Tiger Shroff pays tribute to MJ in ‘Munna Michael’

MARKETPLACE | 3 LAW | 7 ENTERTAINMENT | 11

Q-Tickets wins ‘Fastest Growing Company of

the Year’ award

New rules for Residence Permit

transfers

www.thepeninsulaqatar.com

TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016 @peninsulaqatar @peninsula_qatarEmail: dohatoday@pen.com.qa thepeninsulaqatar

11

A discovery about sustainability

P | 4-5

The Greater World Community’s off-the-grid properties are the only Earthship Biotecture homes available for sleepovers. The welcome at Earthship is much more elaborate - and academic - than at traditional lodgings. And Earthships appear in all 50 states in the US and more than 20 countries.

| 03TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

CAMPUS / MARKETPLACE

Q-Tickets wins ‘Fastest Grow-

ing Company of the Year’

award At Arabian Business

Awards 2016, The judging

panel praised the success of Q-Tick-

ets as Qatar’s local ticketing solution

provider.

Q-Tickets, a world class ticketing

solution company based in Doha, and

www.Q-tickets.com, a web based tick-

eting platform, is fully owned and op-

erated by Q-Tickets W.L.L under the

leadership of Founder & Manging Di-

rector Dr. Tejinder Singh, who is also

recognised as “Entrepreneur of the

Year 2016” by Arabian Business for

the glittering successes of his busi-

nesses in Qatar.

“We are now pleased to announce

that Arabian Business has named Q

Tickets (www.Q-tickets.com) as the

“Fastest Growing Company of the Year”

at the Arabian Business Qatar Awards

2016,” said Dr Tejinder Singh, Found-

er & Manging Director, of Q Tickets

(www.Q-Tickets.com).

The Arabian Business Qatar

Awards reward the most success-

ful and innovative companies and in-

dividuals in Qatar and represent the

hallmark of success for individuals

and companies. Q Tickets (www.Q-

tickets.com ) captured the “Fastest

Growing Company of the Year” prize

after a highly competitive selection

process, which included submissions

from the top companies in Qatar. Q-

tickets visionary leadership, innova-

tive organizational strategies and a

creative team has set the brand apart

from the other candidates and posi-

tioned them as the best in class tick-

eting solutions in the nation.

In bestowing the organization

with this extraordinary honour, the

judging panel praised Q-Tickets agility

adaptability and the level of engage-

ment within the local market, which

played a pivotal role in expansions

within Qatar.

“We are both humbled and proud

to have been presented with the

‘Fastest Growing company of the Year’

distinction at the Arabian Business

Qatar Awards 2016. This esteemed

recognition showcases our vision of

becoming the single largest platform

for movies, events, sports and tour-

ism in Qatar.Over the years, we have

worked with various partners local

and international for making various

partnership success stories. We have

engaged within the scope of provid-

ing world class ticketing solutions and

flared best in class as a partner.” said

Dr. Singh.

Q-Tickets wins ‘Fastest Growing Company of the Year’ award

Siemens and QF team up to develop national talentS

eeking to inspire and devel-

op promising Qatari talent, the

second edition of a training

and knowledge transfer pro-

gramme has commenced at Siemens

in Qatar.

The ‘Qatar Foundation and Siemens

Talent Training Program’, a collabora-

tive effort between Siemens and Qa-

tar Foundation for Education, Science

and Community Development (QF), will

see anumber ofpromising QF employ-

ees participate in the comprehensive

internship programme.

Building on the success of the first

edition, the six-month internship offers

participants unparalleled exposure to

some of the key projects beingexecut-

ed by Siemens in Qatar, focusing on

electrification, automation and digitali-

sation. The participants, including Ab-

dulla Al Fadala, Shaikha Khalifa Al Sow-

idi, Abdulwahab Al Yousef and Mooza

Al Sowaidi, will receive comprehensive

training from mentors and will shad-

ow senior managers throughout their

internships. This will give them the

unique opportunity to learn first-hand

about the latest technologies from Sie-

mens and the inner workings of a mul-

tinational corporation, while also con-

tributing to significant projects that

directly support the Qatar National Vi-

sion 2030.

“It’s impressive to witness the com-

mitment and dedication of the interns.

They bring to the table valuable contri-

butions to some of our major projects

and deliver strong results,” said Diet-

mar Siersdorfer, CEO of Siemens in the

Middle East and UAE. “This collabora-

tion between QF and Siemens epit-

omises how a company like ours can

contribute to skills transfer, while also

learning from the interns’ local knowl-

edge and unique insights.”

Mohammed Abdulaziz Al Naimi,

Chief Operations Officer, QF, added:

“The ‘Qatar Foundation and Siemens

Talent Training Program’ reflects our

wider vision to empower our nation’s

greatest asset; its people. We, along-

side Siemens, are delighted to provide

this six-month internship for our em-

ployees, as training within the work-

place offers an excellent opportuni-

ty for developing the skills and knowl-

edge necessary to build a sustainable

economy.”

Participant Shaikha Khalifa Al Sow-

idiis involved in multiple projects and

plays an important role within the Hu-

man Resources team. Al Sowidi is re-

sponsible for helping introduce Siemens

to the youth in Qatarby driving the com-

pany’s collaboration with non-profit or-

ganisations dedicated to educating local

youth. Her favourite aspect of working

at Siemens is “the innovation-driven en-

ergy and friendly working environment”.

COVER STORY

04 | TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

A discovery about sustainability in the New Mexico desert

By Andrea Sachs

The Washington Post

I have never felt so righteous about

flushing. At most eco-lodgings, I

experience a pinch of guilt over

pressing the handle, worried that

I am loosening the stopper on

our finite water reserves. That’s not

the case at the Greater World Commu-

nity near Taos, N.M. The world’s larg-

est off-the-grid subdivision considers

the toilet a friend of Mother Earth. The

blackwater from the bowl hydrates the

yards of its 70 residences, including

several rental properties available to

overnight visitors. If you see a tropical

bloom in the New Mexico desert, you

can lay your thank-you flowers before

the porcelain throne.

“It’s just simple homesteading stuff,”

said Ryan Halpin, who works in Earth-

ship Biotecture’s rental division and

is building a Bachelorship for himself.

“It’s a conscientious lifestyle.”

Earthship Biotecture is a supermod-

el of sustainable living. The construc-

tion firm’s houses are based on the en-

vironmental innovations and Seussian

designs of American architect Michael

Reynolds. The oft-called Garbage War-

rior, who built his first Earthship home

in 1988, discovered his calling on the

side of the road. A glint of trash led to

an of-this-world experience.

“Using the empty cans as building

materials was a flash of inspiration for

everything that later followed,” said

Kirsten Jacobsen, Earthship’s educa-

tion director.

Earthships appear in all 50 states

and more than 20 countries. The

homes are built for a wide spectrum

of individuals and environments, such

as a family residence in Guatemala, an

emergency shelter in post-earthquake

Haiti and a planned resort on an envi-

ronmentally fragile island in Indonesia.

The Taos-area community is the only

site in the world that is open for tours

and available for sleepovers. In July, I

booked an eco-pad for the night out of

curiosity - and to be prepared in case

Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” turns

out to be a work of nonfiction.

“These are the ways people are go-

ing to have to live in the future,” said

Kirsten, who owns an Earthship styled

after a Manhattan loft.

The structures embody a string of

self-hyphenates: -sufficient, -reliant,

-sustaining, -empowering. (The “ship”

in the company’s name represents

the concept of autonomy.) Reynolds’s

blueprints rely heavily on nature’s re-

sources and humankind’s drinking and

driving habits. He uses discarded tyres

packed with dirt for the exterior walls

and recycled bottles and cans for the

interior structures.

Buried cisterns collect melted

snow and rain; the filtered water flows

through sinks in the bathroom and

kitchen. Instead of air conditioning,

the walls absorb the heat, and knee-

high vents expel cool air from subter-

ranean depths. In the winter, the struc-

ture emits the stored toastiness like a

space heater. No doubt, a weatherman

reporting from inside the Taos commu-

nity would grow bored: Today, like yes-

terday, and tomorrow, will be a pleas-

ant 72 degrees.

“It has the stability of a cave,” Kirst-

en said. “You are never going to freeze

or die from heat.”

From what had I read and heard,

I could survive an apocalypse inside

my one-bedroom fortress, which was

named Lemuria. (The inventory chang-

es as the homes are sold and built; five

houses are available for rent.) In ad-

dition to the cord-cutting power and

self-sustaining water supply, each

abode contains its own greenhouse. I

could forage for figs, bananas, pine-

apple, broccoli, rosemary and chives

in my fluffy socks. Or if the zombies

weren’t looking, I could dash over to

my neighbour’s place for supper. The

Phoenix, a three-bedroom that sleeps

six, dedicates one-third of its space

to food production. Its tropical jungle

supports parakeets and cockatiels (not

for consumption) and a garden burst-

ing with fruits and vegetables, includ-

ing grapes, artichokes, lemons, melons,

kale, squash, hot peppers and mush-

rooms that cling to a log. Chickens cluck

around the back yard, which features a

sunken den with a grill for coop-to-ke-

bob meals. An indoor fishpond once

contained a robust stock of tilapia be-

fore a group of guests threw a fish fry.

Now, the littlest survivors swim laps

with koi. For the dairy course, the staff

is considering resident goats.

Earthship Biotecture is a supermodel of sustainable living. The construction firm’s houses are based on the environmental innovations and Seussian designs of American architect Michael Reynolds. The oft-called Garbage Warrior, who built his first Earthship home in 1988, discovered his calling on the side of the road. A glint of trash led to an of-this-world experience.

COVER STORY

| 05TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

“You are the power company, the

water company, the sewage-treat-

ment plant and the food production,”

Ryan said. “You control a lot of your

life, instead of relying on others.”

From the road, Earthship Biotec-

ture resembles Tatooine, with a few

alterations: lizards instead of krayt

dragons, for instance, and Priuses in

place of Jawa sandcrawlers. Most of

the adobe houses are built low and

are camouflaged by the 630 acres of

khaki-coloured terrain.

Check-in is between 2:30 pm and

4 pm. I was punctual partly out of fru-

gality: The confirmation letter warns

late arrivals of a possible $20 hourly

charge. When I drove up, several peo-

ple were standing on the roof of the

visitors’ centre, inspecting the solar

panels. I parked by a sign informing

guests that the community is drone-

free. On my way into the visitors’ cent-

er, I passed tomato and melon plants

suspended from buckets. Netting cov-

ered several pieces of heavy fruit, pro-

tecting guests’ toes. Inside, a gallery

with a film, slide show and informa-

tional panels explained Earthship’s

practices and principles. The lessons

don’t stop at the bathroom door; a

sign informs loo-goers that the water

is reused four times.

The visitors’ centre is part of a

complex of buildings that includes an

academy for students and the Earth-

ship Village Ecologies project, a sus-

tainable testing site where worker-

bee interns live and learn.

Drop-in visitors pay $7 for a self-

guided tour of the public areas; as a

renter, I could come and go for free. I

met the bearded and blue-eyed Ry-

an inside the center and followed the

Wisconsin native in his car. We passed

two entrances to the community be-

fore turning onto a bumpy unmarked

road. I would need glow-in-the-dark

bread crumbs to find my way home

again.

The welcome at Earthship is much

more elaborate — and academ-

ic — than at traditional lodgings. Ryan

started his overview by charging up a

dirt incline to the roof, where he point-

ed out the solar panels and water-cap-

turing system. Back on crusty ground,

we entered the 1,400-square-foot

house through a side door surround-

ed by the bottoms of beer and wine

bottles. The colourful circles shim-

mered like a sea glass. I stepped into a

lush garden lining the windowed hall-

way and started to sweat in the hu-

midity. Ryan yanked on a rope, open-

ing a skylight and ushering in fresh air.

I trailed Ryan from kitchen to liv-

ing room to laundry room (off-limits

to guests) to bedroom to bathroom.

Along the way, he knelt by various

mystery boxes and strange cabinets,

explaining the operating systems. I

tried to grasp the sustainable jargon

— greywater planter cell, power-organ-

ising module, thermal mass — but I

eventually gave my mind a hall pass

to wander. After Ryan left, however,

I realised how much I had retained.

I remembered which faucets were

for drinking and which ones were for

washing, and how to turn on the Ap-

ple TV. I knew better than to search for

the coffeepot, iron and blow dryer, be-

cause they didn’t exist: traditional ho-

tel amenities are power hogs. When

I turned on the faucet, I recognised

the groaning noise as the greywater

pump, not the angry remonstrations

of the God of Wastefulness. “We’re

trying to show people that they don’t

have to majorly change their lifestyle

to live like this,” Kirsten said. “It’s like a

high-end Taos hotel.”

Before settling in for the night, I

made a food run to Taos. (With no

walking dead on the horizon, I didn’t

want to poach the emergency food

supply.) After storing my groceries in

the Sun Frost fridge, I set out for a

neighbourhood stroll. The residents

are a slice of regular life: teachers, ar-

chitects, IT professionals, business-

folk. Their homes are private and well-

spaced, but by craning my neck just

so, I could be a bit nosy. I noticed whir-

ring wind generators that resembled

outsider-art sculptures and admired

entryway mosaics. One house had a

trampoline, a zero-carbon approach

to exhausting children. A house in its

infancy looked like a landfill, with piles

of bottles and tyres.

As the sky darkened, my imagina-

tion started to light up with the eyes

of snakes and coyotes. I hustled back

to Lemuria and climbed a small hill

overlooking the desert. I watched the

split screen of lightning bolts to my

right and triple rainbows on my left.

A jack rabbit hopped down my drive-

way and disappeared into the yard.

He was still there when I returned to

the house, nibbling away at the curi-

ous patch of greenery.

The night passed peacefully. I

cooked dinner on the propane stove-

top, watched Netflix and contemplat-

ed a serious life change. According to

a notebook on the coffee table, the

utility-bill-free life of Lemuria could

be mine — for $275,000. (Update: The

house sold a few weeks after my vis-

it.) I went to bed and gazed at the sil-

very stars through the southern-fac-

ing wall of slanted windows. I awak-

ened at dawn to watch the sun rise

and recharge my ship.

I had to check out by 11 am, and

the possibility of a dawdler fee pushed

me out of bed. However, before leav-

ing, I made sure to water the plants

with a flush and a rinse.

The homes are built for a wide spectrum of individuals and environments, such as a family residence in Guatemala, an emergency shelter in post-earthquake Haiti and a planned resort on an environmentally fragile island in Indonesia.

06 | TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

COMMUNITY / MARKETPLACE

McDonald’s wears pink for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In support to

the world-

wide cam-

paign for the

National Breast

Cancer Aware-

ness Month,

McDonald’s Qa-

tar will dedi-

cate the entire

month of Oc-

tober to partici-

pate in the glo-

bal campaign in

fighting breast

cancer.

E m p l o y -

ees will wear “I

support breast

cancer awareness” pink pin badg-

es to signify the message of hope,

strength and unity in the fight

against breast cancer. Restaurants

will be decorated with pink balloons

and ribbons. During the month-long

breast cancer awareness campaign,

McDonald’s social media sites Face-

book and Instagram will also be uti-

lised to support the campaign by

synchronising the facebook cover

page showing “31 Days of Pink” and

post information on how to prevent

and fight the malady.

Staff will organise a series of in-

store activities. Customers will be

encouraged to pin pink ribbons on

a bristol board to demonstrate their

support for the battle against breast

cancer. Each week, a poster will dis-

play information developed to pro-

vide awareness on the disease. Last-

ly, several McDonald’s stores across

Qatar will harmonise their décor to

match the theme of Breast Cancer

Awareness Month.

Kamal Saleh Al Mana, Manag-

ing Director of Al Mana Restaurants

& Food Co, the owner and operator

of McDonald’s restaurants in Qatar,

said: “We will continue our commit-

ment to help spread the awareness

movement in the community. Our

goal is to inspire more people in Qa-

tar to join and support the fight of

those living with the disease.”

This is part of McDonald’s Qa-

tar Corporate Social Responsibility

initiatives that aim to boost interac-

tion with and to give back to the Qa-

tari community and to buoy aware-

ness through activities linked to

health, education, environment and

sports.

Ooredoo delivers progress through global projects

A year after pledging its com-

mitment to the United Na-

tions Sustainable Development

Goals, the “Global Goals”, Oore-

doo continues to build on the power of

mobile broadband to enrich people’s

lives and make a difference in the com-

munities in which it operates.

Responding to the one-year an-

niversary of the launch of the Global

Goals in 2015, Ooredoo provided an

update on its on-going initiatives un-

derway across its international foot-

print. It also pledged to build on these

programmes, further their reach and

continue to innovate as they work to

transform the UN’s mission statements

into reality.

Ooredoo’s initiatives align to three

of the seventeen ‘Global Goals’ — Goal

3: Good Health; Goal 5: Gender Equality,

and Goal 9: Innovation & Infrastructure.

One of Ooredoo’s flagship projects,

‘MayMay’, is an excellent example of

the direct contribution mobile technol-

ogy can make to improve the lives of

people and create an all-round health-

ier world for tomorrow. MayMay is My-

anmar’s first mobile app for maternal

and child health, which is bridging the

mobile and health sectors to help en-

sure that a wealth of useful maternal,

child health and wellness information is

readily available to women across the

country both during and after pregnan-

cy. There is a fast-growing demand for

the service, which is a great example of

the benefits of having a mobile phone

in today’s digital world.

Achieving gender equality through

the empowerment of women is another

key area for Ooredoo, and one that sits

at the heart of its own corporate cul-

ture. Ooredoo’s companies are proud

to take the lead in providing award-

winning services for women in markets

ranging from Iraq to Indonesia, bring-

ing more women online, boosting na-

tional GDP and helping create fair and

equal access. IndosatOoredoo’s Wobe

(short for ‘Women Benefit’), a micro-

business app with e-wallet, was devel-

oped precisely with that vision. Wobe’s

ultimate goal is to empower women in

Southeast Asia and provide them with

new opportunities.

Sheikh Saud bin Nasser Al Thani,

Group CEO, Ooredoo, said: “The mo-

bile sector has an important role to

play in helping the UN achieve the Glo-

bal Goals. Across our footprint, we are

witnessing how we can make a real dif-

ference around some of the funda-

mental issues that the Goals address.

The social impact of mobile technolo-

gy in general is unprecedented, and is

driving extraordinary economic growth

and new ways of delivering education,

health and rural development. Over the

past year, we have worked hard to con-

tribute to the sustainable development

of the communities in which we oper-

ate. Today, we look back with great sat-

isfaction at our achievements, but also

aware there is still a long way ahead

of us. At Ooredoo we are determined

to continue playing our part to achieve

the Global Goals.”

Aster celebrates World Heart DayA

ster Medical Centre a division

of Aster DM Healthcare, the

largest private healthcare

network in Middle East and

India, has marked World Heart Day,

2016 with an Interactive session, Con-

tinuing Medical Education (CME) for

Doctors and a series of events across

Qatar. Aster started World Heart Day

celebrations from 2012 onwards and

this year was the 5th anniversary.

The interactive session on cardio

vascular problems for Aster Cardiolo-

gy Club Members and public was held

at Hotel Millennium on September 29

led by Prof. Dr. Raveendran P, Inter-

ventional Cardiologist, Aster Medical

Centre, Al Hilal. More than 80 people

attended the event.

Continuing Medical Education

(CME) for Doctors on latest cardi-

ac treatments was held at La Cigale

Hotel and participated by more than

50 doctors across Qatar. A series of

events including awareness class-

es followed by a medical quiz to stu-

dents, awareness class on hyper-

tension and heart related diseases

for the corporates were conducted

across Qatar.

Commenting on the interactive

session, Prof. Dr. Raveendran said:

“Statistics of recent studies shows that

high rate of lifestyle diseases like cho-

lesterol, obesity, hypertension and di-

abetes increased the chances of heart

related diseases like heart attack.”

Commenting on World Heart Day

activities, Dr. Sameer Moopan said,

“We are very pleased with the re-

sponse we have got on our endeav-

our to educate people on heart dis-

eases. It’s a proud moment for all of

us in the Aster family. It is important

to conduct awareness and encourage

individuals, families, and communi-

ties to take action to reduce the bur-

den of heart disease and stroke. We

do everything in our capacity to en-

sure that ‘We’ll Treat You Well’, as our

motto suggests.”

The World Heart Day celebrations

were part of the Aster Community

Good Health Programme (CGHP), un-

der Aster DM Healthcare with the aim

to promote good health and wellbe-

ing among the people.

LAW

| 07TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

New rules for Residence Permit transfers

By Abdelaal A Khalil

Legal Adviser, Dar Al Sharq

No doubt that the labour mar-

ket is anxiously waiting for the

new law of entry, exit and res-

idency to be enforced in De-

cember 2016. All are waiting with dif-

ferent feelings, anxiety and concepts.

Employers have a careful feelings,

while the workers have optimistic

hopes.

The society is waiting for the im-

plementation of the law to be passage

towards labour market stability. Con-

sequently, the ambiguity that shaped

this issue will be cleared, especially

for some articles along clarification to

the role of the Ministry of Labour to

release new work forms that enable

them control the labour market and

organise the mutual relationships be-

tween employers and employees. This

absolutely will create an environment

that allows the smooth flow of work

and on the other hand, it will prevent

the existence of fake companies and

puts an end to visas merchants. The

goal of passing such law is to prevent

the violations and abuse of law which

badly affect the market and denigrate

the labour market reputation in Qatar.

No question about the real inten-

tion of the state and all its organisa-

tions to avoid the gaps, amend and up-

date the rules and conditions of work

relationships. This is clearly noticed in

applying the regulations in reality and

watching the results. Additionally, the

way it follows to rectify the defects

and support the success that is gradu-

ally achieved, is remarkable. In order to

prove the aforementioned steps, the

concerned authorities updated wages

control system that enables all related

organisations to be involved in a way

that leads to the best improvement

in labour market. Also, the new wage

system facilitates supervision of com-

panies’ compliance to the law and as-

sures their committed to their obliga-

tions towards their employees.

It’s worth mentioning that the new

amended forthcoming law does not

include substantial differences with

current law, but included amendment

of some important articles that mis-

used by employers.

One of these articles is about the

transfer of sponsorship carries the bet-

ter way to organise the transfer of

sponsorship which used to include

some conditions in favour of the em-

ployer. Transfer was not possible with-

out approval of employer. The amend-

ed article has made it clear and simple

to the workers to change work even

without approval of their employers, if

they meet some requirement like du-

ration of contract. Thus hereby I am

going to give general overview on the

new law and try to explain the most

important regulations within the con-

texts and articles of law that published

in the official newspaper of the state.

The new residency law is an obvi-

ously reflection of the awareness of

the Qatari legislator for the defects

and the negative aspects found in the

current law, which represents a source

of conflict and argument between the

related parties. It is important to men-

tion that the new law reveals a real

willingness and honest desire in reor-

ganising the labour market and put it

in the right track which will assist in

the development of the society. In ad-

dition, it helps in separating the re-

lationship between sponsorship and

work, and also in preventing the dom-

inations of one law over another, and

insuring the parallel executions of the

laws of the same degree.

Comparing the new law with the

current one, of course the most im-

portant article comes to the surface

is that organises the transfer of the

sponsorship. The article states that

the concerned authority in the Minis-

try of Interior has the right to execute

the transfer of sponsorship for the la-

bour up on a written agreement be-

tween the new employer and the cur-

rent employers in addition to approv-

al from the Ministry of Administrative

Development, Labour and Social Af-

fairs. This is applicable to workers un-

der the labour law. Implementing of

the law in such way results in transfer

of the sponsorship to a new employ-

er and clearing all commitments of the

previous employer. The current imple-

mentation under “No Objection Letter”

which acts as a written agreement be-

tween current and new employers.

Another significance suggests it-

self on the new law: which makes a

new scenario for changing the em-

ployer. The article states the right for

the employee to change his employ-

er before reaching the end of his con-

tract provided that he obtains an ap-

proval from his current employer and

the authorisations from the Ministry

of Labour and Ministry of Social Serv-

ice Affairs. It seems that there is no dif-

ference while comparing to the cur-

rent article, and, however, to contin-

ue reviewing this article, we found that

the employee has the right to change

the employer in two ways; either up-

on completion of his contract term or

after five years of service for the un-

limited contracts. The aforementioned

context should catch our interests be-

cause it breaks up the autocracy of the

law of sponsorship, and also we can

assume that the article gives a resur-

rection to employment contract which

is regarded one of the basics for the

new law. To have more illustrations,

we can read the following context;

“the expatriate has the right to change

his employer upon reaching the end of

his contract term”.

It worth mentioning that “spon-

sor terminology” is no longer existing

in the new law and replaced by “re-

cruiter”. Accordingly, the issue of trans-

fer of the sponsorship term is replaced

by the issue of changing the employer,

and consequently, all is requested to

be aware of this new term and amend

the concept, especially in categorising

the priorities of work’s parties. Now

and according to the new law, the em-

ployer is responsible for the residen-

cy for his employees and the relations

between the employers and employ-

ees are controlled by terms of the em-

ployment contract; when the employ-

ment begins and ends. This contract

has a specific period and the employ-

ment will be effective from the recruit-

ment date, and as per the following

wording of the article “The employee

has the right to change the employer

at the end of his contract term or after

five years for unlimited contracts.”

It is important to mention that this

article set up the regulations and rules

for the labour to change the employer

in identical way that matches the va-

riety of the employment contract in

the Qatari Labour Law. It is emphasis-

ing once again on the recruitment of

expatriate, work and termination will

be ruled by the employment contract.

The contract as per the labour law is

classified into two categories; the lim-

ited one which begins and end in cer-

tain dates and it can be renewed ac-

cording to the mutual agreement be-

tween both parties.

As a result, the employer can not

dominate the employee and prevents

him to work for another employer as

well. The job will play the major role in

the market and it will act as a product

or service, and hence the market in this

case will be subject to (supply and de-

mand) policy where the job represents

the supply and the man power repre-

sent the demand, and the wages will

be categorised according to this policy.

Referring to unlimited contracts,

the new labour law and residency law

have put a term of five years as a max-

imum period and as per the articles of

the law that specify the term starts at

the beginning of the employment for

the employer and ends upon comple-

tion of five years and hence the em-

ployee is considered passed the le-

gal period of the contract and conse-

quently, he will be eligible to move to

work for another employer.

The writer can be reached at

legalfalcon@gmail.com

Legal corner

FOOD

08 | TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

By Bonnie S Benwick

The Washington Post

“Smothered” seems an in-

hospitable way to de-

scribe the charms of an

etouffee, the Louisiana

dish that begins with the aromatic trin-

ity of onion, celery and green bell pep-

per, builds on a rich roux and serves up

a seafood-studded blanket over rice.

This dish riffs on that tradition but

keeps things simple. It calls for less fat

than usual and adds a bit of texture

on top in the form of toasted bread

crumbs. You can file this under “twof-

er”: If you chop shrimp, the recipe

could serve as a hot-dip appetiser as

well as a quick main course. Using bot-

tled clam juice for the roux rather than

fish stock will increase the amount of

sodium significantly, so if you have

15 extra minutes, think about buying

shell-on shrimp so you can first make

a seafood stock of your own by boiling

the shells with a little onion and whole

black peppercorns.

4 servings

Here, you can approximate a Ca-

jun/Creole etouffee-style seafood dish

with a rich-tasting sauce - all in a sin-

gle pan. Don’t be worried about submit-

ting the shrimp to a blast of oven heat;

blanketed by the sauce and moist veg-

etables, they’ll remain tender.

Serve over rice or with corn bread.

If you chop up the shrimp, this could al-

so make a nice hot dip.

Adapted from “Cast-Iron Cooking: Recipes and Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Cast-Iron Cookware,” by Rachael Narins (Storey, 2016).

Ingredients

2 ribs celery

1 medium onion

1 medium green bell pepper

2 large cloves garlic

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Large pinch ground cayenne

pepper

Large pinch chili powder

2 teaspoons flour

1 cup fish or shrimp stock (may sub-

stitute clam juice)

8 ounces (1 cup) lump crabmeat

12 ounces peeled, deveined large

raw shrimp (21-25 count)

2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 bunch scallions

1/2 cup plain fresh bread crumbs

(may substitute plain panko)

1/2 lemon or lime

Method:

Cut the celery and onion into small

dice. Stem and seed the green bell

pepper, then cut the rest of it into

small dice. Mince the garlic; gathering

them all together on the cutting board

is okay.

Melt the butter in a medium

(10-inch) cast-iron skillet over medium

heat. Stir in the celery, onion, garlic and

green bell pepper; cook for 5 minutes,

stirring often, until the mixture has sof-

tened but not browned. (Adjust the

heat as needed.) Sprinkle the pinch-

es of cayenne pepper and chili powder

over the mixture, and then the flour;

cook for about 1 minute (so the flour

loses its raw taste), stirring, until the

vegetables are evenly coated.

Gradually pour in the fish or shrimp

stock as you continue to stir; increase

the heat to medium-high to bring to

a boil, stirring all the while. Cook for

about 5 minutes or until the mixture

has thickened into a sauce that pulls

cleanly away from the bottom of the

skillet when you pull a spatula through.

Pick over the crab, discarding any

bits of cartilage. Reduce the heat to

medium-low; add the crabmeat and

shrimp to the skillet, along with the

heavy cream (to taste). Stir as you cook

for about 2 minutes or until the shrimp

becomes just opaque and the crab is

warmed through.

Meanwhile, position an oven rack

4 to 6 inches from the broiler ele-

ment; preheat the broiler. Finely chop

the white and light-green parts of the

scallions, then combine them with the

bread crumbs. Scatter this mixture

over the contents of the skillet, then

transfer the pan to the oven; broil for

less than 1 minute, watching close-

ly, just until the crumbs have lightly

browned.

Squeeze the lemon or lime juice

over the top. Serve right away.

Nutrition | Per serving (with 2 ta-blespoons cream): 310 calories, 32 g protein, 18 g carbohydrates, 13 g fat, 8 g saturated fat, 215 mg cholester-ol, 500 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugar

Dinner in 30 minutes: Baked Crab and Shrimp

FASHION

| 09TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

By Robin Givhan

The Washington Post

People live much of their life in black and

white. Everything is polemics. Shades of

gray are harder to discern these days. Even

in matters of aesthetics, they wrap them-

selves in black, often as a kind of camouflage. They

take their stylistic risks in ebony, midnight and jet be-

cause those colours feel safe. People won’t notice a

flight of fancy or a hint of eccentricity. So much goes

unseen in the shadows. Shoppers are drawn to the

energy and fun of a bright pink dress -- then ask to

buy the same design in black. Don’t deny it; you know

you do.

And white? In all but the most quotidian basics --

T-shirt or jeans -- it’s an indulgence. A declaration of

immunity from dirt or a shrug of dismissal. A white

summer dress reads like freedom -- a gust of wind.

Relaxation. Vacation.

Colour is complicated. It evokes an emotional re-

sponse, psychology tells us. When you are angry,

you see red. Feeling sad? You’ve got the blues. Feel-

ing dandy? You’re in the pink. Jealous? Oh, that little

green monster!

Colour forces us to engage, to be self-aware. To

simply be present. And at the moment, we seem to

be of two minds: talk-to-the-hand or duck-and-cover.

Colour -- fuchsia, violet, orange, yellow, purple --

exists as a range of emotions that go untapped, un-

appreciated.

Haider Ackermann is, perhaps, fashion’s most

skilled colorist, a designer who paints in vivid hues

and who leans towards poetic reverie. And for spring

2017, he was at his best.

His collection was alive, buoyant and thoughtful.

Slim trousers in metallic bronze exude confidence; a

long skirt in bubble gum pink is pure joy. He offered

a wrap coat adorned with abstract swirls of red, an

ivory blazer splattered in red, a bing cherry-red jack-

et and trouser topped with a fire engine-red trench

coat. The colors delight and soothe, unsettle and sur-

prise.

They help make spectacular fashion. And they

hint at the complicated, idiosyncratic and fascinating

people that we all are.

By Robin Givhan

The Washington Post

The model came storming down the runway, which

was really just a dull stone floor in a dank grotto

beneath a modern art museum. She was among

the final models in a parade of women who were

poetically and gracefully wrapped in swirling yards of

fabric that was as delicate and wild as a butterfly’s wing.

The collection was far more colorful than is typical of

designer Rick Owens, who is partial to a palette of black,

gray, mud, stone and moss. He excels at shocking and

confounding his audience. He pushes the culture to ex-

pand its definition of beauty, often through unorthodox

casting. His mood - on the runway - can be dark.

But for his spring 2017 collection, he leapt headlong

into waves of saffron, fuchsia, rose and cantaloupe.

His abstract loops and folds called to mind flowers

and clouds. Sometimes they didn’t make one think of an

object as much as an emotion. They evoked joy and mel-

ancholy - nostalgia for a distant but sweet past or opti-

mism for fresh dreams.

His final models, draped in a robe of trailing feath-

ers, seemed to have been blown in on a wind - crea-

tures from some other place. Vaguely prehistoric. Exotic.

Weird. Mesmerizing.

They were beautiful without judgment.

At Haider Ackermann, colour is bold and complex

These swirling clothes from Rick Owens are a blast of pure emotion

HEALTH & FITNESS

10 | TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

IANS

For people with Type 2 diabetes, heart

failure is a common condition. Accord-

ing to a new study, individuals with Type

2 diabetes who had undergone coro-

nary artery surgery prior to their heart

failure diagnosis have better chances of

survival in the long term.

Over 90 per cent of the patients

with Type 2 diabetes have one or more

other precursors of heart failure, such

as high blood pressure, COPD or atrial

fibrillation, diseases to which effective

treatments are available that improve

the chances of long-term survival, the

study said.

Heart failure in people with Type 2

diabetes is often attributable to athero-

sclerotic coronary artery disease (CAD)

-- damage or disease in the heart’s ma-

jor blood vessels, and such people are

given either a bypass operation or cath-

eter balloon dilation.

“Our study indicates that revascu-

lising coronary artery surgery can do

much to improve the prognosis,” said

Isabelle Johansson, doctoral student at

Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

The risk of death within eight years

of heart-failure onset was much higher

if the patient also had Type 2 diabetes,

with those who also had CAD showing

the worst prognosis.

However, the prognosis for long-

term survival was better for the pa-

tients who had undergone coronary ar-

tery surgery before developing heart

failure, an observation that held even

when controlling for factors such as

old age or other diseases, which might

have affected the decision to perform

revasculising surgery, the researchers

explained.

“A decision must be taken as to

whether this is possible should be made

without delay for all patients with com-

bined Type 2 diabetes and heart failure,”

Johansson added.

For the study, published in the Jour-

nal of American College of Cardiology,

the team studied data of over 35,000

heart failure patients, over a quarter of

whom had Type 2 diabetes.

How to prevent heart failure in patients with diabetes

IANS

Holidays are not just for relaxing but can also help to improve your

health and should be prescribed for sick people, says a study.

According to the study, being in an environment that stimu-

lates curiosity could turbo-charge the immune system, quoted the

Daily Mail.

For the study, the researchers took mice which were given a

two-week stay in a large cage packed with toys and the excit-

ing environment appeared to boost their white blood cells, which

fight off infections.

“This effect is remarkable because we haven’t given them any

drugs, all we’ve done is change their housing conditions,” said Ful-

vio D’Acquisto, Professor at Queen Mary University, London.

“You could say that we’ve just put them in their equivalent of

a holiday resort for two weeks and let them enjoy their new sur-

roundings,” D’Acquisto added.

White blood cells are key to auto-immune diseases such as

rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

The researcher suggested that prescribing a holiday could help

the sick recover more quickly -- and even give worn-out office

workers a new lease of life.

“We could boost the effects of standard drug treatments that

deal with the mechanics of infection, by also offering something

environmental that improves a patient’s more general well-being.

That might be a promising approach for treating chronic diseas-

es,” D’Acquisto said.

The study is published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology.

Holidays can help to improve health: Study

ENTERTAINMENT

| 11TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

IANS

“M.S. Dhoni: The Un-

told Story” -- a biopic

on India’s star skipper

Mahendra Singh Dho-

ni -- has netted Rs660m on its open-

ing weekend at the Indian box office

besides receiving an overwhelming re-

sponse overseas also, the makers have

said.

Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the film

features Sushant Singh Rajput in the

title role. He has been lauded for his

form and performance as a cricketer,

and fans of Dhoni as well as the ac-

tor have been increasing the footfalls

at the theatres for it.

According to a statement issued on

behalf of the film’s makers, it “scored

a massive number over the weekend,

showing a huge jump and collecting Rs

241m on Sunday (Oct 2)”.

On its opening day on Friday (Sep-

tember 30), the movie collected Rs

213m, and on the following day, it

made Rs 206m. Its Sunday collections

have taken the total to Rs 660m.

“Owing to an overwhelming word of

mouth from across the city, the week-

end total is Rs 660 nett,” read the

statement.

The makers claim “M.S. Dhoni: The

Untold Story” has managed the second

highest weekend collections of 2016 in

India after Salman Khan starrer “Sul-

tan”. “The film has opened exception-

ally well. It has lived upto the expecta-

tions of all pre-release hype. The film

is getting an overwhelming response

from the audiences. Weekend occu-

pancy of the film was over 75 percent

at INOX,” said Rajender Singh, Vice

President - Programming and Distribu-

tion, Inox Leisure Ltd.

Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh

tweeted: “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Sto-

ry” is sensational... Packs a solid total.”

The producers are happy with the

film’s performance in the internation-

al market too. It made $1.1 million in

the US, $24,000 in Britain, $1.2 million

from the Middle East and $193,000 in

Australia, the makers said.

With this, it earned an estimat-

ed opening weekend collection of $

3.3 million abroad, thus making it the

fourth highest opening weekend of

2016 after “Sultan” ($ 13.4 million), “Fan”

($ 6 million) and “Houseful 3” ($ 4 mil-

lion), the makers said.

To celebrate the success, the film’s

makers released a video in which Dho-

ni himself talks about his journey.

“I believe that only cities are small

and not the people living in it or their

dreams. I believe that a man’s height is

measured through his intentions. I be-

lieve that only those people talk about

destiny, who have never stepped out

into the field,” Dhoni says in the little

over 30-second promotional video.

“I believe that exhaustion and pres-

sure are only myths. I believe that the

distance between winning and loos-

ing is big, but it is not impossible,” he

added.

Dhoni biopic scores Rs600m-plus on opening weekend

IANS

Tiger Shroff, who is current-

ly shooting for director Sabbir

Khan’s “Munna Michael”, has

paid tribute to the late King of

Pop Michael Jackson by replicating his

moves in the film. And the first look of

the movie shows the actor is trying to

give his best shot to emulate MJ.

Tiger is seen wearing a hat and

striking a pose similar to the signature

Michael Jackson pose.

Three massive sets reflecting Mum-

bai’s nightlife were created at a studio

here for a special song, which will fea-

ture over 400 dancers and will be cho-

reographed by Ganesh Acharya, read a

statement. The special song, which will

be incorporating moves from some of

Hollywood’s finest background artistes,

will open the film.

“Michael Jackson is the greatest and

this entire film is dedicated to him. It’s

a new journey and I hope he’s watch-

ing,” Tiger said in a statement.

Director Sabbir said: “The song was

recorded in Mumbai and sent to Los

Angeles, where a team of American

choreographers created dance videos,

which our Bollywood team and Tiger

have recreated here.”

“We’re keeping all the quintessential

elements of Hindi cinema -- heroism,

music, dance and action -- intact while

trying to raise the bar”.

Tiger will be imitating some of MJ’s

most iconic dance moves, including

the `toe-stand’, `crotch grab’, `moon-

walk’, `feet shuffle’, `MJ spin’, `anti-

gravity lean’, `sideslide’, ‘robot’ and

`jacket throwback’.

Producer Viki Rajani said: “As we all

know, Tiger is one of the best dancers

in Bollywood and this movie will dis-

tance him for the others. He moves like

magic and in ‘Munna Michael’, people

are going to see some unbelievable

moves from him. With this movie we

are looking to leave a benchmark for

dancing in Bollywood.”

Backed by Eros International and

NextGen Films, “Munna Michael”, which

also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and

newcomer Nidhhi Agerwal, will release

on July 7, 2017.

Tiger Shroff pays tribute to MJ in ‘Munna Michael’

12 | TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

ENTERTAINMENT

By Jake Coyle

AP

In a box-office rarity, three ac-

claimed, original films from studios

opened in theaters over the week-

end.

Only one caught on.

Tim Burton’s latest fantastical odd-

ity, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar

Children,” debuted with $28.5 million,

leading North America ticket sales, ac-

cording to studio estimates.

Peter Berg’s well-reviewed disas-

ter movie “Deepwater Horizon,” about

the 2010 oil rig explosion, however,

failed to tap North American moviego-

ers, opening with an estimated $20.6

million. And Disney’s uplifting chess

prodigy tale “Queen of Katwe,” starring

David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong’o,

brought in a dismal $2.6 million in its

national expansion.

Originality, that often lamented

missing ingredient in studio products,

can lead to box office success, just as

it can disappointment. For 20th Cen-

tury Fox, the draw of “Miss Peregrine’s

Home for Peculiar Children” was pred-

icated on the idiosyncrasy of Burton

funneled into an accessible tale, adapt-

ed from Ransom Rigg’s popular young-

adult novel.

“It validates the whole notion of

why we made this film, which is some-

thing that’s very original and crea-

tive,” said Chris Aronson, president of

domestic distribution at Fox. “At least

I feel that that’s what audiences are

looking for. There’s some fatigue with

the same old, same old. And if there’s

anything this movie isn’t, it’s that.”

The film cost $110 million to make,

meaning it will need a strong perform-

ance overseas to be profitable. It start-

ed out with $36.5 million in 59 mar-

kets. Regardless, it’s a comeback of

sorts for Burton at the box office. It’s

his best opening since 2012’s lacklus-

ter “Dark Shadows.”

Lionsgate’s “Deepwater Horizon,”

starring Mark Wahlberg, also cost at

least $110 million to make, yet it on-

ly managed $20.6 million in its de-

but. The film, which first premiered

at the Toronto International Film Fes-

tival, brought all the big-budget flare

of an action movie (including a nearly

life-size replica of the Deepwater Ho-

rizon oil rig) to the April 2010 explo-

sion, which killed 11 men and for weeks

spilled millions of barrels of oil into the

Gulf of Mexico.

The film’s performance is anoth-

er blow for the struggling Lionsgate,

which has had difficulty finding hits

since “The Hunger Games” saga fin-

ished. Its stock price has fallen and

the departure of its movie chief Rob

Friedman was announced last month.

It does, however, have a film, Damien

Chazelle’s “La La Land,” due later this

year, that’s expected to be an Oscar fa-

vorite.

Audiences have had a surprising

amount of adult-driven options at the

multiplex of late, including another

true tale, Clint Eastwood’s “Sully” (up to

$105.4 million in four weeks), and the

Denzel Washington-led Western re-

make, “The Magnificent Seven,” which

slid to third place with $15.7 million in

its second week.

“Queen of Katwe,” directed by Mi-

ra Nair, tried to lure family audiences to

the inspiring true story of a chess play-

er from the Ugandan slums. But the

Disney release took in just $2.6 million

on 1,242 screens after first debuting it

on 52 screens last week.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media

analyst for comScore, pointed to budg-

et as the significant factor among the

trio of originals, particularly in the case

of the pricey “Deepwater Horizon.”

“All three of those original mov-

ies were expected to do better,” Der-

garabedian. “I give the studios credit

because they were good movies. They

were not sequels or reboots, and yet

you’re coming across audiences who

are disinterested or distracted.”

Originally slated for release in sum-

mer 2015, the Zach Galifianakis, Kris-

ten Wiig heist comedy “Masterminds”

sat on the shelf for a year while its dis-

tributor, Relativity Media, went through

chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It

opened with a mediocre $6.6 million.

Two other notable films opened in

limited release, with plans for later ex-

pansion. Andrea Arnold’s road trip od-

yssey “American Honey,” with Shia La-

Beouf and newcomer Sasha Lane, de-

buted with $75,370 on four screens,

while “Denial,” starring Rachel Weisz,

opened with $102,101 on five screens.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday

through Sunday at U.S. and Canadi-

an theatres, according to comScore.

Where available, the latest internation-

al numbers for Friday through Sunday

are also included.

1. “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Pecu-

liar Children,” $28.5 million ($36.5 mil-

lion international).

2. “Deepwater Horizon,” $20.6 mil-

lion ($12.4 million international).

3. “The Magnificent Seven,” $15.7

million ($14.8 million international).

4. “Storks,” $13.8 million ($14.6 mil-

lion international).

5. “Sully,” $8.4 million ($6.6 million

international).

6. “Masterminds,” $6.6 million ($1.7

million international).

7. “Queen of Katwe,” $2.6 million.

8. “Don’t Breathe,” $2.4 million

($3.8 million international).

9. “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” $2.3 mil-

lion ($19 million international).

10. “Snowden,” $2 million ($1.2 mil-

lion international).

Estimated ticket sales for Friday

through Sunday at international theat-

ers (excluding the U.S. and Canada),

according to comScore:

1. “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Pecu-

liar Children,” $36.5 million.

2. “I Belonged to You,” $33.6 million.

3. “L.O.R.D: Legend Of Ravaging Dy-

nasties,” $29.2 million.

3. “Operation Mekong,” $23.6

million.

4. “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” $19

million.

5. “Mission Milano,” $15.1 million.

6. “The Magnificent Seven,” $14.8

million.

7. “Storks,” $14.6 million.

8. “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story,”

$14.5 million.

9. “Finding Dory,” $13.6 million.

10. “Deepwater Horizon,” $12.4

million.

‘Miss Peregrine’ bests ‘Deepwater Horizon’ at box office

The film’s performance is another blow for the struggling Lionsgate, which has had difficulty finding hits since “The Hunger Games” saga finished.

| 13TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

TECHNOLOGY

By Barbara Ortutay

AP

Facebook is launching a “lite” ver-

sion of it Messenger chat app. It

is aimed at emerging markets,

where many people use older

phones that don’t have enough room

to store or ability to run the full-fea-

tured application due to slower inter-

net speeds or other issues.

“Messenger Lite” will be available on

Android devices in Kenya, Tunisia, Ma-

laysia, Sri Lanka and Venezuela begin-

ning on Monday. The company did not

say when it would be available in other

countries or whether it is also coming

to Apple devices (although Android is

far more popular in emerging markets

than even older iPhones).

There is already a “Facebook Lite”

available for people whose phones are

too old or simple to run the full-fledged

Facebook. Messenger Lite is a similar-

ly slimmed-down version of Messenger.

It will let people send text, photos and

links but won’t do video calls, for ex-

ample.

The move comes as the social me-

dia giant moves to force users to adopt

Messenger if they want to send each

other direct messages, instead of the

main Facebook site or app. It is work-

ing: more than 1 billion people use

Messenger each month.

For a while, there was a loophole —

you could log in to Facebook’s mobile

website to access messages. But Face-

book is ending this option, too, so Mes-

senger will be people’s only option.

David Marcus, head of messag-

ing products at Facebook Inc., said in

an interview that Messenger’s goal is

to be a “product for everyone, not on-

ly people who can afford a higher-end

device and more expensive data plan.”

He called the web-based messag-

ing experience on Facebook a “rem-

nant of the past” and added that he

“can’t think of any other mobile mes-

saging service that has a web version.”

Facebook, he said, decided on the

five initial countries to launch Messen-

ger Lite in because there are a lot of

Messenger users in these countries on

older devices.

WhatsApp, the messaging app

owned by Facebook but operated as

a separate entity, is also popular in

emerging markets. Marcus said peo-

ple use the apps for different reasons

and they are not in direct competition.

WhatsApp also has more than 1 billion

users, and many people use both serv-

ices.

By Craig Trudell and Yuki Hagiwara

Bloomberg

Toyota Motor Corp took one giant

leap for robot-kind by launching

the first humanoid into space to

converse with astronauts. Now,

it’s taking one small step toward com-

mercializing robots for the masses.

Japan’s largest automaker will

begin selling a 10-centimetre-tall (4

inch) talking robot called Kirobo Mini

across Japan in early 2017. Priced at

39,800 yen ($390) and small enough

to fit into a car cupholder, Toyota is

billing Kirobo as capable of respond-

ing to human emotions while engag-

ing in conversation and moving its

head and hands.

Toyota will position Kirobo as a

communication partner developed

for companionship just as surveys

of Japanese consumers show a de-

clining affinity for automobiles. One

poll by Japan’s automakers associa-

tion released in April found about 30

percent of respondents under age 30

had no interest in cars at all.

The Toyota City, Japan-based au-

tomaker will try to leverage Kirobo’s

capabilities to help make driving saf-

er. The robot may shout “Oops!” when

its owner slams on the brakes, start

speaking to perk up a sleepy driv-

er, and offer praise once it’s arrived

home after a long drive. Kirobo con-

nects via Bluetooth to a smartphone

app costing users 300 yen per month.

$1 Billion Bet

Toyota has pledged $1 billion in in-

vestment over five years toward an

artificial intelligence and robotics in-

stitute that’s leading research efforts

on areas including autonomous driv-

ing. The funding going to the Toyo-

ta Research Institute is equal to what

the company spent developing the

first Prius hybrid, President Akio Toy-

oda said during a speech at the Paris

Motor Show last week.

Kirobo will start selling in Japan

roughly a year and a half after Soft-

Bank Corp.’s Pepper robot, which in-

itially cost 198,000 yen along with a

14,800-yen-per-month service plan

that gave users access to cloud-

based voice-recognition and an app

store.

A larger version of Kirobo spent

18 months on board the International

Space Station on a journey that end-

ed in February 2015. Before returning

to Earth, Kirobo became the first ro-

bot to speak in space, including with

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Toyota’s $400 friend: A robotsmall enough to fit in cup holders

Facebook launches lite version of Messenger overseas

ASIAN TOWN

NOVO

MALL

ROYAL PLAZAVILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

A young explosion expert Surya Krishnamoorthy’s dramatical revenge against the owners of a pharmaceutical company.

14 TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

CINEMA PLUS

Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

Sheep & Wolves(2D/Animation) 10:00am & 12:00pmDeepwater Horizon (2D) 11:00am,11:20am,1:40, 3:10, 4:00, 6:20, 8:40, 11:00, 4:30, 7:00, 7:20, 9:30, 11:00, 11:30pm & 12:00amMasterminds (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00, 10:00, 1:20, 5:30, 9:30 & 12:00amMiss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2D/Family) 10:00am, 2:40, 12:20, 5:00, 9:20, 9:40pm & 12:00amKilling Salazar (2D/Action) 10:00am, 2:20, 7:00 & 11:20pmKill Zone (2D/Action) 12:00, 4:40 & 9:00pmStorks (2D/Comedy) 11:00am, 1:00pm, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00 & 9:00pmLaaf Wa Dawaraan (2D/Arabic) 12:20, 5:00, 7:20, 9:40, 11:00pm & 12:00amThe Magnificent Seven (2D/Action) 10:30am, 1:10, 3:50, 6:30, 9:10 & 11:50pmBilal (2D/Arabic) 10:00am, 12:10, 2:20 & 4:30pmHajwala (2D/Arabic) 6:45, 9:00pm & 11:00pmTaht El Tarabiza (2D/Arabic) 10:00am & 2:40pm

Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2D/Family) 2:00 & 5:15pm Masterminds (2D/Action) 6:15pm Hajwala (2D/Arabic) 9:00pm Deep Water Horizon (2D/Action) 7:00 & 9:00pmM.S. Dhoni:the Untold Story (2D/Hindi) 3:00 & 8:00pmStorks (2D/Comedy) 2:30pm Bilal (2D/Arabic) 4:15pmLaaf Wa Dawaraan (2D/Arabic) 5:00 & 6:30pmAandavan Kattalai (2D/Tamil) 11:15pm Killing Salazar (2D/Action) 11:00pm Kill Zone (2D/Action) 11:00pm

Oozham (3D/Malayalam) 2:00, 5:00, 7:00, 10:00pm & 1:00amHyper (Telugu) 12:30 & 3:30pm Aandavan Kattalai (2D/Tamil) 12:30, 3:15, 6:00, 8:45, 11:30pm & 1:15am. M.S. Dhoni:the Untold Story (2D/Hindi) 4:00, 6:45 & 9:00pm

Pete’s Dragon (2D/Adventure) 9:00am Killing Salazar (2D/Action) 2:30pm

M.S. Dhoni:the Untold Story (2D/Hindi) 2:00pm & 10:30pmDeep Water Horizon (2D/Action) 7:30 & 9:30pmStorks (2D/Comedy) 2:30 & 4:15pmMiss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2D/Family) 6:00 & 8:15pm Masterminds (2D/Action) 7:00pm Hajwala (2D/Arabic) 5:00pmLaaf Wa Dawaraan (2D/Arabic) 5:30 & 9:00pm Aandavan Kattalai (2D/Tamil) 11:00pm Kill Zone (2D/Action) 11:30pm

OZHAM

AL KHORHyper (Telugu) 11:15am, 2:15, 5:15, 8:15 & 11:15pmStorks (2D/Comedy) 10:45am, 12:45, 2:45, 6:45, 9:45 & 11:45pm

M.S. Dhoni:the Untold Story (2D/Hindi) 12:00, 3:30, 7:00 & 10:30pm

LANDMARKM.S. Dhoni:the Untold Story (2D/Hindi) 2:00 & 10:30pmStorks (2D/Comedy) 2:30 & 4:15pm Killing Salazar (2D/Action) 2:30pm

Deep Water Horizon (2D/Action) 7:30 & 9:30pmMiss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (2D/Family) 6:00 & 8:15pm Masterminds (2D/Action) 7:00pm Hajwala (2D/Arabic) 5:00pmLaaf Wa Dawaraan (2D/Arabic) 5:30 & 9:00pm Aandavan Kattalai(2D/Tamil) 11:00pm Kill Zone (2D/Action) 11:30pm

15TUESDAY 4 OCTOBER 2016

Yesterday’s answer

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku is

a number-placing puzzle based on a 9×9

grid. The object is to place the numbers

1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each

row, each column and each 3×3 box

contains the same number only once.

Yesterday’s answer

MEDIUM SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

CROSSWORD

BRAIN TEASERS

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

APRIL, AQUARIUS, ARIES,

AUGUST, CANCER,

CAPRICORN,

DECEMBER, FEBRUARY,

GEMINI, JANUARY,

JULY, JUNE, LEO,

LIBRA, MARCH, MAY,

NOVEMBER, OCTOBER,

PISCES, SAGITTARIUS,

SCORPIO, SEPTEMBER,

TAURUS, VIRGO.

07:00 News

07:30 The Stream

08:00 News

08:30 Counting the

Cost

09:00 Al Jazeera

World

10:00 News

10:30 Inside Story

11:00 News

11:30 The Stream

12:00 News

12:30 Rewind

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 Scent From

Heaven

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 The Stream

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 TechKnow

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 The Stream

23:00 Al Jazeera

World

11:25 Gold

Hunters:

Legend

Of The

Superstition...

12:15 American

Pickers

13:05 Storage Wars

14:45 Aussie

Pickers

15:35 Shipping

Wars

16:00 Ax Men

16:50 Storage

Wars Miami

17:15 Storage

Wars Texas

17:40 Swamp

People

18:30 Gold

Hunters:

Legend

Of The

Superstition...

19:20 American

Pickers

20:10 Pawn Stars

20:35 Pawn Stars

21:00 Ax Men

21:50 Down East

Dickering

22:40 Barbarians

Rising

23:35 Alone

01:15 Alaska

Off-Road

Warriors

TV LISTINGS

12:50 Rugged Justice

13:45 Gator Boys

14:40 Biggest And

Baddest

15:35 Tanked

16:30 Into The Pride

17:25 Big Fish Man

18:20 My Cat From

Hell

19:15 Tanked

20:10 Wildest Africa

21:05 My Cat From

Hell

22:00 Rabid

22:55 Gator Boys

23:50 Big Fish Man

01:40 My Cat From

Hell

13:05 How It’s Made:

Dream Cars

13:30 Storage

Hunters

13:55 Garage Gold

14:20 Gold Divers

16:00 Deadliest Catch

16:50 Fast N’ Loud

19:20 Gold Divers

20:10 Storage

Hunters

20:35 Garage Gold

21:00 Boy To Man

21:50 The Island With

Bear Grylls:

USA

22:40 Driving Wild

23:30 Fast N’ Loud

A. Sharp (5)

A. Remedied (7)

A. Protective

garment (5)

C. Hoard (5)

C. Tapers (7)

C. Group of

bovines (6)

C. Fake (11)

E. Epoch (3)

E. No longer in

existence (7)

G. Chivalrous (7)

I. Lit up (11)

L. Terse (7)

L. Lackadaisical (7)

L. Prevarication (3)

M. Award (5)

N. Pleasant (4)

N. Observed (5)

O. Sumptuous (7)

R. Send payment (5)

S. Short tail (4)

S. Begin (5)

S. Powerful (6)

S. Proposed (9)

T. Rising current of

warm air (7)

W. Bet (5)

W. Capricious (9)

Yesterday's answer