Cannes spotlight puts Iranian cinema centre stage

CAMPUS | 3 COMMUNITY | 6 ENTERTAINMENT | 11

PEF hosts delegation from

NMC Lahore

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016 @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatarEmail: dohatoday@pen.com.qa thepeninsulaqatar

SAVINGSAVING CAVESCAVESP | 4-5

Abandoned for centuries, the Mogao Grottoes somehow survived everything that nature and man could throw at them, including earthquakes, floods and sandstorms.

Bangladesh MHM School marks Rabindra &

Nazrul anniversaries

CAMPUS

| 03SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

DeBakey High School students visit Qatar Museums exhibition

Students from DeBakey High School visited the new exhibition — What about the Art? — at Qatar Museums Al Riwaq Gallery, where they discovered amazing

contemporary Chinese artists. This was an extension from their classroom lessons in Art class.

Bangladesh MHM School marks Rabindra & Nazrul anniversaries

Bangladesh MHM School and Col-

lege, Qatar arranged a discus-

sion and a cultural programme

to mark the birth anniversaries of Rab-

indranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam

at the school premises on May 16. The

birthdays celebration programme was

organised to pay homage to the two

great poets of Bengal since these two

remarkable men are remembered, as

their impact on Bangladesh and the

legacy they left behind still play a vi-

tal role in the culture and history of the

country. The programme was graced

by the presence of Ashud Ahmed, the

Ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar

and Chairman of Bangladesh School.

High official of Bangladesh Embassy,

faculty members and students were

present on the occasion. The pro-

gramme wore a festive look with reci-

tation from poems of Nazrul Islam and

Tagore, solo and group songs, dances

and drama.

COVER STORY

04 | SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

By Simon Denyer The Washington Post

At the heart of the ancient Silk

Road, on the edge of the

Gobi Desert, lies a centuries-

old place of pilgrimage: hun-

dreds of caves hewn from a sandstone

cliff containing some of the most ex-

quisite Buddhist frescoes and figures

in the world.

Abandoned for centuries, the

Mogao Grottoes somehow survived

everything that nature and man could

throw at them, including earthquakes,

floods and sandstorms. Marauding

rebels, plundering European explorers

and White Russian soldiers all left their

mark. Rampaging Red Guards were

turned away at the height of China’s

Cultural Revolution.

Today, the caves outside Dunhuang,

in western China, enjoy a new stature,

at the heart of Communist China’s ef-

forts to revitalise and rebuild the Silk

Road as a testament to its growing

power in Asia. They also stand as a

symbol of Sino-American cooperation

in China’s cultural preservation, thanks

to pioneering work by the Getty Con-

servation Institute.

But the fragile wall paintings, some

of which date to the 4th century and

show stories from Buddha’s life and

visions of the afterlife, face another

threat — from a new army of tourists

and the lure of profit.

“In the past 100 years, most of the

damage has been done by nature, but

visits by more tourists will break the

original balance inside the caves,” said

Wang Xudong, president of Dunhuang

Academy, which runs, preserves and

restores the site. “Constant entrance

and exit changes the temperature and

humidity inside the caves. Human bod-

ies also carry microorganisms, and if

they start to grow inside the caves, it

would be very scary.”

More than 1.1 million tourists visited

the caves in 2015, a rise of 40 percent

in just a year and a roughly 20-fold

jump in the past two decades.

The vast majority are Chinese, as

the country’s growing wealth fuels a

huge boom in domestic tourism and

as interest is renewed in China’s Bud-

dhist past.

With advice from Getty’s experts,

the Dunhuang Academy initially tried

to cap the number of tourists at 3,000

a day but later realised “that limit just

would not stop people from coming,”

Wang said. The limit was then raised

to 6,000 a day, but demand regularly

exceeds that in the peak July-to-Octo-

ber season.

To relieve the pressure, tourists

are asked to register in advance and,

before visiting the site, watch two

20-minute movies in a sweeping new

visitors’ centre on the history of Dun-

huang and the caves themselves.

Later, they are guided through a se-

lection of the 40 caves that are open

to the public, forbidden to take photo-

graphs in case their camera flash dam-

ages the frescoes.

In China, a new threat to ancient caves

COVER STORY

| 05SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

Register too late, above the 6,000

cutoff, and you’ll miss the movies and

get to see only four caves. By giving

these latecomers “a very bad experi-

ence,” Wang said he hopes to encour-

age more people to come during the

low season, when ticket prices are

halved.

The question is whether Wang can

stem the tide. Beside the visitors’ cen-

tre, nine miles from the caves, con-

struction workers are building a pri-

vately funded tourist complex, includ-

ing a theater and hotels.

In the city of Dunhuang, a $250m

conference centre and a bigger,

2,000-seat theatre are being built to

house an annual Silk Road Cultural Ex-

po. The large modern airport is being

expanded, with a $150m upgrade.

“There is enormous commercial

pressure,” said Neville Agnew, who has

been visiting and working in the caves

for 28 years for the Getty Conserva-

tion Institute. “The growth of the city

of Dunhuang depends ultimately on

the Mogao Grottoes. They are going to

have their work cut out to control visi-

tation, and, of course, I think you’d find

many people who are interested in de-

velopment of the region want more

visitors.”

Yet there is also state-of-the-art

restoration work going on here, thanks

to a long-standing collaboration be-

tween the Dunhuang Academy, Getty

and other foreign experts.

Painstakingly, the restorers start in

each cave by taking hundreds of high-

resolution photographs, in colour and

black-and-white. Then the frescoes are

examined to see what materials were

used — and the causes of deterioration

diagnosed — before experts decide on

the best materials and methods to re-

store them.

Some of the paintings, rendered

on a base of mud and grass, are part-

ly detached from the rock face, and

enormously vulnerable to humidity or

earthquakes. Different kinds of grout

were extensively tested before one

was chosen to fill the gaps.

The project has produced guide-

lines that have been applied to other

grottoes across China as well as princi-

ples that have helped the country bet-

ter manage its heritage sites. It has al-

so spawned a major new exhibition at

the Getty Research Institute in Los An-

geles that runs from May until Septem-

ber and includes full-size replicas of

three of the caves.

It is a much happier example of Si-

no-Western collaboration than the

caves experienced a century ago. In

1907, Hungarian British archaeologist

Aurel Stein persuaded a local monk to

sell him 24 trunks packed with ancient

Buddhist scriptures and five trunks of

paintings, embroideries and other art-

works that had only recently been dis-

covered in a small walled-up cave. He

paid the equivalent of 130 pounds.

French, Japanese and Russian ex-

plorers took thousands more priceless

documents in subsequent years before

American Langdon Warner showed up

in 1923 to find the portable treasures

gone. Determined not to leave emp-

ty-handed, he took some of the sculp-

tures and used adhesive glue to rip a

dozen paintings off the walls.

The official history calls them the

“despicable treasure hunters.”

Others who weren’t seeking rel-

ics inflicted their own sorts of damage.

In 1870, rebels turned up at the caves,

burning down many of the wooden

ladders that gave access. They may al-

so have been responsible for scratch-

ing off the faces from some of the

paintings.

In 1921, White Russian soldiers who

had retreated into China during the

war against the Bolsheviks were de-

tained by the Chinese government and

temporarily jailed in the caves. The

damage from their fires, and their graf-

fiti, is still visible in several caves.

But history was kinder during Chi-

na’s Cultural Revolution, when, on or-

ders from Premier Zhou Enlai, People’s

Liberation Army soldiers and police

were dispatched to protect the caves

from gangs of Red Guards intent on

destroying them.

Today, 735 caves remain, hewn from

the cliff over a period of 1,000 years.

Nearly 500 have paintings on the walls

— undecorated caves were for medita-

tion — while more than 2,000 sculp-

tures have survived.

With partners all over the world,

the Dunhuang Academy is working on

a major digital archiving project, pho-

tographing the caves and everything

that was once contained within them.

Wang said that more than 40,000

artworks or scriptures are scattered

around the world but that this is a way

to unite them and preserve them for-

ever.

“Of course, we hope that when the

world truly becomes a big family, they

can come back to Mogao caves and

unite with the other relics here,” he

said. “But reality is quite cruel some-

times. If we can get them back to the

Internet family through digitalisation,

that is a target we can achieve for now.”

COMMUNITY

06 | SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

PEF hosts delegation from NMC Lahore

Pakistan Engineers Forum (PEF)

hosted a reception dinner at

Pistachio Restaurant Doha in

honour of the visiting delega-

tion to Qatar as part of their course

being held at National Management

College (NMC), Lahore.

A 10-member delegation head-

ed by Shahid Rahim Shaikh was on a

study tour to Qatar, attending 104th

batch of course from National Man-

agement College Lahore. Other mem-

bers of the delegation were, Ambreen

Raza, Basharat Mahmood Shahzad,

Bashirullah Khan, Nasir Hamid, Man-

zoor Hussain Memon, Dr. Khalid Hus-

sain, Munawwar Khan and Waseem

Mukhtar Chaudary.

Pakistan Embassy Qatar’s Charge

D’ Affair, Wajid Hassan Hashmi, Com-

mercial Attache. Arbab Qaiser, De-

fence Attache, Massud Akram and

former Ambassador to Qatar. Sarfarz

Khanzada were also joined the dele-

gation at the reception.

Pakistan Engineers Forum Presi-

dent Mohammad Tahir Jamil, PEF sen-

ior members Mohammad Riaz, Ajmal

Chaudary, Ghaiyas Rao, senior journal-

ist Liaqat Malik, Pistachio CEO Rizwwa-

na Abdul Sattar and Abdul Sattar at-

tended the function.

The delegation visited the Minstry

of Commerce, Ministry of Planning,

Supreme Committee of Delivery and

Legacy, Lusial City, Qatar Foundation

and AlJazeera Media.

Anti Smoking Society in associa-

tion with the Ministry of Pub-

lic Health has started a 10-day

long anti-tobacco campaign.

The campaign is targeting stu-

dents, teachers and parents of Eng-

lish speaking students in the country.

The campaign is in connection with

the World No Tobacco Day of World

Health Organisation.

The gathering congratulated the

advisory council of Qatar for their ex-

emplary decision to hike penalties for

public smoking and observed that

strict implementation of anti-tobacco

law is essential to ensure considera-

ble reduction in tobacco consumption.

The campaign got off to a flying at

Ideal Indian School as many as 500

students representing 15 different

schools attending the inaugural cer-

emony.

Jose Philip, Managing Director of

Ceprotec Trading and Contracting, in-

augurated the event.

Addressing the large turnout of

students and parents, he urged them

to join hands together to eradicate

the evil practice of smoking from the

society.

Abdul Fathah Nilambur, coordina-

tor of Anti Smoking Society, adminis-

tered the anti tobacco pledge.

Amanulla Vadakkangara, founder

and CEO of the Anti Smoking Society,

conducted the event.

The campaign witnessed children

from more than a dozen nationalities

expressing their solidarity against the

evils of smoking through paintings.

The winners of the competitions

will be honoured at a function to be

held at Doha Bank auditorium in West-

bay on May 31, the organisers said.

10-day-long anti-tobacco campaign begins

MARKETPLACE

| 07SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

Mediaplus releases 10th edition of Gulf Business Card Directory

Mediaplus WLL, a Doha-based

advertising and event man-

agement company, released

the 10th edition of its Gulf

Business Card Directory at a glittering

function held at Warwick hotel yester-

day. A prominent Qatari businessman

Ali Abdulla Jassim Al Kaabi released

the directory by handing over a copy

to Usman Muhammed Managing Direc-

tor of speed line printing press group.

Addressing a packed crowd, Medi-

aplus CEO Amanulla Vadakkangara ex-

plained the idea of business card di-

rectory and observed that it was effec-

tive and useful to connecting people

on a large scale. “The information ex-

plosion witnessed by the world today

has made business more and more

challenging and it demands to be

more and more relationship oriented

for business success. It was after thor-

ough market research and analysis we

ventured up on the directory and it has

proved to be successful as we were

growing every year inspite of economic

crisis in the market,” he said.

Gulf Business Card Directory has

become one of the most sought after

tool for developing Intra-Gulf business

especially in the SME sector.

The whole directory online (www.

gbcdonline.com) facilitating people all

over the world to refer to the directo-

ry as and when they require. The mo-

bile application launched this year has

increased the scope of this publication.

The directory, facilitating the busi-

ness community to interact among

themselves for mutually rewarding en-

terprises, contains business cards of

individuals and establishments which

can be a ready reference of all the

leading business concerns in the en-

tire region.

An array of prominent personali-

ties including Ashraf Cherakkal, region-

al director of Grand Mall, Roy Varghese,

managing director of Spectrum engi-

neering, Santhosh Kumar Pillai, manag-

ing director Vibrant Consultancy, Jose

Philip, managing director Ceptrotec,

Anil Srinivasan, general manager of Jet

Airways, Jaseel CP, marketing manag-

er of Awasco Trading and Contracting,

Shukkur Kinalur, managing director of

Acon Group, Amjad, commercial man-

ager of Al Waraq Printing Press, spoke

on the occasion.

The online version was launched by

Ashraf Cherakkal, while the mobile ap-

plication was launched by Anil Srinivas-

an. The directory which will be distrib-

uted free of charge.

This season, Cath Kidston show-

cases a new turnlock handbag

and backpack with a retro feel.

Both styles ooze retro glamour with

a textured finish and a brass turnlock

clasp, securely fastening away your be-

longings in the chicest way.

Available in prints that pack a punch,

they will look right at home with your

finest summer get-up! Take your pick

from Hydrangea — a new feminine flo-

ral, Greenwich Rose — a print full of en-

ergy inspired by densely-planted Eng-

lish gardens, or the classic Button Spot.

Bold bucket bagsA failsafe shape, the bucket bag is

classic yet modern. This design works

with everything from off-duty denim

to office tailoring, making it the perfect

addition to Cath Kidston’s new season

collection. Made in lightweight cotton

with luxury leather detailing, you can

carry it across body or over your arm -

the choice is yours. The drawstring de-

tailing cinches in the top line to create

shape and keep your belongings safely

stored — perfect for going hands free

at this summer’s festivals!

The bag is available

in a beautiful Hydrangea

print — the first time the

brand has used this stand

out floral, the new Her-

baceous Border design

which features a grow-

ing garden of Lupin’s and

Daisies, and a classic spot

in a new chambray hue.

Trusty ToteIf there’s one bag

shape that you need

in your summer ward-

robe, it’s a Trusty Tote.

This shape will see you

through all of your sum-

mer holidays and trips.

This season, Cath Kidston

has added a zip fastening

to the tote design to keep

everything safely stowed

away for your travels. Large totes are

available in two of the season’s must

have prints, the beautiful Blossom

Birds, a delicate design, which features

feathered friends paired with beautiful

blossoms or a pretty pastel colorways

of the new Hydrangea print.

Cath Kidston unveils new collection of bags

FOOD

08 | SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

By Barbara Damrosch The Washington Post

When I first grew broccoli

raab in the 1990s, I fig-

ured I was doing some-

thing wrong. I liked the

way it produced small shoots rath-

er than big heads and that edible

leaves, stems and buds were all part

of the deal. But they were bitter, a fact

I chalked up to summer weather. Many

cabbage relatives — brassicas — taste

best when it’s cool.

I’ve since learned more about this

popular Italian crop, also known as

rapini or cima di rapa. When Bill McKay,

the founder of the catalogue Seeds

From Italy, wrote about raab, he ad-

vised gardeners to direct sow the crop

and thin it twice as it grows. “You do

not have to grow it in cool weather,” he

asserts.

The classic way to cook raab, he

says, is to boil it until soft (“none of this

crunchy texture”), drain, and reheat in

olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes and

maybe a little cheese. And yes, it’s

slightly bitter. Italians like it that way.

Years later, searching for a sweet-

er version, I discovered broccolini, a

trademarked green sold in produce

markets that is a cross between broc-

coli and a leafier Asian vegetable called

gai-lan or kai-lan. So I grew a vari-

ety called Happy Rich, another gai-

lan/broccoli cross but one for which

I could purchase seeds (from john-

nyseeds.com). The plants were state-

ly candelabras, somewhat blue-green

and covered with small, tasty shoots.

These bore white flowers, which, unlike

those of American broccoli, didn’t turn

brownish when cooked.

The brassicas are a wide genus,

and it might seem odd that cultivated

crops as different as cauliflower, cab-

bage, broccoli, kale, kohlrabi and Brus-

sels sprouts were all derived from a

wild plant on the coasts of northwest-

ern Europe. Nevertheless, they all share

a great love of rich soil. They flourished

in the fertile soils of gardens and lent

themselves to creative improvements.

They are sought by cabbage worms,

flea beetles and hungry humans in

search of nutritious greens. Their flow-

ers, if allowed to form, are always four

petals in a single cross shape, hence

the name of the larger family to which

they belong, the crucifers.

Aside from feeding them heavily,

one of a gardener’s strategies in grow-

ing brassicas is to keep them from

blooming. When your broccoli bolts,

with clusters of yellow flowers wav-

ing, the bees are happy, but no more

heads will form. So you pick regularly

or have new transplants coming along

to replace bolted ones.

Kale, though cold-hardy, is a crop

we once thought a waste of space in

our unheated winter greenhouse, be-

cause it didn’t put out fresh leaves

if cut. If left to overwinter, it bolted

straightaway when spring came.

But not long ago, we discovered

that certain kale varieties, most no-

tably Western Front (from adaptives-

eeds.com), would produce new growth

when cut all winter and into ear-

ly spring. This year, when the plants

eventually bloomed, sending up nar-

row, bright yellow clusters like upside-

down brooms, a funny thing happened.

Gus, a member of our farm crew, start-

ed eating the tops raw — flowers,

leaves and stems — all of them tender

and sweet.

There they were, the perfect brassi-

ca shoots hiding right under my nose

as kale. Best of all, the golden colour of

the flowers was undiminished by cook-

ing. I cut the tops about six inches long

and simmered them in a covered pan

with a little water, lots of olive oil and

grated garlic. In five minutes, they were

done — with just a bit of crunch.

Power flowers: Blossoming greens pack nutritious punch

FASHION / LIFESTYLE

| 09SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

Baggy work pants winning new fans in JapanMichiyo Horike The Washington Post

Contrary to their past image as

trousers worn by elderly wom-

en, monpe baggy work pants

are becoming a cool fashion

statement as manufacturers use Ku-

rume kasuri, a traditional fabric from

the Chikugo region of Fukuoka Prefec-

ture, to make new stylish monpe pants.

Monpe pants with a variety of patterns

and colors are displayed at Unagino-

Nedoko (literally: eel bed), a specialty

shop in Yame in the prefecture that in-

troduces craft products and other Ky-

ushu goods.

“We’re seeing more and more peo-

ple of different ages and genders,” said

Shogo Haruguchi, manager of the shop.

He was clad in monpe pants made of

red Kurume kasuri with a polka-dot pat-

tern that went well with a black T-shirt.

In cooperation with a local Kurume

kasuri manufacturer, the store makes

and sells special monpe pants in a vari-

ety of patterns, ranging from checkered

to more traditional patterns. Some are

made with plain cloth.

The store’s monpe pants are slim-

mer than traditional ones, though both

have elasticised waists. “Our original in-

tention to make the pants slimmer was

to reduce the use of expensive Kurume

kasuri, but it resulted in giving monpe

wearers greater options in coordinating

their outfits,” Haruguchi said.

He said monpe pants go especially

well with ordinary modern clothes, in-

cluding collared shirts and horizontal-

ly striped T-shirts. Because monpe are

loose-fitting pants, choosing tight-fit-

ting upper garments makes the wearer

look refined. But he warned that tuck-

ing in the shirt may make you look un-

sophisticated. “The greatest thing is

that they are so comfortable. Once you

put them on, you want to wear them all

the time,” said Takahiro Shiramizu, the

store’s operator.

His wife’s mother is from the fami-

ly of a Kurume kasuri manufacturer, so

Shiramizu tried out monpe pants to see

how they felt. He was immediately at-

tracted by the mild feel of the 100-per-

cent cotton and the ability of the pants

to absorb sweat and dry quickly. To ex-

pand the potential of the traditional

work pants, he has held monpe exhibi-

tions every year since 2011. This year, he

plans to hold events in Yame, the Ten-

jin district of Fukuoka, and Tokyo from

May to July.

He said that not only young peo-

ple but also the middle-aged and eld-

erly have started wearing monpe pants.

Some of the comments he heard were,

“Monpe pants are good for lounging

around in, and as street clothes,” and

“It’s convenient to take them with me

when I travel because they aren’t bulky.”

Shiramizu said: “Our goal is to make

monpe pants the Japanese version of

jeans. I hope people try them out and

appreciate their good quality.”

Yamaguchi Prefectural University

students and graduate school students

at its Fashion and Service Design labo-

ratory have designed monpe pants for

young people as street clothes. They’ve

been on sale under the brand name

Mompekko since 2014. Their products

have a pattern named Yamaguchi-jima

stripes, which were created based on

the traditional Taki-jima stripes.

HEALTH & FITNESS

10 | SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

Prediabetes is a wake-up call to get healthyBy Elana Dure The Washington Post

When I was in sixth grade,

a friend approached me

during recess. “When

you’re older, you’re going

to be really fat,” she said. “Just look at all

the junk you eat.”

I stopped munching on my bag of

nachos, thought of all the sugary treats

I’d packed for snack that day and knew

I was guilty as charged. But given my

thin physique and fast metabolism, I

didn’t worry.

Ten years later, at the age of 22,

those eating habits caught up to me.

After visiting my doctor for a checkup

a few months ago, I received an alarm-

ing call from him: My blood sugar lev-

el was elevated; I needed to watch my

glucose intake. In other words, I am pre-

diabetic, and if I don’t significantly de-

crease my sugar consumption, my body

will react in a not-so-pleasant manner.

After a quick Google search, I discov-

ered I am not alone. Approximately 86

million Americans — or 1 in 3 American

adults — have prediabetes, according

to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention (CDC). Without weight loss

and physical activity, 15 to 30 percent of

these folks will develop Type 2 diabetes

within five years, the CDC says.

Prediabetes, also known as im-

paired glucose metabolism, general-

ly has no symptoms. However, people

whose blood sugar level is higher than

normal but not high enough to be con-

sidered diabetic should be tested for

diabetes once a year, according to the

American Diabetes Association.

People with certain risk factors are

likely to develop prediabetes, according

to the ADA. These factors include be-

ing 45 or older, being overweight and

having a family member with diabetes.

As a 22-year-old, 5-foot-7 woman who

weighs 110 pounds, I did not expect to

find myself on the watch list. But my

lack of regular activity and the genetic

component of the condition (my grand-

father and uncle both had diabetes) set

off an alarm, given that full-blown di-

abetes can cause serious health prob-

lems including kidney failure and an in-

creased risk of heart disease or stroke.

Given those risks, I was determined

to do what I could to make sure “pre”

did not turn into full diabetes. My doc-

tor had already helped me take the first

step in that direction. “We know that a

very simple risk test, a series of ques-

tions that you can take online or on pa-

per, will give any individual an idea of

whether or not they are at risk for de-

veloping diabetes. That recognition is

critically important because if you don’t

suspect you’re at risk, then you’re not

going to seek assistance,” said Robert

Ratner, the ADA’s chief scientific and

medical officer.

An intervention — in the form of die-

tary changes, extra exercise and some-

times medication — can prevent the de-

velopment of diabetes, Ratner said.

Nahrain Alzubaidi, an endocrinol-

ogist and nutrition specialist at Inova

Fairfax Hospital in Virginia, suggests

that people with prediabetes do 30

minutes of activity three to four days a

week. She also said they should adopt a

diet with whole-grain carbs; good pro-

tein such as fish, tofu and skinless poul-

try; and food rich in “good” polyunsat-

urated fats such as olive oil and avoca-

do. She advises her patients to avoid

red meat if possible and to be cautious

about some dairy, such as whole milk,

butter and rich cheeses, because these

foods are high in saturated fat and may

raise cholesterol and the risk of cardio-

vascular disease.

“We never say zero,” Alzubaidi said.

“We all have habits and we all have cul-

tures or ethnic-background differenc-

es. It’s individualised, so we always say

in the beginning to at least cut down

[on sugar and refined carbs] and find

an alternative that is as satisfying as the

original but with less amount of dam-

age.”

Ratner said people with prediabe-

tes who are overweight should aim for

a 10 percent reduction of fat content in

their meals and an overall decrease in

total calories. Fat consumption should

be a maximum of 25 percent of total

daily calories. He said a 5 to 7 percent

reduction in body weight can lead to a

50 percent reduction of the risk of de-

veloping diabetes.

In January, the CDC, the ADA and the

American Medical Association, in part-

nership with the Ad Council, launched a

public-awareness campaign about pre-

diabetes to get out the message that

lifestyle and diet changes can reverse

the condition. Critics say the effort is

problematic because it focuses on in-

dividual behavior instead of on some of

the larger societal problems of income

inequality and poverty that make dia-

betes more prevalent in lower-income,

minority populations. Victor Montori, an

endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic in Ro-

chester, said the campaign targets too

many people who may have slightly el-

evated blood sugar but will never devel-

op diabetes. “The definition [of predia-

betes] that is currently being used is very

broad, and that broad definition makes

it easy to find the people who are at risk,

but unfortunately it classifies too many

people as being at risk,” he said.

Ratner and Alzubaidi agree that

not everyone with moderately high

blood sugar levels like me will develop

the disease, but they said it isn’t worth

the gamble. Because diabetes remains

the leading cause of blindness in work-

ing-age people and the leading cause

of limb amputations and kidney fail-

ure, its prevention is critically important,

they said. “I guess the cynical way that

I would look at it is not everyone who

smokes cigarettes gets lung cancer, but

the chance that you won’t get lung can-

cer isn’t really a good reason to contin-

ue smoking,” Ratner said.

People with certain risk factors are likely to develop pre-diabetes, according to the ADA. These factors include being 45 or older, being overweight and having a family member with diabetes.

ENTERTAINMENT

| 11SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

Cannes spotlight puts Iranian cinema at centre stageAFP

As Iranian films and actors compete this

weekend at Cannes attention is turning

toward the country’s thriving independ-

ent cinema sector which is succeeding de-

spite tough regulations.

Religious, political and cultural red lines rep-

resent obstacles to filmmakers and actors in Iran.

Scripts must be pre-approved by the state.

Most learn to live with the restrictions but some

leave the country, seeking more artistic freedom.

“The Salesman” by Oscar-winning director Asghar

Farhadi is challenging for the prestigious Palme d’Or

while “Varoonegi” (Inversion) directed by Behnam

Behzadi, is competing in the sidebar section “Un

Certain Regard”. Farhadi’s latest effort has already

generated interest from US distributors, The New

York Times quoted French co-producer Alexandre

Mallet-Guy as saying.

This year in Cannes, two Iranian actresses com-

pete for best actress; self-exiled Golshifteh Farahani

in “Paterson”, by the award-winning US director Jim

Jarmusch, and Taraneh Alidoosti in Farhadi’s “The

Salesman”.

The momentum is partly due to Farhadi’s talent,

most notably marked by his best foreign film Acad-

emy Award in 2012 for “A Separation”, a dark but

touching tale of family break up set in Tehran.

“With the large global distribution of this film

Farhadi gave a great visibility to Iranian cinema, that

in fact started long before him,” Agnes Devictor, a

professor at the Sorbonne in Paris, specialising in

Iranian cinema, said. “A Separation” won a Golden

Globe in the same category and his follow-up, “The

Past”, set in France, was nominated for the Palme

d’Or in 2013.

Farhadi is not alone in gaining accolades. In 2015,

“Nahid”, Ida Panahandeh’s debut feature won the

promising future prize in Un Certain Regard. Dozens

of cinemas screened the film in France, Spain and

Greece. Distribution companies such as the France-

based Noori Pictures, headed by Katayoon Sha-

habi, have played a major role in bringing Iranian

films to a wider audience. Shahabi, a “lioness” who

has become “the embodiment of independent film

abroad” according to Devictor, is among the eight

jurors for Cannes 2016. The success abroad reflects

a continued rise at the box office.

Domestic sales in the first month of the Per-

sian year (March 20 to April 20) totalled 267bn rials

($8.9m), more than the entire annual box office two

years ago, media reported.

But filmmaking in Iran has its own challenges.

Jafar Panahi, whose “Taxi” —barred from screen-

ing in Iran — won the Golden Bear in Berlin film fes-

tival in 2015, is not allowed to exit the country or

make films. At the beginning of Cannes this year

more than 30 major European film organisations

appealed to Iran’s government to grant clemency

to a young director sentenced to 223 lashes.

Keywan Karimi, 30, was sentenced to six years

in prison in 2015 but five years of the term was sus-

pended later. Other stars have fallen foul of the au-

thorities. Farahani, lead actress in Farhadi’s “About

Elly”, was one of those who left Iran a few years

ago. The first top Iranian actor to star in a Holly-

wood film, she raised eyebrows in her homeland

when she appeared in Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies”

in 2008, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.

Abbas Kiarostami, one of the most well-known

Iranian directors worldwide working in France for

over a decade, believes recent cinema success

comes from a wave of independent filmmakers.

Amir Pouria, an Iranian film critic, said that

Farhadi has helped break down Western stereo-

types of movies coming out of Iran. “The world has

accepted that Iran’s cinema is capable of cinematic

production with technical standards, and is not be-

ing paid attention to only for an exotic atmosphere

and common oriental tourist interests.” But still, it is

the “individuals” that make up Iran’s cinema, he be-

lieves. American independent legend Jarmusch al-

so paid tribute to Iranian cinema in the press con-

ference for “Paterson” on May 16. “I am very aware

of the poetry in the cinema of Iran and I’ve said this

for 15 years probably that this is one of the gardens

of cinema on our planet.”

Iranian actor Ali Mosaffa, director Behnam Behzadi and actress Sahar Dolatshahi during a photo call

for the film ‘Inversion’ (Varoonegi) at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.

Actress Roya Javidnia of the film ‘Varoonegi’ at the

69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes.

12 | SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

ENTERTAINMENT

IANS

Superstar Mohanlal turned 56 yes-

terday and he used the occasion

to release the teaser of his forth-

coming film “Pulli Murugan”.

Apart from the film in which he

is seen fighting with a tiger, the two-

time best actor National Award winner

is currently busy shooting for the film

“Oppam”. Directed by his close friend

and popular director Priyadarshan, it

is being shot in and around Ernakulam

district.

Starting his acting career in 1978 in

the yet-to-be released Malayalam film

“Thiranottam”, he has acted in more

than 325 films so far and continues to

be among the sought-after actors.

IANS

Bollywood celebrities like Ab-

hishek Bachchan, Riteish

Deshmukh, Parineeti Chopra

and Athiya Shetty have appre-

ciated the biopic “Sarbjit”, for the im-

pactful performances by the cast.

The film, released on Friday, is a bi-

opic on Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farm-

er who was convicted of terrorism and

spying in Pakistan and was sentenced

to death. He was attacked by inmates

at a prison in Lahore in April 2013 and

died a few days later.

“Sarbjit” stars Aishwarya Rai Bach-

chan as the title character’s sister Dal-

bir Kaur; while Randeep Hooda plays

Sarabjit Singh and Richa Chadha plays

his wife.

Here’s what the celebrities had to

say following a special screening of the

Omung Kumar directorial here:

Abhishek Bachchan: It’s immense-

ly brave of any actor to perform with

such honesty and fearlessness and

the Mrs. is the bravest of them all. So

proud! ‘Sarbjit’.

Riteish Deshmukh: ‘Sarbjit’. Richa

Chadha truly magical on screen. Dar-

shan Kumar another solid performer.

Mika Singh: Salute to the director

Omung Kumar, we Indians should save

the girl child giving birth to Dalbir Kaurs

that would stand nd fight for a cause.

Athiya Shetty: ‘Sarbjit’ a story that

needed to be told. What brilliant and

honest performances Randeep Hooda,

Richa Chadha, Aishwarya Rai Bach-

chan, Omung Kumar.

Neil Nitin Mukesh: ‘Sarbjit’ Omung

Kumar, Vanita, Sandeep Singh take a

bow! Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is simply

outstanding. My current favourite song

is ‘salamat’.

Anubhav Sinha: ‘Sarbjit’ totally

lives up to the hype. Take it away Richa

Chadha, Aishwarya, Randeep Hooda,

Bhushan Kumar and Jackky Bhagnani,

Omung Kumar and T-Series.

Parineeti Chopra: All the best team

‘Sarbjit’! It’s going to be amazing!Watch

this important film guys...Jackky Bhag-

nani, Priya Gupta Randeep Hooda.

B-Town all praise for solid performances in ‘Sarbjit’

Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and husband and actor Abhishek Bachchan and actress Kajal Aggarwal (right)

pose for photographs during a promotional event for ‘Sarbjit’ in Mumbai.

Bollywood director Ram Gopal Varma (second right) sits alongside actress

Usha Jadhav and actors Sandeep Bhardwaj (left) and Sachin Joshi as he

speaks at media briefing during promotional event of his film “Veerapan”

in Chennai.

Mohanlal turns 56

| 13SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

How do 20,000 genes determine so many wildly different traits? By Sarah Kaplan The Washington Post

You probably wouldn’t be sur-

prised if a scientist told you

that your genes influence

when you hit puberty, how

tall you are, what your BMI will be and

whether you’re likely to develop male

pattern baldness.

But what if he said that the same

gene could hold sway over all four

things?

That finding comes from a study

published on Monday in the journal

Nature Genetics. Using data from doz-

ens of genome-wide association stud-

ies (big scans of complete sets of DNA

from many thousands of people), re-

searchers at the New York Genome

Center and the genetic analysis com-

pany 23andMe found examples of sin-

gle “multitasking” genes that influence

diverse and sometimes seemingly dis-

parate traits. The scientists say that

the links they uncovered could help

researchers understand how certain

genes work, and figure out better ways

of treating some of the health prob-

lems they might control.

“Most studies tend to go one dis-

ease at a time,” said Joseph Pickrell, a

professor at Columbia University and

the New York Genome Center’s lead

investigator on the project. “But if we

can try to make these sorts of connec-

tions between what you might think of

as unrelated traits ... that gives us an-

other angle of attack to understand

the connections between these differ-

ent diseases.”

To start, Pickrell and his team

sought out genome-wide association

studies (GWAS) identifying particular

genetic variants associated with 42 dif-

ferent traits. Many had to do with dis-

eases (for example, studies that linked

certain genes to the risk of develop-

ing Alzheimer’s or type 2 diabetes)

and other personal health traits (body

mass index, blood type, cholesterol

levels). But the researchers also looked

at traits that don’t often get studied,

such as chin dimples and the tendency

to sneeze when you see the sun (yes,

the “photic sneeze reflex” is an actu-

al genetic condition, and Rachel total-

ly has it).

Data from 23andMe was useful for

studying those kinds of traits, Pick-

rell said: a scientist can’t exactly go to

the NIH and ask for funding to find the

gene for sneezing in sunlight. But the

biotech company collects that kind of

information anyway for its personal

genome tests. Seventeen of the stud-

ies surveyed for the paper were con-

ducted by 23andMe researchers using

the company’s database of more than

1 million users.

The biotech company has come un-

der scrutiny in recent years. In 2013,

the Food and Drug Administration

warned the company to stop giving

customers health-related results out of

concern that the tests might be inaccu-

rate or misleading in influencing medi-

cal decisions. The company has since

revamped its test, with input from reg-

ulators, to offer what it says are more

scientifically sound results on a smaller

group of diseases.

Pickrell said he’s confident in the

23andMe studies, adding that an out-

side GWAS about the onset of me-

narche (the fancy term for periods)

in girls gave very similar results to the

one done by the biotech company’s re-

searchers.

Armed with all these studies, Pick-

rell and his team then cross-referenced

them to identify more than 300 spots

on the genome that were associat-

ed with more than one trait. In some

cases, predisposition to two different

diseases could be definitively linked

to a particular genetic variation — for

example, a variant that controls the

transportation of metals around cells

was associated with increased risk for

schizophrenia and decreased risk for

Parkinson’s disease.

“That tells us that heavy metal trans-

port is important for all those diseas-

es in different ways,” Pickrell said. It

should also inform researchers try-

ing to develop treatments for patients

with either disease, he added: “If you

can understand why [they are linked]

in principle, you could start to think

about ... if I’m developing a drug for

schizophrenia will it have an adverse ef-

fect on a person with Parkinson’s?”

In other cases, researchers weren’t

able to nail down the particular genet-

ic variant that linked traits. But usual-

ly it made sense that the traits would

be associated with one another. For

example, height, age of puberty, BMI

and baldness — all associated with the

same spot on the genome — are in-

fluenced by hormones. It seems like-

ly that there’s a gene somewhere con-

trolling the release of hormones that

affect all these other things. Likewise,

many immune system-related prob-

lems, including asthma, allergies and

susceptibility to childhood ear infec-

tions, were clustered around a partic-

ular spot on the genome.

Of course, the links between genes

and diseases aren’t one to one. Hav-

ing a particular variant may predis-

pose you to allergies, or Parkinson’s, or

sneezing when the sun comes out, or

even some combination of the three,

but it doesn’t determine your destiny.

Genes are complicated.

But the study could help disen-

tangle some of that complexity. “It’s a

smart use of available data,” Matthew

Rockman, a biologist at New York Uni-

versity who was not involved in the

study, told the magazine the Scientist

about Pickrell’s work.

“Revealing commonalities among

different kinds of diseases could point

towards unexpected avenues of ther-

apy, [even if that] is still very distant,”

Rockman said.

X-Men Apocalypse (2D/Action) 11:15am, 8:00 & 10:45pm Angry Birds(Animation) 2:00 & 5:00pmRatchet & Clank (2D/Action) 11:30am & 3:45pm

Captain America: Civil War (2D/Action) 5:30pmSarbjit (2D/Hindi) 2:30 & 11:00pm This Time (2D/Tagalog) 7:00pm Hassan Wa Baqloz (2D/Arabic) 9:00pmWyrmwood: Road of The Dead (2D/Horror) 12:00noonPettson And Findus (2D/Animation) 1:30pmThe Jungle Book (2D/Action) 3:15pm Correspondence (2D/Romantic) 5:00 & 9:15pmOur Kind of Traitor (2D/Thriller) 7:15 & 11:30pm

AL KHORX-Men (Action) 12:00noon, 3:00, 6:00, 9:00pm & 12:00 Angry Birds(Animation) 10:30, 11:30am, 1:30 & 3:30pm Brahmot Savam (Telugu) 12:30, 3:15, 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30pm King Liar (Malayalam) 5:30, 8:30 & 11:30pm

ASIAN TOWN

NOVO

MALL

ROYAL PLAZAVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

OUR KIND OF TRAITOR

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

A couple find themselves lured into a Russian oligarch’s plans to defect are soon positioned between the Russian Mafia and the British Secret Service, neither of whom they can trust.

14 SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

CINEMA PLUS

X-Men: Apocalypse (Action) 3D 11:00, 11:40am, 2:00, 2:30, 5:00, 5:20, 8:00, 8:10 & 11:00pm 2D 10:00am, 12:45, 3:30, 6:20, 9:10pm & 12:00midnight Captain America: Civil War(2D/Action) 11:30am, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30 & 11:30pmThe Jungle Book(2D/Adventure) 10:00am,12:00noon, 2:00,4:00&6:00pm Wyrmwood Road of The Dead (2D/Horror) 8:00, 9:50 & 11:40pmHassan Wa Baqloz (2D/Arabic) 11:00am, 3:10, 7:20 & 11:30pmKangar Hoppiena (2D/Arabic) 1:00, 5:10 & 9:20pmRatchet And Clank (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 2:30 & 6:10pmTerm Life (2D/Action) 11:50am, 4:20 & 9:50pmThe Trust (2D/Thriller) 12:40, 8:00 & 11:40pm Our Kind of Traitor (2D/Thriller) 10:00am, 2:30, 7:00 & 11:30pmCorrespondence (2D/Romantic) 12:10, 4:40 & 9:10pmAngry Birds (2D/Animation) 10:00, 11:55am, 1:50, 3:45 & 5:40pmHepta (2D/Arabic) 7:40, 9:50 & 11:55pmX-Men: Apocalypse (3D IMAX/Action) 10:10am, 1:00, 3:50, 6:45, 9:40pm & 12:30am

King Liar (Malayalam) 4:30, 6:30, 7:30, 9:30 & 10:00pm

Jacob’s Kingdom of Heaven (2D/Malayalam) 7:00pm

Brahmot Savam (Telugu) 7:00pm

Maruthu (Tamil) 10:00pm & 12:45am

This Time (2D/Tagalog) 11:30am & 8:45pm Pettson And Findus (2D/Comedy) 1:30pmRatchet & Clank (2D/Action) 3:15pm Maruthan (2D/Tamil) 11:00pmWyrmwood: Road of The Dead (2D/Horror) 5:00pmCorrespondence (2D/Romantic) 6:30pm King Liar (2D/Malayalam) 2:00 & 10:45pmOur Kind of Traitor (2D/Thriller) 12:00noon & 9:00pmAngry Birds (2D/Animation) 5:00pm Hassan Wa Baqloz (2D/Arabic) 7:00pmSarbjit (2D/Hindi) 2:00pm The Jungle Book (2D/Action) 3:15pmX-Men Apocalypse (2D/Action) 11:30am, 6:00, 8:30 & 11:00pm

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

15SUNDAY 22 MAY 2016

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.

Yesterday’s answer

MEDIUM SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

CROSSWORD

BRAIN TEASERS

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

ASTEROID, ASTRONAUT,

ASTRONOMY,

ASTROPHYSICS,

ATMOSPHERE, BLACK

HOLE, CAPSULE, COSMOS,

COUNTDOWN, CREW,

EXPLORATION, FLIGHT,

GALAXY, GRAVITY,

LAUNCH, LIGHT YEAR,

METEOR, MISSION,

MODULE, MOON, NEBULA,

ORBIT, PLANET, PULSAR,

ROCKET, SATELLITE, SOLAR

SYSTEM, SPACECRAFT,

SPACE STATION, STAR,

SUPERNOVA, TAKEOFF,

TRAJECTORY, UNIVERSE,

VELOCITY, VOYAGE,

07:00 News

07:30 Rebel Geeks

08:00 News

08:30 People &

Power

09:00 Lifelines:

The Quest

For Global

Health

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera

12:00 News

12:30 Earthrise

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 Skyes-Picot:

Lines In The

Sand

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 The Listening

Post

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 101 East

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 Talk To Al

Jazeera

23:00 In Search

Of Putin’s

Russia

12:00 Yeh Vadaa

Raha

12:30 Ek Tha Raja

Ek Thi Rani

13:00 KumKum

Bhagya

13:30 Meri Saasu

Maa

14:00 Jamai Raja

14:30 Tashn E Ishq

15:00 Vishkanya

15:30 Jamai Raja

16:00 Yeh Vadaa

Raha

16:30 Ek Tha Raja

Ek Thi Rani

17:00 KumKum

Bhagya

17:30 Vishkanya

18:30 Kaala Teeka

19:00 Meri Saasu

Maa

19:30 SaReGa

MaPa 2016

20:30 Jamai Raja

21:00 KumKum

Bhagya

21:30 Tashn E Ishq

22:00 Vishkanya

22:30 Ek Tha Raja

Ek Thi Rani

23:00 Best of Fear

Files Season 2

00:00 Yeh Vadaa

Raha

1:30 Ek Tha Raja

Ek Thi Rani

TV LISTINGS

13:50 Animals Gone

Wild

14:45 Urban Jungle

15:40 Man And The

Wild

17:30 Hunting The

Hammerhead

18:25 I, Predator

19:20 Urban Jungle

20:10 Man And The

Wild

21:00 Kingdom Of

The Oceans

21:50 Hunting The

Hammerhead

22:40 I, Predator

23:30 Shocking

Sharks

13:20 Through The

Wormhole

With Morgan

Freeman

14:10 Ecopolis

15:20 Food Factory

16:30 Mega Builders

18:00 Mythbusters

18:50 Secret Space

Escapes

19:40 How The

Universe Works

21:15 Ecopolis

22:00 Secret Space

Escapes

22:45 How The

Universe Works

23:35 Mythbusters

King Features Syndicate, Inc. ·