TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017

Soha writes about being ‘moderately famous’

MARKETPLACE | 6 FOOD | 8 BOLLYWOOD | 11Rota hosts

‘Training for Trainers’

This sly soup deserves a

stirring finish

“I believed in nature and I believed in breathing. I did not want to pray to something or somebody out of space; I wanted to pray to something that was inside of me,” she explains.

P | 4-5

Email: dohatoday@pen.com.qa

MAut y

11

TAO IMPARTS ZEST FOR LIFE

CAMPUSTUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017 03

The Peninsula

All four campuses of Olive International School (OIS) zeroed in at the sprawling

Umm Salal Ali campus on Friday to celebrate “Olivenite 2017” – the school’s third Annual Day in emphatic fashion with a galaxy of dignitaries and over 4,000 people in attendance including 1,700 stu-dents of this fastest growing school in the State of Qatar.

The large, supportive and enthusiastic audience was treated with an impressive line-up of events presented by the young stu-dents of OIS with immense excitement and passion.

Along with OIS Chief Patron Saleh Abdullah Al Sulaiti, Chair-man Davis Edakulathur and the dynamic Board Members “Oliven-ite 2017” was graced by eminent dignitaries like Dr. R. Seethara-man – Group CEO of Doha Bank as the Chief Guest; Prof. Dr. Cyr-iac Thomas –former member of the Indian Government’s National

Commission for Minority Educa-tional Institutions and former Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gan-dhi University as the Keynote Speaker; and R.K. Singh – Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India here in the State of Qatar as Guest of Honour.

“Olivenite 2017” commenced with humble prayers offered to the Lord Almighty for His perpetual blessings and compassion; tradi-tional ‘lighting of the lamp’ parallel with the School Choir rendering a devotional melody to invoke the choicest sanctifications of the ever-present Almighty.

As part of the formal agenda, Vice-Principal Geetha Somashek-aran welcomed the august gathering followed by OIS Princi-pal Jacob K M articulately presenting the school Annual Report. Additionally, inspirational speeches were delivered by the Chief Guest Dr. R. Seetharaman; Keynote Speaker Prof. Dr. Cyriac Thomas; Guest of Honour Mr. R.K. Singh; OIS Chief Patron Mr. Saleh

Abdullah Al Sulaiti; and OIS Chair-man and ICBF President Mr. Davis Edakulathur.

Among the formal stage events, OIS Board Member and Indian Cul-tural Centre General Secretary Mr. Juttas Paul led the felicitation cer-emony of the Chief Guest Dr. R. Seetharaman in honour of his recent Pravasi Bharathiya Samman award from the President of India. Olive International School manage-ment and staff appreciated Dr. R Seetharaman for his contribution to the country of Qatar and Indian community, which was recognized by the Government of India by pre-senting such prestigious award. On behalf of OIS Chairman Davis

Edukulathur and Chief Patron Mr. Saleh Abdullah Al Sulaiti presented memento to him in appreciation of his service.

While OIS staff members with 100% attendance record were awarded by guest dignitaries; the Chief Guest felicitated the Mother Teresa House from Nuaija Primary Campus and the Gandhi House from Umm Salal Ali Primary Cam-pus for the year-long extra-curricular and sporting events that were keenly partici-pated and contested by four respective school houses. The cul-tural session of “Olivenite 2017” included a spectacular line-up of performances from OIS students.

Olive International School marks Annual Day

COVER STORY TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 201704

AFP

She is the ‘World’s Oldest Yoga Teacher’ who, at age 98, still teaches five classes a week. But above all, Tao Porchon-Lynch is a poster

child for health and positivity in a world obsessed by wellness and longevity.

The former model and Hollywood contract actress -- who earned her title from Guinness World Records -- still has a delicate, slender physique. Tao, as everyone calls her, grew up in India and lives in the New York suburbs, travelling the world attend-ing yoga retreats. Stylish and fashionable, she zips from her Harts-dale home in Westchester County to the studio in a Smart car.

Once in the studio, she happily demonstrates yoga poses, even if she sometimes calls on one of her dedi-cated students to show off others. But more than yoga, she imparts a zest for life that has sustained her through

nearly a century of existence, marked by encounters with the likes of Gan-dhi and Marlene Dietrich.

“Don’t be afraid,” she tells her class. “Don’t let others tell you what you can’t do.” She cautions her pupils against giving in to fatigue.

“Breathe, feel this life force within you.” Students of all ages quickly become devotees. “I am doing things that I never thought possible,” says Julie Ann Ulbrich, 52, who has been coming to Tao’s classes for eight years.

“If she can be 98 and still driving and still living on her own and doing asanas like this, it gives me hope.”

In a Western society increasingly determined to ward off the onset of ageing, Tao’s bracing cocktail of lon-gevity and practical spirituality has made her a celebrity with an avid online following. She is even a spon-sored athlete for Athleta, a brand of women’s yoga clothing and active wear owned by Gap Inc., which put her on the cover of its latest magazine.

The 98-year-old poster child for yoga

COVER STORYTUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017 05“I believed in nature and I believed in breathing.

I did not want to pray to something or somebody out of space; I wanted to pray to something that was inside of me,” she explains.

“Look at the trees. The trees are hundreds of years old, at this moment they are all bare, they look like skeletons, they look dead, but they are not -- they are recycling themselves,” she said in a nod to the winter season.

“Those trees are not getting any older, they are strong.” Her life did not begin, however, in the most auspicious of circumstances.

Born on August 13, 1918 at the end of World War I, her mother died when she was just seven months old, and her father entrusted her to an uncle and aunt who brought her up in Pondicherry, then part of French colonial India.

She was raised a vegetarian. French and Hindi were her first languages. When still very young, she travelled to a number of countries with her uncle, who designed railway projects.

At 12, she met Gandhi when he visited the fam-ily home -- “a funny little man sitting on the floor with glasses and everybody bowing to him” -- she remembers.

Three weeks later, her uncle let her take part in what became Gandhi’s Salt March. From the father of modern India and her uncle, she says, she learned never to show contempt for anyone, and a sense of

“oneness.”The onset of World War II saw her leave for

Europe looking for her father, who was called up in France. She found refuge with an aunt in the Rhone, who initiated her into the world of wine -- one of her passions -- and the French Resistance.

After the Germans arrested a comrade, she trav-elled to London where she performed Indian dances for American troops.

It was there that she met Dietrich, who became a “very good friend.” After the war, she returned to France and modeled for Lanvin before travelling to the United States for the first time in 1948.

She returned to America for good a year later and worked in Hollywood, under contract for MGM for several years.

In California, she became a yoga teacher, hav-ing practiced it always, even as a child despite her guardians telling her “it is not for girls.” An Indian acquaintance in Hollywood pressed her to take up teaching.

Her first pupils? The actresses Debbie Reynolds and Kathryn Grayson. She then travelled back to India to deepen her knowledge from the renowned yoga teacher Krishna Pattabhi Jois.

She was married to Bill Lynch, an insurance bro-ker, for 20 years until his death in 1982, but the couple had no children and she has no close relatives.

“My students are my children,” she explains. It is with them that she celebrates birthdays.

And if yoga is not enough to keep her young at heart, she takes ballroom dances with partners 70 years her junior.

MARKETPLACE TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 201706

French Luxury Cosmetics brand, Yves Rocher, inaugurated its first-ever flagship boutique in

Doha, at Mall of Qatar, recently. The 50sq store carries different

skin care, body care, hair care, bath and shower products and fragrances for all skin types and for both genders. Yves Rocher, renowned for its botanical and natural products, has long been the cosmetics brand of choice for many people across the globe, and has been France’s number one anti-aging skin care brand for years now.

According to Henri Bernard Bedoin, General Manager — Yves Rocher, it was always a dream for the brand to set anchor in Qatar,

“We are delighted that we have finally opened our first ever flagship boutique in Qatar,” said Bedoin.

“It is with great pleasure that we can finally pass on Yves Rocher’s beauty philosophies to the people of Qatar. We want them to experience our safe, botanical products and to be able to revel in their natural and revolutionary ingredients,” he added. Yves Rocher is gearing up to launch their very own make up range, that will be available through their boutique in Mall of Qatar.

Fawaz Idrissi, Senior Vice-President — Abu Issa Holding, stated: “We believe in the power of Yves Rocher products, and thus it

was important for us to help bring them to the people of Qatar.” He added: “We will continue to employ our strategies in marketing Yves Rocher to help promote the brand,

and we will be utilising our social media platforms to help make that happen. We will also be expanding their number of stores in the future to help capture the market.”

Yves Rocher opens flagship

boutique at Mall of Qatar

ICBF (Indian Community Benevolent Forum) Manage-ment Committee is set to

conduct Membership Campaign Meeting for new members on Wednesday at 7:15pm at Ashoka-HaIl, Indian Cultural Center, Doha.

This meeting will have a short presentation on the activ-ities of ICBF and prospective members can enroll for the membership on the spot.

Since 1984 Indian Commu-nity Benevolent Forum (ICBF), undertakes the noble task of pro-viding succour and solace to the underprivileged members of Indian expatriate community in Qatar.

ICBF is one of the four apex bodies under the ageis of Indian Embassy.

ICBF carrying out its task completely selfless, non-profit oriented and philanthropic man-ner to help generally the needy and also the working class from the community.

ICBF to conduct

membership

campaign meeting Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) recently hosted a ‘Training for Trainers’ workshop,

part of its Adult English Literacy (RAEL) programme, at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU).

Aimed at volunteering tutors, the ‘Training for Trainers’ course covered a range of topics, includ-ing ROTA’s literacy curriculum, issues facing low-income migrant workers, methods to effectively facilitate adult learning, and com-munity-based learning tools.

Participants from Georget-own University School of Foreign Service in Qatar; Carnegie Mel-lon University in Qatar;Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar; North-western University in Qatar; the Academic Bridge Programme; the HBKU Student Housing English Language Programme; Doha Expressway (CH2M HILL), a project of Ashghal; and the Light Railway Transit System (LRT), a project of Qatari DiarVINCICon-struction (QDVC) took part in the training course, designed to equip volunteer tutors with the

necessary skills to effectively facilitate the RAEL initiative.

Rasmeya Hassan Al Jamali, Community Development Special-ist, National ProgramsDepartment, ROTA, said: “The training course is an essential component of the Adult English Literacy program offered to migrant workers in Qatar. It ensures our volunteer tutors have a thorough under-standing of the course material and are well prepared to effec-tively facilitate the program.”

Silvia Pessoa, Ph.D., course trainer, said: “It’s a privilege to

be working with such an enthu-siastic group of student tutors who are passionate about mak-ing a difference to the lives of others. Training the RAEL facil-itators to become competent literacy tutors ensures migrant workers will reap the maximum benefits from the Adult English Literacy program.”

Abdulaziz Al Kuwari, volun-teer tutor from CMU-Q, said:

“After completing the training pro-gram, I feel confident in my ability to effectively facilitate the Adult Literacy programme.”

Rota hosts ‘Training for Trainers’

Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula

COMMUNITY TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017 07

Al-Khor Football Community won the trophy for IFQ 2016/2017 League held in Al-

Khor Community Club on January 27. The competition was held by Indonesian Football Association in Qatar (IFQ) in collaboration with Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Indonesian diasporas community.

The tournament involved nine football clubs from various cities in Qatar such as Doha, Dukhan, Mes-said, Wakrah and Alkhor. The opening ceremony held at Al Arabi Sports Club Stadium, Doha and the league took place from 28 October 2016 to 27 January 2017.

IFQ League 2016/2017 was closed by the Ambassador to Qatar Air Marshal (Retired) Muhammad Basri Sidehabi accompanied by the Chairman of the IFQ, Dr. Rachmat Soebekti and representatives of the Association of Indonesian Commu-nity in Qatar (PERMIQA), Teuku.

In his remark, Ambassador Basri praised the successful implementation of the league. The Envoy stressed that the league was part of the Embassy’s efforts to strengthen the multi-tract diplomacy in Qatar through sport activities as well as enhance public enthusiasm for football in Qatar as a contribution from Indonesian

diasporas for World Cup 2022 preparation. “Indonesia supports for the successful implementation of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar,” said the envoy.

Rachmat Soebekti was very grateful for the envoy, QFA, participants, spectators, sponsor as well as Indonesian community for the successful league. IFQ Chairman emphasized that the IFQ League was also a means for selecting as a

talent scout for players then trained to become Indonesian national team in Qatar ‘Garuda Qatar’ to take part in the International tournament, the Asian Communities Football Tournament.

According to Indonesian Embas-sy’s Minister Counselor, Boy Dharmawan, Indonesian diaspora community also held a tournament named Indonesia-Qapco Junior Football Tournament (IJFT) recently.

The Tournament were attended by hundreds of children under the age of 15 (U-15) from 31 football clubs coming from all over Qatar. He added that before the final match, participants and spectators of the League paid a tribute and held a minutes of silence for its condo-lences as one of its organizing committee, Hendra Lesmana, passed away due to a heart failure recently.

Al-Khor FC wins IFQ 2016/2017 League

Kuttiyadi MLA Parakkal Abdulla, inaugurated the Facebook group “Kuttiya-

adikkaar”, Qatar chapter, and its logo, yesterday, at Mughalina park in Doha, The selection proc-ess of Qatar chapter was also conducted.

“Kuttiyaadikkaar” is involved in various charity works around Kuttiyadi and now it has expanded its activity outside India. Yesterday’s meeting was

welcomed by Group admin M A Muneer in the presence of. Kun-chammed Narikkatteri and the selection meeting was inaugu-rated by Shahida Jaleel. Majeed Naadapuram, Noushad Kan-chaayi, SameerIllath, Muneer Talikkara and Mohammed Ali wished the gatherings and thanksgiving notes given by Mujeeb Kayatukandi.

Selection committee elected Sadhaam as Chairman and

‘Kuttiyaadikkaar’charity group inaugurated

Shamlaal Noushad Kaanchaayi and Shameer Illath as Vice-Chairmans, Convenors; Jaisal, Joint Convenor: Jamsheer, Sanil Kuttiyaadi, Salih. Treasurer: SirajAaayncheri, Arts& Sport chairman :MajeedNaadapuram, Arts& Sport Convenor: Latheef

Paathirappata, Media & Publicity Chairman: Abdulla Poyil, Media & Publicity Convenor: Ismail M Arur, were also elected. Qatar chapter decided to conduct “SnehaSanga-mam” and a boat tour for members.

FOOD TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 201708Bonnie S Benwick The Washington Post

The difference between tomato and rice soup and this roasted red pep-per soup with orzo is more of a sidestep than

a leap. But the elevation in flavor is noticeable - especially when you embellish the bowl with garnishes straight from a restaurant-style hummus plate.

I have learned that a simple soup takes kindly to strewn bits of crunch and color, as long as it has enough body to support them.

While this soup cooks, toast pine nuts in a small skillet; dump those out to cool, then use the same pan to brown a small amount of ground lamb with a hefty pinch of ground sumac, draining off the ren-dered fat. A drizzle of good olive oil enriches the whole thing.

If you plan to save some soup for the next day, expect to see slightly plumper pasta and a slightly thickened soup. Nothing wrong with that.

Roasted Pepper and Orzo Soup 3 or 4 servings (makes 3 1/2 to 4 cups), Healthy

Serve with a half-sandwich or warm pita bread. Adapted from

“Skinnytaste Fast and Slow: Knock-out Quick-Fix and Slow Cooker Recipes,” by Gina Homolka with Heather K. Jones (Clarkson Potter, 2016).

Ingredients1 medium shallot, 1 clove garlic,

One 12-ounce jar water-packed roasted red peppers, 2 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for optional gar-nish, 2 1/2 cups no-salt-added chicken or vegetable broth, 1 table-spoon grated pecorino Romano cheese, 1/3 cup (1 5/8 ounces) dried orzo pasta, Kosher salt (optional)

2 tablespoons pine nuts, for gar-nish, 6 ounces ground lamb, for garnish, Pinch za’atar or ground sumac, 1 cup baby spinach, Few leaves fresh basil

StepsPeel and coarsely chop the shal-

lot and garlic. Drain the red peppers. Heat half of the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, stir in the shallot

and garlic. Cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until just softened, then transfer to a blender. (You’ll be using the saucepan again.)

Add the red peppers and 1/2 cup of the broth to the blender; puree until smooth, then return the mix-ture to the saucepan. Pour in the remaining 2 cups of broth and the cheese; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then stir in the orzo. Cook for 7 to 9 minutes or until the orzo is tender and more visible in the pot, stirring often to keep it from sticking to the bottom. Taste, and add salt as needed.

Meanwhile, toast the pine nuts in a small, dry skillet over medium heat for a few minutes, just until fragrant and lightly browned. Transfer to a plate. Return the pan to medium heat and add the remaining oil. Once that shimmers, add the lamb. Cook for about 5 min-utes, stirring occasionally, until the lamb loses its raw look. Drain off and discard the fat in the pan; return the lamb to medium heat and add the za’atar or ground sumac and cook for another few minutes, until the meat browns fur-ther and even gets a little crisped

on some edges. Remove from the heat.

Just before serving, toss the spinach and basil into the soup; reduce the heat to low and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.

Divide among individual bowls. Top each portion with some of the pine nuts, lamb and a drizzle of oil, if desired.

Nutrition | Per serving (based on 4, using chicken broth): 100 cal-ories, 3 g protein, 17 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cho-lesterol, 240 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 5 g sugar

This sly soup deserves a stirring finish

HEALTHTUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017 09

IANS

Using a mechanism similar to the one used by the organ that allows pit vipers to sense

their prey, researchers have devel-oped an artificial skin capable of detecting temperature changes.

The material could be grafted onto prosthetic limbs to restore temperature sensing in amputees.

It could also be applied to first-aid bandages to alert health professionals of a temperature increase -- a sign of infection -- in wounds. While fabricating synthetic woods in a petri dish, a team led by California Institute of Technology’s Chiara Daraio created a material that exhibited an electrical response to temperature changes in the lab-oratory. It turned out that the

component responsible for the tem-perature sensitivity was pectin, a long-chain molecule present in plant cell walls.

“Pectin is widely used in the food industry as a jellifying agent; it’s

what you use to make jam. So it’s easy to obtain and also very cheap,” said Daraio. Intrigued, the team shifted its attention to pectin and ultimately created a thin, transpar-ent flexible film of pectin and water,

which can be as little as 20 micrometres thick (equivalent to the diameter of a human hair).

Pectin molecules in the film have a weakly bonded double-strand structure that contains calcium ions.

According to a paper published in the journal Science Robotics, the film senses temperature using a mechanism similar -- but not iden-tical -- to the pit organs in vipers, which allow the snakes to sense warm prey in the dark by detect-ing radiated heat.

In those organs, ion channels in the cell membrane of sensory nerve fibres expand as tempera-ture increases. This dilation allows calcium ions to flow, triggering electrical impulses, the research-ers explained.

Artificial skin that can feel temperature created

QNA

Virtual reality could be used to diagnose and treat vis-ual vertigo, according to a

team of Cardiff University psychol-ogists. People with the condition suffer from dizziness and nausea and often cite places with repeti-tive visual patterns, such as supermarkets, as the trigger.

A team of psychologists is working to develop virtual envi-ronments to help with diagnosis and rehabilitation. The scientists believe the approach has “real

potential”. Dr Georgina Powell, of the School of Psychology, said:

“We don’t know very much about what causes visual vertigo at the moment. There also are not many effective rehabilitation therapies available, so the aim of our project is to try and understand those two things.”

She said vertigo can be extremely debilitating, adding: “It can mean that a patient can’t leave their house because they feel so sick and nauseous every time they walk around in their visual envi-ronment. They can’t work, they just

can’t function.” The team said one of the most striking observations they had made about sufferers was the variation between what sparks their symptoms.

The onset of diabetes, or a rapid deterioration in existing diabetes that

requires more aggressive treat-ment, could be a sign of early, hidden pancreatic cancer, warns a new study.

The findings are based on an analysis linking nearly a million patients with Type-2 diabetes in Italy and Belgium with recorded cases of pancreatic cancer.

Half of all pancreatic cancers cases in the two regions were diagnosed within one year of patients being diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes and being given their first prescription to control it, said Alice Koechlin from Inter-national Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France.

“In Belgium 25 per cent of cases were diagnosed within 90 days and in Lombardy (Italy) it was 18 per cent. After the first year, the proportion of diagnosed pan-creatic cancers dropped dramatically,” she said.

Scientists have developed a cheap and non-invasive test that can measure the levels

of five chemicals in the breath to detect cancers of the oesopha-gus and stomach with 85 per cent accuracy. Together, stomach and oesophageal cancer account for around 1.4 million new cancer diagnoses each year worldwide. Currently, the only way to

diagnose oesophageal cancer or stomach cancer is with endos-copy -- an expensive, invasive method with some risk of complications.

“A breath test could be used as a non-invasive, first-line test to reduce the number of unnecessary endoscopies. In the longer term this could also mean earlier diagnosis and treatment and better survival,”

said Sheraz Markar from Imperial College London.

Previous research suggested that there are differences in the lev-els of specific chemicals -- butyric, pentanoic and hexanoic acids, butanal, and decanal -- in patients with stomach or oesophageal can-cer and patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms without cancer.

Virtual reality could treat vertigo

Cheap breath test may detect cancers

Diabetes may be an early sign of cancer

LIFESTYLE TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 201710

AFP

France won its first Miss Uni-verse crown in 64 years yesterday in a made-for-tel-

evision spectacle where finalists spoke out on the refugee crisis and other hot-button global issues.

Iris Mittenaere, a dental surgery student from Lille in the north of France, beat 85 of the world’s most beautiful women at the event in the Philippines scheduled for primetime viewing in the United States.

Mittenaere, 24, edged out Miss Haiti, the first runner-up, and Miss Colombia, the second runner-up, to win France’s first Miss Universe title since 1953.

“I was very surprised. I am always touching the crown and say-ing ‘Oh my God. I have the crown on my head. I don’t believe it,’” Mit-tenaere said in a post-pageant news conference. “French people love beauty pageants but they don’t

really know Miss Universe because never (did) our country win,” she said, adding she would advocate for good hygiene and educating chil-dren. In the final question round, the six remaining contestants were each asked questions relating to various political issues in their own countries or abroad.

When asked about the global refugee crisis, Mittenaere said France had the right to close its bor-ders to refugees if it wanted but she also spoke about the benefits of migration. “In France we want to have the most globalisation that we can. We want to have the biggest exchange of people that we can. Maybe someday that will change but now we have open borders,” Mittenaere said, with her comments translated into English for the audience.

“Having open borders allows us to travel more through the world and to find out more about what’s

out there in the world.” Miss Kenya, another finalist, said Donald Trump’s presidency “may not have been the choice of many people” in the United States. “So many

people oppose his position. But I feel that once (Trump) took up his position, he was able to unify the entire nation,” said Mary Esther Were, 27.

Iris Mittenaere is Miss Universe

Miss France Iris Mittenaere reacts as she is embraced by outgoing

Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach at the Mall of Asia Arena, in Pasay,

Metro Manila, yesterday.

Kids get more satisfaction from relationships with their household pets than

with their brothers or sisters, new research suggests.

“Anyone who has loved a child-hood pet knows that we turn to them for companionship and dis-closure, just like relationships between people,” said lead researcher Matt Cassells from Uni-versity of Cambridge.

“We wanted to know how strong these relationships are with pets relative to other close family ties. Ultimately this may enable us to understand how animals con-tribute to healthy child development,” Cassells said.

Researchers surveyed children of 12 years of age from 77 families with one or more pets of any type and more than one child at home.

The children reported strong relationships with their pets rela-tive to their siblings, with lower levels of conflict and greater sat-isfaction in owners of dogs than other kinds of pets.

“Even though pets may not fully understand or respond verbally, the level of disclosure to pets was no less than to siblings,” Cassels said. “The fact that pets cannot understand or talk back may even be a benefit as it means they are completely non-judgmental,” Cas-sels noted.

Just like humans, dogs prefer sharing food with the familiar partners. However, they are also

ready to share food with other ani-mals during complex situations, a new study found.

The study found that dogs exhibit pro-social behaviour and they clearly showed a preference for sharing the food reward with another familiar dog, whereas unfa-miliar dogs were rewarded nearly three times less often than the familiar ones. The higher level of complexity, however, impacted the general frequency of the food deliv-ery, Rachel Dale from the University of Veterinary Medicine - Vienna in Austria, said in a statement.

In addition, the presence of a partner was found to make dogs more likely to share their food. In the study, the researchers tested whether it made a difference to the donor dog if the receiver was familiar or a stranger.

When a second dog was present in the testing room without being in the other enclosure, the donor dogs were more motivated to give a food reward. When the test dogs were alone in the room, the number of food deliveries went down, the researchers mentioned.

This aspect, known as social facilitation, starts from the assumption that animals will per-form more readily in the presence of conspecifics.

Kids feel closer to pets than their siblings

Dogs prefer to share food

with familiar partners

BOLLYWOODTUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017 11

Kolkata

IANS

Ace Bollywood scriptwriter Ritesh Shah, who has cre-ated a buzz by penning

powerful on-screen women char-acters for films like “Pink” and

“Kahaani”, says the industry is reshaping itself by breaking the cli-che of song-and-dance routines and trying to deliver something “new and interesting” to its audience.

An upbeat Shah says the audi-ence can now expect at least 15 good, content-driven films every year. Shah said: “Bollywood is changing. If you look at the biggest stars of the industry today, they are also opting to do films with a

semblance of a story and a strong female character.”

“It shows how stars like them are also being pushed by the industry to do content-backed films.”

“Out of the 15 or 16 films that

have really worked at the box office last year, almost 14-and-a-half are content-driven where the story, character, treatment and dialogue are given priority. From now on the audience can expect at least 15 good films every year.”

While stating he would always like to be a part of films that are impactful as well as commercially viable, the avid Salim-Javed fan said there is nothing wrong in vying for commercial success.

“I believe a film that has great reviews but is not seen by more than 50,000 people, is not a good thing. A filmmaker cannot be so indulgent or self-satisfied to make films only for a select group of peo-ple.” While talking about his initial

struggle as a screenplay and script writer, Shah said he took a con-scious decision to work in films that would mean something to him and to those who come to see it.

“I got better offers in the second half of my career after ‘Force’ and

‘Kahaani’ happened and it was a conscious decision to work in films that would be impactful but not lim-ited to a specific set of people.”

The winner of the Stardust Award for Best Screenplay in 2016 also didn’t rule out the chance of venturing into direction or acting.

“At present, I like the fact that I am a mainstream writer and I make my living out of writing. But never say never to anything in our indus-try,” he said.

Bollywood ready to break cliche: Ritesh

Bollywood actress Soha Ali Khan is all set to publish a collection of humorous, and

sometimes bizarre, stories on her life as a royal princess and a “mod-erately famous” celebrity, in what is going to be her debut in writing.

Titled “The Perils of Being Moderately Famous”, the book has been acquired by Penguin India and will be released later the year. Soha has appeared in movies like

“Rang De Basanti” and “Tum Mile”. Soha said that she is a voracious reader and was utilising her leisure hours to write. The actress, however, warned the readers that

“if you are hoping I will reveal the secret behind Kareena (Kapoor-Khan) glowing complexion or how ‘bhai’ (her brother Saif Ali Khan) trains for an action film, then I am afraid you are barking up the wrong book.” Actor Nawazuddin Sid-

diqui, who is basking in the appreciation com-

ing his way for his performance in Shah Rukh Khan starrer “Raees”, believes his journey as an actor has just begun. He says he has a long way to go. “Even though I have been in the industry since 2000, my acting career kind of took off in 2012 and it has been a very satisfying journey so far. But it has just begun and I have a long way to go,” Nawazuddin, who doesn’t like to dwell on suc-cess for too long, said.

He starred with Aamir Khan in “Sarfarosh” and

“Talaash”, and with Salman Khan in “Kick”.

Actor Saqib Saleem says he will go to any extent to get to

the right vision of the script, but he has to believe in it. The actor, added that it has become important for actors to go that extra mile to add believability for the view-ers. “If there is something or a material that I really like and truly believe in, then there is no limit. If I believe in the material, believe in the story that it is trying to say something which is going to bring a change, then I will go to any limit.”

Actors Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have released the teaser of their upcoming film “Badrinath Ki Dulhania”. Along with the 48-second teaser, the

first poster of the film was also unveiled yesterday. Varun, who will essay the role of Badrinath in the film, took to Twitter to share the first look.

“Hum hain Badrinath Bansal... Aur yeh hai ‘Badri Ka Teaser’ (I am Badrinath Bansal and this is Badri’s teaser),” Varun tweeted. In the teaser, Varun is seen getting his proposal photographs clicked at a studio, alongside the cut-outs of actresses like Deepika Padukone and Kareena Kapoor Khan. Alia also shared the first look on Twitter. “Badrinath Bansal being his usual funny adorable self! ‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ Badri’s teaser. Varun Dhawan,” Alia wrote.

Soha writes about being ‘moderately famous’

‘Badrinath Ki Dulhania’ released Saqib knows no limit

Have a long way

to go as actor:

Nawazuddin

HOLLYWOOD TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 201712

AFP

Fox’s biographical comedy-drama “Hidden Figures” landed the top prize on Sun-

day at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, seen as a major bellwether for the Oscars.

Starring Taraji P Henson, Octa-via Spencer and Janelle Monae, it took the trophy for outstanding per-formance by a cast in a motion picture, the SAG equivalent of a best film Academy Award.

Theodore Melfi’s movie, which recounts the story of African-Amer-ican mathematicians who helped Nasa put the first men in space, was a surprise winner, with Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea” widely tipped for the top prize.

It also beat coming-of-age drama “Moonlight,” comedy

“Captain Fantastic” and race rela-tions story “Fences.”

“Manchester” star Casey Affleck -- the frontrunner for the best actor Oscar -- was also shut out, with the equivalent SAG award going instead to Denzel Washington for “Fences.”

Washington, 62, who has two Oscars, also beat competition from Andrew Garfield (“Hacksaw Ridge”), Viggo Mortensen (“Cap-tain Fantastic”) and Ryan Gosling (“La La Land”). In the best actress category, Emma Stone won for “La La Land,” Damien Chazelle’s whimsical tribute to the musicals of Hollywood’s golden age. The support acting awards went to Mahershala Ali for “Moonlight” and Viola Davis for “Fences.” The evening was marked by speeches denouncing President Donald Trump’s immigration ban.

‘Hidden Figures’ takes top prize at SAG Awards

Actress Taraji P. Henson and other cast members accept the award

during the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards show in Los

Angeles.

Actress Viola Davis says the increase in black nominees for Oscars this year is not a

direct response to last years #OscarSoWhite backlash, as all the nominees “deserve to be there”.

“There’s a lot of typecasting -- age, sex, colour, dark-skinned, light-skinned,” said Davis, who won the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role award at the Screen Actors

Guild Awards on Sunday night. “Response to #OscarSoWhite? No. I think that every nominee from Naomie Harris to Octavia Spencer to ‘Hidden Figures’ to ‘Fences’ to

‘Moonlight’ to Mahershala Ali are up there because they deserve to be there.”

“They’re not there because of the colour of their skin. They put in the work. So the answer to that is no,” she added.

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose film “The Salesman” is nom-inated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards, has said he will not attend the Oscars even if exceptions are

made and he is allowed entry into the US.“I regret to announce via this statement that I have decided not to

attend the Academy Awards ceremony alongside my fellow members of the cinematic community,” Farhadi said in a statement, reported vari-ety.com. The statement follows US President Donald Trump’s order suspending entry of refugees to the US for 120 days. A 90-day ban was also placed on citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

While Farhadi had originally considered attending the Oscar cere-mony here next month, he said: “The possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip.

Blacks deserve to be at Oscars: Davis

Iranian filmmaker to give Oscars a missEmma brings intelligence to ‘Beauty and the Beast’: Director

Actress Emma Watson brings an innate intelli-gence to live-action

movie “Beauty and the Beast”, says director Bill Condon.

“Beauty and the Beast” is story of how a simple girl Belle from a village makes a cursed prince realise the value of inner beauty and helps him break the curse. Condon is bringing it back on the silver screen in a live-action format.

“Belle is someone who doesn’t really care about becom-ing a princess. She’s more interested in seeing the world and figuring out who she is than in finding a man and getting married,” Condon said in a statement. He added: “We all know how intelligent and worldly and sophisticated Emma is, and while that doesn’t describe Belle, it is what Belle aspires to be, and it is the innate intelligence that Emma brings to the role that is such a crucial

element when you’re doing a live-action film.”

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” -- a live-action adapta-tion of the studio’s animated classic -- also features Dan Ste-vens, Luke Evans, Kevin Kline, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Audra McDonald, GuguMbatha-Raw, Hattie Mora-han, Nathan Mack, Ian McKellen and Emma Thompson. The film is set to release on March 17.

TECHNOLOGYTUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017 13

AP

Even before George Jetson entranced kids with his cartoon flying car, peo-ple dreamed of soaring above traffic congestion.

Inventors and entrepreneurs have long tried and failed to make the dream a reality, but that may be changing.

Nearly a dozen companies around the globe, including some with deep pockets such as Euro-pean aircraft maker Airbus, are competing to be the first to develop a new kind of aircraft that will ena-ble commuters to glide above crowded roadways.

A few of the aircraft under development are cars with wings that unfold for flight, but most aren’t cars at all. Typically they take off and land vertically like helicopters. Rather than a single, large main rotor, they have multiple small rotors. Each rotor is operated by a battery-powered electric motor instead of a conventional aircraft piston engine. It’s no sure bet that

flying-car dreams will turn into reality. There are many obstacles, including convincing regulators that the aircraft are safe, figuring out how to handle thousands of new low-flying aircraft over cities with-out collisions and developing batteries that will keep them aloft long enough to be useful.

But entrepreneurs are moving forward. They see a vast potential

market for “air taxis” and personally owned small aircraft to transport people from the fringes of metropolitan areas to city centers as urban areas grow more congested and people spend more time stuck in traffic. They envision tens of thousands of one or two-person flying taxis delivering passengers to the rooftops of office buildings in city

centers and other landing pads during rush hours.

“In as little as 10 years, products could be on the market that revo-lutionize urban travel for millions of people,” said Zach Lovering, the leader of Airbus’ project to develop an autonomous flying taxi called the Vahana. The name means the mount or vehicle of a Hindu deity.

Uber released a 98-page report in October making the business case for air taxis, which the com-pany sees as the future of on-demand transportation. Uber doesn’t have any plans to develop a flying car itself, but the online transportation network is advising several companies that have air-craft in the works.

“The role we want to play is as a catalyst for the entire industry,” said Nikhil Goel, an Uber project manager for advanced programs.

Some of the aircraft are drones that will be preprogrammed for each flight and monitored or oper-ated from the ground or a command center. Others are designed for human pilots.

Cars with wings under development

Wondering about what is right for your chil-dren to watch on television? Why not go digital to impart education to your children?

Here are some apps that are excellent tool for teach-ing children. AppyStore: A comprehensive learning app for kids up to eight years which provides integrat-ing holistic learning with limitless fun. LIV Kids: It offers content specially designed for children. YouTube Kids: The official YouTube Kids app is designed for curious little minds. NexGTV Kids: This app brings together the best of stories for kids from Tales of Panchtantra.

Tips to make your kid digital

Track friends on WhatsApp

WhatsApp is working on a feature that will track the live location of members, allowing users to track the whereabouts of their friends in

real time. The feature will work on WhatsApp beta ver-sion 2.17.3.28 for iOS, 2.16.399+ on Android and will be disabled by default. The tracking can be kept on for 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or indefinitely. This comes in handy if you’re supposed to meet the gang at a cer-tain location and time, and you want to see how far away from the destination every one in the group is.

Aimed to keep communications secure, the Israeli army has launched its first smartphone in

collaboration with Motorola. The Israeli army announced the launch in a video on its Twitter feed on Sunday, Times of Israel reported.

According to the video, the device has both 4G and military networks which would enable the soldiers to securely send classified visuals and footage from the field. The new smartphone, developed after Israel Defense Forces signed a $100m contract with Motorola Solutions in January 2014 to produce new encrypted smartphones, would serve military per-sonnel for the next 15 years.

At that time, the IDF had said that the smartphones would include a touch-screen, GPS and an 8MP camera, however, no specific information was provided dur-ing the launch.

The device is reportedly waterproof, dirt-resistant and will have a battery that can last for up to 400 minutes of talk time and 500 minutes on standby. Theses smartphones would replace the “Moun-tain Rose” phone system used by the IDF which were also developed by Motorola Solutions.

Secure smartphone for soldiers

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

Xander Cage is left for dead after an incident, though he secretly

returns to action for a new, tough assignment with his handler

Augustus Gibbons.Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE

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

TUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

CINEMA PLUS14

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

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 Counting the

Cost09:00 Al Jazeera World10:00 News10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 The Stream12:30 Rebel Education 13:00 NEWSHOUR14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 Iraq: A Deadly

Deception 16:00 NEWSHOUR17:00 News17:30 The Stream18:00 Newsgrid19:00 News19:30 Viewfinder Asia20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 The Stream23:00 Al Jazeera World

13:30 Ax Men 14:20 Mountain

Men 15:10 Ice Road

Truckers 16:00 Counting

Cars 17:15 Pawn

Stars 17:40 Hunting

Hitler 18:30 The Curse

Of Oak Island

19:20 Ax Men 20:10 American

Pickers 21:00 Mountain

Men 21:50 Leepu And

Pitbull 22:40 Swamp

People 23:30 American

Picker

13:20 Bondi Vet13:50 Dr. Dee:

Alaska Vet14:45 Gator Boys15:40 O’shea’s Big

Adventure16:35 Tanked17:30 River

Monsters18:25 Rugged

Justice19:20 Up Close

And Dangerous

20:15 Tanked21:10 O’shea’s Big

Adventure22:05 Rugged

Justice23:00 Up Close

And Dangerous

23:55 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 The Island

With Bear Grylls

21:50 Bear Grylls: Mission Survive

22:40 Venom Hunters

23:30 Fast N’ Loud

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSTUESDAY 31 JANUARY 2017 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.

CARPALS, CLAVICLE, COCCYX,

ETHMOID, FEMUR, FIBULA,

HUMERUS, ILLIUM, ISCHIUM,

MANDIBLE, MAXILLA,

METACARPALS,

PATELLA, PHALANGES, PUBIS,

RADIUS, RIBS, SACRUM,

SCAPULA, SKULL, STERNUM,

TALUS, ULNA, VERTEBRA.