DT Page 01 March 05 - The Peninsula · 3/4/2017  · marks Ethnic Day Horse-riding may boost cognitive skill in kids Email: [email protected] m 1 P | 4-5 Serving as a unique platform

SUNDAY 5 MARCH 2017

Oberoi and Shroff to be in Prabhas’s film

CAMPUS | 7 LIFESTYLE | 8 BOLLYWOOD | 11Shantiniketan Indian School

marks Ethnic Day

Horse-riding may boost cognitive skill

in kids

Email: [email protected]

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P | 4-5

Serving as a unique platform for Qatar’s aspiring entrepreneurs and technology innovators, the QSTP Demo Day featured six innovative projects. It aims at facilitating the transformation of inspiring ideas into feasible products that address various market demands.

EXECUTING IDEAS

CAMPUSSUNDAY 5 MARCH 2017 03

Students and staff at Gulf Eng-lish School (GES) ushered in Zootopia Carnival recently.

This splendid festival held at the Junior School grounds hosted a series of sports, workshops and competitions. Over 500 children participated with much vigour and enthusiasm.

As always it was a great day with the usual fun and games with some added extras; including bouncy castles, ring toss, sweet

stalls, guess the name of the teddy, sponge the teacher, Music a BBQ, Beat the goalkeeper to name a few. Moreover, it was for the first time GES finished the Carnival with a colour run around the school. The colour was a great success and stole the show.

“Zootopia Carnival is a festival to celebrate the inner talent of every student. We are glad as we take this opportunity every year to provide a platform for students and thereby,

appreciate and encourage them. We are also overwhelmed by the response received from students and would like to congratulate all the winners and participants,” Car-nival organiser, Lewis Bacchus from GES said.

Parents really appreciated the extracurricular activities and skills of these young students and found it very much aligned with the cur-rent standards required for all round development of the children.

Gulf English School celebrates Zootopia Carnival

The Grade 4 & 5 students of the Noble Inter-national School (NIS) visited the Halal Qatar Festival on February 26 & 27. Students’ had

a wonderful experience and were also gifted with various toys such as Cowboy, Star wars, Barbie dolls and various other playing kits.

Cultural Village Foundation, Katara organised the “6th Halal Qatar Festival 2017”, one of the most comprehensive and well known Halal festivals in the Gulf. The main goal of the festival was to revive cultural and traditional heritage by providing future generations with a snapshot of Qatar’s ancestral way of life. The festival also hosted a side exhibi-tion encompassing a variety of handcrafts, traditional food, photo gallery, games and old songs. The Sheep owners also participated in the event introducing the visitors different kinds of Halal.

NIS students visit Halal Qatar Festival

COVER STORY SUNDAY 5 MARCH 201704

Fazeena Saleem The Peninsula

Qatar Science and Tech-nology Park (QSTP), Qatar’s primary acceler-ator and incubator for technology development,

on Thursday hosted the fourth Demo Day for its ongoing ‘Acceler-ator Programme’.

Serving as a unique platform for Qatar’s aspiring entrepreneurs and technology innovators, the Demo Day featured six innovative projects relevant to a range of industries in Qatar, including business, tourism and technology. The Demo day was held as part of ‘QSTP Afterhours’ event.

The Demo Day aims to bridge the gap between research innova-tions and the needs of the market by creating a synergy among entre-preneurs and investors from across various sectors of in Qatar.

“This event has a great impact. It brings three communities together that we are part of. It

includes our tenants who are R&D sector and the technology, the tech-nology companies, university students and techpreneurs and the QF community,” Dr Maher Hakim, Managing Director of QSTP told The Peninsula.

“We have multiple programmes and what you see at the Demo day is the result of a three month train-ing and mentorship provided for aspiring entrepreneurs to help them take their ideas to the market,” he added.

QSTP’s ‘Accelerator Programme’ is an intensive three-month pro-gramme designed to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with train-ing and mentorship to help them take their ideas to the market. It combines funding and mentoring, setting out three clear objectives or outcomes for those accepted into the programme: create a concep-tual prototype, verify commercial viability, and access potential investors.

One of the projects showcased at the fourth Demo Day

of ‘Accelerator Programme’ was MAKTAPP, Cloud Solutions which provides any business to have all its information under one platform. It helps to do tasks such as set tasks for a business, upload and save doc-uments to reach easily, organise meetings and programmes, issue invoices and make payments online.

“It’s a good experience for a

Qatari like me to come from the non business environment to an busi-ness environment. It is challenging, it’s a new experience for me, that’s why I took it up. The MAKTAPP Cloud Solutions is where any busi-ness can keep all their details under one platform,” said Waleed Al Yafie, CTO and Founder of MAKTAPP Cloud Solutions .

Demo Day turns novelinnovations into actions

COVER STORYSUNDAY 5 MARCH 2017 05

“We have studied the market and there is a demand for the app in Qatar and outside. With the sup-port of QSTP we will promote the product to get it commercialised,” he added. Al Yafie also said that through the ‘Accelerator Pro-gramme’, QSTP provides a great opportunity for innovative ideas to gain momentum and become fully-fledged marketable business ideas.

Another innovative project dis-played at the Demo Day, ‘V for Vanity’ a solution for men’s hair problems.

“It’s the only product dedicated to men’s hair problems. My inter-est in developing the product is a personal story as there are no prod-ucts solely for men’s hair problems. Most available in the market are unisex products,” said Emad Al Khaja, the inventor of ‘V for Van-ity.’ He plans to launch the product to the market within the next three months.

Offbeat Qatar is another inter-esting project presented during the Demo day. It will benefit people who think that there is nothing to do in Qatar and it’s very boring here.

The website offers detailed infor-mation about, beaches, deserts, heritage sites and museums, natu-ral places, unique restaurants, souqs and shops.

“Most people say that there is nothing to do in Qatar, but we explore nice things every weekend. So started making a website, and put the content we have over-whelming good response. Within one month we have 1000 unique visitors, 1000 follower on social media. We want Offbeat Qatar to be a place where people can find unique and authentic information about places in Qatar,” said Willem van de Sande, co founder of Offbeat Qatar.

Since the launch of QSTP’s ‘Accelerator Programme’, there has been an increased interest in par-ticipation from national innovators and entrepreneurs. The pro-gramme’s first cohort received 27 applications, the second 57 appli-cations, and the third cohort an impressive 103 applications. The fourth cohort expanded participa-tion further, and it screened a record 269 applications.

‘Accelerator Programme’ also aims at bridging the gap between research and commercialisation, while facilitating the transforma-tion of inspiring ideas into feasible products that address various mar-ket demands. Providing entrepreneurs in Qatar with com-prehensive training that helps them turn an idea into a prototype, QSTP’s ‘Accelerator Programme’ is part of Qatar Foundation’s (QF)

unique approach to research and development.

In addition to the Demo Day presentations, the ‘QSTP Afterhours’ event displayed companies, food stalls, life-size games. It was an informal social and business net-working platform targeting stakeholders of the innovation value chain in Qatar, with a special focus on university students and techpreneurs.

COMMUNITY SUNDAY 5 MARCH 201706

Amna Pervaiz Rao The Peninsula

One of the most prominent and active Pakistani com-munity forums, Sohni Dharti,

once again organised a colourful community programme “Sohni Dharti Spring Festival” in Al Khor recently.

The event took place at the Football field of Al Khor Commu-nity near Al Khor Hospital. Huge number of stalls sold Pakistani gar-ments, leather items, decoration materials and fresh vegetables and fruits—all these were from Paki-stan. In Pakistan, this is the season of mandarins, so the Community Bazaar has been named by its organisers as ‘Sohni Dharti Manda-rin Festival’.

This festival inaugurated by Pakistan Ambassador to Qatar, Shahzad Ahmad, in Al Khor com-munity. The festival opened at 2pm and continued till 8pm for all com-munity residents.

Last year, Sohni Dharti organ-ised a very successful event with the theme of Mandarin Festival. Seasonal Pakistani fruit “Kinnow” called as Mandarin has a unique taste and getting attraction for its beautiful colour, freshness and juice. One of the best Mandarin varieties, widely grown in Punjab province

of Pakistan, is exported to many countries of the world.

Rana Anwar Ali, Chairman of Sohni Dharti told The Peninsula that:

“I always feel over whelmed when I get an opportunity to organise such cultural Pakistani events for our community. Being responsible of doing something big, fun filled for our community and giving them feel of home in Qatar is just another challenge that I accept every year and by the grace of Allah showcase it successfully.”

“This year the festival offered visitors the traditional Pakistani cuisine besides the ingredients for the typically Pakistani dishes found in different areas. Other Pakistani traditional products such as clothes, leather garments, and decorations were also made and displayed,” he further added.

To enhance the beauty of the festival kite flying was arranged at the event.

People of all age enjoyed the festival with Pakistani food. Some visitors gave a performance on Pakistani Folk Songs. On behalf of Sohni Dharti Team, Rana Anwar Ali announced Pakistan Day celebra-tions event, Urdu Speech competition, drawing and Painting contest. In addition to this there will be colorful show by talented chil-dren on March 23.

Sohni Dharti organises Spring Festival

The Indian Cricket Team, winners of the T-20 Word cup 2017 for the Blind, was honoured and

felicitated by Cricket Association for the Blind in Kerala & Kerala Cricket Association.

The ceremony was inaugurated by MLA P T Thomas on February 24, at Jawaharlal Nehru International Sta-dium, Kaloor. Special recognition award was presented to the stand-out player Muhammad Farhan, and assist-ant coach Sajukumar by the former President of Indian Cultural Centre (Doha - Qatar) Girish Kumar K R.

Girish Kumar mentioned that it is a distinguished experience and a source of inspiration to many, he also men-tioned that they would be given an opportunity to perform friendly matches in the Middle East region, starting from Qatar. The Officials of the association; Girish Kumar, Dr Ravi Pillai (Chairman & Managing Director of NASSER Al Hajri Corporation, Gulf countries), Sabu Pillai (Country Man-ager, NASSER Al Hajri Corporation, Kuwait & Qatar) Dr Muhammad Ali (Galfar&Mfar Group of Companies Gulf region & India) expressed gratitude.

Winners of the blind T-20 World Cup honoured

CAMPUSSUNDAY 5 MARCH 2017 07

The pre-primary section of Shantiniketan Indian School (SIS) celebrated Ethnic Day

with all glitter, colour and essence. The campus depicted a panoramic view of traditional costumes from all over the world. Little ones decked up in grand and elegant customary costumes were a real feast to the eyes. The main message of the celebration was to respect the tradition and cul-ture of others.

In a teachers ‘discussion’ forum moderated by Mathew Chacko, Head Teacher, heads of departments of SIS shared how Life skills can be incorporated in the lesson plans to make the teaching

learning process more exciting and meaningful. Shamsudheen, Kamarudheen, Saleem, Shakir Hussain, Syed Meraj Ali, MudassirKir-mani, Nishanth, Varghese and Raees answered questions raised by the teachers. This session was followed by Toastmasters demonstra-tion sessions for SIS teachers.

SIS debates teaching process

In response to reports of cheat-ing among international test-takers, College Board, the

makers of the SAT, have announced plans to reduce the number of tests offered outside of the United States from six to just four per year.

Most urgently, the SAT typically held on the first Saturday in June has been cancelled; however, SAT subject tests scheduled on that day will still be held. Other cancelled tests include November 2017 and January 2018.

The SAT is an American test that includes math, reading, and writ-ing sections, as well as an optional essay section. Affected by the change are students who plan to apply to universities in the US or American universities abroad,

including Qatar Foundation univer-sities. These students must submit an SAT score along with their appli-cations. Because the June test is cancelled, the last test offered in the current school year will be held on 5 May. In response to the changes, Score Plus, Qatar’s premier SAT preparation center, offers this advice to students who plan to take the SAT. “The SAT always fills up quickly in Qatar, since there are limited seats,” said Score Plus High School Territory Manager Christina Norris. “Now that we’re down to only four tests, it will happen even faster. Students should register as early as possible. In fact, the May test is already fully booked.”

Norris also emphasised that with fewer chances to take the test,

students will need to be well pre-pared the first time. “When they had multiple opportunities to take it, many students had the attitude that individual tests mattered less, because they could always try again for a higher score. Now, they won’t

always have that ability. There will be only two tests offered during their last year of high school before they have to submit their applica-tions. Students should prepare well the first time rather than leaving it to chance.”

Change in SAT international schedule announced

SIS celebrates Ethnic Day

LIFESTYLE SUNDAY 5 MARCH 201708

IANS

Is your child lacking in mental skills? Take him or her for horse riding classes as it may lead to improved cognitive skills such as enhanced learn-

ing, memory and problem-solving, researchers suggest.

A new study showed that the effects of vibrations produced by horses during horse-riding leads to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which may improve learning in children.

Horse steps produce three-dimensional accelerations and the movement of the horse’s pelvis may provide motor and sensory inputs to the human body. “Some of the differences among the rider’s per-formances might be due to these accelerations,” said Mitsuaki Ohta,

Professor at Tokyo University in Japan.

“We wanted to look into these effects because previous studies have demonstrated the benefits of horseback riding with respect to enhancing physical health and the mental effects, but few studies have addressed the effects of horseback riding on children and the mecha-nisms underlying how riding affects humans,” Ohta explained.

The findings, published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, showed that riding on some horses greatly improved the ability of chil-dren to perform behavioural tasks and could improved their cognitive abilities.

These are brain-based skills of which an improvement can lead to enhanced learning, memory and problem-solving, the researchers

said. For the study, the team exam-ined the effects of horseback riding on the performance of children by having them complete simple tests

directly before and after horse rid-ing, while measuring the children’s heart rate in response to move-ments created by the horses.

Horse-riding may boost cognitive skill in kids

African elephants — the largest land animal — sleep for just an average of two hours a day and regularly survive for nearly two days without sleep, a study has found.

Previous studies of sleep in captive elephants have shown that they sleep for four to six hours per day. However, “in their natural habitat, wild, free-ranging elephants sleep only for two hours per day, the least amount of sleep of any mammal studied to date, but this appears to be related to their large body size,” said Paul Manger from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

For the study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the team mon-itored two free-roaming African elephant matriarchs in Chobe National Park in Botswana for 35 days. The elephants were implanted with an actiwatch, in the trunk to track sleep accurately and a col-lar with a gyroscope to track sleeping position. The researchers found that the elephants slept an average of two hours a day -- the shortest known sleep time of any land mam-mal. On several days, the elephants were found to survive with-out sleep for up to 46 hours.

African elephants sleep

just two hours per dayJon Berk’s collection of more

than 18,000 books and 300 pieces of comic-book art goes

on display on March 11 at the Metropolis Gallery in New York City. He will then sell it off during an online auction at ComicCo-nnect.com that begins on May 15.

“The time is just right to move them along and let someone else experience them,” said Berk, 66.

The collection includes rare copies of the 1938 Action Comics No. 1, in which Superman makes his first appearance; the 1939 book Detective Comics No. 27, which features the first appear-ance of Batman; rare Spider-Man and Captain America books and several pieces of art by noted comic-book artist Lou Fine.

Vincent Zurzolo, the chief operating officer of ComicCo-nnect and Metropolis Collectibles, said Berk’s collection is one of the most important in the world because of its breadth and the

number of rare books dating back to the mid-1930s. “As I’ve been going through this collection, I’ve seen books for the first time, books I’ve never seen before,” Zurzolo said. “That’s incredible, considering we’re the largest buyer and seller of vintage comic books in the world. Many of these copies are the best known to exist in the world.”

Berk said he expects the col-lection will sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more. But he said his collecting was never about the money or investing.

He said he fell in love with the serial plot lines in the books as a boy. He then began collecting them while in law school at Bos-ton University, enjoying the hunt for a particular rare book, researching the story behind it and documenting what he refers to as a “unique American mythology.”

Berk’s rare collection of books

to be auctioned online

FOODSUNDAY 5 MARCH 2017 09Emily Horton The Washington Post

We all have those foods we turn to, without elabo-rate planning or complex

execution, when we want to feel taken care of. We don’t worry that they won’t turn out, because they always do. Time and time again, they fill us with warmth. For me, it is a pot of lima beans.

Whether you find this prospect delightful or horrifying, you have company. Among polarizing foods, lima beans top the list: People respond to them with total glee or pure vitriol, with some uncommon ambivalence in between.

What’s interesting to me about this is that along with chickpeas, limas are some of the least beany tasting of beans, with a flavor that fans describe as nutty and sweet. But overcook them, and they can turn bitter and sulfurous, not unlike other oft-maligned foods, such as Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

Their texture, too, can pose a challenge. As I surveyed lima bean preferences recently, texture sur-faced as the common thread, regardless of preparation or source, and one person’s love (“so mushy and yummy”) was another’s aver-sion (“starchy and smushy”).

I’ve known plenty of lima bean converts won over by fresh beans shucked from flat, fuzzy, jade-colored pods. Cooked just until tender, they are not unlike fresh fava beans: smooth and creamy in texture, without the graininess or mealy dryness that sometimes plagues frozen or canned beans.

But fresh limas, with their pre-cious short season, are not the regular on my stove. It’s dried limas

- perennially available no matter where you live, bearing more in

common with a dried gigante (pop-ular in Greek cooking) or great northern bean (a white bean that’s plumper than a navy). And I’ve wondered if, for the lima bean averse, they might actually offer some reconciliation. The reason is starch, the same characteristic that seems to put so many people off from frozen, canned and even fresh limas. As the dried beans cook, that starch goes from chalky to creamy, yielding tender, velvety beans in a c r e a m y , b u t t e r y - t a s t i n g suspension.

Creamy Lima Beans4 to 6 servings (makes about 6

cups) Dried lima beans, with their abundant starch, turn rich and creamy with long cooking; this recipe calls for the smaller limas often labelled baby lima beans or butterbeans because they cook a bit more quickly, but you can also use large limas. For the latter, count on an additional 30 minutes

to 1 hour of cooking time.

Make Ahead: You’ll need to soak the beans overnight. The cooked beans can be refrigerated up to 3 days in advance. They will thicken upon standing; if you pre-fer a looser consistency, thin with more water when reheating. From food writer Emily Horton.

Ingredients2 cups dried small lima beans

(baby lima or butterbeans) 9 cups water, plus more as

needed2 bay leaves1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive

oil 1/8 teaspoon plus 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

StepsPlace the dried beans in a bowl;

cover with water by 2 inches and let soak overnight.

Drain the beans and transfer to a heavy pot or Dutch oven. Add the 9 cups of water, the bay leaves, oil and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam that forms on the surface.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Partially cover and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as needed so the mixture is bubbling steadily. The beans should become quite creamy and have begun to break down, with a thickened broth. Dis-card the bay leaves, and stir in the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Serve the beans with their broth, garnished with the chopped onion and the pepper, if using.

Nutrition | Per serving (based on 6): 250 calories, 15 g protein, 43 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, 0 g satu-rated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 230 mg sodium, 15 g dietary fiber, 5g sugar.

This recipe of lima beans may win you over

HEALTH SUNDAY 5 MARCH 201710

IANS

A new research has found wide variation in the cardiovas-cular risk depending on job

profiles. If you are 45 or older and in sales or office-support job, you may be at a higher risk of heart dis-ease and stroke than workers in management or professional jobs, the study reveals.

“The lower the number of ideal cardiovascular risk factors are, the easier it becomes to predict their future health problems, including premature death, heart disease, stroke and kidney disease,” said lead researcher Captain Leslie Mac-Donald from National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

But, among the study’s group of older workers, it was difficult to achieve ideal levels for all the risk factors. In fact, no one did, largely

because of the difficulty in achiev-ing an ideal diet, MacDonald added.

The paper was presented at the American Heart Association’s Life-style 2016 meeting.

The study involved 5,566 employed men and women, who did not have a history of heart dis-ease or stroke.

To assess workers’ health, the researchers examined seven mod-ifiable risk factors derived from the American Heart Association’s “Life’s Simple 7,” an action plan for reduc-ing heart disease and stroke risk.

Workers earned ideal scores if, without medicines, their blood pressure readings were lower than 120/80 mm Hg; total cholesterol was below 200 mg/dL; and/or blood glucose was lower than 100 mg/dL while fasting or 140 without fasting.

Nearly 22 percent of

transportation/material moving workers were smokers, the highest smoking rate among the occupa-tion groups included in the study.

Management/professionals was the category of workers that had better cardiovascular health than the other categories.

If you are aiming to shed a few extra kilos, just drink-ing a little more plain

water can make a huge dif-ference. Researchers have found one percent increase in plain water consumption can lead to reduction in intakes of sugar, sodium and saturated fat.

The study that examined the dietary habits of more than 18,300 US adults found the majority of people who increased their consumption of plain water by one per-cent reduced their total daily calorie intake as well as their consumption of saturated fat, sugar, sodium and cholesterol. People who increased their consumption of water by one, two or three cups daily decreased their total energy intake by 68 to 205 calories daily and their sodium intake by 78 to 235 grams, the findings showed.

“The impact of plain water intake on diet was simi-lar across race/ethnicity, education and income levels and body weight status,” said researcher Ruopeng An, professor at the University of Illinois in the US. The researcher found that on average, participants consumed about 4.2 cups of plain water on a daily basis, account-ing for slightly more than 30 percent of their total dietary water intake

Teenagers who consume a diet low in vegetables and high in sugar-sweetened and diet soft drinks may

be at increased risk for premenopausal breast cancer, warns a study.

Women who consumed a diet as ado-lescents or young adults associated with chronic inflammation had a higher risk for premenopausal breast cancer com-pared with those whose adolescent and early adulthood diet was not associated with chronic inflammation, showed the findings published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

“Our results suggest that a habitual diet that promotes chronic inflammation when consumed during adolescence or early adulthood may indeed increase the risk of breast cancer in younger women before menopause,” said Karin Michels, Professor at University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.

A diet low in vegetables and high in sugar-sweetened and diet soft drinks, refined sugars and carbohydrates, red and

processed meats, and margarine has been linked to high levels of inflammatory markers in the blood, said Michels.

“Because breast cancer takes many years to arise, we were curious whether such a diet during the early phases of a woman’s life is a risk factor for breast cancer,” she said. For this study, Michels and colleagues used data from 45,204 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II who had completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1998, when they were between ages 33-52, about their diet during high school.

Riskier jobs linked to heart diseases

Soda may put teenagers at breast cancer risk later

Drink water to stay slim

‘The Sword of Baahubali’ to be at Tribeca fest

“The Sword of Baahubali”, a virtual reality film, based on the characters

from S S Rajamouli’s “Baahubali”, will be premiered at the virtual arcade at 16th Annual Tribeca Film Festival. The fest will take place from April 19 to 30. The VR film, though based on the characters from “Baahubali”, will have a dif-ferent story line. It will be released post the release of “Baahubali: The

Conclusion” in April. The film’s pro-ducer Shobu Yarlagadda tweeted on Friday: “Excited that ‘The Sword of Baahubali’ based on ‘Baahubali’ is an official selection at Tribeca fes-tival 2017.” The teaser of “The Sword of Baahubali”, over the last few weeks, is being screened at var-ious VR booths across Hyderabad. The teaser will be screened at the Pune Comic Con, on Saturday and Sunday,

BOLLYWOODSUNDAY 5 MARCH 2017 11

IANS

Television actor Mukesh Khanna, who once charmed an entire generation of kids as

“Shaktimaan”, wants to bring back the series on small screen.

“Last week I attended two school functions where I got immense love and kids were hooting loudly for me as ‘Shaktiman’. Therefore, I feel the superhero series should be back again and I am trying to bring back the series on small screen. Doordarshan is allowing it but I want satellite channels should come to air the series,” said the 58-year-old actor after inaugurating his website and unveiling the wax statue of Shaktiman on Friday.

Citing an example of the blockbuster

“Bahubali”, Khanna, who is also the chairperson of Children Film Society of India (CFSI), said while big budget movies are being made in India, but no one is willing to put even a small percentage of the money to make children’s films.

“Because they think kids movies won’t be able to make money. In India, kids film travel only in the festivals. So this year I am allowing those films which have an entertainment value and have the capability to release in the theatres to make money,” he added. Khanna also strongly opposed those who think “freedom of expres-sion” means they can speak anything against the country. “In the name of freedom, those who are diverting our children’s mind... I strongly con-demn their speech.”

Khanna trying to bring ‘Shaktimaan’ back

Actors Vivek Oberoi and Jackie Shroff are being con-sidered for pivotal roles in

Prabhas’ yet-untitled upcoming tri-lingual actioner, a source in the know of developments said.

“Talks have been initiated with both of them. However, they haven’t been officially signed yet. It might take a few more days for an official announcement to be made,” the source from the film’s unit said.

Since the film is going to be simultaneously made in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi, the makers are keen to rope in actors with national popularity.

“Vivek and Jackie are being considered because of their

pan-Indian popularity. As for the heroine, the makers are on the lookout for a popular Bollywood star,” the source said. Being made on a lavish budget of Rs 150 crore, the film’s regular shooting will

begin later this month. With Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy composing music, the cinematography will be handled by Madhie while Sabu Cyril will take care of production design.

Oberoi & Shroff to be in Prabhas’ film

Vijay Antony to

play dual roles

in ‘Annadurai’

Actor Vijay Antony, last seen in Tamil politi-cal thriller “Yaman”,

will be seen playing dual roles in upcoming family drama “Annadurai”.

“It’s the story of two broth-ers. Vijay Antony plays dual roles. Contrary to rumours, the film is not a biopic on popular Tamil leader Annadurai,” a source from the film’s unit said.

To be directed by debutant Srinivasan, this will be the sec-ond time after “Saithan” that Vijay Antony will be seen in a dual role. With the pre-produc-tion work already underway, the principal shooting is expected to commence from April. The film will be produced by star couple Sarath Kumar and Radikaa Sarath Kumar.

HOLLYWOOD SUNDAY 5 MARCH 201712

Reuters

One of Hollywood’s most famous rivalries is taking center stage in a new tele-

vision series, as “Feud” explores a salacious battle between Golden Age screen legends Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.

“Feud,” FX’s new anthology series premiering today, will star Susan Sarandon as Davis and Jes-sica Lange as Crawford in a stylized retelling of their legendary clashes whilst filming 1962’s Oscar-nomi-nated thriller “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”

Davis and Crawford’s bitter rivalry escalated throughout their careers, their scathing barbs embedded into Hollywood lore. Crawford died in 1977 and Davis died in 1989.

At the show’s red carpet pre-miere on Wednesday, Sarandon, 70, said that the role of Davis “has been chasing me for years,” but the task of depicting the Hollywood star had seemed daunting until now.

“I was really scared. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to do it,” the actress said.

While the series is set against the backdrop of Hollywood’s Golden Age - the rise of studio films from the 1920s to the 1960s - Jes-sica Lange, 67, said Hollywood continues to be a harsh environ-ment for woman. “The pressure is still there because you have five actresses who would be right for one part but only obviously one person (gets it). So there is a natu-ral kind of competitive atmosphere always in Hollywood,” she said.

Catherine Zeta-Jones who

co-stars in “Feud” as Olivia de Havilland, said she was surprised to discover how competitive it was for women in film during the

Golden Age. She added that her 100-year-old father-in-law Kirk Douglas, a star of the Golden Age, helped her prepare for the role.

Davis & Crawford’s rivalry comes alive in ‘Feud’

Sci-fi short film “Rise”, which starred late actor Anton Yelchin, is being developed into feature-length movie. “Hacksaw Ridge” pro-ducer Brian Oliver and Filmula’s Johnny Lin are developing a

feature-length version of the short film, reports variety.com. The five-minute film, directed by David Karlak, takes place in a world

where man’s attempt to create artificial intelligence has spun wildly out of control, leading to a war between man and machine.

Oliver and Lin will fully finance and produce the feature film. They obtained the rights through Warner Bros, where the project had been set up initially, in the hopes of developing a franchise.

Actress Lily Collins loves to take chances with her red carpet outfits, according to beauty expert Fiona Stiles. The 27-year-

old, who is the daughter of musician Phil Collins and his former partner Jill Tavelman, has been praised as a “classic beauty” who has “incred-ible gamine features” and is open to experimenting with her wardrobe choices, reports people.com. “Lily is such a classic beauty with these incredible gamine features that merge so beau-tifully with that old Hollywood glamour aesthetic, but in real life she’s a really modern girl who likes to take chances with her red carpet looks,” Stiles said. And Stiles felt she had the freedom to make over the “Love, Rosie” star “differently than any other client” after she saw the black v-plunge gown that Collins wore to the Vanity Fair after party following the 2017 Oscars on February 26.

Alabama Theatre cancelled screening of “Beauty and the Beast” because the

film features Disneys first openly gay character.

The Henagar Drive-In The-atre in DeKalb County has cancelled its screenings of

“Beauty and the Beast” because the film will feature Disney’s first openly gay character, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

Director Bill Condon earlier this week told Attitude maga-zine that Josh Gad’s LeFou

-- villain Gaston’s (played by Luke Evans) eccentric sidekick

-- will be Disney’s first-ever LGBTQ character -- a way of honouring the original 1991 ani-mated film’s late lyricist Howard Ashman. Opened in 1999, the Henagar Drive-In screens fam-ily-friendly double features. The theatre’s shift away from

“Beauty and the Beast” was decided by the business’ new owners, who took over in December. “When companies continually force their views on us we need to take a stand. We all make choices and I am mak-ing mine,” the business said in a statement.

Film on Yelchin’s ‘Rise’ in the pipeline

Lily Collins praised as ‘classic beauty’ Alabama Theatre not to screen

‘Beauty and the Beast’

TECHNOLOGYSUNDAY 5 MARCH 2017 13

IANS

After the success of its Face-book Live feature, Facebook is looking for original TV-

like programmes from various genres and may pay hefty amount for it, a media report said.

According to a report yesterday, Facebook was interested in origi-nal content from a slew of different genres, from sports to science.

Other categories include pop culture, lifestyle, gaming and teens.

Facebook may go for weekly series and shows that last around 30 minutes. The social networking

giant was willing to pay for the con-tent and could offer in the low- to mid-six-figure range per episode for scripted content.

The report also pointed out that Facebook was staying away from hard news after it faced criticisms during the presidential campaign for allegedly favouring liberal con-tent over conservative content in its news feed and was mired in fake news controversy. Over the few months, Facebook has rolled out a number of initiatives, including pro-moting news literacy and developing additional tools to “curb news hoaxes.”

Facebook may soon broadcast original shows

US tech giant Google will release a new Pixel smartphone later this

year. The device, with the built-in personal Google Assistant, will directly competes with the Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. “The device will remain ‘premium’ in its next iteration and the company is not interested in offering a low-cost

version, preferring instead to let that segment be addressed by its external hardware partners,” techcrunch.com quoted Rick Osterloh, Google SVP of Hardware as saying.

Launched last year, Pixel is the first smartphone that works as an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge

navigator. The 5-inch smartphone is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset, 4GB of RAM and runs on Android Nougat 7.0 operating system. The device also has Pixel Imprint -- a fingerprint scanner on the back of the smartphone for quick access to all apps, texts and e-mails.

French company Zoook launched water resistant Bluetooth earphones “ZB-

Rocker Twinpods”.ZB-Rocker Twinpods pro-

vide up to 16 hours of playtime with the charging dock and come with three sizes of ear tips -- small, medium and large.

“We are confident that music lovers will appreciate this unique product offering world class technology and outstanding sound quality,” said Achin Gupta, Country Head, Zoook India, in a statement.

Earlier this year, Zoook launched “ZB-Rocker Boombox” Bluetooth speaker that comes with an LCD display and on-device-button controls.

Zoook’s new water

resistant Bluetooth

earphones

Google to unveil new Pixel phone this year

Popular photo-sharing app Instagram announced it will make available immer-sive, full-screen ads in its “Stories” feature

for all businesses globally. In January, Instagram announced ads coming to ‘Stories’. Ads in ‘Sto-ries’ help businesses use targeting and reach capabilities that make ads personally relevant to the people they want to reach. “Today, businesses of every size around the world can start running ads in Stories through the Marketing API, Power Editor and Ads Manager optimised for reach,” the company said. “By optimising for reach, you can show your ads to the maximum number of peo-ple in your audience and control how often they see your ads. The reach objective for ads in Sto-ries will ... be available globally in the next few weeks,” it added. Online hospitality service Air-bnb ran a series of 15-second video ads in ‘Stories’ to build awareness around its product launch.

Panasonic India launched two new smartphones

in its Eluga series — Eluga Pulse X and Eluga Pulse. The devices come with 4G/VoLTE connec-tivity and pack a powerful 1.25 GHz quad core processor with a 3GB RAM for Eluga Pulse X and 2GB RAM for Eluga Pulse.

“Eluga Pulse X and Eluga Pulse provide our cus-tomers with high speed and access to almost anything on the go and allows the user to take full charge of their life with the availability of speed,” said Pankaj Rana, Business Head-Mobility Division, Panasonic India. Both the devices also sports 13MP auto focus rear camera and 5MP front camera. Pan-asonic Eluga Pulse X and Eluga Pulse will be available across the country from next week.

Instagram shows full-screen ads in ‘Stories’ globally

Panasonic’s new smartphones

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

Kanna is hyper and very aggressive since childhood. Unknowingly, He gets

into the wrong books of criminal lawyer Seshu by injuring him badly. Since

then, Seshu holds a grudge against Kanna and wants to kill him at any cost.

In the meantime, Kanna falls in love with Amrita. By the time she began

reciprocating positively, Kanna comes to know about a shocking twist. Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

GUNTURODU

NOVO — Pearl ROYAL PLAZA

ASIAN TOWN

MALL

LANDMARK

Akher Dek Fe Masr (2D/Arabic) 10:00, 12:20, 2:40, 5:00, 6:50, 7:20, 9:00, 9:40 & 12:00midnightLogan (2D/Action) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pmKikoriki: Legend of The Golden Dragon (3D/Animation) 10:00am, 1:30 & 5:10pmDog Eat Dog (2D/Drama) 10:00, 11:40am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 3:20, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight The Lego Batman (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 & 8:00pm Trespass Against Us (2D/Action) 10:00pm & 12:00midnight John Wick 2 (2D/Action) 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pm Split (2D/Thriller) 1:30, 6:30 & 11:30pm Rock Dog (2D/Animation) 11:00am, 1:00, 3:00 &, 5:00pmLa La Land (2D/Musical) 7:00, 9:30pm &, 12:00midnightEliminators (2D/Action) 11:30am, 3:30, 7:30 & 11:30pmFist Fight (2D/Comedy) 1:30, 5:30 & 9:30pmLogan (2D/Action) 11:30am, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30 & 11:30pm Logan (2D IMAX/Action) 10:00am, 12:40, 3:30, 6:20, 9:10pm & 12:00midnight

Kittu Gaddu Unnadu (2D/Telugu) 2:00pmLogan (2D/Drama) 6:00, 8:30 & 11:00pmKikoriki (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:15pm Rock Dog (2D/Animation) 3:00pmAby (2D/Malayalam) 4:30 & 11:15pm Akher Dek Fe Masr (2D/Arabic) 5:00 & 9:15pm My Ex And Whys (2D/Tagalog) 7:00pm La La Land (2D/Musical) 9:00pm Dog Eat Dog (2D/Drama) 11:00pm

Kikoriki (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 5:00pm Gunturodu (Telugu) 2:30pmAby (2D/Malayalam) 2:30 & 9:00pm Rock Dog (2D/Animation) 3:45pmCommando 2 (2D/Hindi) 5:00 & 11:30pmAkher Dek Fe Masr (2D/Arabic) 5:30, 9:30 & 11:30pm Logan (2D/Drama) 6:30, 9:00 & 11:15pmDog Eat Dog (2D/Drama) 7:15pm My Ex And Whys (2D/Tagalog) 7:30pm

Aby (2D/Malayalam) 2:00, 4:30 & 9:00pm Akher Dek Fe Masr (2D/Arabic) 2:00 & 7:00pm Kikoriki (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:00pm Logan (2D/Drama) 5:30, 8:00, 10:30 & 11:30pmAkher Dek Fe Masr (2D/Arabic) 2:00 & 7:00pm Rock Dog (2D/Animation) 4:00pm My Ex And Whys (2D/Tagalog) 7:30pm La La Land (2D/Musical) 9:30pm Dog Eat Dog (2D/Drama) 11:45pm

Yaman (Tamil) 7:00pmFukri (Malayalam) 6:30 & 9:30pm Aby (Malayalam) 5:30, 8:00, 10:00 & 10:30pm Munthiri Vallikal (Malayalam) 6:00 & 9:00pm

SUNDAY 5 MARCH 2017

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

CINEMA PLUS14

AL KHORAby 12:15, 3:00, 5:45, 8:30 & 11:15pm Logan 12:00noon, 2:45, 5:30, 8:15 & 11:00pm Rock Dog 11:45am, 1:45, 3:45 & 5:45pm Fukri 7:45 & 10:45pm

ROXYRock Dog 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00pm Aby 2:00, 4:45, 7:30 & 10:15pm Dog Eat Dog 2:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00pmFukri (Malayalam) 8:00 & 11:15pm Aker Dek Fe Masr 2:00, 4:20, 6:50, 9:10 & 11:30pm

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 People & Power09:00 Immigration

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

Jazeera 12:00 News12:30 My Cuba14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 Al Jazeera World16:00 NEWSHOUR17:00 News17:30 Listening Post18:00 Newsgrid19:30 101 East 20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera 23:00 Snow of the

Andes

13:10 The 7D 13:45 Kirby

Buckets 16:15 Disney

Cookabout 16:40 Austin &

Ally 17:05 Descendants

Wicked World 17:10 Elena Of

Avalor 17:35 Stuck In

The Middle 18:00 Gravity

Falls 20:30

Bizaardvark 21:20 Shake It Up 22:10 Best Friends

Whenever 23:00 Kirby Buckets 23:25 Sabrina

Secrets Of A Teenage Witch

13:50 Call Of The Wildman

14:15 Call Of The Wildman

17:30 In Too Deep17:55 In Too Deep18:50 Call Of The

Wildman19:20 Treehouse

Masters20:15 Dr. Jeff:

Rocky Mountain Vet

21:10 The Vet Life22:05 Dr. Dee:

Alaska Vet23:00 Treehouse

Masters23:55 Gator Boys00:50 Gator Boys01:45 Call Of The

Wildman

13:05 How It’s Made: Dream Cars

13:30 Storage Wars Canada

14:20 Alaska: The Last Frontier

15:10 The Island With Bear Grylls

18:30 How It’s Made: Dream Cars

19:20 The Island With Bear Grylls

21:00 Rise Of Warrior Apes

22:40 Legend Of Croc Gold

23:30 Fast N’ Loud

00:20 Misfit Garage

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSSUNDAY 5 MARCH 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.

ARCHIMEDES, BELL, BENDIX,

BENZ, BUNSEN, BURROUGHS,

CARTWRIGHT, COLT,

CROMPTON, DAIMLER, DE

SEVERSKY, DIESEL, DUNLOP,

EDISON, FORD, FRANKLIN,

FULTON, JEFFERSON,

LEONARDO DA VINCI, MARCONI,

MORSE, NOBEL, PULLMAN,

SINGER, STEPHENSON, TULL,

WATT, WESTINGHOUSE.