TUESDAY 13 JUNE 2017
Still in talks: Abhishek Bachchan on film with Aishwarya
CAMPUS | 3 HEALTH | 7 BOLLYWOOD | 10Olive International
School conducts World Environment Day
How to choose a successful dietary weight loss plan
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Be alert when buying oils, spices and fish, be able to distinguish quality, and have a relationship with a trusted retailer.
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CAMPUSTUESDAY 13 JUNE 2017 03World Day
against child
labour
at Rajagiri
The tiny tots of Little King-dom organised World Day against child labour. Quite a good number of them presented short
speeches on the theme. They all felt that little children are to ‘learn not to earn’ and we must say NO to child labour. The skit presented by teach-ers and the little stars of KG was an eye opener. They all had stickers ‘No to Child Labour’ on the day. The Principal addressed the kids and Kajal, the HOD shared her vision. Heena, coordinator guided the pro-ceedings. Christina and Fathima organised them and joined them on the stage as well.
To participate and celebrate the World Environment Day, Olive International School,
Nuaija campus organised a slogan making competition for the
students of Grade 4, 5 and 6 on “Connecting People to Nature’, which was the theme for World Environment Day 2017” on June 5.
The theme set for the
competition was in compliance with the primary motive, “to appreciate its beauty and its importance, and to take forward the call to protect the Earth that
we share”. Each child’s slogan and poster
had one important underlying message, “To Save the Environ-ment”. What was strikingly impressive was that they made beautiful art, in their attempt to create innovative slogans and cap-tions for their art. Some of the slogans that particularly caught our awe and attention were “Envi-ronment is green but we need to make it clean!”, “A Beautiful World starts with you” and “Save the nature to save the future”.
To commemorate the Special day, Mandela House presented a special assembly depicting the importance of the day. The chil-dren sent a strong message on saving the environment through a mime on Pollution.
In conclusion, OIS Principal Jacob K M, stressed that the habit of cleanliness and hygiene needs to be cultivated in children from a very young age, to achieve the tar-geted clean environment goals.
Olive International School conducts World Environment Day
COVER STORY TUESDAY 13 JUNE 201704
How to protect How to protect against food fraudagainst food fraud
Cara Rosenbloom The Washington Post
What if you discovered that your honey jar was filled with high-fructose corn syrup? Or your expensive extra virgin olive oil was actually cheap swill?
Would you still eat your organic grapes if you found out that they weren’t actually organic?
You’re probably hoping these are just rhe-torical questions, and not ones you need to worry about. Regrettably, they are examples of food fraud that are perpetrated on unsuspecting Americans. The global food industry loses $10 billion to $15 billion per year through food sub-stitutions, dilutions and fake labels, according to the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Food fraud affects about 10 percent of all commer-cially sold food products, but there are ways to protect yourself.
What is food fraud?Food fraud is defined as the deliberate and
intentional substitution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, ingredients or pack-aging; or false or misleading statements made about a food, for economic gain.
This could mean watering down orange juice or adding cellulose, an additive made from wood pulp, to grated Parmesan cheese. Most food fraud cases involve the substitution of a high-value product with a lower quality alternative, for the purpose of making money. According to the USP Food Fraud Database, products that may be fraudulent include oils, milk, spices, fruit juice, seafood and sweeteners like honey and maple syrup.
John Spink, director of the Food Fraud Ini-tiative at Michigan State University, explains that consumers typically get ripped off in one of these three ways:
- They buy luxury goods, such as expensive
olive oil or cheese, that are counterfeit.- They buy products with proposed health
benefits, like antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice, that have little or no active ingredient.
- They buy organic or non-GMO foods that are actually conventionally grown products that have been fraudulently labelled.
The vast majority of fraud incidents do not pose a public health risk, Spink says. The harm in most cases is that you’re not getting what you paid for. “When consumers learn that they’ve been duped, they get a deep feeling of violation and outrage,” he says.
In a small number of cases, there is the
potential for harm. Consider the substitution of extra virgin olive oil with cheaper nut oils, which could be problematic for people with food allergies.
And there have been countless cases of peo-ple getting sick from the bait-and switch of white tuna for cheaper escolar, a bottom-feeder fish that’s full of a waxy substance that is indigesti-ble by humans. It can lead to severe gastrointestinal distress (it’s known as the “Ex-Lax fish” — enough said). In a nationwide study of seafood fraud, researchers found that 84 per-cent of the white tuna samples were actually escolar.
COVER STORYTUESDAY 13 JUNE 2017 05
“No legitimate company’s busi-ness strategy is to break the law,” Spink says. “The corporation may not condone the fraud, but some-one in the company does.”
You can help protect yourself from being a victim of food fraud by starting with this list of five ques-tions, adapted from the Food Fraud Initiative:
1. What is the product? Be on alert when buying oils, dairy foods, spices, fruit juice and fish.
2. Can you distinguish quality? If you’ve had real Parmesan cheese or maple syrup, you can tell when the consistency or flavour is off. If the price is too good to be true ($3.99 for a 750 millilitre or 25 ounce bottle of extra virgin olive oil), then it’s likely fake.
3. Do you have a trusted sup-plier or retailer relationship? Buying from a reputable grocery store is a good first step and offers more pro-tection than an alternative retailer, like a flea market. Remember: It’s harder to buy fakes when you’re looking at whole and unprocessed products. For example, choose whole instead of ground spices, and brick instead of grated cheese.
4. Are you shopping online? If so, make sure it’s a reputable and recognisable supplier, rather than a basement-run shop.
5. Did you do something about it? If you think something is wrong, complain! Tell the retailer and brand owner about the problem,
and keep a sample for testing.Federal agencies address food
fraud through food safety, defence and quality authorities. The Food and Drug Administration and the US Agriculture Department are the principle agencies that work to pro-tect the food supply. But often, cognizant consumer are the whistleblowers.
Sophisticated methods of reducing food fraud are on the
horizon. One technology with much promise is DNA bar-coding, which allows researchers to identify any species by its genetic makeup — so fish, meat and fresh produce could be assessed. Some restaurants and grocery stores are committed to working only with suppliers that
use DNA bar-coding to identify their meat and seafood species.
And soon consumers may be able to use smartphone bar-coding apps to test their own food. “DNA coding is too expensive for consum-ers to do now, but it may eventually be an option,” Spink says.
MARKETPLACE /COMMUNITY TUESDAY 13 JUNE 201706
Celebrate Ramadan with exclusive wear
Bring in your Ramadan this year
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The collection is marked with long
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a dramatic mood, while shaded prints
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The collection is available across
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trepoint stores.
Tulu Koota Qatar celebrates annual day Tulu Koota annual day held
recently at Delhi Public School auditorium was an
evening which touched its mem-bers heart and soul. Tulukoota is one organisation which cuts across all difference and brings together people with just the language as a common string.
Chief guest of the evening was P Kumaran, Indian Ambassador to
Qatar, Guests Of Honour were Dr HS Ballal and President of ICC Milan Arun. Tiny tots and ladies of Tulu Koota Qatar welcomed the gather-ing with a wonderful dance. Vice-President Kiran Anand made the opening remark and introduced the Guest anchor Nithesh Shetty Yekkar. President Ravi Shetty wel-comed the gathering and thanked all those who have worked hard
behind the event. Chief Guest P Kumaran released the sub edition of Annual day souvenire “Nirel”.
The programme was a success in its essence with bringing hum-bleness love and affection in the air for the receivers of prestigious Tulunadu Bolpu awards which is being given to the social workers from the Tulunadu who have self-lessly worked towards the less
fortunate community and empow-ering them. Tulunaada Bolpu awardees were Hajjabba Harekala, Sunil D’souza and Krishna Kumar Punja .
A standing ovation was given by the audience when the award was conferred.
Children who were excelled in different fields were honoured on the occasion. Neha Shetty was felic-itated for her brilliant performance in Shuttle badminton at GCC level. Aishwarya Shetty was felicitated for her noble initiative of working for Teach for India and also for win-ning May queen 2017.
Musical extragavanza by the renowened singers from Manga-lorePrakash Mahadevan and Roopa Prakash was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience.
A Tulu play directed by Pras-anna Shetty, Bailuru of Team Prashamsa fame was staged on the occasion. Many of the locally well-known artistes gave a memorable performance.
Whole event was well anchored by the Guest Nithesh Shetty Yekkar, while the public function efficiently handled by Sowmya Dinesh Shetty.
HEALTHTUESDAY 13 JUNE 2017 07
Electronic cigarettes loaded with nicotine-based liquid are potentially as harmful as
tobacco cigarettes when it comes to cancer causing DNA damage, new research has found. Electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes are bat-tery-powered devices that heat up liquid and turn it into an aerosol vapour that can be inhaled. Using e-cigarettes is also called ‘vaping’.
“From the results of our study, we can conclude that e-cigarettes have as much potential to cause DNA damage as unfiltered regu-lar cigarettes,” said the lead author of the study, Karteek Kadimisetty, from University of Connecticut.
Cellular mutations caused by DNA damage can lead to cancer. Modern e-cigarettes, viewed as a less toxic alternative for people looking to break their habit of smoking tobacco cigarettes, have steadily risen in popularity since they first appeared on the com-mercial market in 2004.
The scientists decided to look into whether the chemicals in
e-cigarettes could cause damage to human DNA while testing a new electro-optical screening device they developed in their lab.
The small 3-D printed device is believed to be the first of its kind capable of quickly detecting DNA damage, or genotoxicity, in envi-ronmental samples in the field, the researchers said. They gathered samples through an artificial inha-lation technique at 20, 60 and 100 puffs of an e-cigarette. The poten-tial DNA damage from e-cigarettes was found to increase with the number of puffs.
Vapour from non-nicotine e-cigarettes caused as much DNA damage as filtered cigarettes, pos-sibly due to the many chemical additives present in e-cigarette vapours, showed the findings pub-lished in ACS Sensors.
“Some people use e-cigarettes heavily because they think there is no harm. We wanted to see exactly what might be happening to DNA (as a result of e-cigarette usage),” said Kadimisetty.
While carrying less weight may make ath-letes run faster, it may
also put them at a higher risk for injuries, especially in females, a study has claimed.
The new study found that female runners who have a body mass index (BMI) of less than 19 are at a higher risk of developing stress fractures — a tiny crack in a bone caused by repetitive stress or force, often from overuse — than women with a BMI of 19 or higher. It also found that lighter women who suffered stress frac-tures took longer to recover from them than other runners.
“One of the most important factors we identified that put female runners at an increased risk of developing a stress frac-ture was low body weight, or low body mass index,” said Timothy Miller, Assistant Professor from The Ohio State University in the US.
Runners endure repetitive
pounding on hard surfaces and, without enough lean muscle mass for dissipation of impact forces, the bones of the legs are vulnerable.
“When body mass index is very low and muscle mass is depleted, there is nowhere for the shock of running to be absorbed other than directly into the bones. Until some muscle mass is developed and BMI is optimised, runners remain at increased risk of developing a stress fracture,” Miller explained, in the paper published in the jour-nal Current Orthopaedic Practice.
Further, women whose BMI was 19 or higher took about 13 weeks to recover. Those with a low BMI (below 19), took more than 17 weeks to recover and return to running -- a full month longer. Previous studies show that between 25 and 50 percent of track athletes have at least one stress fracture in their career, with an increased incidence in female track athletes.
While trying to lose weight, one size approach may not fit all. Instead, select-
ing a right diet strategy based on fasting blood sugar and fasting insu-lin levels may lead to a six- to seven-fold greater weight loss, researchers say.
The specific diets based on these biomarkers will work differ-ently whether a patient has normal blood sugar, has prediabetes or is living with diabetes, the research-ers said.
“Our research shows that weight loss strategies should be custom-ised based on an individual’s biomarkers, which is a big step for-ward in using personalised nutrition to help people achieve greater weight loss success,” said Profes-sor Arne Astrup from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
“These findings are particularly
important as they allow us to pro-vide those with prediabetes a custom strategy to help them lose weight, which can ultimately pre-vent or delay the development of Type 2 diabetes,” Astrup added.
F o r m o s t p e o p l e
with prediabetes, a fibre-rich diet without calorie restriction will be very effective and has been shown to improve diabetes markers. In this population, carbohydrates or fats should be adjusted based on fasting insulin levels. For people with Type
2 diabetes, a diet rich in healthy, plant-based fats such as from olive oil, nuts and avocados will be effec-tive to achieve weight loss.
“Remarkably, for many patients, use of these biomarkers can lead to a six-to-seven-fold greater weight loss,” Astrup said. “Going forward, we can educate patients when a diet they planned to follow would actually make them gain weight, and redirect them to a strat-egy that we know will work for them,” Astrup noted.
The researchers acknowledged that no one solution will work for every patient, but for many these strategies are likely to be more effective than a generic ‘one size fits all’ approach. The results were presented at the American Diabe-tes Association’s 77th Scientific Sessions held in San Diego, California.
How to choose a successful dietary weight loss plan
E-cigarettes may be as harmful as smoking
Underweight female athletes at more risk of injuries
FOOD TUESDAY 13 JUNE 201708Bonnie S BenwickThe Washington Post
When you reach a certain age, or belt size, you tend to slow down on the
burger intake. So you must make those occasions of consumption count — and this is one variation that’s worth the wait.
This is one savory, juicy, messy, rich-tasting burger — especially when delivered upon a buttery toasted brioche bun. A half portion might just be all you need, and you’d be satisfied.
4 to 8 servings
Make Ahead: The salsa and bal-samic mayo can be made a day or two in advance; refrigerate in sep-arate containers with plastic wrap directly on the surface. You may have a little salsa verde left over, which would be great on garlic bread or stirred into scrambled eggs.
IngredientsFor the salsa verde1 thick slice day-old crusty white
bread2 tablespoons water1 tablespoon capers3 anchovy fillets1 small clove garlicLeaves from 8 to 10 stems flat-
leaf parsley (1 packed cup)5 tablespoons olive oilSea saltFor the burgers1 pound very cold ground beef
(preferably 92 percent lean)1/2 cup packed freshly grated
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeseSea saltFreshly ground black pepper1 tablespoon olive oil2 tablespoons unsalted butter4 hamburger buns, preferably
potatoFor the balsamic mayonnaise
1/4 cup mayonnaise2 1/2 teaspoons aged balsamic
vinegar
StepsFor the salsa verde: Place the
bread in a medium bowl. Pour the water over it and let it soak in for a minute or two, then tear the bread, letting the pieces fall into a food processor. Drain the capers and anchovy fillets.
Cut a few slices off the garlic clove (to taste) and add to the food processor, along with the parsley leaves, capers, anchovies, vinegar, oil and a pinch of salt. Puree until fairly smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as
needed. The yield is about 1 cup.
For the burgers: Place the chilled ground beef in a mixing bowl. Fold in the cheese until well incorporated. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into 4 equal por-tions and form each into a 3/4-inch-thick patty.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil sim-mers, add the burger patties and cook for 2 to 3 minutes per side, until well seared and just cooked through (medium-rare). Transfer to a cutting board to rest while you prepare the buns.
Melt the butter, then use it to spread on the inside of the
hamburger buns. Toast in a toaster oven until golden brown.
For the balsamic mayonnaise: Stir together the mayonnaise and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl, until well incorporated.
To serve, spread each bottom bun with one-quarter of the bal-samic mayo. Place a burger on top, then spread salsa verde over each burger and finish with the top buns. Serve warm.
Nutrition: Per half burger (using half the salsa verde): 400 calories, 17 g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 25 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 75 mg cho-lesterol, 510 mg sodium, 1 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugar.
This hamburger had me swooning
FOODTUESDAY 13 JUNE 2017 09Kristen HartkeThe Washington Post
Whether they’re found in a cupboard, a drawer or a rotating rack, a host of lit-
tle-used spices are probably taking up valuable real estate somewhere in your kitchen — and they’ve prob-ably been there for years. Maybe it’s a jar of allspice you only crack open for gingerbread cookies.
Use it all, says chef and spice purveyor Lior Lev Sercarz, and use it now. “Your spice cabinet should be a place of inspiration,” he says,
“not a place to gather dust.”Sercarz sees spices as the place where rec-ipes should start, rather than an afterthought sprinkled on just before serving. “A potato can be trans-formed into a meal, just with the addition of spices,” he says.
Start by taking stock of what’s tucked away in that cabinet, begin-ning with the darkest recesses, which most likely house the spices that have seen the least use. If they’ve been there longer than a year
- as Sercarz suspects they have - you don’t have to discard them, but you could consolidate several. Try cre-ating blends with them, to use as seasoning for dips and sauces, dry rubs for meat, poultry and fish, or even to amp up the flavor in coffee and cocktails.
“If you make blends, you will find ways to use them across recipes, from sweet to savory,” says Sercarz.
“It’s an edible tool.”He suggests using the spice pan-
try the way you use your refrigerator, where items are regularly eaten and replaced and stock is rotated every few months from the back to the front. New additions should be marked with a date one year from when purchased, just to give you a deadline for using it up, or, at the very least, creating a new blend with what’s left.
Take ground cloves, for instance. As a spice with a tongue-numbing quality, it can frighten home cooks with its intensity, yet Sercarz sees it as a versatile vehicle for flavors - when used in moderation. In his latest book, “The Spice Companion: A Guide to the World of Spices” (Clarkson Potter, 2016), he recom-mends blending cloves with other spices that might also be found in the back of the cupboard, such as juniper berries, galangal and lico-rice root, to create a seasoning for sauteed savoy cabbage, or to add a spicy note to a traditional old fash-ioned cocktail.
Sercarz particularly urges home cooks to stop thinking of individual spices as relating to specific cuisines. He points out that black pepper, a native of Kerala, is hardly limited to Indian recipes, yet we tend to use chipotle powder only in Mexican recipes, or relegate curry leaves to,
well, curry.“It’s a spice,” he says. “It doesn’t matter where it comes from.”
Not only is pepper used across all cuisines, different types of pep-per have specific flavor profiles, so it sometimes makes sense to switch out the black peppercorns for other varieties, such as herbaceous green or delicate white. This practise enhances different recipes and allows for a deeper appreciation of the characteristics of that variety.
When cleaning out the cupboard, take time to taste the spices. (Ser-carz considers anything that can be dried and used to add flavor a spice, so this includes herbs, bark, berries, leaves and so forth.) Then start con-solidating them into new combinations, such as celery seed with cayenne pepper. “You proba-bly already have a signature chicken recipe where you use a certain com-bination of spices, like salt, pepper, paprika and oregano,” says Sercarz.
“Just go ahead and make a batch of that blend for yourself, consolidat-ing it into one jar, then try it on eggs, or roasted fish or whipped into goat cheese.”
Fenugreek, cumin, dried onion and garlic become a perfect foil for spinach and lamb, while lemongrass, ginger and palm sugar can highlight either a fruit smoothie or a spicy dish of clams and chorizo. That little jar of pumpkin pie spice that’s hiding in the corner of your cupboard would be just as much at home in a chickpea curry as on the Thanksgiv-ing table, because, in Sercarz’s philosophy, a blend really has no limitations.
“I’ve never had spices that don’t work together,” Sercarz says, “it’s just about adjusting the ratios. And even when I think a blend is very savory, I’ll have a customer put it into a brownie and prove me wrong. I love that.”
In the back of your
spice rack is a blend
waiting to happen
Chef Lior Lev Sercarz blending spices at La Boîte, the spice shop in New York.
BOLLYWOOD TUESDAY 13 JUNE 201710
Ajay & Emraan release action-packed first look of ‘Baadshaho’
Actors Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi yesterday released the first look of their upcoming film “Baadshaho” on social media. “1975 Emergency... 96 hours... 600 km... 1 armoured truck... Millions in
gold and 6 Bada***s. ‘Baadshaho’ sandstorm is coming,” they captioned an image, which features an action scene with a car flying while a truck is trying to make its way through a spot that seems to be bombed. With
“Baadshaho”, the team of Ajay, Emraan and filmmaker Milan Luthria will return to the silver screen after a gap of seven years since the release of
“Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai”. Besides them, the film also features Esha Gupta and Ileana D’Cruz. Luthria took to the micro-blogging site and wrote: “Here it comes guys... The moment we’ve all been waiting for. ‘Baadshaho’ sandstorm is coming. Wish us luck.” The action thriller is slated for release on September 1.
‘Raabta’ mints more than Rs150 million
Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon-starrer romantic period drama film “Raabta” has collected Rs159.3m in its opening weekend, accord-ing to its makers. Released on June 9, “Raabta”, which went through
a legal battle with the makers of Telugu film “Magadheera” over its sto-ryline, has been getting a lot of appreciation from all quarters keeping the numbers strong, read a statement issued on behalf of the makers. The film, directed by Dinesh Vijan, collected Rs 56.1m on its opening day and witnessed a steady response on Saturday and Sunday by raking in Rs5.11 crore and Rs52.1m respectively. “Raabta” is Sushant and Kriti’s first film together. The reviews of the film haven’t been too impressive, and going by the verdicts of trade analysts like Taran Adarsh and Komal Nahta, it’s not going to be successful at the ticket counters.
The Bolly-w o o d grapevine is
abuzz that real life husband and wife Abhishek Bach-c h a n a n d Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are coming together for a film. But Abhishek says they are still in talks and that he would rather have the producer make the announce-ment. The two actors are reportedly being cast in Anurag Kashyap’s production titled
“Gulab Jamun”. Asked about it, Abhishek said: “That film is not directed by Anurag Kashyap. It will have a new director and will be produced by Anurag Kashyap. We are still in talks with Anurag about that and right now we can’t announce anything because I feel the producer is the right person when it comes to announcing a
film.”Abhishek spoke on
the sidelines of the 20-year celebration of the movie “Border” on Sunday. “Border” was directed by J P Dutta, who also gave Abhishek Bachchan his Bolly-
wood debut “Refugee”.Talking about his equation with
Dutta, Abhishek Said: “I am here as an actor because of J P Dutta and I owe them (Dutta and J P Films) eve-rything.” Reminiscing memories of
“Border”, Abhishek said: “I had seen this film in Metro theatre in Mum-bai on its first day itself. ‘Border’ is more than just a film. It gives a patri-otic emotion about India.”
Asked about the trend of remakes and sequels in Bollywood, he said: “Today, most filmmakers make a sequel of their earlier films because it’s a marketing ploy and it is good for the films.
Twinkle Khanna juggles it all — being a wife, mother, entre-preneur, author and now
becoming a film producer. In this scenario, the multi-talented celeb-rity says spending some ‘me time’ becomes a must, which is why she took a rejuvenating trip to Paris.
“It is always nice and rejuvenat-ing to spend some ‘me time’. If not travelling to a different country, maybe going to a spa or a library with books. Taking out time is important where you do not have to please someone, because no mat-ter how much we are pretending to be a super woman, we also need our time,” Twinkle said.
The actress visited Paris on an all-girls trip where hospitality serv-ice Airbnb offered them a special tour to live like a Parisian. Talking about her experience, Twinkle said:
“My idea of making this trip was to spend some time with myself and with friends more than anything else.
It’s not that I do not go for a vaca-tion or holidays, but as a mother and wife, there are always certain demands that you have to fulfil.
“It often happens that we feel guilty about ourselves whenever we take out some time for us... On this trip, I wanted to feel free from all that.” From exploring local food to taking a photo walk for discovering the rich history and culture of Paris, the mother of two says she lived through the trip like a Parisian.
“That’s what I wanted to do, where instead of going to places where tourists go for breakfast, we went to local food outlets where Parisians go. Interacting with locals always gives you a different insight that a tourist guide cannot provide. During the photography session, a French lady was talking about local people, etc,” Twinkle, known to the social media world as Mrs Funny-bones, said.
What are the foods she enjoyed?
“Though I do not like eating macarons too much, all my friends loved that one variety - salted car-amel macaron. So I had to eat that, with them... Yes, I indulged in quite some, so I have come back not only with a baggage but also a little over the weight limit that my body
allowed,” quipped Twinkle, who is married to National Award winning actor Akshay Kumar.
“Another interesting thing that I have enjoyed is a stand-up comedy act inside the museum where the fellow was telling us jokes about the most important people in the museum. That was the best expe-rience that I can ever have in a museum! I would like to take my son there next time,” she said.
Considering the fact that India also has a great cultural history, asked about if such tourism pro-grammes can be offered to foreigners to present India in a cre-ative way, Twinkle said: “Oh, most definitely. Why only foreigners? Even also among local tourists. You see, we have so much history, great monuments, and beautiful archi-tecture. If we can create a more experiential journey for people, even for us places will be more interesting to visit.”
Spending some ‘me time’ is rejuvenating: Twinkle Khanna
Abhishek Bachchan and wife
Aishwarya to be cast together
HOLLYWOODTUESDAY 13 JUNE 2017 11
IANS
With this film, Universal Pictures, introduces us to its new franchise
— the Dark Universe. The franchise explores the realms of the netherworld, mak-ing “The Mummy” an action packed, horror film.
While this film is astutely mounted with all the finesse of a star-studded, studio-pro-duction, the end product lacks lustre in terms of its narrative. Zooming through time-zones, the premise is a bit flimsy and the one-dimen-sional plot is equally weak with a reincarnation track, ghosts, zombies et al. Nevertheless, the film is engaging for an awe-struck viewer.
The history in the back-story with the weird time zones, though narrated in a sim-plistic manner, only makes the plot seem convoluted. The first half of the film shows tremendous promise with a kind of rollicking and goofy action sequence for a perfect sum-mer bonanza. But gradually, by the second half the effort seems extremely conjured. How-ever, in the larger frame it is a sound and visual extravaganza.
Nearly 5,000 years ago, Egyptian Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella) is mummified and entombed in Mesopotamia, which is currently Iraq, because in her bid to take power of her kingdom, she killed her family and was about to stab her lover with a jewel studded dagger.
Circa 1127 AD, the jewel from the dagger is stolen by a crusading English Knight and buried along with him in a tomb in London. Then, we are transported to current day Iraq, where ambitious soldier Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) steals a map of a hidden treasure from
an acquaintance, Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wal-lis) and lands up in the tomb of Princess Ahmanet along with his colleague Sergeant Chris Vail (Jake Johnson).
They inevitably liberate her soul and along with her the malevolence grown over the years. The repercussions are deadly as she tries to repossess the sacred dagger and turn her “cho-sen” one to immortality. Tom Cruise’s character is ambiguously and feebly fitted into an action-hero mould, where he instead of being the hunter is the hunted and his overcoming of the obsta-cles is, therefore, a predictable conclusion.
His saying that “we are not looters, we are liberators” insinuates that instead of being a soldier fighting insurgents, he is more inter-ested in antiquity hunting. As a performer, he still has the chutzpah but he does comes off as a lame jaded super-star.
He is effortlessly supported by Jake John-son as his buddy, who gives ample scope for comic relief. Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll with his troublesome alter-ego is simply campy, yet charming.
Annabelle Wallis is perfunctory as the intel-ligent and saucy archaeologist and Nick’s love interest. Sofia Boutella with all the lovelorn and vengeful “Mummy” avatar is the scene-stealer. Her persona is what makes her come alive on screen. Overall, “The Mummy” is a fun film that sets the Dark Universe’s ball rolling as viewers look forward to the next edition.
Film: “The Mummy”; Director: Alex Kurtzman; Cast: Tom Cruise, Russell Crowe, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake John-son, Courtney B. Vance, Marwan Kenzari, Simon Atherton, Sean Cameron Michael, Rez Kempton.
“Wonder Woman,” the muscular feminist superhero from Warner Bros. and DC Comics, stayed
strong over the weekend, easily holding onto the top spot in North American theatres while leaving newcomer “The Mummy” in the dust.
With $57.2m in ticket sales for the three-day weekend, according to industry estimates,
“Wonder Woman” has taken in a total $205m in its first two weeks, elevating it to what Vari-ety.com dubbed “box office royalty”.
The well-reviewed film stars Gal Gadot, she of the “Fast and Furious series,” as the Amazonian goddess-princess-superhero whose lasso, bracelet and tiara have magical powers. Patty Jenkins last week became the first female director to break the $100m mark for an opening weekend. Universal’s “The Mummy,” meanwhile, placed second but fell below industry expectations. Industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said the Tom Cruise movie, the latest revival of the orig-inal “Mummy” made in 1932, took in $32.2m in its first weekend. Made for $125m, it has been widely panned by critics.
But studios increasingly rely on overseas ticket sales, and there “Mummy” has not dis-appointed. Its $141.8m international launch made it the largest opening ever for a Cruise film, Boxofficemojo.com reports. In third on North American screens was “Captain Under-pants: The First Epic movie,” a Fox animation based on the popular children’s books by Dav Pilkey. “Underpants,” which tells the story of two students who hypnotize a school princi-pal to believe he is a superhero, took in $12.3m for the weekend.
Next was Disney’s “Pirates of the Carib-bean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” the latest installment in the popular franchise starring Johnny Depp as a dreadlocked pirate, at $10.7m.
Fifth spot went to another Disney produc-tion, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” at $6.2m. The lighthearted tale about misfit space adven-turers played by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel has taken in $366.3m domestically since it opened on May 5.
Rounding out the top 10 were:“It Comes at Night” ($6m)“Baywatch” ($4.6m)“Megan Leavey” ($3.8m)“Alien: Covenant” ($1.8m)“Everything, Everything” ($1.6m)
‘Wonder Woman’ stays strong at box office
‘The Mummy’: Action packed & middling
TECHNOLOGY TUESDAY 13 JUNE 201712
IANS
Researchers at the University of Washington have devel-oped a new system called
SeaGlass that helps detect cellphone surveillance by modelling a city’s cellular landscape and identifying suspicious anomalies.
Cellphones are vulnerable to attacks from rogue cellular trans-mitters called International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers, also known as cell-site simulators or Stingrays, surveillance devices that can precisely locate mobile phones, eavesdrop on conversa-tions or send spam, Xinhua news agency reported.
Cell-site simulators work by pretending to be a legitimate cell tower that a phone would normally communicate with, and tricking the phone into sending back identify-ing information about its location and how it is communicating.
Described in a paper published in the journal Proceedings on Pri-vacy Enhancing Technologies, the new system was deployed during
a two-month period with SeaGlass sensors installed in ride-sharing vehicles in Seattle and Milwaukee, resulting in the identification of dozens of anomalies consistent with patterns one might expect from cell-site simulators.
“Up until now the use of IMSI-catchers around the world has been shrouded in mystery, and this lack of concrete information is a barrier to informed public discussion,” said co-lead author Peter Ney.
“Having additional, independ-ent and credible sources of information on cell-site simulators is critical to understanding how - and how responsibly — they are being used,” Ney added.
While law enforcement teams in the US have used the technology to locate people of interest and to find equipment used in the com-mission of crimes, cyber criminals are deploying them worldwide, especially as models become more affordable.
To catch these IMSI-catchers in the act, SeaGlass uses sensors built from off-the-shelf parts that can be
installed in vehicles, ideally ones that drive long hours and to many parts of a city, such as ridesharing vehicles.
The sensors pick up signals broadcast from the existing cell tower network, which remain fairly constant. Then SeaGlass aggregates that data over time to create a base-line map of “normal” cell tower behaviour.
The research team developed
algorithms and other methods to detect irregularities in the cellular network that can expose the pres-ence of a simulator.
These include a strong signal in an odd spot or at an odd frequency that has never been there before,
“temporary” towers that disappear after a short time and signal con-figurations that are different from what a carrier would normally transmit.
More than 70 percent of smartphone apps are reporting personal data to third-party tracking companies like Google
Analytics, the Facebook Graph API or Crash-lytics, warns a new study. When people install a new Android or iOS app, it asks the user’s permission before accessing personal infor-mation. Some of the information these apps are collecting are necessary for them to work properly: A map app wouldn’t be nearly as use-ful if it couldn’t use GPS data to get a location.
But once an app has permission to collect that information, it can share your data with anyone the app’s developer wants to — letting third-party companies track where you are, how fast you are moving and what you are doing. To get a picture of what data are being collected and transmitted from people’s smart-phones, the researchers from IMDEA Networks Institute in Spain developed a free Android app of their own, called the Lumen Privacy Moni-tor. It analyses the traffic apps send out, to report which applications and online services actively harvest personal data. Because Lumen
is about transparency, a phone user can see the information installed apps collect in real time and with whom they share these data.
“We try to show the details of apps’ hid-den behaviour in an easy-to-understand way. It’s about research, too, so we ask users if they’ll allow us to collect some data about what Lumen observes their apps are doing - but that doesn’t include any personal or privacy-sensitive data,” the researchers said.
This unique access to data allowed the
researchers to study how mobile apps collect users’ personal data and with whom they share data at an unprecedented scale. More than 1,600 people who have used Lumen since Octo-ber 2015 allowed the researchers to analyse more than 5,000 apps. “We discovered 598 internet sites likely to be tracking users for advertising purposes, including social media services like Facebook, large internet compa-nies like Google and Yahoo, and online marketing companies under the umbrella of internet service providers like Verizon Wire-less,” the study said.
More than 70 percent of the apps were con-nected to at least one tracker, and 15 percent of them were connected to five or more trackers, the findings showed. “Tracking users on their mobile devices is just part of a larger problem. More than half of the app-trackers we identi-fied also track users through websites. Thanks to this technique, called ‘cross-device’ tracking, these services can build a much more complete profile of your online persona,” the researchers said.
Novel system to detect cellphone hacking
70% smartphone apps share your data with third-party services
BABY BLUES
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE
‘Godha’ is essentially the tale of a place called Kannadikkal, where
wrestling is the favored sport.Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.
NOVO — Pearl ROYAL PLAZA
MALL
LANDMARK
The Mummy (2D/Action) 10:00, 10:30, 11:00am, 12:00noon, 12:15, 12:20, 12:50, 1:20, 2:20, 2:40, 3:10, 3:15, 3:40, 4:40, 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 6:15, 7:00, 7:20, 7:50, 8:20, 9:15, 9:20, 9:40, 10:30, 10:45, 11:40, 11:50pm & 12:00midnight Howard Love Craft And The Frozen Kingdom (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon 2:00, 4:00 & 6:00pmThe Bleeder (2D/Drama) 8:00, 10:00pm & 12:00midnight Guardians of The Galaxy 2 (2D/Action) 11:00am, 3:45 & 8:30pm Stratton (2D/Action) 1:45, 6:30 & 11:15pm The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00 & 4:00pm King Arthur:Legend of The Sword (2D/Action) 6:00, 8:30 & 11:00pm Gifted (2D/Drama) 10:30am, 3:00, 7:30pm & 12:00midnightAlien Covenant (2D/Action) 12:30, 5:00 & 9:30pmThe Mummy (3D IMAX/Action) 11:30am, 1:50, 4:10, 6:30, 8:50 & 11:10pm
Deep (2D/Animation) 2:30pm Howard Love Craft And The Frozen Kingdom (2D/Animation) 3:00 & 9:00pm The Bleeder (2D/Drama) 3:30pm The Boss Baby 9:30pm The Mummy (2D/Action) 2:30, 9:00, 10:30 & 11:15pm CIA: Comrade In America (2D/Malayalam) 11:00pm
Howard Love Craft And The Frozen Kingdom (2D/Animation) 9:30pm CIA: Comrade In America (2D/Malayalam) 2:30, 9:00 & 11:00mThe Bleeder (2D/Drama) 3:00pm The Mummy (2D/Action) 2:30, 9:00, 11:00 & 11:30pm
Howard Love Craft And The Frozen Kingdom (2D/Animation) 3:00pm CIA: Comrade In America (2D/Malayalam) 9:00 & 11:00pmThe Mummy (2D/Action) 2:30, 9:00, 11:00 & 11:30pm Deep (2D/Animation) 2:30pm The Bleeder (2D/Drama) 9:15pm
TUESDAY 13 JUNE 2017
VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER
CINEMA PLUS 13
AL KHORThe Mummy (Action) 11:45am, 2:15, 9:30pm & 12:00midnight CIA: Comrade in America (2D/Malayalam) 12:15, 3:00, 9:00 & 11:45pm
GODHA
ASIAN TOWNGodha (Malayalam) 11:30pm CIA: Comrade in America (2D/Malayalam) 8:00, 10:30 & 11:00pm Rakshadhikari Baiju (Malayalam) 8:00 & 11:00pm
ROXYFireman Sam: Alien Alert (2D/Animation) 3:00, 5:00, 7:00 & 9:00pmRaabta (Hindi) 3:00, 5:20, 7:40, 10:00pm & 12:15am The Mummy (Action) 3:00, 5:20, 7:30, 9:40 & 11:50pm CIA: Comrade in America (2D/Malayalam) 3:00, 5:45, 8:30 & 11:15pm Winter’s Dream (Action) 11:00pm
CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU
ALL IN THE MIND
08:00 News08:30 Counting the
Cost09:00 Al Jazeera World10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 The Stream12:00 News12:30 Earthrise 14:30 Inside Story15:00 The War in
October16:00 NEWSHOUR17:00 News17:30 The Stream18:00 newsgrid19:00 News19:30 Viewfinder Latin
America20:00 News20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 The Stream23:00 Al Jazeera World
13:05 Star Darlings
15:20 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug And Cat Noir
15:45 Elena Of Avalor
17:05 Stuck In The Middle
17:30 Bunk’d 19:15 Star
Darlings 19:20 Liv And
Maddie 19:45 Mako
Mermaids 20:10 Jessie 20:35 Cracke 21:30 Stuck In The
Middle 22:25 Miraculous
Tales Of Ladybug And Cat Noir
12:50 Lone Star Law
13:45 Monster Croc Invasion
14:40 The Lion Queen
15:35 Tanked17:25 Dog
Rescuers18:20 Up Close
And Dangerous
21:05 Dog Rescuers
22:00 Up Close And Dangerous
22:55 Killer Iq: Lion vs Hyena
23:50 Untamed China With Nigel Marven
13:05 How Do They Do It?
13:30 Garage Gold
14:20 Gold Rush15:10 What On
Earth?16:00 Gold Divers17:40 Street
Outlaws19:20 What On
Earth?20:35 Container
Wars21:50 The Wheel:
Survival Games
22:40 Running Wild With Bear Grylls
23:30 Misfit Garage
01:10 The Island With Bear Grylls
King Features Syndicate, Inc.
BRAIN TEASERS TUESDAY 13 JUNE 201714
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.
APPLE, APRICOT, BANANA,
BEANS, BEEF, BREAD,
BUTTER, CABBAGE, CAKE,
CANDY, CARROT, CEREAL,
CHEESE, CHICKEN,
CHOCOLATE, COFFEE,
COOKIE, CREAM, EGGS, FISH,
JUICE, LEMON, LETTUCE,
MARMALADE, MELON, MILK,
MUSHROOM, ONION,
ORANGE, PASTA, PEACH,
PEAR, PEAS, PICKLE,
PINEAPPLE, POTATO,
PRESERVE, RICE, SODA,
SOUP, SPINACH, STEW,
SUGAR, SYRUP, TOMATO,
TREACLE, TURKEY, WATER.
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