THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017

CAMPUS | 3 ENTERTAINMENT | 11

First harvest at Kitchen Garden of MES

Sonam Kapoor was amused over nepotism debate

FROM WORSTTO BEST

Do America’s most famed restaurants live up to the hype in their homeland? Read inside to find out

P | 4-5

CAMPUS / COMMUNITYTHURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 03

Mitsubishi Elevators & Esca-lators recently carried out a ‘Safe Rider’ awareness

program at the Vision International School (VIS) for primary school stu-dents with an aim to help children understand basic safety rules while using elevators and escalators.

The current lifestyle in Qatar allows more people than ever the opportunity to use elevators and escalators in places like office build-ings, schools, hospitals, airports and shopping malls. Moreover, people are moving from independent houses to apartments in Doha. Therefore, children have more opportunities to use elevators and escalators. Hence children are espe-cially at risk of accidents because they have less experience and understanding when making

decisions. With the growing usage of elevators in schools and other

public places, Eta-Melco, the local representatives of Mitsubishi

Elevators felt the need to create awareness especially amongst young children to eliminate pre-ventable accidents and injuries caused by misuse.

The awareness program was well received by the students and included series of video presenta-tions apart from interactive sessions by Eta-Melco staff. Also, illustrative handouts were given to the children to remember and share the safety awareness with their parents and guardians.

Following an immense success and great feedbacks from the school management and principal, Jake Leyba of Vision International School. Mitsubi-shi Elevator, Eta-Melco have decided to continue the ‘Safe Rider’ in other schools as well as part of their corpo-rate social responsibility.

The Kitchen Garden of MES Indian School yielded its first fruits, much to the delight of staff and students who embarked on this unique venture in October. Came as a part of clean air drive, the

Kitchen Garden was a joint endeavour of MES with ‘Nammude Adukka-lathottam,’ a Doha-based Indian expatriates-run farming unit, affiliated to the Indian Cultural Centre. The school initiated this special programme with an objective of instilling eco-consciousness among its students, and stay connected to mother earth. The proceeds of the harvest will be donated to charity for noble causes. ‘It is heartening to see the produce of the kitchen garden speaks volumes about students’ level of interest in sustainable development and preservation of green and clean envi-ronment’, complimented the principal officiating, Hameeda Kadar.

Kavitha Rajan, Sreekala, Jency George and Nilu Sudheesh were the teachers in charge of Kitchen Garden in their respective sections of the school.

Mitsubishi Elevators & Escalators launches ‘Safe Rider’ awareness at VIS

First harvest at Kitchen Garden of MES

As a part of ongoing celebration for December 18 Qatar National day , Tamil-Muslim Expatriate Organisation , Qatar Indian Thowheed Centre in association with Hamad Med-

ical Corporation Blood Bank unit organised a mega blood donation campaign on December 8, 2017.

More than 100 volunteers donated the blood. This was one of the mega events and the effort of our office

bearer and members was highly appreciated.

Qatar Indian Thowheed Centre conducts blood donation campaign

COVER STORY THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 201704

Ranking America’s top 10 chain restaurants

The Washington Post

People love to pick on chain restaurants. Like used car salesmen, the mass feeders are easy targets.

But not all chains are created equal. That’s why I spent several months grazing through the menus of the 10 casual, full-service restau-rant chains that have the highest sales, according to Nation’s Restau-rant Here’s how I ranked the chains, in order from least favorite to most, along with letter grades.

10. Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Club

Grade: FThe saddest meals of my entire

year? Nothing can touch lunch and dinner at the sports bar that can’t even get its signature dish right. I’m not sure which is more of a travesty, the scrawny wings (pick your poi-son: traditional or boneless) or the woody carrot sticks that accompany them. Sauces vary from fair (Carib-bean jerk) to grim (Parmesan-garlic),

and I can’t help but think of them as masks rather than enhancements.

Cuisine: Wings and beverages.Claim to fame: Sauces and sea-

sonings offering endless customisation.

Slogan: “Wings. Beverages. Sports.”

Steer clear of: Everything but the drinks.

9. IHOPGrade: DProbably the best that can be

said about the food in one of the most generic backdrops around is that the pancakes are fluffy (if a dash salty); the vegetable omelet is as green with fresh spinach as it is yel-low from eggs; and marbled rye bread can turn even an unfortunate beef patty and barely melted cheese into a fair-enough sandwich.

Cuisine: American.Claim to fame: Open 24/7.Slogan: “Eat up every moment.”Best of the bunch: Patty melt,

spinach-mushroom omelet (hold the flat hollandaise).

Steer clear of: Burgers, fried fish tacos, country-fried steak

8. Outback SteakhouseGrade: DLet me just get it out of the way:

The piece de resistance here is one of the most vulgar creations any chain has ever whipped up. The Bloomin’ Onion packs in more fat, more salt, more guilt than just about any single signature I can think of.

Cuisine: Steak, and a pretend notion of what’s cooking Down Under.

Claim to fame: The 1,950-calo-rie, enough-for-six Bloomin’ Onion.

Slogan: “Done Right.”Best of the bunch: Garlicky

mashed potatoes, Parmesan-her-bed chicken, spiced carrot cake.

Steer clear of: Crab cakes, fish tacos in leathery tortillas, not-so-hot and batter-heavy “volcano” shrimp.

7. Red LobsterGrade: C-minusRed lobster makes for blue din-

ers, at least here, where the headliner can be found scattered

on a thin but doughy pizza with a binder of mozzarella, and steamed and split to reveal seafood that tastes like . . . not much without melted butter, lots of it. Cuisine: Seafood.

Claim to fame: Biscuits so pop-ular their mix is for sale in supermarkets.

Slogan: “Now this is seafood.”Best of the bunch: Cheese bis-

cuits, Yucatan shrimp, coconut shrimp, crab legs.

Steer clear of: Doughy lobster pizza, fried clams, maple-glazed chicken that tastes like an airline issue, steamed lobster, achingly sweet and dense Key lime pie.

6. Chili’s Grill & BarGrade: C-minusIf all you were to eat were the

ribs that spawned one of the most popular restaurant jingles of all time (don’t start singing it!), you would wonder what all the fuss is about. No amount of barbecue sauce hides the fact that the flesh is dry.

Cuisine: American with a South-west touch.

COVER STORYTHURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 05

Southwestern egg rolls, mini-burgers, panko onion rings, rib-eye.

Steer clear of: Caribbean salad, Cajun pasta, salted caramel cake.

5. Applebee’s Neighbourhood Grill & Club

Grade: CEat out in enough full-service

chains, and the similarities become clear: None of them can cook broc-coli right. Salmon is almost always overdone. Napkins are doled out like club passes on the Strip in Vegas. Bigger is often perceived as better

Cuisine: American.Claim to fame: Beverages.Slogan: “Eatin’ good in the

neighbourhood.”Best of the bunch: Sriracha

shrimp, crunchy-spicy chicken wings, steak quesadillas, skin-on mashed potatoes, grilled chicken with quinoa and cranberries.

Steer clear of: Ribs, salmon, apple chimicheesecake (caramel apples and cheesecake wrapped in a tortilla and fried).

4. Olive GardenGrade: C Unlike some of its com-

petition, Olive Garden smells as if actual cooking is going on: The scents of Parmesan and garlic hang in the air when I walk in. Of all the chain restaurants I surveyed, this one aspires to a modicum of sophis-tication; servers are more than happy to proffer tastes of wines.

Brick arches and sepia photo-graphs play up an Italian theme, but the popular breadsticks - pillowy wands seasoned with garlic salt, brushed with margarine and palat-able only when warm - are wholly American, as is the kitchen’s ten-dency to overcook its pastas.

Cuisine: Italian.Claim to fame: Unlimited bread-

sticks and bottomless salad bowls.Slogan: “We’re all family here.”Best of the bunch: Minestrone,

spaghetti with meatballs, tiramisu.Steer clear of: Tour of Italy (not!).3. Texas RoadhouseGrade: BTalk about a howdy! Country

music welcomes customers even from the outside. En route to a table, diners pass a scarlet display of raw meat that primes carnivores for lunch or dinner. Buckets of in-their-shell peanuts help stave off hunger while you peruse the menu.

Cuisine: Steaks with a Western theme.

Claim to fame: Steaks cut by hand and fresh-baked bread.

Slogan: “Legendary food, legen-dary service.”

Best of the bunch: Most anything starring beef, mashed potatoes, Cac-tus Blossom.

Steer clear of: Catfish (stiff).2. Denny’sGrade: BThe cheeseburger? It’s a whop-

per. Bite down on the construction, built with a bun that’s freckled with sesame seeds, and the crusty patty might squirt juices - you know, like a decent hamburger might. The pip-ing-hot fries are memorable more for their churro-like ridges than any

potato flavour, but that means you might have room for the brownie-like chocolate lava cake, a knockoff of the molten chocolate cake made famous decades ago by the esteemed Jean-Georges Vongerichten in New York.

Cuisine: American.Claim to fame: The Grand Slam,

starring pancakes, eggs, and sausage links.

Slogan: “America’s diner is always open.”

Best of the bunch: Pancakes, hash browns, spaghetti and meat-

balls, warm chocolate lava cake.Steer clear of: Seasonal specials

such as pancakes smothered in what tastes like white chocolate with orange zest.

1. Cracker Barrel Old Coun-try Store

Grade: AEspecially after eating a lot of

food that tasted as if it came from a factory rather than a kitchen, it was clear: No other chain restaurant in my months-long survey comes as close to home cooking as this oper-ation. If the chicken dumplings are a little doughy and the corn bread muffins prove a tad salty, just about everything else that crossed my lips in this barn-size dining room dressed with lanterns and license plates is something I’d be happy to try again.

Cuisine: Southern-focused com-fort food.

Claim to fame: Shopping and dining under one roof, and firing Brad’s wife that time.

Slogan: “Pleasing People” reads the company’s mission statement.

Best of the bunch: Meatloaf, , trout, macaroni and cheese, pecan pie.

Steer clear of: Pasty chicken and dumplings.

No other chain restaurant in my months-long survey comes as close to home cooking as this operation (Cracker Barrel Old Country Store).

MARKETPLACE / CAMPUS THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 201706

The Ritz-Carlton, Doha will commemorate Qatar National Day celebrating a

variety of events for the enjoyment of guests, showcasing the rich cul-ture and traditions of Qatar.

The celebrations at the Hotel pay tribute to the people who built the nation allowing guests from all over the world to learn and enjoy the colourful culture of Qatar.

“We are delighted to celebrate this special occasion once again.

Our hotel celebration combined with the city’s exciting program-ming will create long lasting memories for a lifetime to our dis-tinguished guests.” said Erden Kendigelen, General Manager at The Ritz-Carlton, Doha.

“As a complement to create a unique experience the magnificent architecture of our hotel will be accentuated with the national col-ours and our ladies and gentlemen will welcome all guests wearing

traditional costumes.” added Kendigelen.

The hotel hosted a commem-orative ceremony where an impressive cake was cut on December 13, whilst the Qatar National Anthem was performed live. Guests also enjoyed special treatments at the Spa and an exqui-site traditional culinary journey at the restaurants of the hotel.

Soaring 115 meters above Qatar’s sea and desert landscape,

The Ritz-Carlton, Doha is an impressive symbol of the nation’s emergence as a destination for travellers to the Middle East.

The 374-room, five-star hotel fuses contemporary styling with classic Arabic and European design. Located on its own exclusive island in the prestigious West Bay Lagoon district, the hotel has sweeping views, which overlook the tur-quoise blue waters of the Arabian Gulf.

The students of ScorePlus Qatar have once again tes-tified to ScorePlus’s

unrelenting commitment to qual-ity teaching and student experience through an interna-tional survey based on concrete score improvements, student feed-back, and customer satisfaction. During its International Meet in Seoul, ScorePlus Qatar was pre-sented with the International Promoter Award for the years, 2016-17. The award signifies that ScorePlus Qatar’s educational services, instructional quality, and customer satisfaction are once m o r e u n p a r a l l e l e d internationally.

Since 2002, ScorePlus has been helping students ease their academic and admission stresses by providing pragmatic solutions for test preparation, skill building and navigating university admis-sions. The combination of its

exceptional teachers and opera-tions personnel, effective materials, and unique instructional method-ologies has contributed to its becoming Qatar’s premier provid-ers for exam preparation and admissions consulting. The con-tinuing appreciation from students for its outstanding teaching and admissions support highlights the determination of this institution to better prepare its students for universities, both in Qatar and around the globe.

While receiving the Award, ScorePlus’s Regional Head, Pra-deep Singhal, stated that the company prides itself on the accomplishments of its student:

“To us, the experience of each stu-dent matters, from the excellence of academic support to the qual-ity of the admissions process. We strive every day to live by our motto of ‘better scores, better schools, and better careers.’” The

sincere work acknowledged by this Award is a glowing endorse-ment, and I am greatly proud of my team’s contribution to our success.”

Reacting to the news, the Aca-demic Head, Nausheen Fida, said that the award is a boost for the whole team as it recognizes the consistent work that is done to

support the students to reach their potential. “it is the recognition of our relentless focus on students’ learning, which sets us apart from other institutions nationally. From working with students’ content to providing regular and useful feed-back, we ensure that our students have the skills and knowledge that they need to succeed in the test.”

The Ritz Carlton lines up events for Qatar National Day

ScorePlus Qatar wins International Promoter Award

BEAUTYTHURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 07

IANS

Work around your eyes to make a style statement in the festive season. Opt for

bright coloured kohl pencils for the day time and invest in good eyelash extensions as they instantly brighten and define eyes, making the face appear younger, suggest experts.

Elton Fernandez, make-up art-ist at Maybelline New York and Sapna Bedi-Khaitan, owner at Novalash India, have listed some ideas:

A liner in black is great for the eyelid, while a gel pencil in sapphire shade adds a vibrant electric touch as you apply some kajal on the lower waterline. The black liner could also be added towards the outer corners of the eye for more definition. Add drama to your lashes with a hyper

curl mascara.Blend concealer with fingers

onto the under eyes and inner cor-

ners of your eyes. Use bright coloured kohl pencils in shades like turquoise, emerald or sapphire instead of typical black kajal for the day.

At night, go in for deeper colours that will make your eyes stand out. Glitter eyes is also a trend to watch out for in the coming year.

For the eyeshadow, lightly dust the deep pink shadow all over the eyelid. Use the lighter frosty beige

as a highlighter on the brow bone. Fill in the brows. Run any brown

mascara gently through the brows. This not only fills gaps in hair growth, but also keeps hair upwards and in place. No eye look is complete with ungroomed brows. The trick is to close sparse gaps while keeping brow hair in place. End your look

with a contouring stick that will pro-vide a highlighted look on the cheekbones to accentuate and dramatize the bone structure.

Invest in good eyelash exten-sions as they instantly brighten and define eyes, making the face appear younger, more alert and refreshed all day.

You will not need to apply mas-cara with lash extensions. These create a thick, dark lash line. Many women skip applying eye make-up altogether, saving valuable time in the mornings. If you want to make your eyes look bigger, use an off-white or cream coloured kohl inside the eyes’ waterline, coat lower lashes with a mascara. Shade the undereye part with a soft brown eyeshadow and apply a nice defined eyeliner on the eyelid. Curling lashes is crucial to make eyes look awake and engaging.

Make your eyes stand out this festive season

Ready with your new winter look but not ready to deal with the harsh winter

weather?While winter is all about snug-

gling into cozy quilts, sitting by the heater and sipping hot drinks, it is also about dealing with dry skin, chapped lips, and cracked heels. Dr Chandrika Mahendra, Princi-pal Scientist, Personal Care, The Himalaya Drug Company, shares her expertise on keeping your skin healthy during winter.

Nourish the skin from withinMoisturising your dry skin

every now and then during win-ter can be a little annoying. All you need to keep your skin soft and supple is an intensive skin care product that is enriched with the

goodness of cocoa butter. Cocoa contains antioxidants that help repair skin cells.

Keep yourself hydratedWhile your skin needs essen-

tial minerals and vitamins, drinking water is a must to keep your body adequately hydrated. We are less likely to feel thirsty during winter. However, consum-ing warm water will help in flushing out toxins and enhancing blood circulation. So, ensure you drink two to three liters of water a day.

Say goodbye to chapped lipsDry weather and chapped lips

go together. Therefore, it is impor-tant to keep your lips moisturized and healthy during the winter months. For soft and smooth lips,

look for herbal products with 100 per cent natural color, antioxidants, and Vitamin E.

Follow your workout routine

Winter can often make you

lazy and drowsy. It is crucial to stay active and fit to speed up your metabolism for a healthy body and skin. Regular workouts increase your body’s strength, boost your energy levels, and improve skin

4 expert tips to maintain your skin during winter

HEALTH THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 201708

IANS

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause gut dysfunction, which then has the potential

to worsen the original brain injury, says a new study.

People are 12 times more likely to die from blood poisoning after traumatic brain injury and 2.5 times more likely to die of a digestive sys-tem problem, compared with those

without such injury.The study, published in the

journal Brain, Behaviour, and Immunity, could partly explain why it is so.

The researchers examined mice that received an experimental trau-matic brain injury.

They found that the intestinal wall of the colon became more per-meable after trauma, changes that were sustained over the following

month. It is not clear how TBI causes these gut changes but researchers believe that a key fac-tor in the process may be enteric glial cells (EGCs), a class of cells that exist in the gut.

The researchers also focused on the two-way nature of the proc-ess—how gut dysfunction may worsen brain inflammation and tis-sue loss after TBI.

They infected the mice with Cit-robacter rodentium, a species of bacteria that is the rodent equiva-lent of E. coli, which infects humans.

In mice with a TBI who were infected with this the bacteria, brain inflammation worsened, the findings showed.

Furthermore, in the hippocam-pus, a key region for memory, the mice who had TBI and were then infected lost more neurons than animals without infection.

This suggests that TBI may trig-ger a vicious cycle, in which brain injury causes gut dysfunction, which then could make the origi-nal brain injury worse.

Brain injury can lead to gut dysfunction

People suffer from major depressive disorders because of alterations in the

activity and connectivity of brain systems underlying reward and memory, suggests new research.

The findings, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: Cog-nitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, provide clues as to which regions of the brain could be at the root of symptoms, such as reduced happiness and pleasure, or negative memories, in depression.

For the study, the researchers used a new approach to measure the influence of one brain region on another, referred to as effec-tive connectivity, in depression.

The approach goes beyond the limitations of previous brain imaging studies, which show if—but not how—activity of different brain regions is related.

“The new method allows the effect of one brain region on

another to be measured in depres-sion, in order to discover more about which brain systems make causal contributions to depres-sion,” said one of the researchers Edmund Rolls, Professor at Uni-versity of Warwick in England.

The researchers compared 336 people with major depressive disorder to 350 healthy controls.

Brain regions involved in reward and subjective pleasure

received less drive (or reduced effective connectivity) in patients, which may contribute to the decreased feeling of happiness in depression, the study showed.

In addition, brain regions involved in punishment and responses when a reward is not received had increased activity, providing evidence for the source of sadness that occurs in the disorder.

Researchers identify brain mechanism behind depression

Facing discrimination of any kind—whether because of race, age,

gender or other factors—is bad not for your health but it can also strain the relation-ship you are in, affecting the health of your partner or spouse as well in the proc-ess. “We found that when an individual experiences dis-crimination, they report worse health and depression. However, that’s not the full story - this stress spills over and affects the health of their partner as well,” said Wil-liam Chopik, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University in the US.

A lot of the harmful effects of discrimination on health occurs because it is damaging to relationships, showed the findings pub-lished in the journal Social Psychological and Personal-ity Science. “When one partner experiences discrim-ination, they bring that stress home with them and it strains the relationship. So this stress not only negatively affects their own health, but their partner’s as well,” Cho-pik said.

For the study, the researchers analysed a sam-ple of nearly 2,000 couples in the US ranging in age from 50 to 94. The participants reported on incidents of dis-crimination, as well as on their health, depression and relationship strain and close-ness. It didn’t matter where the discrimination came from, Chopik said. “What matters is that they felt that they were unfairly treated. That’s what had the biggest impact on the person’s health,” he added.

Discrimination strains relationship & harms health

FOOD THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 201710

Joe Yonan The Washington Post

Does everyone know about the glorious versatility of roasted garlic? I hope so. But just in case you don’t,

the next time you’ve got your oven going for at least the better part of an hour, roast some and you’ll see. Just take a whole head of garlic, cut it in half horizontally, so you get through all the cloves, drizzle each half with olive oil, wrap each in foil, and roast for 45 minutes or so. Let it cool slightly, and then squeeze out the cloves.

Slather some on toast while it’s still warm, sprinkle with salt, and devour. Save the rest to whisk into vinaigrette, puree into hummus or other bean dips, add to marinades, stews, soups. There are as many uses as there are cooks.

Roasted garlic adds depth of fla-vour to the most basic recipes. Take a simple cauliflower soup like the one I spied in “Little Bird Goodness” by Megan May (Penguin Books,

2017). You simmer cauliflower flo-rets in vegetable broth until they’re tender, then blend the affair with cashews (for plant-based creami-ness) and, yes, a whole head’s worth of roasted garlic. What would have surely been pale, bland and boring turns into something with an almost mysterious backdrop of nutty sweetness.

As we head into soup season, it’s a trick to remember. If you’re like me, you’ll appreciate the idea so much that you’ll want to make one important amendment to the advice I gave at the top of this column. Don’t roast a whole head of garlic. Roast two, at least.

Cauliflower and roasted garlic soup

4 servings (makes about 5 cups)Ingredients1 head garlic2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive

oil4 cups no-salt-added vegetable

broth1 large head cauliflower, cut into

small florets (8 cups)

3/4 cup raw cashews1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or more

as needed1/2 teaspoon freshly ground

black pepper, or more as needed1/4 cup blanched basil oil, for

garnish (optional)Fresh pea shoots, for garnish

StepsPreheat the oven to 400 degrees.Discard the loose outer layers

of papery peel from the head of gar-lic, then cut it in half horizontally and drizzle each half with the oil. Wrap each half in a small piece of aluminium foil, place on a small baking sheet and roast (middle rack) until the cloves are very tender and caramel-coloured, 40 to 50 min-utes. Unwrap and let cool, then pick or squeeze out each roasted clove and discard the skins.

Combine the broth and the cau-liflower in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the liquid comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, so it’s barely bubbling. Cook until you can easily mash the cauliflower against the side of the

pot with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat, then add the roasted garlic cloves and 1/2 cup of the cash-ews. Chop the remaining 1/4 cup of cashews and reserve for the garnish.

Use an immersion (stick) blender to puree the soup until smooth. It will be fairly thick. (Alter-natively, you can puree the soup in batches in a blender, being careful to not fill it more than halfway to avoid splatters.)

Wipe out the saucepan, and return the pureed soup to it, over medium-low heat. Stir in the salt and pepper; cook until the flavours meld, about 15 minutes. Taste, and adjust the seasoning, as needed.

To serve, divide the soup among individual bowls. Top each portion with the chopped cashews, a driz-zle of the basil oil and pea shoots, if using.

Nutrition: Per serving: 240 cal-ories, 9 g protein, 26 g carbohydrates, 14 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cho-lesterol, 370 mg sodium, 5 g dietary fiber, 10 g sugar.

Cauliflower and roasted garlic soup

ENTERTAINMENTTHURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 11

IANS

Prince William (pictured right) and Prince Harry (pictured left) attended the premiere

of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” here.William and Harry—who pro-

posed to actress Meghan Markle last month—have a cameo in the movie as they visited the film set in April last year. They will appear as Stormtroopers and will reportedly give Benicio Del Toro a slap on the backside.

When they arrived, the royals were greeted by the small droid BB-8 and diehard fans before the European premiere of the film in Kensington, west London, reports mirror.co.uk.

The brothers then met members

of the cast and crew, and Harry was later presented with a Stormtroop-er’s helmet.

The film’s stars Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, John Boyega and Daisy Ridley were also on hand as

fans.The stars addressed fans before

heading inside, with Ridley prom-ising a “fun and emotional journey” in the latest instalment of the hit sci-fi franchise.

The star, who reprises her role as Rey, braved the winter air as she stepped onto a red carpet lined with Stormtroopers on Tuesday evening.

Ridley was joined at the event by co-star Hamill, returning as Luke Skywalker, Boyega as Finn, Driver as evil Kylo Ren and director Rian Johnson.

Veteran actor Anthony Daniels, who has played lovably fussy droid C-3PO in every “Star Wars” episode so far, also joined in the fun. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is set to release in India on Friday.

Actress Sonam Kapoor (pic-tured) says the whole clamour over nepotism in

the Hindi film industry this year left her amused because if one goes by the term’s meaning in the dictionary, it is something that happens everywhere.

Sonam, the daughter of vet-eran actor Anil Kapoor, broke down the meaning of nepotism, and shared her take on the con-troversy during a chat for online streaming service Saavn’s show

“Take 2 with Anupama and Rajeev”.

She said: “The whole indus-try has gotten involved in it and I’ve just laughed through the whole thing. Little knowledge like they say is very dangerous knowledge... So, through this whole thing, I was like should I just put out the meaning of it on Twitter and my mother was like ‘Stay away from the whole thing!’ I was like, ‘Mom how can peo-ple not know what it means?’”

The nepotism debate in Bol-lywood was sparked off when actress Kangana Ranaut called

filmmaker Karan Johar a “flag-bearer of nepotism” on his talk show.

Sonam says very few people understand the true meaning of the word.

“I would love to explain what that means. Nepotism means that any relationship, any job or any privilege that you get due to any relationship—it could be a rela-tive, it could be a friend, it could be a friend’s friend. Anything that is not on merit is nepotism.

“So, whether you are some-one’s girlfriend, whether you are someone’s friend, whether you are somebody’s family and you get a job, is nepotism.”

Actress Nargis Fakhri (pic-tured), who has worked with American rapper

Snoop Dogg in a new single “Woofer”, says she was “com-pletely thrilled to sing with the iconic” artist.

Dr Zeus has come out with “Woofer” featuring Snoop Dogg rapping alongside UK-based Punjabi singer Zora Randhawa.

“I really enjoyed working with Dr Zeus and Zora and the entire BeingU team. This was a really awesome experience. For me, I grew up listening to Snoop Dogg so when this came my way, I was completely thrilled to give it a

shot and sing with someone as iconic as him,” Nargis said in a statement.

Shot in Los Angeles, the song has been produced by BeingU Music—a record label dedicated to push forward independent Indian music across the world through exciting collaborations with the focus on Punjabi artists. The brand has also partnered with global music giant Sony Music and through this partner-ship, they intend to present fans with compelling musical content in the coming year starting with

“Woofer”. Talking about the sin-gle, Dr Zeus said: “At the beginning of every achievement is the desire and with the right desire, you have the power to become what you think. ‘Woofer’ is an example of that and also a first of such wonderful collabo-rations I am hoping to do on the global music front.”

Gurjot Singh and Akshit Kumar, founders of BeingU Music, point out that they “aim to take the Indian music indus-try to the global platform”.

British royals attend ‘Star Wars...’ premiere

Nargis Fakhri thrilled to make singing debut with Snoop Dogg

Sonam Kapoor was amused over nepotism debate

SCIENCE THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 201712IANS

A giant species of penguins, which had the size of an adult human, inhabited New

Zealand between 55 and 60 mil-lion years ago, scientific researchers revealed yesterday.

A group of researchers from Germany and New Zealand revealed in a study published in the scientific journal Nature Commu-nications that this ancient species measured about 1.65 meters on foot, or about 1.77 metres from its tail to the top of its head, and weighed about 100 kg.

The fossils, which were discov-ered in 2004 on some rocks near Hampden Beach in South Island of New Zealand, suggested that it was one of the largest penguins in history.

In comparison, the Emperor Penguin, the largest species living now, measures around 1.22 metres and weighs 23 kg.

Due to its height, these pen-guins are named “Kumimanu biceae”, which combines two Maori words - “Kumi”, meaning a mon-strous animal, and “Manu”, a bird

- while “Bice” is added at the end in honor of Tennyson’s mother Beatriz.

The discovery of Kumimanu biceae shows that many species of flightless birds, like these and other

penguins which inhabited the Ant-arctic and other parts of the southern Hemisphere, were also very tall.

The extinction of their preda-tors such as dinosaurs or marine reptiles allowed these birds to grow in size as they did not have to fly. However, these large-sized pen-guins finally vanished 20 million years ago. “Their extinction could have been triggered by the

evolution of seals and other toothed marine mammals that ate them or competed for access to food,” Ten-nyson said.

Although the fossils of the Kumimanu biceae, which comprise parts of its body and legs, were found in 2004, the rocks that housed the ancient remains were stored for several years and only in 2015 was the relevant paleonto-logical work carried out.

Giving some credence to the view that life could well have orig-

inated in space, a new study has shown that a number of small organic molecules can form in a cold, space-like environment full of radiation.

Investigators at the Uni-versity of Sherbrooke in Canada created simulated space environments in which thin films of ice con-taining methane and oxygen were irradiated by electron beams.

When electrons or other forms of radiation impinge on so-called molecular ices, chemical reactions occur and new molecules are formed, said the study published in the Journal of Chemical Physics. The researchers used several advanced tech-niques including electron stimulated desorption (ESD), X-ray photoelectron spec-troscopy (XPS) and temperature programmed desorption (TPD).

The experiments were carried out under vacuum conditions, which is required for the analysis techniques employed and mimics the high vacuum condition of outer space.

Frozen films containing methane and oxygen used in these experiments further mimic a space-like environ-ment, since various types of ice (not just frozen water) form around dust grains in the dense and cold molecu-lar clouds that exist in the interstellar medium. These types of icy environments also exist on objects in the solar system, such as com-ets, asteroids and moons.

Far from being a dead world, the dwarf planet Ceres is an active and evolving world, indicate hundreds of bright areas that stand out in

images Nasa’s Dawn spacecraft has returned, say scientists.

The surface of Ceres is otherwise dark.The researchers presented the latest results about

the bright areas at the American Geophysical Union meeting in New Orleans.

Since Dawn arrived in orbit at Ceres in March 2015, scientists have located more than 300 bright areas.

Ceres is the largest object in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and the only dwarf planet located in the inner solar system.

A new study in the journal Icarus, led by Nathan Stein, a doctoral researcher at California Institute of Technology divided Ceres’ features into four categories.

The first group of bright spots contains the most reflective material on Ceres, which is found on cra-ter floors.

More commonly, in the second category, bright material is found on the rims of craters, streaking down toward the floors. Impacting bodies likely exposed bright material that was already in the sub-surface or had formed in a previous impact event.

Separately, in the third category, bright material can be found in the material ejected when craters were formed, the study said.

Fossils of pre-historic

human-sized penguins

found

Mysterious bright spots indicate Ceres is no dead world: Nasa

Space-like

environment can

produce life’s

building blocks

TECHNOLOGYTHURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 13

The Washington Post

If you have a Twitter rant you really need to get off your chest, then it’s your lucky day.

Twitter announced that it’s adding a tool that makes it easy to thread tweets together, giv-ing users more space for thoughtful commentary, unhinged rants and everything in between. The move builds on the company’s recent decision to abandon its traditional 140-character count for 280 characters to allow people more room per tweet - even as the social network struggles to clarify its policies on what is appropriate

conduct on Twitter. The company said in a blog post that it was inspired to create the tool based on what users were already doing. “At Twitter, we have a history of studying how people use our service and then creating features to make what they’re doing easier. The Retweet, @reply, and hashtag are examples of this,” product man-ager Sasank Reddy wrote.

While Twitter users could already make threads - often called “tweetstorms” - on the social network, the process was not particularly intuitive. You had to reply to yourself to get tweets to show up together in a line. The new

tool lets you click on a plus sign to add another tweet to one that you’re composing. Once you’re done with your manifesto, you can tweet eve-rything at once. You can also continue adding to the thread after it’s been published.

Things are also getting easier from the read-er’s side. If someone has made a threaded tweet, you can click or tap on a new option called “Show this thread” to see everything at once.

The new threading tool will roll out to all users in the “coming weeks,” Reddy said. It will be available on Twitter’s apps for iOS and Android, and on the company’s website.

The product changes are part of Twitter’s effort to address concerns that its network is dif-ficult to use, which analysts have said is one reason why it’s not picking up users as quickly as investors would like. Threads help make the river of tweets in users’ timelines more naviga-ble, and also allow the company to play to its strengths as a source for breaking news and commentary.

While Twitter users could already make threads - often called “tweetstorms” - on the social network, the process was not particularly intuitive.

Twitter makes it easier to

rant by making tweetstorms

an official feature

Contrary to the popular belief that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will cut physical jobs, a

new report by Gartner said by 2020, AI will create 2.3 million jobs, while eliminating 1.8 million.

The number of jobs affected by AI will vary by industry. Through 2019, healthcare, the public sector and education will see continu-ously growing job demand while manufacturing will be hit the hardest.

Starting in 2020, AI-related job creation will cross into positive ter-ritory, reaching two million net-new jobs in 2025, the report by the research and advisory com-pany said.

“Many significant innovations in the past have been associated with a transition period of tempo-rary job loss, followed by recovery, then business transformation and AI will likely follow this route,”

Svetlana Sicular, Research Vice President at Gartner, said in a statement.

AI would improve the produc-tivity of many jobs, eliminating millions of middle and low-level

positions, but also creating mil-lions more new positions of highly skilled, management and even the entry-level and low-skilled variety.

IT leaders should not only

focus on the projected net increase of jobs.

With each investment in AI enabled technologies, they must take into consideration what jobs will be lost, what jobs will be cre-ated, and how it will transform how workers collaborate with oth-ers, make decisions and get work done, the report said.

Gartner also predicted AI’s impact on the workplace. It said that by 2022, one in five workers engaged in mostly non-routine tasks will rely on AI to do a job.

Through 2022, multi-channel retailer efforts to replace sales associates through AI will prove unsuccessful, although cashier and operational jobs will be disrupted, the report said, adding that in 2021, AI augmentation will generate $2.9 trillion in business value and recover 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity.

AI will create more jobs than it eliminates: Gartner

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

After the early death of his wife, a mourning father moves with his

teenage son across the country for a private school teaching job.

Their lives begin to transform due to two unique women, who help

them embrace life and love again.

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017CINEMA PLUS14NOVO — Pearl

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2D/Action) 10:30, 11:20, 11:30am, 1:30, 2:30, 4:30, 5:00, 5:30, 5:40, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30, 8:50, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30pm & 12:00midnight Daddy’s Home 2 (2D/Comedy) 10:00, 2:15, 6:30 & 8:30pm The Mountain Between Us (2D/Action) 12:00noon, 4:15 & 10:30pm Jeepers Creepers 3 (2D/Horror) 10:30am, 2:45, 7:00 & 11:15pmThe Bachelors (2D/Comedy) 12:45, 5:00 & 9:15pmThe Killing of Sacred Deer (2D/Horror) 10:00am, 2:30, 7:00 & 11:30pmPersonal Shopper (2D/Drama) 12:20, 4:50 & 9:20pm Acts of Veneance (2D/Action) 10:00am, 2:00, 6:00 & 10:00pmSheikh Jackson (2D/Drama) 12:00noon, 4:00, 8:00pm & 12:00midnightJustice League (2D/Action) 10:00am, 2:10, 6:20pm & 12:10amAman Ya Sahby (2D/Arabic) 12:30, 4:40, 8:50 & 10:30pmMy Life As A Zucchini (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 1:45 & 5:30pmWonder (2D/Drama) 12:30, 5:30 & 10:30pmStar Wars: The Last Jedi 2 (2DIMAX/Animation) 11:00am & 2:00pm

MALL

LANDMARK

ROYAL PLAZA

ROXY

ASIAN TOWNPunyalan (Malayalam) 12:30, 1:00, 3:15, 3:45, 6:00, 8:45, 9:15, 11:30pm 12:00midnight & 01:15am Fukrey Returns (Hindi) 6:30pm Richie (Tamil) 12:30, 2:45, 3:45, 5:00, 7:15, 8:45, 9:30, 11:00 & 11:45pm

AL KHORStar Wars: The Last Jedi (2D/Action) 10:45, 11:45am, 1:45, 2:45, 4:45, 5:45, 7:45, 8:45, 10:45 & 11:45pm Unexpectedly Yours (Tagalog) 11:30am, 2:00, 4:30, 7:00, 9:30pm & 12:00midnight

THE BACHELORS

Coco (2D/Animation) 2:30pm Aman Ya Shaby (2D/Arabic) 4:30 & 11:30pm Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2D/Action) 3:00, 5:45, 8:30 & 11:15pm The Bachelors (2D/Comedy) 2:30pm Sheikh Jackson (2D/Arabic) 4:30 & 9:45pm Jeep Creepers 3 (2D/Horror) 6:00 & 11:00pm Unexpectedly Yours (2D/Tagalog) 6:30 & 8:45pm The Killing of Sacred Deer (2D/Horror) 7:45pm

My Life As A Zucchini (Animation) 11:00am & 12:40pm Sheikh Jackson (Arabic) 3:15, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00pm Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2D/Action) 11:00am, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00, 9:20, 11:00pm & 12:20am The Bachelors 11:00am & 1:15pm The Killing of Sacred Deer(2D/Horror) 11:00am, 1:30, 4:00, 6:30, 9:00 & 11:30pm

Punyalan Private Limited (2D/Malayalam) 2:00pm Paddington 2 (Adventure) 2:15pm Coco (2D/Animation) 4:00pmFurkey Returns (2D/Hindi) 3:00pm Aman Ya Shaby (2D/Arabic) 5:30pm The Bachelors (2D/Comedy) 4:15pm Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2D/Action) 6:00, 8:45 & 11:30pm Sheikh Jackson (2D/Arabic) 6:00 & 9:30pm Unexpectedly Yours (2D/Tagalog) 7:00 & 9:15pm Jeep Creepers 3 (2D/Horror) 7:45 & 11:30pm The Killing of Sacred Deer (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

Coco (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:15pm Aman Ya Shaby (2D/Arabic) 2:30 & 10:00pmStar Wars: The Last Jedi (2D/Action) 3:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm The Bachelors (2D/Comedy) 4:00pm Unexpectedly Yours (2D/Tagalog) 5:45 & 8:00pm Sheikh Jackson (2D/Arabic) 6:15 & 9:45pm Jeep Creepers 3 (2D/Horror) 8:00 & 11:30pm The Killing of Sacred Deer (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 101 East 09:00 Once Upon

a Time in Punchbowl

10:30 The Nobel Interview

11:00 News11:30 UpFront12:30 Witness13:00 NEWSHOUR14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 Debt Machine16:00 NEWSHOUR17:30 Talk to Al Jazeera18:00 Newsgrid19:30 Counting the Cost20:00 News20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 The Stream23:00 The Coming War

On China

13:00 Bunk’d

17:00 Tangled:

The Series

17:50 K.C.

Undercover

18:15 Descendants

Wicked World

18:20 Bunk’d

20:10 Miraculous

Tales Of

Ladybug And

Cat Noir

20:35 Disney The

Lodge

21:00 Alex & Co.

21:50 Lolirock

22:40 Evermoor

Chronicles

23:05 Rolling With

The Ronks

12:00 Shamwari: A Wild Life

12:55 Tanked13:50 Treehouse

Masters14:45 Dogs/Cats/

Pets 10115:40 League Of

Monkeys16:35 Growing

Up... Orang-Utan

19:20 Whale Wars20:15 Cats 10121:10 Shamwari:

A Wild Life23:00 Whale Wars23:55 Deadly

Islands00:50 Untamed &

Uncut01:45 Treehouse

Masters02:40 Cats 101

13:10 Alaska: The Last Frontier (Season Specials)

13:55 Deadliest Catch

14:40 Gold Divers: Under The Ice

17:00 How Do They Do It?

17:50 Storage Hunters UK

18:50 Deadliest Catch

21:00 Finding Escobar’s Millions

21:50 Treasure Quest: Snake Island

22:40 The Wheel: Survival Games

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSTHURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2017 15

Yesterday’s answer

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku

is a number-placing puzzle based on a

9×9 grid. The object is to place the

numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so

that each row, each column and each

3×3 box contains the same number

only once.

BUSH, CHAMPAIGN,

COMMON, COUNTRYSIDE,

DESERT, FIELD, GRASSLAND,

GREEN, HAYFIELD,

HINTERLAND, LEA, LLANO,

MEADOW, MOOR, OUTBACK,

PADDOCK, PAMPAS, PARK,

PASTURELAND, PLAIN,

RURAL, SALT FLATS,

SAVANNA, SNOWFIELD,

STEPPES, TUNDRA,

WASTELAND, WILDERNESS.