A BYTE OF LIFE Wednesday, July 22, 2009

03
WINDOW SHOPPER
Readymade, double-blouse and pleated
sarees at Sri Palam Silk Sarees

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 137

Two much Jackson’s

TROUBLE last days
Sony to release a film with more
The Sports than 80 hours of footage on Michael
Ministry is in Jackson’s last days as he was rehears-
trouble over ing for his comeback concerts in Lon-
finalising the don. The film will also include an
name for the alternative version of Jackson’s most
famous video, Thriller.
country’s top
sporting award. » Page 11
Though M.C.
Mary Kom has
been officials
nominated,
two other
names in the
fray makes it a
complicated
job.

» Page 09
02 NAMMA CHENNAI
Reasons to live on online
With the print run of Ergo all set to end
July 31 and our impending transition into
an online only publication, we had
welcomed readers to suggest strategies for
running a healthy website.
One of our readers Pradeep Kumar had
brought out his views on his blog –
zenofzeno.blogspot.com.
He suggests that we adopt the following
ideas: 1. Serve as aggregators for blogs; 2.
Make the site itself partially social network-
oriented; 3. Provide news services; 4. Have a
chat link; and 5. Aggregate tweets of
famous personalities in one place.
All the ideas seem good enough to explore.
We are at the drawing boards right now to
chalk out what shape the website could
take.
Regarding social networking itself, you
know that Ergo had in fact tried it through
pages 12 and 13. The ‘my.ergo’ pages are
proof that social networking need not be
only through new media. Traditional media
can also incorporate user-generated
content. In fact, we had experimented with
it for a few of our Friday Big Stories too
and with good results.
Do follow us on twitter - @goergo – to
receive updates about the changes and the
direction our website is going to take.
Looking forward to our continued
association.
Karthik Subramanian
Editor
Ergo
Follow our plans at
www.twitter.com/goergo
ERGO Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Write your monsoon story
Greenpeace India is inviting stories on the monsoons. They could be a tale of joy or
misery. Every entry becomes a ‘Green Idol’ and the story would be put up on http://
greenidol.in/. The authors of the short-listed best stories would get an opportunity to
meet the Prime Minister.
The seven-minute store
Very thirsty? At Juice Berries on Taramani Link Road, order some
great fresh juice and expect it delivered within 7 minutes flat
MONISHA MOHANDAS
monishamohandas@yahoo.com
A
stone’s throw away from
TCS Velachery on Tarama-
ni Link Road is Juice Ber-
ries, a two-month-old juice
shop.
Run by couple R. Kishore Ku-
mar and Poornima Kishore Ku-
mar, the shop already has its
regular patrons. The couple have
taken it upon themselves a chal-
lenge to hand over fresh juice to
thirsty customers in less than sev-
en minutes from placing the or-
der.
Shop owner Kishore hails from
a family that runs a fairly success-
ful restaurant business in Chin-
datripet. So starting a juice shop
might appear a natural choice. Juice Berries
However, he started out as an IT Address:
professional and was associated Old No.36/1, New No.42/1,
with the industry for nearly 10 New Colony Extn.,
years. His last deputation with 137 Taramani Link Road,
the industry was as an assistant Velachery, Chennai – 600042
project manager with Guindy- Ph: 044 22433414
based firm Sconce Solutions (In- Landmark: Near Tata
dia) Private Limited. He quit his Consultancy Services
job to launch Juice Berries. “Our (They take up delivery on
orders within 3 km radius of
city had a lot of decent fast food
the store.)
joints but not juice shops. I felt a
Shop timings: 10.30 a.m. to
shop that looked spic and span 11.30 p.m. (Open all days)
and delivered juice alone was an
ideal solution for our ever-hot
highly-polluted city. Roadside
juice stalls hardly serve any pur-
pose,” says Kishore.
But starting a juice shop was
not an easy job. Kishore, wife
Poornima and the other business
partner Krishnan spent three
months experimenting. “We test-
ed a variety of juice and prepared
a menu with 90 dif-
ferent kinds of juic-
es, milk shakes and
lassis,” says
Poornima. Juice Berries at Velachery, Taramani Link Road. PHOTOS: R.
Unlike other SHIVAJI RAO
juice shops in the
city, Juice Berries
claims to be One may get confused by the shakes, lassi shakes, ice-cream
unique in the way attractive names of juices and at- milk shakes and in-house des-
it makes its juices. tractive prices on the menu card serts, the shop also has some hot
“Except the fresh lime juice none but it also tempts you to try many delicious sandwiches. The juices
of our juices contains water. It’s at a stretch. Orange-U-Tangy, are priced between Rs.15 and
completely made of fruits and, if Berries Mocktail, Appie Dew, Rs.60. ■
necessary, milk. Moreover, we Golden Sip are some of Juice Ber-
use only safe ice,” says Krishnan. ries’ specialities. With fruit
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
CAREFULLY SELECTED PIECES AND CLEVER INNOVATIONS
CHARACTERISE SRI PALAM SILK SAREES IN PONDY BAZAAR
R E G U L A R ,
Double blouse
or pleated?
S
aree shopping requires patience –
usually going up and down three or
more floors while elbowing people
Saree with matching cellphone with a similar mission, sifting hun-
pouch dreds of sarees, narrowing it down to a
dozen and finally buying a couple. Sri Pa-
lam Silk Sarees makes it easier. And in-
novations that simplify wearing a saree
and accessorising it have ensured that it
remains distinct even in saree-heavy T.
Nagar.
A row of footwear outside the
door will tell you to leave yours
behind. Once inside, you’ll no-
tice that tall wooden almirahs
occupy the place of shelves. “I
Readymade saree wanted the place to have a home-
ly feel,” says Jeyasree Ravi, the lady
behind the store, who personally
handpicks each saree that is stocked here.
Set up in 2003, the store got an extended
space last year. The board outside is more
conspicuous too.
“I personally like traditional sarees. But
the last two years we’ve seen many young-
sters coming in. Our sarees are a mix of
traditional design and fancy shade or the
other way around. You can never look at a
Double blouse saree saree and say it is traditional or fancy,” she
adds.
There are Kanchipurams and sarees in
dhupia, crepe, cotton and silk-cotton here.
“People who like pattu will like cotton and
silk-cotton because they have a similar
kind of drape.”
Concept sarees
Concept sarees are one big attraction.
Take for instance the ‘double blouse’ saree,
which comes attached with two contrast-
Pleated saree. PHOTOS: R. RAVINDRAN ing blouse pieces. “Women who’ve gone
03
on a weight-loss spree and those who like
alternating the same saree between cere-
monial and casual use loved it,” says Jeyas-
ree. “But those were new uses our
customers came up with. The fact is, we
introduced the double blouse sarees for
the mother-daughter pair, as a lot of young
girls end up wearing their mother’s sarees.
Hence, the two blouses come useful.”
There is also the ‘Golusu pattu’ saree,
where the lower saree border comes at-
tached with tiny anklet bells. While sarees
with matching cellphone pouches or purs-
es are already pretty popular, the ready-
made and pleated sarees here are finding
several takers. “We found that readymade
sarees do not correspond to every per-
son’s height and waist measure-
ments. We then introduced the
pleated sarees. When not folded
and tucked properly, pleats tend
to make a person look bulky. The
pleated saree solves this prob-
lem,” Jeyasree explains.
Come Diwali and more innova-
tions are underway.
USP
“The selection here is our USP,” says
Jeyasree. “We might not have a huge col-
lection of sarees. But while you’ll have to
rummage through 100-200 sarees to pick
one unique piece in a regular saree show-
room, here each of the 10 sarees spread
before you will be unique. It saves time.” ■
Sri Palam Silk Sarees
Address:
1st Floor, No. 115,
Pondy Bazaar (opposite Fatima Plaza),
T. Nagar,
Chennai – 600 017
Ph: 2432 3334
Website: www.palamsilk.com
Store timings: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
(Open all days)
04 KALEIDOSCOPE ERGO Wednesday, July 22, 2009

‘Oasis a better band than Beatles’

C
ristiano Ronaldo has said
that he finds Oasis a far
better band than the Beat-
les.
The Manchester United star,
who was roped in by Spanish
giants Real Madrid this sum-
mer, said he preferred listening
to the British rock band than the
Fab Four.
“Liverpool have The Beatles
and Manchester have Oasis. I
think we (Manchester) have the
better band,” The Sun quoted
him as saying.
“I have all the Oasis albums
but my favourite track by far is
Champagne Supernova. It’s an
absolute classic.”
“One thing I will miss about
Manchester is Oasis. I will be
honest, I didn’t even know who
they were when I first arrived in
Manchester, but you can’t live
there long without knowing
who they are.”
“The lads in the dressing
room loved them, especially the
English boys. When I came to
England I was into my techno,
but I think Oasis are one of my
favourite bands now,” he add-
ed. ■
ANI Figures of the "Beatles" are on display at an exhibition in Hamburg. PHOTOS: AFP

Woman stabs
hubby for coming
World’s largest ebook
home late shop launched
B
arnes & Noble launched William Lynch, president of the

A
Malay woman allegedly stabbed her husband
in a fit of rage, when he returned home late after what it bills as the world’s book giant’s website BN.com.
watching a friendly match between Manchester largest online electronic “Today marks the first phase of
United and the Malaysian team on July 18. book shop with virtual our digital strategy, which is root-
According to the Harian Metro, the husband had shelves holding more than ed in the belief that readers
initially promised his wife to be home by around 7pm 700,000 titles. should have access to the books
after the match, but he only came back at 2am. The major US bookseller is in their digital library from any
As soon as the man entered the house, the 20 so- challenging online retail power- device, from anywhere, at any
mething couple began arguing. house Amazon.com with elec- time.”
And as the argument heated up, the wife believably tronic works readable on an array Amazon staked out a place in
stabbed her husband in the chest with a vegetable of platforms, including comput- the electronic book market with
knife, as she could no longer control her temper. ers, iPod Touch MP3 players, and the release of Kindle reader de-
However, she panicked on seeing her husband cov- iPhone and BlackBerry smart vices in late 2007 and has more
ered in blood, and quickly sent him to the hospital. phones. than 300,000 titles for sale at its
Police have detained the wife and seized the weap- Barnes & Noble added that it website.
on, and Ampang OCPD Asst Comm Abd Jalil Hassan will be the exclusive provider of Early this year, Amazon made
said that the 26-year-old self-employed victim was ebooks for electronic readers to software available at Apple’s App
currently in critical condition. be released by Plastic Logic. Store that lets people read Kindle
“The woman claims she was provoked by her hus- “We want to make ebooks sim- books on iPhones or iPod Touch A worker erects a oversized
band coming home late,” the Star Online quoted him ple, accessible, affordable and devices. ■ ebook at a tech fair in
as saying. ■ convenient for everyone,” said AFP Hanover. PHOTO: AFP
ANI
 Wednesday, July 22, 2009
05

England all-
rounder
targeted by 80-
mn pounds
British-style
Ponzi scheme

E
ngland star batsman Kevin Pietersen was targeted
in an alleged 80 million pounds fraud by a British
“Bernie Madoff-style” gang.
Suspected tricksters tried to get England’s former
captain, who played in the historic Lord’s Test win
against Australia to invest in a “Ponzi” scheme, which has
since collapsed.
It is thought two men approached multi-millionaire
Pietersen, 29, who is married to former Liberty X singer
Jessica Taylor, The Sun reports.
His spokesman Adam Wheatley confirmed Pietersen
was asked to invest cash for the promise of big returns.
He said: “It came through originally to Kevin.”
“He said, ’What do you think of this?’ It seemed too
good to be true. I know he did not put a penny in.”
It is feared another Test star may have lost cash in the
alleged scam, but pals of Andrew Flintoff said it was not
him.
Details emerged as police re-arrested Kautilya Nandan
Pruthi, 38 - the scheme’s alleged mastermind.
Pruthi, of Knightsbridge, Central London, was held on
suspicion of money laundering by City of London Police.
Two others have been quizzed. The force has ordered
the assets of three firms be frozen.
Up to 600 people, including a 1960s pop star and a TV
actress, paid into the scheme after they were allegedly
offered returns of six to 13 per cent if they invested for
four years.
It echoed the case of jailed Wall Street broker Bernard
Madoff. ■
ANI

Conmen target
Photo: AFP
Pietersen
06 VILLAGE ERGO Wednesday, July 22, 2009

World’s largest cupcake

The world’s largest cupcake is on display at the Mall of America - it
weighs 151 pounds and is over two feet wide, featuring 15 pounds
of fudge filling and 60 pounds of yellow icing.

Buy a car, get a free AK-47 Google adds moon

A car dealer in America has found a unique way to
boost its vehicle sales by offering a free Kalashnikov to online Earth
assault rifle with every truck, whether new or used.
Mark Muller, the owner of Max Motors near Kansas map service
City that boasts the slogan “God, Guns, Guts, and Google marked the 40th
American Pick-Up Trucks”, says that he had been anniversary of the first human
overwhelmed by the response. footstep on the moon by
“It’s extremely successful. There is a lot of worry adding virtual lunar
about crime, we have a methamphetamine problem exploration to its free online
around here and people just want to protect Earth map and imagery
themselves,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying. service.
ANI The moon joins earth, Mars,
and sky in an options list in
an upper tool bar on the
main web page at
Wanted: Escorts to help crabs earth.google.com.
Aspiring lunar explorers will need Google Earth 5.0
cross the road software, which can be downloaded free.
A national park in Taiwan is seeking volunteers to help Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the first person to walk
some 300 land crabs across a busy highway so that they on the moon, joined Google, X Prize Foundation, and
can lay their eggs in the ocean. NASA officials in Washington, DC, for the launch of moon
Kenting National Park, on the southern tip of Taiwan, is in Google Earth.
looking for about 20 people to stop drivers from hitting Moon in Google Earth meshes “Street View” style
the crabs, the size of a human hand, as they carry up to panoramic photographs and NASA video taken on the
200,000 eggs apiece across a coastal highway, conservation surface of the moon to create a virtual moonscape.
researcher Chung Yi-ting said. Apollo program astronauts Jack Schmitt and Aldrin
Without human escorts, provided narration for online lunar tours.
about 10 per cent of the AFP
crabs would be crushed by
cars, he said.
Volunteers will need to
patrol a 2 km stretch of Cops nab underwear thief
road for two hours in the German police uncovered over 1,000 pairs of
early evening for several underpants and more than 100 pairs of swimming
days from early August, trunks after catching a thief nabbing another three
when the crabs start their pairs for his collection.
annual migration. The 46-year-old man was caught pinching three pairs
“This is when the moon is of pants from a sports hall in the western town of
fullest, bringing the most Gelnhausen. Police then came across the enormous
crabs out,” Chung said. collection of underwear while searching his flat.
“It’s also the period of “They were all evidently in use, but had been
highest density along the washed and neatly stacked away,” a police
road.” spokesman said.
Reuters Reuters

Single women prefer dogs to men

S
ingle women would rather
prefer the company of a
dog than men, according
to experts.
Sydney Petcare owner Richard
Durant said that more and more
single women in Australia were
in favour of the four-legged loy-
al and reliable companion.
“In the past year 60 per cent
of our new business has come
from young single women. It’s a
growing trend I’ve noticed over
the last few years.
These are women who live bu-
sy lives,” The Courier Mail quot-
ed him as saying.
“They want company when
they get home. In many cases
you’ll find the dog sleeps in
their bedroom, and even in bed
with them,” he added.
Dogs New South Wales Presi-
dent Dr. Peter Higgins nodded
in agreement.
He said: “The fastest growing
segment of dog owners in the
inner city is young single wom-
en. It’s almost like a child sub-
stitute. They lead busy lives and
they’re not in a relationship.
That’s why dogs like Maltese ter-
riers, which are the second most
popular dog in Australia and the
most popular dog in Sydney, are
popular - they’re little and they
have human-like features.”
Australian Companion Animal
Council President Dr. Kersti Sek-
sel attempted to explain the
preference.
She said: “If you live alone,
having a dog as a companion to
come home to is often more ap-
pealing than a flatmate. Own-
ing a dog increases the feeling
of safety and security.” ■
ANI

PHOTO: AFP
 Wednesday, July 22, 2009
07
Websites of the day Contacts for animals
Learn about butterflies: A German company is making
www.ukbutterflies.co.uk contact lenses that can be custom fit
Find your next book: for animals, including lions, giraffes,
www.lovereading.co.uk tigers and bears, who are suffering
from cataracts.

Beer-
drinking
Aussie PM
model
faces
laments Lord’s loss
caning
Kevin Rudd

A
religious court in
Malaysia has sen-
tenced a tearful Sin-
admits to
gaporean model to
six strokes of the cane af- Ashes
ter she drank beer in a
nightclub, according to a
newspaper report.
’sinking
Kartika Sari Dewi Shu-
karno, 32, pleaded guilty feeling’
to consuming alcohol at a
hotel nightclub in the
eastern state of Pahang
last year, the New Straits
Times newspaper report-
ed.
“We feel the sentence is
fair after going through
the prosecution’s argu-
ment and since the rotan
(cane) is provided for in
the law,” Pahang Sharia
High Court judge Abdul
Rahman Yunus said, ac-
cording to the paper.
“The rotan is aimed at
making the accused re-
pent and serves as a les-
son to Muslims,” he
added, also fining Kartika
5,000 ringgit (1,412 dol-
lars).
The model, who cried Australian PM
when the judgement was Kevin Rudd. PHOTOS: AFP
delivered, said she would
appeal.
State religious officials

P
could not be reached for rime Minister Kevin
comment on the case. ■ Rudd admitted to a
AFP “sinking feeling” after
watching Australia’s
Ashes Test defeat by England
and urged the country to get
behind the team.
Rudd joined Australian
media in lamenting the 115-
run loss, which prompted lo-
cal bookmakers to install bit-
ter rivals England as
favourites to snatch cricket’s
most famous trophy.
“Like all Australians, I
watched telly last night with
a sinking feeling in my stom-
ach. But you know someth-
ing, it’s only two Tests down,
and there’s a few to go,”
Rudd said. “So I’m looking
forward to the next Test, and
we have a first-class Austra-
lian team. And we should all
be in there backing them,
each ball that’s bowled, and
each delivery which is struck
to the boundary by Austra-
lian batsmen in the remain-
ing Tests.” Rudd’s
comments came as media
grumbled over umpiring,
England’s attitude and the
state of Australia’s once for-
midable team after their first
loss at Lord’s in 75 years.
“Ricky Ponting faces the
greatest challenge of his cap-
taincy to save the Ashes se-
ries,” columnist Malcolm
Conn wrote in the Daily Tele-
graph.
“For decades we have
heard how Australians are al-
ways inspired by the spiritual
home of cricket,” he added.
“Unfortunately this inexpe-
rienced team was over-
whelmed by the occasion.”
A Sydney Morning Herald
editorial lamented umpiring
standards, after replays ap-
peared to show England cap-
tain Andrew Strauss grassing
a catch off opener Phillip
Hughes.
“What standards does the
International Cricket Coun-
cil live by?” the Herald com-
plained. tency that has cast a shadow
“This is the television age, over the series.”
an era unforgiving of error by Meanwhile online book-
referees and umpires in ma- maker Centrebet slashed the
jor sports.” odds on England winning
“Yet even with the benefit the five-match series, put-
of replay, the match officials ting aside patriotism to in-
in the current Ashes series stall the “Poms” as 2-to-1
have produced a medley of favourites. ■
incompetence and inconsis- AFP
08 SPORT ERGO Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Pope sends greetings

Pope Benedict XVI has sent his greetings to riders and organisers of the Tour de France and told
them that commitment in sports must always be accompanied by the respect of moral values. The
pope sent his message to the Tour participants on Tuesday because they will cross over to Italy
and pass near the Alpine village where he is vacationing.

Mumbaikars
script win
T
he Indian team under S. Ba-
drinath began their cam-
paign with a bang, crushing
local favourites Australian
Institute of Sports (AIS) by six
wickets in their first match of the
Emerging Players Twenty20
Tournament. After restricting
the locals to a modest 101 for
seven wickets in their allotted 20
overs, the Mumbai duo of Ajin-
kya Rahane (43 not out) and
Abhishek Nayar (30) guided In-
dia to 102 for four in 18.3 overs
to complete a facile victory.
Rahane was unbeaten after a
sedate 55-ball 43 that had just
three fours in it. Nayar chipped
in with a contrasting 19-ball 30
studded with five fours. Opting
to bat first, the Australians had
an ominous start as Sudeep Tyagi
caught Rob Quiney off his first
delivery and the locals eventually
slumped to 24 for four inside sev-
en overs.
Tom Cooper stood tall amid ru-
ins with a heroic 57-ball 63 that
was studded with six fours and
two sixes but none of his team-
mates managed double digit
scores as the Australians some-
how crawled past the 100-mark.
India’s chase was far from
smooth as Murali Vijay (0), Badri-
nath (2) himself and Virat Kohli
(7) were cooling their heels in-
side eight overs as the visitors India off to
slumped to 19 for three. Rahane,
however, found a perfect foil in winning start
fellow Mumbaikar Nayar and the
duo forged a 50-run stand to in Emerging
steady the ship. Even though
Nayar fell in the 14th over, R Ash- Players
win (15 not out) and Rahane en-
sured there was no further Tournament
hiccup.
India play South Africa in the
next match.
Brief Score
Australian Institute of Sports:
101 for 7 in 20 overs (Tom Cooper
63 not out; Sudeep Tyagi 2-15,
Pradeep Sangwan 2-20). India
Emerging Players: 102 for 4 in
18.3 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 43
not out, Abhishek Nayar 30; Pe-
ter George 2-9). ■
PTI
Ajinkya
Rahane
FILE PHOTO:
K. PICHUMANI

Flintoff’s Ashes dreams A chance to see the WC

After guiding England to a historic win
over Australia in the second Ashes Test at
Lord’s, retiring all-rounder Andrew
Flintoff said regaining the trophy from
the clutches of Ricky Ponting’s men
would be the perfect farewell to his five-
day game career.
Flintoff insisted he is determined to play the entire series
despite of his troublesome knee and help England lift the
Ashes at the end of the fifth and final Test at the Oval. “I
said before this match that these will be my last four Test
matches. To be on that podium at the Oval would, for
me, be the perfect way to go,” the 31-year-old burly all-
rounder said. “And the encouraging thing is that I bowled
the best part of 40 overs in this Test, and I feel fine apart
from a few aches and pains. I may have been in a bit of
discomfort, but I have played most of my career in
discomfort, so for me that’s nothing new,” he said.
Flintoff said he was little disappointed to quit Test cricket
at a time when he feels he is getting better day by day as
a bowler.
PTI
The application process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup volunteer programme has
opened from Monday. With over 15,000 volunteers needed for the month-long
event, football’s world governing body is expecting over a million applications for
the coveted job.
Anyone over 18 on 1 March 2010 across the globe is eligible to apply online at
www.FIFA.com/volunteers2010 before August 31.
“The volunteer programme is an excellent way to get involved in South Africa and Africa’s once-in-
a-lifetime opportunity of hosting the world’s biggest sporting event,” said 2010 FIFA World Cup
Organising Committee South Africa Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Danny Jordaan, in a FIFA Press
release.
The volunteers are expected to do a series of odd jobs that will vary from ushering people to their
seats to assisting the media and foreign language speakers, welcoming people at the airport and
driving guests around.
According to Dr. Jordaan, volunteers will be required in 16 functional areas – accreditation,
marketing, media, protocol services, spectator services, transportation, administration, environmental
services, welcome and information services, information technology and telecommunication,
language support, rights protection programme, logistic services, hospitality and ushering services
and also volunteer management.
Short-listed candidates are expected to sit for an interview (telephonic for foreign candidates) in
January and February 2010, which will be followed by a month-long training programme before the
start of the mega event in June-July.
Ergo Correspondent
 Wednesday, July 22, 2009
09

‘‘
He (Cristiano Ronaldo) may come back, you never know. Sometimes it happens that way. He loved United. If you
look back at the six years he had with us, he never missed training. His best is yet to come. He’s only 24. He came
to the right club at the right part of his career. He could have gone to Real Madrid, Barcelona or other clubs. But he came
to the right one and appreciates that. It was always his intention to make his move.
Sir Alex Ferguson

One Khel Ratna, thrice

the trouble
With three nominations for the Rajiv
Gandhi Khel Ratna instead of the accepted
one, the Sports Ministry is in a soup

AYON SENGUPTA
ayon@goergo.in

T
he Sports Ministry’s own selection panel seems to have landed it in a spot of
bother. Entrusted to sort out this year’s Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna
Award winners, the 15-member panel headed by paddler Indu Puri has sent
in three names in place of one for the country’s highest sporting honour –
the Khel Ratna.
Only twice since its inception in 1991-92, has the award been shared. Leander
Paes and Kujarani Devi shared it in 1996-97 and then again by athlete K.M.
Beenamol and shooter Anjali Bhagwat in 2003. The decision last time had raised
a furore, forcing the government to decide against a repeat. “The Rajiv Gandhi
Khel Ratna is meant to be the country’s highest sporting honour. And it’s not
generally meant to be shared,” an official from the ministry said on condition of
anonymity.
The move comes as more of a surprise because two top Sports Ministry officials
– Joint Secretary Injeti Srinivas and Deputy Secretary C. Chinnappa – were
also part of the panel and are sure to know about the ministry diktat.
Four-time world champion boxer M.C. Mary Kom is the panel’s
first preference but Beijing Olympics bronze medallists Vijender
Kumar and Sushil Kumar’s names have also been forwarded.
“For her consistent performance all of us thought Mary Kom
is the most deserving candidate. Especially last year she came
back from a long sabbatical to win the world championship,”
former Arjuna awardee boxer and panel member V. Devarajan
said. “Both Vijender and Sushil are worthy candidates too, but
if we can only nominate one it would be unfair on the other.
We have sent in a recommendation to the ministry and they
have the final authority. Exceptions can be made.”
Joint Secretary Srinivas added: “The panel can only make
the necessary selections according to the rules of the go-
vernment. These special references by them will be consi-
dered by the ministry at the highest level and the correct
decision will be taken. Our doors are always kept open to
give the athletes their due, but the correct decorum and
rules have to be followed.”
Mary Kom, who feels the award comes a trifle too late
to her, said procedures should be followed. “Things
should go as per rule. If the rule is that only one person
can win the award, it should be so. Whether I win or
someone else doesn’t matter.”
Vijender, who had expressed disappointment on
missing out on the award last year to gold med-
allist Abhinav Bindra, was cautious. “A lot of
words are floating in the air. But nobody is con-
firming anything,” he said. “It will be a great
honour to win it and I think I deserve it. But I
can only hope for the best because the final
decision rests on somebody else.”
The ball so remains firmly in the Sports Min-
istry’s court and the likes of Srinivas and Chin-
nappa have to decide whether to go in for an
exception or stand by status quo. ■

M.C. MARY KOM FILE PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR

10 FLICK ERGO Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Genelia back to ‘Pappu dance’ in Life Partner

Actor Genelia surprised her choreographer on the sets of Life Partner when she
requested him to include the signature step of the song “Pappu can’t dance” from
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na in the song “Teri meri ye zindagi”.

‘Nice work with the hug dodge’

U
2 singer Bono has revealed how
he once dodged an embrace
from then U.S. President George
W. Bush, and was congratulated
on it by the latter’s successor Barack
Obama.
On a BBC program on July 19, Bono
revealed how he stiffed President Bush
out of the photo op in 2006 at the Na-
tional Prayer Breakfast.
He said that the two of them were on
the stage when Bush tried to hug him.
“There were all kinds of people in
the audience,” the Politico quoted Bo-
no as having recalled on Jonathan Ross’
talk show.
The singer admitted that he did not
want to be embraced by the man with
whom he had so many political dis-
agreements.
He said that watching the former
president was nearing him, he jumped
behind a podium to “dodge the hug”.
He said that his trick worked, and just
about nobody in the audience knew it
happened.
However, sharp-eyed Obama, who
was part of the bipartisan crowd, ob-
served it all.
“When I was sitting down I was be-
side Sen. Obama,” the star said. Bono
said the future President whispered to
him, “Nice work with the hug dodge.”
■
ANI

Former U.S. President George W. Bush (left) stands with Irish rock star Bono after Bono spoke at the
National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in this file photo taken on February 2, 2006.

Gwyneth Paltrow ‘furious’ Chris Brown apologises

G wyneth Paltrow is reportedly fuming after
seeing the promo pics of her new film, Iron for Rihanna assault
Man 2, which mainly feature her co-star Scarlett
Johansson.
The beauty, who plays the superhero’s PA
R &B singer Chris Brown issued a video apology on Monday
for assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna, pleading for
forgiveness from his fans for
Pepper Potts in the sequel, is apparently miffed “inexcusable” behaviour.
with the bosses because they are letting Johansson Brown, who will next month be
steal her limelight. sentenced to 180 days of
In fact, the Shakespeare in Love star was found community service for the
missing as Robert Downey Jr., Mickey Rourke and February 8 incident, posted the
Johansson posed for publicity shots. apology on his official website in
“Gwyneth was afraid she’d be upstaged by a two-minute statement made
Scarlett and not being in the campaign was the directly to camera.
final straw. She is furious she’s been left out,” Sun “I wish I had the chance to live
quoted a source as telling a newspaper. those few moments again, but
However, Paltrow’s representative has dismissed unfortunately I can’t,” Brown
the reports. said. “I’m not going to sit here
He said: “She was not at all upset. The fans will and make any excuses. What I
get to see more of Pepper Potts as we get closer did was inexcusable.”
to the film’s release next May.” The 20-year-old singer said he had apologised repeatedly to
But this is not the first occasion when friction Barbados-born ‘Umbrella’ singer Rihanna and revealed that
between Gwyneth and Scarlett has emerged. he continued to seek help to prevent a repeat of his outburst.
Even while shooting for the film, it was reported “I have told Rihanna countless times, and I’m telling you
that Paltrow had grown tired of Johansson’s today, that I am truly, truly sorry that I wasn’t able to handle
demands on the set. ■ the situation differently and better,” he said. ■
ANI AFP
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
11
Has daddy gone on holiday, asks
Jackson’s son

Sony to release film of

Michael Jackson’s six-year-old son Blanket is still unsure of
what has happened to his father and asks whether he
has gone on holiday, says Mark Lester, godfather to the
late pop star’s children. Jackson, who died on June 25,
has three children –12-year-old Michael Jr, 11-year-old

Jackson’s final days Paris Michael Katherine and six-year-old Prince Michael II
whom Jacko called Blanket.

S
ony is to release a movie based on more than 80 hours of footage filmed during
Michael Jackson’s final days as he was rehearsing for his comeback concerts in
London, trade paper Variety reported on Monday.
Sony is expected to pay over $50 million for the rights to the footage, which was
offered by concert promoter AEG to Hollywood film studios over the weekend.
Cine City
The film will include several videos that were shot and meant to be shown during the
concerts, including an alternative version of Jackson’s most famous video, Thriller.
High School Musical director Kenny Ortega, who shot the rehearsal footage, is ex-
pected to become the director of the film, which could be released before year’s end.
Though Universal, Paramount and 20th Century Fox were also interested in the
footage, Sony had the inside track since the studio owns the music publishing rights to
Jackson’s songs.
The report said that AEG is also selling TV and video rights to the tribute concert
featuring Justin Timberlake and other artistes, scheduled for August 29, on what would
have been Jackson’s 51st birthday.
The singers will perform the songs that the King of Pop had planned, accompanied by
the band that rehearsed with him. ■
DPA

Michael Jackson is seen during rehearsals for his upcoming concerts in

London, at a building near Burbank airport near Los Angeles in this May 6,
2009 file photo.

Shruthi’s Luck
Recently Shruthi Hassan arranged a special
screening of her flick Luck at the Four Frames
theatre. Guests included her dad Kamal Hassan,
Gautami, Charu Hassan, Shruthi’s friends, director
Soham Shah, Gautam Menon and Silambarasan.
She was on cloud nine after the screening since
she received positive response from the celebrity
guests. Shruthi’s number ‘Aazma Luck’ in the
movie has already become a rage among
youngsters. Not only the song but also her new
look by stylist Binal Shah was appreciated.

Nayan to act in Bollywood

If Internet grapevine is true, actor Nayanthara will
be playing the leading lady to Salman Khan in a
project that is under discussion now. And the
movie is being directed by none other than actor-
choreographer-director Prabhu Deva, who is
already directing the Hindi version of Pokkri with
Salman in the lead. With a lot of talk about the
Nayanthara- Prabhu Deva wedding, one has to
wait to see whether the report is true.
12 ERGO Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Syed from Sify has nominated his friends (Ram, Sathya, Saleem, Yusuf and Senthil Selvam from Tata Consultancy Services has nominated his AIWCS
me (Syed)) as Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked in Kodaikanal. team as Partners in Crime. This pic was taken during their outing to MGM
Dizzee World.

Deepak Savarimuthu from CTS has nominated his friends as Partners in Karthikeyan Rajmohan from HCL Technologies Ltd. has nominated his
Crime. This picture was clicked at Hidden Valley in Coonoor. friends (Senthilraj, Ravi, Padmakumar, Karthikeyan, Omkar and
Prakashas) as Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked in San Antonio,
Texas, USA.

Mahalakshmi Viswanathan from Sagitec Solutions has nominated best Anandakumaran S. from Virtusa DLF has nominated his friends as Partners
buddies Ramesh and Suresh as Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked in Crime. This pic was clicked taken near Amaravathi Dam near
during their to VGP trip. Udumalpet.
 Wednesday, July 22, 2009
■ Dear Prabu,
PMT team from Ford Tech- HAPPY BIRTH DAY TO U
nology Services India nomi- Prabu.
nates Mani as Office Angel. Let the GOD decorate each
GOLDEN RAY OF THE SUN
She is a very good and reaching u with wishes of
effective team player. She is a Success, Happiness and
down to earth person but very prosperity 4 U,
naughty too. She is Wish you a super duper
approachable and affectionate Happy Birthday!!! May this
to others. She is also popular special day be filled with
for preparing food from home Sweet Memories and happy
and sharing it with others. hours. Wishing you all the
fun and excitement that only
birth day bring along. We
wish you a great and
memorable year ahead!
With lots of wishes,
Bhavani Ananthan. PM
Smart Team HCL Technologies
Ltd.
■ Hi Amirtha,
Many more happy returns of
the day. May you wishes all
come true in this year.
With luv, Saga TamilSelvi B.
BCMD - Software Engineer
Infosys Technologies Limited.
■ Dear Priya (Satyam),
Wish you many more Happy
Returns Of The Day. This day
is not only important for you,
but also for us to thank god,
for giving us such a lovable
person. Note: We are waiting
for your TREAT.
Best Wishes From Vignesh (TCS),
Mrs. Tharani Guruvayurappan from Preethi (TCS) Lokesh &
Wipro Technologies doodled this. Jagadeesh(Auto Desk)
■ Dear Anil,
Weather report of the day,
There may be showers of
wishes
from friends And thunders of
blessings from GOD All
Wishing someone special a
very happy birthday Start this
year with a resolution that u
would give a big treat to all
your friends… !!
cheers!!! happy birthday,,,,,,,,
1. Master : Enda Naay padam varanjitu vaaya varayama vittutae With cheerz, Avinash, Anup,
Student : Adhu Vaayilla Praani sir Nutty,
Ramya, Garima, Barnik, Pooja
2. Doctor : Enimel Neenga Nadakanum Tata Consultancy Services
Patient : Car’la vandhurindhen naan unga kitta treatment kku
vandha piragu nadanthu thaan varein ■ Dear cute Sandhya kutti,
“Happy Birthday to you
3. Ramu: Enda intha Dress Diwali kku eduthatha Happy Birthday to you
Somu: Illa enakku eduthadhu Happy Birthday to dear
Sandhya Happy Birthday to
4. Padippukkum unakkum romba Dooram’nu sonnathu thap- you
pa pochi. America poi thaan padippen adampudikiraan With Love,
Ur Chithi-Subathra
5. Oruthan thalaikku adiyil Dictionary ya vechi thoongaraan. Wipro Technologies
Enna avanukku artha milladha kanava vardhaam
Jayaraman V.
HCL Technologies Ltd
13
■ Hi da Machan
Happy Birth Day to you da
You are born to be mine and
I am Blessed to be yours
Wish to celebrate your next
B’Day at OUR HOME (hope u
understand:-)) With love Your
Soulmate
■ Dear Giri,
“O Tanajobi ni Omedetou
Gozaimasu” It’s your
birthday, another year has
passed,
Through new experiences,
we had a blast Happy
birthday on this beautiful
day,
There’s so many things,
we just want to say.
You inspire many,
with your thoughts and
actions, We’re all so grateful,
for your (calm) reactions.
Happy birthday on this
beautiful day,
We wish you the best,
without any delay.
Hope you enjoy it, from
beginning till end, Our love
for you,
we wish to convey.
With Loads of Love & Friendship
Rama, Divyaa, Sherwin, Khattah
& Faridha Jawahir ETA-2,
Navalur,
HCL Technologies Ltd
■ Dear Mr.DanieL
Wish you Advance HAPPY
BIRTHDAY DannY On your
birthday,
let us wish you plenty of joY,
We know you’re too old,
but we still bought you a
toY.
Once a year we get the
chancE To wish you birthday
cheeR. I
t pleases us no end to saY,
We wish you another great
yeaR.
So happy birthday to you
DannY, From the bottom of
my hearT.
And may your good times
multiplY, Till they are flying
off the charT!
With luv ur’s brothers and sisters,
Wakeel, Babu, Ravi, Prabhakar,
Sivanath, Deva, Shankar, Paul,
Sreenivasan, Maarimuthu, Pankaj,
Imran, Ekambaram, Logesh,
Murugan, Hari, RajaSekhar,
Deepashankar, Aanand, Baskar,
Devikala, Geetha, Umamaheswari,
Mythili, Thangam, Malathi.
Perot Systems, Chennai.
14 TRAFFIC JAM ERGO Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Nun caught speeding to see Pope

A nun caught speeding has been ordered to pay a 375 Euro fine resulting
from an incident when she was traveling 120 mph to see the Pope after
hearing news he had fallen and was hurt.

sudoku

Naresh from
HDFC AMC has
shot this
picture at
Bhadami
(Karnataka).
His hobbies are
playing cricket
and reading
fictions.

KAKURO
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: clickpick@goergo.in

TEAM
Editor: Karthik Subramanian
karthik@goergo.in

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: ads@goergo.in
Website: www.goergo.in

Head of Circulation:
M.G.M. Sharief
copies@goergo.in

SNAIL MAIL
859/860, Anna Salai,
Chennai - 600 002
mail your feedback to
feedback@goergo.in
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
 Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Chinese bricks equipped with bricks
Yellow bricks labelled “emergency use” are now available
to passengers on Chinese public transport buses to break
windows, replacing the safety hammers that were
previously available.
15
Word’s worth
Exonym (eks-o-nim) a name that foreigners use
for a place (instead of the name that people who
live there use), such as Cologne for Koln and
Florence for Firenze.

B.C

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

Ganesha finds you low on energy today. You may
have to put in a lot of effort for the simplest of
tasks. You may take up job responsibilities. In love
life, you may learn to let go and adjust, which is a
lot tougher for an Aries.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

Your computer and you will be inseparable today.
Busy as a bee, you will be flooded with desk work.
You may finish work quickly as you may be in a
mood to rush home. You will be spending your
evening with your beloved at a social gathering.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

Today, you will be inspired by someone. You may
BORN LOSER try to brush your basic skills. Ganesha foresees you
handling all communications well. On the love front
you may be very considerate and may treat your
beloved in the best possible way.
CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20
You may not be in a mood to deal with routine
work. But be careful and don’t waste too much
time loitering around. Be ready for some work
pressure. The day will be tricky one to handle. You
may have a great time with your beloved.
LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20
Ganesha predicts a stressful yet encouraging day.
You may be in a mood to wrap up your work as
quickly as possible. Your logical and analytical
abilities are at their level best and this may help
you a great deal today.
VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20
You may come across a few technical hurdles today,
FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT but you will succeed in finding out the root cause
of the hitch and fix it soon. A perfect day to place
a demand in front of your HR Department for more
facilities.
LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20
You may handle work zealously. Ganesha foresees
you developing better professional relations. Those
in public relations or in the networking field may
perform well. You may strike a perfect balance
between practical life and emotional realm.
SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20
You may have to handle work with kid gloves, else
you may miss out on an important point. Those
dealing with coding and data management may
come across something fishy or unusual leaving
them perplexed.
SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20
Ganesha finds you guiding people through
important technical issues at work. You may even
do some value addition to a programme or a
software today. It’s an effortless, hassle-free day. To
jazz it up, your beloved may be in a good mood.
CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20
Ganesha finds you pretty busy with work today. The
day favours important meetings, group discussions,
and media conferences. There may be a conflict
with your beloved or partner but it may sort out
soon.
AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20
PREVIOUS Ganesha finds you highly concerned about your
performance at work today. Luck favours for the
ISSUE’S foundation of new projects. In the second half of
the day, you may chill out with your friends or
SOLUTIONS family.
PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20
You may remain defensive in some situations at
work today, feels Ganesha. You may need to handle
responsibilities with paramount care and ensure that
there is no flaw in whatever you finalise or deal
with.
Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni
16 ! ERGO Wednesday, July 22, 2009

US singer Lady Gaga performs during her first concert in Belarussian gymnasts Katsiaryna Murashko (bottom) and Alina Yushko take part
the Netherlands in Amsterdam. PHOTO: AFP in an acrobatic gymnastics event at the World Games in Kaohsiung. PHOTO: AFP

A young tourist is photographed while sitting on a three-year-old Actress Diya Mirza at a launch party for the Bollywood film
elephant named "Lilly" at a beach resort in Phuket. PHOTO: AFP Acid Factory in Mumbai. PHOTO: AFP