 17RG Sharma* c Dinda b Richardson 37AT Rayudu c Mathews b Dinda 26GJ Maxwell not out 13Harbhajan not out 4Extras (w 4) 4Total (5 wickets; 18.5 overs) 116Bowling O M R W Econ AB Dinda 4 0 35 2 8.75B Kumar 2 0 12 0 6.00KW Richardson3.5 0 28 1 7.30BAW Mendis 4 0 15 1 3.75Yuvraj Singh 4 0 21 1 5.25Parvez Rasool 1 0 5 0 5.00

Mumbai Indians won by 5 wickets

KINGS XI PUNJAB VS SUNRISERS HYDERABAD

Sunrisers Hyderabad innings (20 overs maximum)PA Patel† run out (Sathish/Harmeet)61S Dhawan c & b Harmeet Singh 15GH Viharic Miller b Sandeep Sharma 5CL White* lbw b Sandeep Sharma 10BB Samantray b Sandeep Sharma 0DJG Sammy lbw b Chawla 0KV Sharma c †Gilchrist b Awana 22NLTC Perera not out 32DW Steyn not out 1Extras (b 2, lb 1, w 1) 4Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 150Total (7 wickets; 20 overs) 194Bowling O M R W Econ P Kumar 4 0 32 0 8.00P Awana 4 0 35 1 8.75Harmeet Singh 4 0 39 1 9.75Sandeep Sharma (1) 4 0 21 3 5.25PP Chawla 4 0 20 1 5.00Kings XI Punjab innings (target: 151 runs from 20 overs)AC Gilchrist*† b Sammy 26Mandeep Singh c White b Steyn 0SE Marsh c Perera b Sammy 18LA Pomersbach not out 33DA Miller c White b Sammy 6R Sathish run out (Perera/†Patel) 25PP Chawla c Dhawan b Perera 0P Kumar b Steyn 1Harmeet run out (I Sharma/Sammy) 3P Awanac I Sharma b Sammy 0Sandeep Sharma (1) not out 0Extras (b 5, lb 1, w 2) 8Total (9 wickets; 20 overs) 120Bowling O M R W Econ DW Steyn 4 0 20 2 5.00I Sharma 3 0 22 0 7.33NLTC Perera 4 0 19 1 4.75GH Vihari 2 0 5 0 2.50DJG Sammy 4 0 22 4 5.50KV Sharma 1 0 6 0 6.00A Mishra 2 0 20 0 10.00

Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 30 runs

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

31

METRE 6S 501 40ChrisGayle(RCB) 175*HIGHEST

SCOREBESTBOWLER 5-204S 1608 61Michael

Hussey(CSK)

JamesFaulkner

(RR)

Chris Gayle(RCB)

Royal ChallengersBangalore still require afew more victories to

cement their spot among thetop four teams in their bid tomake it to the playoffs.

The Challengers are cur-rently tied at 16 points with theSunrisers Hyderabad. Thoughthey are placed above theHyderabad side, because of abetter net runrate, yet a defeatcould alter their positions onthe points table.

RCB are set to clash withKolkata Knight Riders today inRanchi.

Although struggling at theseventh position on the pointstable and with only a glimmerof hope remaining, the Knightsare still positive in theirapproach and believe that theycan still make it to the nextstage.

They are not intimidated bythe formidable Bangalore team

and instead believe that theyhave the arsenal in the team tofire the side to victory today.

KKR are undoubtedly agood team on paper but thedefending champions havefailed to replicate last season’sperformance, this year.

But this does not give theChallengers the change to becomplacent, since, on a goodday at office, KKR can still be

threatening.Skipper Gautam Gambhir

would hope to put up a goodshow today while the othersincluding Yusuf Pathan andJacques Kallis will have to chipin too.

Meanwhile, RoyalChallengers Bangalore willhope that Chris Gayle wouldget back to playing in the fash-ion that he is famous for whileskipper Virat Kohli, whomissed out on his ton by awhisker in the last match,would look to replicate his per-formance and take his team for-ward.

DwayneBravo(CSK)

21 wickets

At the moment, thecompetition is prettyopen. We still have afair chance of reach-ing the play-offs. Forme what matters isthe remaining threegames and we faceRCB on Sunday.

Gautam GambhirKKR skipper

P W L T PT NRCSK 13 10 3 0 20 +0.687

MI 13 9 4 0 18 +0.648

RR 13 9 4 0 18 +0.445

RCB 13 8 5 0 16 +0.540

SRH 13 8 5 0 16 -0.092

KXIP 13 5 8 0 10 -0.018

KKR 13 5 8 0 10 -0.071

DD 13 3 10 0 6 -0.737

PWI 14 2 12 0 4 -1.314

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

Moody heapspraises onParthiv PatelSunrisers Hyderabad coach

Tom Moody has heapedpraise on opener Parthiv

Patel for playing a “matureinnings”, which laid the founda-tion for their 30-run win overKings XI Punjab and improvedtheir chances of reaching the IPLsemi-final.

“Today [Saturday] wasParthiv’s turn to put his hand upand hats off to him because itwas a very very mature innings,a responsible innings andenabled us to get the total that wegot,” Moody said.

At one stage, we were staringdown the barrel about 100-110,”The coach Tom Moody toldreporters during the post-matchpress conference last night.

Patel’s 47-ball 61 guidedHyderabad to 150 for seven. Inresponse, Punjab could manageonly 120/9 on their home turf andwere left with only a mathemati-cal chance of reaching the play-offs. PTI

RCB VS KKR AT 4PMON SET MAX

Royal challenge for KKR

MichaelHussey (CSK)574 runs

IPL 6 BATTLE OF THE TITANS

Chennai Super Kings is theonly team this seasonwhich can breathe easy as

theirs is the only side which hasmade it to the playoffs.

But for a few instances, theKings from Chennai have per-formed consistently this season.

Their cricketing skills whichwere on display when theyplayed against SunrisersHyderabad on Wednesday, wasundoubtedly one of the best thatwas seen this season.

While winning or losingwould not worry the Kings toomuch, their performance couldspell trouble for many otherteams.

CSK are set to meetRajasthan Royals in Jaipur whenthe two encounter each othertonight.

The Royals have 18 pointsfrom 13 matches and are comfort-

ably placed at the third positionon the points table.

But if they fail to post a vic-tory today, and do win anymorematches this season, then theycould find themselves kicked outfrom the “top four” positions.

The Rahul Dravid led side,though not considered thefavourites this season, have putup a splendid show this year.

Not only have the experi-enced players performed well,but even the uncapped playershave made their presence felt.

With both the teams lookinggood and with them putting up agood show in the recent past, itwill be difficult to pick a clearwinner.

Evenly poised encounterRR VS CSK AT 8PM

ON SET MAX

G APARNA SAI

aparna.s@postnoon.com

SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2013

SPORTS 32

Tom WILLIAMS

LONDON: Substitute Ben Wats -on scored an injury-time winnerto give Wigan Athletic a sensa-tional 1-0 win over ManchesterCity at Wembley Stadium onSaturday in the biggest FA Cupfinal upset in 25 years.

With extra time beckoning,Watson met a Shaun Maloneycorner with a near-post headerto stun 2011 cup winners Cityand give Wigan the first majortrophy in their 81-year history.

Victory represented a fairy-tale moment for the modest nor -thwest club and their chairman,Dave Whelan, who punched theair with delight at the final whis-tle, after a shock that standscomparison with Wimbledon’s1988 success over Liverpool.

He had earlier led the teamonto the pitch, having brokenhis leg while playing for Blackb -urn Rovers in the 1960 FA Cupfinal in an incident that endedhis top-level football career.

Beneath driving rain, Wiganmanager Roberto Martinez cele-brated with his players on thepitch, as the Latics temporarilyforgot their perilous fate in thePremier League, where they areon the brink of relegation.

“You could see the goal com-ing — the performance was mag-nificent. We deserved it,” saidMartinez. “You dream of playingat Wembley and winning. Theunderdogs played with incredi-ble bravery and belief andfought the odds again. That’s theFA Cup.”

Watson said: “Unbelievable.The boys were fantastic and theydeserve it. To come on and scorethe winner in the FA Cup final isa dream.” Watson’s goal complet-ed a miserable season for Cityand their manager, Roberto Ma -ncini, who awoke on Saturday tomedia reports that he is about tobe replaced by Malaga managerManuel Pellegrini.

League champions last year,City will finish the season witho -ut a trophy after being burnt offby Manchester United in the lea -gue and crashing out of the Cha -mpions League in the group pha -se. “I don’t think that we playeda good game,” said Mancini. “It’sunusual for us because in a final,you (usually) play better. I don’t

think we played our football.”The Italian flatly dismissed

the rumours about his future.“It’s rubbish, this specula-

tion,” he told ITV. “I will still behere next season. It is rubbish. Iam very sorry for our fans.”

City were overwhelming pre-game favourites but Mancinishowed how seriously he wastaking the game by starting withJoe Hart in goal, despite havingpreviously vowed to perseverewith deputy Costel Pantilimon.

Wigan welcomed backAntolin Alcaraz following ahamstring problem, but MaynorFigueroa, Ivan Ramis, RonnieStam and Jean Beausejour allmissed out out through injury.

True to expectations, Citystarted on the front foot, withWigan goalkeeper Joel Roblesforced to parry a dipping YayaToure half-volley in the fourthminute after Carlos Tevez hit thewall with a free-kick.

Wigan refused to be cowed,

however, and City soon foundthemselves on the back foot.

Callum McManaman shouldhave done better than curl widefrom seven yards after cuttinginside Matija Nastasic fromArouna Kone’s sweeping pass,while Gareth Barry had to pro-duce a carefully timed challengeon McManaman right on theedge of the City area.

It was not until the 29th min -ute that City showed signs of lifeas an attacking force, with Robl -es narrowly diverting an effortfrom a sliding Tevez over the barwith his foot following a cut-ba -ck by David Silva. City ended thehalf strongly, with Robles savingfrom Barry and then springingto his left to fist away a well-struck curler from Nasri.

Mancini’s men remained onthe front foot in the second peri-od and Emmerson Boyce had toproduce a timely block to preve -nt Aguero from turning in Teve -z’s low cross at the near post.

Mancini introduced JamesMilner and Jack Rodwell fromthe bench and the pair nearlycombined for the opener in the72nd minute when Rodwell gothis head to Milner’s free-kick,only for Robles to save.

Wigan had been subdued, butwith 15 minutes to play, Maloneyalmost broke the deadlock with a

cunning free-kick from wide onthe right that bounced off thetop of the bar.

Wigan were given furtherreason for optimism in the 84thminute, when Pablo Zabaletawas shown a second yellow cardfor felling McManaman as hebore down on goal. Maloney wh -ipped the resulting free-kick wi -de, but Wigan had the momentu -m and in the first minute of inj -ury time, Watson glanced Malo -ney’s corner past Hart to writehis name in cup final history.

Wigan Athletic players celerbate with the FA Cup after winning the English FA Cup final against Manchester City andWigan Athletic at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday. AFP/IAN KINGTON

2013 Wigan Athletic; 2012Chelsea; 2011 ManchesterCity; 2010 Chelsea; 2009Chelsea; 2008 Portsmouth;2007 Chelsea; 2006 Liverpool;2005 Arsenal; 2004Manchester United; 2003Arsenal; 2002 Arsenal; 2001Liverpool; 2000 Chelsea; 1999Manchester United; 1998Arsenal; 1997 Chelsea; 1996Manchester United; 1995Everton; 1994 ManchesterUnited; 1993 Arsenal; 1992Liverpool; 1991 Tottenham;1990 Manchester United

Total FA Cup wins:Manchester United - 11Arsenal - 10Tottenham Hotspur - 8Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa - 7Newcastle United, BlackburnRovers - 6Everton, West BromwichAlbion, Manchester City,Wanderers - 5Wolverhampton Wanderers,Bolton Wanderers, SheffieldUnited - 4Sheffield Wednesday, WestHam United - 3Preston North End, OldEtonians, Portsmouth,Sunderland, NottinghamForest, Bury- 2Wigan Athletic, HuddersfieldTown, Southampton, LeedsUnited, Derby County, RoyalEngineers, Oxford University,Blackpool, Cardiff City,Burnley, Charlton Athletic,Barnsley, Notts County,Clapham Rovers, Wimbledon,Coventry City, Ipswich Town,Bradford, Blackburn Olympic,Old Carthusians - 1

List of recent FA Cup winners

Steven GRIFFITHS

LONDON: When Roberto Man -cini awoke on Saturday to repo -rts that he is set to be replacedas Manchester City manager byManuel Pellegrini, he musthave hoped for one last show ofdefiance in the FA Cup final.

A comprehensive victoryover Wigan at Wembley wouldhave been the ultimate two-fin-gered salute to the club’s Abu

Dhabi-based owners if Mancinidoes indeed lose his job.

Mancini could have claimedwith some justification thatending the club’s 35-year trophydrought by winning the 2011 FACup, then landing City’s firstEnglish league title in 44 yearslast season and securing anoth-er FA Cup to make it three tro-phies in three years would havebeen enough to remain incharge at Eastlands.

But instead his team respo -nded to the threat to their man-ager’s job by delivering a lack-lustre display and trudged aw -ay from Wembley on the receiv-ing end of one of the great Cupfinal upsets as Ben Watson’sstoppage-time header gaveunderdogs Wigan a 1-0 victory.

Not since Wimbledon’s infa-mous Crazy Gang shockedLiverpool in the 1988 final hasthere been such a stunning Cup

final result and it is likely toserve as the final act ofMancini’s City career.

Txiki Begiristain, the Citydirector of football, was seenmeeting with Pellegrini’s agentJesus Martinez in Madrid lastmonth and reports on Saturdayclaimed the Malaga managerhas agreed to join City, who aresaid to be willing to pay thefour million euro release clausein his contract. AFP

Wigan pile on misery for Mancini

Steven GRIFFITHS

LONDON: Wigan managerRoberto Martinez admittedhe was starting to plan forextra-time when Ben Watsonscored the goal that sealedone of the great FA Cupfinal upsets as his under-dogs shocked 10-manManchester City 1-0 atWembley on Saturday.

Martinez’s side dominat-ed for long periods againstlacklustre City, who hadPablo Zabaleta sent off for asecond booking six minutesfrom full-time, but the Latics

had been unable to maketheir superiority pay off.

Martinez was on thetouchline considering hisoptions for the extra periodwhen substitute Watsonescaped marker JackRodwell to power home aheader in the first minute ofstoppage-time.

Wigan then survived anerve-wracking last few min-utes before the final whistletriggered an explosion of joyas Martinez and his playerscelebrated the most unlikelytriumph. AFP

Martinez joyous after side wins final

WIGAN STUN MAN CITY