Ergo April 28

A BYTE OF LIFE

FREE CIRCULATION

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Vol. 3

No. 78

Freida Pinto’s ranting ex-boyfriend had reason to be upset after all! Dev Patel’s mom confirms that her son and Pinto are a couple » PAGE 10

TWO FOR JOY 03

SMS for votes Political parties find effective and inexpensive campaign tool

08

Raul hattrick Sees Real through

02 NAMMA CHENNAI

ERGO Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Day Rate package The Residency group is offering a special day rate package for the discerning business travellers visiting Chennai, Bangalore and Pondicherry. The offer is valid till 30th September. For more information on Reservation contact 2815 6363.

Three motel staff die of asphyxiation on ECR

T

hree men attached to a motel on East Coast Road died of asphyxiation after they fell into the motel’s septic tank on Monday afternoon. According to police, the incident occurred at the hotel in Neelankarai. Two of the deceased were identified as Iqbal (50) and his son Ashraf (20) from Muthumariamman Kovil Street in Neelankarai. The third victim was Selvaraj (30), the owner and manager of the motel and resident of Saraswathi Nagar in Neelankarai. The septic tank used to be cleared every two days. On the day of the incident, when it was time to clear the tank, Iqbal had gone to check the sewage level in the tank. Police said he had used a stick to gauge the level and fell into the tank after being hit by the poisonous gas from inside. Seeing Iqbal fall into the tank, Ashraf and Selvaraj ran in to rescue him but fell into the tank after inhaling the poisonous gas. Other staff of the motel alerted the police and fire service personnel from Thiruvanmiyur rushed to the spot. After a 30minute struggle all three bodies were recovered and sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for post-mortem. Neelankarai police are investigating. ■

Lyrical GANGSTER Emcee Jesz of the famed Natchatra trio brings out his first solo Tamil rap album

Actor Neha Bhasin, Emcee Jesz (third from left) and singer Sruthi Hassan at the launch of Kavithai Gundar in Chennai on Saturday. PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR

T

he Natchatra trio – Yogi B, Dr. Burn and Emcee Jesz – brought in a revolution in the Tamil film industry with their Tamil rap songs. The song ‘Madai Thiranthu’ from the album Vallavan literally rocked the rap world. And now rapper Emcee Jesz is all set to launch his first Tamil solo rap album, titled Kavithai Gundar (‘lyrical gangster’), in association with production house Studio 8 Production & Record. In an event held at Green Park hotel last Saturday, Emcee Jesz announced that the commercial launch of the album will take place on May 1. The album has been produced by A.R. Saravanan, CEO of Studio 8. Kavithai Gundar encases 13 tracks featuring 12 artistes, including Neha Bhasin, Yogi B and Benny Dayal

along with Malaysian rappers Mista G, MC Loga and Psycho Mantra. The songs are a mixture of urban hip hop, R&B hip hop, crunk, reggaeton, old school flavour, sentimental, patriotic and community songs. Kavithai Gundar is also the first international Tamil hip hop solo album to hit the mainstream international market after the trio’s album Vallavan. The chief guests for the event were Sun TV CEO Hansraj Saxena and musician Shruti Hassan. ■ Ergo Correspondent

03

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Summer Chillers Special Editions is introducing Summer Chillers for men this summer. The range offer ultra cool shirts, t-shirts and trousers with exciting suave and cool shades priced at Rs.495 onwards.

Plz vot 4 me Vote hunt SMS campaign by political parties for upcoming Lok Sabha elections gaining momentum in city PETLEE PETER [email protected]

W

ednesday, May 13 is the election date here and the poll campaign has gained momentum. While party flags, banners and posters have started to adorn the city, campaigners have also taken recourse to SMS. Apart from regular campaigning, a few party workers in the city who are assigned the job by political parties are busy forwarding text messages seeking votes for their respective candidates. K. Suganthakumar, a Bahujan

An SMS picture message of DMK.

FILE PHOTO

Samaj Party (BSP) activist from Anna Nagar, also handles the poll campaigning via SMS for BSP candidate Younis Khan, who is contesting for Central Chennai. “We have prepared an SMS text campaign asking voters to support us and vote for us in the coming elections. We have prepared a list of persons, including party men and acquaintances, to which the SMS texts will be forwarded, from where they will be circulated to others,” says Suganthakumar. “There are plans to forward the planned BSP SMSes through website www.way2sms.com,” he adds. The website, which has a free SMS option, gives one a user name and password following registration. After this, one can log on to the website and enter the multiple phone numbers to which the SMS texts are to be forwarded. www.indyarocks.com, www.sendsmsnow.com and www.smsjunction.com are a few other websites that offer free SMS

Steria goes ‘pro-fashional’ S

teria’s annual fashion event ‘ProFashional-09’ was held at their campus last Friday. The theme of the show was ‘GoGreen’. According to a press release, the theme was basically to emphasise and sensitise its young corporate trendsetters on the need to wear eco-friendly clothes. The Chennai edition of this fashion event conducted across all of Steria’s campus’s in India as part of its employee engagement initiative. Navin Chug, COO, Steria India

and Shantanu Banerjee, Director and Head HR-Steria India, along with Latha Menon, an eminent personality from the fashion and film industry, were the special invitees and officiated as judges. The contest comprising of three rounds – the ‘Go Green,’ the Indo-Western and the Party Wear round. At the end of the rounds, Mr. ProFashional, Ms. ProFashional, Mr.Confidence, Ms.Charisma and Mr.Popular were crowned. ■ Article contributed by Sabita J, associate vice-president, HR

services. Also, picture messages with party symbols, along with names of candidates and respective constituencies, are now getting ready to be circulated to as many mobile users in the city. DMK activist Nallathambi of Jayalakshmipuram, Nungambakkam, is on the campaign trail with Dayanidhi Maran in areas of central Chennai. “Tech-savvy youngsters in our party create attractive party picture messages with the election slogan. Just one message created is enough to be forwarded to lakhs of recipients,” says the 25-year-old. SMS campaigning has a wider reach and free SMS options make it an economical option. Mobile phone service providers are cashing in, too. An Election Alert Pack floated by Vodafone provides four daily updates on candidates, trivia on past elections, key constituency profiles, latest elections news and poll results. The updates will be increased to 15 on poll result days. ■

04 TECHNORAMA

ERGO Tuesday, April 28, 2009

‘‘

So far it is too early to estimate whether in our sector we have seen the demand for mobile devices reaching the bottom, and when this bottom would possibly be reached. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO, Nokia

Build quality is excellent. And a nice carry case is bundled along

Technology snippets sourced from T3 magazine of Infomedia 18 Group

Yellow! Yes, but it’s classy. If you are a Lamborghini fan you will love it for sure

“WEE” PRO WIPRO’S EGO SCORES AND HOW.

From cheeky laptops to classy netbooks, Wipro debuts its new line: Ego. Bold and attractive, these are sure to set the cash registers ringing. Available in racer yellow and ocean blue, Wipro has left no stones unturned to pep its netbook. Mouth-watering specs include a 10inch LCD screen, 2GB of memory, 120GB hard drive, 1.3-megapixel web camera, Intel’s venerable Atom platform and Windows XP. With a price tag of less than 20K, you better flick one before they disappear from the shelves. Rs 19,990, www.egobywipro.com

KINDLE SURPRISE

3D ON THE MENU

The Amazon Kindle’s had a redesign. Imaginatively called the Kindle 2, it’s thinner, can convert text to speech and has an internal memory of 2GB – enough for thousands of books. The battery now gives you four days of reading with the Internetenabled, and a mammoth 20 days without.

LG’s new mobile, the Arena, sports a 3D menu system, with access to four sides of a six-sided rectangular polygon. Each face displays a different function; you flip your finger across the screen to spin it like a dice. There’s also a superzippy 7.2Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi and A-GPS for getting about.

Rs 18,000*, www.amazon.com

TBC, www.lgmobile.com

05

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Baby Shaker game removed Apple has removed an iPhone application called Baby Shaker from its website. The company has also apologised for the game, which requires users to quiet crying babies by shaking them. Apple removed the $0.99 game from its iTunes Store. It sparked outrage from children’s groups and brain injury foundations.

Microsoft’s Windows 7 on track M

icrosoft Corp’s quarterly profit fell 32 percent, but its shares rose as investors welcomed continuing efforts to cut costs and news that the release of its Windows 7 operating system is on track. “While we would all like to think that our recovery will be soon and painless, we unfortunately believe that it will be slow and gradual,” Chief Financial Offi-

cer Chris Liddell said on a conference call. “I didn’t see any improvement at the end of the quarter that gives me encouragement that we are at a bottom and coming out of it,” Liddell added, contesting comments last week from chip-maker Intel Corp that the PC market was over the worst. Microsoft’s report, following strong earnings from Apple Inc

and Google Inc this month, broadly pleased analysts, some of whom braced for worse. While the company reported a 6 percent drop in revenue for the March quarter, marking the first year-on-year decline in Microsoft’s history as a public company, it also managed to cut operating expenses by a bigger 9 percent. “It’s good to see that they are controlling their costs because that’s within their sphere of control. They can’t really do a lot about demand,” said Kim Caughey at money manager Fort Pitt Capital Group. “They have a nice product refresh cycle coming up, which should allow them to maintain their market share,” she added, referring to the new Windows 7 that will help Microsoft put the unpopular Vista operating system behind it. Microsoft, which released the beta test version of the new Windows during the quarter, said it felt very good about the testing and the system was on track for a fiscal 2010 launch, which could mean as early as July this year. “The best of all possible worlds would be that it’s ready for backto-school, which is the July-August time frame,” said Caughey. ■ Reuters

Conficker virus begins to attack PCs A malicious software program known as Conficker that many feared would wreak havoc on April 1 is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said. Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said. The worm started spreading late last year, infecting millions of computers and turning them into ‘slaves’ that respond to commands sent from a remote server that effectively controls an army of computers known as a botnet. Its unidentified creators started using those machines for criminal purposes in recent weeks by loading more malicious software onto a small percentage of computers under their control, said Vincent Weafer, a vice-president with Symantec

Security Response, the research arm of the world’s largest security software maker, Symantec Corp. “Expect this to be long-term, slowly changing,” he said of the worm. “It’s not going to be fast, aggressive.” Conficker installs a second virus, known as Waledac, that sends out e-mail spam without knowledge of the PC’s owner, along with a fake anti-spyware program, Weafer said. The Waledac virus recruits the PCs into a second botnet that has existed for several years and specializes in distributing e-mail spam. “This is probably one of the most sophisticated botnets on the planet. The guys behind this are very professional. They absolutely know what they are doing,” said Paul Ferguson, a senior researcher with Trend Micro Inc, the world’s thirdlargest security software maker. ■ Reuters

Facebook to give developers more access I

nternet social media company Facebook plans to allow outside developers access to core parts of the website so they can build new services, a person familiar with the situation said. The person said the company is expected to announce the plans on Monday. The new capabilities would let third-party developers build services that access content uploaded by Facebook users such as pictures and videos with the users’ permission. Facebook, which has more than 200 million ac-

tive users worldwide, does not plan to charge for the service. The company is expected to brief developers on the plan, first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, at an event it is hosting for developers at its Palo Alto, California head-

quarters on Monday. Facebook would not comment on the plans to open its service to outside developers, but the company said it was preparing an announcement on Monday related to developer opportunities. ■ Reuters

06 VILLAGE

ERGO Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Bird blamed for blaze A sparrow collecting cigarette butts for its nest has been blamed for starting a fire that nearly burned down a shop in England.

Lampard dumps girlfriend Football ace Frank Lampard has reportedly dumped his new girl Saskia Boxford because of her “high maintenance” demands. The Chelsea player, who parted ways with fiancée Elen Rives in February, had allegedly split with the millionaire’s daughter telling pals she had become too ‘clingy’. “She was expecting too much too soon and Frank wasn’t prepared to have another full-on relationship so soon after Elen,” the Mirror quoted a friend as saying. ANI

Dog gets $4.2 m designer tiara A young Thai jewellery designer has crafted a tiara worth $4.2 million for his pet dog, using precious stones given to him by his mother. Riwin Jirapolsek, who showcased the tiara at a dog show in Bangkok recently, said he wanted to make something special for Kanune, his 15-year-old male Maltese. He took almost two months to finish the piece, which is made from titanium encrusted with 250carats of emeralds and diamonds. Jirapolsek said he has no plans to sell the tiara, and now wants to create a jewelled hair clip for his beloved canine. “I will make a hair clip next time because my dog has to wear clips everyday otherwise its fur will block its view,” he said. “It may be decorated with jewels.”

Perry reunites with McCoy Singer Katy Perry and Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy are giving their relationship another go the couple has confirmed they are back together. Perry and McCoy split in December last year with the Gym Class Heroes frontman claiming they had been arguing for weeks before they decided to go their separate ways. But he has now revealed that they have rekindled their romance and are working out their problems, reports contactmusic.com. McCoy said: “Now it’s easy breezy. I’m happy and really in love.” IANS

SRK blogs for KKR

B

at the finish line. Congratulations guys,” Shah Rukh posted at KKR’s official website http://www.kkr.in. “Since the commencement of this season we have a trail of one win out of three, which is not a good position to be in,” he added. The 43-year-old also confessed his team’s “multiple captaincy” decision that elbowed out Sourav Ganguly as the team’s skipper resulted in a flurry of criticism for Shah Rukh in the form of hate mails from supporters and fans. “In an attempt to give it (the matches) our best, our team has taken lots of unpopular decisions. Starting with the multiple

Chinese scientists are preparing for the market launch of robots developed to look after lone elderly people. According to Li Ruifeng, a member of the project with the Harbin Institute of Technology, a 1.6meter tall robot would cater to the needs of the elderly with specifically designed functions. These would include getting food, medicine, sounding alarms in case of water or gas leakage, sending texts or video images via wireless communications, and even entertaining their owners with a song or by playing chess, reports the China Daily. Li said steps were being considered to make the robot, developed independently in China, fall under the affordable price range of 4,000-7,000 US dollars. ANI

Reuters

ollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has joined the celebrity blogger bandwagon and is using it to pour out his feelings for his Indian Premier League (IPL) team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The actor’s post came in effect after KKR lost its third match opposite Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty’s co-owned team Rajasthan Royals on Thursday in Cape Town, South Africa. “...as I write at 5 a.m. in Cape Town, having lost yet another game, which we could have won, the heart is heavy and the mind is numb. Full marks to Rajasthan Royals for proving that a true champion team does not choke

Robots to help lone elderly

captains to choices of who we play in which match. A truckload of criticism from all quarters has been dumped at our doorsteps. Every time I go and sit in the stadium, I feel the weight of all the choices made,” confessed the actor. King Khan, also apologised for not being a regular at the new endeavour. “...apologise for not being a regular at my blog or actually not even writing the first entry with the start of the season... When the season started, I thought I would write every couple of days to all our fans that visit our site,” he wrote. ■ IANS

07

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

‘Fine with Sachin charming female voters’

“To meet the growing energy requirement, we went for the nuclear deal, but the Left opposed us saying it was not required”

Sachin Pilot with his wife Sarah. Photo: PTI

Sonia Gandhi

16

A

married man going about charming other women is a good enough reason to end a marriage, but Sarah Pilot says she is not at all jealous of her husband Sachin’s interactions with women voters. “I am fine with his meeting with female voters and his charming effect on them... it does not worry me at all,” Sarah, campaigning alongside Sachin in Ajmer, said when asked how she feels about women getting attracted to her husband. “He even charmed me long ago...,” she quipped. Sarah says

she understands the fact that the girls are Sachin’s voters and like him not only for his looks but also his work. Sarah is the sister of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. The couple, who tied the knot in 2004, have been to more than 50 villages in the last few weeks with Sarah always sitting next to her husband, as he drives their upmarket SUV. As the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat has almost become a direct fight between Pilot and BJP candidate Kiran Maheshwari, Sarah says

she feels that it is important for her to connect to the voters as she can “connect easily to women”. “In Rajasthan women practice purdah and do not talk on various issues ranging form female issues to their household problems... this is where I chip in,” Sarah said. The ‘bahu of Dausa’ (as she is called) is often offered an odhini by women present in the crowds who come to listen to her husband. “Sachin being a man and pitted against a woman (Kiran) should not go against her. The best and the honest should win

but still the woman connection is very necessary,” Sarah says, explaining her role in the campaign. Sarah also says that Ajmer is a new area for her husband but party workers and the supporters are working hard to gain the voters’ confidence. Although she hardly advises Sachin on political and election issues, she keeps a check on her husband’s nutritional supplements whenever their convoy is in movement from one place to the other. ■ PTI

08 SPORT

ERGO Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Klinsmann gets the boot Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann has been fired, top-selling German newspaper Bild reported on its website on Monday. The newspaper did not name its sources, but said Jupp Heynckes would succeed Klinsmann for at least the next five matches. Bayern are third in the Bundesliga after losing 1-0 at home to Schalke 04 on Saturday.

Gillespie, Martyn for APL Former Australian Test players Jason Gillespie and Damien Martyn have signed up to play in an unauthorised Twenty20 tournament in New York in October, Australian media said on Monday. Fast bowler Gillespie, who claimed 259 Test wickets before retiring from the international cricket last year, and Martyn, who averaged 46.37 with the bat in 67 Tests until 2006, are among the players signed up for the American Premier League, The Age newspaper said. The tournament, which will feature six sides, has signed up players from major cricketing nations with the majority coming from the Indian Cricket League, which is not recognised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), according to the promoter.

Gap

n w o d s w o r nar l past a e R s d a e ick l

Sevilla

r

Raul hat-t

Reuters

Pak wants Dubai as 2011 WC venue Facing the stark reality of not being able to host any international teams at home, Pakistan Cricket Board is keen to make Dubai its neutral home venue with the tacit approval of the big guns behind the Dubai Sports City including Abdul Rehman Bukhatir. Sources in the PCB said that Pakistan was now even pushing to get back its share of the 2011 World Cup matches and want to host them at the Dubai Sports City ground which was used for the first two OneDay Internationals against Australia. “Bukhatir is keen to get back international cricket to Dubai and Sharjah and is willing to work out an arrangement with the PCB to achieve his ambition,” one source said. The source said after the ICC and Indian Board combined nearly six years ago to force Bukhatir to close down his highly successfully international cricket operations in Sharjah, Bukhatir now wants international cricket back but at the Dubai Sports City.

with st Sevilla n in a g a l a a go izju nchez P coring a s after s all match at Sa te ra b le otb ) ce ague fo alez (left ul Gonz their Spanish le a R r e p during drid skip Real Ma onzalo Higuain ay. PHOTO: AFP G d n u te on S teama in Sevilla stadium

PTI

USA, Italy reach Fed Cup final The USA and Italy reached the Fed Cup final, with the Americans saving a match point in the decisive match of the best-of-five series and the Italians ousting defending champion Russia. The Americans, who have won a record 17 Fed Cup titles but none since 2000, beat the Czech Republic 3-2 in Brno on Sunday. Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands saved a match point before defeating Iveta Benesova and Kveta Peschke 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 in the decisive doubles match. Italy beat Russia 4-1, with Francesca Schiavone earning the winning point for Italy by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-2. The Russians had won four of the last five Fed Cup titles, with Italy taking the other title in 2006. The 2009 final, which will be in Italy, is set for November 7-8. PTI

R

aul Gonzalez scored a hattrick as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-2 to close within four points of Spanish leader Barcelona after a record eighth straight road victory. Juande Ramos – who was showered with dollar bills featuring his image after the former Sevilla coach left for a lucrative offer from Tottenham last season – was on Sunday without regulars Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Gabriel Heinze due to injury. Centre back Pepe was also unavailable – banned for 10 games for lashing out at two Getafe opponents in Madrid’s last game, and he was certainly missed during Renato’s opening goal in the 16th minute. But Raul equalised

by redirecting Christoph Metzelder’s centre over Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop on the stroke of halftime. Real captain then volleyed in Miguel Torres’ deflected cross in the 63rd before taking his goal tally for the season to 18 three minutes later by poking in a loose ball that Palop failed to smother. Diego Capel pulled one back for Sevilla ten minutes from time after Sergio Ramos had failed to clear a cross into the area, but Marcelo sealed the victory with Real’s fourth deep into injury time. “Drawing even gave us confidence for the second half. And Real totally dominated it and for that we are satisfied,” said Raul

after scoring his third career hattrick. “The team played at a very high level,” he added. The twotime defending champion will go into next Saturday’s “classico” match against arch rival Barcelona with 17 victories from its last 18 games. Real’s last defeat came at Barcelona in December. “I am confident that we can pick up the win at the (Santiago) Bernabeu,” Raul said. “The league is in their hands but we will keep pushing them.” Barcelona has 82 points after Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Valencia while Madrid has 78 with five games to play. Sevilla’s fourth straight defeat left it on 57 points, while Valencia has 56. ■ PTI

09

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

‘‘

It is obvious now after watching him (Shoaib Akhtar) bowl in the first two matches that he is neither fit and he is struggling to cope with the demands of international cricket. He has failed to deliver for Pakistan for a while now and I think it is best he retires and allows a younger bowler to take his place in the team. Zaheer Abbas

Grand double from

skipper A

rsenal captain Cesc Fabregas scored his first goals for more than six months in a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough, dealing a blow to Boro’s bid to avoid relegation. Fabregas scored in the 26th minute following a slick move near halfway. Nicklas Bendtner’s back-heeled flick to the Spaniard was quickly passed on to Andrei Arshavin, who raced down the left flank. The Russia playmaker crossed to an unmarked Fabregas, who had continued his run to the edge of the area and his sliding shot beat Boro goalkeeper Brad Jones. It was Fabregas’ first league goal since he headed in a late equaliser for a 1-1 draw against Sunderland on October 4. “We made some brilliant passing today and some brilliant combinations. Especially the first goal, I believe was absolutely outstanding,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said on Sunday. He scored again in the 67th after collecting a through ball from Emmanuel Eboue and rounding Jones, who had come off his line, to slot into an empty net. It was Fabregas’ last action on the pitch at Emirates Stadium and he was substituted. He now has three goals this season. “I had completely lost the feeling of scoring a goal. To score two in a game is always special, but the feeling was amazing,” Fabregas said. Fabregas has had a tough season, unable to repeat last year’s form when he scored 13 goals in all competitions, seven of them in the league. He was sidelined for three months earlier this term with a serious knee injury and also is defending against accusations that he spat at Hull’s assistant manager after their FA Cup quarterfinal. The Football Association charged Fabregas with improper conduct this week and he has until May 12 to respond to the charges. “He gets sharper and sharper from game to game,” Wenger said. “He was out for three months you know. You do not come back straight away at your best. Now he gets better in every game.” Middlesbrough struggled to retain possession throughout the first half and Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia had little to do. Boro came closest to scoring in the 43rd minute when captain Stewart Downing fired a low shot and Almunia dived to his left to keep it out. Arsenal created several chances off passing moves throughout the half. But Boro’s defending, including a lastgasp tackle by Robert Huth on Theo Walcott who was clear on goal in the eighth minute, prevented a heavier defeat. ■ PTI

Fabregas scores twice as Arsenal trounce Boro Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas (centre) clashes with Middlesbrough’s Tuncay Sanli (left) during the English Premiership match at the Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday. PHOTO: AFP

10 FLICK

ERGO Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Emma Watson climbs up young rich list Harry Potter star Emma Watson has beaten Charlotte Church and Amy Winehouse in the latest young rich list. The 19-year-old starlet rose to 29th spot from 55th place last year in the 100 young rich list, reports the Daily Star. She shared the place with Tennis ace Andy Murray 21 with 12 million pounds. Top of the list was Prince Harry’s pal Arthur Landon, 27, who inherited 200 million pounds from his dad.

No onscreen chemistry, this Freida Pinto and Dev Patel are together, says Patel’s mom

O

scar-winning Slumdog Millionaire’s star Dev Patel’s mother spoke of her son’s offscreen love with his co-star, Freida Pinto, and said “life can’t get better” for her son. Dev and Freida have always denied that their movie romance spilled over into real life. But their pictures enjoying an intimate lunch date in Israel last week raised eyebrows, reports mirror.co.uk. “First it was the film and now everything else seems to have slotted into place. Life can’t get any better for him. Freida is really beautiful and I am really happy for them. Yes, we knew he was flying to Israel to see her,” Dev’s mother Anita Patel said. The couple are said to have started the relationship on the sets of Danny Boyle’s film. ■ IANS

Freida is really beautiful and I am really happy for them. Yes, we knew he (Dev) was flying to Israel to see her AFP PHOTO

Feroz Khan dies The actor-producer-director was diagnosed with cancer a year ago

B

ollywood actor and director Feroz Khan died in Bangalore late Sunday at the age of 70, media reports said. The actor had been diagnosed with cancer about a year ago. He is survived by his son Fardeen and daughter Laila. “Feroz Khan passed away post-midnight at the Feroz Khan ranch in (the southern city of) Bangalore,” the publicist said. Khan was diagnosed with cancer last year and was being treated at a private hospital in Mumbai but discharged himself earlier this month. His family was at his bedside when he died, she added. Khan acted in Hindi films such as Qurbani and Jaanbaaz. Feroz Khan was born and brought up in Bangalore. He made his film debut as second lead in Didi (1960). He produced, directed and starred in Dharmatma, which was the first Indian film to be shot in Afghanistan and was also his first blockbuster hit as producer, director and actor. But it was with the 1980 gangster film Qurbani that he scored his biggest hit as an actor, producer and director, introducing foreign locations to Bollywood that are now the norm. He repeated his success with films like Janbaaz starring a young Anil Kapoor. ■ Agencies

11

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Harry Potter stars to ‘age’ with Benjamin Button technology Young actors of the Harry Potter series will have their age digitally advanced for the final film, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part Two, using the same technology as in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. “We were looking at different ways of doing it, other actors and so on,” the Daily Express quoted producer David Heyman as saying. “And then we saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and that ageing technology so I think we’ll try that because I’d feel terrible about having other people take those parts at the last gasp,” he added.

Schwarzenegger’s there in Terminator

Cine City

4 A

ctor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger has confirmed his presence in the fourth instalment of the Terminator film. Contactmusic.com reports that the actor prompted speculations that he would return to the franchise in 2008 when he was photographed on the sets of the movie title Terminator Salvation. Part four stars The Dark Knight star Christian Bale as the protagonist John Connor. The reports sparked outrage among California citizens who feared that the Austrian-born star was abandoning his political responsibilities as California Governor to return to movies. Schwarzenegger, however, has assured the people that his cameo appearance in the movie is only a footage spliced in from the original. “I made it very clear that I don’t have the time to do the movie. I said that I would be willing to be in the movie if they get the technology together and so they are working on that right now,” he said. “They would basically take technology out of Terminator I, and use that walk of mine and somehow bring it in (to the new film). It’s just a brief scene,” he added. Schwarzenegger shot to fame playing the cyborg in the 1984 movie, and followed it up in 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. A fifth instalment of the movie is also in talks. ■

Silambarasan to croon for Ajith We all know that actor Silambarasan is a great fan of actor Ajith. He had recently borrowed Ajith’s Billa costume to wear for a scene in Silambattam. Now what we hear is that the actor is lending his voice for Ajith in Saran’s upcoming flick, Asal. Silambarasan already has quite a number of hits with his own voice, including a few songs which he has sung for other actors. Asal’s songs are tuned by music director Bharadwaj.

Mano’s son enters tinsel town When Charan and Yugendran, sons of great singers SPB and Malaysia Vasudevan respectively, are minting money as actors and producers in tinsel town, the latest to join them is singer Mano’s son Sahir. Mano has sung more than 48,000 songs in 14 Indian languages and his voice bears a great resemblance to SPB’s. Now Sahir is being launched as a hero in Nalladhor Veenai Seithen, touted to be a romantic flick.

IANS

I made it very clear that I don’t have the time to do the movie. I said that I would be willing to be in the movie if they get the technology together and so they are working on that right now AFP

12

ERGO Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Monday’s Query: What is your message to all those who are contesting for election? ■ Vaikara aapu konjam sirusa vainga doi Aishwarya, Jai, Ruckmani Cognizant

■ Try to do something good to the society Prabakaran Srinivasan, RBS

■ The contestants must talk truth alone at least till the election campaign is over but its a tough task Deena Wipro

■ Serve the people of India more than your commitment Ramesh Thevar Allsec

■ Sei, yedhaiavadhu sei, un state-ku sei, nam nattukku sei Prakash Srivatsan HCL

Sangeeth Kumar of Mphasis has nominated his team as Partners in Crime. They clicked this picture at Sterling Resort in Kodaikanal.

■ Past is past. Future is only in dreams. Just today is our hand. So at least now u people think about the people Kavitha Cognizant

■ One among the crowd could lead the army be that one Suja Allsec

■ No corruption till the end of recession CP.Rajesh Allsec

■ Please give us a true leader. We don’t have anyone Rajarajan Cognizant

■ May all good people win and after u win, daily after u get up, ask yourself if u have something on your plate today for the people who helped u 2 win Ranjan CTS

■ Mappu vechudatha aappu Saranya.M Cognizant

■ Don’t promise anything that you can’t do M.Srinivasan Allsec

Udaya Kumar of Visteon has nominated his cricket team as Partners in Crime.

■ Don’t change after the election Aakash CSS

■ Do ur duty without expecting rewards M.P.Roselin Allsec

■ At least now do some thing for the people, not for yourself Sheena Wipro

■ As per our Vathiyar song: Pathavi varum pothu, panivum vara vendum thunivum vara vendum thozha Elnet Guys TCS

■ Be true, be loyal, be faithful to emerge winner Rakshita Sreenivasan Wipro

Today’s Query: Share with us the most humourous moment you have faced in your life.

Vinoth Rajendran from HCL Comnet has nominated his team as Partners in Crime.

13

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Sadish of Infosys has been nominated as Office Angel by Karthika Rachna. Sadish is always on the run to help others. He has a good sense of humour and is always a centre of attraction. He heads the testing team and has won many accolades for the same.

■ Dear Mythily / sincere On your birthday, We all wish for you the fulfillment of all your fondest dreams. I hope that for every candle on your cake you get a wonderful surprise. I wish for you that whatever you want most in life, it comes to you, just the way you imagined it, or better. with lots of love, BBSR Gang, splly from me(chicken)

■ Dear Banu "The Manager" ;-) We wish you A Very Birthday. On this special day, we Pray to God for a beautiful future ahead. Continue the Good Work and Enthusiastic contribution to our Team. Cheers VNE Test Team, CODC2, HCL

■ Dear Wife, Today’s a very special day Reserved just for you This comes with deepest fondest love From your Hubby and best friend too !!! May today and everyday be filled with love, understanding, and contentment as you journey through life with me!!! Happy Birthday Dear Wife!!!

Art featured in this column will receive gift coupons from Fruit Shop on Greams Road. Send in your addresses so that we can post the coupons.

With lots of luv, Prasad

G.Neelavannan of R R Donnelley has doodled this.

■ Dear Shiva, Wish you many more happy returns of the day. May this birthday be just the begining of a year filled with happy memories, wonderful moments and shining dreams. Wish you all success in all your endeavours in the coming days. Loving wishes from Soundari, Deepa, Sridevi HCL Technnologies

■ Hello Satheesh (manda), On this Special day We wish you a Very Happy Birthday.May it bring u with loads of joy.All the Best for ur delightful Journey.Keep Rocking. Best Wishes from iRonicz Spiders Team TCS,iNautix, fidelity Chennai & Mumbai . Musigma, NSN, Tata Elexi, EMC-Bangalore Juno, Deshaw, Commvault-Hydrabad.

1. What is the word in English with one G and Four T’s Originality (Oru - G -Naalu T) 2. Busla nee erinaalum Un mela bus erinaalum Ticket edukka porardhu ennamo ni thaan. Jayaraman, HCL

■ Dear Sidharth Aravinth, May dis birthday b just the beginning of a year filled wid happy memories, wonderful moments & shining dreamz. Endrum Natpudan,

Vignesh, Kannan, Raghul, Pavithra, Dinesh, Anandhram, Radha, Madhan, Saran, Vinod, Siva, Bhuvanesh, Suresh suru, Karthi (Mysore), Dinesh(Mysore), Aishwarya, Priya, Nandhini, Durga, Infosys Technologies.

■ Dear Aarthy Pandiarajan, Because today’s your birthday, And because you’re extra nice, One wish is not enough for you And so here’s wishing twice… Hoping your Birthday’s wonderful In every single way And next year brings happiness For you day after day Happy Birthday Everloving Friends,R1:-) TCS

■ Dear Indira, Wishing you a many more happy returns of the day.. May this year bring with it all the success & fulfillment your heart desires.. Hope our little B’day wishes will make u smile.. Have a great year ahead.. With luv, Bhavani, Hashini, Venki, Saravana, Sasthan, Dhinesh, Sangeetha. R Systems

Belated Wishes ■ Hi Shruti, Today tumara birthday... janam din mubharak.accha.. yehday hein tumare yaar...jai ho.. we are barista mein wait kar raha hein.. tum aaoo or math aaaoooo....hai rabba ,,,some people .... Weall wish u a many more happyreturns of the day. Regards, LogisAir and BATeam.

■ Dear Jayanthi, In this world, where everything seems uncertain, only one thing is definite. You’ll always be my friend, beyond words, beyond time and beyond distance. Happy Birthday my dear friend Jai. From Sangee, Saran, Cicy, Poorna, Sri, Bhuvi, Revathi, Jims, Sals, Nalani, Ppriya and TRA team. Congruent Solutions

■ Dear Vig , Wishing u a day soft as silk..... White as milk..... Sweet as honey & full of money. May all ur dreams come true.... HAPPY BIRTH DAY MY DEAR F-R-I-E-N-D :) Regards, Shanmugam B HCL Technologies

14 TRAFFIC JAM

ERGO Tuesday, April 28, 2009

The view from up here U.K. officials claim a series of highways in Birmingham, England could be visible from space after the roads are illuminated.

sudoku

R.Sivaramakrishnan from HCL clicked this photo during his team outing to Ooty.

Entries to the column will get gift vouchers from Bubbles Spa worth Rs.1,000. Winners send your mailing address to [email protected]. Call 2857 6688 for clarifications.

So you think you would make a terrific photographer but never really had the platform? Mail us your best work and we’ll publish it in this space, with credit. E-mail: [email protected]

TEAM Editor: Karthik Subramanian [email protected]

Sr Dy Chief Designer: J.A. Prem Kumar Dy Chief Designer: R. Ravi Kannan Illustrator: R. Venugopal Technical Support: V.R. Vasudevan, K.G. Gurumurthy N. Ravichandran, E. Baskar

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: Contact: 2857 5757 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.goergo.in Head of Circulation: M.G.M. Sharief [email protected]

SNAIL MAIL 859/860, Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 002 mail your feedback to [email protected]

FAX 2857 6691

Printed and Published by S. Karthik on behalf of KASTURI & SONS LTD., at Plot B-6 & B-7, CMDA Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar, Chengleput Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist., Pin: 603209 & at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002. Editor: S. Karthik (Editor responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553

KAKURO

15

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Naphouse is a real rest-aurant Finlands’ new establishment Naphouse offers its diners slippers, a pillow, a blanket and a teddy bear - so they can rest after eating.

Word’s worth Emulous (em-yuh-lus) an adjective meaning ‘wanting to rival or imitate, wanting to obtain.’ It also means ‘motivated by rivalry’ or ‘greedy for praise or power.’ This last meaning is a reasonable extension, for who is emulous of someone weak or despised? This word is a nice way to say envious, jealous, and emulative, all at once.

B.C ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20 Today is the day when you may feel that it’s time to get realistic and accrue some tangible gains. But you also need to focus on work. You may wish to spend money buying gifts for your beloved, but you may end up being a miser.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20 You will stick to your guns at the workplace. This inflexibility may be understood as stubbornness by others and it may compromise your reputation. On the love front, you may nurture your relationship by exhibiting an enduring passion.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20 It’s a less than perfect day for you. Your efforts need to be channelised in the right direction. You will be able keep technical errors at bay only if you put your logical abilities to optimum use, Ganesha says.

BORN LOSER

CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20 It’s a lucky day in office as well as at the personal front. Expect that big pat for the amazing dedication and hard work you have displayed. With your powers to express reaching new highs, you will reach the pinnacle of harmony in your love life.

LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20 Ganesha foresees a great day for you. With the superb energy levels you experience today, you will be executing your tasks to the best of your ability. It’s simply not fair to get too busy thinking about career; devote some time to your beloved as well.

VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20

FREE RANGE

WORKING IT OUT

You shall complete your work on time by getting more systematic. You will also be in the right frame of mind to code new programs. There are chances that you may get too practical and remain insensitive to the feelings of your sweetheart.

LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20 It’s an okay day for you today. You may remain unenthusiastic at work as you may find yourself engaged in clearing pending tasks. On the personal front, communicating your feelings to your beloved can help you keep misunderstandings at bay.

SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20 Ganesha foresees that the day doesn’t favour you much. Your low spirits will not allow you to be productive today. But you need to be alert while performing routine tasks. It’s your easy-going nature that can smoothen the road to relationship bliss.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20 You will give and get appreciation but you also need to accept some criticism in order to improve. On the personal front, you need to be responsive to your sentimental partner, something that only an understanding person can do.

CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20 A great day is waiting for you. Your mind will be lively and unusually inventive at the workplace. Get yourself armed with new skills to progress in your career. You will spend a romantic time with your sweetheart.

PREVIOUS ISSUE’S SOLUTIONS

AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20 It’s a day demanding you to strike the right balance between your personal and professional life. You will find it difficult to concentrate on your work due to personal problems. Sorting out issues can help you create a lasting relationship.

PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20 The day finds you in an expressive mood. The dexterity with which you will handle communications will make your routine tasks easier. On the personal front, avoid being inflexible as you may end up hurting near and dear ones. Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni

16 !

ERGO Tuesday, April 28, 2009

File picture of an aerial view taken from a helicopter window shows the crater of the Mt. Vesuvius volcano, seen near the Italian city of Naples on March 31, 2009. Nearly 2,000 years after wiping out Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius is among the most closely monitored in the world, its every shudder recorded. “It is always active, and 600,000 people would be directly at risk if it erupts,” says vulcanologist Claudio Scarpati.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick attend the Broadway opening night afterparty for The Philanthropist at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre on Sunday in New York City.

AFP PHOTO / MARIO LAPORTA/FILES

BRAD BARKET/GETTY IMAGES/AFP PHOTO

A 7.03 carat fancy vivid blue, cushion shaped diamond from the Cullinan mine in South Africa is displayed at Sotheby’s auction house in central London, on Monday. With an expected sale price of between GBP 3.9m - 5.8m (4.31m - 6.4m euros/5.8m - 8.5m USD) the buyer will have the honour of naming the diamond when it goes to auction in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 12, 2009. AFP PHOTO/LEON NEAL

The Mexican navy training ship ARM Cuauhtemoc arrives in Shanghai on Sunday, after participating in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s 60th anniversary celebration in Qingdao. The ARM Cuauhtemoc, known as the Ambassador and Knight of the Sea, has visited 94 countries and 147 ports; has preformed 28 cruises, from which three have been circumnavigations; crossed the Panama Canal 32 times; and travelled a total of 532,796 miles in 4,208 day’s runs. AFP PHOTO