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• QU launches Computing Contest 2014

• Oryx Rotana hosts blindfolded ‘dinner in the dark’

• 10 best selling books: Academic Books & Test Preparation Guides

• Doctors could do a better job of breaking bad news: Study

• Man Utd ties up with Google to put faraway fans pitchside

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Five myths about the Oscars

Cambodia’s floating villages have adapted to the ebb and flow of Southeast Asia’s largest lake for generations, but modernisation and a scarcity of fish are now threatening their traditional way of life.

FLOATING VILLAGES

2 COVER STORYPLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2014

Cambodia’sfloatingvillages face uncertainfuture

Cambodia’s floating villages have adapted to the ebb and flow of Southeast Asia’s larg-est lake for generations, but

modernisation and a scarcity of fish are now threatening their traditional way of life.

Houses, schools, hairdressers and even dentists — entire communities bob around on the Tonle Sap, whose waters rise and fall dramatically with the seasons.

The huge lake, nourished by the mighty Mekong river, is home to hun-dreds of thousands of people eking out a simple — but for many rewarding — existence.

“Life in the floating village is much better,” said fisherman Sok Bunlim, who was born and raised in the lake community of Chhnork Trou, where fleets of canoes and small motorboats ferry people around.

The community of fishermen has been living atop the Tonle Sap since the time of their great grandparents, and many older residents cannot imagine any other life.

“If we move onto land, I wouldn’t

know how to plant rice. I wouldn’t know how to plough. It is really hard,” Bunlim, 62, said while repairing his broken net.

Modern life has not passed them by completely — nowadays many people have stereo systems, televisions and small motorboats.

But they still mostly depend on fishing or rowing around the village in canoes to sell food to earn a living.

The Tonle Sap is a source of suste-nance and survival for more than one million people living on or around the lake, which has at least 149 species of fish, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) says.

It transforms between the dry and wet seasons, with the inundated area growing from about 3,500 square kilo-metres at its smallest to 14,500 square kilometres at the height of the floods, according to the MRC, a regional intergovernmental body.

The lake’s minimum depth rises from about half a metre in April to as much as nine metres in September and October. So people living on the lake have to be ready go with the flow

— quite literally — by allowing their homes to float.

Yet as fish stocks start to disappear, so too are the residents of the lake-top villages. “I can’t catch enough fish,” said fisherman Yorng Sarath, 25.

“If the wind is calm, I can catch around five kilos (11 pounds) of fish a

day. When there is strong wind I can only catch around one kilo, and then I have to come back as I can’t lay out my net. I can’t earn enough money to last me all day.”

The father of two said that once he has saved enough money he plans to move to dry land to find work.

3PLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2014

‘Young people prefer land’Life on the lake does move with

the tides of time but many modern luxuries are hard to come by, and for young people dry land can hold greater appeal.

Roughly 400 families — a fifth of the p o p u l a t i o n — have left Chhnork Trou

over the last couple of years in search of a

better life on land, according to com-munity leader Samrith Pheng.

“In the past there were a lot of fish so people wanted to live here. Now the fish stock is going down they can’t depend on the fishing,” Pheng said.

“The young generations such as my children and grandchildren don’t want to live in the floating villages anymore,” he added.

The lake yields about 200,000 to 218,000 tonnes of fish a year — nearly half of the total annual catch of inland fish for the whole of Cambodia, accord-ing to a 2006 estimate cited by the MRC.

More recent figures, as well as esti-mates of how much fish stocks have fallen, are hard to come by and much of the evidence is anecdotal.

Conservationists warn that human population growth, habitat destruction and upstream dams are also threats to the lake’s fisheries and wildlife.

In an attempt to prevent further depletion of stocks, the government in 2012 banned large-scale commercial fishing in the lake in a victory for local communities.

The exact number of people living in the floating houses on the lake is unknown, but officials and activists say tens of thousands of families call the bobbing villages home.

“We are working hard to improve fish stocks,” said Nao Thourk, head of the Cambodian government’s fisheries department, who estimates that about 1.5 million people fish on the Tonle Sap.

But illegal fishing — sometimes using electrocution — remains a major cause for concern.

“If we look at the magnitude of the fishing offences today, we don’t expect fish stocks to increase,” said Om Sovath, executive director of the Fisheries Action Coalition Team (FACT), which promotes sustainable resource management.

The exact number of people living in the floating houses on the lake is unknown, but officials and activists say tens of thousands of families call the bobbing villages home.

Yet beyond fishing or running a shop, job prospects are scarce, and with growing demands for a good education and better opportunities, the traditional way of life could become a thing of the past.

“I can’t say what the future holds for this floating community,” said fisherman Bunlim.

AFP

PLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 20144 CAMPUS

QU launches Computing Contest 2014Q

atar University’s 7th instalment of its popu-lar annual Computing Contest was launched in a ceremony held recently. The event was

attended by College of Engineering (CENG) Dean Dr Rashid Alammari, Associate Dean for Development and Industrial Relations Dr Saud Ghani, Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department head Dr Sebti Foufou, Contest Committee head Dr Elsayed Sayed and members, and sponsor repre-sentatives Snr Development Officer Abdulrahman Sultan Darwish from Qapco, and Snr Machinery Reliability Engineer Omaer Al Nuaimi from Dolphin Energy.

Commenting on the contest, Dr Alammari noted that it targets secondary school students to build their awareness of the importance to the community of computer science and computer engineering as well as all engineering disciplines.

Darwish said: “It is a tremendous privilege for Qapco to sponsor this Qatar University initiative, to be able to support the youth of Qatar and to con-tribute to their education. Qapco is always keen to

participate and support events and activities that contribute to Qatar’s National Vision 2030.”

Al Nuaimi said: “Dolphin Energy is keen to inter-act with high school students whenever possible to highlight the company’s latest activities. It also prides itself on supporting important scientific programs that aim to develop practical and academic skills and provide the country with specialists from all fields of engineering.”

Prof Foufou stated that the Computing Contest is considered one of the most important high school initiatives to raise students’ awareness of various scientific and engineering principles, and prepare them to join QU and other academic institutions.

“They are tomorrow’s leaders and it is incumbent on us to lend our expertise in guiding them towards becoming professionals in the computer science and engineering field,” he added.

The first phase of the contest will include training workshops for teachers to be held on March 8 and 15. Participating students will attend training sessions in the coming weeks in the lead up to the closing ceremony in May when winners will be announced, with first place receiving QR10,000 and a scholarship to study at CSE, and second and third place receiv-ing QR6,000 and QR4,000 respectively, Dr Sayed explained.

The Peninsula

A total of 135 students who demon-strated academic excellence have been given recognition on the fall 2013 Dean’s List at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. “I congratulate our students who have earned a place on the Dean’s List for their exemplary performance during the fall semester. These students have distinguished themselves through their academic excellence and strong work ethic. We are proud of them and their achievements,” said Ilker Baybars, dean of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar. Forty-three seniors, 28 juniors, 29 sophomores and 35 freshmen made the list. Students were recognised across Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s majors in biological sciences, busi-ness administration, computer sci-ence and information systems.

Over 100 students from Qatar’s independent schools attended a series of creative workshops

designed in a collaboration between the Supreme Education Council (SEC) and Qatar Museums Authority (QMA).

The week-long programme, created by Mathaf Education and the Museum of Islamic Art’s Education Centre, is designed to connect students with artworks in the museums, as well as encourage visual literacy and creative expression through teamwork.

The activities are part of the SEC’s newly developed Art curriculum, which is currently being piloted within grades three and four at five independent schools.

“The new curriculum is unique because it allows students to be crea-tive through engaging with arts and artistic spaces,” said Haya Al Kuwari, Director of the Education Institute in the SEC. “The participation of a key cultural institution such as the QMA in the development and imple-mentation of syllabi ensures that the

programme is not only educational but stimulating and entertaining.”

Throughout the programme stu-dents have been introduced to several pieces of art within Mathaf. Meanwhile

at MIA they viewed two historic carved wooden doors from Cairo dating back to the Mamluk period, which repre-sent examples of geometric design and craftsmanship. The Peninsula

Over 100 students participate in museum education programme

5CAMPUS / COMMUNITY PLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2014

Sanjiv Arora, the Indian ambassa-dor; Hassan Chougule, Anjuman chairman; and Moosa Zainal Moosa, advisor, Ministry of Culture, with other Anjuman guests and members at a releasing ceremony for their sou-venir at Anjuman Muhibbane Urdu Hind’s Republic Day Mushaira 2014 at Giwana Hall of Radisson Blu Hotel recently.

Bharathi, a socio-cultural organisation of Indian expatriates living in Al Khor Community, organised a throw ball tournament for its members at the British School’s indoor courts in Al Khor Community. Sixteen teams participated in the tournament. Telugu Warriors emerged the winners, while the Gujarat and Karnataka teams finished second and third, respectively. Chairman Tataji, President Vishal J Mehta and Hamid, manager of Emerson, were present at the ceremony to award the winners. General secretary M Srinivasan proposed the vote of thanks and the prize distribution ceremony was compered by Ravi Yechuri, vice president.

Qatar Kettungal Cricket Club (QKCC) defeated Qatar Friends by 80 runs in the Kerala Social and Cultural Association Cricket Tournament final. QKCC was awarded a trophy and cash prize of QR3,000. The-runner up received QR2,000. Kiran was the best batsman and Shebeer Jamal the best bowler.

Roudha Center launches second Mashroui Program

Roudha Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has announced

partnership with ExxonMobil Qatar to launch this year’s Mashroui Program.

Mashroui, which means ‘my busi-ness’ in Arabic, is Qatar’s first and only women’s entrepreneurship develop-ment programme. The programme is a free, three-month course that teaches current and aspiring women entrepre-neurs the A-to-Z of how to create and develop a successful business. Delivered by accomplished business consultants and lecturers from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the courses have been tai-lored to produce a profound learning experience and to speak to the needs and challenges of women entrepre-neurs in Qatar.

“Mashroui is a one of a kind programme being delivered in this region, empowering the women of Qatar to realise their potential and

in turn contribute directly to the country’s economy. We are delighted to, once again, find a partner in ExxonMobil, which shares our com-mitment to empowering women with the skills and knowledge they need to achieve their dreams,” said Shareefa Fadhel, Roudha Center’s co-founder and managing director.

“ExxonMobil Qatar is extremely pleased to be part of Mashroui, and to support Roudha Center for the sec-ond year of this programme, which advances women’s participation in Qatar’s economy. Their participa-tion transpires into more prosperous communities, both socially and eco-nomically,” said Abdullatif Al Naemi, National Development Manager for ExxonMobil Qatar. The Peninsula

International Ladies Pot Luck Group meet

Egyptian ladies in Qatar hosted the monthly event of the International Ladies Pot

Luck Group (ILPG), introducing and celebrating the cultural herit-age of Egypt at Al Jazi Garden 4 recently. The chief organisers were Amany Eid-Garcia and Madiha Khater-Szewc.

During the ILPG meetings, members take turns to showcase their countries through a brief presentation, authentic food, traditional shows and a display of handicrafts.

Over 100 guests were entertained with a fabulous Tanoura dance by Ahmed Shabaan and a musical performance by Nour El Din and Rashid.

After partaking of a sumptuous buffet of delicious home-made dishes provided by several Egyptian ladies and Egyptian chef Ali from Mercure Grand Hotel, the ladies got into the spirit of the occasion by dancing to traditional Egyptian music. The customary raffle completed the day, with the main prize being a voucher for outside catering for eight persons from Mercure Grand hotel. Queens Dental Centre, Intercontinental Hotel, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Wyndham Hotel and Cheong Keewa Restaurant contributed the prizes for the raffle.

Amy Ward, a member, made a chocolate cake in the form of the Egyptian flag. The Peninsula

PLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 20146 HOSPITALITY

Oryx Rotana Doha hosted an unique dinner for around people in their ball room last week. ‘Blindfolded: Dinner in the Dark’ was held in support of Orbis Flying Eye

Hospital. The guests were all blindfolded and escorted by

hotel officials to their table for a three-course gour-met meal.

As guests were not able to see, they all started chatting with the strangers sitting next to them and were heard discussing food, work and movies.

Oryx Rotana is open to hold these kind of events for various companies and other groups. This will be a great team building exercise as everyone ends up talking a lot to escape the sudden darkness which has enveloped you.

The idea behind the Dinner in the Dark evening is that by eating without sight, all the other senses are heightened, bringing the different tastes, textures and smells to the forefront. Diners were blindfolded and served a variety of high quality food, with an emphasis on using basic, distinctive and enjoyable flavours.

The dinner aimed also at both spreading the eye-care message and raising awareness for Orbis. All participants at the dinner were blindfolded and escorted to their tables where they struggled to eat while the event’s MC asked them to share their thoughts about temporarily ‘losing’ their sight.

Blindfolded diners found they could not control their utensils and quickly began using their hands to eat! By the end of the evening, everyone truly understood the troubles and difficulties blind people must face every day.

“Taste and see the goodness of giving. Your gift will positively change the life of a blind/visually impaired person,” remarked Oryx Rotana General Manager. “I invite everyone to experience and learn about the challenges faced by the blind. It was

indeed a fun, educational and memorable evening,” he added.

“Reactions to Dining in the Dark are truly pow-erful because people often don’t realize the daily obstacles of living with low to no vision,” said Allan Thompson – Director of External Relations in Orbis,

“We’re here to remind people that by restor-ing sight we are also restoring opportunity,” added Thompson.

The Peninsula

Oryx Rotana hosts ‘Dinner in the Dark’

Grand Heritage Doha Hotel and Spa opened a new outdoor ter-race at its Turkish restaurant,

Agora. Speaking of the latest addition Zeid

Talhami, Director of Sales & Marketing said: “We are pleased to announce our opening of the new terrace at Agora. Guests are now able to enjoy their exqui-site dining experience in the outdoors of

Doha, without having to deny themselves the hotel’s exceptional services. This will add to the relaxed and elegant ambiance we aim for and will also provide our guests with the opportunity to enjoy the weather while it lasts.”

Agora is known for its wide selection of oriental dishes and Turkish influenced atmosphere.

The Peninsula

Jones the Grocer unveils limited edition burger menu

Jones the Grocer has taken its love of burgers to a new level by launching a special Burger Menu during March 2014. Foodies in Doha can try out the

range of new burgers including the ‘classic fish burger’, the ‘veggie burger’ and the ‘angus mac and cheese burger’.

Jones the Grocer Burger Menu includes classic fish burger & fries with red onions, parsley, cornichons, capers and romaine on warm ciabatta; Greek style lamb, spinach and feta burger with garlic and mint yogurt in a pitta; Open Wagyu burger with avocado, beetroot, bacon, brie and rocket served on a brioche bun; Veggie burger with ricotta cheese with fries; Coconut shrimp burger with mango salsa; Open stuffed Portobello burger with haloumi, tomato and oregano on focaccia bread. Angus mac and cheese burger a lat-est fusion dish with a mac and cheese bun with angus burger, cheddar and Parmesan. The Peninsula

New terrace opens at Grand Heritage Doha Hotel and Spa

BOOKS 7

10 BEST SELLING BOOKSAcademic Books & Test Preparation Guides

Barron’s IELTS Superpackby Lin Lougheed

Barron’s TOEFL iBT Superpack, 2nd Edition

Cambridge Biology IGCSE Revision Guide

The Real ACT Prep Guide

AS-Level Maths Revision Guide

IELTS Trainer Six Practice Tests with Answers & Audio CDs

Cambridge Preparation for the TOEFL Test 4th Edition

AS-Level Business Studies Complete Revision & Practice

IGCSE Revision Guide for Mathematics

Way Ahead 1 by Bowen Mary

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By Brian Leonal

Pirates and imitators on the Internet are the bane of many aspiring art-ists. For Gavin

Aung Than, creator of the popular Zen Pencils comic, the Web was where he started doing what he loves.

After eight “miser-able” years as a graphic artist at an Australian newspaper, he finally decided to go online with his creative depictions of poems such as William Ernest Henley’s Invictus and Bruce Lee’s famous quote “Be like water”.

Fans call his work inspirational and encouraging. One man with bipolar disorder came to an event in Singapore to thank Than for giving him the courage to live with an interpretation of the Richard Dawkins quote “We are going to die and that makes us the lucky ones”. (www.zenpencils.com)

Now, the 31-year-old Australian artist is branching out from the Internet with a book due in November from Andrews McMeel Publishing. With an initial print run of 25,000 copies, it will feature a collection of his best comics.

Than spoke about the challenges of being a web-based artist and how to make a living at it.

It must have been a difficult decision to finally go full time at Zen Pencils.

What finally made me snap, I guess, was my 30th birthday was approaching and that made me take stock and re-evaluate where my career was going.

What made you hesitate before going full time?

The main reason, of course, is money. My old job paid well and gave me a steady income. The fact that I had a mortgage to pay meant I needed to have a regular paycheque.

Besides money, the main thing that held me back was fear. What if I took a risk and it didn’t work? I would be crushed.

Eventually I got over the fear. My wife and I actually sold our house so that we didn’t have a big mortgage to worry about. The profits from the sale of the house also helped finance the first six months of my new independent career.

What is your business model?I wish I was organised enough to have a business

model. But roughly my revenue comes from the sale of prints (40 percent), advertising (30 percent) and merchandise (30 percent).

When you made the change from being an illustrator with a steady job to a full-time web-based artist, did you have to make any lifestyle adjustment?

Yes, definitely. Basically, I just had to cut down on careless spending of money. So a decrease in social gatherings, going out with friends or to din-ner and not buying anything I didn’t really need — just being more financially responsible.

It wasn’t too hard once I decided what was really important — and that was

to be an independent cartoonist.

How long did it take to make Zen Pencils profitable?

It probably took about six months for sales of the prints to start showing some results, 12 months for steady revenue to start com-ing in and about 18 months for the website to be my sole source of

income.

Do you plan to do this for the rest of your life?

Are there opportunities or plans for expansion?

Well, I plan on cartooning for the rest of my life, although I can’t say I will

be doing Zen Pencils indefinitely. I’m very happy working on it now and see myself working on Zen Pencils for the foreseeable future.

Sure, there are opportunities for expansion. Currently it’s a one-man operation ... I hope to make some more merchandise available this year. I’m also very excited about the Zen Pencils book being released later in the year. Hopefully that will increase exposure and lead to more opportunities.

What do you think is the sustainable business model for artists like you?

It’s still extremely hard to earn a living through your art today. I don’t think there is one standard business model for artists.

I’m very grateful for the success of Zen Pencils. It wasn’t my first idea for a web comic. I’ve had a few failures in the past. You basically have to try lots of different things and see what works.

What do you feel about your fans who just print your work without paying you any fee? What is your stand on intellectual property?

I don’t like it when my work is ripped from my site and used on another big content site, especially without attributing Zen Pencils. Unfortunately, that happens to many artists today and there’s no real way to stop it.

I’m fine with my readers printing off a file from my site for their own personal use or motivation. That’s great. Those readers are usually die-hard fans who then go on to tell their friends about my site, so it helps the bottom line in an indirect way by increasing traffic.

Lastly, do you have any message or advice for all aspiring artists in the age of Internet?

There’s never been a better time for artists to get their work seen — be it through social media, Tumblr or something like that. Plus there are all these new on-demand companies where you can easily get your work made into prints, T-shirts and other merchandise with little or no upfront cost.

While there are shortcuts to get your work out there, there is still no shortcut for you to be a great artist. You still have to put in the hours, days, months and years of practice — even more so now — so that your work stands out from the pack.

Reuters

Zen Pencils comic transcends Internet into book deal

PLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2014

PLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2014 ENTERTAINMENT8 9

By Nick Davis

Over the three decades I have watched the Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ status as

an elite tastemaker has vaporized, and awards season has become a long, politi-cised hunger games among exhausted contestants. With the mystique of Hollywood’s signature event so eroded, it’s sad to dispel the myths that survive — but these legends deserve to be played off the stage by the orchestra.

1. The academy and the public never agree.

In 2009, when the best-picture roster controversially expanded to include as many as 10 films, academy President Sid Ganis told reporters, “I would not be telling you the truth if I said the words Dark Knight did not come up” in the discussion. That film’s omission in 2008, when oatmealy dramas such as Frost/Nixon and The Reader nabbed top nominations, furnishes conven-ient “proof” of the academy’s alleged anti-commercialism.

Actually, 18 of the past 25 best-pic-ture winners, and six of last year’s nine nominees, grossed more than $100m in the United States alone, still the industry-standard metric for major hits. Eleven winners ranked among the biggest draws in the years they were released. The only low-grossing winner during this period was The Hurt Locker, which barely eclipsed the box-office supernova Avatar, if their split of major pre-Oscar prizes is any indication.

2. Winning an Oscar boosts an actor’s career.

Marcia Gay Harden described her best-supporting-actress win to Premiere magazine as “disastrous on a

professional level,” because “suddenly the parts you’re offered become smaller and the money less.” Promising careers often wobble or worse after the big night: Mira Sorvino, Cuba Gooding Jr, Roberto Benigni , Mercedes Ruehl and Adrien Brody have never gotten film roles equal to those for which they won. Perennial also-rans Susan Sarandon and Renée Zellweger finally reached the podium, only to earn no further nomi-nations and wave goodbye to box-office clout and leading roles.

Notice the gender bias: Women tend to win at earlier, shakier moments in their careers than men, and Hollywood sexism denies them the salary increases or creative empower-ment an Oscar should bring. They also recover less readily from major flops, as Kim Basinger (I Dreamed of Africa), Halle Berry (Catwoman) and Jennifer Connelly (Hulk and Dark Water) discovered.

Women who thrive post-Oscar are usually character actresses with more experience and eclectic tastes in roles. Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Helen Mirren, Marion Cotillard and Melissa Leo have all moved between big and small parts in commercial and arthouse films, avoiding the temptation of big follow-up projects that could sink them if they failed. Still, even masters of this strategy, such as Kathy Bates, warn that “sometimes after you win an Oscar, you don’t work for forever.”

3. Never bet against disability.Oscar has long appreciated actorly

renditions of physical and mental incapacities, ranging widely from Jon Voight’s paralysis in Coming Home to Dustin Hoffman’s autism in Rain Man. Even I Am Sam, spurned by audiences and critics, reaped a nomi-nation for Sean Penn’s portrayal of a

developmentally disabled man.Yet both Penn and Russell Crowe,

as schizophrenic economist John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, lost to Denzel Washington’s diabolical cop in Training Day. John Hawkes’s admired turn as a polio victim in 2012’s The Sessions missed Oscar’s ballot, though co-star Helen Hunt appeared. Voters seem to take this bait less often than they once did — especially from actresses, as Cotillard learned last year despite her acclaimed work as an amputee in Rust and Bone.

There is no sure-fire route to Oscar approval.

4. If a movie is nominated for best picture, its director should be nomi-nated, too.

“Seven nominations on the shelf. Did this film direct itself?” Billy Crystal sang to Barbra Streisand at the 1992 awards ceremony, when The Prince of Tides was nominated but her direction was not. He reprised the joke for Rob Reiner, overlooked the following year as director of A Few Good Men.

Yet, for the 65 years there were five nominees in the best-picture and best-director categories, the lineup matched only five times. Though peo-ple presume otherwise, this actually makes sense: Best-director nominees are chosen by fellow directors, whereas only the best-picture field is determined by the academy’s whole membership. Unsurprisingly, auteurs often admire the technique or stylistic daring of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blue Velvet, City of Godor United 93 — all nominated for direc-tor but not picture — more than the moist dramatics or zippy accessibility of Funny Girl, Children of a Lesser God,Seabiscuit or Little Miss Sunshine, all nominated for picture but passed over for director. The criteria don’t match.

So why should the winners, much less the nominees?

5. Comedies need not apply.The Golden Globes, unlike the

Oscars, split movies into the categories of “drama” and “comedy or musical.” Strangely, this January’s Globes billed the post-suicide, post-funeral recrimi-nations of August: Osage County and the wintry dolor of Nebraska as comedies, while the chuckle-filled Philomena and the lite-brite Disney divertissement Saving Mr. Banks became dramas.

Truth be told, these borders are porous. Sure, Oscar’s hall of fame admits few out-and-out laugh riots, such as best-picture winners It Happened One Night, All About Eve and Annie Hall. Still, many best pictures, including recent victors Argo and The Artist, have comic foundations.

In fact, no genre is categorically excluded or beloved over time. More Westerns — think Unforgiven and There Will Be Blood — have been nominated or have won in top races recently than in their ostensible heyday in the 1940s and 1950s. Biopics fall in and out of fashion — six men and six women have won lead-acting Oscars for playing real peo-ple in the past decade, but only two men and three women did so in the 1960s and 1970s. Recent best pictures include a musical (Chicago), a fantasy epic (Lord of the Rings), a remade police thriller (The Departed), a riff on Bollywood (Slumdog Millionaire) and a wordless, French, black-and-white romance (The Artist).

If Gravity beats 12 Years a Slave for best picture — and I think it could — it will become the first science-fiction film to win. Or both might be felled by American Hustle, a comedy with 10 nominations. In any case, “Oscar bait” is an incoherent concept. WP-Bloomberg

HOLLYWOOD NEWS BOLLYWOOD NEWS

Shaadi Ke Side Effects: Looking into a marriage, with a smile Film: Shaadi Ke Side EffectsCast: Vidya Balan, Farhan Akhtar, Vir Das and Purab KohliDirector: Saket Chaudhary

“When I do something wrong, I say sorry

to my wife. When my wife does something wrong.... I say sorry to my wife.”

One of the gems that flows out of Farhan Akhtar’s mouth while addressing the oldest question on the gender equation: what does a woman really want in a marriage? Could it be the same things as a man? Maybe the route taken by the two individuals is different?

Director Saket Chaudhary raises some pertinent questions on the fake road-signs that could lead to an aborted marriage. Not all of the winking homilies work. But the film holds together primarily because of the intelligent writing and the sharp and crisp way the two main actors interpret the parts of the two individuals in a marriage that has a lot going for it. That includes a baby girl who arrives just in time to get this seven-year delayed sequel trotting on the right road.

A lot of pre-production fine-tuning must have gone into making Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan look compatible together. The two actors give delectably nuanced performances without looking over-rehearsed. Seldom in recent times have I seen two actors looking so married on screen. Farhan’s Sid and Vidya’s Trisha come together as a couple that desperately wishes to make the marriage work.

The script is written entirely from the male point of view. And if there are any doubts on the film’s mildly misogynist tone, then there is Farhan’s voiceover to remind which side of marriage the script is on.

The film opens with a sequence where the pair plays a tantalizing game in a crowded pub to kindle some additional romance into their togetherness. It’s a smoothly done sequence redolent with images of similar sequences we might have seen in other films on impending domestic discord. Yet there is a freshness in the way Farhan and Vidya approach this sequence and their roles. There’s a kind of lived-in familiarity with the world of the married couple, and yet played at a detached dispassionate pitch.

The second-half deliberately forfeits the blithe spirit in pursuit of a more penetrating perspective on marital woes. Even when the film loses a lightness of touch, it nonetheless remains even-pitched preferring under-statement to hysteria. Again, a lot of the credit for the narrative’s correct pitch must go to the two principal actors. Vidya looks better than ever before. Radiant and expectant as a pregnant woman in the initial scenes, she glides into the zone of paranoid motherhood with plenty of panache.

In the later scenes, when she tries to deck herself up to rejuvenate her husband’s attention, Vidya reminded me of Sharmila Tagore in Basu Bhattacharya’s marital drama Grihapravesh.

Sprinting as far away as possible from the world of Milkha Singh as possible, Farhan is every inch the harried husband here, partly man party boy, he’s looking for a boys’ night out without feeling guilty about leaving the wife home with the baby.

A warm, funny, thought-provoking take on the man-woman equation, director Saket Chaudhary gets it bang on. The chemistry between Farhan and Vidya crackles and hisses with tantalizing tension. Brittle and yet supple, the lead pair’s chemistry irons out the film’s uneven edges. I wish the peripheral characters were written and played better.

Purab Kohi as the nosy neighbour (he reminded me of the role he plays in that coffee ad with Karan Johar and Deepika Padukone) and Vir Das as the boorish manifestation of Farhan’s character’s bachelor fantasies, offer interesting possibilities but stop short of being a support system in this drama marital discontent.

Nope. You can’t take your eyes off Farhan and Vidya. They look evenly matched and entirely yummy in their yin and yang yearnings.

You do wonder why the script takes them to Australia. But then mar-riage does make people do strange things, right?

Leonardo DiCaprio buys $5.2m house

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has pur-chased the former estate of singer/

actress Dinah Shore in the Old Las Palmas neighbourhood of Palm Springs for $5.2m.

The 39-year-old bought the Donald Wexler-designed home that is spread over 1.3 acres and features six bedrooms, a pool, tennis court and detached gym, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The sellers, Ben Lipps and wife Jude, bought the estate for $4.9m in April 2011. The home was offered for $5.5m on January 16 and was promptly purchased by the actor for $5.2m.

“This is the quintessential mid-century modern home,” said a local architecture expert.

Green praises business-savvy Kate Moss

Businessman Philip Green says model Kate Moss reigned the fashion indus-

try for about two decades because she understands how to best market herself and remain in-demand.

The Topshop boss praised Moss in an interview to London Evening Standard newspaper, reports contactmusic.com.

“The bottom line is this — she man-ages herself well. She’s been smart, she understands the fashion business, and she doesn’t go talking everywhere. And she hasn’t run off and put her name on eve-rything,” Green told the London Evening Standard newspaper.

Moss is set to launch her next collection for the retail giant this spring, almost four years after her last collaboration came to

an end, and Green can’t contain his excitement.“The campaign images are the best we’ve ever had...She’s tried on every

single piece,” Green said.

Ryder wore $10 worth dresses to Oscars

Actress Winona Ryder says she has no qualms about being clicked in same

outfits again and again. What’s more, she admits to wearing dresses worth only $10 to the Oscars.

In an interview to Red magazine, the 42-year-old talked about her fondness for vintage dresses too, reports eonline.com.

“Most of my wardrobe is vintage and I’ve worn dresses to the Oscars that I got for $10. At (actor) Sean Penn’s last Haiti gala, I wore this vintage dress that I’d worn to a film premiere in 2005.

“I know that’s kind of a no-no in the fashion world, but why wear something just once if you love it,” she said.

Five myths about the OscarsFive myths about the Oscars


BOTANYPLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 201410

© GRAPHIC NEWSSource: Global Crop Diversity Trust

More than 20,000 seeds from over 100 nations – including, for the�� Svalbard Global Seed Vault

82 ft25m75

m

SVALBARD

NORWAY

E U R O P E

BarentsSea

SvalbardGlobalSeedVault

Entrance:Complete withart installation thatglows like beacon

MAIN GLOBAL SEED BANKS

Operations office:Where seed shipmentsare inventoried andprocessed

Vaults

621 miles

1000km

Berry BotanicGarden, U.S.

InternationalCenter for TropicalAgriculture, Colombia

International PotatoCentre, Peru

International Institute forTropical Agriculture, Nigeria

InternationalRice ResearchInstitute,Philippines

Structure: 93m-long tunnelconnects to three vaults,capable of storing 4.5mseed samples –each comprisedof 500 seedsTotalcapacity:2.25bnseeds

SANDSTONE

MOUNTAIN

Vavilov Institute ofPlant Industry,Russia

Millennium SeedBank Project, UK

Stored at -18°C.Permafrost will

maintain naturalrefrigeration in

event of disaster

Built: 2006-08Cost: $9 million

New

arr

ival

s to

see

d v

ault

HEALTH / FITNESS 11

By Andrew M Seaman

Less than half of German people who are told they have cancer through a set and accepted protocol for

breaking bad news are satisfied with the conversation, according to a new study.

Researchers found that may be due to gaps in what patients considered important during that process and what they report actually happened when they got the news.

The study’s lead author said that traditionally doctors thought they were aware of their patients’ preferences and breaking bad news hadn’t been a focus during their training.

“The idea was somehow that physicians will ‘naturally’ have the ability to communicate,” Dr Carola Seifart wrote in an email.

She is from Philipps-University of Marburg in Marburg, Germany.

Doctors of all kinds break bad news to their patients, but it’s especially common among oncol-ogists, who diagnose and treat cancer, Seifart and her colleagues write in Annals of Oncology.

For example, the diagnosis of a new cancer or a negative devel-opment with an existing cancer can significantly change a person’s view of the future.

In many countries, the so-called SPIKES protocol is widely accepted as the standard for breaking bad news.

The protocol is based on six steps that involve finding an appropriate setting, determining what the patient already knows or suspects, understanding what the patient wants to know, know-ing how to deliver information the patient understands, being sympa-thetic and summarizing the infor-mation at the end of the meeting.

While SPIKES has been tested

in the US, the researchers write that it has not been tested in Germany and there is little infor-mation on how bad news is broken there.

They surveyed 350 people who were patients at two medi-cal centres in Germany and had cancer.

The surveys focused on how patients felt the news of their cancer was first broken to them based on the SPIKES protocol and which parts of the protocol were most important to them, out of 37 items.

Overall, only about 46 per-cent of the participants were completely satisfied with the way the bad news was broken

to them.Of the 10 parts of SPIKES that

the patients rated most impor-tant, five addressed how doctors provide information or knowledge, three pertained to how doctors conclude the meeting and two were about the setting where the news is delivered.

The researchers compared those preferences to what the participants actually experienced when they received bad news.

The greatest difference was between the information partici-pants wanted on their prognosis and what the doctors actually told them.

Based on their findings, the researchers suggest doctors ask about what information patients want and focus on the disease’s prognosis and how it will impact

daily life. Doctors should also routinely ask whether patients understand the information and offer them the opportunity to ask questions.

The researchers also suggest that the process of breaking bad news be split over two visits, because many of the participants felt unable to make decisions dur-ing the first visit.

Seifart cautioned that the new findings can’t be generalised to all countries.

Dr Walter Baile also cautioned that the study’s findings are lim-ited, because what the partici-pants reported happening during their visit may be different from what actually happened.

Baile, from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, is an expert on the SPIKES protocol but was not involved with the new study.

“Patients don’t often remem-ber at the time of diagnosis what they’ve been told,” he said, adding that the request for a second visit is important.

“From our work, what we found is that patients need to have these conversations over and over again,” Dr Juliet Jacobsen, who was also not involved with the study, said.

She is a specialist in palliative care at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston.

“I think they (the authors) recognise that by saying even a two-step process would be an improvement,” she said.

Baile said the finding that a lot of patients were unhappy with the way bad news was given is significant.

“Patients really need a lot of information and that’s what other studies have shown,” he said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/1gf51en Annals of Oncology, online February 6, 2014.

Reuters

Doctors could do a Doctors could do a better job of breaking better job of breaking bad news: Studybad news: Study

Increasing brain acidity may slow down anxiety

Suffering from anxiety and related problems? Scientists have found a new target to treat anxi-

ety disorder. Increasing acidity in the brain’s emo-tional control centre can reduce anxiety, according to a new research. At the cellular level, anxiety dis-orders are associated with heightened activity in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in the brain which is known to play a central role in emotional behaviour.

Many cells in the BLA possess acid-sensing ion channels called ‘ASIC1a’ that respond to pH changes in the environment outside of the cell.

Maria Braga and colleagues at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences — a health science university run by the US federal government — found that activating ‘ASIC1a’ decreased the activity of nearby cells and reduced anxiety-like behaviour in animals.

“It suggests that activating these channels, specifically in fear-related areas such as the amygdala, may be a key to regulating anxi-ety,” explained Anantha Shekhar from Indiana University who was not involved in this study.

“Developing specific drugs that can stimulate these channels could provide a new way to treat anxiety and fear disorders such a post-traumatic stress and panic disorders,” she stated.

To determine the effect, Braga’s group bathed BLA cells in an acidic solution in the laboratory and measured the signals sent to nearby cells.

Lowering the pH of the solution decreased the activity of cells in the BLA. When rats received a drug designed to increase the activity of ASIC1a channels, the animals displayed less anxiety-like behaviour. “Our study emphasises the importance of identifying mechanisms involved in the regu-lation of brain function for the development of more efficacious therapies for treating psychiat-ric and neurological illnesses,” Braga noted.

BP reading in both arms key for healthy heart: StudyIn a significant news for blood pressure (BP)

patients and doctors alike, researchers have suggested to take BP reading in both arms, rather than the present system of measuring BP using one arm, for better cardiovasvular health.

The difference in interarm systolic blood pres-sure - where both arms are used for BP reading - has now been linked to greater risk of future cardiovascular events.

Measuring interarm blood pressure involves taking two readings, one for each arm. Increased interarm systolic blood pressure differences are defined as 10 mmHg or greater.

“In this large community-based study, an increased interarm systolic blood pressure differ-ence was found to be present in nearly 10 percent of individuals and is associated with increased levels of traditional cardiovascular risk factors,” explained lead investigator Ido Weinberg from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

“An increased interarm systolic blood pressure difference is associated with an increased risk for incident cardiovascular events, independent of tra-ditional cardiovascular risk factors,” he cautioned.

The researchers examined 3,390 participants aged 40 years and older, free of cardiovascular disease at baseline. The investigators found that participants with higher interarm systolic blood pressure differences were at a much higher risk for future cardiovascular events than those with less than a 10mm Hg difference between arms.

Agencies


Doctors of all kinds break bad news to their patients, but it’s especially common among oncologists, who diagnose and treat cancer

TECHNOLOGYPLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 201412

By Leila Abboud and Paul Sandle

Originally derided as a pricey niche product for geeks, tablet computers have become so common that supermarkets are now sell-ing their own brands, pushing out low-cost

rivals.The shifting nature of the market underscores how

millions of people are choosing simpler devices to surf the web, send emails and shop, putting pressure on traditional PC companies.

And since Apple pioneered the tablet in early 2010, the gadgets now available at the lower end of the market are becoming commodity items that non-technology companies can order from Asian contrac-tors using common components.

“Reference designs for tablets and smartphones from companies like Qualcomm have drastically reduced barriers to entry and increased commodi-tization pressure in the hardware industry,” said Sameer Singh, Hyderabad-based tech analyst.

“This opens the door for not only players that can survive on low margins, but also for companies that use hardware as a channel for something else.”

Tesco in Britain and Walmart in the United States, are selling their own branded tablets pitched at cus-tomers unwilling to pay $400 or more for an Apple or Samsung product.

Grocers like Tesco and France’s Carrefour are not only trying to cash in on booming tablet sales, but also to nudge people to buy everything from films to groceries from their online stores, pushed through their devices, a lesson learned from Amazon and Google.

Traditional computer makers including Asus, Acer, HP, Lenovo, Dell, Sony, LG will continue to be squeezed, said Gartner analyst Tracy Tsai.

They account for only 10 percent of the market today, far behind Apple and Samsung with 60 per-cent and also smaller than the 20 percent share held by white label tablet makers who manufacture for others, such as Archos. Amazon and Google hold the other 10 percent.

“Some of them will pull out from the market of tablets altogether,” Tsai predicted.

The price for tablets running Google’s Android software ranged from $99 to $299 in 2013, providing an estimated 15 percent to 25 percent gross margin to hardware vendors, but when prices need to be cut to meet the competition the margin could drop.

Lessons LearnedAmazon, which sells its Kindle Fire tablet at cost

or even at a loss, ties people to its site to buy music, books or films rather than them buying Apple’s iTunes or going to Carrefour and Tesco.

“If you get a tablet into someone’s hand, it is almost a digital shop window,” said Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight.

“The retailers are realizing: ‘Crikey, we need this to be part of a much bigger strategy to make sure that Amazon does not eat us alive.’”

Carrefour is also selling smartphones and a smart-watch starting at €149, in addition to four tablets, while a Pakistani bakery chain called Gourmet poached a former Samsung executive to help it sell smartphones starting at $15.

Tesco shifted more than 400,000 of its Hudl tab-lets, priced at £119 ($200) in little over three months after a September launch.

“We saw an opportunity in the market for a lower priced but highly spec-ed tablet,” said Michael Comish, who heads Tesco’s digital strategy and operations.

“We were certainly pleasantly surprised by con-sumer demand,” he said, adding that Tesco was sell-ing as many Hudls as it could produce in the autumn.

Carrefour’s mobile phone, dubbed the Smart,

launched at Christmas and was among the store’s top-five selling products in recent months, said Jose Zdziech, sales director for technology products.

Big retailers have been here before. In the past many worked with manufacturers in Asia and else-where who produced everything from clothing to refrigerators that the retailers then sold under their own brands. Carrefour and Tesco, the world’s second and third-biggest retailers, then turned to that net-work of manufacturers to make gadgets.

Tesco’s Comish said they designed the Hudl to drive people to purchase films, music, and now books from blinkbox, a video-on-demand provider Tesco bought in 2011. The company spent a lot of time on the user interface, he said, to make it easy to get to Tesco services, without forcing customers to use them.

Carrefour’s Zdziech said the retailer would con-tinue to sell Apple and Samsung products since its own products were not aimed at the high-end. But Carrefour has dropped some competing tablets and phones from lower-end manufacturers he declined to name. “We had to make some choices so as to better showcase our own branded products,” he said.

Reuters

Supermarkets start selling own brand tablets

Apple released a series of software patches for its Mac computers

to fix what was described as a serious security flaw in the operating system.

The updates for Mac OS follow Friday’s release of a security update for the iOS 7 mobile operating system used on the iPhone and iPad.

Apple’s comments on the security flaws were limited, but cryptographer Matthew Green said before the updates that the flaw was “seriously exploitable,” meaning that it

could allow hackers to gain access to user accounts. An Apple spokesman said of the latest patch: “Today’s update does address the same issue that was fixed in iOS 7.”

The Apple support website said the update “improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac.”

The website said the update fixes a series of problems and also allows the computers to make and receive voice calls using Apple’s FaceTime program.

Security researcher Ashkan

Soltani said in a tweet that it “still surprises me that Apple waited 3 extra days to fix (the problem) with a version update rather than just do a timely Security Update.”

The first news of the flaw came from the security firm Crowdstrike in a blog post Friday, which said hackers could intercept communica-tions over Wi-Fi networks from users of Apple devices.

The updates cover the Mac OS X Mavericks operating system as well as the older Mountain Lion system. AFP

Man Utd ties up with Google to put faraway fans pitchside

Manchester United have joined forces with technology giant Google to allow a handful of soccer fans around

the world to follow next month’s clash with Liverpool as if they were pitchside at Old Trafford.

To heighten the sense of being at the game, images of the fans will appear live on the digital advertising hoardings at the stadium during the Premier League game on March 16.

Their pictures will be streamed using the Google+Hangout system -- a video chat function.

Google described the move as an “experiment into what the future of supporting your team could be”, although the initiative will be limited to only around 10-20 fans this time.

United fans are being asked to share a picture on Google+ with the tag “#MUFrontRow” to show their support and the participants will be chosen from this group.

English champions United claim to have more than 650 million global followers. Reuters

Apple releases security fix for Mac computers

COMICS & MORE 13

Hoy en la HistoriaMarch 2, 2004

1949: Captain James Gallagher completed the first non-stop round the world flight in 94 hours 1 minute1989: The first Vietnamese boat people to volunteer to return home left Hong Kong1995: U.S. physicists isolated the “top quark”, a sub-proton particle predicted to exist but hitherto unobserved2011: Government minister Shahbaz Bhatti, a strong critic of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, was assassinated

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft was launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on a 10-year mission to land a robot on the surface of a comet

Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS

ALL IN THE MIND Can you find the hidden words? They may be horizontal,vertical, diagonal, forwards or backwards.

ADAPTATION, AUTHOR, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, BIOGRAPHY, BOOK, CHRONICLE, COMPOSITION, DIARY, DISSERTATION, DOCUMENT, DRAFT, EDITORIAL, EPIC, EPISTLE, ESSAY, ISSUE, JOURNAL, LEDGER, LETTER, LIMERICK, LITERATURE, MANUSCRIPT, MEMO, MEMOIRS, NOTATION, NOTE, NOVEL, PAPER, PLAY, POEM, PROSE, PUBLICATION, RECORD, SCRIPT, SCRIPTURE, SONNET, TEXT, THESIS, TOME, TREATISE, VERSE, VOLUME, WRITER, WRITINGS.

LEARN ARABIC

Baby Blues by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman

Zits by Dennis Young and Denis Lebrun

Hagar The Horrible by Chris Browne

Body Organs

Skin �ild

Shoulder Katif

Neck Çounouq

Chest �adr

Abdomen Ba�n

Back �ahr

Hand Yad

Leg Ri�l

Waist �a�rNote: ç = ‘a’ in ‘agh’ when surprised = ‘th’ but we strengthen our tongue a little


HYPER SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

CROSSWORDS

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku

Puzzle is solved

by filling the

numbers from 1

to 9 into the blank

cells. A Hyper

Sudoku has

unlike Sudoku

13 regions

(four regions

overlap with the

nine standard

regions). In all

regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear

only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is

solved like a normal Sudoku.

ACROSS 1 Closer to the edge, say 8 Brothers’ keepers?14 Summer time eponym16 Peso : Mexico :: ___ :

Panama17 “NYC 22” replaced it in

201218 Key represented by all

white keys on a piano19 Plate holder20 Kin of clubs22 Sporty Spice, by

another name23 Hernando’s “Hey!”24 Batcave, e.g.25 End point of a common

journey26 Ginnie ___28 Darling30 Univ. figures31 Style of New York’s

Sony Building34 ’60s film character

wearing one black glove35 Literary classic

featuring the teen Tadzio

36 Teen “Whoa!”37 Grp. concerned with

violence levels38 With 43-Across, part of

a squid39 Long-running Mell

Lazarus comic strip41 What you may squeal

with43 See 38-Across46 “Think of ___ …”47 Dipped48 Biblical waste?50 Run one’s mouth52 Allowing no

equivocation54 Stupefying thing55 Favor doer’s comment56 It can be dangerous

when leaked57 Like some sunbathers

DOWN 1 Tree with large

seedpods on its trunk 2 Like many older

Americans’ French or Spanish

3 Not given to lumbering 4 Jacob ___, South

African president beginning in 2009

5 Member of the Ennead 6 Attic character 7 Movement from Cuba? 8 Brass tacks 9 Sock sound10 Bad attribution11 Aim12 Where to find some

nuts13 “My heart bleeds for

you,” often15 It’s known for its start-

ups21 Proceed wearily24 Unleash25 “The Once and Future

King” figure26 Extremely27 Albuterol alleviates it29 Like some Beanie

Babies31 Sensible32 Head33 Groove on an arrow

34 Mailing to a label35 Pie-baking giant40 Antares or Proxima

Centauri42 Poet who wrote “Do

I dare / Disturb the universe?”

43 Yes or no follower44 Focus of

stereochemistry45 Roman Demeter

47 Neckline?48 Union ___49 Baby sound51 Verano, across the

Pyrenees53 Yours, in Turin

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18

19 20 21 22

23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33

34

35

36 37 38

39 40 41 42 43 44 45

46 47 48 49

50 51 52 53

54 55

56 57

D I N E T E E M F O R K SJ O E L H A L O A N N I EE T A L E C H O L L A M AD A R I N C H I N E S E

O O H L E A N T OU A L T R A N S M I S S I O NL S A T M O T O T H E S EL I T P I O U S K S UM A T T E R I N K D R I PA G E E X P E C T A T I O N SN O N A M E G U V

M A N O V E R B O A R DI T G U Y Z E R O R U B EQ U E S O M E N U C R I BS M E A R A P O P E A S T

N

N

N

How to play Kakuro:The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.Within each collection of cells - called a run

- any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

14

EASY SUDOKUCartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

Easy Sudoku PuzzlesPlace a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so everyrow, every column and every 3x3 box contains allthe digits 1 to 9.


CINEMA / TV LISTINGS 15

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LANDMARK

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13:00 Do Dil Bandhe Ek

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PLUS | SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2014 POTPOURRI16

Editor-In-Chief Khalid Al Sayed Acting Managing Editor Hussain Ahmad Editorial Office The Peninsula Tel: 4455 7741, E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

IN FOCUS

Sunrise in Al Khor.

by Ruchi Srivastava

Send your photos to [email protected]. Mention where the photo was taken.

Badr Ali Al Sada, Managing DirectorAli Bin Hussein Al Sada’s Investment Group

Member of the Board of Directors of Salam International. He stud-

ied at the College of the North Atlantic in the state of Qatar in Business Management special-ised in Accounting. He is the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Ali Bin Hussein Al Sada’s Investment Group and Chairman of Anzo Contracting Company.

Who’s who

If you want your events featured here, mail details to [email protected]

Upcoming ConcertsAround the World with the Vienna Boys Choir When: March 1-2; 7:30pmWhere: Opera House, Katara Cultural

Village Building 16

What: Han-Na Chang, music directorSiwar (JCC Children’s Choir)Nabih El Khatib, choirmasterThe Vienna Boys ChoirBomi Kim, choirmaster Tickets: QR75-300

Halal Hal Qatar Festival When: Mar 22-31; 10am-10pm Where: Katara’s Southern Area

What: This carnival will present three main activities: Al-Mazaiyn: A show of beauty for goats and sheep, there will be prize for the first 5. Al-Mazad (public sale): Selling groups of livestock through auction. Al-Izab: Group of barns, each contain different kind of livestock, the visitor will be able to know it and see it closely. Free Entry

Radiant When: Until Mar 29Where: Museum of Islamic Arts What: The Museum of Islamic Arts in partnership with East Wing, presents a photographic exhibition featuring artwork by German artist Antje Hanebeck. Free Entry

Behind the Veil When: March 9 - April 12; 10am-10pmWhere: Katara Building Number 12 What: A tribute to the grande dame of photography, Eve Arnold, and celebrates her legendary career that spanned nearly half a century as a photojournalist social commentator and documentor. She is known for her portraits of Hollywood heavy weights such as Joan Crawford and Marilyn Monroe.Free Entry

Massimo Banzi: Crossing Boundaries When: Mar 26Where: VCUQatar AtriumWhat: Massimo Banzi is the co-founder of the Arduino project. He is an interaction designer, educator and open source hardware advocate. He has worked as a consultant for clients such as: Prada, Artemide, Persol, Whirlpool, V&A Museum and Adidas.Free Entry

Kings and Pawns When: March 19 - June 21Where: Museum of Islamic Arts What: This exhibition uncovers the history of board games in the Islamic world, from India to Spain between 7th and 20th century. King and Pawns features game-boards, Persian and Arabic chess manuals, paintings and illustrated manuscripts.Free Entry

Events in Qatar

By Irene Klotz

Scientists added a record 715 more planets to the list of known worlds beyond the solar system,

boosting the overall tally to nearly 1,700, astronomers said.

The additions include four plan-ets about 2-1/2 times as big as Earth that are the right distance from their parent stars for liquid surface water, which is believed to be key for life.

The discoveries were made with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope before it was sidelined by a pointing system prob-lem last year. The telescope, launched in 2009, spent four productive years staring at 160,000 target stars for signs of planets passing by, relative to the telescope’s line of sight.

The tally of planets announced at a Nasa press conference boosted Kepler’s confirmed planet count from 246 to 961.

Combined with other telescopes’ results, the headcount of planets beyond the solar system, or exoplanets, now numbers nearly 1,700.

“We almost doubled, just today, the number of planets known to human-ity,” astronomer Douglas Hudgins, head of exoplanet exploration at Nasa Headquarters in Washington, told reporters on a conference call.

The population boom is due to a new verification technique that analyses potential planets in batches rather than one at a time. The method was developed after scientists realized that most planets, like those in the solar system, have sibling worlds orbiting a common parent star.

The newly found planets reinforce evidence that small planets, two to three times the size of Earth, are com-mon throughout the galaxy.

“Literally, wherever (Kepler) can see them, it finds them,” said astronomer Sara Seager, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “That’s why we have confidence that there will be planets like Earth in other places.”

Like the solar system, which has eight planets plus Pluto and other so-called “dwarf planets,” the newly found exoplanets belong in families.

Reuters

US space telescope spots 715 more planets

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