MONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017

Big B hopes documenting film history

CAMPUS | 3 HEALTH | 8 BOLLYWOOD | 10PISQ holds

educational lecture for students

People with Type 1 diabetes need to

exercise safely

The Dolphins of Caribbean- Marine Animal

Show is an additional treat to thousands

of visitors for the 15 days of the festival.

P | 4-5

Email: dohatoday@pen.com.qa

edu m

10

SPRINGING A SURPRISE

CAMPUSMONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017 03

The importance of educa-tional and technical workshops in academic institutions can’t be denied at all. They, no

doubt, are organised to transmit cut-ting-edge information to the students which further supplements and enhances their teaching& learning process.

The management of Pakistan International School is fully commit-ted to keep its students abreast of the latest innovations and research works in various domains. One such instance is the recently initiated series of technical seminars. The 1st lecture of this sequence was con-ducted by the eminent scholar, Abdul Shakoor, Assistant Professor, Cen-tre for Advanced Materials (CAM),

Qatar University on ‘Smart Corro-sion Protection Strategies in the Oil and Gas Industry’. The second one in line with this series of technical workshops was conducted by Dr. Ruh u llah, Post- doctoral Research Fellow, Qatar University on the topic:

“CO2 Emission- a major source of global warming”.

Attended by the students of grade 9 and 10, the said workshop served its core purpose of dissemi-nating information about the burning issue of global warming, its hazard-ous effects on the atmosphere and the importance of its alleviation. Dr.Ruh u llah, very eloquently put into words the problem of global warming, its various forms and its shocking damages done to the atmosphere.

PISQ holds educational

lecture for students

In an emotional atmosphere, the students of Grade XI, staff and management of DPS-Modern

Indian School bid adieu to the Grade 12 students (2016-17), in a grand val-edictory function held on January 24.

The day was a fiesta devoted to the years spent together with friends and teachers to reminisce joyous moments. Although the overriding tone of the occasion was festive, there were also notes of nostalgia and sad-ness. Chief Guest, Sonny Varghese, Director of Public Relations, under-scored the need of a strong foundation to generate confidence

and determination and advised the outgoing students to focus on a spe-cific career path to succeed in life.

Principal, Asna Nafees, advised the outgoing students to face the chal-lenges of the world by being agents of positive social metamorphosis. She thanked the students for enriching the lives of the teachers and reiter-ated on their duty to abide by the school motto ‘service before self’ on their road to success.Mementos, a token of love and best wishes, were presented to all the outgoing students by the esteemed guests. A mesmer-ising culture program was presented by the rock stars of Grade 11.

DPS-MIS bids farewell to grade-12 students

COVER STORY MONDAY 30 JANUARY 201704

Amna Pervaiz Rao

The Peninsula

This year’s Spring festivals simultaneously going on at Souq Waqif and Old Souq Al

Wakra continues to attract big crowds of tourists and residents for their colourful parades and aston-ishing dolphin shows.

The dolphin show is a spectacu-lar showcase of exceptional dexterity and agility of talented groups of

people and sea animals which will keep on enthralling the crowd till February 2. The shows at the Spring Festival 2017 are organised by the Lana Group International.

An official from Lana Group The Peninsula spoke to said one of the street shows, ‘Toy Soldiers Parade’, comprise five musicians, who hail from the UK and France.

“This parade is themed marching band in striking red-and-gold designed costumes which give the

appearance of vintage toy soldiers, making them perfect for street parades they have variation of three beautiful costumes.”

“Another group is ‘Blue Drum-mers’ composed of five performers from Spain. They are stilt walkers with exceptional drummers in unique costumes. This group, who also performs in Joker costumes, never fails to entertain the crowd with their acrobatic tricks on stilts,” she said. “The ‘Drummers Band Alien

Percussion’ is a group of six musi-cians from France, dressed as aliens in eye-catching luminous costumes, with high impact drumming chore-ography,” she added.

Toy Soldiers Parade, Blue Drum-mers group and Drummers Band Alien Percussion will continue to per-form at Souq Waqif till February 2 at Souq Waqif. The Dolphins of Carib-bean- Marine Animal Show is an additional treat to thousands of vis-itors for the 15 days of the festival.

Spring Fest fills hearts with shows

COVER STORYMONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017 05

“Dolphins of Caribbean- Marine Animal Show features synchronised swimmers and LED dancers from Belarus. These performers have become highlight of the Festival,” said Svetlana Levitskaya, Director of Lana Group International, who has organized the show.

“LANA Group International offers a feast of amusement Parades that move around with impressive displays of costumes and rhythm profes-sional artists from France, Spain and Colombia. Since LANA Group International was established in Qatar in 2001, we have brought a vari-ety of shows which satisfy the audience, from around the world ,” she added.

The Dolphinarium at the Spring Festival’ called ‘World of Dolphins’, which has dolphins from Russia, provides an amazing experience to the visitors.

The three-year old black-sea dolphin ‘Afalina’ breed named Ikar and Northern White Sea whale named Platon are the attractions at the show which are supervised by Yaroslavl. The Northern Fur-Seal, named Varyag, is also exemplary and has a special young trainer.

Other shows which entertain visitors at ‘Spring Festival 2017’ include Aqua Ballet, ‘Beautiful Flowers’, three synchronised swimmers from Minsk, Belarus performing at the dolphin show, ‘Fairy Fantasy’ DUO– Mermaid Dancing, Jelly Fish Dancers and Roses and Butterflies Dancing with LED light effects.

Art lovers and artists also have the opportunity to take part in some of the activities at the Souq Waqif Art Centre from 4pm to 10.30pm until February 2.

COMMUNITY MONDAY 30 JANUARY 201706

Hamad Bin Khalifa Univer-sity (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation, collab-

orated with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to present a Chinese Spring Festival that centred on an evening of cul-tural celebration at the HBKU Student Center within Education City. The evening’s entertainment included performances by an artis-tic troupe and marked the beginning of the Chinese New Year, which this year has been desig-nated as the Year of the Fire Rooster.

Hosted by the Translation and Interpreting Institute (TII) within HKBU’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, which currently offers classes in Mandarin Chinese among a wide range of community-focused language programs, the event was attended by the ambas-sador of the People’s Republic of China to the State of Qatar, Li, and the founding dean of HBKU’s Col-lege of Humanities and Social

Sciences, Dr. Amal Al Malki. A crowd that included mem-

bers of the local and Chinese community in Qatar filled the HBKU Student Center cinema and was treated to a range of colorful live performances by Chinese sing-ers, instrumentalists, and dancers. Traditional and contemporary Chi-nese music accompanied most of the performances, with one song performed in Arabic, to the delight of the audience.

Commenting on the event, the Ambassador said: “This event, jointly held by our embassy and TII within CHSS, HBKU, rendered a warm festive family atmosphere among our audience from various local communities. It has also reflected the friendship and stra-tegic relations between China and Qatar consolidated right after the China Qatar Year of Culture.”

Dr. Amal Al Malki added: “Learning a new language helps us establish meaningful relationships with other cultures.”

HBKU hosts Spring Festival

with Chinese Embassy

Millennium Kids celebrated its 17th Annual Day with a grand cultural pro-

gramme, “Paithrukam”, along with the prize distribution for the winners of its 7th Malayalam Quiz. The celebrations were in front of a packed Ashoka Hall at ICC on Wednesday, 25th January 2017. The event was blessed with the presence of prominent Indian personalities from different walks of life.

The Chief Guest for the evening, Dr Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank, was felicitated by a

“Ponnada” for being awarded the “Pravasi Bharathiya Samman” by the Government of India. The

felicitation was done jointly by the Guest of Honor Dr. Cyriac Tho-mas and by Unnikrishnan. Dr. Cyriac is a Member of the National Commission for Minority Educa-tional Institutions of India and also the former Vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University (Kottayam). Unnikrishnan, a former MC member of ICC, is also a part of Millennium Kids himself. A token of love was also presented by the coordinator of Millennium Kids, Sanjeev Kumar Pillai. Mrs. Sangeetha Seetharaman and Mr. Philip, Principal of Bhavans Pub-lic school, shared the dais and made the day even more cherishable.

Millennium Kids mark

17th Annual Day

MARKET PLACEMONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017 07

Consolidated Gulf Com-pany (CGC), a leading integrated technology solutions provider, hosted a get together

for its staff in Doha recently. More than 500 CGCians attended the grand townhall event. The high-light of the mega meet included visionary speeches by the top

management, presentations by the business unit heads on their respective domains, interactive sessions and awards for the best performance and creative ideas. Munther Khalid, CEO, and Haitham Ahmad, GM, utilised the occasion to outline the vision, mis-sion and values of CGC. The company’s strategy and structure

were also presented. Management appreciated CGC staff’s contribu-tion in the company’s growth.

Haitham Ahmad emphasised the important of customer satis-faction, quality, business values and the importance of work envi-ronment we have today in Qatar.“We aspire to lead by exam-ple providing economically viable

and technologically superior solu-tions to our esteemed clients in Qatar and overseas. Management isthankful to our stakeholders, especially our clients for having faith on CGC, and reiterate our commitment to meet their needs positively and effectively.” The event concluded with a reward ceremony.

CGC hosts get together for staff

Carmel Polytechnic Alumni won the overall champion-ship in the Confederation of

Alumni Associations of Kerala (CAAK) Intercollegiate Fest 2017, scoring 69 points.

Marthoma College Thiruvalla and S N College Nattika shared the runner-up trophy with 55 points each. PSMO College Alumni Qatar (PAAQ) stood third with 54 points. Former Vice-Chancellor of MG uni-versity, Dr. Cyriac Thomas in presence of cine-artist Mohan Ayroor and ICC president Milaan Arun handed over the Alex George Memorial Rolling trophy to the overall Champions in the Closing Ceremony held at Skills Develop-ment Center, New Salata on Friday.

Kalaprathibha titles were shared by Mashood Thiruthiyad of Farook College Association (FOSA) and Thasnim K.M of Ansar College Perumpilavu. ‘Yuva Prathibha was awarded to Amruta Liz Binoy of Carmel polytechnic and Namitha Chacko of Carmel polytechnic was awarded with Bala Prathibha Award. Kurunnu prathibha was awarded to Ifah Chevidikkunnan of PSMO College Tirurangadi. In all, more than 350 participants from 25 col-leges took part in the festival. Competitions were held in 37 events.

Closing Ceremony and Grand Finale was made memorable by the presence by the popular cine artist from Kerala state of India. Mohan Ayroor, Cyriac Thomas, Milaan Arun,

Vice President of Indian Cultural Center Manikantan, Former Presi-dent of CAAK Mathai Philip and Indian Community Benevolent Forum Vice-President Baburaj.

CAAK Patron Sam Vilanilam, CAAK officials Mohammed Iqbal, Babu Abraham, Ashokan and other officials from different alumni gave away the prizes. Milan Arun, Indian Cultural Center President Inaugu-rated the function. Muhammed

Hashir, President of CAAK Qatar presided the function while gen-eral secretary of CAAK Qatar Mr. Abdul Asees Chevidikkunnan wel-comed the gathering. The event ended with vote of thanks by Mr. Anish Mathew George. CAAK Fest-2017 Souvenir “Shalabhakkazchakal” was officially launched by handing over a copy to the Chief Guest by Mashood Thiruthiyaad thand Jop-pachan thekkekutt.

Carmel Polytechnic Alumni

wins CAAK Fest-2017

IANS

Maintaining good exercise regimen may be difficult and risky, espe-cially for people with Type 1

diabetes, because exercise tends to cause fluctuations in blood sugar, which may even become dangerous, researchers warned. Patients with Type 1 diabetes have to monitor their blood glucose lev-els before, during and after exercise, said Michael Riddell, Professor at York Uni-versity in Ontario, Canada. Regular exercise can help individuals with diabe-tes to achieve their blood lipid, body composition, fitness and blood sugar goals.

However, for people living with Type 1 diabetes, the fear of hypoglycemia, loss of glycemic control, and inadequate knowledge around exercise management are major barriers, Riddell said.

In the study, published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, a team of 21 international experts brought out a set of

guidelines on glucose targets for safe and effective exercising as well as nutritional and insulin dose adjustments to prevent exercise-related fluctuations in blood sugar. Diabetic patients should maintain a healthy body weight nor do they achieve the minimum required moderate-to-vig-orous aerobic activity of150 minutes per week.

Lisa Rapaport Reuters

People who wake more often during the night to use the bathroom are also more

likely to slip and fall, a study of Korean men suggests.

Compared to people who slept through the night without any bath-room trips, those who woke just once for the toilet on an average night were 41 percent more likely to experience falls, the study found. With three or more nightly bath-room trips, the risk of falls at least doubled.Plenty of previous research has documented an increased risk of falling among elderly people with nocturia, or routine awakening to use the bathroom during the night. But the current study looked at men from 19 to 103 years old and

suggests that even young people may not be immune to the fall risk associated with this type of sleep disruption, said senior study author Dr. Hyo Geun Choi, a researcher at

Hallym University College of Med-icine in Anyang, South Korea.

“Nocturia could cause falls at night because several instances of abruptly waking up to void may

elevate the risk of incidental falls,” Choi said by email. “In addition, nocturia is known to be a leading cause of sleep fragmentation in eld-erly individuals,” Choi added. “This disturbance or fragmentation of sleep may induce daytime sleepi-ness, which increases the risk of falls.” For the current study, Choi and colleagues examined data on the history of falls in the previous year and incidents of nocturia for than 92,000 men.

Overall, almost 15 percent of the men had a history of slipping or fall-ing, researchers report in PLoS ONE.

Among the men without any history of falls, 67 percent also had no experience with nocturia. But 40 percent of men with slips or falls in the past had at least some expe-rience with frequent nighttime awakenings to use the bathroom.

Nocturia tied to higher risk of falls

Reuters

Cancer death rates are surging in some regions of the US even as fatalities steadily decline nationwide, a new study suggests.

Overall, the US death rate from cancer has dropped about 20 percent from 1980 to 2014, the study found. Cancer fatalities now account for about 192 deaths for every 100,000 people in the US, down from 240 per 100,000 at the start of the study period. But in some parts of the country where poverty, obesity and smoking are more com-mon, rates of death from cancer are going up.

“Known cancer risk factors – smoking, diet, and obesity, among others – combined with poor pre-vention programs may increase cancer cases,” said senior study author Dr Christopher Murray of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“Unequal access to and quality of care are likely contributors to cancer mortality disparities, and the lack of early detection for some cancers and lack of specialized treatment can be deadly,” Mur-ray added by email.

People with Type 1 diabetes need to exercise safely

Cancer death depends

on where you live

HEALTH MONDAY 30 JANUARY 201708

FOODMONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017 09

Dorie Greenspan

The Washington Post

Mention the avocado-toast craze to a French person and you’ll get a Gallic shrug.

Although that shrug is generally a nuanced gesture with myriad meanings, the translation of the toast shrug is: What’s the big deal?

Long before hip, small-plates restaurants and hole-in-the-wall diners were topping toasts with smashed avocado, olive-oil driz-zled ricotta, squash roasted with maple syrup or anything with tahini, the French were eating tartines. Like toasts, tartines are a one-slice affair, an open-faced sandwich, a single piece of bread that accepts everything as a topping including scrambled eggs, aged cheese and truffles. And yes, you can top a slab of country bread with avocado.

The other day in Paris, I topped my tartine with a type of eggplant caviar, the French name for a mash of eggplant, herbs and spices (like baba ghanouj). It wasn’t what I had set out to do, but having done it, I liked it so much that I did it again.

I had roasted two eggplants and set them aside to turn them into one of several mezze plates that I had planned to serve as the starter for a Mediterranean-inspired dinner. And then the dinner got canceled: I came down with la grippe (like everyone else). All bets were off.

Takeaway tips-- Roast the sleek-skinned egg-

plants until they’re wrinkled and soft and sag in the center. Poke them in their bellies, and they should give way easily.

-- A word from experience: You never know what you’re going to find when you slit open an eggplant. Lots of liquid? Drain it away. Lots of seeds? Get rid of them. Thick, stringy pieces of pulp that you know won’t mash smoothly? Snip them to size with kitchen scissors.

-- Use a fork or a spoon to mix the add-ins with the eggplant; this is a very low-tech dish.

-- Keep tasting. Keep tweaking. You might want more bright stuff in the mix; I always want more lemon juice.

-- Choose a bread that will hold up under the weight of the ingredi-ents. (If you’re in Paris, as I am,

choose everyone’s favorite bread for tartine: Poilâne.) Tartines are usually as slender as French man-nequins, but not this one: You want a thick slice. Brush it lightly with olive oil. (If you’d like to toast it, do so before oiling.)

-- Build your tartine for taste, texture and beauty. Season the lay-ers, if you think they need it, and finish the top with a flourish of small, colorful vegetables.

I like to think of the accompa-nying recipe as a rough construction plan, a sketch for a tartine you can play with. And when you’ve had your fun tartine-ing, just scrape the eggplant into a bowl, grab some crackers and call it a dip.

---Dorie Greenspan’s RoastedGinger-Eggplant Tartines 4

servingsThe eggplant mixture also can

be used as a dip. Dorie Greenspan likes the ginger to be coarsely chopped in this recipe, but you can of course grate it with a Microplane, if you prefer.

The eggplant spread can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days; its flavor may actu-ally improve after a day’s chill.

From cookbook author Dorie Greenspan.

IngredientsFor the eggplant spread

3 1/2 pounds whole eggplants1/4 cup tahini (stir well before

measuring)2 tablespoons pomegranate

molasses4 scallions or 1 spring onion,

trimmed and thinly sliced (white and light-green parts)

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro and/or mint

1 to 2 tablespoons peeled, coarsely chopped fresh ginger root (from a 3-inch piece)

1/2 teaspoon ground sumac (optional)

1 lemonAleppo pepper or a smaller

amount of ground cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper flakes

Tabasco or other hot sauceFine sea saltFor the tartine4 thick slices country bread

(toasted, if you’d like)Olive oil1 ripe pear, sliced very thinly

(preferably using a mandoline)Fresh lemon juice4 scallions or 2 spring onions,

trimmed and very thinly sliced8 radishes, trimmed and very

thinly sliced A small handful of but-ter lettuce or arugula

Pomegranate seeds (arils; optional)

Fine sea saltFreshly ground black pepper

StepsFor the spread: Preheat the

oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or a piece of parchment paper.

Rinse the eggplants and prick them in several places with the tip of a paring knife. Set them on the baking sheet and roast (middle rack) until they are so soft that they collapse on themselves, 40 to 60 minutes, depending on their size. Allow them to cool to warm or room temperature on the sheet.

Slit the eggplant(s). If the seeds are large and prominent, you can remove them. Scrape the flesh into a bowl and mash it with a fork; you should have at least 2 cups of pulp. (If the pieces of eggplant seem long and unwieldy, just cut them using scissors or a paring knife.) Stir in the tahini and pomegranate molas-ses; once they’re incorporated, mix in the scallions or spring onion, the cilantro and/or mint, ginger and ground sumac, if you’re using it.

Grate the zest of the lemon into the bowl, stir and then squeeze in the juice from about half of the lemon. Add a pinch or two of the Aleppo pepper, cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes, a couple of shakes of hot sauce, a little salt, and then taste. You’ll probably want more lemon juice, but you might want more of other things, as well, so tinker.

Tartine, the one-slice-fits-all sandwich

IANS

Indian cine icon Amitabh Bachchan hopes due attention is paid to the “noble cause” of documentation of India’s film history, an “amenity” that he feels is “much needed”.

In a blog post, Amitabh steered attention towards a work-in-progress project for the print medium in this respect. He shared how he and “Deewaar” co-writer Javed Akhtar sat down to discuss many reasons and aspects of the iconic film “for a print medium... which should be out shortly”. “Moments like these lend much to the documentation of history

and the prevailing circumstances with all the right stories of the times, as a documentation of record. Posterity shall never forgive us if we did not do this,” he said. “And as we talk, there are certain very keen and interested gen-tlemen and ladies that are fervently working towards this end... A documentation and res-toration of our filmic history through the years from its beginning... A most noble cause, and one that needs to be done most sincerely and urgently,” the veteran actor added.

He said: “The process of thinking has begun and hopefully some attention shall be given to this most needed amenity... I shall be getting back on this... Pretty soon.”

Big B hopes documenting film history

Supermodel, TV host and cookbook author Padma Lak-

shmi will catwalk on the Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2017 ramp, where she will be a showstopper for vet-eran designer Tarun Tahiliani. She is excited about the opportunity.

“I’m so excited that I will be walking the ramp for my dear friend Tarun Tahiliani. While I have attended Lakme Fashion Week, I have never had the pleasure of walking the ramp and I’m so honoured to be part of this wonderful event,” Padma Lakshmi, who has Indian origins, said in a statement.

She will be at the JioGarden here on February 4 as showstopper for a collec-tion that will be inspired by Mughal gardens and architecture.

Tahiliani’s line ‘Chashme Shahi’ will reveal clothes that transform into an aria of fantasy and romance, presented in an array of elegant and cool garments to create an offering reminiscent of sum-mer and all that it brings. The designer said: “’Chashme Shahi’, a spring of fresh-ness and lightness, of pared down finesse, restraint and elegant draping, spring flowers and delicate chikankari. As dressing in the day becomes

more casual, the collections move more towards the evening -- changes in lifestyle heralds a change in fashion and to be work-ing with Padma Lakshmi, having lived in many avatars and with her fierce voice of independence,

beautifully brings alive the brands phi-losophy of India Modern.”

“It’s wonderful to be working with her again as she so totally embodies the Tarun Tahiliani woman.” The LFW team is ecstatic to have a globally known face on board as a celebrity showstopper.

Jaspreet Chandok, Head of Fashion, IMG Reliance Ltd, said: “It’s fantastic to have a global influencer like Padma grace the LFWeek stage. As the event continues to grow in stature in interna-tional forums, we hope to see many more international icons interface with it in coming seasons.”

Purnima Lamba, Head of Innova-tion, Lakmé, said: “Padma Lakshmi represents the global face of Indian beauty and Lakme Fashion Week is excited to host her homecoming at Tarun Tahiliani’s show.”

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who is getting applauded for his powerful performance in

“Raees”, says he gets into a “strange numb zone” whenever any of his films releases.

“I am very tired by the end of it. I have no feel-ings when the film releases. Every film that comes out there is a trial, which I might not get to see. During the trials people say good and bad things. It is a strange numb zone,” said Shah Rukh.

Directed by Rahul Dholakia, “Raees” features Shah Rukh as a bootlegger and has liquor prohi-bition as the backdrop. It narrates his journey into the illegal business, and also throws light on emo-tional aspects of his life as well as his love interest.

The actor added: “After two-three days (of release), I spend time and think about it. I keep it to myself.” “Raees”, which also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Pakistani actress Mahira Khan, saw a good and steady opening at the box office, and is giving tough competition to Hrithik Roshan’s

“Kaabil”. Asked if he likes to watch his own films, the

superstar said that it has been a “really long time since I’ve watched my own movie”.

Padma Lakshmi to catwalk

for Tarun Tahiliani at LFW

Have no feelings when

my film releases: SRK

BOLLYWOOD MONDAY 30 JANUARY 201710

Actor Matthew McConaughey said ‘no’ to

rom-coms at the peak of his career, and he says he grew anxious when he had no project in hand.

McConaughey came into spotlight with “Dazed and Con-fused”, and later went on to do films like “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and “Ghosts of Girl-friends Past”. He took the decision to take up more serious roles soon after the release of

“Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” in 2009, reports theguardian.com. The first thing McConaughey did was to talk to his managers and warn them he wasn’t going to work for a while. Then he spoke to his wife Camila Alves, who was sup-portive. Then he started the long process of saying ‘no’ to every script that came in, fol-lowed by a period when nothing came in at all.

“So the anxiety was, well, how long is noth-ing going to come in? Having a family helps, but I feel like I always need to be accomplish-ing something, for my own happiness and significance. I gotta work,” McConaughey said.

He added: “The anxiety was in how long will it be dry, how long will we get nothing? My agent did a good job saying no, no, no. Then the studios got the message and quit sending them.”

My agent said no to rom-coms: McConaughey

AFP

Dreamy musical “La La Land” took home best movie at the Produc-

ers Guild Awards on Saturday, putting it in the box seat for the much-anticipated Oscars next month.

The movie beat industry favourites and leading Acad-emy Awards contenders including coming-of-age tale

“Moonlight”, stylish alien thriller “Arrival” and visceral

family drama “Manchester by the Sea.” Damien Chazelle’s whimsical tribute to Holly-wood’s Golden Age of musicals has 14 nominations going into February’s Acad-emy awards, including for best picture, best director and for its two stars, Ryan Gos-ling and Emma Stone.

Earlier in January it scooped seven awards at the Golden Globes, also consid-ered a dry-run for the Oscars, the climax of Hollywood’s

awards season. One of its supporting actors, singer-songwriter John Legend, used the spotlight to call on Amer-icans to stand against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

“We are the voice, the face of America. Our America is big, it is free and it is open to dreamers of all races, all countries, all religions,” said Legend, 38, who has an Oscar and a collection of Grammys for his songwriting.

Canadian actor Ryan Gosling (right) and US film director Damien Chazelle break a

sake barrel wishing for a hit movie for their film “La La Land” in Tokyo.

‘La La Land’ wins PGA best film

Actor Idris Elba hopes that a channel will fund his child-hood dream of becoming an

astronaut. “To be a spaceman. If Discovery (channel) will pay for it, then I’ll go into space,” Elba told Closer magazine when asked what he wants to try next, reports fema-lefirst.co.uk. The star is currently filming “The Mountain Between Us” with Kate Winslet and thinks his fight training has inspired the Oscar-winning actress. He said: “I think my current co-star is quite

impressed actually and has decided to take up pilates pretty heavily.” However, his “Thor: Ragnarok” co-stars Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth and “The Dark Tower” co-star Matthew McConaughey were not so impressed and felt he was putting himself at risk.

Singer Justin Bieber has told his fans that he is working on “something special” ahead of his hiatus from music. The

“Love yourself” hitmaker teased his follow-ers on Twitter by giving an update on the mysterious project he is planning to share, reports mirror.co.uk. It comes after a source said he is going on one-year hiatus to travel after his Purpose World Tour. Taking to Twitter on Thursday, the 22-year-old pop star wrote: “Working on something special”.

According to a source quoted by Daily Star newspaper, Bieber has been recording some new music here to sign off with and then he plans to go travel for a bit.

Idris Elba wants to become astronaut Bieber plans surprise

HOLLYWOODMONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017 11

AFP

The robots of the future will be coming soon, rolling along at a lumbering pace with those

goods you just ordered.The six-wheeled, knee-high

robots from startup Starship Tech-nologies are part of a new wave of automated systems taking aim at the “last mile” delivery of goods to consumers.

Starship is launching a pilot project of robotic deliveries of par-cels, groceries and prepared foods in early February in the US capital Washington, with a similar test tak-ing place in Redwood City, California. The startup, created by two of the founders of Skype, Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis, has already begun testing in several European cities as part of an effort to bring new efficiencies to local delivery.

The goal is to enable delivery within a radius of two miles within 15-30 minutes of an order, for $1 or less, with the autonomous robots travelling on sidewalks and alert-ing consumers of their arrival via

smartphone app. Starship spokes-man Henry Harris-Burland said the founders were looking to “disrupt” an industry which had seen little efficiency improvement from new technology. “We’re trying to solve

real social and economic problems,” Harris-Burland said during a dem-onstration of the delivery bots in Washington. “This will take cars and vans off the road. We can also pro-vide deliveries to the elderly and handicapped who have difficulty getting around.”

The company, which has its business office in London, engi-neering in Estonia and some 90 employees, announced in January it had raised $17.2 million, led by Daimler AG with other investors as it moves to expand its testing and partnerships.

While the Starship robots roll at a modest pace of around four miles (six kilometers) per hour, Har-ris-Burland said they offer a more efficient and economical delivery model than drones, which are being tested by online retail giant Ama-zon and others.

New wave of robots set to deliver goods

In a first, scientists have developed a 3D bioprinter that can create functional human skin which is adequate for trans-

planting to patients or for use in research or the testing of cosmetic, chemical and pharmaceutical products.

One of the authors, Jose Luis Jorcano from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, said this skin replicated the natural struc-ture of the skin with a first external layer, the epidermis with its stratum corneum -- which acts as protection against the external environment -- together with another thicker and deeper layer called the dermis.

The last layer consists of fibroblasts that produce collagen, the protein that gives elasticity and mechanical strength to the skin. Bioinks are key to 3D bioprinting. Juan Francisco del Canizo, a Universidad Com-plutense de Madrid researcher, said:

“Knowing how to mix the biological com-ponents, in what conditions to work with them so that the cells don’t deteriorate and how to correctly deposit the product is crit-ical to the system.” The process for producing these tissues can be carried out

in two ways: To produce allogeneic skin from a stock of cells, done on a large scale, for industrial processes; and to create autol-ogous skin, which is made case by case from the patient’s own cells, for therapeutic use, such as in the treatment of severe burns.

“We use only human cells and compo-nents to produce skin that is bioactive and can generate its own human collagen, thereby avoiding the use of the animal col-lagen that is found in other methods,” the researchers noted. This method of bioprint-ing allows skin to be generated in a standardised, automated way and the proc-ess is less expensive than manual production.

A group of researchers has invented new ways to interact with smartwatches that not only eases the user-device

communication but also gives users better control over the gadget.

Georgia Institute of Technology research-ers developed enhancements using LG and Sony smartwatches that allow a user to scroll through apps by running fingers along the watch band, and let him/her launch eight smartwatch apps by tapping key points on the watch case (or bezel) and reject phone calls by blowing on the screen or tapping the side of the watch.

The new enhancements, recently pre-sented at the 2016 ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces, also let a user to edit dictated text message errors by breathing on the screen, transfer on-screen information from the watch to a phone with breaths and select numbers by tapping the back of the hand.

The tapping and scrolling on the smart-watch band was possible because of the watch’s gyroscope and accelerometer sensors.

Print skin with bioprinter Take greater control of smartwatches

TECHNOLOGY MONDAY 30 JANUARY 201712

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

A is a classic, heart-warming adventure story about an unlikely duo who

couldnt be more different. KC (Kinetic Canine) is a bright, energetic but

overzealous robotic dog, while Marshall is an old, curmudgeonly real dog,

set in his ways and has little patience for anything new. This canine odd

couple embarks on the adventure of a lifetime where each will learn the

true nature of friendship.Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

ROBO DOG

NOVO ROYAL PLAZA

ASIAN TOWN

MALL

LANDMARK

Raees (2D/Hindi) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 9:00 & 11:00pmResident Evil: The Final Chapter (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 12:45, 2:00, 4:00, 5:15, 6:00, 8:00, 9:45, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Monster Trucks (Animation) 3D 10:30am, 2:50 & 7:50pm 2D 12:40, 5:00, 9:20 & 11:30pmKaabil (2D/Hindi) 10:00am, 12:40, 3:30, 6:20, 9:10pm & 12:00midnight Robo-Dog (2D/Family) 10:00, 11:50am, 1:40, 3:30, 5:20 & 7:15pmWeapoinzed (2D/Action) 9:10 & 11:15pm Ballerina (2D/Animation) 10:00am & 2:25pm La La Land (2D/Musical) 11:50am, 6:15, 8:50 & 11:25pm Sing (2D/Animation) 4:15pm Singham 3 (2D/Tamil) 11:00am, 2:10, 5:20 & 8:30 Passengers (2D/Adventure) 9:30pm Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (3D IMAX/Action) 10:30am, 2:45, 7:00 & 11:15pmXXX: The Return of Xander Cage (3D IMAX/Action) 12:30, 4:45 & 9:00pm XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (2D/Action) 3:00, 7:30pm & 12:00midnight

Raees (2D/Hindi) 2:00, 6:30 & 10:45pm Monster Trucks (2D/Animation) 2:00 & 6:30pm Kaabil (2D/Hindi) 4:00, 8:30 & 11:00pm Weapoinzed (2D/Action) 4:30 & 9:00pmRobo-Dog (2D/Family) 2:00 & 3:45pm XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (2D/Action) 5:30pmResident Evil: The Final Chapter (2D/Action) 7:15, 9:15 & 11:15pm

Moana (2D/Animation) 2:00pmRaees (2D/Hindi) 2:00, 8:30 & 11:00pm Robo-Dog (2D/Family) 2:00 & 3:45pm Kaabil (2D/Hindi) 4:00, 6:30 & 10:45pm Monster Trucks (2D/Animation) 4:30 & 6:30pm Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2D/Action) 5:30, 9:30 & 11:30pmXXX: The Return of Xander Cage (2D/Action) 7:30pm Weapoinzed (2D/Action) 9:00pm

Robo-Dog (2D/Family) 2:30 & 4:15pm Monster Trucks (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 7:00pm Kaabil (2D/Hindi) 2:30, 9:00 & 11:00pm Raees (2D/Hindi) 4:15, 8:00 & 10:30pm Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2D/Action) 5:00, 7:00 & 9:00pmXXX: The Return of Xander Cage (2D/Action) 6:00pm Weapoinzed (2D/Action) 11:30pm

Kaabil (Hindi) 5:00, 6:30, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00pmRaees (Hindi) 5:00, 6:30, 8:00, 9:30 & 11:00pm

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

AL KHORRaees (Hindi) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm Kaabil (Hindi) 12:15, 3:00, 5:45, 8:30

& 11:15pm Resident Evil(2D/Action) 12:00noon, 12:15, 4:30, 6:45, 9:00 & 11:15pm

ROXYRobo Dog 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00pm Raees (Hindi) 2:00, 5:00, 7:45, 8:00, 10:45 & 11:00pm XXX: The Return of Xander Cage (2D/Action) 2:00, 4:20, 6:45 & 9:00pm

CINEMA PLUSMONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017 13

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 101 East 09:00 The Big Picture10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 UpFront12:30 Witness13:00 NEWSHOUR14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 The Caliph16:00 NEWSHOUR17:00 News17:30 Talk to Al Jazeera18:00 newsgrid19:00 News19:30 Counting the

Cost20:00 News20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 The Stream23:00 Iraq: A Deadly

Deception

13:30 Ax Men 14:20 Mountain

Men 15:10 Ice Road

Truckers 16:00 Counting

Cars 18:30 Pawn

Stars 19:20 Ax Men 20:10 American

Pickers 21:00 The Curse

Of Oak Island

21:50 Hunting Hitler

22:40 Gold Hunters: Legend Of The Super-stition..

23:30 American Pickers

13:20 Bondi Vet13:50 Deadliest

Snakes Of South Africa

14:45 Gator Boys15:40 Weird

Creatures With Nick Baker

16:35 Tanked17:30 River

Monsters18:25 Dr. Jeff:

Rocky Mountain Vet

19:20 Dr. Dee: Alaska Vet

20:15 Tanked21:10 O’shea’s Big

Adventure23:00 Dr. Dee:

Alaska Vet23:55 Gator Boys

13:05 How Do They Do It?

13:30 The Liquidator

14:20 Alaska: The Last Frontier

15:10 Boy To Man16:00 Deadliest

Catch17:40 Wheeler

Dealers19:20 Boy To Man20:35 The

Liquidator21:00 Gold Rush21:50 Deadliest

Catch23:30 Fast N’

Loud00:20 Wheeler

Dealers01:10 Gold Rush02:00 Deadliest

Catch

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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.

A VIEW TO A KILL, DIE ANOTHER

DAY, DR NO, GEORGE LAZENBY,

GOLDENEYE, GOLDFINGER,

HONEY RYDER, JAMES BOND,

JAWS, LIVE AND LET DIE,

MAGDA, MONEYPENNY,

MOONRAKER, NAOMI,

NICKNACK, ODDJOB, PIERCE

BROSNAN, ROGER MOORE,

SEAN CONNERY, TEEHEE,

THUNDERBALL, TIFFANY CASE,

VARGAS, WHISPER.

MONDAY 30 JANUARY 2017BRAIN TEASERS14