THURSDAY 11 MAY 2017

I’ve always got great roles: Parineeti

COMMUNITY | 7 FOOD | 11 BOLLYWOOD | 12QNMC set to make

stars out of Qatar’s rising musical talents

Lemon and apricot cinnamon

chicken

Email: dohatoday@pen.com.qa

CQ

starisin

12

With over 300 clinics specialised in hair transplant alone, Istanbul is becoming a growing hub in the industry, attracting patients from all over the world but mainly from the Middle East and the Gulf.

HAIRTHERAPY P | 2-3

COVER STORY THURSDAY 11 MAY 201702

Hair therapy boosts Istanbul’s receding tourism

Istanbul AFP

On his to-do list for his trip to Istanbul, Pales-tinian tourist Jameel wants to visit the Blue Mosque and take a

tour on the Bosphorus, like any other tourist.

But he has one more, less con-ventional purpose — to have 1,500 strands of hair implanted one by one, in an increasingly popular anti-hair loss treatment in the Turkish metropolis.

With over 300 clinics special-ised in hair transplant alone, Istanbul is becoming a growing hub in the industry, attracting patients from all over the world but mainly from the Middle East and the Gulf.

Experienced surgeons, advanced technology and relatively low prices are a plus for many tour-ists. And its growth in the last couple of years has come as a boon for a city where foreign tourism has fallen drastically since a spate of terror attacks in 2016.

“I came to Turkey for the hair transplant and a bit of tourism. Tur-key has an excellent reputation when it comes to hair implants,” 27-year-old Jameel said, speaking

after the surgery at an Istanbul hos-pital, on condition of not using his full name. Faisal Abu Ahmad, from Saudi Arabia, said his uncle under-went the treatment in Turkey and so he followed suit. “Rapid hair loss pushed me to undergo the opera-tion. I started getting bald spots,” he said.

Symbol of Istanbul At the tourist hubs of Istanbul

such as Taksim Square, it is hard to miss the men wandering around with shaved heads and bandages after their operations, proudly sporting the branded headbands of their clinics.

They have become so ubiqui-tous that residents of Istanbul joke that a man with a bandaged head could be the city’s new symbol.

“Prices are very, very attractive. However, the second most critical element is the quality of this treat-ment,” said Talip Tastemel, the general manager of Clinic Expert.

“Turkey is very advanced in cos-metic surgeries and hair transplantation, so the patients are buying a very high quality treat-ment at a quarter of the normal cost” in some other countries.

Package offers for foreign patients include pickup from the

airport, hotel accommodation, the surgery itself and tourism.

Around €1,200 ($1,312) would get a patient three days in Istanbul and a top quality medical treatment, whereas the same surgery could cost up to €6,000 in Europe, or only slightly less in the Middle East.

The operation is carried out with Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) where tiny hairs are taken out one by one from areas where the patient still has hair like the nape of the neck. After the harvesting, they are implanted in the areas where the patient has lost hair. The procedure takes around eight to 10 hours, while the tiny transplanted hairs can take weeks or months to take root and grow.

Around 5,000 foreign patients undergo hair transplants in Turkey every month, with the vast majority coming from the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

COVER STORYTHURSDAY 11 MAY 2017 03Bucking the trend

Emre Ali Kodan, consultant for the Health Tourism Association, said 5,000 foreign patients undergo hair transplants in Turkey every month, with the vast majority com-ing from the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

“We are setting our sights on a 10-percent increase in hair trans-plant alone (in 2017). It would not be a dream to reach up to 6,500 patients a month,” he said.

Patients from Greece, Italy and Russia are also showing interest, he said. “Despite the decline in the tourism sector in 2016, we see a five-percent growth in health tour-ism, based on statistics,” Kodan said, adding that the aim was to achieve up to $7bn in revenue this year.

Tastemel said the hair treat-ment sector was showing a resilience lacking in other branches of the tourism sector, which saw revenues plummet more than 17 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2016.

“Even when there were prob-lems in the tourism industry it didn’t affect the medical tourism domain very much,” he said.

“We kept doing a high number of operations even during the cri-sis period.”

‘Cars, watches and hair’A pharmacist himself, Jameel

said he tried many medicines to stop hair loss but they didn’t work.

“At this age, losing your hair has a big impact on your looks. “That’s why when you lose it, you start looking for solutions to fix this hair problem,” he said. Tastemel said men need to be proud of their hair.

“To be honest, men don’t have many

accessories to present themselves with. It is mainly our cars, our watches and our hair at the end of the day,” he said. “We are not able to use make-up. The look that we have comes mainly from our hair, so when you lose it, it is like some-thing is taken from you.”

Clinic Expert offers a range of cosmetic surgeries but hair trans-plants are its main business and

Tastemel said success rates tended to be good.

“In medicine you cannot guar-antee a result, you can expect some failures occasionally, but in hair transplantation this is at the very minimum,” Tastemel said.

“Anybody who does this in a decent clinic with a decent doctor, and a decent technique should expect 100-percent success.”

CAMPUS THURSDAY 11 MAY 201704

Inter-house football tournament at RajagiriThe physical Education Dept.

of Rajagiri Public School con-ducted inter-house football

tournament at Rajagiri grounds as part of co-curricular activities.

There were four teams from the senior section and two teams from the juniors. The semifinals of the senior section were held and the winners of the two games moved to the finals. The final was played with a lot of enthusiasm and sportsmanship.

It was an occasion for the stu-dents to build sportsman spirit, physical wellness, and professional skills.

They played the match in the true spirit of the game and learned how to be professional irrespective of victory or failure.

The school community cheered and supported teams of their houses. The final was a close

encounter with a 1-0 result. Master AmaanAshrad of Grade 5 B scored the lone goal.

The principal inaugurated the

final with a guard of honour cere-mony. Management member Koshy George was the chief guest. Muham-mad Fazal, the HOD, was the chief

organiser. Jayalashmi was the main referee with Abid and Sainul as line referees. Running commentary was done by Regal Joy.

DPS-MIS team tops Asianet quiz

The DPS-MIS team comprising Aakash Jain (XI A) and Jha-lakAkhilesh (IX J) participated in the

Asianet Think and Learn Chal-lenge held in Dubai and bagged the first position in the National Round knocking out five national teams. The quiz was telecasted on Asianet Mid-dle East and the winning team was awarded a certificate and a cash prize of $1,000.

CAMPUSTHURSDAY 11 MAY 2017 05

Doha English Speaking School raises QR35,000 for charity

Children, parents and staff at Doha English Speaking School have been undertaking many fun activities at the school to raise

funds for their chosen charity this year, ‘Qatar Cre-ating Vision’. They raised QR 35,000 for charity.

The school dedicates two days of activities towards raising funds for their chosen charity and this year this included ‘Big Dream Day’ where children thought about the profession they would like to enter when they are older and dressed up accordingly in exchange for a dona-tion towards the charity. On the same day, parents visited the children to talk about their own work. Parents in the professions — doctors, architects, pilots, military service personnel and journalists – all spoke with the children.

Dr Brenda Strandvik, a parent at the school who is a doctor at International Medical Centre, Doha said: “What fun to be part of ‘Dream Big Day’ and share with the children the privilege of being a doctor. I particularly enjoyed the chil-dren’s interesting questions and the joy on their faces as they heard their own heartbeat through my stethoscope for the first time.”

Matt Richards, who was a Major in the Royal Engineers, said:“It was interesting to blow away many preconceptions about the military …... some of the girls were particularly intrigued that there are women in the Army and that there are so many roles open to them”.

The following day the children were able to take part in many exciting and fun activities in exchange for donations made to the school. Activities included a disco, purchasing second hand toys, sporting challenges, henna painting and much more.

Shantiniketan Indian School holds orientation programme for parents

The Pre-Primary section of Shantiniketan Indian School (SIS) organised an orientation

programme for the parents recently. Senior Head Teacher Mehjabeen Hasan presented a well-interpreted and an amplified view of the objec-tives of the Pre-Primary curriculum, integrated approach and differen-tiated instruction which gave a clear understanding for the parents to reflect upon.

The teachers’ presentations were beneficial and productive bringing forth lots of ideas on Child

Development in Early Years, Kin-dergarten Guidelines, Parent Teacher Interaction and Parental Participation in Child’s Education. The problems associated with addic-tion to technology and child safety was emphasized to have a vivid understanding of happenings around. Principal Dr Subhash Nair in his enlightening address urged the parents to get involved in their child’s education and collaborate with the school as it would benefit their young ones’ kindergarten experience.

MARKETPLACE THURSDAY 11 MAY 201706

Aster expands with Smile and Beauty block

Aster Medical Centre, a division of Aster DM Healthcare, the Dubai based healthcare con-g l o m e r a t e h a s

expanded its scope of medical offerings in Qatar. The leading medical chain has now opened a new full-fledged speciality block,

“Smile and Beauty”, in their exist-ing medical centre locating on C Ring Road.

The new block was officially inaugurated by Dr Sameer Moo-pan, Chief Executive Officer, Aster DM Healthcare- Qatar along with Dr Nazar Moopan, Medical Direc-tor and Chief of Medical Staff, Aster DM Healthcare- Qatar in the pres-ence of doctors and other dignitaries yesterday.

The “Smile and Beauty” block equipped with latest equipment has been added along with the induc-tion of specialist doctors and supporting staffs. The service of full-fledged dermatology, dental & ophthalmology departments will be operating in the newly-expanded block.

Along with the routine treat-ments, the centre is now capable of handling procedures like laser facial, wrinkle reduction, anti-age-ing, facial glow, hair-loss treatment for pattern male baldness, post pregnancy, post illness, dental jew-els, tooth whitening, smile designing, aesthetic filling, veneer, etc.

Commenting on the expansion,

Dr Sameer Moopen said, “We are pleased to expand our healthcare offerings and adding, Smile and Beauty block with latest technolo-gies. This block will provide complete solution for your aesthetic needs by clubbing all related departments and services under one roof. Our aim is to provide comprehensive care under one roof”.

Ramadan offers at Sharq Village & Spa

Sharq Village and Spa, a Ritz-Carlton Hotel wel-comes the Holy Month of Ramadan with a festive ambiance themed Sihr Al Sharq or ‘magic of the

orient’ with hearty offerings for Iftar and Suhour.Located in Al Dasha and Al Sonbok Ballrooms, Sihr

Al Sharq Ramadan Tent invites friends and families to experience unforgettable evenings filled with Arabian tradition. As dusk falls each evening, guests may enjoy a sumptuous buffet featuring an array of Ramadan favourites, the best of Middle Eastern specialities, authentic Qatari dishes, and a variety of International choices. As a local tradition, Oud players and an orien-tal live band will entertain guests at the majestic Sihr Al Sharq Ramadan experience.

Al Dasha and Al Sonbok Ballrooms comfortably accommodate approximately 400 guests in an elegant and enchanting atmosphere.

Corporate hosts who wish to uphold the Arabic tra-ditions of hospitality may treat customers and colleagues to a private Iftar event with a bespoke menu. Dining choices:Sihr Al Sharq Ramadan Tent at Al Dasha Ballroom

and Al Sonbok BallroomIftar: Daily, Sunset – 8pm at QR225 per person – buf-fet. Suhour: Daily, 8:30pm – 2am at QR250 per person

– buffet. *QR100 per shisha. Shisha Diwan at Al Qareb II

Daily, 8pm – 2am. Suhour a la carte menu availa-ble. Al Jalsa Lobby Lounge Daily, Sunset – 1am. Iftar and Suhour a la carte menu available. Al Liwan Restaurant Breakfast set menu /a la carte (for non-fasting guests): 6:30am – 10:30am.

Lunch a la carte (for non-fasting guests): 12:00 noon – 3:30pm.

Visitors of Doha and locals are invited to Sharq Vil-lage & Spa to explore the magic of the Orient with the Summer Holidays package, where guests enjoy up to 30% savings on the overnight accommodation, selected restaurants and lounges, and an upcoming winter stay when booking directly through the property website.

Oryx Rotana, a five-star lux-ury business hotel in Doha, has launched exquisite din-

ing offers to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. It will offer an unforgettable taste of Arabian cul-ture in its different venues for Iftar and Suhour amid a wonderful atmosphere for families and friends characterised by authentic taste, modernity and innovation.

During the holy month, every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Fri-day and Saturday, Choices restaurant will offer the chance to enjoy Iftar with authentic Middle-Eastern buffet, offering lavish varieties such as ouzi, cold mezze, traditional shawarma and a live barbeque cooking station. Guests will as well be able to enjoy refresh-ments which include Ramadan juices, Arabic coffee and Moroc-can tea.

Tuesdays’ Iftar buffet will include an Oriental Butcher’s Night where guests can indulge them-selves in a traditional Ramadan atmosphere. Seafood lovers can enjoy the Oriental Catch of the Day Night every Thursday that will include a wide selection of the day’s fresh catch, grilled local fish, whole baked fish and seafood say-adiyah, among others. Moreover, Sky Lounge will provide guests the opportunity to enjoy the Arabic sweets with a variety of summer ice tea and diverse type of drinks and juices.

This year the hotel opens to the public the new pergola at Al Nafou-rah Garden. The venue is pulling out all the stops with its spectacu-lar fountain view and a friendly welcoming environment. Speak-ing on this occasion, Lana Jwainat, Director of Marketing and Com-munications, Oryx Rotana, said:

“The holy month of Ramadan is one of the best periods throughout the year, and is also closest to our hearts. This is the time when fam-ily and friends gather at Iftar and Sohour tables in an expression of intimacy, caring and love.”

Oryx Rotana launches Ramadan offers

MARKETPLACE / COMMUNITYTHURSDAY 11 MAY 2017 07

Emirates Palace offers worry-free summer holidays

Summer is a time for togeth-erness but, let’s face it, parents and children sim-ply want different things from their holiday. Emir-

ates Palace has activities for the whole family to enjoy, together and separate. From morning through evening, your family will dine, play and slumber in the lap of luxury. Fairy tales can come true when you book your summer holiday #AtThePalace.

A Royal ArrivalYour regal summer holiday

begins at the airport. A hotel car awaits your children with a person-alised paging board and special in-car entertainment. Our young-est guests will be personally greeted by a Kids’ Ambassador and escorted to a personalised registration coun-ter to receive a welcome gift bag.

The Palace by DayFrom morning through night

during the summertime, Emirates Palace Summer Kids’ Programme will entertain your children with fun activities that may include cooking classes, sports, art and

dance classes, kids’ cinema, sand castle activities or spending an afternoon cooling off in the lazy river and whirling down the waterslides.

Food & Beverage team has pre-pared an array of sumptuous royal treats and child friendly dishes so vast that your children may trou-ble deciding what they’d like more, and the kids’ menu will conven-iently be made available in several restaurants.

Award-winning Emirates Pal-ace Spa is the perfect refuge for

weary parents in search of solitude, time together or simply a day of indulgence. The world’s most pres-tigious brands are no more than a five-minute drive away if high end shopping is the way you care to spend your child-free day, and there are numerous ways to enjoy light snacks or indulge your sweet tooth throughout our restaurants.

The Palace by NightWhen the sun goes down and

the children are sleepy from a long day of fun, the Palace perks up for

parents. We have a team of multi-lingual babysitters on staff to attend to your children, so you may enjoy some time alone. Enjoy dinner in one of the 14 award-winning res-taurants and take in a show during the renowned Abu Dhabi Summer Season. Over the past few years, entertainers from Mohammed Abdo and Yo Yo Ma to the Wayan Broth-ers and the Illusionist have performed in our auditorium.

Then retire to your room to expe-rience the most extraordinary luxury. Replete with 24K gold leaf finishing, Swarovski chandeliers and Indian silk walls, enjoy the sweetest dreams tucked into luxurious bedding, feath-ery textiles, and the Romanesque bath tubs of the 680 sqm Palace Suite. Capture summer memories to last a lifetime when you book your sum-mer holiday in Abu Dhabi and explore Emirates Palace—you’ll never want to leave. For a limited time, enjoy a special rate when you book your visit to the Palace.

Plan your summer escape now by visiting www.emiratespalace.ae or emailing reservations@emir-atespalce.ae or call +971 (0) 2690 8888.

In what promises to be a spring-board into the international arena for the country’s musical

prodigies, Moving Young Artists (MYA), the Qatar-based non-profit foundation that has been nurturing and inspiring young local talent for more than three years, will host a one-of-its-kind musical spectacle in October.

The Qatar National Music Com-petition (QNMC), under the patronage of Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, seeks to create a competitive platform that would encourage the finest in music creativity and performance. Chiefly sponsored by Vodafone Qatar and in collaboration with Katara and the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO), the competition will be a significant artistic event on the national and

international stage and will show-case the best of Qatar’s musical talent, thereby emerging as an inspiration to Qatar’s youth. The event will be held from October 15 to October 19 at the Katara Drama Theatre, culmi-nating in a gala concert and felicitation of the prize winners on October 19, the concluding day at the Katara Opera House. Split into vari-ous categories, the competition is open to anyone involved with music and younger than the age of 18; for registration details, please visit www.qnmc.org. The categories are sub-divided according to the participants’ age — 11 and under, 14 and under, and 18 and under — and instrument of choice — solo piano, solo winds, solo strings, solo vocal, percussion/harp/guitar, and composition. Joris-Laenen, co-founder, MYA, said, “Our

vision for QNMC is to play its part in propelling Qatar onto the interna-tional music festival stage.”

Sonja Park, co-founder, MYA, said: “For many, success will be the participation; for others, it will be lifting the trophy. With each passing year, these trophies will become synonymous with a time-honoured tradition of quality and

achievement awarded for exem-plary performances in a competition boasting of a world-class reputation.”

The event is also sponsored by Marsa Malaz Kempinski, The Pearl

- Doha, ID Katar, Al Maktab Al Qatari Al Hollandi, Ali Bin Ali Group, Jumpzone, Commverse, and Steinway Gallery Dubai/CDC.

QNMC set to make stars out of Qatar’s rising musical talents

HEALTH THURSDAY 11 MAY 201708

A team of US scientists led by an Indian origin researcher has developed biometric bone tis-

sues that could provide new bone marrow for patients needing transplants as well as make the procedure much safer. Before a transplant, a patient is first given doses of radiation, sometimes in combination with drugs, to kill off any existing stem cells in the patient’s bone marrow.

This pre-treatment is meant to improve the success of the transplant by clearing up space in the marrow, allowing donor cells to survive and grow without competition from the patient’s own cells. But this treatment often comes with harmful side effects such as nausea, fatigue, loss of fertility and others.

The new bone-like implant gives donor cells their own space to live and grow without competition, eliminating the need to wipe out the host’s pre-existing cells.

“We’ve made an accessory bone that

can separately accommodate donor cells. This way, we can keep the host cells and bypass irradiation,” said Shyni Varghese, Professor at the University of California San Diego.

The implants, detailed in the jour-nal PNAS, mimic the structure of long bones in the body, consisting of an outer bone compartment and an inner mar-row compartment and are made of a porous hydrogel matrix.

When implanted under the skin of mice, the structures, then matured into bone tissues that have a working blood vessel network and a bone marrow inside that supplies new blood cells.

After four weeks, the implanted marrow contained a mix of host and donor blood cells. They also found this mix circulating in the bloodstream of mice even after 24 weeks.

However, these implants would be limited to patients with non-malignant bone marrow diseases, where there aren’t any cancerous cells that need to be eliminated, the researchers said.

Daily painkiller use ups heart attack riskRegular use of commonly prescribed painkillers

can increase the risk of a heart attack as early as in the first week of use and especially within the

first month of taking high doses, suggests a study.

The use of non-steroi-dal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat pain and inflammation can increase the risk of a heart attack from about 20 to 50 percent, the researchers warned. The study, published in the journal The BMJ, found that taking any dose of NSAIDs — such as ibupro-fen, diclofenac, celecoxib and naproxen — for one week, one month or more than a month was associated with an increased risk of heart attack.

“Given that the onset of risk of acute myocardial inf-arction occurred in the first week and appeared greatest in the first month of treatment with higher doses, pre-scribers should consider weighing the risks and benefits of NSAIDs before instituting treatment, particularly for higher doses,” said Michele Bally from the University of Montreal. For their study, the researchers carried out a systematic review and a meta-analysis and analysed results on 446,763 people of whom 61,460 had a heart attack.

IANS

Using cotton buds to clean ears may seem harmless, but they have the potential to cause minor to severe

injury to the ear, researchers have warned.

“The two biggest misconceptions I hear as an otolaryngologist are that the ear canals need to be cleaned in the home setting, and that cotton tip applicators should be used to clean them; both of those are incorrect,” said Kris Jatana of the Nationwide Children’s Hospi-tal in Columbus, Ohio, US.

A study conducted by Nation-wide Children’s Hospital researchers found that over a 21-year period from 1990 through 2010, an estimated 263,000 chil-dren younger than 18 years of age were treated in US hospital

emergency departments for cotton tip applicator-related ear injuries

— that is about 12,500 annually, or about 34 injuries every day.

“The ears canals are usually self-cleaning. Using cotton tip applicators to clean the ear canal not only pushes wax closer to the

ear drum, but there is a significant risk of causing minor to severe injury to the ear,” Jatana, who is senior author of the study published in the Journal of Paediatrics, said.

The study found that the major-ity of injuries occurred as a result of using cotton tip applicators to clean

the ears (73 percent), playing with cotton tip applicators (10 percent), or children falling when they have cot-ton tip applicators in their ear (nine percent). The most common injuries were foreign body sensation, perfo-rated ear drum and soft tissue injury.

Data for this study were obtained from the National Elec-tronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), which is operated by the US Consumer Product Safety Com-mission. The researchers said that in more serious cases, damage to the ear drum, hearing bones, or inner ear, can lead to dizziness, problems with balance, and irre-versible hearing loss.

“These products may seem harmless, but this study shows how important it is that they not be used to clean ears,” Jatana, who also serves as Associate Professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Med-ical Centre, said.

Beware! Cotton buds may do more harm than good

New engineered bone marrow

may make transplants safer

FOOD THURSDAY 11 MAY 201710

Bonnie S Benwick The Washington Post

A rich chicken broth or stock is one that has been concentrated for extra flavor — typically by reducing it at a boil

for 30 minutes or so.Serve with a sauteed pea and

mushroom mix or roasted asparagus.

2 servings

Ingredients4 boneless, skin-on chicken

thighsSaltFreshly ground black or white

pepper2 tablespoons olive oil1 clove garlic, crushed1 sprig each fresh thyme, rose-

mary and sage3/4 cup chicken broth, prefer-

ably rich (see headnote)Rind of 1/4 preserved lemon,

rinsed and cut into very thin strips

6 to 10 pitted Castelvetrano olives, cut into halves or quarters

2 tablespoons unsalted butterPinch sugar

DirectionsPreheat the oven to 425 degrees.Season the chicken lightly with

salt and pepper all over.Heat the oil in a medium, oven-

proof skillet over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the chicken thighs, skin sides down. Cook just long enough so the skin is crisped and lightly browned at the edges. Use tongs to turn the

thighs skin sides up, then transfer the pan to the oven. Roast for 5 to 7 minutes, just until cooked through (registering an internal tempera-ture of 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).

Transfer the pan back to the stove top (medium heat). Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, using a spatula to move the chicken around and dislodge any browned bits, then toss in the crushed garlic clove and herb sprigs. Stir in the broth, making sure the level of liq-uid stays below the crisped chicken skins; cook for a few minutes until

the liquid has reduced by half. Dis-card the garlic and herbs.

Stir in the julienne of preserved lemon and the olives (both to taste). Reduce the heat to medium-low; stir in the butter so the liquid turns into a silky sauce. Add the sugar, then taste, and adjust the salt and/or pepper, as needed. Serve hot.

TIPPreserved lemon is available in

jars at Whole Foods Markets as well as Mediterranean markets; it’s also easy to make your own with our Quick Preserved Lemons.

Roasted chicken thighs withpreserved lemon and olives

FOODTHURSDAY 11 MAY 2017 11

Bonnie S Benwick The Washington Post

IngredientsSea salt1 cup dried orzo pasta6 to 8 stems curly parsley2 or 3 stems fresh dill1 1/4 pounds boneless,

skinless chicken breasts1 tablespoon unsalted butter1 teaspoon ground Aleppo

pepper (may substitute a fruity/mild ground red pepper or sweet

paprika), plus more for optional garnish

1 medium onion2/3 cup dried apricots2 tablespoons olive oil, plus

more for drizzlingHeaping 1/3 cup blanched

almonds2 lemons1/2 teaspoon ground

cinnamon1 teaspoon freshly ground

black pepper1 teaspoon cornstarch

4 servingsServe with a green salad.

StepsFill a deep saucepan with

water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; add a good pinch of the salt and the orzo. Cook according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, coarsely chop the parsley and dill fronds (both to taste; reserve the stems for stock, if desired). Cut the chicken

crosswise into bite-size strips/planks.

Drain the orzo, reserving 3 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water, then return to the pan. Stir in the butter and a generous pinch of salt, then the fresh herbs and Aleppo pepper.

Cut the onion into small dice. Coarsely chop the apricots, or cut them into 1/4-inch slices.

Heat the oil in a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the chicken and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, so it loses its raw look; the pieces may not all be cooked through. Add the onion and almonds; cook for about 6 minutes, stirring a few times, until the onion has softened and the chicken is cooked through.

While the chicken mixture is cooking, cut the lemons in half and squeeze their juice.

Reduce the heat to medium; add the lemon juice, cinnamon, black pepper and a generous pinch of salt. Add the reserved pasta cooking water and continue to cook for a minute or so. Add the cornstarch, stirring until slightly thickened.

Add the orzo mixture to the skillet, stirring gently to incorporate. Once it has warmed through, stir in the apricots and remove from the heat.

Serve warm, drizzled with a little oil and sprinkled with a final pinch or two of salt and more of the Aleppo pepper, if desired.

Nutrition | Per serving: 580 calories, 39 g protein, 52 g carbohydrates, 25 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 100 mg cholesterol, 790 mg sodium, 4 g dietary fiber, 14 g sugar.

Lemon and apricot cinnamon chicken

BOLLYWOOD THURSDAY 11 MAY 201712

AFP

Justin Bieber mania swept Mum-bai yesterday as the Canadian pop star hit town to give his first concert in India in front of 45,000 fans. “Beliebers” from

across the nation have flocked to the commercial capital to see their idol perform hits like “Baby” and

“Sorry” on the latest stop of his “Pur-pose World Tour”.

“I’ve been listening to his music for five years. I absolutely love him as an artist and I’m very excited to be seeing him,” 18-year-old student Rahul Tiwari, who had travelled from neighbouring Gujarat state, said.

Fans who gathered outside Mumbai’s airport got their first glimpse of the superstar when he touched down in the city at 1:30am on a chartered flight from Dubai. Indian television channels aired mobile phone footage of Bieber car-rying a bouquet of flowers and wearing a pink hoodie, dark shorts

and white trainers as he walked from the airport to a waiting car with his entourage.

The 23-year-old is to perform to a sellout crowd at the D Y Patil Stadium, a venue more used to hosting cricket and football matches than international pop stars.

“I’m a big Belieber. He’s attrac-tive and makes peppy, catchy music for our generation,” 16-year-old Rhea Asrani, who also has a ticket

for the concert, said. “I have two huge posters of Justin in my bed-room and I listen to him often. I’m excited for the concert but more so just to see him live on stage,” she added.

India media have been abuzz with speculation about the singer’s movements while in the country and which Bollywood celebrities may or may not attend his concert and after-party.

Several newspapers reported

that Bieber will avoid Mumbai’s notoriously congested traffic by taking a helicopter from his hotel in the centre of the city to the con-cert venue.

More than 1,000 security per-sonnel, including 500 police officers, will be at the venue while Bolly-wood actor Salman Khan’s personal bodyguard is reported to be han-dling Bieber’s security while he is in Mumbai.

Fans’ anticipation has been building since Bieber’s team first confirmed the gig date back in Feb-ruary. On Wednesday the Mumbai Mirror tabloid carried a story of 20 Bieber fans who camped outside the city’s international airport for three days hoping to catch a glimpse of their idol.

They carried signs saying “We love you Justin”, “Welcome to India” and “Justin Forever”. “We have not slept for two nights, you never know when he will arrive,” said one fan. Another added that he hadn’t washed for three days.

‘Mom’ to release in 4 languagesVeteran actress Sridevi starrer “Mom” will

release in four languages — Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam besides Hindi. “One of

India’s biggest superstars of all time, Sridevi has completed over 50 years in the film industry and has a massive fanbase. Her fans are eagerly antic-ipating her films and the distributors especially down south too have been supporting her films,” Sridevi’s husband Boney Kapoor, who is produc-ing the film, said.

“Ever since the teaser of the film released, online distributors have been clamouring for it and sent several requests to the makers asking for the film to be dubbed in south languages. Owing to this, the film will also be dubbed and released in Tamil, Tel-ugu and Malayalam apart from Hindi,” he added.

According to the statement, “Mom” happens to be Sridevi’s 300th film and 2017 marks her 50th year in films. As a special gesture, her producer-husband has decided to release the film on the same day — July 7 — as her debut film “Kandhan Karu-nai” released in 1967. Presented by Zee Studios and directed by Ravi Udyawar, “Mom” also features Akshaye Khanna and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Justin Bieber mania grips Mumbai

National Award-winning actress Parineeti Chopra feels lucky that she has

always landed “great roles” in Bollywood, as well as a chance to sing — because music is her

“soul”. “I started with ‘Ladies vs Ricky Bahl’ for which I won awards. Then I did ‘Ishaqzaade’ for which I won a National Award. I have always done roles which were amazing. By the grace of God, I have always got great roles,” Parineeti said.

Parineeti, who has received rave reviews for her debut sin-gle “Maana ke hum yaar nahin” from the forthcoming film “Meri Pyaari Bindu”, says singing is the most important thing in her life. “Any person who knows me knows that singing is the most important thing in my life. Music is really my soul. That’s why ‘Meri Pyaari Bindu’ is a

I’ve always got great roles: Parineeti

special film for me as I wanted my first song to be done well.”

“I wanted it to be a hit. That’s exactly what has hap-pened. It’s a beautiful track. Everybody loves it. People talk about it wherever I go. I am very happy about it now,” she added.

Parineeti, also known for

her roles in films like “Hasee tho Phasee”, is returning to the silver screen with “Meri Pyaari Bindu” after almost two years.

“I just took a break for nine months in 2015 and that was because I was making my house and working on my fit-ness. After nine months, I signed ‘Meri Pyaari Bindu’ and started shooting it. So, by the time you finish shooting and the film releases, it takes one more year,” Parineeti said.

On choosing “Meri Pyaari Bindu”, the 28-year-old said:

“It was really one of the sweet-est films that I read. The moment I read the script I felt this was the character that I wanted to play. The film is full of nostalgia. It has a lot of old songs which are associated with various chapters in our lives.”

TECHNOLOGYTHURSDAY 11 MAY 2017 13

AFP

Amazon unveiled the latest member of its family of devices powered by its Alexa

digital assistant — this one with a touchscreen. The new device called Echo Show steps up efforts by Ama-zon to be part of the connected home, and potentially create a mar-ket for a new kind of computing device.

The new device will sell for $229 and ships starting June 28, according to Amazon’s website. It will include the features of its other Echo devices along with video shown on a seven-inch touchscreen.

“With Echo Show, customers can watch video flash briefings and YouTube, and see music lyrics, smart home cameras, photos, weather forecasts, to-do and shop-ping lists, and more,” said a blog post from Amazon developer anc chief evangelist for Echo devices David Isbitski.

Users will also be able to call or message others who also have an Echo or the Alexa application. Last month the US online giant began selling its Echo Look gadget, which includes the voice-activated

assistant but with a camera, allow-ing Alexa to offer fashion advice.

Amazon’s latest hardware foray comes after limited success with its Kindle and Fire tablets, but also a failure for its Fire smartphones. The new Echo Show “looks like a lot of other products that have been launched in the past,” said analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis in a tweet. “Unlike those, it will sell.”

Ian Fogg of the research firm IHS Markit said on Twitter: “What’s most interesting about #Echo Show is the extent it is different & enhanced from simply a combina-tion of Echo + Fire tablet.”

Jan Dawson of Jackdaw Research said the new device adds additional features to the Alexa fam-ily by giving consumers a screen option. “I don’t think all voice assist-ants need to have screens, but Amazon is wise to give people the option,” Dawson said in a blog post.

“What we’re seeing is Amazon using its smart original foray into and early dominance of this space as a beach-head to spread into lots of other areas.” But Dawson echoed comments made by other observers that the Echo Show “isn’t attractive”.

“If there’s one area where

Amazon’s various bits of hardware have always struggled, it’s design,” he said. “There’s no real consistency or style, and as I said last week, this thing looks like a miniature version of one of those old massive tube TVs.”

Amazon has dominated the cat-egory of connected speakers since 2014 when it introduced its first Echo, which responds to voice com-mands and allows users to order goods or rides and control con-nected appliances.

A survey released on Monday by research firm eMarketer found Amazon’s Echo speakers held 70.6

percent of the US market, compared with 23.8 percent for Google Home and 5.6 percent for others includ-ing Lenovo, LG, Harmon Kardon and Mattel. The report said 35.6 mil-lion Americans will use a voice-activated assistant device at least once a month this year, a jump of 128.9 percent over last year.

Separately, Samsung-owned Harman Kardon announced the release of its new Invoke speaker powered by Microsoft’s digital assistant Cortana and integrating Skype for making calls using the device.

Amazon’s new Alexa speaker has a screen too

In a bid to overcome language

barriers, social networking giant

Facebook has announced a new

machine learning translation

method, claiming it to be nine

times faster than other

competitors.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has

been already in place at Facebook

for automatically translating sta-

tus updates to other languages,

but the company is making a tran-

sition from lab to app, The Verge

reported. “We’re currently talking

with a product team to make this

work in a Facebook environment.

There are differences when mov-

ing from academic data to real

environments in terms of

language.

The academic data is news-

type data; while conversation on

Facebook is much more colloquial,”

the report quoted Facebook’s AI

engineer David Grangier as say-

ing. The new machine learning

translation technique has not

been implemented yet and exists

as a research as of now. But Face-

book has said that it will likely

happen further down the line.

“Usually, AI-powered transla-

tion relies on what are called

recurrent neural networks (RNNs),

whereas this new research lever-

ages convolutional neural

networks (CNNs) instead,” Face-

book’s AI engineers explained.

RNNs analyse date sequentially,

working left to right through a

sentence in order to translate it

word by word while CNNs look at

difference aspects of data simul-

taneously — a style of computation

Facebook’s prototype translation technique is ‘fastest’

that is much better and faster.

“So translating with CNNs

means tackling the problem

more holistically and examining

the higher-level structure of

sentences. The [CNNs] build a

logical structure, a bit like lin-

guistics, on top of the text,” said

Michael Auli, another Facebook

AI engineer.

Facebook noted that the AI

community were willing to

improve upon the commonly

used RNNs for translation — a

method that has devoured tre-

mendous efforts already.

“The short answer is that

people just hadn’t invested as

much time in this, and we came

up with some new develop-

ments that made it work better,”

Grangier added.

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

The son of a Mar Thoma priest is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, but the priesthood may not be the best fit for him.Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

NOVO — Pearl ROYAL PLAZA

MALL

LANDMARK

King Arthur: Legend of The Sword (Action) 2D 11:30am, 12:00noon, 1:30, 2:00, 4:30, 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 9:30, 11:00, 11:30, 11:45pm & 12:00midnight 3D 11:00am, 4:00 & 9:00pmGuardians of The Galaxy 2 (Action) 3D 10:00am, 3:30 & 9:00pm 2D 12:45am, 3:00, 6:15, 8:45 & 11:45pm Spark: A Space Tail 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 & 8:00pm The Rezort 10:00pm & 12:00midnight The Dinner 10:00am, 2:30, 7:00 & 11:30pm Kalb Balady (Arabic) 12:30, 5:00 & 9:30pm Fast & Furious 8 (Action) 11:00am, 4:10 & 9:10pm Bank Alhaz (2D/Arabic) 1:40, 6:40 & 11:50pmRevenger (2D/Thriller) 11:00am, 3:15, 7:30 & 11:45pm Bashtery Ragel (2D/Arabic) 1:00, 5:15 & 9:30pm The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 11:00am, 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00 & 9:00pm Guardians of The Galaxy 2 (3D IMAX/Action) 11:30am, 2:30, 5:30, 8:30 & 11:30pm

Meri Pyari Bindu (2D/Hindi) 2:15pm The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 2:30pm Spark: A Space Tail (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:15pm Bashtery Ragel (2D/Arabic) 4:30pm The Dinner (Drama) 6:00pm Sarkar 3 (2D/Hindi) 4:30, 6:30 & 8:30 pmKalb Balady (2D/Arabic) 9:00pm King Arthur: Legend of The Sword (2D/Action) 7:00 & 9:15pm Georgettan (2D/Malayalam) 11:00pm The Rezort (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

Kalb Balady (2D/Arabic) 2:00 & 9:15pm Spark: A Space Tail (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 5:00pm The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 3:00pm Meri Pyari Bindu (2D/Hindi) 4:00pm Saravanan Irukka Bayamaen (2D/Tamil) 4:15pm Sarkar 3 (2D/Hindi) 6:30 & 11:15pm Bashtery Ragel (2D/Arabic) 6:30pm King Arthur: Legend of The Sword (2D/Action) 7:00 & 9:15pm Georgettan (2D/Malayalam) 8:30pm The Dinner (Drama) 11:15pm The Rezort (2D/Horror) 11:30pm

The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 2:30 & 4:30pm Spark: A Space Tail (2D/Animation) 2:00 & 6:30pm Sarkar 3 (2D/Hindi) 2:15, 4:45 & 8:30pm Bahubali 2: The Conclusion (2D/Hindi) 4:00pm The Dinner (Drama) 7:15pm King Arthur: Legend of The Sword (2D/Action) 7:00 & 9:00pm Bashtery Ragel (2D/Arabic) 9:30 & 11:00pm The Rezort (2D/Horror) 11:30pmKalb Balady (2D/Arabic) 11:30pm

THURSDAY 11 MAY 2017

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

CINEMA PLUS14

AL KHORBaahubali 2(Tamil) 11:15am, 5:15 & 11:15pm Baahubali 2 (Hindi) 2:45 & 8:30pm Baahubali 2 (Malayalam) 2:15 & 7:45pm Georgettan (Malayalam) 2:15 & 8:15pm Meri Pyaari Bindu (Hindi) 11:45am, 5:15 & 10:45pm Sarkar 3 12:00noon, 5:45 & 11:30pm

ROXYSpark: A Space Tail 2:00, 4:00, 6:00 & 8:00pm Georgettan 2:00, 5:00, 8:00 & 11:00pm King Arthur: Legend of the Sword 2:00, 4:40, 7:20, 10:00pm & 12:30am Meri Pyaari Bindu 2:00 & 5:00pm Guardians of The Galaxy 10:00pm & 12:40am Sarkar 3 8:00 & 11:40pm

GEORGETTAN

ASIAN TOWNGeorgettan (Malayalam) 12:30, 5:45, 8:30, 11:15pm & 02:00am Baahubali 2 (Hindi) 6:30 & 12:30am Baahubal 2 (Malayalam) 2:00, 5:00, 8:00, 11:00pm & 01:00am Baahubal 2 (Tamil) 12:30, 3:30, 7:00, 10:00pm & 02:00am Radha (Telugu) 3:15pm

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 Witness09:00 Sports Doping:

The Endless Chase

10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 The Stream12:30 Fault Lines13:00 NEWSHOUR14:00 News14:30 Inside Story15:00 Witness16:00 NEWSHOUR17:30 The Stream18:00 Newsgrid19:00 News19:30 Wukan: China’s

Democracy Experiment

20:30 Inside Story22:00 News22:30 The Stream23:00 Shadow War In

The Sahara

13:05 Star Darlings

14:55 The Zhuzhus

15:45 Elena Of Avalor

16:10 Liv And Maddie

16:35 Descendants Wicked World

16:40 Girl Meets World

19:20 Binny And The Ghost

19:45 Austin & Ally

21:05 Bizaardvark 21:30 That’s So

Raven 21:55 Star Darlings 22:00 Shake It Up 22:25 Sabrina

Secrets Of A Teenage Witch

13:45 Swimming With Monsters: Steve Backshall

14:40 Untamed China With Nigel Marven

17:25 Speed Of Life

18:20 Wild Ones19:15 Tanked21:05 Speed Of

Life22:00 Wild Ones22:55 Untamed

China With Nigel Marven

23:50 Swimming With Monsters: Steve Backshall

13:05 How Do They Do It?

13:30 Storage Hunters UK

14:20 Gold Rush15:10 Treasure

Quest: Snake Island

16:00 Gold Divers16:50 Sacred

Steel Bikes17:40 Street

Outlaws18:30 How Do

They Do It?20:10 Storage

Hunters UK21:00 What On

Earth?21:50 Salvage

Hunters22:40 Todd

Sampson’s Body Hack

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSTHURSDAY 11 MAY 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.

ALGERIA, ARGENTINA,

AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL,

CAMEROON, CHILE,

COTE D’ IVOIRE, DENMARK,

ENGLAND, FRANCE,

GERMANY, GHANA,

GREECE, HONDURAS, ITALY,

JAPAN, KOREA DPR, KOREA

REPUBLIC, MEXICO,

NETHERLANDS, NEW

ZEALAND, NIGERIA,

PARAGUAY, PORTUGAL,

SERBIA, SLOVAKIA,

SLOVENIA, SOUTH AFRICA,

SPAIN, SWITZERLAND,

UNITED STATES, URUGUAY.