Page 01 Dec 02 - The Peninsula · Children from Compass International School, Al Khor, brought gifts to thank Lulu for facilitating a learning trip by pre-schoolers earlier this month,

MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741

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• Traditions comealive at MES gala

• Charity drive

• Audi boutiqueopens atThe Gate Mall

• Books forthe stylishcoffee table

• Computer gamesmay help olderadults walk easier

• iGoogle: Whatare the bestalternatives?

insideFast and Furious star Paul Walker killed in car crash

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P | 13STARTING YOUNGSTARTING YOUNG

With the wealth he made from retail business Russian billionaire is training kids to challenge Europe’s football elite. He has already spent more than $250m bringing the southern Russian team up to top level.

2 COVER STORYPLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013

By Ilya Khrennikov

Sergey Galitskiy took less than two decades to build Magnit from scratch into Russia’s retail leader. With the wealth

that’s brought him, the billionaire is training local kids to challenge the country’s soccer elite.

Galitskiy, 46, created FC Krasnodar in 2008 and since then has spent more than $250m bring-ing the southern Russian team up to a level to compete with the likes of Spartak Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg. That’s a fraction of the amounts lavished on soccer by some Russian billionaires as Galitskiy seeks to bring through the region’s best young talent, rather than spend-ing vast amounts on the sport’s big names.

“We aren’t seeking quick blast-offs, we want to develop gradually and get only what we deserve,” Galitskiy said in an interview at the state-of-the-art campus he built to raise a future generation of stars for his team. “We haven’t rushed to set up targets, either in business or in football. Our goal was to understand how to act and then to move gradually.”

If Galitskiy is able to repeat the success of Magnit, Europe’s soc-cer powers will need to take notice. Formed in 1994, the business has grown rapidly to become one of the world’s most profitable food retailers with a market value exceeding $31bn. Without recourse to takeovers, Magnit now has 6,880 convenience stores, 152 hypermarkets and 677 cosmetics stores generating annual revenue of about $18bn.

Billionaire Russian mogul trains kids to beat football’s elite

Sergey Galitskiy

3PLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013

“Magnit avoided pricey acquisi-tions and built stores from scratch, which ultimately allowed it to become Russia’s largest retailer,” said Nikolay Kovalev, an analyst at VTB Capital. “With football, Galitskiy is trying the same — he doesn’t spend crazy dozen-million dollars to buy superstars. Instead, he invests in an infrastructure to breed his own ones.”

That investment starts with the academy. Built at a cost of $80m, the facility is a modern coaching complex for kids who are chosen by coaches from more than 20 Galitskiy-sponsored soccer schools for 6- to 12-year-olds in the Krasnodar region.

Covering 49 acres, the academy includes 20 pitches, lecture halls, a swimming pool and a chess room offer-ing children aged 12 to 17 the opportu-nity to learn both on and off the field.

“Success in football is impossible without a good school,” according to Galitskiy, who said his dream is to have the entire FC Krasnodar team made up of academy graduates.

The first batch of students to go through the full academy cycle will reach adult level in 2018. In the mean-time, the Magnit founder has followed his business principles to form a team able to contend for a place in Europe’s elite competitions.

The team now consists of local and international players, including four Brazilians who are yet to make an impact at international level. Its record purchase was Swedish defender Andreas Granqvist, signed in August in a deal that online information pro-vider transfermarkt.de valued at €5m ($6.8m). The Gazprom-backed Zenit St Petersburg last year paid a Russian record transfer fee for Brazil forward Hulk, estimated by transfermarkt.de at €55m.

“Top clubs employ players which cost quite big money,” Galitskiy said. “It’s impossible to employ players for as lit-tle as $1m and gain first places.”

FC Krasnodar occupies fifth spot in Russia’s 16-team standings and even though that would have been enough to gain a place in the Uefa Europa League last season, Galitskiy said he has no goal to qualify for Europe’s top tourna-ments this time.

The money he’s made from retailing

is enabling the entrepreneur to pursue his passion for soccer. With a wealth of $13.9bn, Galitskiy is the world’s 70th-richest individual, according to the Bloomberg billionaires index. That represents a 62 percent increase in the year to date and ranks him above Roman Abramovich, who has lavished more than $1bn on London team Chelsea over the last decade, buying stars such as Fernando Torres of Spain and Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko.

“I just like football,” Galitskiy said, when asked why he’s committing so much to FC Krasnodar. “When a per-son earns money, it makes sense if he spends it himself. It’s a shame when a person earns money, and some strange funds spend it.”

In addition to what he’s already spent, Galitskiy is pumping $250m into the construction of a 34,000-seat stadium that’s due for completion in 2015, though isn’t among those due to be used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

To keep tabs on the stadium’s progress, the entrepreneur is able to access the team’s website and view images relayed by a real-time Web camera. That’s taking a leaf from the book of his grocery business, where he tracks hypermarket construction from his desk by monitoring live pictures from the site.

The similarities don’t end there. Galitskiy keeps as close an eye on his soccer interests as he does on his busi-ness, visiting the academy almost every day and watching all FC Krasnodar’s home matches, which for now are played at the stadium of neighbouring team Kuban. The owner even enters the dressing room after matches to shake the players’ hands, be it in vic-tory or defeat.

His unhurried plan for building the team also mirrors the way he built Magnit from a standing start, branch-ing out from wholesaling household chemicals into convenience stores, hypermarkets and most recently cos-metics outlets.

“Galitskiy is pragmatic and cost-efficient in business,” said Dmitry Navosha, head of sports.ru., a Russian sports website. “In football he is driven by passion.”

WP-Bloomberg

Covering 49 acres, the academy includes 20 pitches, lecture halls, a swimming pool and a chess room offering children aged 12 to 17 the opportunity to learn both on and off the field.

The 39th Annual Day of MES Indian School titled ‘MESmerise’, was celebrated on November 28 and 29 at

the open air auditorium. Nazar Al Khalaf was the Chief Guest

on the opening day. V V Mahamood, President, MES Governing Board, in his presidential address said: “Holistic education doesn’t exist only in books but in the overall development of the child and MES Indian School is an excellent example for that.”

Members of the staff who have com-pleted 10, 15, 20 and 25 years of continu-ous service at the school were honoured with gold medals, cash prizes, memen-toes and certificates on the occasion.

T K Aboobacker, Director, Academics, honoured M K Usman, Senior Teacher, Engineering Graphics, Boys’ Section whose pupils secured 100 percent in his subject.

“MES is the torch bearer in all fac-ets of education in Qatar,” asserted Principal, Sasidharan A P while pre-senting the annual report featuring the major achievements and activities of the school.

The high achievers of the school including the toppers in class XII and X CBSE and CBSE-i March 2013 and the students who secured A1 in any subject were honoured with gold med-als, cash awards and certificates.

Khalid A Fakhroo, Head of Major Donors Relationship, Qatar Charity, Chief Guest of the closing day, remarked that MES is an embodi-ment of learning, co-curricular and

extracurricular activities. He appre-ciated the management for functioning the institution efficiently and profes-sionally as a role model.

Maqthasim Mohammed Ibrahim, an official from Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Interiors, Guest of Honour, said he was amazed to witness the cultural extravaganza of MES and valued the efforts of the teachers and parents to reach the stu-dents at the top most level of success.

The Gold Medal winners in the CBSE Athletic Meet 2013 and the best outgoing scouts and guides were hon-oured on the occasion.

The two day visual bonanza, consist-ing of thematic presentations depicting the unique blend of Indo-Arab culture and tradition, multi-lingual dramas,

mimes, foot tapping performances, semi classical and fusion dances with the support of the latest multi-media LED techniques by “Symphony” Doha magnetised a large audience. Brimming with energy and enthusiasm, the hard work of the students reached its culmi-nation showcasing their inherent talent

and potential through ‘Mesmerise 2013’.Suhail Subair, Head Boy, welcomed

the gathering while Sai Spandana, Head Girl, proposed a vote of thanks. Chris Regy, Adil Haris, Fouzia Solanki and Farhana Haque compered the two day variety entertainment.

The Peninsula

PLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 20134 CAMPUS

Traditions come alive at MES gala

School officials and guests at the event. School officials and guests at the event. TOP: Students perform a dance.TOP: Students perform a dance.

Children from Compass International School, Al Khor, brought gifts to thank Lulu for facilitating a learning trip by pre-schoolers earlier this month, to shop for fruit as part of the school’s healthy eating initiative. Children learnt about textures, colours and scents of a variety of fruits and put their numeracy skills to the test when weighing their choices and paying for them at the tills. The team at Lulu sent the children back with bundles of fruit and a fruit cake.

Students and teaching staff of Bangladesh MHM School & College in Doha met the Philippine Ambassador, Crescente R Relacion, at his office and handed over a donation cheque for victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines. The ambassador expressed appreciation and thanked the students and teachers.

Regency Travel and Tours retained the coveted title for the seventh consecu-tive year as they claimed the award for World’s

Leading Travel Agency at the prestig-ious World Travel Awards Finals 2013 held at La Cigale Doha.

Regency Travel and Tours were hon-oured once again for its achievements in the sector, more specifically in Qatar and also its progress and contribu-tion to Middle East Tourism industry. Hailed as “The Oscars of the Travel Industry” the World Travel Awards also celebrated its 20th Anniversary this year and is acknowledged across the globe as the ultimate travel accolade.

Honoured to receive the award Chief Executive Officer, Tareq Abdullatif

Taha represented Qatar on stage and was later joined by other invited guests from the Regency Travel and Tours team to whom he dedicated the com-pany’s success.

“I am proud to represent Qatar in having yet again won the Worlds’ Leading Travel Agency Award for the seventh time in a row.” He attributed this success to his loyal customers for their trust and loyalty to the Regency Travel and Tours brand as well as his team for the quality of service and commitment they provide to their customers.

“Regency Travel & Tours is known for its high standard of cus-tomer service, unique & innovative concepts and its ability to remain remarkably forward thinking in a constantly evolving industry. Today,

Regency Travel & Tours, source, supply, distribute and promote world class travel-related products and services.

‘We promise to continue to exceed the level of service that Regency Travel & Tours is known for,” he said.

The Peninsula

5COMMUNITY / MARKETPLACE PLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013

Four Seasons Hotel Doha hosted around 300 people including students from DESS Elementary School and parents yesterday to light a Christmas tree. General Manager Rami Sayess spoke during the ceremony and carols were sung by DESS students. Chef Christopher Jordan and his team created three large gingerbread houses, which were loaded with over 4,000 French macaron cookies, 108kg of gingerbread, 600kg of icing sugar, 25kg of chocolate and thousands of pieces of candy.

Blood donation Occidental Petroleum of Qatar Ltd. (Oxy Qatar) hosted Hamad Medical Corporation’s blood donation bus for the third consecutive year. This year, 29 people donated blood, including employees from neighbouring compa-nies and local community residents. Steve Kelly, President and General Manager of Oxy Qatar, said: “We are delighted to be able to raise awareness of this important civic collaboration, and we encourage Oxy Qatar staff to donate blood regularly.”

Mansoft Qatar, a subsidiary of Mannai Corporation, received the Best Partner of the Year award at the EMC Gulf Partner Summit 2013. Alekh Grewal, Group CEO & Director of Mannai Corporation, said: “We have achieved strate-gic growth from the time of Mansoft’s inception. In addition to the recent recognitions as Cisco and Panduit Best Partners in the Middle East, we now have added the EMC best Partner award to our portfolio. It is a proud moment for all of us.”

Regency Travel and Tourswins leading travel award

Tareq Abdullatif Taha, Regency Travel CEO, Tareq Abdullatif Taha, Regency Travel CEO, receiving the award from Graham Cooke, receiving the award from Graham Cooke, President of World Travel Awards.President of World Travel Awards.

PLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 20136 WHEELS

Q–Auto, Audi dealer, opened a brand new Audi Boutique at The Gate Mall. The upscale boutique is based on the

concept of providing customers an interactive experience with Audi’s top models. Among the launch event’s attendees were, Sheikha Hanadi bint Nasser bin Khaled Al Thani chair-man of Q-Auto, Issa Abdel Salam Abu Issa, Chairman and CEO of Salam International, Kevin Hughes, General Manager at Audi Qatar, Mohamed El Talkhawi, General Sales and Marketing Manager at Audi Qatar, and a host of Audi fans.

The opening saw a number of visual effects, blended with classical music and showmanship, giving Audi enthu-siasts a spectacular show. The bou-tique unveiled a wide range of Audis.

The models on display at the new Audi boutique include the Audi R8 4.2, S6, S7, A8, S8, RS 5, Q7 and the TT RS. The boutique is located on the ground floor of the Gate Mall.

Commenting on the opening of the new location Kevin Hughes, General Manager at Audi Qatar, said: “Our investment in this boutique not only reflects the confidence and success of Audi’s international stature and command, but also symbolizes our resolve to continue to place the most sought after Audi ranges before our customers.”

Mohamed El Talkhawi, General Sales and Marketing Manager at Audi Qatar, said: “We are delighted to have brought Audi to one of West Bay’s most upscale neighbourhoods. What you see around you reflects a boutique concept rather than the expected ‘automobile showroom’ approach that is often used in the market. This is a willful distinction we

have made in order to encapsulate the essence of the Audi experience. What we have opened today is a an entirely new experience for Audi fans complete with a high-end range of vehicles and VIP touches to be enjoyed by every customer who walks through these doors.”

Ibrahim Bitar, Managing Director of Salam Bounian, the developer of The Gate Mall, said: “We consider it a joy and privilege to open our doors to house one of the world’s high-end automobile brands. We believe that The Gate Mall and Audi share a devotion to style and elegance. The Gate Mall is uncompromising when it comes to quality that sets us apart. We are delighted with our newest ten-ant and we are thrilled to have them here.”

In order to celebrate the launch, Audi also launched a social media

campaign. The first 10 new Audi cus-tomers will be eligible for entry into a draw to win all-expenses paid trip to

Dubai and spend two luxurious nights in a top 5 star hotel.

The Peninsula

Rolls-Royce Doha showcases Aeroboat at Pearl showroom

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Doha, the dealer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, has announced that the limited production Aeroboat, will

be displayed in its showroom in The Pearl-Qatar, for a limited time as part of a regional road show.

At the heart of this boat is the supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin V12. This engine was designed over 80 years ago and has been installed in many iconic aircraft including the legendary ‘Spitfire’. The current engine has been detuned to deliver a reliable 1500hp that, together with a bespoke gearbox and final drive, allows the Aeroboat to achieve speeds in excess of 50 knots.

The exterior design was inspired by the graceful lines of the Spitfire combined with modern auto-motive detailing. Subtle clues to this inspiration can be seen in the design of the stern, echoing the wing’s trailing edge, the sweeping tail, and the authentic air intake scoop. Despite the retro influences this is still a distinctly contemporary yacht using carbon fibre, Kevlar and lightweight wood veneers in its construction.

The cockpit can be configured to the client’s wishes, accommodating four to seven passen-gers. The forward seats are a unique shock-mounted design inspired by the Spitfire landing gear. The console can be laid out with analogue gauges, touch-screens or a combination of both

for command and navigation. Dominant features of the helm station include the aircraft-inspired throttle and switchgear. Below decks the forward cabin includes a double berth and a small bath-room. Finishes and fittings can be specified to the individual owner’s exact wishes. The Peninsula

Audi boutique opens at The Gate Mall Audi boutique opens at The Gate Mall

BOOKS 7PLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013

By Jura Koncius

Throughout the fall, the stack of design books on my desk just kept getting taller and taller. It now measures more than three feet. My job was to select eight books that were either worth buying for the home library or wrapping up as presents

for design-savvy friends. It was a heavy task.For those of you who don’t think being a design writer

is perilous work, take heed. As I was removing the shrink wrap from Mario Buatta’s massive volume of his life’s work, it slipped and landed on my foot. All I could think of was that this book, all seven pounds’ worth, was trying to get my attention. And it did.

So after careful consideration, here are my recommendations.

Beyond Chic: Great Fashion Designers at Home by Ivan Terestchenko ($85, Vendome Press)

People who love interiors often love fashion, too. So when you can get a peek into the homes of some of the most creative fashion minds in the world, it’s worth a look. The 19 designers whose homes the book explores include Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani and Reed Krakoff. The exotic places: Venice, Paris, Marrakesh and Luxor, to name a few. In shoe maestro Manolo Blahnik’s Victorian stone house in Bath, England, you’ll see his nonchalant furniture placement and shelves holding his slipper col-lections. You can never see too many photos of Coco Chanel’s three-room Paris apartment, filled with glittering chandeliers and gilded chairs. Stick your best perfumed candle on top of this book on your coffee table, and you’ll achieve instant chic.

Design Brooklyn: Renovation, Restoration, Innovation, Industry by Anne Hellman and Michel Arnaud ($40, Stewart, Tabori & Chang)

Brooklyn has emerged as the new hub for creative types in the world of furniture design, art, food, music and fash-ion. The book highlights Brooklyn’s renaissance, including furniture ateliers operating out of former auto body shops and the classic brownstones that have been retrofitted for hipster life. Hellman and Arnaud, who write and take pictures for the blog Design Brooklyn, are plugged into the latest borough mojo. The layout and photographs are lively and evocative, highlighting places such as a former garage with cinder-block walls that is now a hot pizza place and a Park Slope townhouse modernized with white paint for Manhattan loft refugees. I particularly enjoyed reading the “brief history of Brooklyn” chapter chronicling the ethnic groups that have settled there and the fate of its architecture through economic ups and downs.

Fifth Avenue Style by Howard Slatkin ($60, Vendome Press)

Not everyone is fascinated by how the other half lives.

And not many of us have elevator vestibules to deco-rate. But it’s hard not to be intrigued by the over-the-top residence of New York designer Howard Slatkin and his dog, Winnie. Slatkin spent three years personally select-ing every tassel, gilded statue, silk velvet banquette and chiseled doorknob for this grand place. (This is a guy who gives house guests a copy of the New York Times tied with a ribbon and delivered on a china-laden breakfast tray.) But he also shows the backstage spaces you really want to see: laundry room, closets, dressing room and flower-arranging space. Everything is meticulously organized and displayed. One of his tips: Line the closet or drawer where you keep your silver in tarnish-free cloth.

In With the Old: Classic Decor from A to Z by Jennifer Boles ($34.95, Potter Style)

Atlanta blogger Jennifer Boles loves the oldies: skirted tables, screens, slipcovers and slipper chairs. She has boned up on the history of 100 decorating classics for her first book. Boles’ blog, The Peak of Chic, which she began in 2006, is where she holds forth on romantic, time-less rooms. Boles, a House Beautiful contributing editor, was raised in a Southern home where she learned her way around passementerie and leopard prints. She’s a walking encyclopedia of decorating history and design legends, such as Dorothy Draper and John Fowler. She can explain all those decorating terms you never quite figured out, including the origin of the Parsons table. (They were designed in the 1930s at the Paris branch of the Parsons School of Design.) Even if you collect mid-century modern, by the time you’ve read this, you’ll wonder why you are living without chinoiserie and upholstered doors.

Love Where You Live: At Home in the Country by Joan Osofsky and Abby Adams ($50, Rizzoli)

I can imagine sitting down by the fireplace with this book and studying the natural-looking rooms of its 18 homes full of old wood floors, painted benches and kilim rugs. They’re the kind of comfortable places where dogs and cats are welcome to sit on the quilt bedspreads and curl up on the white slipcovered sofas. Reclaimed farmhouses and barns have their own inherent charm and individuality. Osofsky owns three Hammerton Barn stores in the Berkshires and Hudson Valley, so she has a retailer’s perspective on what furnishings look good with

the simplicity and patina of country architecture. Mixing in a few modern touches keeps the rooms fresh, and there are lots of ideas to borrow.

Mario Buatta: Fifty Years of American Interior Decoration by Mario Buatta with Emily Evans Eerdmans ($75, Rizzoli)

The thought of floral chintz might send you running to your black leather lounge chair. But the first book by New York designer Mario Buatta is a must for serious design libraries. The romantic rooms by the so-called Prince of Chintz have graced showhouses and shelter magazines for decades. There is a chapter about his work at historic Blair House, the president’s guesthouse. There are photos of his lavish projects, including Mariah Carey’s New York triplex. This “Buatta-pedia” as Buatta likes to call it, has the big budget room shots interspersed with Buatta’s per-sonal photos and tales of a storied career, laughs included. The swagged window treatments, antiques, tassels, vel-vet walls, dog paintings and colourful needlepoint rugs illustrate his mastery of the English-country style. Buatta dedicates the book to his mother, who let him stay up late and rearrange the furniture, and to his Aunt Mary, who took him to antiques shops and changed her chintzes every season.

Remodelista: A Manual for the Considered Home by Julie Carlson with the editors of the Web site Remodelista ($37.50, Artisan Books)

This well-ordered, well-photographed book is packed with great ideas. It includes detailed descriptions of a dozen cool houses, with ideas on how to “steal this look.” There are very thorough chapters on bathrooms and kitch-ens. Remodelista.com has an army of loyal followers who look for no-nonsense, sensible solutions for real problems: how to make the most of a 1940s bath, how to stylishly outfit your kitchen in Ikea cabinets or how to organize batteries in a wooden cutlery tray. Carlson, editor in chief of the website, used the book to highlight remodeling, redecorating and organizing, as well as budgeting. The “Remodelista 100” at the back of the book is like the Academy Awards of everyday household gear. (Think Isamu Noguchi Akari paper lamps and Miele vacuums.) You’ll find yourself counting how many you have and wish-ing you had more.

Thomas Pheasant: Simply Serene by Thomas Pheasant ($60, Rizzoli)

Washington designer Tom Pheasant, who established his studio in 1980, mixes modern and classical in beautiful rooms that emphasize “details over drama.” Pheasant’s rooms regularly grace the pages of Architectural Digest, and you’ll find his clients all over the world. Pheasant thoughtfully describes his design philosophy and how he connects with his clients. His rooms, balanced with many subtle architectural details, tend to be done in soothing beiges, taupes, grays and creams. Yet one of my favourite rooms in the book is an inviting saffron-and-orange family room where the various shades and textures of the spicy colours create a space just as soothing as one in beige. It’s a nice book to add to your library of the works of local interior designers.

WP-Bloomberg

Books for the stylish coffee table

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rough fi

re e

xti

nguis

hers,

” he

told

the S

anta

Cla

rit

a S

ignal.

“Him

and h

is b

uddy,

his

broth

er i

n

arm

s at

heart

just

decid

ed t

o j

oyrid

e,

take a

spin

. S

om

eth

ing w

e a

ll d

o. W

e’r

e

all

car en

thusia

sts

...

We’r

e all

h

ere

driv

ing, enjo

yin

g e

ach o

ther,

and G

od

must

’ve n

eeded h

elp

.”U

niv

ers

al P

ictu

res,

the s

tudio

behin

d

the F

ast

an

d F

uri

ou

s fr

anchis

e, rele

ase

d

a s

tate

ment

on S

atu

rday e

venin

g. “A

ll

of

us

at

Un

iversa

l are h

eartb

roken

,”

it read.

“Paul

was tr

uly

on

e of

the

most

belo

ved a

nd r

esp

ecte

d m

em

bers

of

our s

tudio

fam

ily f

or 1

4 y

ears,

and

this

loss

is

devast

ati

ng t

o u

s, t

o e

very-

one involv

ed w

ith t

he F

ast

an

d F

uri

ou

s film

s, a

nd t

o c

ountl

ess

fans.

”T

he

sen

tim

en

t w

as

ech

oed

by

Walk

er’s

F

ast

a

nd

F

urio

us

co-sta

r

Vin

Die

sel, w

ho p

ost

ed a

photo

of

the

pair

on

his

In

sta

gram

accoun

t w

ith

the c

apti

on:

“Broth

er I

will

mis

s you

very m

uch. I

am

abso

lute

ly s

peechle

ss.

Heaven h

as

gain

ed a

new

Angel. R

est

in

Peace.”

Oth

er c

olleagues

took t

o T

wit

ter t

o

express

their

grie

f. “

All m

y s

trength

, lo

ve &

fait

h t

o t

he W

alk

er f

am

ily d

ur-

ing t

his

heartb

reakin

g t

ime.

We fi

nd

our s

tren

gth

.. i

n h

is l

ight.

Love y

ou

broth

er,”

wrote

Dw

ayn

e J

ohn

son

on

his

@T

heR

ock a

ccoun

t. J

ohn

son

had

join

ed t

he c

ast

of

Fa

st a

nd

Fu

riou

s fo

r

its

two m

ost

recent

inst

alm

ents

, and

was due to

retu

rn

fo

r th

e seven

th,

whic

h h

ad just

begun fi

lmin

g.

Tyrese

Gib

son, w

ho c

o-s

tarred in t

he

film

s, p

ost

ed: “M

y h

eart

is h

urti

ng s

o

bad. N

o o

ne c

an m

ake m

e b

elieve t

his

is

real.”

Dir

ecto

r R

ola

nd E

mm

eric

h

wrote

th

at

he w

as “e

xtr

em

ely

sad-

den

ed”,

w

hile Jam

es W

an

poste

d “I

am

so b

eyond h

eartb

roken r

ight

now

. I

can’t

process

anyth

ing.”

Wan

w

as

work

ing

wit

h

Walk

er

on

Fa

st a

nd

Fu

riou

s 7;

the a

cto

r h

ad

alr

eady c

om

ple

ted w

ork

on w

hat

looks

likely

to b

e h

is fi

nal film

s, a

Hurric

ane

Katr

ina dram

a call

ed H

ou

rs,

an

d a

thrille

r c

alled B

rick

Ma

nsi

on

s. I

n t

he

latt

er h

e p

lays

an u

ndercover c

op, ju

st

as

in t

he init

ial

Th

e F

ast

an

d t

he F

uri

ou

s h

is ch

aracte

r, B

ria

n O

’Con

nor,

w

as

part

of an u

ndercover L

AP

D o

perati

on

to infilt

rate

a s

treet

racin

g c

ircuit

. T

he

film

ended w

ith O

’Connor t

ransf

errin

g

his

loyalt

ies

to t

he a

pparent

crim

inals

.T

he s

on o

f a m

odel and a

sew

er c

on-

tracto

r, h

e g

rew

up i

n L

os

Angele

s, i

n

a w

orkin

g c

lass

Morm

on

house

hold

. C

hild m

odellin

g a

ssig

nm

en

ts h

elp

ed

keep t

he f

am

ily a

float

fin

an

cia

lly (

he

was

the e

ldest

of

five)

and l

aunched a

career t

hat

starte

d o

n T

V t

hen m

oved

to t

he b

ig s

creen

wit

h 1

998 c

om

edy

Meet

the D

eed

les,

then s

upporti

ng r

ole

s in

Ple

asa

ntv

ille

, V

ars

ity

Blu

es

and S

he’s

All

Th

at.

It w

as

his

turn i

n 2

000 t

hrille

r T

he

Sk

ull

s w

hic

h b

rought

him

to t

he a

tten-

tion o

f th

e F

ast

an

d F

uri

ou

s producer.

N

ota

ble

oth

er r

ole

s in

clu

ded t

he lead in

genia

l husk

ies

dram

a E

igh

t B

elo

w, and

a p

art

in C

lin

t E

ast

wood’s

Iw

o J

ima

epic

Th

e F

lags

of

ou

r F

ath

ers

. T

he d

ay

befo

re h

is d

eath

, he p

ost

ed a

n u

pdate

to

Tw

itte

r e

xpress

ing h

is e

xcit

em

ent

about

the u

pcom

ing s

even

th i

nsta

l-m

ent:

“T

he b

oys

are b

ack. W

ill you b

e

ready?

- #

Team

PW

#F

ast

Frid

ays”

The a

cto

r i

s su

rviv

ed b

y a

15-y

ear-

old

daughte

r, M

eadow

. T

he G

uard

ian

Bul

lett

Raj

a: M

asal

a fe

stof

guns,

gri

me,

glo

ry

By

Su

bh

ash

K J

ha

Cast

: S

aif

Ali K

han, Jim

my S

hergill, S

onaksh

i S

inha a

nd V

idyut

Jam

mw

al; D

irec

tor:

Tig

mansh

u D

hulia

Fro

m R

aj K

apoor

and R

aje

ndra

Kum

ar

in S

an

ga

m to D

harm

endra

and A

mit

abh B

achchan in S

hola

y, fi

lmy frie

ndsh

ips

have fl

our-

ished w

ith f

orm

ulist

ic f

ervour in o

ur fi

lms.

It t

akes

guts

to t

urn t

he c

onventi

onal fo

rm

ulist

ic c

inem

a a

bout

male

bondin

g a

nd r

evenge into

a t

ightl

y w

ound inte

llig

entl

y s

crip

ted a

nd

judic

iousl

y e

xecute

d d

ram

a o

f politi

cal su

bte

rfu

ge in U

ttar P

radesh

, a f

avourit

e h

aunt

for T

igm

ansh

u D

hulia’s

cin

em

a, here t

urned i

nto

a h

otb

ed o

f in

trig

ue a

nd d

ram

a.

Bu

llett

Ra

ja i

s w

oven

aroun

d c

haracte

rs

who a

ren

’t p

arti

cula

r

about

the c

om

pany o

r t

he m

orals

that

they k

eep.

Politi

cia

ns

an

d

entr

epreneurs

hobnob w

ith c

rim

inals

and c

rim

inals

end u

p b

ecom

-in

g h

eroes

of

the m

ass

es

just

because

dem

ocracy i

n I

ndia

giv

es

us

litt

le t

o c

hoose

from

.S

aif

Ali K

han’s

Raja

Mis

ra i

s a s

cum

my s

ort

of

Robin

Hood i

n

Lucknow

whom

we m

eet

init

ially a

s he e

scapes

wit

h h

is l

ife f

rom

goons

in s

creechin

g c

ars

by g

ate

crash

ing i

nto

a w

eddin

g. T

here h

e

meets

Rudra (

Jim

my S

hergill)

. T

hen b

egin

s a k

ind o

f aff

able

bondin

g

betw

een t

he t

wo m

en, and it

goes

beyond t

he p

recin

cts

of th

e m

audlin

frie

ndsh

ips

we’v

e s

een in o

ur fi

lms

so f

ar.

Saif

and J

imm

y, b

rilliant

acto

rs

both

, brin

g a

kin

d o

f brusq

ue b

ut

unbreakable

frie

ndsh

ip b

etw

een t

hem

, a b

ondin

g t

hat

you k

now

only

death

can b

reak. A

nd it

does.

Dhulia’s

skills

as

a r

aconte

ur o

f rem

ark

able

apti

tudes

was

most

evid

ent

in P

aa

n S

ingh

Tom

ar.

Here, he a

ttem

pts

som

eth

ing e

ven m

ore

darin

g. H

e m

erges

myth

olo

gic

al and h

isto

ric

al allusi

ons

into

current

politi

cs

and h

e w

eds

herois

m a

nd h

ooliganis

m w

ithout

causi

ng a

ny

dis

cernib

le d

am

age t

o h

is w

ork

’s a

est

heti

cs.

This

is

a fi

lm a

bout

the s

cum

my p

eople

who g

overn o

ur c

ountr

y

from

the f

rin

ges.

They a

re t

he k

ind o

f characte

rs

who e

ither e

nd

up r

ich o

r d

ead. W

e c

an o

nly

curse

them

under o

ur b

reath

. A

nd y

et

the s

poken language o

f th

e c

haracte

rs

rem

ain

s liberate

d f

rom

overt

profa

nit

ies.

The s

am

e g

oes

for t

he c

haracte

rs t

hem

selv

es,

so low

ly a

nd

yet

redeem

ed b

y u

nexpecte

d b

outs

of

hum

our a

nd e

ven c

om

pass

ion.

The w

ay S

aif

’s R

aja

Mis

ra m

eets

Son

aksh

i’s

sketc

hily-w

rit

ten

characte

r a

nd t

he m

anner i

n w

hic

h t

he s

crip

t allow

s him

to w

arm

up t

o h

er w

ithout

wast

ing t

ime i

s a m

arvel

of

scrip

tural

bala

nce.

Indeed, D

hulia i

n h

is m

ost

nakedly

com

mercia

l outi

ng, catc

hes

the

routi

ne f

rie

nds-

on-a

-ram

page p

lot

by its

lapels

and g

oes

for t

he k

ill

wit

h s

ple

ndid

skill.

The s

oundrack is

rem

ark

ably

auth

enti

c, and I

don’t

mean t

he a

wfu

l so

ngs.

Our c

inem

a, even t

he m

ost

matu

re v

arie

ty, st

ill adheres

to t

he

radio

-pla

y s

tyle

of dia

logue d

elivery w

here o

nly

one c

haracte

r s

peaks

at

one t

ime. T

igm

ansh

u D

hulia a

llow

s th

e w

ords

to s

pill

out

of

his

characte

rs

as

and h

ow

they a

ppear n

atu

ral.

Saif

’s in full c

om

mand o

f th

e s

poken a

nd u

nsp

oken language. H

ere’s

an a

cto

r w

ho c

an b

rin

g g

ravit

as

to h

is c

haracte

r w

ithout

weig

hin

g

it d

ow

n i

n s

elf

-im

porta

nce.

Saif

has

great

support

from

the e

ver-

reli

able

Jim

my

Sh

ergil

l.

Their

bon

din

g i

s rem

ark-

able

, and s

om

eti

mes

wic

k-

edly

over-t

he-t

op.

Dh

uli

a’s

tr

eatm

en

t of

vio

len

ce i

n t

he h

inte

rla

nd

is

sh

arp

an

d

con

sta

ntl

y

ton

gue-i

n-c

heek

. M

idw

ay

through

th

e m

ayh

em

h

e

brin

gs

in V

idyut

Jam

mw

al

to b

rin

g o

ur s

cum

my h

ero

Raja

Mis

ra u

nder c

ontr

ol.

It t

akes

a p

oliti

cally s

avvy

storyte

ller o

f D

hulia’s

skills

to

convert

the low

est

ebb o

f our p

oliti

cs

into

an o

ccasi

on

of

hig

h d

ram

a.

IAN

S

PLU

S |

MO

ND

AY

2 D

EC

EM

BE

R 2

013

Fast

and

Fur

ious

st

ar P

aul W

alke

r kill

ed in

car

cra

sh

Typec

ast

and p

roud

by

Pet

er

Bra

dsh

aw

It is

alw

ays

a d

anger for a

cto

rs

to b

ecom

e w

holly identi

fied w

ith o

ne b

ig

role

, one h

it franchis

e. F

or a

while, S

ean C

onnery w

as

Jam

es

Bond, but

then s

how

ed h

e w

as

dram

ati

cally lic

ense

d t

o d

o s

om

eth

ing o

ther t

han

kill, fl

irt,

seduce a

nd h

andle

gadgets

. D

anie

l R

adcliff

e g

rew

aw

ay f

rom

H

arry P

ott

er a

nd in f

utu

re J

ennif

er L

aw

rence w

ill in

all p

robabilit

y d

eta

ch

herse

lf f

rom

Katn

iss

Everdeen.

But

Paul W

alk

er b

ecam

e e

nti

rely

ass

ocia

ted w

ith t

he r

ole

of to

usl

e-h

air

ed

blo

nd b

oy r

acer B

ria

n O

’Conner in t

he F

ast

and t

he F

urio

us

movie

franchis

e:

O’C

onner i

s a c

op w

ith s

om

e b

ad-b

oy a

ttit

ude w

ho g

oes

undercover i

n t

he

street-

racin

g s

cene t

o c

atc

h c

rim

inals

and h

ave c

ar c

hase

s. W

alk

er’s

death

in

a c

ar c

rash

aft

er a

Los

Angele

s charit

y e

vent

this

weekend g

rim

ly s

eals

th

e a

ssocia

tion, alt

hough h

e w

as

the p

ass

enger in a

frie

nd’s

red P

orsc

he, and

not

in f

act

behin

d t

he w

heel.

That

movie

serie

s –

not

much l

iked c

rit

ically,

but

the m

ost

lucrati

ve i

n

the h

isto

ry o

f U

niv

ersa

l S

tudio

s –

defiantl

y c

ele

brate

d t

he e

thos

of live fast

, die

young. It

how

ever s

tuck t

o t

he H

ollyw

ood c

ar-c

hase

conventi

on t

hat

no

one, chase

r o

r b

yst

ander,

gets

accid

enta

lly k

ille

d in a

chase

, no m

att

er h

ow

hair

-rais

ing t

he s

cene o

r c

row

ded t

he s

treets

. W

alk

er’

s aw

ful

fate

show

s th

at

in t

he r

eal w

orld

, accid

ents

can h

appen.

Walk

er s

tarte

d t

he s

erie

s in

2001

when h

e w

as

in h

is l

ate

20s,

and w

as

still boyis

h in t

he m

ost

recent

film

, F

ast

& F

uri

ou

s 6, desp

ite t

he p

lot

makin

g

him

now

a m

ore m

atu

re fi

gure: a n

ew

dad w

ith f

am

ily r

esp

onsi

bilit

ies.

But

the c

all o

f th

e w

ild, and t

he t

hrob o

f th

e e

ngin

e, are a

lways

irresi

stib

le t

o

him

in t

his

movie

. W

alk

er loved t

he m

ovie

s and d

id a

lot

of

his

ow

n s

tunts

.H

e w

as

40 w

hen h

e d

ied, old

er t

han J

am

es

Dean in h

is c

ar-w

reck (

24)

and

wit

hout

makin

g h

isto

ry in t

he s

am

e w

ay –

alt

hough t

he f

ranchis

e’s

energy

and r

ecent

touches

of se

lf-a

ware h

um

our w

ere s

tarti

ng t

o d

isarm

the d

oubt-

ers.

Walk

er h

imse

lf e

njo

yed lif

e, enjo

yed L

A a

nd h

is c

ele

brit

y a

llow

ed h

im t

o

grati

fy a

long-h

eld

pass

ion for m

arin

e b

iolo

gy a

nd p

arti

cip

ate

in a

Nati

onal

Geographic

TV

docum

enta

ry a

bout

shark

s. H

e a

lso d

id c

harit

y w

ork

whic

h

was

taken s

erio

usl

y. B

ut

of course

his

great

pass

ion w

as

for c

ars:

he d

rove in

the r

acin

g s

cene a

nd h

is p

rofe

ssio

nal life

as

petr

ol-

head c

op B

ria

n O

’Conner

appeared t

o m

esh

wit

h h

is p

riv

ate

lif

e a

nd c

ele

brit

y p

erso

na. H

is d

eath

has

an a

wfu

l appropria

te irony –

and s

ad t

oo.

The

Gua

rdia

n

PLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013 THAILAND CRISIS610

Sources: Wire agencies Pictures: Getty Images

Thailand political crisis deepening

Sep 2006: Prime Minister ThaksinShinawatra ousted in military coup

CRISIS TIMELINE

Dec 2007: Thaksin allies – PeoplePower Party – win election

Aug 2008: Thaksin flees intoself-imposed exile before end ofcorruption trial

Dec: Mass yellow-shirt protestsparalyse Bangkok. ConstitutionalCourt bans People Power Party.Abhisit Vejjajiva becomes premierin army-backed coalition

Mar-May 2010: Pro-Thaksinred shirts stage mass rallies.Protests end in army crackdown– more than 90 people killed

Jul 2011: Yingluck Shinawatraleads Pheu Thai party to generalelection victory

Nov 2013: Protests begin aftergovernment attempts to passamnesty bill which critics say couldallow Thaksin to return withoutserving time in jail

BANGKOK DEMONSTRATIONS

Prime MinisterYingluckShinawatra:Sister of formerPremier ThaksinShinawatra.�� majority in��

Protesters:Led by formeropposition MPand one-timedeputy primeminister SuthepThaugsuban.Want currentgovernmentto be replaced

National police headquarters

Finance Ministry

Army headquarters

Democracy Monument

GovernmentHouse

B A N G K O K

ChaoPhrayaRiver

1km0.6 miles

12

34

1

2

3

4

© GRAPHIC NEWSSources: Wire agencies Pictures: Getty Images

Sep 2006: Prime Minister ThaksinShinawatra ousted in military coup

CRISIS TIMELINE

Dec 2007: Thaksin allies – PeoplePower Party – win election

Aug 2008: Thaksin flees intoself-imposed exile before end ofcorruption trial

Dec: Mass yellow-shirt protestsparalyse Bangkok. ConstitutionalCourt bans People Power Party.Abhisit Vejjajiva becomes premierin army-backed coalition

Mar-May 2010: Pro-Thaksinred shirts stage mass rallies.Protests end in army crackdown– more than 90 people killed

Jul 2011: Yingluck Shinawatraleads Pheu Thai party to generalelection victory

Nov 2013: Protests begin aftergovernment attempts to passamnesty bill which critics say couldallow Thaksin to return withoutserving time in jail

BANGKOK DEMONSTRATIONS

Prime MinisterYingluckShinawatra:Sister of formerPremier ThaksinShinawatra.�� majority in��

Protesters:Led by formeropposition MPand one-timedeputy primeminister SuthepThaugsuban.Want currentgovernmentto be replaced

National police headquarters

Finance Ministry

Army headquarters

Democracy Monument

GovernmentHouse

B A N G K O K

ChaoPhrayaRiver

1km0.6 miles

HEALTH / FITNESS 11

By Kathryn Doyle

Older adults who tried special brain training computer games had better gait and balance

than their peers afterward, in a new study.

Walking requires people pay attention and use other thinking skills. In theory, slips and falls are more common for older people not only due to physical frailty, but to mental aging as well.

“Participants in this study were on average 83 years old,” Renae L Smith-Ray said. “Because we know that degradation occurs with aging, in older participants we often consider interventions successful when they prevent or slow future decline.”

Smith-Ray led the study at the Center for Research on Health and Aging at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She found the computer games did just that: they slowed the decline of people’s bal-ance and walking speed.

The researchers randomly split 51 men and women age 70 and older into two groups. People in one group used the computer-based brain training programme InSight for 10 weeks. Those in the other group were monitored but didn’t do anything new.

Participants in the computer group played three games: “Road Tour,” “Jewel Diver” and “Sweep Seeker.” The games were designed to train visual and spatial memory and quick decision-making.

“Walking is a relatively auto-mated task for younger adults but becomes less automated for older adults,” Smith-Ray said.

“For instance, when walking down a busy street visuospatial processing is required to identify cracks or tripping hazards in the sidewalk, inhibition is required to

tune out the distraction of chil-dren running and throwing a ball down the block and attention is required while watching traffic and responding to signals.”

The computer group met in a classroom three times a week for one-hour sessions with the games.

At the end of ten weeks, par-ticipants who played the games were able to get up from a seated position and begin walking a cou-ple of seconds faster than those in the comparison group, on average. They had been in similar shape at the beginning of the study.

But the computer game players didn’t walk a 10m (33-foot) course any faster than other participants, whether they were distracted or not, at the end of the study.

The researchers also looked specifically at 30 of the slowest walkers, who initially took nine seconds or longer to walk 10 meters.

For slow walkers, walking speed and walking speed while distracted were both better in the computer game group at the end of the study, according to results published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.

Still, the researchers can’t yet say if this improvement would be noticeable for most people in their daily lives or if the games would actually help prevent falls.

They also didn’t include people with dementia or known learn-ing problems in the study, so the results can’t be widely generalized, Dr Alfonso Fasano said.

Fasano studies Parkinson’s disease and age-related condi-tions at the Neurology Institute of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome. He was not involved in the new research.

“Another important limita-tion of this study is that the out-comes were assessed immediately

post-training, but the major obsta-cle to training in elderly is the decay of the improvement over time,” Fasano said.

“The authors should have seen the long-term outcome, also assessing the number of falls and near-falls,” he said.

The InSight programme was developed by scientists for Posit Science. The InSight programme for two people can be purchased commercially for $90.

“Executive functions are the cognitive processes that make us uniquely human and control our ability to plan, set goals and make good decisions,” Smith-Ray said.

“The cognitive training pro-gram we used targets executive functions, which is why partici-pants who were randomized to the intervention performed better on walking while distracted and balance than participants rand-omized to the control group,” she said.

“Another important feature of any good cognitive training pro-gram, including the Posit Science program, is that it adapts to the users’ performance: when the participant becomes better at the task, the task becomes more dif-ficult so that the participant is constantly challenged.”

But that’s still only one part of the picture, Smith-Ray said.

Physical changes in the brain influence mobility, and there is also evidence for a “cognitive reserve,” she said. That means years of regular physical and social activity can help to slow cognitive decline.

“The best way to enable healthy cognitive aging is by regularly challenging your brain,” she said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/1aJPBxm The

Journals of Gerontology: Series B,

online November 5, 2013.

Reuters

Nuts reduce deathrisk, says study

Consuming nuts at least seven times a week can reduce risk of death from any cause by

20 percent, says a new study.The study, published in the New England

Journal of Medicine (NEJM), also establishes a significant association between the consump-tion of nuts and a lower incidence of death due to heart diseases, cancer and respiratory diseases.

The study said nutrients in nuts, such as unsaturated fatty acids, protein, fiber, vita-mins, minerals and antioxidants may confer heart-protective, anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory properties.

“This study adds to the current strong body of evidence which demonstrates that eating nuts daily, including almonds, confers health benefits and supports long-term health. Nuts deliver many good attributes in a small, satisfy-ing package,” said Karen Lapsley, chief scien-tific officer for the Almond Board of California.

“Part of the reason people consuming more nuts such as almonds tend to be leaner is because may be that these nuts provide satiety.

“Satiating snacks with protein and fiber can help curb hunger pangs between meals, which in turn may helps in reducing the urge to snack on less nutritious options,” said Ishi Khosla, clinical nutritionist and director, Centre for Dietary Counselling.

Cardiovascular diseases are estimated to cause nearly three million deaths per annum in India, accounting for 25 percent of all mortality.

Modafinil can help fight depression: Study

The new study by the University of Cambridge in collaboration with the University of

East London and the King’s College London, was published in the online Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Researchers claimed that the new findings would help many individuals for whom anti-depressants give little or no relief.

According to them, a third of depressed patients receive little or no benefit from tak-ing anti-depressants, even after they used these along with psychological counselling and of those who respond to treatment, symptoms such as fatigue and trouble in sleeping pose risk factors for relapse.

The study has claimed that those supple-menting anti-depressants with Modafinil would stood to benefit.

Cynthia Fu, a professor in the University of East London, who undertook the research at the King’s College London described it as good news for individuals struggling to fight depression.

“Depression affects all aspects of life, leading to occupational and social disability at varying levels. It is particularly important that peo-ple receive effective treatment as the residual symptoms eg, fatigue, lack of concentration etc. can persist and have a negative impact on their lives,” Fu said.

The scientists examined the use of Modafinil as an add-on treatment for depression.

The survey involved a total of 568 patients with unipolar depression, and a total of 342 patients with bipolar depression.

Agencies

PLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013

Computer games Computer games may help older may help older adults walk easieradults walk easier

TECHNOLOGYPLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 201312

Andro

id a

pps

of

the d

ay Sportizr Football (free)There are a fair few football apps

knocking about on Android, but Sportizr is the latest hoping to keep fans in touch with the Beautiful Game. It focuses on the English Premier League, offering scores, tables, stats stretching way back, and a host of features when matches are actually playing.

FishHunter (free)“Once upon a time, fish were in

charge,” claims the Google Play

listing for this fishing app, which accurately reflects every single time I’ve ever sat on the side of a lake with a rod. Cue developer Appetite Lab’s app that reckons it’s “CHANGING THE GAME OF FISHING” (yes, in capitals) with a digital log book, fish database and location-based features to shift power back to humans.

My Geometric Universe (free)Another one for the kids: this app

from developer Chocolapps focuses on geometry, teaching children to

draw various shapes, then use them to build objects in three settings: a playroom, ancient Egypt and the middle ages. It’s simple but elegantly designed, turning what could be a dry subject into entertaining fun.

A is for App (free)One more for the kids, although

this app from Marmalade Play knows its real audience is geeky par-ents. It’s an ABC app teaching kids the alphabet, except here the words are all based on IT and business: “F

is for FTP: Daddy can send files from anywhere to anywhere” – note, a switch changes the app from Daddy to Mummy mode, so it’s not sexist.

SquareHub (free)SquareHub is a “private family

network” designed to be used by par-ents, children and extended family members. It’s a mixture of social net-working, group messaging and per-sonal organisation tools, with photo editing thrown in for good measure.

by Stuart Dredge / The Guardian

I loved my personalised iGoogle home page, and now it’s gone. Google Classic is a very poor substitute. What can I do?

Michael Ayton

Google has just closed iGoogle, its personal start page, but it made the announce-ment last summer, leaving alternative sites plenty of time to pitch for its former users.

That’s also what happened with the closing of Google Reader, but I haven’t seen the same outpourings of anger and grief, or the same search for new homes, from iGoogle users. It would be interesting to know how many there were.

I did like iGoogle. It’s perhaps less important now that browsers include thumbnails of your most-used pages, and you can easy add websites and apps to your Windows 8 Start page.

If you want something as much like iGoogle as possible, then igHome is the first start page to try. It actually bills itself as the “iGoogle Alternative”, and it still has the black menu bar for Gmail, Calendar, Maps, Images, Google News etc that Google so fool-ishly removed from its Search home page. It also has a Google search box, and it shows search results without the plethora of adverts you get with Google.

igHome is a bit boxy, but there are plenty of “gadg-ets” -- almost 200,000 -- albeit nearly all of them are RSS feeds.

uStart is a less-boxy attempt to replace iGoogle, and it has tabs but not a black menu bar. One of the tabs is an RSS reader that looks like a decent replacement for Google Reader, so this may appeal if you consume a lot of RSS feeds. Its search box also uses Google Custom Search, but results come with plenty of adverts as well.

My Yahoo is another obvious alternative. It was around before Google launched iGoogle, and has many of the same features. Like igHome and others, it offers to import your iGoogle settings, if you saved them. Of course, its menu bar links to Yahoo’s email, news and other services, not the Google equivalents, so it’s not as useful if you don’t use Yahoo. (There is a Gmail widget.)

My Yahoo has recently been redesigned, but I think my My Yahoo page looks horrible, and it would just take too much work to fix it. I also find the redesigned Yahoo Mail almost unusable, and I don’t even like the redesigned Flickr. I’m not sure who

Yahoo is aiming at nowadays. It might be you, but it’s obviously not me.

NetVibes is another pioneering start page or dash-board. It’s really aimed at large businesses, and last year, it was taken over by the French giant, Dassault Systèmes. However, it does have an “I’m just Me” version with three options: Basic (free), VIP ($3.50 per month) and Premium ($499 per month). The VIP option provides support, while the Premium option includes analytics. Pick the Basic version and you have a choice of preconfigured dashboards including “G refugee”.

Of all the startpage sites, Netvibes has made the most concerted effort to attract iGoogle readers, with a series of blog posts and help for developers to remake their iGoogle gadgets. The “G refugee” option looks like an excellent substitute for iGoogle, and it includes an RSS reader page that replaces the now defunct Google Reader.

Netvibes has a reputation for being somewhat hard to use, and if you start from scratch, it can take a long time to get things set up. The “G refu-gee” button seems to solve that problem in the short term, so I’m impressed. But if you plan to add tabs for more specialised purposes, you may have to grapple with native Netvibes.

Finally, there’s Protopage. This is a relatively small, independent operation but it has been attracting switchers from iGoogle over the past couple of years, including me. It doesn’t look a bit like iGoogle, and it’s missing loads of widgets: there’s no Facebook, for example, no translations, and no Gmail. You have to set email up yourself. If you particularly valued iGoogle’s vast collection of widgets, then Protopage is not for you.

On the other hand, Protopage is lightweight, very

easy to use, and is a good way to track the most recent seven stories on news sites. This is the main reason I use it, and the reason my Protopage has two columns instead of a more flexible three, four or even five. It also has a handy search box and a set of common links in the search bar across the top: Google, Bing, Wolfram Alpha, Wikipedia, Amazon, Twitter, YouTube etc. This makes it very easy to search for the same word or phrase across several the different sites. (If you don’t like the sites on the search bar, you can change them, and you can change their order.) Finally, you can set Protopage as the home page on your browser.

Several personalised start pages have van-ished since I last looked at this area, including LinkedFeed and the well-regarded PageFlakes, so I sense the whole category is in decline. It certainly doesn’t go well with modern trends. The real value of a start page comes from packing a lot of dif-ferent types of information into a single screen, and a big desktop monitor delivers the maximum value, whereas the trend is towards small, mobile screens. On mobiles, of course, the smartphone’s main screen is already a start page, and Microsoft Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 are obviously part of the same trend. (If you don’t have Windows 8, you can add Awesome New Tab Page to Google Chrome. Firefox users could try New Tab Tools or a similar utility.)

If you check out the websites I’ve mentioned, I think you will find at least one that appeals to you, even if you don’t love it as much as iGoogle. The choice is probably between igHome and Netvibes’ “G refugee”, with Protopage offering a different approach that you might love or hate.

The Guardian

iGoogle: What are the best alternatives?

COMICS & MORE 13

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

ABODE, ACCOMMODATION, BILLET, BOARDING HOUSE,BUNGALOW, CABIN, CARAVAN, CHALET, CONDOMINIUM,COTTAGE, DOMICILE, DORMITORY, DUPLEX, DWELLING,FLAT, HABITATION, HERMITAGE, HOME, HOMESTEAD,HOTEL, HOUSE, HOUSEBOAT, IGLOO, LIVING QUARTERS,LODGE, MAISONETTE, MANSION, MOBILE HOME, MOTEL,PENTHOUSE, RESIDENCE, SHACK, SHELTER, TENT, TRAILER,VILLA, WIGWAM.

LEARN ARABIC

Baby Blues by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman

Zits by Dennis Young and Denis Lebrun

Hagar The Horrible by Chris Browne

With the Clothes Broadsuits Salesman

Button Zirr

Strings �ee�an

Sweater Kanza

Tie Rab�a ouçnouq

Do you have hats? Hal çindaka qoubça?

Yes Naçam

No La

Children's hat Qoubça willadiya

Women's hat Qoubça nisa'iya

Men's hat Qoubça ri��aliya

I want cotton socks Oureedou �warib mina alqou�n

Napkin Mindeel

Note: ç = ‘a’ in ‘ag


HYPER SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

CROSSWORDS

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

How to play Hyper Sudoku:A Hyper Sudoku

Puzzle is solved

by filling the

numbers from 1

to 9 into the blank

cells. A Hyper

Sudoku has

unlike Sudoku

13 regions

(four regions

overlap with the

nine standard

regions). In all

regions the numbers from 1 to 9 can appear

only once. Otherwise, a Hyper Sudoku is

solved like a normal Sudoku.

ACROSS 1 Toon/live action film of

1996

9 Typewriter’s spot

13 Tool for the scatterbrained

15 Thereafter

16 Tragedy-stricken

17 “Three Sisters” playwright Chekhov

18 Torpedo detector

19 Trademarked Intel chip

21 “This Little Girl of Mine” country singer ___ Young

23 Take

24 Telegraph suffix

25 Told to come

26 Tripp’s rank on “CSI: Miami”: Abbr.

28 True: Ger.

30 Tear up

31 Tetley products

32 Twit

34 Tiger’s bagful

35 Taoism, e.g.: Abbr.

36 Technical work requirement

37 Total

38 Tense, maybe

42 TV channel with “Style Report” and “Beauty Report”

44 Tsars and others

45 Tide’s ebb, e.g.

48 Threaded across and down

49 Texas hold’em action

51 Text you might R.S.V.P. to

52 Thing that’s highly explosive

56 Trig functions

57 Treating all fairly

58 Toboggan

59 Taxed

DOWN 1 Tosses, as seeds

2 Theorem work

3 Titan booster

4 The Café Carlyle and others

5 Times to start new calendarios

6 “The ___ is up!”

7 Type of dye

8 Target audience of Maxim

9 Ten-spots and such

10 Taken

11 Traveled by Vespa

12 Ted and others

14 Third way, maybe

15 “The House of the Seven Gables” locale

20 Towering tree

22 Tadpole’s later form, perhaps

23 This puzzle’s theme

26 Turn a blind eye, say

27 Turkey or chicken dish served cold

29 Taste authority

31 Toned quality

33 Tunnel effect

34 Trumpet blares

39 Treated for preservation, maybe

40 Touchdowns : football :: ___ : rugby

41 “That’s terrible!”

43 Tec group in old France

46 Terri with the 1980 country hit “Somebody’s Knockin’”

47 Tenor standard “___ Mio”

50 Took (out)

53 Test figs.

54 Tough ___

55 Theater head: Abbr.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15

16 17

18 19 20

21 22 23

24 25

26 27 28 29 30

31 32 33 34

35 36 37

38 39 40 41 42 43

44 45 46 47

48 49 50

51 52 53 54 55

56 57

58 59

Q U A D S J E W S B R I EE F R O N I M O K M E N UD O C T O R N O N O A F A R

H O A X B A N J O J OA C C E P T L I L A R A PB O O M E M A G C O M M AE L L A D A Y B R RL E T M Y P E O P L E G O G O

B E G V I A A J A RG O G O L W E E D N A R CA V A L A H R E L M I R AD I S C O C O D I E UD E C O M A K E I T S O S OE D A M E M I L H I J A BD O P E S I D E E C O L I

How to play Kakuro:The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers.However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number.Within each collection of cells - called a run

- any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once.

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER

14

EASY SUDOKUCartoon Arts International / The New York Times Syndicate

Easy Sudoku PuzzlesPlace a digit from 1 to 9 in each empty cell so everyrow, every column and every 3x3 box contains allthe digits 1 to 9.


CINEMA / TV LISTINGS 15

TEL: 444933989 444517001SHOWING AT VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

12:00 Nba Basketball;

Indiana @ La

Clippers

14:00 Omni Sport

14:30 Uefa Champions’

League

Magazine

15:00 Transworld

Sport

16:00 Rugby; Aviva

Premiership,

Newcastle V

Harlequins

17:45 Scottish Cup;

Hearts V Celtic

19:30 World Of

Athletics

20:00 Golfing World

21:00 Italian League;

Fiorentina V

Hella Verona

23:00 Nba Basketball;

Denver @

Toronto

11:30 South2North

12:30 People &

Power

13:00 NEWSHOUR

14:00 News

14:30 Inside Story

15:00 Lockerbie:

The Pan Am

Bomber

16:00 NEWSHOUR

17:00 News

17:30 Talk to Al

Jazeera

18:00 NEWSHOUR

19:00 News

19:30 Counting the

Cost

20:00 News

20:30 Inside Story

21:00 NEWSHOUR

22:00 News

22:30 The Stream

23:00 Al Jazeera

Correspondent

15:00 English Premier

League Review

18:00 Sports News


League Football

Today


League Season

Review 2010/11

21:30 The Football

League Show


League

Monday Night

Football

23:00 Italian League;

Lazio V Napoli

13:00 Do Dil Bandhe

Ek Dori Se

15:00 Pavitra Rishta

15:30 Sapne Suhane

Ladakpan Ke

17:00 Punar Vivah

17:30 Pavitra Rishta

19:00 Do Dil Bandhe

Ek Dori Se

19:30 Jodha Akbar

21:00 Qubool Hai

22:00 Punar Vivah

22:30 Do Dil Bandhe

13:00 Let It Shine

15:00 That's So

Raven

18:10 Shake It Up

18:30 Good Luck

Charlie

20:05 Jessie

20:30 My Babysitter's

A Vampire

22:00 Austin And Ally

22:50 Good Luck

Charlie

14:00 Today's

Special-PG15

16:00 Lying To Be

Perfect

18:00 The New Guy

20:00 That's My

Boy-R

22:00 Hard Breakers

13:15 Wheeler

Dealers

15:20 Flying Wild

Alaska

19:30 American Guns

20:20 Storage

Hunters

20:45 Flip Men

21:10 How Do They

Do It?

21:35 How It's Made

22:00 Diamond

Divers

22:50 Bush Pilots

23:40 Jungle Gold:

Wild Ride

14:00 White Collar

15:00 Burn Notice

16:00 Emmerdale

16:30 Coronation Street

17:00 Ellen DeGeneres

Show

18:00 White Collar

19:00 Once Upon A

Time

20:00 Revenge

21:00 The Blacklist

22:00 The Newsroom

23:00 Rescue Me

13:00 Wreck-It Ralph

15:00 Arbitrage

17:00 Diary Of A

Wimpy Kid:

Dog Days

18:45 Snow White

And The

Huntsman

21:00 Rock Of Ages

23:15 Wrath Of The

Titans

13:30 Ben 10: Alien

Swarm

15:00 Lucky Dragon

18:15 Spirit: Stallion

Of The

Cimarron

20:00 Dr Seuss' Cat

In The Hat

22:00 Lucky Dragon

INNOVATIONS

LIVE SHOWS Airing Time Programme Briefs

SPIRITUAL HOUR

6:00 - 7:00 AM A time of reflection, a deeper understanding of the teachings of Islam.

RISE 7:00 – 9:00 AM A LIVE 2-hour morning show hosted by Scott Boyes. It focuses on a wide array of topics from Weather, News, Health tips, Sports News and interactive bits with the callers.

INTERNATIO-NAL NEWS

1:00 PM The latest news and events from around the world.

DRIVE 3:00 – 4:00 PM Drive is a daily afternoon show broadcast at peak travel time. This Monday Nabil zeroes in on Sports with Amir Madjer from Fast Track sports agency.

FASHION 6:00 – 7:00 PM Fashion, a LIVE 1-hour weekly show hosted and produced by Laura Finnerty. The show brings together the latest fashion trends along with exciting interviews with local and international designers.

Repeat Shows

INNOVATIONS 12:00 – 1:00 PM A weekly show hosted and produced by Scott Boyes. The show talks about all the newest and exciting advancements in the world of science and technology.

LEGENDARY ARTISTS

7:00 – 8:00 PM The show tells the story of a celebrity artist that has reached unprecedented fame. Throughout the episode the artists’ memorable performances/songs will be played to put listeners in the mood.

MALL

1

Ongbak 3 (2D/Action) – 2.30pm

Geethaanjali (2D/Malayalam) – 4.30pm

Bullet Raja (2D/Hindi) – 7.15pm

Parkland (2D/Mystery) – 9.45pm

The Frozen Ground (2D/Crime) – 11.30pm

2

The Hunger Game: Catching Fire (2D/Action) – 2.30pm

Carrie (2D/Horror) – 5.15, 9.15 & 11.15pm

Wadjda (2D/Arabic) – 7.15pm

3

Delivery Man (2D/Comedy) – 2.30, 8.30 & 11.00pm



LANDMARK

1


Geethaanjali (2D/Malayalam) – 5.15 & 8.00pm


2Wadjda (2D/Arabic) – 2.30 & 4.30pm

Carrie (2D/Horror) – 6.30, 8.30 & 11.00pm

3

Delivery Man (2D/Comedy) – 3.00, 9.15 & 11.15pm



ROYAL

PLAZA

1


Delivery Man (2D/Comedy) – 5.00pm


Carrie (2D/Horror) – 9.45pm


2

Wadjda (2D/Arabic) – 2.30pm


Carrie (2D/Horror) – 7.15 & 11.15pm


3


The Hunger Game: Catching Fire (2D/Action) – 5.00pm


Delivery Man (2D/Comedy) – 9.30 & 11.30pm


PLUS | MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013 POTPOURRI16

Editor-In-Chief Khalid Al Sayed Acting Managing Editor Hussain Ahmad Editorial Office The Peninsula Tel: 4455 7741, E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

IN FOCUS

A view of the Museum of Islamic Art in vibrant colours.

by Kanishq Verma

Send your photos to [email protected]. Mention where the photo was taken.

MEDIA SCAN A summary ofissues of the daydiscussed by the Qatari communityin the media.

• Some people have demanded that

authorities force motorists and bikers

to adhere to traffic rules for safety of

all while driving in the Sealine area

which has been witnessing serious

accidents. They said many citizens

and residents go to the area to relax

and for entertainment so authorities

must be strict with motorists and

bikers to ensure road safety.

• There were talks in the social media

about one international school, which

detained girl students in a room near

the office of male teachers for about

one hour because the students had

refused to read a book during a library

lesson.

• There was discussion in the social

media about security forces which

arrested three African men who had

arrived in the country to defraud

people by convincing them that they

could convert currencies and double

their money.

• There were talks in the social media

about a Qatari child who had been

rescued from a tiger brought for circus

shows at the Hyatt Plaza tent.

• Some people demanded that

authorities specify the maximum limit

for residential and commercial rents

which have been on the rise, pushing

up inflation and adding misery to

people’s lives.

• There were talks about the decision

of the Ministry of Labour to revoke the

licences of 14 manpower agencies for

violating the labour law.

Sheikha Hanadi Nasserbin Khaled Al Thani, Chairperson, Amwal

Sheikha Hanadi is the founder and Chairperson of Amwal and Deputy

Chairperson of Nasser Bin Khaled (NBK) Group. She is also the chairman of Q-Auto. She started her career as a lecturing assistant in the Economics Department of Qatar University. She was named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2005. In 2007, she founded Al Wa’ab City, a $1.8bn project. She holds an Executive-MBA from London Business School, a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of London and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Qatar University.

Who’s who

If you want your events featured here, mail details to [email protected]

Project Space: Magdi Mostafa: Sound Element When: Till Jan 5, 2014Where: Mathaf: Arab Museumof Modern Art

What: Egyptian artist Magdi Mostafa explores the dialogue between sound and space. Mostafa’s work evokes personal and shared memories, recalling different images and emotions to be experimented by the visitors. Free Entry

Relics — Damien HirstWhen: Until Jan 22; Sun-Wed: 10:30am–5:30pm. Tuesday ClosedThur-Sat: 12pm–8pm, Fri: 2pm–8pmWhere: Al Riwaq Exhibition Space What: The most comprehensive survey of Damien Hirst’s work ever shown and his first solo exhibition in the Middle East. Free Entry

L’âge d’or — exhibitionby Adel AbdessemedWhen: Till January 5Where: Atrium and ground floor of Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art What: Curated by Pier Luigi Tazzi, the exhibition will showcase recent works, including drawings, paintings, sculptures and videos, many created by Adel Abdessemed.Entry: Free, open to all

Jazz in the Park:Jonathan Batiste When: Dec 11, 7pm - 8pm Where: Museum of Islamic Art Park What: The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) has partnered with Jazz at Lincoln Center Doha for a series of free world-class jazz concerts in MIA Park.Free Entry

Omar Khalifa – “Infinite”When: Until Dec 15; 10am-10pmWhere: Katara Cultural Village What: This outdoor installation examines ‘the nature of being’. Using digital multiple exposure techniques, an image is crafted that gives a of other-worldliness and depth of perspective through the human form. Free Entry

The Grandmaster by Wong Kar-waiWhen: Dec 12 at 7pm; Dec 13 at 4pm, 7pm and 10pm; Dec 14 at 4pm and 7pm; Dec 15 at 7pm; Dec 16 at 7pm; Dec 17 at 7pm and 10pm. Where: Drama Theater, Building 16 What:Five years in the making, “The Grandmaster” marks grand the return of Hong Kong master filmmaker Wong Kar-wai with a visually breathtaking tale of betrayal, honour and love. Entry: Tickets on sale now online and in person at the DFI Ticket Outlets (Box office hours listed on dohafilminstitute.com)

Events in Qatar

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Page 01 Dec 02 - The Peninsula · Children from Compass International School, Al Khor, brought gifts to thank Lulu for facilitating a learning trip by pre-schoolers earlier this month,