A BYTE OF LIFE Friday, August 1, 2008

www.goergo.in

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 2 No. 150

A question
of ethics
Francis P. Barclay looks into the argument Relive Ergo
behind a recent PIL that called for a ban on
the use of obscene visuals to sell condom Blitz online
» Page 04 Candid looks, swaying steps and musical notes
… Ergo Blitz was packed with high-energy per-
formances that kept everyone entertained for
those 2 days. Relive some of the best moments of
Ergo Blitz on our website - www.goergo.in. We
have uploaded videos of the event.
02
Namma Chennai
Actor’s house burgled
Burglars struck at the house of Tamil film
and television actor Anand (40), of the film
Thiruda Thiruda fame, at Uthandi on ECR
and decamped with 32 sovereigns of gold
and precious stones worth lakhs of rupees.
The burglary came to light after the actor
and his family returned from an overseas
vacation on Wednesday.
Police said the actor’s house, located on 3rd
Main Road of VGP Layout in Uthandi, was
an easy target for burglars as the actor and
his family left for Thailand on July 23 for a
week-long holiday. Burglars gained access
to the house by breaking open an iron grill
on the terrace. Nearly 32 sovereigns of gold
jewellery, crystal ware and other precious
stones kept in the almirah in the bedroom
on the first floor went missing.
Anand and family returned home on
Wednesday night to find their home
ransacked, with clothes, bags and bottles
scattered around. A check revealed that
their valuables had disappeared.
The burglary could have occurred any time
during the family’s absence as there were
only a few domestic helps residing in the
house, police said.
Following a complaint registered by the
actor with the Neelankarai police, senior
officials, including the area deputy
commissioner of police and assistant
commissioner of police, visited the house
and conducted preliminary investigations.
Fingerprint experts were called in, who
conducted a thorough search of the scene
of burglary.
The estimated loss is believed to be worth
Rs. 4 lakh.
ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008
Chennai’s lifestyle
Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi’s new magazine ‘inbox 1305’ will be
launched today at Landmark (Spencer Plaza) at 11 a.m.
The lifestyle magazine will feature topics on sports, fashion,
travel and food. A host of Chennai’s celebrities will be writing
articles in the magazine.
Music sans barriers
Pakistani
band
Strings
will join
hands
with
Parikrama
ERGO CORRESPONDENT took their act across the border to on June 17, 1991 in New Delhi.
feedback@goergo.in India only to realise they already They have several live perfor-
were a recognised band in the mances and original numbers to
F
or all those hardcore fans of country, thanks to club remixes their name. Parikrama has more
local rock, hold your breath of their songs. than 1000 concerts to their name,
– Pakistani band Strings will which have been held all over In-
join hands for a perfor- Parikrama dia in more than 40 cities and
mance with Parikrama, right here The word Parikrama means participated in various interna-
in the city. ‘orbital revolutions’ in Sanskrit. tional competitions held in India
The concert is being held by The band was officially formed and abroad. ■
the Indian Institute of Planning
and Management (IIPM) as part
of their annual college fest A-
maze ’08. Running on similar
lines as IIT Saarang, the college
fest will host a variety of competi-
tions, and will feature a concert
on the final day.
Strings
Strings are an internationally
acclaimed Pakistani pop band
comprising two members. The
band was formed when four col-
lege students—Bilal Maqsood,
Faisal Kapadia, Rafiq Wazir Ali
and Kareem Bashir Bhoy—decid-
ed to form a band in 1988 in Ka-
rachi. In 1992, the quartet
disbanded only to make a come-
back with two of its members, Bi-
lal and Faisal later in 2000.
While the initial band was rid-
ing on the new wave of Pakistani
pop music, the later formation
ushered a new revival in the mu- When, where, what?
sic industry of Pakistan. Event: Strings and Parikrama concert
Kapadia and Maqsood fol- Venue: Wesley Grounds, Royapettah
lowed in the footsteps of Junoon Time: 6.30pm onwards, August 2
and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Contact: 9941451007 (Deepak Ganesh),
99431 81981 (Vijay Arun)
 Friday, August 1, 2008
Clean Chennai
To address the need for professional
cleaning services and products, Clean
India Show 2008, will be held at the
03
Chennai Trade Centre from August 7 to 9.
Besides exploring a wide array of cleaning-
related technology and services on show, trade
visitors can look forward to a complementary
educational component.

Czech film festival

ERGO CORRESPONDENT
feedback@goergo.in

B
uckle up for yet another
film festival from the Indo
Cine Appreciation Founda-
tion (ICAF) in association
with the Embassy of Czech Re-
public. The Czech film festival
will feature six award-winning
films, many of which are themed
on war and love.
ZELARY (2003)
It is the 1940s and the Czech
lands have been occupied by the
Nazis. Eliska is a young woman
who is unable to complete med-
ical school because of war and
now works as a nurse in a city
hospital. She is also involved in
the resistance movement along
with her boyfriend and their
friend.
DARK BLUE WORLD (2001)
During World War II, a number
of Czech airmen flew alongside
British RAF pilots against the Ger-
mans. When war ended the
Czechs went home, only to face
imprisonment in forced labour
camps under the communist go-
A screen shot of Dark Blue World
vernment. Seasoned pilot Franta
(Ondrej Vetchý) and young hot-
head Karel (Krystof Hádek), travel
to Britain to offer their skills.
When Karel’s plane is shot down
not far from the base, he finds
himself made welcome by an En-
glish woman, Susan (Tara Fitz-
gerald).
REBELS (2001)
This is a musical film set in hot
summer of 1968. A small town in
Czech border region, three final
year school girls and three rebels,
A scene from the film Rebel
who just do not wish to have any-
thing in common with the pre-
sent totalitarian regime. A film
with a lot of songs, which provide
the film story with an important
and un-changeable character of
the end of sixties period mood of
easygoing, and non-committal,
in association with fate , inter-
weaving of personal and political
development forms the structure
of this tragicomedy.
WILDFLOWERS (2005)
Kytice is a series of seven short
films thematically linked and
based on a series of ballads writ-
ten 200 years ago by K.J Erbena,
regarded by some as the Czech
equivalent of William Shakes-
peare.
AUTUMN SPRING (2001)
A tragicomedy featuring a
youthful 75-year-old dreamer
who unlike his worrying wife, re-
fuses to reconcile himself to
growing older. He lives life as
never ending challenge in which
every day becomes a delightful
When, where,
what?
Event: Czech film
festival
Timings: 6.15 p.m. on-
wards, August 4 to 7
Venue: South Indian
Film Chamber of Com-
merce, 606 Anna Salai
Contact: 9840151956
opportunity for new adventures.
HANELE (1999 )
Hanele is a timeless tale of gen-
erational and ideological conflict
set in an enclave of religious Jews
in Sub-Carpathian Ukraine in the
1930s. Without dowry, and refus-
ing to marry the slow-witted vil-
lage boy who wants her hand,
beautiful Hanele escapes provin-
cial Polana by joining a Zionist
youth group recruiting young
men and women for work in the
big city. ■

TELL ME A FABLE
A storytelling session with Jeeva Raghunath
ERGO CORRESPONDENT lead a group of people with a back-
feedback@goergo.in ground in theatre and a passion for sto-
ry telling in rendering folk tales of
When, T his bilingual storyteller uses hand-
puppets, paper and sign language
to tell stories. Jeeva Raghunath,
Tamil Nadu in Tamil. Her workshops
are interactive and are based on tried
and tested storytelling ideas and meth-
where, who is well-known in the city, ods. Under her, students will be able to
specialises in training very small learn storytelling techniques, develop-
what? children and also trains adults in ing a story, communicative skills
storytelling, role-play, creative through stories, exploring India and
Event: Storytell- writing and communication skills. developing language skills through sto-
ing session with During the session, Jeeva will ries. Her programmes have been used
Jeeva Raghunath- in schools, colleges, cultural associa-
Timings: 6.30 This bilingual tions, hospitals, libraries and mu-
p.m, August seums.
storyteller uses She is now an author of children’s
Venue: Alliance hand-puppets, books and has translated 17 books and
Francaise paper and sign written two original stories, which in-
Auditorium clude a wide range of Indian and Asian
language to tell folk-tales, European tales, family sto-
Contact: stories ries, true life incidents, cross-culture
28279803/ stories and modern stories. ■
28271477
04
Big Story
The debate over
condom
wrappers
A recent PIL filed at Madurai bench of the Madras High Court
raises an interesting debate. Francis P Barclay talks to sexologists and
a representative of the Advertising Standards Council of India
W
hile campaigns advertis-
ing the use of condoms
are getting vigorous and
animated, a recent PIL
filed at the Madurai bench of Ma-
dras High Court raises an inter-
esting debate: should obscenity
be allowed on condom wrappers;
and more importantly who de-
cides the standards.
A businessman from Madurai
filed the PIL seeking a ban on ob-
scene visuals on packages and
advertisements of the condoms,
the Madurai bench of the Madras
High Court ruled that condom
manufacturers cannot market
their products “indiscriminately”
with obscene visuals.
His complaint is that obscene
visuals on condom packages cre-
ate a wrong impression about
condoms, primarily medical
products and not inducers of sex-
ual desire.
What is the strategy behind the
use of such visuals on condom
wrappers? Are they necessary or
not?
A tricky issue
“It is actually a tricky issue,”
says sexologist G. Sampath Ku-
mar, adding that the obscene vi-
suals on condom wrappers acts
as a “stimulating factor” of sex.
“Premarital sex has become a
commonplace phenomenon and
there are many factors that in-
duce it,” he points out.
Another city-based sexologist
points out: “Ladies, especially
those sexually active, carry con-
traceptives with them. Levels of
awareness on sex and related is-
sues are also high among the IT
professionals whose lead lavish
and swanky lifestyles.”
“Certainly when people are ex-
posed to obscene visuals, they are
tempted to have sex. Condoms
come in myriad shapes, types,
sizes and flavours claiming to en-
hance sexual pleasure. And pic-
tures to suit each of them,” he
says, adding that condom wrap-
pers are disposed carelessly and
it even lands in the hands of chil-
dren sometimes.
However, he agrees that con-
dom promotion is crucial now
and adds that instead of using
those visuals on the wrapper,
they can be used on the inner foil.
“Condoms are used even by illit-
erates and the visuals attract
them.”
‘It backfires’
Finding obscene visuals un-
necessary on condom packages,
Dr. Amudha Hari, gynaecologist
and critic on sex-related issues,
makes it clear that condoms are
primarily contraceptives, a med-
ical device. It is used to avoid
spread of STD (sexually transmit-
ted diseases) and pregnancy.
In fact, she adds, the naked pic-
tures on the wrappers make peo-
ple feel that condoms are rather
sexual inducers and pleasure
boosters. Due to this, the con-
sumers are diffident to ask for it
ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008
You can also send your views on the issue to us at
feedback@goergo.in. If you want to lodge a complaint against the
obscenity on condom packages with the Advertising Standards
Council of India, log on to the website www.ascionline.org
in shops. “Instead of us-
ing pictures of naked
people on bed, they can
use the space to create
awareness on condoms
and tell about the advan-
tages of its use.”
Who decide?
Though the court
noted that the right
to carry on busi-
ness is subject to
reasonable restric-
tions that could be
imposed in the in-
terest of decency and
morality, it said that
it is difficult for the
court to fix standards of
decency and morality
and the Advertising
Standards Council
of India (ASCI), a
self-regulatory vol-
untary organisation
of the advertising in-
dustry, would be in a bet-
ter position to deal with the
issue.
But the Council told Ergo
that it has not received any
complaint on condom wrap-
pers so far. “After a
consumer lodges a
complaint with
us, we will place
it before the
Consumer Com-
plaints Council for
discussion,” said Alan Colla-
co, Secreatry General, ASCI. ■
Illustration: Francis P Barclay (francis@goergo.in)
Friday, August 1, 2008
05
Dress Classy with Cherie- D
For designer wear drop into Studio Saks and choose from an
exclusive line of classic, contemporary and couture ensembles by
Cherie- D. Address- Studio Saks, Padmavathi Road, Gopalpuram.

Bookworm
CORNER
Top Ten
Fiction
The 3 Mistakes of My
Life – Chetan Bhagat. Rs.
95
2. Brida – Paulo Coel-
ho. Rs. 295
3. Sea of Poppies – Am-
itav Ghosh. Rs. 599
4. A Prisoner of Birth –
Jeffrey Archer. Rs. 270
5. Unaccustomed Earth
– Jhumpa Lahiri. Rs. 450
6. Shantaram – Gregory
Roberts. Rs. 470
7. The Kite Runner –
Khaled Hosseini. Rs. 315
8. A Thousand Splen-
did Suns – Khaled Hossei-
ni. Rs. 395
9. The Alchemist – Pau-
lo Coelho. Rs. 195
10. The Japanese Wife –
Kunal Basu. Rs. 395

Top Ten Non-

Fiction
1. The Secret – Rhonda
Byrne. Rs. 550
2. The Last Lecture –
Randy Pausch. Rs. 295
3. Cold Steel: The Multi
Billion Dollar Battle for a
Global - Tim Bouquet &
Bryon Ousey. Rs. 650
4. Greatness Guide 2 –
Robin Sharma. Rs. 195
5. Execution – Larry
Bossidy & Ram Charan.
Rs. 650
6. Go Kiss The World:
Life Lessons For The
Young Professional –
Subroto Bagchi. Rs. 399
7. We Are Like That On-
ly – Rama Bijapurkar. Rs.
495
8. Chicken Soup for In-
dian Soul – Jack Canfield
& Raksha Bharadia. Rs.
275
9. Who Will Cry When
You Die – Robin Sharma.
Rs. 165
10. The Monk Who
Sold his Ferrari – Robin
Sharma. Rs. 185
Courtesy: Crossword
06
Village
DO YOU SPEAK
ENGLISH?
Maybe not if you teach it in Costa Rica
L
ess than 10 percent of En-
glish teachers in Costa Rica’s
public schools and colleges
have a good command of the
language, according to the Minis-
try of Public Education, citing its
own study Wednesday.
Only 315 out of 3,193 English
teachers from educational insti-
tutions across the Central Amer-
ican country were able to show
they could give good lessons to
their students.
Most teachers showed serious
Most teachers showed
serious weaknesses in
one or several of the
areas of reading,
comprehension,
speaking and writing
weaknesses in one or several of
the areas of reading, comprehen-
sion, speaking and writing, said
the study, carried out with the
Fundacion Costa Rica - United
States, which promotes English
here.
The problems were worse in
more developed tourist areas,
where there is a growing demand
for English-speaking staff, the
study showed.
Several recent polls among
Costa Rican businesses show that
the country’s labor market suffers
from a lack of good English
speakers.
The deputy education minister,
Alejandrina Mata, told reporters
that the ministry was working
with universities to increase the
number of improvement classes
for teachers. ■
AFP
ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008
Most valuable
The most valuable nutrients of the
potato are in the skin.
Scientists develop ‘emotional’
robot
Scientists in Britain have created an emotional robot
which appears to respond to being cuddled or
scared. The Heart Robot, developed by scientists at
the University of the West of England in Bristol, was
aimed to explore human reaction to machine that
give emotional feedbacks. Heart Robot - in reality
half robot and half puppet - is the star attraction of
the ‘Emotibots’ exhibition at London’s Science
Museum. With a beating heart, a breathing belly,
and sensors that respond to movement, noise and
touch, the robot reacts emotionally to being scared
or cuddled. He flinches in apparent alarm when he is
shouted at.
PTI
BBC fined after new phone-in scandals
The BBC was fined 4,00,000 pounds (US$
7,91,000) on Wednesday after a string of top
television and radio shows faked winners of
their competitions. The fine, imposed by media
regulator Ofcom, is the latest in a string of
similar scandals involving British broadcasters,
which has tarnished their reputation for
transparency, particularly over competitions. In
the latest round of revelations, Ofcom said that
the producers of some shows had decided to
broadcast competitions which viewers invited to
take part had no chance of winning. Ofcom said
viewers were told that if they called in to pledge
money, they would automatically be entered for
a prize draw to win flights to the United States.
AFP
Bugs save pest-controller’s life
An Australian pest controller who got lost in the desert
while prospecting for gold survived by turning for help
to the bugs he usually kills – and eating them. Theo
Rosmulder, 52, managed to stay alive in the harsh West
Australian desert for five days by knocking the tops off
termite mounds and ‘getting stuck into them’, The
Australian newspaper reported. “It’s quite funny that
the things that I kill to make a living are the things
that kept me alive,” said Rosmulder, who was
eventually found by Aboriginal trackers. Police said the
part-time prospector was in a “particularly good
condition for the ordeal” when he was found about 10
kilometres from his group’s campsite about 130
kilometres north of Laverton.
AFP
Scottish smoking ban cut heart attack
Scotland’s 2006 ban on smoking in public places
cut the heart attack rate by 17 per cent within
one year, with non-smokers benefiting most,
researchers reported on Wednesday. The study
is the first real-time, large-scale look at how a
ban on second-hand smoke might benefit
smokers and nonsmokers. Earlier research
looked at the effect of smoking bans in
individual cities, or had other limitations. The
number of people admitted to nine Scottish
hospitals for a heart attack dropped 14 per cent
among smokers, 19 per cent among former
smokers and 21 per cent for those who had
never smoked.
Reuters
 Friday, August 1, 2008

Lost and found

07
A letter that was lost for 60 years has finally made its way
This day, that year
back home. The letter never made it to its intended It was in August 1, 1936 that
recipient, and Xan Wedel of Kansas was shocked to find Adolf Hitler opened the 11th
the latter that discussed the 1948 Presidential election, a Olympic Games in Berlin.
town’s new pastor and new electric fridges in her mail box.

William’s girlfriend
prefers to be an
‘ordinary person’
when the Prince Williams’
girlfriend refused an up-
grade to first class and in-
sisted on being treated like
a regular passenger.
She asked the staff to call
her by her name and said
“Please call me Kate.”
“She may be dating the
future king but she’s so
down to earth. It’s the first
time we have had a passen-
ger turn down the chance
of an upgrade,” The Sun
quoted BA staff as saying.
Meanwhile Middleton is
set to join William this

S he might be dating Bri-

tain’s future King but
week after he leaves war-
ship HMS Iron Duke.

Kate Middleton prefers to
be an ordinary person.
The cabin crew of British
Airways (BA) were startled
BRITNEY SPEARS,
They would be spending
next week the Caribbean is-
land of Mustique. ■
ANI

Celebration time PARIS HILTON

AND OBAMA
McCain defines Obama as a man who like to behave like celebrities

쒀 Eight year-old Nojud Ali (R) and nine year-old
Arwa (L), cut a cake to celebrate their
divorces in the capital Saana on Wednesday.
Nojud was forced into an arranged marriage
at the age of eight with a 28 year-old man.
Yemen has no law governing the minimum
age of marriage. AFP PHOTO
P
resumptive Republic presi-
dential nominee John
McCain has defined his
Democratic Party rival Ba-
rack Obama as man who likens
himself to celebrities like Britney
Spears and Paris Hilton.
McCain has aggressively la-
belled Obama as arrogant, out of
touch and unprepared for the
presidency.
According to the New York
Times, the Republicans are trying
to portray Obama as a candidate
who believes that the presidential
race is all about him.
Audacity watch
The Republican National Com-
mittee has begun an anti-Obama
Web site called ‘Audacity Watch,’
a play on the title of Mr. Obama’s
book ‘The Audacity of Hope.’
And, in a concerted volley of tele-
vision interviews, news releases
and e-mail, campaign represen-
tatives have attacked him on a
wide range of issues, including
tax policies and energy proposals.
The moves are the McCain
campaign’s most full-throttled
effort to define Obama negativ-
ely, says the paper.
Voters in doubt
Obama has been under an in-
tense public spotlight for the last
year, but polls indicate that for all
the enthusiasm that he has gen-
erated among his supporters,
many voters still have questions
about him, providing Republi-
cans with an opening to shape his
image in critical groups like white
working-class voters between
now and Election Day.
The run of attacks against Oba-
ma over the last couple of weeks
have been strikingly reminiscent
of that drive, including the Bush
He labels Obama as
arrogant, out of touch
and unprepared for
Presidency
team’s tactics of seeking to make
campaigns referendums on its
opponents — not a choice be-
tween two candidates — and at-
tacking the opponent’s perceived
strengths head-on.
Attention and adulation
Central to the latest McCain
drive is an attempt to use against
Obama the huge crowds and ex-
citement he has drawn, including
on his foreign trip last week, by
promoting a view of him as more
interested in attention and adula-
tion than in solving the problems
facing American families.
McCain’s more focused assault
comes after one of his worst
weeks of the general election
campaign, when he seemed to
fumble for a consistent, over-
arching critique of Obama, who
winged around the Middle East
and Europe.
McCain has frequently spoken
about the need for civility in poli-
tics. ■
ANI
08
Technorama
No slowdown in world
PC market: Barrett
I
ntel Corp, the world’s biggest
microchip producer, expects
no slowdown in global de-
mand for personal computers
despite economic problems in
the United States and in other
countries, Intel Chairman Craig
Barrett has said.
He also told reporters in Lis-
bon, where he was to sign a
draft deal with the Portuguese
government to make 500,000
cheap portable computers for
schools, that the company was
upbeat on demand prospects for
low-cost computers and broad-
band wireless systems.
“We gave a relatively upbeat
business forecast, saying that de-
spite the economic problems in
the United States our business is
so international that we didn’t
see any slowdown in the PC mar-
ket,” he said.
Barrett said a range of econo-
mies have not been seriously af-
fected by the U.S. slowdown,
providing hope that the crisis
will have limited implications.
“We are seeing ... that the slow-
down in the U.S. hasn’t spilled
everywhere else. The world’s
economy is not as robust as it
We are seeing ... that the slowdown in the U.S. hasn’t spilled everywhere else. The world’s
economy is not as robust as it could be, but it’s not a disaster
SNIPPETS
could be, but it’s not a disaster.”
Apart from broadband wire-
less, and the next generation of
low-cost computers, Intel also re-
mains bullish about the intro-
duction of more digital
capability in health care.
“There’s a huge opportunity
to use it not just in the back-of-
fice but in remote diagnostics,”
he added.
Referring to the European
Union’s recent antitrust charges
against Intel, Barrett said price
reductions for microprocessors
and computers have an “anti-in-
flationary nature” while prices
are rising globally and also said
that was a testimony to high
competition in the sector.
“It looks as the market is func-
tioning as it should, because ev-
ery year consumers are getting
more for less. We continue to say
that, please just look at the facts,
don’t just listen to a competitor
complaint,” he said.
Intel lawyers have previously
said that that new charges filed
against the company by the Eu-
@Work
Nokia’s two new Biz
blowers
Nokia’s latest business
phones, the slider-type E66 and
the full QWERTY E71, make their
debut this month. The latter is
essentially a slicker and toned-
down version of its predecessor
the E61. What this HSDPA phone
From PMP to GPS
does new though is a 3.2-meg
camera at the rear, a front-cam
for video conferencing, and Wi-
Fi/GPS. An upgrade to the E65,
the E66 shares the same features
as the E71 - sporting WiFi, GPS
and HSDPA, save that it replaces
the QWERTY keypad with a slid-
ing numerical one. Keep ‘em
coming Nokia!
TBC, www.nokia.com
ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008
Save the tiger
Nokia has joined hands with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to support the
latter’s tiger conservation initiatives in India. The two will work towards
providing education to villagers for sustainable development and to
increase awareness on tiger conservation.
ropean Commission could lead
to higher prices for consumers.
The Commission issued addi-
tional charges against Intel ear-
lier this month, saying the U.S.
company had paid a retailer to
refrain from selling computers
with chips made by compet-
itor Advanced Micro De-
vices Inc.
Last year, the Com-
mission accused In-
tel of giving
computer makers
rebates to limit
their use of rival
AMD’s chips or
avoid them alto-
gether. ■
Archos’ Jukebox now also a
wayfinder Articles sourced from Infomedia
Plug any Archos 605 PMP into group and appeared first in T3
this GPS cradle, and it Magazine
transforms
from mobile
jukebox to in-
car satnav. So
when you’ve NFCing things
finished watch- Just tap Nokia’s 6212 Classic
ing movies, just with the Parrot Party Black Edi-
cradle it, sucker tion speaker and they’ll sync,
it to your wind- using Near-Field Communica-
screen, and you’re ready to tion, faster than you can say
find your way home using its GPS gub- “Bluetooth is dead”. NFC will
bins. Excellent. As well as European soon be standard, bringing an
mapping, there are traffic updates, lane end to pairing phones etc via
assistant to get you off at the right junc- user names such as “Mad Alan’s
tion, and speed camera alerts. In combi- Nokia Funbox”. Snap these up
nation with a 605 WiFi, it’s also got up and beat the crowd.
to 160GB of storage and the ability to Parrot Party Black Edi-
record TV shows. Not too many sat- tion: TBC, parrot.biz
navs can do that now, can they? Nokia 6212 Classic,
Rs 8,500* standalone, or Rs 25,000* TBC, nokia.com
with 30GB player, www.archos.com
 Friday, August 1, 2008
Welcome to the Cabinet Ministry
KARTHIK SUBRAMANIAN
karthik@goergo.in
T
here is nothing more rock-
ing that a good-looking cab-
inet to add spice to that
monster gaming PC. Gam-
ers are nodding I am sure.
For this week’s column, I
thought I would catch up with an
old friend of mine, Rajesh Doshi
of Zebronics, and discuss with
him some of the most gorgeous
cabinets (chassis, case … whatev-
er you want to call it) available for
PCs.
As I walked into to the Zebron-
ics Demo Zone on Ritchie Street,
Get those sparks cleaned up
Y ou have a car, you drive it, fuel
it, polish it, brag about it to
friends and flaunt it on the
streets, but did you ever think of
what goes on under the hood?
We all know the answer, a big
loud NO! We will touch upon
many sides of the engine in the
future but today we will look at
that one tiny little part called the
Spark Plug. It’s one of those com-
ponents that play an important
I was stunned at the range of
chassis available today and that
too at fairly affordable prices. Ze-
bronics market close to 70 differ-
ent chassis and needless to say
some are more eye-candy than
the others. “Things have changed
a lot since we last met,” Rajesh
points out, mostly referring to my
waistline and partially to the ad-
vance pointing out both at my
waistline and also referring to the
computer cases.
Gone are the days when com-
puter cases came in just three
colours – white, off-white and
black. Today they are some seri-
ous value-additions if you have
role in burning fuel efficiently.
With plugs, the colour is an
important indication of en-
gine health. Black is
bad, you’re run-
ning rich Grey
is bad, you
the cash to burn. “There are the
dual fan chassis, the three-fan
chassis, the screwless chassis, the
ones with temperature control,
touch-screen panels,” he reels
out.
For the uninitiated, the more
the fans, the better the cooling …
especially if you are a game freak
and have added those high-pow-
are running lean, brow-
nish pink (on the insu-
lator) is a good sign.
If you ever experi-
enced the car not run-
ning smooth or misfiring
while the engine is idling
mode, then the problem
could be a dirty or faulty spark
plug. Replacing or cleaning the
spark plug is not a tough task to
execute.
Here are 5 simple steps to clean
them
1. Before touching anything in
the engine compartment, make
sure the engine is not hot. Let it
cool if you just got back after a
drive
er graphic cards.
The first chassis that I saw on a
computer that really blew my
mind was the high-end Alienware
Systems designed with the dis-
cerning gamer with wads of cur-
rency. The most striking aspect of
Alienware is its transparent look,
which gives gamers the opportu-
nity to truly to show off their
ware. The good thing today is that
there are some low-end options
available that are a good substi-
tute. Zebronics itself has tied up
with game hardware major Nvi-
dia to launch a transparent cas-
ing that is way cooler than any I
have seen before. The price range
2. Remove the
wires off the Spark
Plugs and unscrew
them from their
mounting.
3. Use a glass wool or steel
wool to scrub the thread and re-
move dirt that must have accum-
ulated over time. Do not use this
wool on the ceramic insulator.
4. Use the brake cleaning fluid
or the spray on spark plug cleaner
and a yellow cloth or any soft
cloth to wipe off any oil deposit or
debris.
5. The contact point of the
plugs and the gap between them
must be cleaned and the gap
needs to be calibrated as per
09
PHOTOS: R.RAVINDRAN
for the cabinets range from
Rs.2,000 to Rs. 3,500. Do note that
the prices do not include the
SMPS and are for the casing only.
Send in your enquiries to en-
quiry@zebronics.info. To simply
drool over the chassis, drop in at
4, Narasinghapuram Street. Also
note that the Zebronic Demo
Zone does not retail the product.
■
Ritchie Street Chronicles is a
weekly geek peek at the
electronics market situated on
the Street off Anna Salai, also
known as Narasinghapuram
Street. Ping me your feedback at
karthik@goergo.in
manufacturer’s
specification.
After following all
the steps listed, above
insert the spark plugs back
into the cylinder and tighten it.
Finally attach the wires back on.
It is best to replace plugs once
every 12 or 18 months. With a
clean and good set of plugs the
fuel is burnt efficiently for a nice
and smooth ride. ■
Roadster is our new weekly
column on all things automobile.
Vikram Sunderraj is a guest
columnist. He blogs on
www.motorheader.com, http://
shoutat.blogspot.com and http://
chennaiwithin.blogspot.com
10 ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008

Food for thought

Backpackers Polish Cuisine is a mixture of Slavic culinary traditions.

It is rich in meat, especially chicken and pork, and
winter vegetables and spices, as well as different kinds
of noodles the most notable of which are the pierogi.

ELBLAG CANAL
Gravity-defying
cruise like none other

P
oland’s Elblag canal is a
gravity-defying waterway
like none other, offering a
cruise that is part easy-go-
ing romp, part San Francisco ca-
ble car ride through idyllic
countryside.
“It’s unlike any other canal
cruise in the world. Parts are in
the water but on other parts the
entire boat travels uphill on dry
land between canals on wide-
gauge railway carriages,” said Pa-
wel Zastepowski, 38, the skipper
of a canal boat who has spent 15
years cruising the waterway.
“It’s really quite incredible –
not only is it 148-years-old but
the hauling system is entirely po-
wered by water,” he said.
Depending on the point of de-
parture, boats are hauled nearly
100 meters (109 yards) up or
downhill – about the height of a
30-storey building – over a near
10-kilometre (6.2-mile) incline
using an ingenious system of hy-
dro-powered cable tracks on five
slipways, like steps between ca-
nals. The Oberlandischer Kanal,
as it is called, was built by Ger-
man engineer Georg Jakob
Steenke between 1845-1860 on
orders from then King of Prussia,
Friedrich Wilhelm IV, and was
used to transport goods, mostly
wood.
“It’s the only hydro-powered
technology of its kind in the
world,” Zastepowski said with
more than a hint of pride.
Water falls onto water wheels –
like the kind in old mills – to pow-
er the system of cables that haul
vessels perched atop special car-
riages along the tracks. The
mechanism has required only
PHOTOS: AFP

minor repairs since 1860, the

skipper said. While the network’s
up-and-down section runs for
9.23 kilometres, the entire cruise
covers 82 kilometres, winding
along the canal and a string of
small lakes between the northern
cities of Elblag and Ostroda.
From the pages of history
The canal can also accommo-
date sailboats and small yachts,
many of which enter the lush wa-
terway from nearby holiday spots
like lake Jeziorak. The experience
is both engineering and a natural
marvel.
Flocks of storks, herons and
eye-catching European Kingfish-
ers with electric blue wings and
bright orange bellies are among
dozens of bird species populating
the waterway. Yellow and white
water lilies dot the waterway, and
passengers are lulled by the
sound of wind rustling in lush
thickets of reeds.
“It’s just peace and quiet, mar-
shlands, lakes and a nature re-
serve for water fowl,” said the
skipper. “We have more than 200
species, including white-tailed
eagles – there are about 20 here
now.”
He said guests come “from all
over Europe and the world really
– Germany, Holland, Belgium,
Danes, Japanese, Koreans and
even Saudis.”
Most of the foreign tourists are
German, however, often with
family roots in the surrounding
lake districts of Warmia and Ma-
zurian. Prior to World War II, this
picturesque north-eastern corner
of Poland was East Prussia, or
Ostpreussen, an exclave of Ger-
many where ethnic Germans
comprised more than 80 percent
of the population.
“It’s a present for my mum be-
cause her mother came from this
area,” Hamburg lawyer Caroline
Moeschel, 35, said at a lodge in
Galkowo, one of the stops on a
sentimental road trip with her 72-
year-old mother Renate. “For us
it’s something the grandparents
told us about.”
Long a holiday spot, the late
pope John Paul II, an avid out-
doorsman, kayaked along the ar-
ea’s many rivers and marshland
waterways – sometimes likened
to the Louisiana Bayou – while
still a priest in his native Poland.
Since the collapse of commu-
nism in 1989, yachting on nearby
lakes, including Poland’s largest,
Sniardwy, has gained in popular-
ity for Poles and foreigners.
But a sinister reminder of the
past sits in what is now the Polish
hamlet of Gierloz, where Adolf
Hitler built his Wolfsschanze, or
Wolf’s Lair, a massive concrete
bunker he used as the command
centre on the eastern front
against the Soviet Union in World
War II.
The site went down in history
July 20, 1944 when the German
colonel Claus von Stauffenberg
staged a failed assassination at-
tempt against the Nazi dictator. A
film based on the story featuring
Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise
as Stauffenberg is currently in
production. ■
AFP
 Friday, August 1, 2008
Ape man
HUNT CONTINUES
FOR ELUSIVE
CREATURE IN
MEGHALAYA’S
GARO HILLS
E nvironmental activists
and social organisations
continue their search to as-
certain whether or not the
elusive “ape-like” and “phe-
nomenally strong” creature
which locals claim has been
sighted several times in the
densely populated Garo hills
of Meghalaya, really exists.
Known as “Mande Burung”
(jungle man) the creature,
locals claim, is around 10
feet tall and weighs at least
300 kilograms and is some-
what like the Yeti found in
Nepal’s Himalayan region.
For the past several years
now enthusiasts from the
Achik Tourism Society say
they have been venturing in-
to the hill’s deep jungles to
find out whether or not the
animal really exists and not
just another figment of
imagination. However, those
who have seen the “Mande
Burung” have many interest-
ing stories to tell. It was re-
ported on January 18, 1999
by villagers that a man pass-
ing through a forest was cap-
tured by this mammal which
forced him to feed on its
breast. The victim’s account
said “the milk was sour with
a mixture of bitterness”. On
July 2005, a woman recount-
ed that “a big hairy creature”
entered her thatched hut
while she was asleep with
her child. She described the
animal that she saw in the
light of firewood as “enor-
mous” and “one who
stamped out the fire before
disappearing in the dark-
ness”. The woman was un-
harmed, the reports said.
While local forest officials
carried out futile investiga-
tions into the incidents,
Principle Chief Conservator
of Forests VK Nautiyal said:
“There may be some unex-
plored zoological species
like some type of spiders-
...But definitely not a huma-
noid. There is no scientific
basis or credible evidence as
of now about such a huma-
noid.” ■
PTI
11
Perfect time to travel
Beijing hotels get cheaper ahead of Games
B
eijing hotels that had hoped to
cash in on an Olympic boom by
hiking rates said Tuesday they had
to slash prices in a last-ditch bid to
fill empty rooms.
Occupancy rates for the hotel industry
were lower than expected in the run-up
to next month’s Games after many hotels
more than tripled their normal rates, they
said.
Now rates for three- and four-star ho-
tels are tumbling as hotels try to fill emp-
ty rooms by attracting both overseas and
domestic tourists. “Bookings are so low
that we have no choice but to cut prices,”
said Zhang Ting, sales manager for the
Zhongyu Century Grand Hotel.
Zhang said that the hotel hiked its rates
to 2,500 yuan (367 dollars) a night – more
than six times the rate of August last year
– in a bid to cash in on the Games.
Not up to the expectation
“But we put our prices too high from
the start because our expectations for the
Olympics were too high,” she said.
With only 30 percent of the hotel’s 220
rooms booked for the Olympic period,
the management had no choice but to
slash prices, she said. Its rates for the
Olympics have now been cut 20 percent
to 2,000 yuan.
“The surrounding hotels are all doing
the same thing,” said Zhang.
Several other hotels said that they were
cutting prices in an effort to fill empty
rooms. The Super House International
said its room rate had gone down from
3,600 yuan to 2,880 for one night. Cheng
Hong Hotel said it had cut its room rate
from 2,000 yuan to 1,400.
Average rates for four-star hotels had
gone down from 1,500 yuan to 800 yuan,
while three-star rates had gone down
from 700 yuan to 400, according to re-
ports in the state-run press on Tuesday.
Earlier this month the Beijing munici-
pal tourism bureau said that the occu-
pancy rate for four-star hotels during the
Olympics was 44 percent – while rates for
three-star hotels were even lower. Five-
star hotels were more than 70 percent
booked.
Beijing officials have said that the city
was expecting 450,000 to 500,000 foreign
visitors during the Games, with an addi-
tional one million Chinese tourists flock-
ing to the capital. However, tourist
numbers have been far lower than ex-
pected so far this year, with Chinese press
identiftying high hotel costs as one factor
keeping domestic visitors away.
Repeated warnings of terrorism threats
and strict security measures for the
PHOTOS: AFP
Games that include tougher visa require-
ments are the reasons often cited for few-
er than predicted foreign tourists. ■
AFP
12
Portfolio
’
SHALINI SHAH
shalinishah@goergo.in
WHAT WITH THE CHEETAHS, LEOPARDS
AND TIGERS LURKING IN YOUR WARDROBE
T
hese are things that have
never been particularly ‘in’
or ‘out’, as if in mockery of
those wardrobe astrologers
who tell you what or what not to
wear every season, every year.
On clothes, on the inner linings
of coats or handbags, on swim-
suits, mittens, caps and even
rugs, they have been forever.
Nothing else has trodden those
wide lines between classy, punk
rock and catty with as much ease
either.
Yes, animal prints. What bet-
ter way to let your wild side out
without raising eyebrows of ani-
mal activists.
Animal prints are a favourite
with Roberto Cavalli (for H&M),
Gucci, John Galliano for Dior
(Fall-Winter 2008 Haute Cou-
ture collection shown in
Paris), Dolce & Gabbana,
Proenza Schouler,
Diane von Fursten-
berg, Oscar de la Renta, Christian
LaCroix and Prada.
And the red carpet circuit, in-
cluding Jennifer Lopez, Sharon
Stone (at the Cannes red carpet),
Lindsay Lohan, Beyonce Know-
les, Paris Hilton and Jessica Alba,
wears it with consummate ease.
One of the most popular cloth-
eshorses of animal prints is for-
mer Spice Girl Mel B. So when
she unveiled her clothing line,
Catty Couture, in April 2008, eve-
ryone knew what to expect.
Leopard, cheetah, tiger and
zebra are the most popular ani-
mal prints when it comes to
clothing, though giraffe, Dalma-
tian and cow also wander about
here and there.
Choose the print that suits
you. Close-knit prints like leop-
ard suit all body types. However,
larger ones like giraffe and cow
should be worn with the care
that accompanies wearing sun-
ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008
flower-print dresses.
Do not opt for a head-to-toe
animal-print look. Stay clear of
jumpsuits. Pair animal prints
with neutral shades like black,
white, beige, khaki or brown.
For example, if you’re wearing a
zebra-print skirt, pair it with a
black blouse.
A leopard-print coat would
look good on a black shirt. A
cheetah-print top would look
good with beige trousers. And so
on.
Another way is, if you’re wear-
ing a simple knee-length animal-
print dress try neon accessories.
This, however, suits zebra or
cow prints more than others.
If you don’t lean toward
the adventurous, get small
animal-print pieces, like a
cap (which you can pair with
a neutral-coloured outfit), a
bag, belt or a silk animal-print
silk scarf. ■
Friday, August 1, 2008
13

BULLETIN
1. Michelle Obama
features in this year’s
Vanity Fair 2008
International Best
Dressed List. Others on
the list include Carla
Bruni, Sarah Jessica
Parker, Daniel Craig,
Kate Middleton and
Michelle Obama David Beckham.

2. M.A.C. has teamed up with Manish

Arora to create a limited edition Raj-
inspired cosmetics
collection. The line
comprises Eyes On
Manish, a six-shade eye
shadow compact; two
lipsticks; two hues of lip
gloss; and two shades of
powder blush. The
collection will be
available from October
2008. Manish Arora

3. Tight-fitting trunks beat socks and

sandals into second place in a male ‘What
Not To Wear’ list. The list was compiled by
fashion experts at Debenhams. Hipster
jeans which show off women’s ‘muffin
tops’ topped the list of items women
should
avoid.

4. The
Wall Street
Journal
plans to
publish a
new ‘lifestyle’ magazine called WSJ starting
in September, according to publishers. WSJ
will be the first new publication from The
Wall Street Journal since Rupert Murdoch’s
News Corp acquired Dow Jones & Co, the
paper’s owner. The
magazine comes as print ad
revenue for newspaper and
magazine publishers is
withering and shifting
online.

5. Expected to fetch at
least 300 million euro
(almost half a billion
dollars), an art collection Yves Saint Laurent
amassed over four decades by late fashion
king Yves Saint Laurent and his companion
Pierre Berge goes up for sale next February.
Neither Christie’s nor Berge’s own auction
house, Pierre Berge et Associes, would
provide information on
the sale, saying details
would be released in
September.

6. Paul Smith has

opened its first flagship
Paul Smith store in India at UB City in
Bangalore. The store has been designed by
Barnard and Wilson. The Paul Smith
Boutique is on 19- 20, UB City, 3 24, Vittal
Mallya Road, Bangalore.
Agencies
14 ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008

Wellness
The last course
In a true Chinese meal, the last course
is soup because it allows the roast duck
entree to "swim" toward digestion.

Intoxicated and aware

SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV and joyful.
Now in yoga we have always

R
ecent research says that been saying that we can get you
joyful people have a greater into high states without any out-
number of areas active in side chemical. So I can have peo-
their brain than the intelli- ple stoned without any outside
gent or the intellectual. Once you influence! One can get people in-
are in such an exuberant state of to certain internal states, the sig-
energy, health is naturally taken nificance of which is not just
care of. That’s why I always say pleasure. It leads to a deep sense
good health is only a side-effect of well being which sets a founda-
of yoga. Yoga means that your ex- tion for a human being to seek
perience of life has become such other things.
that you experience everything as Scientists have always dismis-
one. Union has happened. You sed spiritual bliss as a hallucina-
have thrown out your sensory tion. Now there is scientific proof
body in such a way that it in- that one can go into extreme
cludes the whole universe. states of bliss that are not halluc-
Interestingly, there are millions inatory; they are chemically sup-
of cannabis receptors in the hu- ported in the system. When I talk
man brain, and no one has been about creating the right kind of
able to explain why. Recently, an chemistry, it’s about getting
Israeli scientist pointed out that deeply intoxicated with absolute
the body itself is producing nar- awareness. When you are fully
cotics and the brain is always aware and intoxicated, you have
equipped to receive it. Only those a stability which is unmatched.
people who are producing rea- Your peace and your well being is
sonable amounts of narcotic in 100% in your hands. ■
their systems are really peaceful

Honey! How about some home remedy

W
ho would have ever thought that your
kitchen cupboard houses some of the
best medicinal cures. Honey is not just
great with your ice tea. When used with
cinnamon powder, a wonderful spice, the com-
bination of the two can provide a good cure for
all sorts of ailments.
The unique healing abilities come from the
essential oils of cinnamon and honey’s enzyme
that produces hydrogen peroxide qualify the
two “anti-microbial” foods with the ability to
help stop the growth of bacteria as well as fungi.
Here are a few ways you can use Honey and
cinnamon:
Hair loss bothering you?
Apply a paste of hot olive oil, a tablespoon of
honey, a teaspoon of cinnamon powder before
bath; leave it for 15 min and wash.
Morning colds ruining your day?
Make a glass of lukewarm honey water mixed
with cinnamon powder to help boost your im-
mune system during the cold season. It may
also help to clear your sinuses.
For toothache…
Use a paste made of one teaspoon of cinna-
mon powder and five teaspoons of honey when
applied on the aching tooth (may be done 3
times a day) reduces the pain within a matter of
15 minutes.
Cholesterol levels on the rise?
Take two tablespoons of honey, three tea-
spoons of cinnamon powder and mix in 16
ounces of tea, when given to a cholesterol pa-
tient, reduces the level of cholesterol in the
blood by 10% within 2 hours. Pure honey is also
sometimes used with food to check cholesterol.
Stomach upset?
Honey when taken with cinnamon powder
also helps in curing stomach ache. For people
who are suffering from gas problems, honey
should be taken with cinnamon powder in
equal quantities, relieves gas and pain in the
stomach.
Weight loss on the agenda?
Try this simple method. Drink honey and cin-
namon powder boiled in one cup water first
thing in the morning (empty stomach). If taken
regularly it reduces the weight of even the most
obese person.
Also drinking by this mixture regularly you
prevent fat from accumulating in the body. ■
Complied by Rini Mukkath
 Friday, August 1, 2008
15
Oldest fruit Not all carrots are orange?
Grapes are one of the oldest cultivated The first carrots originated some 5,000 years
fruits. They have been around for more ago and were white, purple, red, yellow,
than 8,000 years. green and black. The orange carrots we find
in the supermarket come from a variety
bred in the 1700’s by the Dutch.

Smokin’ soulmates!
MITHRA SURESH tendency to sleep in his t-shirts,
mithra@goergo.in which at first he found sexy, but now
finds irritating.

H
e’s perfect, you both love
sushi, you dissect the anti-
feminist angle to pornography
together, you both love play-
ing with house lizards and you both
love originality to the point of fatality.
But is there a point of conflict, a
certain bad habit that is the only
cause of all quarrels in your otherwise
harmonious home? Even though you
have both accepted each others
weird ways, where do you draw the
line?
For some it is the smoking, and not
just because of bad breath.
“I love my husband enough to have
married him. I love despite the fact
he’s puffing away 24/7. He smokes
heavily, but I thought, ‘Hey, everyone
has a bad habit.’ But the kids are get-
ting affected now, and that’s where I
draw the line.”
Passive smoking is housewife Nina
Agarwal’s fear, who feels that a wom-
an will love a man forever, till her son
is born.
But let us cross into fetishes, where
we have found couples such as Tamil
Chelvi and Raj have been facing a dif-
ficult time recently because of gross
privacy violation. “We are soulmates
who have agreed that being touchy-
feely will be disastrous to our rela-
tionship,” says Raj.
He complains that his wife has a
“As a one-time bait into bed, I
found it arousing to see her wear my
boxers. Now, she just doesn’t wear
her own clothes!”
Greta says that the final straw in
any relationship would be infidelity.
“If I see even mild flirtation across the
room, or see my husband flipping
through second-hand Men’s Health
magazines, I cannot stand it. If he
wants to be titillated, its me who he
should depend on. There is nothing I
can’t learn.” Many women do admit
that they find it insecure to find their
spouses or boyfriends checking out
another woman, even if the claim is
that these ‘other’ women look like
sluts.
Here is a list of what they absolutely
hate:
Male
Constant disagreeing, bad body
odour, constant cry for rescuing, whi-
ny, scratchy arms and legs from con-
stant shaving, inability to be silent,
messy bed
Female
Cheating, lying (even for it’s for our
own good), bad body odour, bad
breath, boys night out, switching off
the phone when drunk, poor English,
weird wardrobe, poor communica-
tion, hirsuteness, dirty fingernails. ■

Babies in day care gain more weight Fishy diet for

Infants who are cared for by someone other than their mum
or dad are more likely to be exposed to ‘unfavourable’ feeding
practices. They tend to gain more weight in their first year of life,
researchers have found. Researchers from University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign looked at child care arrangements, feeding
conditions, and weight gains of some 8,150 babies. The children
were nine months old and nearly half of them received child
care from someone other than a
parent. Head researcher Dr. Ju-
hee Kim said, “Parents may want
to have enough communication
with child care providers about
when, what and how to feed their
babies during their stay in day
care, which is important to avoid
the potential risk of overfeeding
or underfeeding at home.” Re-
searchers found that roughly 40
per cent of babies placed in
childcare before the age of three
months were less likely to have
been breastfed and were more
likely to begin eating solid foods
at a younger age, leading to po-
tential childhood obesity.
health arteries
New research suggests that a
diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids
can lead to healthier arteries. A
study published in the Journal of
the American College of Cardiol-
ogy found that Japanese men liv-
ing in Japan had twice the blood
levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and
much lower levels of atheroscle-
rosis , than Japanese-American
men living in the U.S. On average,
Japanese eat about three ounces Expecting mothers veto nuts
of fish a day, while Americans eat Pregnant women who eat nuts or nut products are
fish perhaps twice a week. increasing the chances of their unborn children devel-
In the past scientists have been oping asthma by 50 per cent. This only applies if women
stumped by the fact that Japa- eat nuts or nut products every day, and moderate
nese men had much less choles- amounts of nuts did not have an affect on children. How-
terol build up in their arteries ever, scientists are warning that pregnant women should
despite similar cholesterol and not cut nuts out of their diet completely because of the
blood pressure readings, similar nutrients found in them. Scientists do not know why
rates of diabetes and much high- some children develop asthma, although some believe it
er rates of smoking. has to do with allergies.
WENN
16 ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008

Indian challenge ends

Sport
Indian campaign folded on a disappointing note at the
USD 10,000 ITF women’s event in Rabat, Morocco with the
second round exit of Parija Maloo. Sixth seed Parija lost
3-6, 0-6 to un-seeded Spaniard Nuria Parrizas-Diaz in the
clay court event.

With an
The next big thing?
AYON SENGUPTA
ATP ayon@goergo.in
Challenger
S
ince the much-publicised
split between Mahesh Bhu-
title under pathi and Leander Paes, In-
dian men’s tennis has
his belt, reached a new low with none of
the younger players taking up the
Somdev mantle to slip into their illustri-
ous shoes. Although the experi-
Devvarman enced duo has done well over the
years in the AFP doubles circuit,
is ready to India hardly had any singles
player of repute. But young Som-
carry Indian dev Devvarman is in his first year
as a professional in the Tour has
tennis already bagged a Challenger title,
jumping to a career high ranking
forward of 345.
The 23-year-old two-time
NCAA champion downed third
seed Robert Kendrick to pocket
the ATP Lexington Challenger,
kick-starting his quest in the pro-
fessional circuit. “It’s a dream
come true. I started playing as a
pro from June and winning a title
so early helps you a lot. I tried to
remain confident throughout the
tournament and I think that
worked to my advantage,” Dev-
varman says.
The rookie now heads off to
Vancouver and is hoping for a
great result there, too. “You al-
ways want to win and when you
are at the top of your game you
just want to go with the flow. I
hope I do well there,” he adds.
Coming from a state like Assam
where tennis is yet to gain pop-
PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT
ularity, his run has been amazing
so far. From training under Davis
Cup legend Akhtar Ali in Kolkata
and then moving onto the Am-
ritraj Tennis Academy in Chennai
– Devvarman has immensely
benefited from his stint at the
University of Virginia and the ve-
ry competitive National Colle-
giate Athletic Association tennis
programme. A Sociology major,
he is the first Indian to win a
NCAA title and will definitely fol-
low the footsteps of other well-
known former winners that in-
clude John McEnroe and Jimmy
Connors. “I have set no targets
for myself. That adds up to the
pressure,” Devvarman says.
Speaking about his game, his
former coach Akhtar Ali says: “He
is one of the most promising
players and has a very good all-
round game. He is solid from the
back of the court but, unfortu-
nately, he has no weapons to kill
the opponent. He doesn’t have a
big serve or a forehand which can
get you winners. His plus-point is
that he will return every ball and
will force the opponent to make
mistakes.”
Even Devvarman knows his
weaknesses and has found a
unique way to counter it. “I need
to concentrate on my doubles. In
doubles nowadays points are
short. Long rallies are rare and
you’re always looking for ways to
win points quickly.
While you’re serving, you want
to try to get your partner an easy
put-away. Or better yet, get a ser-
vice winner or an ace. So you’re
forced to really do more with
your serve and then when you are
playing singles it automatically
comes in handy,” Devvarman
says.
Ali feels Devvarman has the po-
tential to be the “next big thing”
in Indian tennis and hopes the
federation invests in him proper-
ly. “He is just out of college and
the tennis fraternity in India
should find a sponsor for him.
Otherwise it’s very difficult to
sustain yourself in the Tour. All
the travelling needs a lot of mon-
ey and you need a coach who will
be there with you 24X7.” ■

Easy win for Indians Raikkonen under pressure

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi easily
advanced to the quarterfinals of the USD
2,615,000 Cincinnati Masters tournaments along
with their respective partners. The sixth seeded pair of Paes and
Lukas Dlouhy of Czech Republic defeated Ivo Karlovic of Croatia and
Rogier Wassen of Netherlands 6-4, 6-2 in the second round while
Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles got a walkover
from Czech pair Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek. Both Paes-
Dlouhy and Karlovic-Wassen pairs had plenty of chances against
each other and offered many a breakpoints. Both the pairs got four
breakpoints each in the first set. The Indo Czech pair converted two
and saved three to take the lead. In the second set, Karlovic and
Wassen squandered three breakpoints to hand the match to Paes
and Dlouhy in just 58 minutes. Paes-Dlouhy combination will now
face second seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serbian Nenad
Zimonjic in the next round, while Bhupathi and Knowles will face
the winners of the second round match between Mardy Fish/John
Isner and Jonad Bjorkman/Kevil Ullyett.
PTI
Defending drivers world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland is
intent on staying cool this weekend at the normally-steaming
Hungaroring as he looks to keep his title challenge alive. After a
series of poor results, the Ferrari ace has slipped from being championship leader,
as he was after the Spanish Grand Prix, to just one of the chasing pack. After five
poor races, he is seven points behind in-form Briton Lewis Hamilton, the current
leader. “It’s no secret that we’re not satisfied by how the last five races went,” said
Raikkonen. “I was particularly disappointed after the series Montreal – Magny –
Cours – Silverstone. In each one of these races I had the possibility to win, but
because of one thing or another things didn’t go the right way and I lost. I never
let myself be influenced by tension and I won’t start now. I’ve just to keep my focus
and continue to give as much as possible, race after race. That’s what I’ve done
every time I was in trouble. It’s still much too early to make any forecasts for the
championship, considering that the first three drivers are only seven points apart.
The positions can change in a single race.”
Raikkonen is confident Ferrari will be strong at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand
Prix following a poor showing in Germany, where the world champion said he
endured his most difficult weekend this season.
AFP
 Friday, August 1, 2008
17
Purnima Mahato to coach women archers
Tata Archery Academy’s (TAA) Purnima Mahato has been selected as coach of the
women’s archery team that will represent India at the Beijing Olympics next month.
An accomplished archer, Mahato won a gold medal (team) in the International
Archery Championship held at Bangkok in 1993.

P
owerhouse nations like China, the United States and
Russia might grab all the Olympic gold medal attention

Minnows dream of
but the world’s sporting minnows plan to grab at least
some of the limelight. While some nations might
whinge about winning dozens of medals, others will be glad
of just one – and a bronze at that. More than 80 countries
competing in Beijing have never before been on the Olympic
podium.

Medal dreams
For a myriad of reasons – political, geographical, financial
– their sporting prowess has never matured. Tiny Brunei
might be oil rich but when it comes to producing athletes, it
is lacking big time. The small monarchy on the island of
hogging limelight
Borneo will be competing in its fifth Summer Olympics but
will inevitably go home empty-handed. Bhutan is bigger than
Brunei but remains one of the most secluded countries in the
world, tucked between Asian heavyweights China and India.
Their national sport is archery – competitions are held reg-
ularly in villages throughout the monarchy – and they have
an outside chance after six Games with no joy. The Maldives,
7 Days to Go....
like Brunei, has a population of less than 400,000 and has
similarly lacked medals. Being a series of tropical islands it is
not surprising that their best hope this year is in swimming.
Cambodia may not be a minnow in population terms, but it
remains that way in the sporting arena.
Its troubled history meant that sport was put on hold for
most of the 1970s and 1980s, before it once again took part in
the Olympics in 1996. Boxing is its forte and 15 athletes will
be in Beijing, including swimmer Hem Thon Ponloeu and his
16-year-old niece Hem Thon Vitiny. Timor-Leste, one of the
world’s poorest countries became the first new nation of the
21st century when it declared independence from Indonesia
in 2002, just in time to send a team to Athens. Its key sports
are boxing, weightlifting, taekwondo and athletics. But se-
vere shortages of money, facilities and equipment means the
nation faces more obstacles than most in achieving its Olym-
pic dream, and only marathon runners Antonio Ramos and
Mariana Diaz Ximenez will be in Beijing.
“In all the other sports we cannot qualify to participate in
Beijing. Sport is not a priority for the government of East
Timor and our infrastructure is non-existent,” said Joao Car-
rascalao, the head of Timor’s Olympic committee. “We don’t
have any hope of winning the marathon, but to fin-
ish the marathon is already an achievement.”

Breather for Iraq

War-torn Iraq will send just two athletes –
Haidar Nasir in the discus and sprinter
Danma Hussein – following a spat with the
International Olympic Committee last
month that led to the suspension of Iraq’s
Olympic committee.
Agreement between the IOC and the Ira-
qi government was only reached on
Wwdnesday and by that time the deadline for
competitors had passed for all events except
athletics. Like many Asian nations, Africa has its
fair share on non-achievers. While countries like Ethiopia
and Kenya have a tradition of churning out world-beating
distance runners, the vast majority of Africa nations have
never produced the goods. This includes Angola, Chad, Gam-
bia, Liberia, and Malwai. Rwanda is another lacking the
means to focus on sport, whose main medal hopes are Dieu-
donne Disi in the 10,000m and Epiphanie Nyirabarame in the
women’s marathon. Nigeria will be looking towards Vivian
Yusuf. Other countries never to have made the podium in-
clude Bolivia, Cook Islands, Jordan, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Countries like Maldives, Cambodia, Chad and
Papua New Guinea, Tajikistan, Vanuatu, and Yemen. A hand-
ful of nations have won just one bronze medal since the
Games started in 1896, including Iraq, Kuwait, Nigeria, Kyr-
many more will be looking forward to win
gyzstan, and Guyana. Panama and Qatar have two bronze
each while highfliers such as Vietnam, Paraguay, Tonga, and
their first Olympic medal at the Beijing Games
Senegal have a silver medal to their name. There have been
some surprising flops over the years, with countries like Ma-
laysia only ever collecting three medals (one silver and two
bronze), on a par with Iceland. ■
AFP

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

18
Flick
H
arry Potter and the Half-
Blood Prince has been given
a real honour after being cho-
sen as the movie that will pre-
miere at the 61st Royal Film
Performance.
The movie, the sixth instalment in
the franchise, will be screened on
November 17, four days before its
nationwide release. The member of
the Royal Family, who will be attend-
ing, has not been named as yet, but
money raised from the screening will
go to the Cinema and Television Be-
nevolent Fund.
“We are honoured that Harry Pot-
ter and the Half-Blood Prince, one of
the most anticipated films of the
year, has been chosen as the 61st
Royal Film Performance,” Daily Tele-
graph quoted Warner Bros UK presi-
dent Josh Berger as saying.
“Directed, filmed and produced in
the UK with a hugely talented and
largely British cast and crew, it is par-
ticularly fit- ting that this film will
help raise funds to sup-
port those from the
British film and television com-
munity most in need,” Berger added.
The film sees the reunion of its
three young stars, Daniel Radcliffe,
Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, for
another adventure at Hogwarts
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The new cast members include Jim
Broadbent, who will play Potions
Professor Horace Slughorn.
ANI
ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008
Fans can catch the trailer of ’Harry Potter
and the Half-Blood Prince’ on the two sites:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/
bcpid1529569286/bctid1699263292 http://
www.brightcove.com/
channel.jsp?channel=1139053637
Britney dates bodyguard
Pop singer Britney Spears seems to have been
smitten by one of her own bodyguards. The 26-year-
old singer is reportedly dating one of her minders
Tom Lee, an Israeli soldier, and the duo has even
spent an intimate night together. “Britney and Lee
hit it off immediately,” The Sun quoted a source as
saying. “He is her perfect type. She loves guys who
work out and he is in great shape from his days
serving in the Israeli Army. He also has a few tattoos,
which she loves. They’ve spent so much time together
that one thing led to another and their relationship
became physical. They are in Mexico together.
They’ve been having a great time - Lee’s put a smile
on her face,” she added. Meanwhile, the Toxic singer
is struggling hard to revive her career and working
on her new album. She has also been nominated for
Best Female Video for “Piece of Me” at the 2008
MTV Video Music Awards.
ANI
Depp to be next
Batman villain?
Actor Johnny Depp is being
tipped to be the next Batman vil-
lain, taking on the role of The
Riddler. Movie bosses are con-
vinced that they will be able to
get Depp to take on the role, es-
pecially after The Dark Knight
broke all records at the box of-
fice shortly after its release. Now,
the National Enquirer reveals
that bosses want Depp in the
next instalment, as well as Philip
Seymour Hoffman who they
think will be perfect for the role
of another of the Caped Crusad-
er’s arch-foes, the Penguin, re-
ports Contactmusic.
ANI
 Friday, August 1, 2008

Vanity Fair’s Best Dressed Man
Djimon Hounsou has topped Vanity Fair’s prestigious
list of Best Dressed Man of 2008. Daniel Craig has
landed at the second spot followed by Alejandro
Santo Domingo and Patrick Dempsey. Rounding off
the top 5 was Brad Pitt.
Hitchcock cameos
19
Hitchcock appeared in every film he directed, but what part did he play?
Here’s a selection: Easy Virtue (Man beside tennis court). Blackmail (Man
on Underground train being tormented by obnoxious child). Rebecca
(Man outside telephone box). Strangers On A Train (Man getting on a
train with a double bass). Dial M For Murder (Man seen in photograph
at school reunion dinner). Rear Window (Man winding clock).

I
t took in a whopping 440 million dollars
at movie theatres in just the first 10
days of its release, but that doesn’t
mean that director Christopher Nolan’s
Cine City
Rajnikanth for smooth release
movie The Dark Knight was perfect. The
Batman Begins sequel has become a box
office smash worldwide, but with of Kuselan in Karnataka
cinemagoers spotting 16 bloopers in it, it
has become one of the most mistake-
ridden films of the year (08),
Contactmusic reported.
The current
Observant visitors to website Batman
MovieMistakes.com have noted a
variety of continuity errors and movie has
historical inaccuracies in the
Christian Bale starring more errors
blockbuster. The current than 2005’s
Batman movie has more
errors than 2005’s Batman Batman
Begins, with the older
movie having 12 Begins
mistakes.The errors
include characters’
altering hairstyles,
mis-matched audio,
and an additional
police truck magically
appearing in a car
chase scene.
However, taking
the cake for most
mistakes made is
the movie ’Indiana
Jones and the
Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull’ with
Actor Rajnikanth has written a letter seeking the cooperation
a whopping 40
of Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC) to ensure a
bloopers.
smooth release of his film Kuselan. Some Kannada
ANI
organisations had been demanding that Kuselan be released
in the State only after a seven-week freeze as Rajnikanth had
hurt the feeling of Kannadigas in Hoggenakkal issue.
Rajnikanth, in his letter to KFCC, has said, “I don’t want
people to have any difficulty in seeing my film in Karnataka.
I would appeal to you to cooperate to facilitate the release
of the film in the state.” The executive committee of the
KFCC has already agreed to allow the release of the film
with lesser number of prints in lesser number of theatres.
www.cinesnacks.com

Padmapriya turns
assistant director
Padmapriya who made her debut in
Thavamai Thavamirundhu, is once
again pairing up with Cheran in
Pokkisham. The film’s shooting is in
progress at Gobichettipalayam.
Padmapriya who is the leading lady in
this film, is also working as an assistant
director. She is prompt at the shooting
spot by 7 a.m. and works as an
assistant director whenever she is free.
After Pokkisham, Padmapriya will pair
with Siddharth in a Hindi film.
20
Scan
PICK OF THE DAY - Friday
MAX
Beta – 8 pm
Raju, a lonely child had best of
everything in life except a mother.
He missed his mother more when
he saw his friends being loved by
their mothers. The child’s loneliness
disturbed the father and he decided
to get married again so that his son
gets love and affection of a mother.
PICK OF THE DAY - Saturday
Zee Café
50 Most Shocking
Celebrity Confessions - 10
pm
Whether calling a press conference
or telling the world on national TV,
celebrities have made startling
announcements that took us by
surprise. We’ll count down the most
startling confessions.
PICK OF THE DAY - Sunday
National Geographic Channel
Brand New Sunday - 9 pm
Steroids, Steroids are one of the
most controversial issues simply
because they work. We will reveal
not just what steroids do but how
and why they work.
PIX
Raging Bull – 12-30 am
When Jake LaMotta steps into a
boxing ring and obliterates his
opponent, he’s a prizefighter
portrayed in this Martin Scorsese
film by Robert De Niro. But when
he treats his family and friends the
same way, he’s a ticking time bomb,
ready to go off at any moment.
Star Plus
Star Voice of India – 10 pm
To realize an ordinary man’s dream
of becoming a singing sensation will
be the highlight of Amul Star Voice
of India. A platform where viewers
will witness some of the best
singing talents from all corners of
the nation. The show is hosted by
the popular Shaan
Sony
Partner – 10 pm
Prem (Salman Khan) is a ’date
doctor’ who helps men woo the
women of their dreams. But he
discovers that his tried and tested
tricks are no match for Naina (Lara
Dutta), the woman he loves.
Batman, without “Batman”
According to IMDb, this is the first Batman
film to not have "Batman" in the title.
Animal Planet
The Crocodile Hunter – 9 pm
The largest living lizard in the world
are huge powerful reptiles seem
lazy and docile most of the time but
suddenly one turns on Steve and he
narrowly escapes serious injury.
Zee Studio
One Fine Day – 8-15 pm
Melanie Parker, an architect and
mother of Sammy, and Jack Taylor,
a newspaper columnist and father
of Maggie, are both divorced. They
meet one morning when Jack is left
unexpectedly with Maggie and
forgets that Melanie was to take
her to school.
Filmy
Kya Aap Paanchvi Fail
Champu Hai? – 7-30 pm
After successfully spoofing Shah
Rukh Khan through their show
Kaun Banega Champu, Filmy now
come up with a satire on Kya Aap
Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hai? That will
be called ’Kya Aap Paanchvi Fail
Champu Hai?’
ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008
Zee Studio
Batman Returns – 10-30 pm
Having defeated the Joker, Batman
now faces the Penguin - a warped
and deformed individual who is
intent on being accepted into
Gotham society. Crooked
businessman Max Schreck helps him
become Mayor of Gotham and they
expose Batman in a different light.
Star World
Bones – 9 pm
Brennan and her team are brought
in to identify the body of a man
found in a fallout shelter. While
cutting into the bones of the man,
Zach accidentally releases a deadly
fungus that causes the team to be
quarantined over Christmas
HBO
The Prestige - 9-15 pm
Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale
star as friends and fellow magicians
who become bitter enemies after a
sudden tragedy. As the two devote
their lives to a rivalry played out on
the London stage
 Friday, August 1, 2008
21
Phony joker busted
Michigan police have arrested a man
who tried to steal posters and other
Batman related items from a movie
theatre, The man was dressed up like
the Joker-smeared face paint and all.

Greetings
Hi Ramya,
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22 ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008

Escalator ban

Traffic Jam
An 80-year-old former Olympic hurdler has
been banned from escalators at several malls
in England for running up the escalators in
wrong way. Peter Hildreth used to run up
escalators as part of his training routine.

sudoku

Ganesh Ram
of Hexaware
Technologies
clicked this
picture in Jaipur.
His hobbies
include listening
to music and
painting. He can
be reached at
ganeshram_n
@yahoo.com.

KAKURO
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 Friday, August 1, 2008

Polite police
Chinese police waited outside a suspect’s house
for two days until the wedding celebrations
were complete before arresting him. Police
didn’t want to embarrass the bride and groom
and their families by arresting the man accused
of robbing a night club tow years ago.
23
Word’s worth
"Jaculiferous" (jack-yuh-lif-er-us) an adjective
meaning ’having prickles.’ Could certainly be used
to replace the overworn "He’s got a chip on his
shoulder the size of Texas!"

B.C

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

Ganesha finds you in good humour. You should pay
more attention to your prime responsibilities. Finish
off the pending works before starting something
new. Since you are in a good mood, personal life
will be high on social meetings and entertainment.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

Your mind will be very active today and quite
adaptive for creative tasks. Ganesha thinks that if
you remain composed, your work will get done very
smoothly. At home, you might have guests. Or
maybe you might feel like visiting a close friend.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

Ganesha votes against any kind of technical
BORN LOSER activities today. Complex technical tasks may
confuse you today. So, avoid technical stuff and
stick to simple rhings. Romantic life will be action
packed due to constant exchange of sweet words.
CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20
If you’ve have been waiting to solve technical
issues, today it may get solved. Your presentation
skills may be good today. . You will enjoy ‘tender
love and care’ from your beloved today. Ganesha
finds this day to be the best day of the month.
LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20
They say half knowledge in more dangerous than
no knowledge at all. This can imply at office today,
or you might find yourself slogging throughout the
day. With partner, you might encounter differences
of opinion. On the whole, the day is tricky.
VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20
Your mind is filled with positive energy. Hence you
FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT will be able to work in good spirits. Ganesha feels
this positivity will be carried on to your personal life
as well. Your might develop friendly terms with your
partner. In short, the day is favourable for you.
LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20
You will be able to glide smoothly in the good
books of your colleagues. Ganesha thinks this will
be very beneficial for you in the long run. Married
couples might face emotional conflicts. For lovers,
the relationship will suddenly seem demanding.
SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20
Your stars are smiling today. You will feel lucky. At
work, your colleagues will take your ideas seriously.
Ganesha warns you against any impractical
decisions. You might get practical in love life and
may plan a long distance tour with your beloved.
SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20
Today Ganesha finds you pulling up your sleeves
and getting ready to finish off all the pending work.
Don’t ignore health. Ganesha feels you need to
handle emotional matters with due care. The lover
in you is ready to compromise or sacrifice today.
CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20
Stress is on the high today, says Ganesha. You may
feel emotional stress as well. You might lose your
cool over trifle matters at office today. Try to control
your temper, advises Ganesha. On the personal
front, you will remain attached to your beloved.
AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20
PREVIOUS You will able to finish off work with a jet speed
today. Ganesha feels you will be working till late
ISSUE’S hours today. Stomach trouble is on the cards, hence
avoid over eating. Ganesha advises lovers to pay
SOLUTIONS attention to their love lives to avoid problems.
PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20
Sharpen your skills today. This will improve your
performance immensely. Specifically, if you combine
creativity and technology, it will work wonders. A
favourable day to propose to someone. Married
couples are likely to have a romantic dinner.
Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni
24 ERGO Friday, August 1, 2008