SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016

Dear Zindagi: Lengthy life lessons sans drama

COMMUNITY | 6 HEALTH | 9 BOLLYWOOD | 11Novel drug to limit & repair brain damage

in stroke patients

SOLAR ISLAND

A small island in American Samoa is making the switch from diesel generators.

P | 4-5

Email: dohatoday@pen.com.qa

CO

ons

| 11Qatar Steel

organises blood donation drive

CAMPUSSUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 03

CMU-Q recognises students on Dean’s ListCarnegie Mellon University in

Qatar (CMU-Q) announced the Dean’s List for the spring

2016 academic semester, recognis-ing 152 students for exemplary academic performance.

“The Dean’s List honours excep-tional students who have achieved academic excellence this past semester. We are incredibly proud of all students who strive to excel both inside and outside of the class-room,” said Ilker Baybars, dean and CEO of CMU-Q.

In total, 32 seniors, 67 juniors, 36 sophomores and 17 freshmen made the list from all of CMU-Q’s programmes in biological sciences, business administration, computer science and information systems.

Senior honourees are: Aya Has-san Ali Abd Elaal, Huda Al-Abdulla, Mehreen Alam, Zamzam Al-Ass-makh, Fatima Al-Dirbasti, Maryam Al-Haddad, Muna Al-Husseiny, Wadha Al-Jaber, Ali Al-Kuwari, Noor Al-Malki, Maryam Al-Moha-nadi, Hamad Al-Noaimi, Amna Al-Sulaiti, Maha Al-Thani, Sana Britto, Shafiya Fasalu, Rayan Hashim, Khalid Hassan, Alaa Khader, Mohamed Zehni Khairul-lah, Naila Khalisha, Abed Alkarim Khattab, Moustafa Lotfi, Arsal Malik,

Qasim Nadeem, Syed Peer, Musab Popatia, Narjis Premjee, Reem Saad, Bilal Sheikh, Fathima Zahir and Marwa Zouzou..

Junior honourees are: Aysha Mazen Fou Abdul Hadi, Dana Abou Samhadaneh, Salman Abuhaliqa, Razan Abunaba, Leen Aburub, Aulia Ahmad, Fazail Ahmad, Asma Abdollah A Ahmadi, Bashayr Al-Ali, Noor Al-Ansari, Sara Al-Baloshi, Amna Al-Darwish, Khawla Al-Dar-wish, Shaikha Al-Darwish, Mohammed Al-Dosari, Fatima Al-Emadi, Omar Abdulaziz Al-Emadi, Maryam Faisal Al-Haddad, Amna Al-Hajri, Asmaa Al-Hemaidi, Mohammed Al-Hor, Roda Al-Hor,

Almaha Al-Khalifa, Shaikha Al-Khulaifi, Noor Al-Mana, Fatima Hassan Al-Marzoqi, Almaha Al-Mohannadi, Alanood Al-Muftah, Amna Al-Mulla, Jawahir Al-Mulla, Asma Al-Naama, Waad Al-Naimi, Omair Al-Nuaimi, Maha Al-Reyahi, Amna Al-Sharif, Abdulrahman Al-Subaiey, Safa Amor, Malath Anaya, Fiona Anthony, Ettaib El-Marabti, Faran Farooq, Parmiss Goudarzi Aski, Mohamed Hassan, Sampriti Jain, Bayan Khaled, Maher Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Mehak Manwani, Sherif Mostafa, Andreea Nan, Vis-han Popat, Noor Al Qaedi, Osama Qureshi, Sherif Rizk, Amna Sadiq, Sanjeet Sahni, Farjana Salahuddin,

Safa Salim, Muhammad Shah, Awais Shamim, Haneen Shariff, Mounir Sheikh, Hanan Shuaib, Ibrahim Soltan, Sabal Subedi, San-nan Tariq and Muhammad Yousuf.

Sophomore honourees are: Fizza Aamir, Ali Abbas, Farah Abdelaziz, Fadhil Abubaker, Haya Abuhamra, Eman Al-Ansari, Amira Al-Baya, Maria Ali, Jwaher Al-Kha-lifa, Shaikha Al-Misned, Maryam Al-Naemi, Boshra Al-Sulaiti, Latifa Khalid Al-Thani, Layan Azem, Muhammad Bashir, Manisha Dareddy, Nairuz El-Azzabi, Noor El-Sakka, Badis Glayed, Batoul Hasnah, Hanan Hassan, Mahnaz Jalali, Ashwini Kamath, Aisha Kazi, Jinsol Kim, Syed Hammad Mah-mood, Ahmed Mohamed, Aisha Mohamed, Shahryar Nayyer, Avni Pherwani, Alfred Godwin Ravin-drakumar, Eamon Sager, Fatma Tlili, Abdul Wasay, Karen Youssef, and Mohammed Zakaria.

Freshman honourees are: Ommar Aburaddad, Pançé Ali, Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari, Serene Darweesh, Mohamed Hamdi, Mohammed Hashim, Youssef Kanbour, Hojin Kang, Omar Khattab, Menatalla Moussa, Hasan Naveed, Aya Noor, Shaden Shaar, Haris Syed, Masooma Zehra, and Moussa Zekak.

UCQ nursing alumna chairs International Wound Management Conference

University of Calgary in Qatar (UCQ) alumna Shaikha Ali Al Qahtani, chaired the Con-

ference Organising Committee, and co-chaired the Scientific Commit-tee, for the recently held First International Wound Management Conference in Doha. The confer-ence, held November 24 through 26 at QNCC,under the patronage of the Ministry of Public Health, served as an opportunity for Qatar’s healthcare professionals to come together to create a dialogue on modern practices in clinical care for wounds and chronic conditions.

“The conference is the first of its kind in Qatar and will play a vital

role in bolstering Qatar’s human capacity in the healthcare sector; something I have worked passion-ately towards both during and after my time at UCQ. I hope to continue building on my education and achievements to develop novel approaches to patient care, and to pursue a PhD in the near future,” noted Qahtani, who serves as the first Qatari Director of Nursing at Hamad Medical Corporation’s Wound and Ambulatory Care Center, and is the first student to receive a thesis-based Masters of Nursing from UCQ in 2016. She continued: “My mentor from UCQ, Dr Emmanuel Ngwakognwi, encouraged me while planning this

event and it was an honour to present together to those in attend-ance. My alma matter, UCQ, also participated in this conference; I am truly proud to be a part of this continually supportive UCQ community.”

Qahtani addressed healthcare professionals at the conference as a guest speaker on two topics: patient satisfaction through coop-eration, and successful strategies to reduce hospital acquired pres-sure ulcers.

COVER STORY SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201604

America’s solar energy island

Chelsea Harvey The Washington Post

A small island in Ameri-can Samoa is making the switch from diesel generators to 100 per-cent renewable energy.

Ta’u, the easternmost of the Samoan islands, has just been equipped with a new microgrid, with 1.4 mega-watts of solar generation capacity and 6 megawatt-hours of battery storage. It’s enough to power the entire island — both night and day.

With an area of just 17 square miles, Ta’u has a population of fewer than 1,000 people, and until now, they have relied on almost entirely on diesel generators for their electricity.

But it hasn’t always been an ideal situation. Because Ta’u is so remote, fuel for the generators must be shipped in by boat, which is expensive and means the island sometimes runs low on fuel before the next shipment arrives.

About a year ago, the American Samoa Power Authority began soliciting help with a project that would save the island the incon-venience, costs and greenhouse gas emissions associated with relying on diesel. “(They) basically just put out a solicitation to see if anybody

could provide an alternative to die-sel, and that’s something that we responded to,” said Peter Rive, co-founder and chief technology officer of solar provider SolarCity, which was recently acquired by Tesla.

The result is a system composed of more than 5,000 SolarCity solar panels and 60 Tesla Powerpack battery storage systems.

The new microgrid could save

the island nearly 110,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year, which amounts to about 2.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration. The microgrid is already up and operating, according to Rive, and covering about 99 percent of the island’s power needs.

The battery system can provide

three full days of power to the island without sun, he added.

And it can fully recharge in seven hours of sunlight.

It’s not the first time an island has made the switch to renewable energy. Last year, for instance, the Nature Conservancy completed a $1.2m solar and wind project on Palmyra Atoll, located about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii.

COVER STORYSUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 05

Although there’s no permanent population on the atoll, it serves as a scientific outpost and temporary residence for researchers. Accord-ing to The Nature Conservancy , the island now runs almost entirely on renewable energy. Since 2008, the Galapagos island of San Cristóbal — the second largest in the archipelago

— has sourced about 30 percent of its power from wind and solar. And

a proposed expansion , announced earlier this year, could boost the share of renewables to 70 percent. The goal is to eventually eliminate the use of fossil fuels in the Galapa-gos altogether.

And currently, SolarCity and Tesla are involved in another project on the Hawaiian island of Kaua’i, which will finish up with 17 mega-watts of solar generation capacity

and 52 megawatt-hours of battery storage, Rive said.

According to Rive, the future of solar power lies in these types of battery-coupled systems, which allow energy to be stored and dis-patched even when the sun isn’t shining. One of the biggest hurdles for renewable energy sources like wind and solar is that they can only generate power intermittently

— when the sun is out or the wind is blowing. The continued develop-ment of more effective, fast-responding energy storage solu-tions is key to the continued expansion of renewables.

“When we think about large-scale solar power systems going forward, into the next decade, we see them all as having these (battery systems) attached to them,” he said.

COMMUNITY SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201606

Qatar Steel organises blood donation drive

In coordination with the blood donor Centre at Hamad Med-ical Corporation, Qatar Steel organised a blood donation drive at its plant site in

Mesaieed. Employees from various departments and sections took part in the drive.

The blood donation drive comes in line with the company’s partner-ship and cooperation with the local medical organisation, and in alliance

of its corporate social responsibility policy, and in compliance with its humanitarian role to support the patients who are direly in need for blood, and to sustenance the blood stock in the hospital.

It has been a tradition for Qatar Steel to hold a blood donation drive every year in an effort to promote the blood donation culture among its employees, and to emphasise its attention towards the health and

welfare of the society to facilitate a sustainably developed society.

Qatar Steel’s employees applauded this donation drive, as it integrates benevolent and moral val-ues, in addition to health and social benefits and assisting the blood donor center to build up sufficient stock of blood.

“Blood Donation is a humanitar-ian act, which improves the of individuals’ relations in the

community and strengthens the social ties between them, through extending a helping hand to the patients who need blood instantly for survival”, one of the donors com-mented. In compliance with its corporate social responsibility, Qatar Steel is keen to support different community activities, programs and functions that focus on public health, humanitarian, social, sport, and charitable to name a few.

Day for elimination of violence against women observedThe Students of Noble Inter-

national School conducted a special assembly on “vio-

lence against women”. The students performed a skit which depicted various difficulties that a woman undergoes in her life and that she has to save herself without other’s dependence. The skit ended high-lighting the words, “Self-help is the best help….”

Violence against women and girls is a global issue. It remains one of the most persistent human rights violations and a threat to millions of girls and women. It affects women of all ages and arises in var-ious types of settings – taking many forms including physical or psycho-logical violence, as well as economic abuse and exploitation.

Prevention against women should start early in life, by educat-ing the young boys and girls and by promoting respectful relationships and gender equality. It also means

making the home and public spaces safer for women and girls, ensuring women’s economic autonomy and security, and increasing women’s participation and decision-making

powers. Awareness-raising and community mobilisation, including through media and social media, is another important component of an effective prevention strategy.

MARKETPLACESUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 07

Abu Issa Holding hosts annual Talent Recognition ceremony

Abu Issa Holding hosted their annual Talent Rec-ognition Ceremony at the Radisson Blu Hotel. The Talent recognition

ceremony is held every year to cel-ebrate the AIH talent programme winners and their achievements, and to reward the staff and team mem-bers involved.

The AIH talent programme was developed to help boost Abu Issa Holding’s staff members education in the professional field and to equip them with beneficial practical train-ing. “We at Abu Issa Holding are hell-bent on enriching our staff members practical education, and so it was important for us to develop the AIH talent programme.” said Ashraf Abu Issa, Chairman — Abu Issa holding.

“It is important for us each year to further develop the programme and to encourage our staff members to enrol, as it helps us soar to higher heights as a business. While times are still tight, acknowledging and rewarding staff and team members is the easiest way to boost morale and therefore helps us achieve all our goals and objectives, which will

ultimately be detrimental in help-ing the company move forward.” added, Abu Issa.

“We are very delighted at the out-come of this year’s programme. We have been witnessing an increase

in the number of staff members who have enrolled in the programme over the year, we started off with just 10, and this year the number has sky rocketed to 92 participants,” said Jaber Malik, Head of HR, Abu Issa

Holding. “We’ve learned from past years mistakes, and we work annu-ally on how to better the programme, so that it could reflect positively on the outcome and the programmes success.”

PIC: Salim Matramkot / The Peninsula

FOOD SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201608

Ellie Krieger The Washington Post

You can feel good about eating them often, because they give you all the comfort-food satisfaction you expect

yet are considerably better for you than a typical waffle. First, they are made with whole-grain flour; I use whole-grain pastry flour to create an exceptionally soft, ten-der texture, but you could use regular whole-wheat flour if you prefer. A few tablespoons of wheat

germ in the batter add a hearty texture, toasty flavor and concen-trated nutrition. Pumpkin puree provides flavor and hue and also contributes moisture and richness, allowing for less added fat in the batter. Cranberries heighten the seasonal cheer healthfully, and rather than being laden with white sugar, these waffles are gently sweetened with deeply flavorful pure maple syrup.

You can make the batter a day ahead and keep it in the refriger-ator; or cook the waffles, allow them to cool, wrap them

individually and freeze them in a zip-top bag. Then just pop them into the toaster for a convenient, warm and satisfying way to fuel you through the day.

From nutritionist and cook-book author Ellie Krieger.

4 servings (makes 4 large or 8 small waffles),

Serve with maple syrup.

Ingredients1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour3 tablespoons toasted wheat

germ1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon ground

cinnamon1/4 teaspoon ground ginger1/4 teaspoon freshly grated

nutmeg1/8 teaspoon salt1 cup well-shaken low-fat

buttermilk1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree2 large eggs3 tablespoons pure maple

syrup, plus more for serving1 tablespoon canola oil or other

neutral-tasting oil, plus more for the waffle iron

3/4 cup fresh or frozen cran-berries, each cut in half or quartered, as needed

Steps

Whisk together the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, bak-ing soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt in a mixing bowl.

Whisk together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree, eggs, 3 table-spoons of maple syrup and 1 tablespoon of oil in a separate bowl until well combined. Pour into the flour mixture, stirring just enough so that no dry ingredients are left, then stir in the cranberries.

Brush a waffle iron with oil and preheat it according to the manufacturer’s directions. Ladle enough of the batter to cover three-fourths of the surface of the waffle iron, close it, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve hot, with maple syrup passed at the table.

Nutrition | Per serving: 270 cal-ories, 8 g protein, 42 g carbohydrates, 7 g fat, 2 g satu-rated fat, 95 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 6 g dietary fiber, 15 g sugar

Pumpkin Cranberry Waffles

HEALTHSUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 09

IANS

Researchers have discovered a new drug that can poten-tially reduce the number of

brain cells destroyed by stroke as well as help in repairing the dam-age done.

Stroke -- caused by a reduction in blood flow to the brain -- is a major cause of death as well as disability.

Scientists at the University of Manchester, UK, have found that in rodents with stroke, treatment with the anti-inflammatory drug,

interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), can not only limit the death of existing brain cells but also pro-mote the birth of new neurons.

These new cells are thought to help restore function to areas of the brain damaged by the stroke.

The use of IL-1Ra not only lim-its the initial damage to brain cells, but also helps the brain repair itself long-term through the generation of new brain cells, the researchers said.

Previous studies showed the treatment with IL-1Ra does indeed help rodents regain motor skills that were initially lost after a stroke.

Early stage clinical trials in human stroke patients also suggest that IL-1Ra could be beneficial.

“The results lend further strong support to the use of IL-1Ra in the treatment of stroke; however, fur-ther large trials are necessary,” said Stuart Allan, Professor at the Uni-versity of Manchester.

The drug is already licensed for

use in humans for some conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis.

Several early stage clinical tri-als in stroke with IL-1Ra have already been completed in Man-chester, though it is not yet licensed for this condition, the researchers noted, in the paper published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity.

Novel drug to limit & repair brain damage in stroke patients

IANS

Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind soft, flexible microfluidic device that easily adheres to the skin and connects wirelessly with a smart-phone to measure the wearer’s sweat

to show how his or her body is responding to exercise.

Sweat is a rich, chemical broth containing a number of important chemical compounds with physiological health information, the research-ers said.

The low-cost device, which is a little larger than a quarter and nearly the same thickness, connects wirelessly with a smartphone to ana-lyse key biomarkers to help a person to find whether he/she needs to drink more water or energy drink to boost the electrolyte levels, or if something is medically going wrong in his/her body. “The intimate skin interface created by this wearable, skin-like microfluidic system ena-bles new measurement capabilities not possible with the kinds of absorbent pads and sponges currently used in sweat collection,” said John A. Rogers, Professor at the Northwestern Univer-sity, US. For the study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the team tested the device on two groups of cyclists. The device, which is designed for one-time use for a few hours, was placed directly on the skin of the fore-arm or back of the athletes.

It showed accurate accounts of the acidity

of sweat and concentrations of glucose, chloride and lactate and could even detect the presence of a biomarker for cystic fibrosis.

To get the data, individuals had to use a smartphone to capture the photo of the device. An app then analyses that photo to display the relevant information.

“The sweat analysis platform we developed

will allow people to monitor their health on the spot without the need for a blood sampling and with integrated electronics that do not require a battery but still enable wireless connection to a smartphone,” said Yonggang Huang, Profes-sor at the Northwestern University, US.

In the future, it may be more broadly used for disease diagnosis, the researchers added.

This skin patch does more than monitor sweat

Low-cost wearable electronic device collects and analyses sweat for health monitoring.

(Picture credit: J. Rogers, Northwestern University)

LIFESTYLE SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201610

AFP

When he dons his flowing robes and vivid makeup, Wu Yunhong is trans-formed from a labourer who toils on Chinese mountains under a beat-

ing sun into an evil general commanding an army of warriors.

Wu was raised in the Jinyuan Opera Com-pany, co-founded by his grandfather in 1984. He started performing when he was only eight and is the third generation to carry on the tra-dition -- but may be the last.

With crowds ageing and performers dying off, the Sichuan style of opera performed around the southwestern city of Chongqing is threat-ened with extinction -- even as officially-sanctioned forms flourish in the state-controlled arts environment.

Some Chinese opera styles such as Peking and Canton have been elevated to “national treasure” status by the government, winning millions in funding, but others are left to wither on the stage.

“Sometimes the only young people at the performances are my wife and children when they travel with us,” said Wu, 26.

He and his fellow players receive no offi-cial funding, and between shows the actors must still tend to their own fields, growing corn and rice in a mountainous area where temperatures can easily reach 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees

Fahrenheit) in summer.“We don’t get any support from the govern-

ment, all of our fees come from the farmers who pool their money together for a perform-ance,” said troupe member Lyu Guiying. “We make a little extra money performing, but we can never get rich performing.”

‘Poor peasant’The Beijing style of opera, mostly known as

Peking Opera in the English-speaking world, was popularised under the Qing Dynasty, which was brought down by the Chinese Revolution of 1911.

It had ample support from the court and spread because it was sung in a language widely understood across China, while regional vari-eties such as Cantonese, Shanghainese and Sichuanese opera stuck to their own dialects and songs.

The Communist leadership remained keen on Peking Opera after it took power in 1949, and the central government decreed every prov-ince should form its own Peking Opera troupe, even at the expense of local varieties.

A crippling blow came with the destructive decade of the Cultural Revolution, when Mao Zedong’s wife Jiang Qing launched a campaign to cleanse the arts -- all plays, films, operas, ballets and music considered “feudalistic and bourgeois” were banned.

Only eight “model plays” were allowed, cho-sen by the former actress declared a patron of

culture, who took close control over the few troupes authorised to produce them.

It took until the 1980s before private thea-tre companies began to form again in China.

For a short time they flourished, but have since had to compete with new forms of enter-tainment that came with China’s economic boom.

“Every society has a desire to preserve its own folk cultures, however in China you have to add the very powerful political power,” said Ruru Li, a professor of Chinese theatre studies at the University of Leeds.

“First there was the Cultural Revolution and now there’s state investment, but it doesn’t include the majority of opera styles,” she told AFP.

Without official support niche styles are dis-appearing at a steady drum beat.

“In the 1960s there were more than 300 vari-eties of Chinese opera, today there are about 200,” Li said. “In 10 years’ time, maybe there will only be 100 varieties left.”

Those who still perform them have had to contend with shrinking audiences and a lack of new fans, as many young people shun farm-ing and leave China’s countryside to look for better-paying jobs in the cities.

“I don’t want my son to grow up learning opera like I did, he needs to go to school, hope-fully he can go to university,” said Wu. “He needs to learn to be cultured, not in opera, but the culture of books, or else he will just be a poor peasant like me.”

Fat lady sings for Chinese rural opera

BOLLYWOODSUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 11

Troy Ribeiro IANS

Film: “Dear Zindagi”

Director: Gauri Shinde

Cast: Alia Bhatt, Shah Rukh Khan, Kunal

Kapoor, Angad Bedi, Yashaswini Dayama,

Ira Dubey, Aditya Roy Kapur

Rating: **1/2

Gauri Shinde’s “Dear Zindagi” is a youth-centric cathartic film which gives you a glimpse of how they deal with life, relationships and the issues that bog

them down. Perhaps, it is only the youth who will relate to - the heartaches, seeking their dream job, problems with parents, et al.

Kaira aka Koko (Alia Bhatt) is a 25-year-old Mumbai based cinematographer, who is inde-pendent, busy shooting ad films and longing to shoot her first full length feature. Carefree, happy-go-lucky, she is in and out of relation-ships, some unrequited, others unfulfilled.

She cringes at the very mention of Goa where her parents live as she does not enjoy a great

relationship with them. A heartbreak leads her to the couch of a therapist Dr. Jehangir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan) and her life changes.

Alia as the free-spirited, emotional young-ster, craving love shines all the way. The film belongs to her and she does full justice to her character, emoting effortlessly, making the audi-ence empathise with her highs and lows. Whether it is venting her pent-up pain or playing kabaddi with the waves on a beach, she is a treat to watch.

In fact, she almost single-handedly carries the film with a weak plot on her fragile shoulders.

Shah Rukh Khan as Dr. Jehangir Khan aka Jug, the “Dimaag-ka-Doctor”, lights up the screen with his charisma and persona, in an immensely likeable character he portrays, but has limited scope. He is still SRK and not the character on screen and his dialogue delivery still remains very Shah Rukh Khanesque.

Yashaswini Dayama and Ira Dubey, as Kai-ra’s friends are lively and make their presence felt with their portrayals.

Kunal Kapoor as Raghuvendra, one of Alia’s love interests in the film, is lacklustre and there

is a feeling of deja vu watching him on screen.Ali Zafar as a musician too looks every inch

his part, strumming the guitar and belting out romantic numbers, but is nothing more than that.

The film belts out life lessons in abundance through verbose expositions, profound dialogues, some in conversations, but many in the therapy room, all of which make sense but tend to be repetitive beyond a point.

The film lacks drama and is stretched to over 2.5 hours on a wafer-thin plot, making for tedi-ous viewing. Humour comes in the form of some light-hearted moments but is not enough to give respite.

The second half of the film drags endlessly, although the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of her life fall into place as she makes peace with life.

Amit Trivedi’s music too fails to make an impact and is almost lost. The film expectedly has good production values and the ethos of Goa is beautifully captured through the lens of Lax-man Utekar.

“Dear Zindagi” could have been a lively, fun film albeit with life lessons, rather than the long-winded slice of life it is.

Dear Zindagi: Lengthy life lessons sans drama

HOLLYWOOD SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 201612

Michael Cavna The Washington Post

As Disney returns to the sea nearly two decades after “The Little Mer-maid,” the animation studio’s newest heroine feels a whole world

away from Ariel.In the 1989 undersea film, of course, the

young heroine pines for a man from afar, lit-erally losing her voice in the process. In the new “Moana,” by contrast - which also, like

“Mermaid,” includes Ron Clements and John Musker as directors - the seafaring title char-acter embarks on a Polynesian journey of self-discovery that does not involve a roman-tic lead.

Moana, in other words, is no Disney princess.

“Disney does have a legacy of female her-oines,” says Bill Schwab, the film’s art director for characters, “but I feel like Moana is unique.” Historically, of course, Disney’s clas-sic storytelling formula for its animated heroines has included landing a

love interest, from “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella” right up through “Frozen” and “Tangled.” (That list includes such films by Clements and Musker as “Aladdin” and “The Princess and the Frog.”) To find a strong Dis-ney princess who is an exception, you have to look toward such films as Pixar’s “Brave.”

At the center of Moana’s individuality is the Disney team’s focus on creating a teen-age adventurer.

“From even the early versions of the script, she was going to be an action hero,” Schwab (“Frozen,” “Wreck-It Ralph”) tells The Wash-ington Post. “That (extends) all the way to the way her costume functions. We never let that out of our sight: Moana was going to be doing all this incredible sailing and ... going toe to toe with (demigod) Maui.”

As a powerful heroine, Schwab says of Moana, “she can hold her own.”

Part of that physicality involves captur-ing the age-specific movement of a 16-year-old. “You try to get those manner-isms - that spirit of being a teenager,” Schwab says. “The other enormous piece of this

character,” the designer notes, “was finding Auli’i.”

When the filmmakers found voice actor and singer Auli’i Cravalho, a native of Hawaii, they found a fresh talent who fully embraced the indomitable spirit of Moana. “She brings so much of her teenager-ness” to the role, Schwab says.

On Tuesday, just hours before “Moana” opened, in fact, Cravalho turned 16 - the same age as her character.

“Not a bad 16th birthday present,” Schwab says.

In praising the film’s cultural authentic-ity Tuesday, the L.A.-based Media Action Network for Asian Americans noted Moa-na’s strength as an empowered young character.

“We’re confident that children of all ages and backgrounds will identify with Moana, a girl who fearlessly accomplishes the seem-ing impossible because she feels it’s her duty to help her people,” MANAA said in a state-ment. “She’s certainly an inspiration and a role model for girls.”

Moana isn’t your typical Disney princess – she’s an action hero

TECHNOLOGYSUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 13

IANS

Giving away a warning to all What-sApp users across the globe, a report said that clicking on the links

circulated on instant messaging app may expose and make them vulnerable to cyberattacks.

According to a report in The Sun news-paper, hackers are using simple tricks to

fool people into visiting booby-trapped websites and then fleecing them.

Recently, Whatsapp rolled out video calling and scammers are taking the advan-tage of this new feature as bait to tempt people into their trap.

“If you receive an email asking you to “activate” the function by visiting a website, make sure you don’t click it. Anyone who is tricked into visiting the danger pages could end up being targeted by digital crim-inals,” the report pointed out.

Earlier this month, announcing that India now has nearly 160 million monthly active users, WhatsApp launched a video calling feature here which was rolled out globally. The feature is available on all plat-forms -- Android, iOS and Windows.

WhatsApp is available in more than 50 different languages around the world and in 10 Indian languages. Nearly 100 million calls are being made on the platform daily worldwide.

With the video calling feature, What-sApp will now compete with Microsoft-owned Skype and Google’s Duo.

IANS

Using Google Glass, Siberian sci-entists are developing a prototype of a model to study an individual’s proneness to certain brain diseases at an

early stage, media reported.The scientists are using Google Glass to

study how people react to virtual reality and analysed the participants’ movements in virtual reality, rbth.com reported on Thursday.

“They evaluated the condition of the muscles, the brain and the vestibular sys-tem. There is a difference between the vestibular system’s reaction in healthy peo-ple and that in sick people,” said Ivan Tolmachev, one of the model’s developers.

The test requires the person to be aware of what is happening around and follow the doctor’s instructions.

The scientists are thinking of conduct-ing the test on children who are five and

older in order to understand if they are already prone to brain disease, noted the report.Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University and the Siberian State Medical University are together working on this pro-totype and the project will need $64,000 to make the model marketable.

Google Glass is helping scientists to study brain disease

Clicking WhatsApp links making users vulnerable to cybercrime

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

In 1942, an intelligence officer in North Africa encounters a female French Resistance fighter on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. When they reunite in London, their relationship is tested by the pressures of war.

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

ALLIED

NOVO ROYAL PLAZA

AL KHOR

ASIAN TOWN

MALL

LANDMARK

Allied (2D/Action) 10:30, 11:00, 11:30am, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 3:30, 4:00, 4:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 11:30pm & 12:00midnightFantastic Beast And Where To Find Them (2D/Adventure) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pmDear Zindagi (2D/Hindi) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pmTrolls (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00pmHavenhurst (2D/Horror) 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnightDoctor Strange (2D/Adventure) 11:30am, 4:30 & 9:305pm Bleed For This (2D/Action) 2:00, 7:00 & 11:55pm Operation Chromite (2D/Action) 10:00am, 2:40, 7:20pm & 12:00midnightThe Accountant (2D/Action) 12:10, 4:50 & 9:30pmArrival (2D/Drama) 11:30am, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30pm & 12:00midnightFantastic Beast And Where To Find Them (3DIMAX/Adventure) 10:00am, 12:45, 3:30, 6:15, 9:00 & 11:45pm

Thoppil Joppan (2D/Malayalam) 2:00 & 9:00pmTrolls (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 4:30pmEchoes of War (2D/Drama) 2:30pmFantastic Beast And Where To Find Them (2D/Adventure) 4:00pm Arrival (2D/Drama) 6:15 & 8:30pm Kavalai Vendam (2D/Tamil) 6:30pm Havenhurst (2D/Horror) 11:30pm Dear Zindagi (2D/Hindi) 6:30 & 10:45pm Dobara Phir Se (2D/Urdu) 4:15pmAllied (2D/Action) 9:15 & 11:30pm

Dear Zindagi (2D/Hindi) 2:30 & 10:30pm Fantastic Beast And Where To Find Them (2D/Adventure) 2:30pm Trolls (2D/Animation) 3:00pmArrival (2D/Drama) 5:00 & 9:30pm Havenhurst (2D/Horror) 5:00 & 9:00pm Thoppil Joppan (2D/Malayalam) 5:30 & 8:00pmEchoes of War (2D/Drama) 7:00 & 11:00pmAllied (2D/Action) 7:15 & 11:30pm

Thoppil Joppan (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 11:00pmDear Zindagi (2D/Hindi) 2:30, 5:00 & 8:00pm Trolls (2D/Animation) 3:00pmHavenhurst (2D/Horror) 5:00 & 7:30pm Echoes of War (2D/Drama) 5:30pmAllied (2D/Action) 9:00 & 11:15pm Arrival (2D/Drama) 9:00 & 11:15pm

Dear Zindagi (Hindi) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm

Trolls (Animation) 11:00am & 1:00pmFantastic Beast And Where To Find Them (2D/Adventure) 5:45 & 8:30pm Thoppil Joppan (Malayalam) 10:45am, 1:15, 3:45, 6:15, 8:45 & 11:15pm Kavalai Vendam (Tamil) 3:00 & 11:15pm

Kavalai Vendam (Tamil) 8:30 & 11:15pmForce 2 (Hindi) 6:00pm Thoppil Joppan (Malayalam) 6:00, 8:30 & 11:00pmDear Zindagi (Hindi) 7:00 & 10:00pmPuli Murugan (Malayalam) 6:00pm

SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

CINEMA PLUS14

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

09:00 Once Upon a Time in Punchbowl

10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera 12:00 News12:30 TechKnow14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 Al Jazeera

World17:00 News17:30 Listening Post18:00 newsgrid19:30 101 East 20:00 News20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 Talk To Al Jazeera 23:00 Al Jazeera

Correspondent

13:05 Ax Men13:55 Billion

Dollar Wreck

14:45 Alone16:00 American

Pickers16:50 Storage

Wars17:40 Mountain

Men18:30 Time

Team19:20 American

Pickers22:15 Pawn

Stars Australia

22:40 Britain’s Bloody Crown: War Of The Roses

12:00 Big Fish Man

12:55 Bondi Vet13:50 Weird

Creatures With Nick Baker

16:35 Mutant Planet

18:25 Weird Creatures With Nick Baker

19:20 Tanked20:15 The Vet Life21:10 Wildest

Europe22:05 Wild Animal

Repo23:00 Tanked23:55 Gator Boys

12:15 British Treasure, American Gold

14:20 Alaskan Bush People

15:10 Gold Divers16:00 Deadliest

Catch18:55 How Do

They Do It?

19:20 Gold Divers20:10 Storage

Hunters20:35 What’s In

The Barn?21:00 Car vs Wild21:50 Sherpa23:30 Fast N’

Loud: Demolition Theatre

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSSUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2016 15

Yesterday’s answer

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku is

a number-placing puzzle based on a

9×9 grid. The object is to place the

numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so

that each row, each column and each

3×3 box contains the same number only

once.

ANUBIS, APIS, BASILISK, BAST,

BUNYIP, CENTAUR, CERBERUS,

CHIMERA, DRAGON, ELVES,

ERINYES, EUMENIDES, GIANT,

GNOME, GOBLIN, GORGON,

GRIFFIN, HARPY, HORUS, HYDRA,

LEPRECHAUN, LEVIATHAN,

LYCANTHROPE, MERMAID,

MINOTAUR, NYMPH, PEGASUS,

PIXIE, SATYR, SCYLLA, SIREN,

SPHINX, THOTH, TRITON, TROLL,

TYPHON, UNICORN, VAMPIRE,

WEREWOLF, WYVERN.