THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2017

COMMUNITY |6 BOLLYWOOD | 11

Indian Embassy marks National Unity Day

Anil Kapoor credits career to Padmini

Kolhapure

To pass the time, Nastasia Yakoub began posting old snapshots under her Insta-gram handle, @DameTraveler. Following an outpouring of attention, she opened the account to the community and began reposting tagged images that caught her eye.

P | 4-5

EXPLORING CREATIVITY

CAMPUSTHURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2017 03

AMUAAQ celebrates

Sir Syed’s bicentennial

The AMU Alumni Association of Qatar Chapter (AMUAAQ) celebrated the 200th birth

anniversary of the university’s founder “Sir Syed Ahmad Khan” on October 26 at Sheraton Grand Doha Resort & Convention Hotel.

Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Union Cabinet minister of Petro-leum, Government of India was the chief guest from India and Dr P Mohammed Ali, Chairman of Gal-far Group, Oman, was the chief guest from Middle East, while Dr Mohammad Aleem, representing Indian Embassy; M S Bukhari, Managing Director of Satco group and Johny Foster, noted Gazal singer from AMU were the Guests

of Honour.More than 400 Alig’s, guest,

school principal, presidents of many affiliated organisations, businessmen, media fraternity and professor from Qatar Foundation and Qatar University attended the event.

Sarwar Mirza greeted all the attendees and Aqeel Ahmed, host of the programme introduced the AMUAAQ and its tradition to the audience.

The Sir Syed Day function ended with AMU’s nostalgic Tarana by AMUAAQ team led by Johny Foster and followed by dinner. The Ghazal programme was held after the main function.

Birla Public School bags Sustainability Initiative award

Birla Public School won the prestigious prize for the Green Educational Build-

ing in the 2nd Annual Qatar Sustainability Awards ceremony held at the Rotana City Centre, Doha on October 29.

The members of the BIRLA-SPHERE (Eco Club of Birla Public School) created ‘magic’ by mak-ing their school building environment-friendly, with var-ious projects like Save Water, Save Electricity, Recycling of waste materials, Cleanliness campaign, Kitchen Gardening, etc.

The main campus located at Ras Abboud st, opposite Religious Complex Abu Hamour, is a per-fect example of a ‘Green’ building, where students learn to study in

h a r m o n y w i t h t h e i r surroundings.

Qatar Sustainability Awards aim to recognise the efforts, com-mitment, and contributions of individuals, institutions and organizations in furthering sus-tainable development and environmental protection in Qatar and beyond.

The main categories include green buildings, green hospital-ity, green service providers, building products and technolo-gies, green research and sustainability initiatives.

The school Eco Club owes much to the enthusiasm and motivation of its incharge, Rakesh Verma, senior teacher in Social Studies.

DPS–Modern Indian School (DPS-MIS) had organised ‘Memory Power’ event, a brainstorming in-house orientation programme, held on October 26 at he school auditorium led by Dhaval Bathia.

The chief guest and speaker for the day Daval Bathia,a celebrated Indian author and teacher who currently holds two world records and has authored five international best sellers, enticed the entire audience with befitting techniques like ‘Birthday Magic’, ‘Money Magic’ or ‘Brother-sister Magic’ that could be used in complex mathematical calcula-tions in easy and accurate manner to guess the birthdates, or number of siblings of any individual. The students learned simple ways of remembering long list of words, com-plicated maps and names of states and their capitals. The one hour workshop introduced the students to ‘Vedic Mathematics’ designed to reinforce the power of the brain.

The principal, Asna Nafees earnestly acknowledged the endeavour of Bathia to spread the knowledge that will prove constructive and beneficial for all students, not only dur-ing exams but will also help them boost their confidence and eliminate redundant mental blockages.

Vedic Mathematics introduced to DPS-MIS students

COVER STORY THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 201704The Washington Post

When a workplace accident left her on bed rest for nine months in 2013, Nastasia

Yakoub’s future in nursing was uncertain at best.

“I fell into depression because I had studied for four and a half years to became a labour-and-delivery nurse,” Yakoub, 30, said. “I needed something to distract me.”

To pass the time, she began posting old snapshots under her Instagram handle, @DameTrave-ler, a name chosen to share the empowering concept of independ-ent female travelers. After the popular @BeautifulDestinations reposted one of her photos along with its hashtag, Yakoub was inspired to add a hashtag to her own posts. Following an outpour-ing of attention, she opened the account to the community and began reposting tagged images that caught her eye.

More than 1.5 million posts of young women conquering pictur-esque world destinations now appear under #DameTraveler, all hoping to be featured on the account, which has 387,000 follow-ers. Many popular travel accounts have implemented the same hash-tag-based curatorial methods to gather content, and @BeautifulD-estinations tops 9.8 million followers, compared with old-school travel publishers such as Conde Nast Traveler, which has 1.4 million.

Unlike traditional influencers - adspeak for high-profile people who drive public opinion - the users behind these indie accounts are not the stars of the show. Yakoub occa-sionally appears on the @DameTraveler feed, but documents her own travels on a personal account, @nastasiaspassport.

She said that it takes her 30 minutes to an hour to pick each DameTraveler image, and she chooses one or two per day from those appearing under the hashtag.

“I’m very picky about the aes-thetic and feel,” she said. “That quality of the feed is what makes it successful.”

In addition to the exposure, a

repost - known as regramming - earns the photographer a certain amount of travel-elite street cred.

“About 2 percent of what you see on the account is my photography; the rest is other people’s,” said Andy McCune, 22, who oversees @Earth, an account with more than 800,000 followers. “We get hun-dreds of DMs and about 50 to 90 email submissions every day.”

McCune got the prime handle from a friend who was an early adopter of the platform. His itera-tion of @Earth was launched in 2015. McCune curates the feed and seeks out images that reflect his appreci-ation of nature. A Washington-state native, he favours lush, towering forests, mist-frosted mountain peaks and frothy rushes of water.

In the account’s early days, McCune reached out to notable travel photographers with large fol-lowings and began to repost work that fit his aesthetic.

Meet the people behind Instagram's popular travel accounts

COVER STORYTHURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2017 05“Once I gained three or four relationships, we started get-

ting more intros and the ball kept rolling,” he said. “It’s given me some of the best friends of my life.”

As the clout of social-media influencers increases, some accounts have become modern-day travel guides. McCune, who splits his time between New York City and Tulum, Mex-ico, has expanded @Earth’s reach by partnering with YouTube vloggers and social media travel mavens to create travel guides, photo journals and video content. (He curates @Tulum, as well as @Traveler and @Forest.) Yakoub did something similar, creating additional handles such as @DameTravel-erFoodie and @DameTravelerHotels to zero in on specific categories. Like McCune and Yakoub, 31-year-old Zach Houghton started out with an Instragram account and ended up with a full-time job.

“I never set out to create something this big,” said Houghton, who curates @Passionpassport, an account with almost 900,000 followers. “I first started to showcase the beauty of travel and create editorial content that gives peo-ple the opportunity to understand what power travel has in our own lives.”

The former trader was working in Hong Kong when he left the world of finance for a nine-month, 15-country trek that he documented in a blog and on Instagram. When the project ended, he opened the account to the community. By 2015, the hashtag had 1 million photos; today, it has more than 10 million. Houghton ultimately parlayed @Passion-passport into Passport Studio, a company that creates sponsored content around the themes of travel and discov-ery. The hashtag that started it all remains among Instagram’s top travel accounts, and Houghton says that he’s still on the lookout for undiscovered photographers with the same spirit that inspired him to start the account.

“Everyone has valid things to do and say and show, if you give them the opportunity to do so,” he said. “It’s not just those epic, jaw-dropping moments - it’s those quiet moments of travel that are worthy to talk about.”

COMMUNITY THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 201706

Indian Embassy marks National Unity DayIndian Embassy marked National

Unity Day - Rashtriya Ekta Diwas) to commemorate the

birth anniversary of Sardar Valla-bhbhai Patel at its premises on October 31.

P Kumaran, Indian Ambassa-dor, paid tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and recollected his extraordinary works towards unity and integrity of the country, as First Home Minister of India and Deputy Prime Minister.

He said that he can be rightly called as one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India.

Sardar’s role in integrating more than 500 independent princely states in 1947 to 1949 from the British rule through the Inde-

pendence Act 1947 was praised. He said that the National Unity

Day will provide an opportunity to re-affirm the inherent strength and resilience of our nation to withstand the actual and potential threats to the unity, integrity and security of

our country. The Ambassador also adminis-

tered a pledge on the occasion. The event ended with the screening of a documentary on life and achieve-ment of Sardar patel.

The apex bodies under the aegis

of the Embassy of India and the Indian Schools are also organising the day to spread the message of Sardar Patel by conducting photo exhibitions, quiz competition and screening of documentary on Sardar Patel’s life.

Embassy of India conducted through Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) the National

Unity Day at the ICC Ashoka hall. This annual commemoration

known as the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas was introduced by the Gov-ernment of India in 2014 and is held annually on the birthday of Sardar Vallabbhai Patel, on Octo-ber 31.

The 142nd birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was cel-ebrated in a befitting manner to recognise his contribution to the freedom struggle and to the found-ing of independent and united

India.To commemorate this event,

ICC organised programmes like audience quiz and a short docu-mentary film on Sardar

Vallabhbhai PatelAround 350 people attended,

including children from various Indian schools and Ideal Indian School participated in large

numbers. Special prizes were given away for the audience Quiz which saw enthusiastic participation.

ICC pays tribute to Sardar Patel on birth anniversary

COMMUNITYTHURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2017 07

Robin Padilla (pictured), the global brand ambassador of MoneyGram for the Over-seas Filipino Workers (OFWs), arrived in

Doha yesterday for the #MissionRobin, a unique campaign launched in August aimed at crown-ing his most adventurous fans who completed a certain mission.

Robin is a Filipino film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor with a stellar career span-ning over three decades, and is also known as Abdulaziz after embracing Islam.

The “Idol” as he is famously known to the Filipinos will be in Doha for three days. He will meet his fellow OFWs visiting the Philippine Embassy and the Philippine School Doha today before meeting in person his adventurous fans tomorrow at the InterContinental Hotel Doha.

MoneyGram is a global provider of innova-tive money transfer and payment services and is recognised worldwide as a financial

connection to friends and family. Whether online, or through a mobile device, at a kiosk or in a local store, it connects consumers any way that is convenient for them. Moneygram also pro-vides bill payment services, issue money orders and process official checks in select markets.

Qatar sent about $12b last year making it one of the top 15 outbound remittance markets in the world and the fourth largest sending mar-ket in the region after Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait. The remittance outbound to the Philip-pines from Qatar touched $1.2b last year. MoneyGram offers a unique convenient service to all the Filipino residents in Qatar via Ooredoo money. A customer can avail MoneyGram serv-ice through Ooredoo Money app available in iOS store or Google Play and transfer cash or direct to a bank account in the Philippines in minutes to their loved ones from anywhere and at any time.

MoneyGram brand ambassador for OFWs in Qatar

The Color Run to return in JanuaryThe Peninsula

The fourth edition of The Color Run returns on January 27 at Qatar National Convention

Centre, turning it into a colourful oasis along with a brand-new Foam Zone.

Everyone in Qatar is invited to once again run, walk or even skip their way along the 5K Color Run course.

The Color Run presented by Sahtak Awalan: Your Health First, t h e f l a g s h i p p u b l i c

health campaign of Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar (WCM-Q), will take Color Runners to a world where anything is possible, inspir-ing participants to make dreams a reality as The Color Run comes back to Qatar for its fourth edition.

Known to be the biggest and most colourful event that Doha has ever seen, this edition of The Hap-piest 5k on the Planet will have a one-of-a-kind theme: The Dream World Tour.

Color Runners will feel on top

of the world in the brand new Foam Zone, enjoy a brand new col-our, and as always, get covered from head to toe in an array of col-ours. After the course, participants can show their aspirations on the first ever Dream Wall and enjoy the ultimate colour extravaganza with family and friends at the Fin-ish Festival – featuring the world famous color throws.

People from every part of the community in Qatar have shown their enthusiasm for living a healthy lifestyle with over seven

thousand participants showing up at the event in 2017.

The Color Run is a unique race that celebrates health, happiness and individuality by both empow-ering and encouraging participants of all ages and abilities to focus on their health and well-being.

The excitement and hype wit-nessed towards this wonderful event demonstrates once again Qatar’s vision to empower and inspire all to lead healthier and happier lifestyles.

WWICS felicitates Filipino artiste Isabel GranadaWWICS – The Global

Resettlement solutions company in Qatar felic-

itated famous Filipino artist, Isabel Granada for her outstanding tal-ent & vision at The Philippines Trade and Tourism Conference – Qatar (PTTC-Q) held in Doha recently.

Isabel has made a name for herself in the Philippines entertain-ment industry as an award-winning actress and singer.

She is also an athlete & entrepre-neur of excellence.

Isabel said recently,” My con-gratulations to WWICS who have helped in relocating so many aspir-ants to Canada, Australia, the USA and other countries. The testimo-nies that I’ve heard of their success stories are impressive.”

WWICS’ excellent business eth-ics were applauded byJoseph Rivera, Chairman of AFREEQ - Association of Filipino Real Estate

Executives in Qatar. On the other hand, well-known Filipino com-munity leader & chairperson of PTTC-Q, Jeanette Gotangogan, made a special mention of the company’s high visa success rates.

WWICS has a track record of relocating more than 1,00,000 aspirants to favoured destinations. With more than 24 years’ experi-ence and an established network, the company promises one-stop resettlement solutions to skilled

workers, professionals, business persons, investors and students interested to live, work, study or invest in the most bounteous coun-tries of the world.

They offer consultation on var-ious permanent residency programmes like Canada Express Entry, Canada Provincial Nomina-tion, Australia General Skilled Worker Migration, US EB5 Green Card & various Entrepreneur pro-grammes for Canada, UK and EU.

HEALTH THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 201708

IANS

Long assumed to originate in the brain, Alzheimer’s disease

-- the leading cause of demen-tia -- might be the result of a breakdown elsewhere in the body, new research has claimed.

In people with Alzheimer’s dis-ease, a protein called amyloid-beta forms clumps or “plaques” that smother brain cells.

Besides the brain, the protein is also produced in blood platelets, blood vessels and muscles, and its precursor protein is found in sev-eral other organs.

According to researchers, these amyloid-beta has cancer-like prop-erties and can travel to brain from other parts of the body where it accumulates and begins to inflict damage.

“The blood-brain barrier weak-ens as we age,” said Weihong Song,

Professor at the University of Brit-ish Columbia in Canada.

“That might allow more amy-loid-beta to infiltrate the brain, supplementing what is produced by the brain itself and accelerating the deterioration.”

For the study, published in the

journal Molecular Psychiatry, the team attached normal mice, which do not naturally develop Alzheim-er’s disease, to mice modified to carry a mutant human gene that produces high levels of amyloid-beta protein. Normal mice that had been joined to genetically modified

partners for a year “contracted” Alzheimer’s disease.

Moreover, the normal mice also developed a pathology similar to

“tangles” -- twisted protein strands that form inside brain cells --, dis-rupting brain function.

In addition, the ability to trans-mit electrical signals involved in learning and memory was impaired even in mice that had been joined for just four months.

The findings offer hope that future drug therapies might be able to stop or slow the disease without acting directly on the brain.

Instead, it could target the kid-ney or liver and thus get rid of the toxic protein before it ever reaches the brain.

“Alzheimer’s disease is clearly a disease of the brain, but we need to pay attention to the whole body to understand where it comes from, and how to stop it,” Song noted.

Alzheimer's disease might be a ‘whole body’ problem

Common acid reflux drug increases stomach cancer riskIf you are popping up common over-the-

counter drugs daily to treat acid reflux and stomach ulcers, hold on. You may end up

having cancer.According to a first-ever documented

research that looked at the link between com-mon Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs) like pantoprazole or rabeprazole may put you at double the risk of developing stomach cancer.

Although the researchers from University of Hong Kong said it was an observational study and no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect and PPIs were gener-ally considered safe, the link is significant as millions take such drugs to lower acid reflux.

To understand the link, the team led by Ka Shing Cheung from Department of Medicine at University of Hong Kong compared the use of PPIs with another type of drug used to dampen down acid production called H2 blockers (like ranitidine) in 63,397 adults treated with triple therapy -- a combination of a PPI and two antibiotics to kill off “H pylori” over seven days -- between 2003 and 2012.

They were subsequently monitored until they either developed stomach cancer, died or the study ended (end of December 2015), whichever came first. The average monitor-ing period lasted 7.5 years.

During this time, 3,271 (5 per cent) people took PPIs for an average of nearly three years and 21,729 took H2 blockers.

In all, 153 (0.24 per cent) people developed stomach cancer after triple therapy. None tested positive for H pylori at the time, but all had long-standing gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining).

“Taking PPIs was associated with a more than doubling (2.44) in the risk of developing stomach cancer, while taking H2 blockers was not associated with any such heightened risk,” the study noted.

The average time between triple therapy

and the development of stomach cancer was just under 5 years.

More frequent use was associated with greater risk, with daily use linked to a more than quadrupling in risk (4.55) compared with weekly use.

The drug first eliminates a bacteria called as Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) suspected of fuelling the cancer’s development.

However, even after H pylori was removed, the risk of developing the disease still rose in tandem with the dose and duration of PPI treatment, the researcher noted in the paper published in the journal Gut.

The longer PPIs were used, the greater was the risk of developing stomach cancer, rising to 5-fold after more than a year, to more than 6-fold after two or more years, and to more than 8-fold after three or more years, the researchers said.

Recent research has also linked long term use of PPIs to various unwanted effects, includ-ing pneumonia, heart attack and bone fracture.

The “clear dose-response and time response trend” in the use of PPIs and stom-ach cancer risk, suggests that doctors “should exercise caution when prescribing long-term PPIs...even after successful eradication of H plyori”, the researchers noted.

“Taking PPIs was associated with a more than doubling (2.44) in the risk of developing stomach cancer, while taking H2 blockers was not associated with any such heightened risk,” the study noted.

FOOD THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 201710Ellie Krieger The Washington Post

However healthy it may seem, the presence of shredded zucchini in a quick bread or

muffin doesn’t make it good for you. Most are still essentially forms of cake, held up with lots of butter, refined flour and sugar.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing once in a while, but for eve-ryday breakfast and snacking you probably want something more nutritious and less dessert-like. The problem is that truly healthy muf-fins and quick breads — with or without zucchini — are often dis-appointing: dry, leaden and rubbery. Not so with these.

They are the best of both worlds, genuinely good for you but also desirably moist, tender and fragrant. Lightly sweetened, flecked with zuc-chini, and made with healthy oil, whole grain flour and rolled oats, they have a wholesome sensibility and hearty texture that pulls them away from the dessert realm into the daily sustenance category, in a good way. Not only do they taste good, you’ll feel good eating one of these zucchini muffins to start your day or fuel you midafternoon.

They get most of their sweetness from dried dates, which also pro-vide a deep flavor, valuable nutrients and fiber. The dates are soaked in water, then pureed until they form a smooth paste. Just a little white sugar — a quarter of what is in a typ-ical recipe - is needed to round out the muffin’s flavor. Soft whole-grain pastry flour keeps the crumb tender, while rolled oats add a rustic texture and walnuts an element of crunch.

The zucchini (which needs to be drained of most of its water), eggs, oil, and date paste together provide enough liquid so that no milk or other fluid is needed. The tasty, cin-namon-scented muffins make for an energizing on-the-go treat, so do yourself a favor and make an extra batch. Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and freeze so you have one to grab when you need it.

Zucchini Oat Muffins12 servingsThese tender, fragrant muffins

are sweetened primarily with dates, which, besides sweetness, provide

deep flavor and valuable nutrients. Made with whole grains and health-ful oil, the muffins have a wholesome sensibility and hearty texture that steps away from the dessert realm into the daily sustenance category, in a good way. They not only taste good, they are a nourishing and energising way to start your day or fuel your afternoon.

Make Ahead: The date paste can be refrigerated up to 2 weeks in advance.

Ingredients1 cup packed pitted datesBoiling water1 1/4 cups coarsely grated zuc-

chini (1 medium zucchini)1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats1/4 cup sugar2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/2 teaspoon freshly grated

nutmeg1/2 teaspoon salt2 large eggs1/3 cup neutral-tasting oil, such

as light olive oil or canola oil1/2 cup coarsely chopped

walnuts

StepsPlace the dates in a medium

bowl. Pour enough boiling water over them to cover and let soak for 1 hour. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the soaking liquid, then drain the dates well.

Combine the dates and the reserved liquid in a food processor (mini, preferably) and puree to form a smooth paste, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides, as needed.

Place the grated zucchini in a colander in the sink; let drain for 20 minutes, then gather it up in your hands to extract as much moisture as possible.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have a standard-size, 12-well muf-fin pan at hand. Lightly grease the wells with cooking oil spray or line them with baking paper cups.

Stir together the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl.

Stir together all the date paste, eggs and oil in a mixing bowl until incorporated, then stir in the grated, drained zucchini. Add the flour mix-ture and stir until no trace of it remains, then stir in the walnuts.

Divide the batter evenly among the wells. Bake (middle rack) for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Serve warm, or at room temperature.

Nutrition: Per muffin: 220 cal-ories, 4 g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 11 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 30 mg cho-lesterol, 110 mg sodium, 4 g dietary fiber, 12 g sugar.

Zucchini oat muffins

BOLLYWOODTHURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2017 11

‘My Little Pony’ to be released on November 10

Fantasy animation film “My Little Pony” will release in India on

November 10. MVP Enter-tainment is releasing the movie in India, read a state-ment. “My Little Pony” takes the successful television series “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” to a new level. It is directed by Jayson Thiessen.

The film revolves around the journey of the Mane 6 - Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity, beyond Equestria to save Ponyville using the magic of friendship, from a threaten-ing dark force that will destroy their home.

It has an all-star voice cast including Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Pena, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldana. The movie also features origi-nal music and songs performed by Sia, Diggs, Saldana, Che-noweth and Blunt.

Anil Kapoor credits career to Padmini KolhapureIANS

Actor Anil Kapoor says had Padmini Kolhapure not agreed to work with him in

“Woh 7 Din”, he wouldn’t have been where he is today.

On Padmini’s birthday on Wednesday, Anil shared a photo-graph from the 1983 film “Woh 7 Din” and captioned it: “Happy birthday to my first leading lady Padmini Kolhapure! It’s because she agreed to do ‘Woh 7 Din’ that I am where I am today!”

Directed by Bapu, “Woh 7 Din” revolves around Dr. Anand who learns that his newly-wedded

bride Maya loves someone else. He decides to reunite the two lov-ers at all costs and begins to search for the man.

Currently, Anil is working with actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in the upcoming film “Fanney Khan”. The musical comedy film is being directed by Atul Manjrekar.

“Fanney Khan”, being pro-duced by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, KriArj Entertainment and T-Series, is the official remake of the Oscar-nominated 2000 Dutch film “Everybody’s Famous!”.

It is scheduled for a worldwide release on April 13, 2018.

DIFF continues to back Indie cinemaIANS

The quaint and hilly environs of Dharamsala, a popular destination in Himachal Pradesh, will come alive with the voice and visuals of inde-

pendent filmmakers from India and abroad at the sixth edition of the Dharamshala International Film Festi-val (DIFF), which begins today.

The extravaganza will also have film screenings at the city’s new multiplex with two auditoriums at Gold Cinemas in Lower Dharamsala.

The offbeat and independent film fest is organised by filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam.

“We hope to cater to the townspeople of Lower Dharamsala who may not wish to come all the way to Upper Dharamsala, the main venue of the festival,” Sarin said.

The organisers have also planned to widen the plat-form for children with an “expanded programme”, wherein students from various schools and colleges in the area have also been invited to come for the screenings.

Talking about the growth of the festival, Sarin said this is a “development that we had never foreseen”.

“There have been many changes since the first edi-tion of DIFF. The biggest change is the way the festival has grown from being a small local event to a national one. Today, DIFF has become one of the more impor-tant venues in India for the new generation of Indian independent filmmakers to come and showcase their films,” she said.

South Asian premieres of three experimental films, including Amar Kanwar’s “Such a Morning”, Naeem Mohaiemen’s “Tripoli Cancelled”, and Tan Pin Pin’s

“In Time To Come”, will be held at the gala.

The screenings will be split into six different cate-gories: Feature narratives, feature documentaries, shorts, children’s films, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films and special programmes.

The widely awarded “Mukti Bhawan (Hotel Salva-tion)”, directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani, is its opening film. There will also be a special screening of the crit-ically acclaimed “A Death in the Gunj”, which will be presented by director Konkona Sen Sharma.

The line-up also includes two award-winning doc-umentaries -- Kirsten Johnson’s “Cameraperson” and Rahul Jain’s “Machines”.

This year’s feature films include international weaves like Dain Said’s “Interchange”, Yaniv Berman’s

“Land of the Little People”, Dechen Roder’s “Honey-giver Among the Dogs”, Yoshinori Sato’s “Her Mother”, Karma Takapa’s “Ralang Road”, Deepak Rauniyar’s

“White Sun” and Nicole van Kilsdonk’s “The Day My Father Became A Bush”.

From the Indian turf, DIFF 2017 will feature India’s official entry to the Oscars this year, Amit Masurkar’s

“Newton”, and “Turup”, “The Hungry”, “Ashwatthama”, “Chhuri”, “Shunyata”, “Death Of A Father”, “Visa”, “Anukul”, “Angamaly Diaries” and more.

Besides the films, the festival will feature sessions like confluence of five independent filmmakers from five very different countries -- Yaniv Berman from Israel, Mano Khalil from Switzerland, Dain Iskander Said from Malaysia, Lijo Jose Pellisery from India and Yoshinori Sato from Japan, who will speak on how their films chart disturbing trends within the fabric of their societies.

The festival will also have a masterclass by actor Adil Hussain, and a discussion welcoming a new crop of indie filmmakers from across the country.

ENTERTAINMENT THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 201712

Kanye West makes brief return a year after breakdownAFP

Rap superstar Kanye West is back nearly a year after suf-fering a breakdown

-- making a brief musical appear-ance in which he appears to keep his feud with Taylor Swift alive.

West, a once omnipresent celebrity with a prolific media presence and high-profile mar-riage to Kim Kardashian, abruptly ended a tour and was hospitalised in November 2016 after unusual rants on stage.

Making his most visible appearance this year, West con-tributed a verse on a song released Tuesday by Cyhi The Prynce, an Atlanta rapper whom West ear-lier signed to his label imprint.

The song, “Dat Side,” expounds on the perils of fame and hits back at critics, with West speaking of

being African-American in his a f f l u e n t L o s A n g e l e s neighbourhood.

“Neighbours said they think I gave the neighbourhood a black eye,” the 40-year-old father of two raps.

He also appears to reference his ongoing rift with Swift. In his 2016 song “Famous,” West boasts that the pop star may have rela-tionship with him as he takes credit for her celebrity -- a refer-ence to how he disrupted her at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Swift voiced anger at the lyric and hit back in “Look What You Made Me Do,” a vindictive track released in August.

West on the latest track refer-ences the name of the controversial song as he raps: “The people claim to know you... get

famous on you / Then they go and blame it on you / You just good, they can’t ignore you.”

West’s last major public appearance following his hospi-talization came in December when

he unexpectedly showed up at Trump Tower in New York to meet then president-elect Donald Trump -- whose aides said he was mulling an official role for the rapper.

IANS

Late pop icon George Michael’s family has blocked TV presenter

Esther Rantzen from hosting a tribute concert for the singer.

At the Pride of Britain Awards on Monday, Rantzen said she had wanted to host a fundraising gig to celebrate Michael’s music, but his fam-ily had “said no” to the idea, reports mirror.co.uk

The event would have raised a lot of money for Rantzen’s charity Childline, which Michael actively sup-ported during his career.

“There will no longer be a tribute concert because his family said no. It was a real shame as I’d have loved to celebrate his music and give the fans a chance to say goodbye -- and it would have been to benefit his favourite charity, too,” Rantzen said.

“Once the family say no, there’s nothing we can do,” she added.She had been discussing the prospect of a tribute concert, held at

the Royal Albert Hall, ever since the singer’s death last year.

George Michaeltribute concert axed

Niall Horan heads to the top of Music charts Reuters

Niall Horan scored his first chart-topping album as a solo artist, the third member of boy band One Direction to achieve the feat.

Horan’s album “Flicker” sold 152,000 album units in its first week from music sales and streaming activity, according to fig-ures from Nielsen SoundScan.

It follows on the heels of Harry Styles’ self-titled solo album debut in May and Zayn Malik’s “Mind of Mine” debut last year, both of which opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

After Malik left One Direction in 2015, the band went on hia-tus and each of its remaining members released solo music.

The Billboard 200 album chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

New debuts in the top ten of the Billboard 200 album chart this week included rappers Future and Young Thug’s collabora-tive album “Super Slimey” at No. 2, country singer Chris Young’s

“Losing Sleep” at No. 5 and country singer Darius Rucker at No. 8 with “When Was The Last Time.”

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online single sales, Taylor Swift’s latest single “Gorgeous” from her upcoming album debuted at No. 1 with 68,000 copies sold.

TECHNOLOGYTHURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2017 13The Washington Post

Imagine you’re working on a Google Doc when, seemingly out of nowhere, your ability to edit

the online file gets revoked. What you see instead is an error message indicating that you’ve violated Google’s terms of service.

For anyone who stores work in the cloud, suddenly being unable to access your data - especially due to a terms of service violation - may sound scary. And it’s really happen-ing to some people, according to reports on Twitter. Rachael Bale, a wildlife crime reporter for National Geographic, said yesterday that a draft of her story was “frozen” by Google.

“Has anyone had @googledocs lock you out of a doc before? My draft of a story about wildlife crime was just frozen for violating their TOS. - Rachael Bale (@Rachael_Bale) October 31, 2017”

Others have reported similar errors.

“Tfw your finalizing a piece on E. Europe post-socialist parties in Google Drive and Google removes it because it’s in violation of its ToS?? - Bhaskar Sunkara (@sun-raysunray) October 31, 2017”

In response to some of these reports, a Google employee tweeted that the team handling Google Docs was looking into the matter. Later yesterday, Google said in a state-ment that it had “made a code push that incorrectly flagged a small per-centage of Google Docs as abusive, which caused those documents to be automatically blocked. A fix is

in place and all users should have full access to their docs.”

Although the error appeared to be a technical glitch, the fact that Google is capable of identifying

“bad” Google Docs at all is a reminder: Much of what you upload, receive or type to Google is moni-tored. While many people may be aware that Gmail scans your emails

- for instance, so that its smart-reply feature can figure out what responses to suggest - this policy extends to other Google products, too.

“Our automated systems analyse your content to provide you per-sonally relevant product features, such as customised search results, and spam and malware detection,” reads the terms of service for Google Drive, the suite of produc-tivity tools of which Google Docs is

a part. “Google’s Privacy Policy explains

how we treat your personal data and protect your privacy when you use Google Drive.”

If you visit Google’s privacy pol-icy, you’ll find that Google is up front there, too, about the data it collects.

“We collect information about the services that you use and how you use them, like when you watch a video on YouTube, visit a website that uses our advertising services, or view and interact with our ads and content,” it says.

“This includes information like your usage data and preferences, Gmail messages, G+ profile, photos, videos, browsing history, map searches, docs, or other Google-hosted content. Our automated systems analyse this information

as it is sent and received and when it is stored.”

Google explicitly refers to docs - albeit in a lower-case fashion - as an example of the type of content from which Google extracts infor-mation. I’ve asked Google for clarification on whether they actu-ally read the contents of a person’s Google Docs and will update if I get a response.

“This kind of monitoring is creepy,” Bale tweeted.

Yesterday afternoon, Google said that it does not technically read files, but instead uses an automated system of pattern matching to scan for indicators of abuse. Though it can identify clusters of data that might suggest a violation, the sys-tem does not pull meaning from the content, according to a company spokesperson.

The Washington Post

Best Buy said it stopped some sales of Apple’s iPhone X and iPhone 8 after consumers

complained about the retailer charging a $100 premium on the already expensive smartphones.

The company, one of Apple’s key retail partners, still sells all iPhone models via carrier install-ment plans that let customers pay for the devices over several months. The price of these payment

programmes are the same as the monthly plans offered directly by carriers like Verizon Communica-tions and AT&T and similar offerings on Apple’s website.

Last week, when users went to Best Buy’s website to purchase an iPhone X at the full, upfront price, Best Buy charged $1,099 and $1,249 for the two configurations. Apple’s pricing is $999 and $1,149.

“Although there was clearly demand for the un-activated iPhone X, selling it that way cost

more money, causing some con-fusion with our customers and noise in the media,” Best Buy spokeswoman Danielle Schumann said. “That’s why we decided a few days ago to only sell the phone the traditional way, through install-ment billing plans.”

Last week, consumers took to Twitter to complain about the extra charge. “Charging $100 premium due to demand is treating your cus-tomer like dirt.”

Best Buy previously said the

$100 premium was intentional because offering different purchas-ing options for iPhones “has a cost.” The retailer gets payments from carriers when it sells phones that are already set up to work on the carriers’ networks. It doesn’t get that money when devices are sold without carrier activation. Still, Apple, carriers and some other retailers stick to the official pric-ing. Best Buy still sells older iPhone models at a $50 premium, accord-ing to a check of its website.

Best Buy stops some new iPhone sales after pricing backlash

Google Docs users getting locked out of their files

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial

contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for

survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela

from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2017CINEMA PLUS14NOVO — Pearl

Thor: Ragnarok (2D/Action) 10:15, 10:30am, 12:15, 12:45, 1:10, 3:00, 3:15, 3:50, 5:45, 6:30, 8:15, 8:30, 9:10, 10:45, 11:15 & 11:50pmJigsaw (2D/Horror) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Geostorm(2D/Thriller) 10:00am, 12:20, 2:40, 5:00, 7:20, 9:40pm & 12:00midnightIt Stains The Sands Red (2D/Horror) 12:30, 4:45 & 9:00pmBeyond Skyline (2D/Action) 10:15am, 2:30, 6:45 & 11:00pmMonster Family (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00 & 4:00pmBlack Butterfly (2D/Thriller) 6:00, 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnightBrawl In Cell Block 99(2D/Action)10:00am, 2:40, 7:20pm & 12:00midnight 24 Hours To Live (2D/Thriller) 12:40, 5:20 & 10:00pmBoo:2 A Madea(2D/Comedy)10:00am, 12:15, 2:30, 4:45,7:00,9:15&11:30pmThor: Ragnarok (3DIMAX/Action) 10:40am, 1:20, 4:00, 6:40, 9:20 & 12:00midnight

MALLVillain (2D/Malayalam) 2:00, 4:30 & 11:30pm Fantastic Journey To Oz (2D/Animation) 2:30pmSecret Superstar (2D/Hindi) 2:30pm Seven Sundays (2D/Tagalog) 7:15pmThor: Ragnarok (2D/Action) 4:30, 7:00, 9:15 & 11:30pm Boo 2: A Madea (2D/Comedy) 5:30pm Black Butterfly (2D/Thriller) 7:30pm Beyond Skyline (2D/Action) 9:30pmIt Stains The Sands Red (2D/Horror) 9:30pm Aval (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm

LANDMARKThe Little Vampire (2D/Animation) 2:15 & 4:00pm Villain (2D/Malayalam) 2:30, 5:00 & 11:15pm Fantastic Journey To Oz (2D/Animation) 2:30pmBoo 2: A Madea (2D/Comedy) 4:30&7:45pm Seven Sundays(2D/Tagalog) 7:30pmBeyond Skyline (2D/Action) 5:45pm Black Butterfly (2D/Thriller) 9:45pm Thor: Ragnarok (2D/Action) 6:30, 8:45 & 11:00pmIt Stains The Sands Red (2D/Horror) 9:30pm Aval (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm

ROYAL PLAZA

ROXY

Villain (2D/Malayalam) 2:00, 6:00 & 11:00pm The Little Vampire (2D/Animation) 2:00pm Fantastic Journey To Oz (2D/Animation) 2:30pm Boo 2: A Madea (2D/Comedy) 4:30, 7:45 & 9:30pm Thor: Ragnarok (2D/Action) 6:30, 9:00 & 11:30pm Black Butterfly (2D/Thriller) 4:15pmIt Stains The Sands Red (2D/Horror) 6:00pm Seven Sundays (2D/Tagalog) 8:30pm Aval (2D/Tamil) 11:30pm

Fantastic Journey To Oz (2D/Animation) 12:00noon, 2:00 & 4:00pm Villain (Malayalam) 12:00noon, 12:30, 3:00, 3:30, 6:00, 6:30, 9:00pm & 12:00midnight Aval (Tamil) 9:30pm & 12:15am Thor Ragnarok (Action) 12:00noon, 2:40, 5:20, 6:00, 8:00, 8:40, 10:40 & 11:20pm

ASIAN TOWNAval (Tamil) 12:00noon & 5:30pm Mersal (Tamil) 2:30pmVillain (Malayalam) 12:30, 1:00, 3:15, 3:45, 6:00, 6:30, 8:00, 8:45, 9:15, 11:00, 11:30pm, 01:45 & 02:00am Ramleela (Malayalam) 12:45, 8:30pm & 01:45am Parava (Malayalam) 3:30pm Ittefaq (Hindi) 6:15 & 11:15pm

AL KHORThor Ragnarok 11:30am, 12:30, 2:15, 3:15, 5:00, 6:00, 7:45, 8:45, 10:30 & 11:30pm Villain (Malayalam) 12:00noon, 2:45, 5:30, 8:15 & 11:00pm Happy Death Day 11:00am, 3:30 & 8:00pm Ramleela 3:00 & 8:00pm Mersal (Tamil) 2:15 & 8:15pm

THOR RAGNAROK

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 Witness09:00 The Wanted 18 10:00 News10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 The Stream12:00 News12:30 Fault Lines13:00 NEWSHOUR14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 Witness16:00 NEWSHOUR17:00 News17:30 The Stream18:00 newsgrid19:00 News19:30 Risking It All20:00 News20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:30 The Stream23:00 Digital

Dissidents

13:20 Lolirock 16:05 Disney

Mickey Mouse16:10 Elena Of

Avalor 16:35 Stuck In

The Middle 17:00 Tangled:

The Series20:05 Descendants

Wicked World 20:35 Jessie 21:00 Tangled:

The Series 21:50 K.C.

Undercover 22:15 Stuck In

The Middle 22:40 Bunk’d 23:05 Rolling With

The Ronks 23:20 Miraculous

Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir

13:50 Pet Nation

Renovation

14:45 Bad Dog

15:40 Mutant

Planet

16:35 Lone Star

Law

17:30 Treehouse

Masters

18:25 Whale Wars

20:15 Bad Dog

21:10 Going Ape

22:05 Whale War

23:55 North

America

00:50 Lone Star

Law

01:45 Treehouse

Masters

02:40 Bad Dog

13:10 Alaska: The Last Frontier

16:10 Street Customs 2008

17:00 How Do They Do It?

17:50 Extreme Collectors

18:20 Auction Kings

18:50 Treasure Quest: Snake Island

21:25 How Do They Do It?

21:50 So You Think You’d Survive?

22:40 Super-truckers

23:30 Fast N’ Loud

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSTHURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER 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.

ARCHERY, ATHLETICS,

BADMINTON, BASKETBALL,

BEACH VOLLEYBALL, BOXING,

CANOEING, CYCLING, DIVING,

EQUESTRIAN, FENCING,

FOOTBALL, GYMNASTICS,

HANDBALL, HOCKEY, JUDO,

MODERN PENTATHLON,

ROWING, SAILING, SHOOTING,

SWIMMING,SYNCHRONIZED

SWIMMING, TABLE TENNIS,

TAEKWONDO, TENNIS,

TRAMPOLINE, TRIATHLON,

VOLLEYBALL, WATER POLO,

WEIGHTLIFTING, WRESTLING.