A BYTE OF LIFE Thursday, June 4, 2009

03
CHILD CHARRED
18-month-old girl dies after
air-conditioner catches fire at home

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 103

Second time lucky

After missing
IPL I with a
stress fracture,
Sudeep Tyagi
did justice to
his billing as
one of the
most promising
youngsters in
the country at
IPL II

» PAGE 07
02 NAMMA CHENNAI
Take a break
T he recession seems to be a perfect
opportunity to take a career break and
add some additional skills to your resume.
Keeping this in mind B-Schools have
introduced different programmes to attract
young professionals.
Chennai Business School (CBS), a
management school started to offer
industry-focused management programmes,
has introduced courses to help IT
professionals acquire multi skills. These
short-term programmes include: IS/IT course
covering project management and pre-sales/
business development/proposal writing.
Other domain related courses include
manufacturing, insurance, retail, banking,
financial services and telecom.
For professionals who are on a sabbatical or
those who prefer a full-time course, CBS has
programmes in different verticals.
For further details log on to www.cbs.org.in
or call 42424242.
STUCK IN THE
SRIYA NARAYANAN
STONE AGE
pets@goergo.in
E
ver wondered if your sham-
poo has blinded a rabbit?
Not many consumers are
aware that multi-national
cosmetic giants outsource grotes-
que animal torture to India be-
cause it’s less expensive here.
Gandhi would’ve been repulsed,
and so will anyone who learns
what ‘testing’ involves.
Sample this eye-irritancy test
for shampoo: “Laboratories use
albino rabbits because they have
large, sensitive eyes. Their eyelids
are held open with clips while
workers drip chemicals into their
eyes. The rabbits are usually not
given any pain killers - some rab-
bits break their backs as they
struggle to escape the pain. After
placing the chemical in the rab-
bits’ eyes, the testers write down
the damage it causes, which in-
cludes swelling, burning, blister-
ing, and blindness”. Glossy
commercials for shinier hair or
Alternatives to animal
testing include cell
cultures (just a
collection of tiny cells,
not a whole animal)
Happy environment day
Titan is celebrating its one-year partnership with
WWF - India with the launch of ‘Red Panda
watch’. This unisex watch has been crafted to
detail in consultation with WWF and is available
at Titan stores.
softer lips wouldn’t dare tell their
consumers about the horror that
takes place behind the scenes.
What’s the alternative?
“Alternatives to animal testing
include cell cultures (just a collec-
tion of tiny cells, not a whole ani-
mal). They’re cheaper and
produce faster, more accurate re-
sults than animal tests, which
means they’re safer for people
too. Companies can also use in-
gredients or combinations of in-
gredients that have already been
proven harmless, or use natural
ingredients,” says PETA. On
Thursday, activists staged a
unique protest targeting the Min-
istry of Health and shoppers,
dressed as club-wielding cave
people and carrying signs that
read: “Ministry of Health: Stuck in
the Stone Age. Ban Cosmetic
Testing on Animals.”
Look for the rabbit
Check the labels of all cosmet-
ics and detergents you buy –
some will have a ‘rabbit’ sign that
says ‘not tested on animals’.
Some cruelty-free companies are
yet to adopt the ‘rabbit’ symbol,
so check out www.caringconsu-
mer.com for an exhaustive list of
companies that do and don’t test
(in downloadable pdf format). If
you want to do more, shoot off an
ERGO Thursday, June 4, 2009
email to the heads of cosmetic
companies that test on our furry
friends, telling them you’ll boy-
cott their products until they
adopt alternative testing.
“In the 21st century, people can
choose to be cruel or kind,” says
PETA’s Dharmesh Solanki. “With
so many humane and scientifical-
ly valid alternatives available,
there is no excuse for using ani-
mals to test cosmetics products.”
■
(With inputs from PETA India)
Some companies that do not
test on animals
■ Amar Toothpaste
■ Anuraah Soap
■ Aroma Therapy
■ Bath and Body Works
■ Biotique International
■ Body Shop
■ Chambor Cosmetics
■ Chandrika Soap
■ Fa Cosmetics
■ Henkel India Ltd
■ Jainson Pharmaceuticals
Pvt. Ltd.
■ MAC Cosmetics
■ Neem Toothpaste
■ Nike Deodorants
■ Revlon Cosmetics
■ Schwarzkopf
■ Shahnaz Husain
■ Snowhite Soaps & Allied
Products Pvt. Ltd.
■ Vicco Toothpaste
 Thursday, June 4, 2009
Toddler charred to
death as AC
catches fire
Family caught unawares as
fire broke out in the wee
hours of Wednesday
ERGO CORRESPONDENT
feedback@goergo.in
I
n a shocking incident in
Chitlapakkam near Tamba-
ram on Wednesday morn-
ing, a faulty split
air-conditioner that caught fire
resulted in the death of an 18-
month-old girl. The toddler’s
mother, who was also injured in
the incident, is battling for life in
a city hospital.
According to Chitlapakkam
police, the deceased Monisha,
her mother Srivalli (34) and
brother Nagarjuna alias Vicky
(8) were asleep in their home in
It’s time to tweet
A fter events like Proto.in,
WikiCamp and BlogCamp,
The Knowledge Foundation is
gearing up to organise the
Twitter Camp. Twitter is a
“free social networking and
micro-blogging service that
enables its users to send and
read other users updates
known as tweets”.
‘Buzz 140’ will be a one-day
unconference, which will edu-
cate enthusiasts on Twitter,
discuss topics, issues and de-
velopment around Twitter.
The day-long conference
promises to cover as much
events happening in the Twit-
ter community – do’s and
don’t’s of Tweeting, life before
and after Twitter, Twitter pro-
jects and Twitter in other lan-
guages, to name a few.
03
Let’s save Earth
Tomorrow is World Environment Day. The United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) has themed this year’s WED as
‘Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change’. Are
you doing your bit to save the environment?
A file photo of Monisha
MMDA Nagar, Chitlapakkam, caped with minor injuries, he
when the incident occurred added.
around 6 a.m. Hearing cries The room was found com-
from inside the house, neigh- pletely burnt and soot covered
bours rushed in and attempted the walls and ceiling
to break open the door with a Police suspect that a technical
crowbar. When this failed, they snag in the indoor unit of the
broke open the bedroom win- split AC led to the fire. As the
dow and thick black smoke inmates of the house were
emerged from inside. asleep in the early hours of the
The charred body of the child morning when the fire broke
was found inside the bedroom out, they were caught unawares
when the neighbours entered, and had little time to react.
while Srivalli suffered severe The victim’s father, Shanmu-
burns and was rushed to Go- ganathan alias Ramesh (40), a
vernment Kilpauk Medical Col- chemical engineer with a pri-
lege Hospital, said a constable vate firm in Chennai, had gone
from Chitlapakkam police sta- to Singapore on work and is ex-
tion. However, Nagarjuna es- pected to return soon. ■ The room where the AC caught fire. PHOTOS: A. MURALITHARAN
Monkey & friends
The event is free and open
to all Twitter enthusiasts. The
other surprise element of the
camp is a tech quiz on Twitter,
which will be organised by In-
dian Quizzing League. The
camp will be held on June 21
at Photon Infotech Pvt. Ltd, No
2/102, Photon Towers, OMR,
Karapakkam.
Log on to http://tinyurl.com/
buzz140 to learn more. 쒀
Ergo Correspondent These boys seem to be having fun seeing the monkey on their Presidency College
campus in Chennai. PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR
04 VILLAGE ERGO Thursday, June 4, 2009

Car loses all wheels

A car in Switzerland lost all four of its
wheels at the same time when it was
travelling along the road - because the
owners had screwed them on incorrectly.

Portman to star in
comedy flick
Natalie Portman is set to feature in the
multi-million dollar comedy Your
Highness.
The Star Wars actress was said to have
booked her trip to Belfast for filming,
which is due to begin in July.
The movie tells the story of a “tale of two
spoiled and arrogant princes in a medieval
fantasy setting”, reports the BBC.
ANI

Burglars use Google to raid

Man thwarts robbery but gives
mansions
thief money Russian police have arrested two men who staged
An owner of a New York store thwarted a robbery only to audacious robberies in a chic Moscow suburb near the
take pity on the perpetrator, who claimed he could not presidential palace after studying satellite images of the
feed his family, and gave the man $40 and a loaf of bread, area on Google, a newspaper reported.
a video of the incident showed. The men had minutely pored over street pictures hosted
A video posted by the Newsday newspaper on its website on Google Maps and raided several homes in the Barvikha
showed a masked man wielding a bat as he entered a district, including those of lawmakers and businessmen.
convenience store in Shirley, Long Island, just after They used night vision goggles and broke into mansions,
midnight and demanded money. opening safes and spiriting away cash, jewellery and
But when the store’s designer watches.
owner, identified by AFP
the local Channel 12
TV station as
Mohammad Sohail,
pulled out a rifle, the Now, a software to change sex
masked man dropped Scientists have developed a software, which they
to his knees and claim can change the sex of a person on a computer
appeared to beg for by taking a live video feed of a person talking.
forgiveness. The software has been developed by computer
“He said ’I am sorry, I scientist Barry-John Theobald at the University of
have no money, no East Anglia in the UK and Iain Matthews at the
job, my family is Weta Digital in Wellington.
hungry,’” Sohail told In fact, according to the scientists, the software can
the TV station. “Then I take a live video feed of a person talking and make
feel bad for him ... I them look and sound like somebody else could
take $40 for him.” actually change that, the New Scientist reported.
Reuters PTI

Revealed: Sachin’s most

embarrassing moment
S
achin Tendulkar in tie with-
out a shirt, in socks without
shoes and with a towel
wrapped around him! This
would have been any shutter-
bug’s dream photo. But luckily
for the batting genius, there was
no lensman to capture him in
that “most embarrassing
moment”.
The year was 1992, and
Tendulkar was then turn-
ing out in the English
county cricket for
Yorkshire.
“In York-
shire we had
a Sunday Club. For fun one Sun-
day we decided on a particular
dress. We were all with ties with-
out shirts and socks without
shoes. It was the most embarrass-
ing and funniest moment.
Fortunately I could not capture
it on camera,” Tendulkar said.
Tendulkar also termed the Test
against England in Chennai last
December as one of the most
memorable ones of his life.
“The way we played and made
a comeback was special. We won
the match on the last day. We did
not play well on the first three
days.”
“From the post-lunch session
fourth day we turned things
around. I scored a hundred,
which gave me one of the most
memorable moments of my ca-
reer,” he said.
“Always a terrific feeling to be
in Kolkata. The first time I played
here was in 1990 at the Eden Gar-
dens when I played an interna-
tional game. Since then every
outing has been special. The sup-
port here is truly special. The
crowd has been right behind us
in every win,” the little master
said. ■
IANS
 Thursday, June 4, 2009
05
Websites of the day Squirrel covers nest in U.S. flags
Kids with mullets: http://www.mulletjunky.com/childmullets.htm A squirrel has been taking miniature American flags
Want to know what Paris Hilton is wearing this Autumn? Check out from a cemetery in Michigan and decorating its nest
the latest Hollywood fashions: http://tinyurl.com/ynbpjh with them.

THE ART OF DISPOSING

Spurned lover offers ring
in treasure hunt

A
New Zealand man, spurned by the
woman of his dreams, has come up with
a novel way of disposing of the diamond
engagement ring he bought her - a trea-
sure hunt.
Anyone keen to pick up the ring, valued at
NZ$5,000 (1,970 pounds), will need to be in
Wellington, on Saturday to join the hunt, the
Dominion Post newspaper reported.
“I met this girl I thought was pretty cool,
bought a ring, turns out she wasn’t as keen,”
Anthony Gardiner, a 29-year-old call centre
worker, told the Dominion Post.
Clues to the ring’s whereabouts will start
being posted on social networking site Twitter
(twitter.com/donoogle_com) at 8 a.m. local
time on Saturday (9 p.m. British time on
Friday).
Gardiner says he will keep posting clues,
and if the ring is not found by the end of the
day, “my clues will suddenly change into
directions.”
Having bought the ring in Hong Kong, he
couldn’t return it, and didn’t want to sell it, so
he hit upon the treasure hunt.
Hanging on to it in the hopes of finding a
willing recipient is also not an option. “Ob-
viously, it’s been a pretty unlucky ring for me,”
Gardiner said, adding he hoped it would be
found by somebody who has “found a cool
chick and who wants to give them something
they normally wouldn’t be able to afford.” ■
Reuters PHOTO: SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES/AFP

Nancy Reagan Say cheers

sees Ronnie at
night
N
ancy Reagan still sees her
deceased husband, Pres-
ident Ronald Reagan,
when she is alone at
night, she said in an interview.
“It sounds strange, but I see
Ronnie,” Reagan told Vanity
Fair.“At nighttime, if I wake up,
I think Ronnie’s there, and I
start to talk to him. It’s not im-
portant what I say. But the fact
is, I do think he’s there. And I
see him.”The Reagans’ deep
love for each other was famous
and five years after the Presi-
dent’s death, aged 93, Nancy
Reagan says: “I miss Ronnie a
lot, an awful lot.” “People say it
gets better. No, it does not,” she
added.
Reagan has long been inter-
ested in astrology, something
that has made her the target of
jokes. She told Vanity Fair of her
shock on hearing Obama quip
last November that he was only
going to take advice from living
ex-Presidents and not “get into
a Nancy Reagan thing about do-
ing any séances.”But she sug-
gested the harm had been
repaired.“I thought, there’s at
least going to be a note written.
Sure enough, that afternoon
(Obama) called,” her son Ron
Reagan told the magazine.
Since then she has been in-
vited to dinner with the Obamas
and spent 45 minutes on the tel-
ephone with Michelle Obama.
■ 쒀 A group of Chinese men take part in a beer drinking contest outside a bar in
AFP Beijing. PHOTO: AFP
06 SPORT ERGO Thursday, June 4, 2009

Spain on top
European champions Spain completed a year on top of FIFA’s world rankings while the Netherlands moved up to
second place for the first time in almost four years when the latest list was released on Wednesday. World
champions Italy moved up a place to fourth, Germany down one to third, Brazil down one to fifth, England up one
to sixth and Argentina down one to seventh. Inn were down one place to 155.

Chasing the
Bolt rules out 2012 triple
target
Usain Bolt, the
100 and 200
meters

elusive
Olympic
champion and
world record
holder, has
ruled out
running for
three
individual gold
medals at the Fisichella, Sutil want Q2 encore in Turkey
2012 London
Games. ERGO CORRESPONDENT
Reports earlier this week suggested feedback@goergo.in
organisers could rearrange the schedule to
allow Jamaican Bolt to defend his 100 and
200 titles, as well as run in the 400 in
London. But Bolt, who also picked up a gold
medal as part of Jamaica’s record-breaking
4x100 team in Beijing last August, rejected
any possibility of running the three
individual events.
“I never actually said that I could run three
events, because that’s a lot of load and I
really doubt whether I can do that,” Bolt
said at the launch of his track club in the
Jamaican capital late on Tuesday. “I don’t
think that I could do that at one track meet,
so somebody got it wrong along the line. I
may be doing 100 and 200, or 200 and 400,
but not all three.”
The 22-year-old is the main attraction at the
Racers Track Club, which lists his coach Glen
Mills as founder and president. The club,
which coaches athletes for the 100, 200, 400
and 400 hurdles, has 23 athletes on its
roster, including two female sprinters.
Reuters

Wrestlers grapple over

unpaid funds
Elite Indian wrestlers training for next year’s
Commonwealth Games have been forced to
pin down federation officials to reimburse
their expenses for two overseas Force India F1 driver Adrian Sutil (right) along with
tournaments. The wrestlers, who have in teammate Giancarlo Fisichella. PHOTO: SHASHI ASHIWAL
the past complained of poor diet in the
national camp and government funds not

A
reaching them, have accused the federation fter breaking their long-
of not passing on money already received standing Q2 jinx in Mona-
from the sports ministry. co, Force India drivers
“Before we left, the federation had told us Giancarlo Fisichella and
the ministry would reimburse the money on Adrian Sutil are now eyeing an en-
our return, but it is more than two core in Saturday’s qualifying ses-
months and we are still waiting,” a sions for the Turkish Grand Prix.
wrestler said. A federation official said Both Fisichella and Sutil were
the money, relating to two events in gatecrashers into the second
Belarus and Egypt in February and qualifying session (Q2) in Mona-
March respectively, would be returned co that allowed them a decent
to the wrestlers soon. The Indian midfield spot on the starting grid.
government has earmarked Rs. 700 Capitalising on that Fisichella
crore for the preparation of elite ran a wonderful, tactical race to
athletes for the games, seen as a big finish just outside the points
advertisement for India’s rapid economic bracket. The Italian reckons an-
growth. Indian wrestlers have performed other Q2 performance is a prere-
consistently in international meets and their quisite to go one better this
hopes were boosted after Sushil Kumar won Sunday. “We don’t have a lot of
a bronze at last year’s Beijing Olympics. new development coming
Reuters through for this race though so it
is going to be a tough one. But
once again we need to keep push-
ing. I’d love to get into Q2 again,”
Fisichella said.
His views found an echo in Su-
til, who added: “We have to keep
pushing and try to have another
strong qualifying that sets us up
for the race.”
Quantifying their desire for the
Turkish Grand Prix, Sutil said:
“The main upgrades will now
come in Silverstone so we have to
be quite realistic about the per-
formance this weekend. I enjoy
the track and you can actually
overtake in some corners so I
hope we can have some good
fights and be able to move up the
field. I think we’re solid midfield
contenders now so we have to get
to the finish and see where we
are.”
The much senior Fisichella
reckoned Sunday’s race would
test the drivers’ stamina and the
Italian was looking forward to an
exciting race. “I quite enjoy Tur-
key. It’s a very physical track, you
get lots of adrenaline when you
drive there with the gradient
changes and I have had some
good results, including a fourth in
2005 (with Renault),” he said.
Asked about the level of com-
petition, Fisichella said: “Looking
back at Monaco, I would say we
have more or less the same speed
as Toro Rosso and Williams. It
was a surprise to see BMW and
Toyota on the back row and rac-
ing behind us, but they are strong
teams with a lot of resources and
you wouldn’t count them out for
long.” ■
 Thursday, June 4, 2009
07

‘‘Once
I feel we are building all the time. With Brett batting at No 10 we feel we bat all the way
down. We showed today we’ve got seven or eight blokes who are frontline bowlers as well.
And when we are fielding at our best, we are probably as good as anybody.
Australia coach Tim Nielsen believed his side were gearing up well for the World Twenty20
after their impressive seven-wicket warm-up win against New Zealand at the Oval

beaten,
twice try
After a stress fracture put him out of
the reckoning for IPL I, Sudeep Tyagi
was one of the better bowlers for
Chennai Super Kings in South Africa
AYON SENGUPTA
ayon@goergo.in

S
udeep Tyagi at last had his long-awaited IPL debut in South Africa this
season. Tyagi came out of nowhere when Uttar Pradesh skipper Mo-
hammad Kaif spotted him at the state nets and handed him an oppor-
tunity in the big league when UP were in a spot of bother with seamer
Shalabh Srivastava drifting to ICL.
He had a 10-wicket haul on debut against Orissa and finished the Ranji
Trophy season with 41 wickets in 2007-08. His meteoric progress was
acknowledged by Chennai Super Kings and the 21-year-old was drafted in
for the inaugural IPL. “I was on a roll. From being a net bowler, I became
the strike bowler for my state side and people were even saying that I was
one of the contenders for the India side,” Tyagi says.
But a stress fracture on his back ruled him out and he had to wait six
months to recover before being picked for India A for the home series
against Australia A. In a four-day game, he destroyed the Aussies with his
pace and reverse swing getting the better of players like Simon Katich,
Philip Hughes, Adam Voges, Marcus North and Luke Rhonchi. Even the
rival skipper and Aussie opener Katich had a word of praise for him.
“After the initial high, those six months on the sidelines were painful. But
I came back more matured and learnt how to pace myself throughout a
match. You cannot and should not bowl with the same intensity across a
four-day game. You have to bowl according to the situation and condition.
I learnt all that during my rehabilitation programme at the NCA (National
Cricket Academy) in Bangalore.”
Tyagi now is taking a break after his IPL success and vacationing in
Jaipur when we caught up with him. “After watching the first season from
the sidelines I was adamant about being a part of this frenzy this year.
Fortunately, the team management reposed their faith and I hope I lived
up to their expectations,” Tyagi says. “It was very helpful to work closely
with Venkie Sir (Team India’s bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad, who was
also a part of Chennai’s support staff for IPL II). I had some problems
bowling to the left-handers and he asked me to change my angle and tweak
my action a bit and that has helped.”
Tyagi says he enjoyed every moment of the cricket madness in South
Africa and also the camaraderie amongst players from different national-
ities. “The atmosphere in the dressing room was electrifying. I was the
official Hindi instructor,” he says. And he had quite a few heavyweights as
students. “Initially it was the Tamil Nadu guys, Ashwin, Badrinath and
Amarnath. But then even Matthew Hayden and Murali (Muttiah Muralith-
aran) joined in. Murali already knew a bit; only his diction was not perfect.”
The Tamil trio, though, failed in their quest to teach Tyagi a word or two of
their language. “If Chennai’s a venue for IPL III, I’ll pick up Tamil.” ■
PHOTO: AFP
08 ROADSTER ERGO Thursday, June 4, 2009

Costly cooling
Keeping cool in summer has a price with a car air-conditioner system adding
between five and eight euros (seven to eleven dollars) to the fuel bill, according
to a test conducted by Germany’s motoring association ADAC. Reducing the
cabin temperature from 31 degrees Celsius down to 22 degrees Celsius adds
between 2.47 and 4.14 litres per 100 kilometres, a three-minute test found.

SMALL
WONDER
A top notch dirt-racing track for radio-controlled race cars is coming up on the ECR. So what’s so gre
about toy cars on a track you ask? Well, these small beasts could touch 100 kmph. Yes, you read that
right. Read on …
 Thursday, June 4, 2009
W
ho says you cannot be a
race driver without a rac-
er’s licence?
A brand new racing
track is coming up on East Coast
Road at the Silversands Resort,
just a few kilometres off the Gold-
eat en Sun Resorts. The TRP Racing
track though is a little different
t from you what you have in mind,
quite literally. The little differ-
ence is that the racing will hap-
pen exclusively on
Radar map on dashboard
Carmakers BMW is now offering for the first time up-to-date
radar weather maps to customers in Germany. The radar map,
updated every 15 minutes, illustrates the geographic
distribution of rain, hail or snow.
radio-controlled scaled-down
cars. But don’t let the size of the
cars fool you – these little beasts
can easily touch speeds upto 100
kmph.
Shivakumar Kamallakharan,
the man behind this unique con-
cept, shared with Ergo some in-
formation on the cars; the
NitroGP cars, for example, are ca-
pable of running 100+ kmph; the
Buggys and the electric GP cars
are capable of running at around
80+ kmph.
The cars are 1/10th in scale
with four-wheel drive, individual
suspension with oil-filled shock
absorbers and carbon fibre disc
brakes. The cars have sleek tyres
and also come with wet weather
tyres for wet weather racing. The
very expensive and sophisticated
RC toy cars come in with so much
detailing that it would be every
automobile lover’s dream to get
his hands on the remote.
The inspiration for the track for
Shivakumar comes from a deep-
rooted passion for automobiles.
RC gaming was his hobby and he
has now turned it into his profes-
sion with the exclusive RC race
track. Apart from being a radio
remote engine tunes, Shivakumar
also does street bike mods and
engine tuning for racing events.
Shivakumar has special plans
for Corporates for the RC race
track, including annual member-
ship and on-car advertising too.
The track is expected to be
open to public by the end of July
2009. The Dirt Track is almost
ready and the GP track is under
construction. The venue will have
air conditioned tents and a can-
teen to keep you fresh while the
race is on. Watch this space for
more updates on this front. ■
ALCOHOL
can make cars
more climate-friendly
The direct-injection ethanol engine runs primarily
on petrol and delivers maximum power when the
engine management computer adds a little ethanol
to the fuel injected into the combustion chambers
T
est results on a novel
ethanol-assisted engine by
the Ford Motor Company in
US have indicated that
alcohol can make automobiles
more climate-friendly.
According to reports, the unit,
called a direct-injection ethanol
engine, runs primarily on petrol.
When it needs to deliver
maximum power, like climb a hill
or overtake, the engine
management computer adds a
little ethanol to the fuel injected
into the combustion chambers.
This arrangement allows the
engine to operate at a much
higher compression ratio – a
measure of the amount by which
the fuel-air mixture is compressed
before being ignited than
normal.
“As a result, an average car
engine can be ‘downsized’ to one
that should have around 23 per
cent better fuel efficiency,”
officials at Ford said.
Normally, the downside of a high
compression ratio is that it
encourages premature ignition or
‘knocking’, which drastically cuts
down the power output.
Adding ethanol to the fuel
suppresses knocking.
“We’re trying to get the best of
both worlds,” said Paul Whitaker
09
of AVL Powertrain Engineering of
Plymouth, Michigan, which is
developing the technology with
Ford. “It’s like knock suppression
on demand,” he added.
Test results on a pickup truck
fitted with the new engine were
recently presented at the US
Department of Energy’s annual
vehicle technology review
meeting in Arlington, Virginia.
They showed a 23 per cent
improvement in fuel efficiency for
the same performance levels.
The ethanol from a 40-litre
auxiliary tank would last about
30,000 kilometres, according to
Ford.
Whitaker said that the next step
is to road test the engine in a
variety of vehicles and to ensure
that the engine does not become
unusable if the ethanol tank runs
dry.
Ford said that its ethanol-assisted
engine would cost 1100 to 1500
dollars more than a conventional
engine.
This is just one-third of the extra
cost of a hybrid petrol-electric
engine over a normal petrol
engine. Hybrids typically deliver
25 to 35 per cent better fuel
economy than a conventional
engine. ■
ANI
10 FLICK ERGO Thursday, June 4, 2009

Rare Monroe pics released online

Rare photographs of movie icon Marilyn Monroe, which
were taken almost 60 years ago, were released online
to mark her 83rd birth anniversary. Imdb.com reports
that the photos were posted on website life.com. They
had been taken by Life magazine’s photographer Ed
Clark in 1950.

Love the
bouquets,
not the
wedding
C ameron Diaz
has no plans to
get married in

Boyle
the near future,
but she loves
collecting
bouquets thrown
by the brides at
weddings.
It is tradition

will be back for the bride to

throw her
bouquet at the

B
ritish director wedding
Danny Boyle, reception and the
who filmed his woman who
multiple Oscar- catches the
winning Slumdog bouquet is said to
Millionaire in Mum- be the next who
bai, says he misses will marry.
the city when he is Though Diaz
away and that he is doesn’t want to
coming here next walk the altar
year to shoot an- soon, she makes
other movie. sure that she gets
“We’ve had a the bouquet
couple of meet- whenever she
ings about another attends a
project in Mum- wedding
bai. It won’t hap- ceremony.
pen this year. But it “I’m a
will certainly hap- commitment-
pen next year. I will phobe! It’s about being in the right position, the right
certainly enjoy place and the right time. I don’t want to get married. I just
coming back to want to catch the bouquet,” femalefirst.co.uk quoted her
Mumbai to make as saying.
another film,” The My Sister’s Keeper star has a huge collection of such
Boyle said. bouquets. ■
The director was IANS
in Mumbai to en-
sure that Slumdog
Millionaire kids Rubi-
na Ali and Azharuddin ‘You
Mohammed Ismail get
the houses promised to talking
them by the producers of
the film. to me?’
“What we’ve come
here for is to hand
over... things... to the
R obert De
Niro has
confessed that
trust (Jai Ho Trust he stole his
created for the Slum- famous Taxi
dog Millionaire kids). Driver movie
I know the newspap- line from rock
ers want to write legend Bruce
stuff like ‘Danny Springsteen.
Rides To Their The line “You talkin’ to me?”, which De Niro’s character
Rescue’. The truth recites to himself in the 1976 Martin Scorsese movie, has
about what we’re become one of the most famous movie quotes of all time
doing is far less and the acting legend has confessed it was inspired by a
glamorous and trip to a Springsteen concert, while he was preparing for
far more profes- the role, reports contactmusic.com.
sional,” said De Niro made the admission to Springsteen’s bandmate
Boyle. ■ Clarence Clemons who coached the actor to play the
IANS saxophone for movie New York, New York.
“(He) had been to one of our concerts and the audience
was yelling out ‘Bruce!’ In those days, Bruce would stop
onstage and say, ‘You talkin’ to me?’ De Niro was kind of
GETTY IMAGES channelling him,” said Clemons. ■
IANS
 Thursday, June 4, 2009
11
Sacha Baron Cohen MTV landing was staged
Actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s outrageous bare buttock landing in Eminem’s face at the MTV Movie Awards
was a rehearsed stunt, according to one of the show’s writers. And another report on Tuesday suggested
the Detroit rapper wasn’t the first choice target of the British provocateur to promote his upcoming movie
Bruno. Rumour has it that Eminem participated in Cohen’s stunt after Paris Hilton’s refusal.
Reuters

Cine City
Depp’s beach
is Heath’s Place
J
ohnny Depp has named a
beach on his 45-acre private Ba-
hamian island after late Heath
Ledger.
The Pirates of the Caribbean star
has shown off his island, Little Hall’s
Pond Cay, which he calls his “de-
compression”, in July’s Vanity Fair.
“It’s my way of trying to return
to normalcy. Escapism is
survival to me,” Us maga-
zine quoted Depp as say-
ing.
Little Hall’s Pond Cay
features six different beach-
es, named after Depp’s part- Bollywood for now
ner, Vanessa Paradis, and their Looks like Asin is the next to join the list of South
children, Lily Rose (10), and Jack (7) Indian actresses who have left Tamil cinema to settle
as well as his mentors Hunter S. in Bollywood. And she made it clear at a recent
Thompson and Marlon Brando. event in namma Chennai. But that doesn’t mean we
The actor has even named one won’t see her in Tamil cinema. As far as she gets a
patch of water ‘Heath’s Place’ after “challenging role”, Asin will be up for grabs.
Heath Ledger, who died of drug The Ghajini star will be next seen in London Dreams,
overdose last year (January 09). in which she has teamed up with Salman Khan and
Depp will be seen playing Ajay Devgan.
an incarnation of Ledger
in the fantasy movie,
The Imaginarium of
Doctor Parnassus,
which is due
later this
year. ■
ANI

Penalty shootout
Aishwarya Dhanush was recently in the news for her
new avatar as a dubbing artiste. She was reportedly
roped in to dub for Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in both
Raavan and Endhiran. Now, what we hear is that
the film crew has paid a penalty of Rs. 1 lakh to the
South Indian Cinema and Dubbing Artistes Union.
Reason: Aishwarya is not a cardholder of the
association. According to the rules of the union,
only cardholders are eligible to dub.
12 ERGO Thursday, June 4, 2009

Wednesday’s query:
What punch dialogue do your
parents use repeatedly when
they advise you?
■ You better get serious in life or somebody is
gonna get hurt really bad
Imran Sherif, Wipro
■ Neeyellam madu meika thaan layaku nu
solluvanga
Uday, Cognizant
■ Summa summa thinnutu thungaathe ethavathu
veetu velai seiya kathuko
Sindhujaa, Wipro
■ Sontha buthi illainalum, sol buthi irukanum
Lavanya, Steria
■ Seyya vendiya velaya seyyama irukradhu mudhal
thappu..seyya kudadha velaya seyyaradhu adutha
thappu Sibina from Wipro Technologies has nominated her friends as Partners in Crime.
Sudha, Cognizant The photo was clicked at Besant Nagar Beach.
■ Romba vaai pesara ma. Idhe madhiri ne pora
maamiyaar vitlayum pesadha. Ponna yepadi valathu
vachirukanga paarunu solvanga. Pesaradha konjam
kammi panikonu ma
Shree, Wipro
■ Periyavanga sonna perumal sonna madhiri
Selva, Infosys
■ Nan appavae sonnaen, (eppada sonenga? Ennada
sonenga?)
Sivanandam, TCS-eserve, Siva, HCL
■ Mara manda
Shanthi Sundaresan, Perotsystems
■ I told u so many times, y don’t u understand
Askash, CSS
■ Enakku oru magan irukan da, avan singam
polavae irupaan da..aana athu nee illa unga annan
Lexsminarayanan, TCS-eserve
■ This day, this time and this second never come
back in your life use it properly and get success in
your hand
Guru, FBSC
■ Veettukku adangatha jenmam yellaam oorukku
adangum Ramesh from Ford has nominated his teammates as Partners in Crime. The
Kamesh, Infosys
picture was clicked during his wedding.
■ Katrulla podae thootrikkol
MP.Roselin, Allsec
■ Urupadra vazhia paru
Gayathri, Wipro
■ Kanna innaikku kashtappatta pinadi kal mela kal
potu jam jam nu irukkalam
Saranya.M, Cognizant
■ Nanga ellam andha kallattula
Anand.K, Infoview Technologies
■ Moochu vittu nidhanamaa pesu. Intha speed la,
Vaigai express oda pottiyaa?
Deepak, Vasudevan Verizon
■ Nee aeppo thaan vazhkaiyila urupada poraiyo,
veetla soldratha kaekavae kaetkatha
Raj, HCL
■ Pata nahi kab gadha se aadmi banega
Prashant, CSS
■ Pathuka thambi varusham pona thirumba
varadhu
Nithin, Steria

Today’s query:
How to punish cubicle romeos? Balan Gayathri from TCS has nominated the IS Delivery Management team as
Partners in Crime. The photo was clicked at Muttukaadu.
 Thursday, June 4, 2009
■ Dear Thiru,
Wish you a great wedding.
May your days be filled with
happiness
This is PPS Team, wishing you
Many more happy returns of the
Suraj Valath Su- day
resh of Wipro ■ Hi Kayathiri@k3
Technologies has Many more happy returns of
been nominated as the day. May all your dreams
Office Angel by come true and this be another
Dhivya. fantastic year for you .
Suraj is a smart ■ May you have God’s best in
person who can everything .
handle difficult M.K, iNautix Technologies
situations easily. A ■ Dear Padmavathi
great communicator Happy birthday and have a
and a talented great year!
personality too. Enjoy your life and the dance
of life
Keep on shining like the sun,
Spread the pleasure like moon
light.
Happy birthday and many
more to come
Love N Wishes,
Sales Tool Team
HCL Technologies Friends, Navalur
■ Hi Sudharsan,
On your birthday we wish you
much pleasure and joy
We hope all of your wishes
come true.
Your generous helping hand,
Your kind words of support
and encouragement to us
May each hour and minute be
filled with delight,
And your birthday be perfect
for you!
Wishes from Venkat, Vivek,
Subhash, Sankararaman, Sriram
Vaidhyanathan, Balaji Dhanavel,
Sankar Nagarjan,
Shankar Elango, Raman,
Ramchandran, Venkateshkumar
Rekha Ponramar, Adelson, Selva,
Radhakrishnan Balamurgan, Srinivasan
from TCS has Duraiswamy
doodled this. Satyam Sap Team
■ Dear Pavunraj (Mr.
Brown),
I remember when the candle
shop burned down. Everyone
stood around singing Happy
Birthday Pavunraj.
By AU 7 and 8th batches
■ Hi Shibasis,
May you have all the joy your
heart can hold
All the smiles a day can bring
All the blessings a life can
unfold
May you have Gods best in
everything
Let the God Decorate each
golden ray of the sun
reaching u with wishes of
■Adyar Anandhabavan branch Chennai fulla irukkum success happiness and
aanna Adyar aalamarathoda branch adyar-la mattum prosperity for u
than irukkum.. ithu than ulagam. Shuvo Jonmodin! Pillar of
OSSI !
■Ration card-a vatchu Sim card vaangalam aana Janam Din ki
Sim card-a vatchu ration card vanga mudiyathu. shubkamnaayein!
Regards,
■Yennathan ahimsavathiya irundhalum chappathi- Wipro Technologies
ya suttu thaan sappida mudiyum. ■ Dear Vani (Immigration
Siva, CSS
team - CTS),
God picked up a flower and
dipped it in a dew, lovingly
touched it which turned in to
u, and the he gifted to me
and said, THIS FRIEND IS 4U.”
You are my best friend
forever.
Hope you remember this day.
Wish you a happy best
friend’s day and all success in
your new role.
Shankar N, MindTree
■ Dear Unnikkutta (Ujwal,
Aspire Systems)
Wishing you a very Happy and
Prosperous Birthday
May God bless you and have
a wonderful year ahead
With Love,
Amal, Midhun, Vinu, Regin and
John
■ Hi Nitya Varadan
We wish you many more
happy returns of the day
Good luck for your future
ILP Ahmedabad friends
Belated
■ Dear Naresh,
We wish many more happy
returns of the day. May you
acquire all that you desire and
each passing year be filled
with joy.
Good people are hard to find,
difficult to depart and
impossible to forget.
You are not only, one among
them. But you are the best
among them…
Keep rocking
Hope our little birthday wish
make you smile and feel
happy.
But dude, do remember, all
this is for your treat.
May you acquire all that you
desire and each passing years
be filled with joy.
Birthday Wishes!!
Lokesh, Rajan, Venmathi, Kala,
Deepa
and DN029 folks CTS
■ Dear Mahathi,
On your birthday we, the
customer world lab wish you
much pleasure and joy.We
hope all of your wishes come
true.
May you have God’s best in
everything. Happy Birthday :-)
Have a brightful future :-)
Loads of love and prayers,
Customer world lab,
TCS
■ Dear Dad,
I wish u a long and healthy
life with lots of happiness
Love U DAD
Krishna Kumar, Cognizant
■ Scientist Senthil,
13
Cycle Senthil la irundha nee
ippo Scientist Senthil
Aagitae!!!!
Nee Vida Pora Rocket la enga
paeraiyum serthu ezhuthu.
I’m wishing you another year
Of laughter, joy and fun,
Surprises, love and happiness,
And when your birthday’s
done,
I hope you feel deep in your
heart,
As your birthdays come and
go,
How very much you mean to
us,
More than you can know.
Engal Doggie ku,
Iniya Piranthanaal
Vazhuthukal!!!!!!
With Love,
Astathara
■ Hi Jai,
Wish U Many More Happy
Returns of the Day. We wish
u have a great and successful
year ahead
both in ur work side as well
as ur family side. We all
expecting you to achieve
great height sooner in some
field of ur liking... All the
Very Best.
Mohamed Ghouse, Arun,
Prabanjan, saravanan, Anitha,
Fazil, Suresh, kadhir , Viji & jdpa
team:):):)
■Hi Dhandapani & Sadiya
Fathima,
May this special day be filled
with sweet memories and
happy hours. Wishing you all
the fun and excitement that
only birthdays can bring!
Cheers,
Human Resources, Coastal
Training Technologies India (P)
Ltd, Chennai
■Hi Sujitha,
Wish you many many more
happy returns of today. May
all your dreams come
true.
Cheers,
Claims Team
TCS, Siruseri, Chennai
■Hi Angel Rebeccal...
Happy Birthday to you
I hope it’s a good one
You’re not getting older
Your life has just begun
You have so much
Life yet to live
And you have so much
To this world to give
Live each day to the fullest
As time can move so fast
Fill it with what pleases you
And make the good times last
Regards,
THD Utilities
TCS- Eserve
14 TRAFFIC JAM ERGO Thursday, June 4, 2009

Cricketer kills a birdie

A cricketer killed a pigeon after hurling
a ball across a pitch in Leeds, England
and hitting the bird in the air.

sudoku

Anbarasu
Mullainathan from
Tata Consultancy
Services shot this
picture at Agumbe, a
hill station in
Karnataka. This
photo has also
bagged first prize in
TCS ZIP-ZAP photo
contest.

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 Thursday, June 4, 2009
Penguin poo seen in peace
Scientists discovered dozens of emperor
penguins breeding in Antarctica after they
saw a large amount of bird droppings in
pictures taken from space.
15
Word’s worth
Linguipotence (ling-gwip-uh-tunce) mastery of languages or the
tongue. A nonce word used once by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: “The
New Testament contains not the least proof of the linguipotence of
the apostles, but the clearest proof of the contrary.”

B.C

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

It’s likely to be an average day for professional
work. Mundane tasks may consume lot of time and
energy and still your concern for quality of work
may remain high. In second part of the day, you
may be worried about pending work.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

At the beginning of the day you might have to do
lot of hard work at office. As the day progresses,
you may feel worked up and tired. In second half of
the day, you will be more concerned about love life
and related matters.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

You will be developing good professional skills in
BORN LOSER first half of the day and second part is all about
putting those skills into practice. In second half of
the day, you may need to ensure that your love life
is not sidelined because of any reason.
CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20
Ganesha augurs you enjoying good time at work at
the beginning of the day. In second half you have
scope of proving your professional skills, finds
Ganesha. Time is good for working on new
assignments.
LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20
Constant thinking process may keep you busy today.
Be it home or office, you may be busy making
plans. In later part of the day, you may be highly
concerned about domestic affairs and specifically
about relationships.
VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20
In first half of the day, you may talk more and work
FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT less, but in the second half of the day you may
work more and talk less. In later part of the day
you may enjoy nice dinner with your beloved or life
partner.
LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20
At the beginning of the day, your focus will be on
yourself but as the day progresses, you may start
thinking about money matters, job responsibilities
and job security. Your relations with your lover may
strengthen up because of a positive event.
SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20
Even if the day doesn’t begin with any good news,
not to worry, as later part of the day favours you
completely. In later part of the day you may be
appreciated by peers and superiors for your decision
and understanding.
SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20
Ganesha foresees you keeping very busy with
various activities at office. Later part of the day is
slightly unfavourable for important professional
decisions but at the same time it is a good time for
love life.
CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20
You may remain energetic and highly active in first
part of the day but towards later part of the day
your focus may shift to gains that you expect out of
the efforts that you have been putting in till now,
Ganesha says.
AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20
PREVIOUS You will be sharing your views about your work
with the team members or even with superiors. It
ISSUE’S might be slightly difficult to convince everyone on
each point but you may try hard to prove your
SOLUTIONS points.
PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20
Ganesha feels that your mood may change in
second part of the day. First part is totally
uneventful so you might be dealing with routine
office work but in second half, you will be
motivating others.
Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni
16 ! ERGO Thursday, June 4, 2009

Actress Heather
Graham arrives for
the premiere of
The Hangover at
the Grauman’s
Chinese Theatre in
Los Angeles. AFP
PHOTO / ROBYN BECK

Shaolin Warriors with

the Chinese State
Circus perform during
a photocall at the
Theatre Big Top in
Watford in north
London. AFP PHOTO /
CHRIS RATCLIFFE