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The country is currently carrying out a massive dike reinforcement programme. At a cost of some 7.4 billion euros (about 9 billion US dollars), more than 1,100 kilometres of dikes and about 500 locks are being modernised to meet the highest safety standards by 2028. Making up the Netherlands’ largest flood defence system are the 13 Delta Works: three locks, six dams and four storm surge barriers. The largest and most famous of the Delta Works is the 9-kilometre-long Oosterschelde (Eastern Scheldt) storm surge barrier, which seals off the former estuary when the water level is predicted to rise to more than 3 metres above Normal Amsterdam Peil. A press of a button lowers all 62 sluice gates – roughly 42 metres wide, 6- to 12-metres high and weighing between 260 and 480 tons. Tourists from around the globe marvel at the structure, as if it’s the Eighth Wonder of the World. For many, it’s steel-and-concrete proof the Dutch have managed to bring the elements under control. In 2013, the International Federation of Engineers voted the Delta Works the world’s most prestigious hydraulic engineering projects. Completed in 1997, the project was begun the year after the Great Flood of 1953, the country’s worst natural disaster in modern times. In early January 2018, a severe storm caused water levels to rise all along the coast, and for the first time ever, all five of the Netherlands’ storm surge barriers were closed on the same day. It was an important test for Dutch water management authorities, and the flood defences performed flawlessly. However, a false sense of security could prove disastrous. The giant hydraulic structures no longer provide adequate protection, claims Tanja Klip-Martin, chairwoman of the water board responsible for the central Dutch provinces of Gelderland and Utrecht. “Climate change has forced us to change our thinking,” she says, warning that the Netherlands must be prepared for extremely high water in view of rising sea levels, increasingly severe storms and more frequent rain that are predicted as a result of climate change. If the dikes and dams in the west don’t hold, the North Sea would flood the entire metropolitan area from Rotterdam to Amsterdam. Two-thirds of the country is endangered. In the east and south, there’s an ever-present risk of flooding from the major rivers Rhine, Waal and Meuse. Thanks to their elaborate flood control system, the Dutch have come to regard dry feet as pretty much a given – like the mayo on their beloved chips. But the rising North Sea is threatening the coast, and the rivers flowing in from Germany often carry high water from heavy rains and snowmelt, threatening the region near Rotterdam. Climate scientists hadn’t expected the high amount of rain that fell in 2016 until around 2040. The Netherlands’ dikes, drainage ditches, canals and pumping stations are no longer sufficient, remarks Henk Ovink, the country’s special envoy for international water affairs. “We’ve got to adapt to climate change,” he says, with “we” including the Dutch economy as well as urban and landscape planners. “We need tailor-made solutions.” Even the iconic Afsluitdijk (Enclosure Dam), a 32-kilometre-long causeway that has been protecting the Dutch coast all the way to Amsterdam for more than 80 years, doesn’t meet current requirements to cope with the severe storms predicted by climate scientists. Built across the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea), a former inlet of the North Sea, it will be reinforced. Coping with climate change is a matter of survival for the Netherlands. It’s a permanent challenge that the country can’t manage alone, Ovik says. “If the world doesn’t get a grip on the climate problem, we’ll get more than just wet feet here,” Ovik warns. – DPA

The Kitchen Garden, a special drive, initiated at the junior section of MES Indian School recently yielded its first fruits to the delight of the staff and the students. Coming as a part of educating the young students about the importance of clean air and about leading a healthy lifestyle by consuming fresh vegetables, the Kitchen Garden is a joint endeavour of MES and ‘Nammude Adukkalathottam,’ a Doha based Indian expatriates-run farming unit, affiliated with the Indian Cultural Centre. The first yield of Kitchen Garden was recently harvested in the presence of Principal Hameeda Kadar and Headmistress Sumayya Nazeer. Broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, capsicum and tomato were among the harvested vegetables. “Kitchen Garden at MES opens up doors for the students to understand the importance of organic farming and eco-system. This unique initiative of the school proved to be successful, as it draws children closer to nature,” said the principal.

A felicitation ceremony was held at Nuaija campus of Olive International School (OIS) recently to honour the volunteer parents of eco club. The volunteer parents were welcomed by Jasmine Jose, school magazine in charge and member of ‘Live Green Club.’ She expressed heartfelt gratitude for their dedicated efforts in making the vertical garden project a feat so remarkable and award-winning. The students who dedicatedly worked in making this project a success were also honoured with certificates. Principal Jacob K M honoured the volunteer parents with certificates without whom this Live Green Club project would not have been a success. He said, “Showing care for the environment is very essential as our future depends on it.”  This event was followed by the most awaited event of the Class Magazine launch. For the first time ever, students were given the opportunity to edit and design their own class magazines. Magazines of Grade IV, V and VI were released by the principal. The ‘Best Editor Award’ was bagged by Mayookha Raghunath and Sancia Shibu of Grade-IV/B. Angeline Joshi and Aaisha Khan of Grade-VI/A won the ‘Best Cover Page Award’ and the ‘Best Class Magazine’ was awarded to Mohammed Razeen and Anna Elsa Anish of Grade-V/A.

If you have ever wanted to delve into the world of art but held yourself back because of a lack of artistic talent, think again! “One does not necessarily have to be accomplished at sketching, painting or anything for that matter to be able to create and enjoy the pleasure that art can bring. Everybody is an artist,” says Shreya Suraj, a self-taught Indian artist based in Doha. “Each one of us has the ability to relate to a different style of art that expresses what is within us. Just as all five fingers are not the same, all arts and artistic talents are not the same either. We just need an accessible platform to display our work and the right encouragement to support us in our journey to discovering our hidden artist.” It is this belief that inspired Shreya to form an online group called ABCD-ANY BODY CAN DRAW, using Facebook as a gateway to connect and motivate anyone interested in art. The community promotes the work of artists regardless of academic background in Fine Arts. “Through this group I have created a platform that enables people of all ages, anywhere in the world, to post their art work on my website and I personally respond to each post with words of praise and encouragement.” A quick visit to the group’s webpage demonstrates the impact sharing and caring can have in encouraging art. “I started the group in October 2016 with the purpose of inspiring people to discover themselves, as I had been able to, through the medium of art, especially children, housewives, old people…anyone who has ever felt or been made to feel that they lack artistic talent,” she says reflecting on her own journey. “Even though I was interested in art right from my childhood I limited myself to just doodling and drawing cartoons. Back in those days, where I grew up, encouragement towards fine arts wasn’t considered important and academics were always given more priority, so access to art coaching was also meager. I used to see the labels and stickers on my friend’s books and draw those cartoons with ordinary pens, colour with colour pencils and fill up my diary. My friends used to love my creations and they still remember it fondly.” Even when Shreya introduces herself, vibrant metaphors and colours are woven into her imagery, providing an insight into how she thinks of everything in colour and graphics.  “I come from the beautiful country India, which is famous for its rich heritage and diversity. My childhood was in the City of Joy, Calcutta, followed by a few years in Garden City, Bangalore, and then almost a decade in the coastal city of Chennai. This tenure in culturally rich places has paved my education as well as my interest in art. Now, I am a post-graduate in Mathematics and I have great passion for art.” “My first professional training in art was at 18, when I learnt how to do Tanjore Paintings under the guidance of an extremely talented teacher. Tanjore painting involves many hours of hard work and involves working with semi-precious stones and a gold leaf. As this form of art requires considerable investment of time and money, I eventually had to discontinue due to paucity on both counts.” “Thereafter, marriage and motherhood kept me busy and art took a back seat. I used to think that painting was the only form of art possible in this world and always waited for the perfect time, perfect theme and the perfect ambience to start my painting expedition, which was never possible. I managed to do some occasional art work just to keep in touch with my passion but nothing that was soul satisfying,” she says, continuing with her story. “With the passage of time, I felt that art should be encouraged in everybody and I started researching diverse artistic techniques. My own yearning for artistic expression led me to learn Glass Paintings and Fabric Painting and some other forms along the way, which I now teach others.” “Not long after, I realised, that like an ocean, art too is limitless! The more I explored, the more interested I became and the more variety in form and style I discovered. This revved up my interest further and sucked me deeper into the world of art.” “I discovered lesser known forms of art like Chevron Painting, Salt painting, Bubble Painting, Coffee Painting……and Indian forms of art like Warli, Madhubani, Kalamkari art…. It was like a whole new universe had opened to me and I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy the feeling, and the freedom, which I had been able to experience and discover the artist in them. The realisation that everyone has a creative side and an element of artistic orientation was an eye opener for me. I believe it’s important not to limit yourself to the conventional concept of art as drawing and painting only or to shackle yourself to commonly known forms such as oil colours or water paints which may not necessarily be everybody’s cup of tea and I highly encourage people to explore other mediums and styles to find the one that inspires you.” “My mission is to reach all kinds of people, all over the world and hence I chose to start a group in the virtual world. Everybody has a smartphone and clicking a photo has become very easy now. Uploading too has become easy with high speed internet and that makes it possible for people to connect with other likeminded people anywhere in the world.” The group members are also allowed to post links to their personal art pages, so that a lot more people notice their art work and ‘like’ their page, which in turn boosts them further. Seeing pictures of their art pieces exhibited, inspires a deeper interest and encourages others to explore their passion. Quiz competitions on various topics related to art are conducted every month to develop general knowledge and broaden awareness. Time lapse videos, how-to-do videos are encouraged, too, so that members can learn from each other. “At the end of each month, all the participants receive personalised certificates which give them a sense of appreciation, excitement, and recognition and boosts them to participate repeatedly by posting more art works, thereby continuing to inspire their commitment to art,” she adds. And true enough, a visit to the webpage will have umpteen thankyou messages from recipients of the certificates jumping out excitedly, exuding exhilaration of a very special kind!  Today ABCD - ANY BODY CAN DRAW has 5100+ members from all parts of the world. The group now has talented artists from six continents and almost 50+ countries and can proudly be called an international online art group. Every day, the group members post different varieties of art varying from professionally done oil paintings, simple cartoons, optical illusion art …to even simple, colourful Rangoli. Artistic creations on various media; stone, canvas, glass bottles, umbrellas, suitcases, dresses, garments, realistic forms, portraits, cartoons, mandala art, 3-dimensional creations, hyper-realistic art, landscapes, geometric designs, abstracts, optical illusion, glass paintings, Rangoli, perspective drawings, paintings of birds and animals, quilting works, embroidery are all displayed in the group daily. This common platform for showcasing art has helped in discovering newer forms of art and, members learn from each other, too. “According to latest statistics, the group has seen a 467% growth in a month. Every month sees more than 700-800 posts by various artists,” Shreya says, beaming with joy. “For me, ABCD is a just a stepping stone in my path to encouraging people to enter the gateway to discovering their artistic side. As an artist, I conduct art classes for kids where I teach drawing, colouring, painting, perspective drawings, Zentangle, Warli and more. I want children to incorporate art as a part of their life and not as a burdensome subject. I teach them to mix 2-3 forms of art and bring more variety, vibrancy and uniqueness to their work. This mix and match excites their imagination and motivates them to do better.” She has often been invited to judge art competitions and conduct workshops. “One such project was a workshop I was invited to conduct in Chennai Customs Office especially for ladies on ‘How Mandala Art can be used to deal with stress and gain happiness’ and I look forward to more opportunities in the future.” “If I can inspire others and bring more colour and happiness into their life, I would consider myself to be successful as an artist. I want art to become an important part of everyone’s life, in school and college curriculums, even in hospitals or clinics, because art is not only beautiful, but also very therapeutic and relaxing for the mind, body and soul!”

Hyundai Motor Company and Aurora, a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, have announced a strategic partnership to bring self-driving Hyundai vehicles to market by 2021. This partnership will incorporate Aurora’s self-driving technology into Hyundai vehicles, starting with models custom-developed and launched in test programmes and pilot cities. Over the longer term, Hyundai and Aurora will work to commercialise self-driving vehicles worldwide. Hyundai vehicles are available in Qatar at Skyline Automotive, official distribution partner for the Hyundai Motor Company in Qatar. To start, the partnership will focus on the ongoing development of hardware and software for automated and autonomous driving and the back-end data services required for Level 4 automation. Level 4 autonomous vehicles, defined by SAE, can operate without human input or oversight under select conditions. The goal of the partnership is to deploy autonomous driving quickly, broadly, and safely. “We know the future of transportation is autonomous, and autonomous driving technology needs to be proven in the real world to accelerate deployment in a safe and scalable manner,” said Dr Woong Chul Yang, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Motor. “Combining our advanced vehicle technology that embeds the latest safety features with Aurora’s leading suite of Level 4 autonomous technology will advance this revolution in mobility with Hyundai in a leadership position.” Hyundai and Aurora share the common vision of improving safety and mobility on the world’s roads, and together bring the skills and experience required to successfully introduce this technology at scale. For nearly 50 years, Hyundai has been a leader in vehicle design, safety, and manufacturing, catapulting the company to become one of the world’s largest vehicle manufacturers together with its Kia Motors Corporation affiliate. For the past two decades, Aurora’s founders have spearheaded the self-driving revolution, building teams and pioneering modern machine learning techniques now on the cusp of transforming transportation. Together, Hyundai and Aurora will move quickly to bring self-driving technology to market around the world. “Aurora is excited to partner with Hyundai Motor to make the social benefits of self-driving available globally,” said Dr Chris Urmson, CEO of Aurora. “This partnership combines Hyundai’s strengths in vehicle design, safety, and manufacturing with Aurora’s expertise in self-driving technologies to make a positive difference in the world.” Hyundai Motor’s partnership with Aurora is part of the company’s ongoing efforts towards realising fully autonomous driving. Hyundai first began testing autonomous vehicles on public roads of the USA in 2015, having been granted a license by the state of Nevada. Last year, at the 2017 CES, Hyundai advanced its trials in urban environments, demonstrating self-driving technologies to the public with its autonomous IONIQ models. Hyundai’s latest new-generation fuel-cell vehicle, which made its official global debut at CES 2018 earlier this month, will become the first model to be utilised in the test processes starting this year. The fuel-cell powertrain will offer an ideal platform to implement autonomous driving technologies, which requires a massive amount of power to support the large amount of data communication as well as the operation of hardware such as sensors. Hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles will be able to provide a stable electric power supply without concerns about driving range.

Something intriguing has been happening in Colombia’s supermarkets. Where it was once normal to see people filing out with their hands full of plastic bags, the sight is now becoming increasingly unusual. Colombians can now often be seen shopping with canvas bags sold by supermarkets, as well as baskets and wheeled shopping bags. In a country that is not famous for its high level of environmental awareness, it looks as though an ongoing governmental campaign against plastic bags is starting to change mentalities. Supermarkets now charge 20 pesos (0.01 dollars) per plastic bag, and the price will increase by 10 pesos annually until it reaches 50 pesos. “I think having to pay for the plastic bags is a good thing, because the financial sacrifice forces people to be more conscious of the need to protect the environment,” says Eliana, a secretary. “I used to take different plastic bags for toiletries, foodstuffs, sweets and kitchen products. With this new practice, one realises that not so many bags are needed,” adds Teresa Avendano, 52. “Since they started making us pay for the bags, we no longer use so many. I bought a cloth bag and use it every time I go shopping,” she says. The number of plastic bags circulating in Colombia has dropped by 10 per cent since the government started obliging consumers to pay for the bags in July, according to officials. During the previous six months, plastic bag producers had already started making bigger and stronger bags, encouraging consumers to use fewer of them for longer. The amount of plastic used by the producers went down by 27 per cent. “We have seen ... a change in consumer habits with campaigns ... which undoubtedly have a very positive impact,” Environment Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said. But not everyone is happy with the measure, with some consumers complaining that shopkeepers overcharge for the bags. The change has also led to a 27-per-cent fall in the sales of plastic bag makers. They are, however, adapting to the situation and following new rules requiring them to use recyclable materials and to print environmental messages on the bags, according to the Colombian Chamber of Plastic, which represents more than 80 plastic bag producers. The bags may also no longer measure less than 30 centimetres in length, the government ordered in December 2016 in an attempt to reduce their number. The Environment Ministry and the World Wide Fund for Nature estimate that every Colombian used an average of 288 plastic bags in 2016. The government is aiming for a 5-per-cent annual reduction in plastic bag usage until it has fallen 60 per cent, according to Carlos Jairo Ramirez, who co-ordinates sustainability projects at the Environment Ministry. Many Latin American municipalities have launched initiatives to reduce the use of plastic bags, but Colombia’s national reduction of 10 per cent – amounting to more than 58 million bags – is considered a significant achievement. “Still more is needed, because Colombia does not have a high level of environmental consciousness,” says Juan Guillermo, an engineer who works with renewable energies. About 100 million barrels of petrol are used to make the more than a trillion plastic bags globally every year, according to Ramirez. “To make 14 bags, you need about the same amount of fuel that a car needs for a drive of 1.6 kilometres,” the official pointed out. Some eight million tonnes of plastic are poured into the seas annually, according to the United Nations – a heavy load for the environment which Colombia, for its part, is now trying to reduce. – DPA

Adoor Association Qatar Chapter, a socio-cultural organisation of expatriates coming from Adoor Taluk of the southern Indian state of  Kerala, conducted a free medical camp in cooperation with Aster Hospital and Wellcare Pharmaceuticals on  January 26. About 200 people attended the  camp held at Aster Hospital, Old Airport, where expert consultations and medicines were provided free of cost. The programme was organised to mark the Republic Day of India. The function was inaugurated by CV Rappai, Director, NORKA in the presence of Samir Moopan, Aster Group CEO, Ashraf,  Welfare Pharmacy Group M D,  Babu Rajan, ICBF Vice President, Sam Kuruvila, Patron, Adoor Association Qatar Chapter and Pradeep Kumar, General Secretary. Aster Group Marketing Manager Shriraj Panicker,  Ajith Kumar B, Jyothish, Raja Punnan,  Joseph Jose,  Alex Parakode and Shyam were also present.

The most unpredictable Oscar season in years finally came into focus early this week as the 90th Academy Awards nominations were announced, with nine films representing a wide range of genres earning picture nods, from a sweeping World War II epic to a hot-button, racially charged horror film to an intimate portrait of a feisty teenage girl growing up in Sacramento. Guillermo del Toro’s fantastical fable The Shape of Water, which fuses an old-fangled love of Hollywood films of yesteryear with a timely message of inclusion and tolerance, led the field with 13 nominations. The story of a mute janitor who falls in love with an aquatic humanoid creature picked up the first directing nod for del Toro along with nominations for lead actress Sally Hawkins, supporting actor Richard Jenkins and supporting actress Octavia Spencer. For del Toro, who co-wrote the film with Vanessa Taylor and was inspired by his boyhood love of classic monster movies such as 1954’s Creature from the Black Lagoon, the bonanza of nominations — just one shy of tying the record — was deeply gratifying. “What is beautiful is to get there being faithful to the images you have loved all your life,” he told the Los Angeles Times on the morning of the nominations. “My 6-year-old self would say, ‘Way to go!’ ” One of the summer’s biggest box-office hits, the World War II thriller Dunkirk, followed with eight nominations, including picture and the first directing nomination for Christopher Nolan. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri — a dark morality tale about a mother seeking justice for her murdered daughter — also made a strong showing with seven nods, including for picture, lead actress Frances McDormand and supporting actors Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. Rounding out the picture category were the romantic drama Call Me by Your Name, the Winston Churchill biopic Darkest Hour, the coming-of-age dramedy Lady Bird, the period romance Phantom Thread, the Pentagon Papers drama The Post and the smash hybrid of horror and social satire Get Out, which picked up four nominations overall, including writing and directing nods for Jordan Peele and a lead actor nomination for Daniel Kaluuya. The Oscar potency for Get Out defied the conventional wisdom that films released early in the year (Get Out came out last February) often struggle to get awards love, as do horror films. Then again, it’s only fitting for a film that bent genres and played with cultural taboos to buck norms, said Kaluuya. “There are no rules,” said the first-time nominee. “That’s what I love about this movie. Just tell the truth and give everything.” In a year that has been dominated by discussions about lingering inequities in the entertainment industry, the nominations in many ways reflected a motion picture academy that has been remaking itself in public view.  In the wake of two years of #OscarsSoWhite protests, the academy began taking dramatic steps in 2016 to bring more women and people of colour into its historically overwhelmingly white and male membership ranks, and as a result the pool of academy members — now numbering roughly 8,400 — has become younger and more diverse. Reinforcing those broader trends, Lady Bird writer-director Greta Gerwig became only the fifth woman ever to score a nomination for directing, while Peele became the fifth black filmmaker to score a nomination in that category and just the third person to receive picture, directing and writing nominations for a debut feature. Rachel Morrison became the first woman nominated in the cinematography category for her work on the period drama Mudbound. Against the backdrop of the sexual harassment scandals that have roiled Hollywood in recent months and ignited the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, the strong showing for films with female protagonists — including The Shape of Water, Three Billboards, Lady Bird and I, Tonya — was particularly heartening to many. (That said, the most commercially successful female-centric film of 2017, the comic-book blockbuster Wonder Woman, came away empty-handed.) “This film was always going to be successful, because it’s so universal,” said supporting actress nominee Laurie Metcalf, who earned her first Oscar nod for Lady Bird. “But in this particular time, it just makes it all the more apparent that women’s stories are really powerful.” In an era in which hashtag protests can quickly spread like wildfire on social media, the academy avoided a potentially thorny situation when James Franco — who has recently faced accusations of sexually inappropriate behaviour from several women — failed to score a lead actor nod for his performance in The Disaster Artist, which earned him a Golden Globe award for actor in a musical or comedy just weeks ago. The acting nominees included a number of Oscar stalwarts: Meryl Streep earned her 21st Oscar nod for her turn as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham in Steven Spielberg’s The Post, while Denzel Washington picked up his eighth for Roman J Israel, Esq. and Daniel Day-Lewis earned his sixth for Phantom Thread. (Even their achievements pale, however, in comparison with composer John Williams, who collected his 51st Oscar nomination for his work on Star Wars: The Last Jedi.) The acting categories also featured eight first-timers, including Timothee Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards), Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) and Mary J Blige (Mudbound). “I can’t stop crying all these happy tears,” Blige said. “It shows that someone recognises my hard work and the dedication and how serious I’m taking this craft. It just feels really good to run into Meryl Streep at the Golden Globes and have her say, ‘Oh my God. That work you did.’ I’m like, ‘What?!’ ” As first-timer Gerwig said, barely containing her joy, “I’ve just been yelling on the phone for the last three hours — that’s all I’ve been doing, excitedly yelling and not making any sense. I’m going to stop people in the street and yell in their faces!” — Los Angeles Times/TNS * Times staff writers Tre’vell Anderson, Mark Olsen, Jen Yamato and Yvonne Villareal contributed to this report.

Brazilian forest ranger Christoph Jaster is not a man to shrink from challenges. He shoulders almost all the responsibility for the environmental protection of Tumucumaque National Park in the Brazilian Amazon, a reserve the size of the Netherlands, where illegal gold mining and deforestation are threatening rainforests that play a key role in the fight against climate change. “We are totally understaffed,” Jaster calmly observes while laying out a map showing a vast green region filled with rivers, but hardly any roads. At most, only up to 2,000 people live in the area of nearly 40,000 square kilometres, one of the largest rainforest protection areas in the world, which borders on French Guiana and the former Dutch colony of Suriname. The 53-year-old forestry expert had come from Germany to Brazil with his parents, after his father found a job working in development projects. Jaster studied forestry in Curitiba, became a Brazilian citizen and was hired by the Environment Ministry in 2003 to protect Tumucumaque. However, Germans had been in the area long before Jaster came, as evidenced by a cross that stands deep in the jungle. It displays a swastika and the inscription: “Joseph Greiner died here on 2.1.36 [January 2, 1936] from fever while serving German research.” Greiner likely belonged to a secret expedition that biologist Otto Schulz-Kampfhenkel led along the River Jary from 1935 to 1937 that allegedly was commissioned to look into the possibility of creating an outpost for the Nazis in the South American rainforest. Schulz-Kampfhenkel later wrote a book named Raetsel der Urwaldhoelle (Enigmas of Jungle Hell). “The geographic information from the expedition is very precise and interesting,” Jaster says. Eight decades later, Jaster shares responsibility with only one other high-level staff member for the protection of the park, where hunting and deforestation are banned, but which budget cuts have made increasingly difficult to control. Expeditions to find out about the situation of mammals, butterflies or birds can last for weeks, with the participants sometimes having to carry their boats in rivers where they could be swept away by currents or where the water level has sunk too low. Brazilian President Michel Temer is accused by environmentalists of prioritising economic interests over the protection of the Amazon and its indigenous people, dozens of whom are reported to be killed annually. Trees that should be protecting the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide keep being hacked down to obtain tropical wood and to make way for power plants, gold mines and soy bean farms, which are irrigated with the ill-famed herbicide glyphosate. The remote Amapa state, where Tumucumaque is located, has largely been spared from such activities that have plagued Brazil so far. But illegal gold mines are already operating here, leading to trees being felled and mercury being released into rivers, where indigenous people report the presence of “mercury fish.” While many Brazilians criticise the small-scale tourism that exists in the area, Jaster – whose work includes that of guide – believes it can help preserve the rainforests by bringing income to indigenous groups campaigning against their land’s destruction. Even if Tumucumaque has not experienced large-scale economic exploitation so far, “it is on its way,” he warns. - DPA

“As always, Trump wanted an eager audience, encouraging as many people as possible to make as many attempts as possible to be as close to him as possible. If that upsets you — if, say, you have an abiding sense that running the country is a serious business that should be undertaken with humility and duty — then this book will not be good for your health” — Passage from the book At some points, Michael Wolff , right, appears to be exasperated with Trump’s resistance to reading. Writing, after all, is Wolff’s livelihood, so why shouldn’t he be slightly annoyed that the president decided to add more TV screens to his White House bedroom rather than, say, settle down to read a briefing folder or even a good book once in a while? The book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff is the biggest literary sensation in a long time, making headlines since it was leaked last week. President Trump’s lawyers tried to block its publication; in response, publisher Henry Holt decided to publish Fire and Fury four days early. It officially hit shelves last Friday. There are many questions about the book, not the least of which is how much is verifiably true. But it seems to me the simplest question is: Should I read it? Below, I try to guide you to the answer, after spending a few short hours with the e-book. Do you follow Donald Trump on twitter? If you have been reading Donald Trump’s tweets, you know that he is inclined to make loaded pronouncements with questionable grammar. So it will come as no surprise that, as Wolff describes it, Trump sees policy briefs as homework to be avoided, and that his White House agenda is driven more by personality than consideration of the issues — and you’ll probably be fascinated. Whether you follow Trump on Twitter out of devotion or outrage, the answer is simple: Yes, read it. Do you like Empire, Dallas or All My Children? There is definitely a soap-opera element to Fire and Fury. Wolff lays out the conflicts between Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner and Reince Priebus as each tries to be the power behind the Trump White House. Admittedly, this is Beltway drama, so there are no great songs or evil twins, but there is manipulation and betrayal. This would be the case for any White House but more so in this one — portrayed as being unmoored from ideology and policy and driven by the whims of its malleable leader. Does that sound fun to you? Then yes, read it. Does this passage make your blood pressure rise dangerously? “Nearly all meetings in the Oval with the president were invariably surrounded and interrupted by a long list of retainers — indeed, everybody strove to be in every meeting. Furtive people skulked around without clear purpose: Bannon invariably found some reason to study papers in the corner and then to have a last word; Priebus kept his eye on Bannon; Kushner kept constant tabs on the whereabouts of the others. Trump liked to keep Hicks, Conway, and, often, his old Apprentice sidekick Omarosa Manigault — now with a confounding White House title — in constant hovering presence. As always, Trump wanted an eager audience, encouraging as many people as possible to make as many attempts as possible to be as close to him as possible.” If that upsets you — if, say, you have an abiding sense that running the country is a serious business that should be undertaken with humility and duty — then this book will not be good for your health. No, don’t read it. Did you vote for Hillary Clinton? If you voted for Hillary Clinton, chances are this book will reinforce what you concluded about Donald Trump during the campaign. It intimates that he wasn’t prepared for the White House, portraying key staffers, family and even himself as not expecting to win. Once the presidency was his, chaos ensued. Some Clinton fans will take a painful pleasure in seeing just how right they were; others will not be able to bear it. Should you read it? Maybe yes, maybe no. Are you Gretchen Carlson? In the opening pages, Wolff recounts a private dinner that took place during the transition at which Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon share thoughts about Trump. Wolff describes Ailes as being dismissed from Fox News after being “accused of sexual harassment … in a move engineered by the liberal sons” of Rupert Murdoch and that Trump “hardly three months later, accused of vastly more louche and abusive behaviour, was elected president.” The contrast, especially to the women who accused Ailes of sexual harassment, may seem inaccurate and flip. Do not read. Do you adore Real Housewives or The Bachelor? Who can’t resist a good drunken argument, burst of tears or table flip? Wolff, after a long stint at Vanity Fair where he was known for spilling secrets many in New York media preferred to keep quiet, would seem to be the right guy to get and share the juiciest stories of the Trump White House. Sadly, though, the book is not as gossipy as you might hope. I read most of the chapter on Jared and Ivanka (titled “Jarvanka”) and while we briefly eavesdrop on Ivanka at a breakfast meeting at the Four Seasons, the book is lacking nasty moments (except in the words of one aide talking about another) and doesn’t have as the outrageous drama of reality TV. Do not read. Did you vote for Donald Trump? If you voted for Donald Trump, this book will probably entertain you. It’s not surprising, after all, that the man who came from outside Washington DC refuses to do things the way Washington typically does. The infighting between his chief aides is also nothing new — it’s just shown in close-up. Trump is not portrayed flatteringly, but Wolff isn’t attempting to criticise his modes of management and governance — just to share them. If you voted for Trump, yes, read it. Do you like reading? Perhaps I’m reading between the lines, but at some points Wolff appears to be exasperated with Trump’s resistance to reading. Writing, after all, is Wolff’s livelihood, so why shouldn’t he be slightly annoyed that the president decided to add more TV screens to his White House bedroom rather than, say, settle down to read a briefing folder or even a good book once in a while? “Trump didn’t read. He didn’t really even skim. If it was print, it might as well not exist. Some believed that for all practical purposes he was no more than semiliterate,” Wolff writes. If you like reading, you can enjoy the process of reading this book, but the subject may get under your skin. But heck, you’re a reader. So yes, read it.              — Los Angeles Times/TNS

EFFECTIVE: Biologics are a new class of drug that are genetically engineered inside living cells. The most important of them, therapeutic antibodies, can be targeted much more precisely than conventional, chemical medicines. They are genetically engineered inside living cells and are far more precise at treating people with conditions like rheumatism or diabetes. A rapidly growing class of drugs is revolutionising the treatment of illnesses as varied as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and cancer. Known as biologics, they’re genetically engineered inside living cells. The most important of them, therapeutic antibodies, can be targeted much more precisely than conventional, chemical medicines. On the minus side, they’re much more expensive than traditional drugs, and they have side effects. Biologic drugs have been around for just 20 years or so and now number about 180, according to Dr Gerd Bendas from the Institute for Pharmaceutical Biology at the University of Bonn in Germany. Before a synthetic form of insulin was developed for diabetics, the blood sugar-regulating hormone was extracted from the pancreases of animals and then purified, he says. In contrast, biologic insulin can be produced, for example, by a yeast cell into which a human gene sequence, coded for construction of the insulin protein, has been inserted. Even more innovative than biologics that replace proteins the body naturally produces are genetically engineered therapeutic antibodies. They’re able to bind to, and thereby inhibit, specific structures in the body. In the case of an autoimmune disorder such as rheumatism, this means – put simply – that rather than broadly disabling the immune system, they target only particular components of the system such as messenger molecules that fuel inflammation. Depending on the type of biologic, rheumatism sufferers inject themselves with the drug at intervals of one to four weeks, says Dr Stefan Schewe, executive board member of the German Rheumatism Organization. Some biologic drugs are given by infusion every eight weeks. Meanwhile, patients continue to take their previous medicines – traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). There are two reasons for this. In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, for example, DMARDs magnify the effect of the biologic drug, explains Schewe, adding that “they also prevent the formation of antibodies against the biologic” since it’s a protein the body will normally identify as foreign and therefore defend itself against. “If something has an effect, it can also have side effects,” Bendas says. Among the undesirable side effects is greater susceptibility to infections. Allergic reactions or intolerances are possible as well. Nevertheless, Schewe says, “biologics have certainly brought substantial improvement in therapy for inflammatory rheumatoid diseases.” Before taking a biologic drug, patients have to be inoculated against pneumococcal pneumonia, a type of bacterial pneumonia. And certain diseases such as tuberculosis should be ruled out before therapy starts. Dr Gerd Glaeske, a pharmacologist and health scientist at the University of Bremen, emphasises the importance of documenting any side effects during therapy with a biologic drug. Patients should be candid about them with their doctor, he says.   Despite the benefits of biologics, nowhere near all potential recipients are given one. They’re used for rheumatism only when DMARD therapy proves to be inadequate, Schewe says, pointing out that the high price is due to their complex manufacturing process – biologics are between 10 and 100 per cent more expensive than DMARDs – is the biggest obstacle to wider use. Glaeske puts costs at between 50,000 and 100,000 euros (about 59,000 to 118,000 US dollars) per patient per year. Generic biologics, also known as biosimilars, are equal to the original drugs in quality and about 20 to 30 per cent cheaper, Glaeske says. They have the same effect but may have a different structure and must go through clinical trials of their own before approval for use. Patients that don’t tolerate a biologic may have no problem with its biosimilar and vice versa. The first biosimilar hit the market in 2006, according to Bendas. But generic biologic drugs didn’t become an economic factor until 2015, when biosimilars were developed for use against inflammatory diseases affecting many thousands of people. Bendas says about 600 new biologicals and biosimilars are in the pipeline at the moment. – DPA

During my recent road trip from Las Vegas to Reno, Nevada visiting a hi-tech manufacturing plant I came in touch with the owner of a local bakery who served me some cronuts. That visit inspired me to write about this delicacy known to not many people. The best thing to write about this dish is that it is a recent creation by a New York chef and became an instant hit in the continent. Almost all the popular and renowned recipes are very old and their actual origin story is not verifiable. But cronut being a recent addition to the classic dishes makes it more interesting. The molecular-minded Chef Ferran Adria has stated that all innovation in cooking happens first in pastry. Cronut is a delicious pastry which is basically a croissant built into a doughnut with cream filling and lots of sugar. Almost three years ago pastry Chef Dominique Ansel came up with this recipe and ever since there is no looking back. Everyday his pastry shop prepared almost 350 pieces and they always run out in few hours after they open. Every month a new filling flavour is launched and there have been 36 filling flavours ever since they started making it. Chef Ansel states that someone pointed out that his menu did not have the great American breakfast classic doughnut. He was also very familiar with French classic breakfast-a croissant. That’s how he came up with this idea of combining these two classics and that is how Cronut was developed. The chef took almost 4 months to standardise and perfect this recipe. Each batch of Cronuts takes Ansel and his team approximately three days to prepare. Day one consists of mixing the dough, then letting it ferment and rest overnight. Day two, butter is incorporated, and hundreds of sheets of dough are layered together before the dough rests again. On day three, the dough is cut, formed into the cronut shape, and left to ferment again. Once each has tripled in size, cronut by cronut is fried in grapeseed oil, filled with cream, rolled in sugar, and finished with a glaze. “It’s still difficult to describe the success of the Cronut. I think it’s a mix of so many things together that works perfectly. Everyone’s had a doughnut before. Everyone’s had a croissant before,” Ansel tells Condé Nast Traveler. “But there’s always a different source of inspiration when it comes to pastry. It can sometimes be colour, sometimes an ingredient, sometimes a technique, sometimes a story. But it all comes together around the same thing when it comes to creating a new product, and it’s to do something good and tasty and something that people remember. Cronut Ingredients Milk 1 1/4 cup Castor sugar 1/2 cup Egg yolks 4 nos. All-purpose flour 1/4 cup Salt 1/2 tsp Vanilla extracts 1 tsp All-purpose flour 4 cups Sugar 1/3 cup Water 1 cup Milk 1/2 cup Dry yeast 1 tbsp Unsalted butter 1 cup Vegetable oil 5 cups Sugar 1 cup Ground cinnamon 2 tbsp Vanilla cream 1 cup Icing sugar 1 cup Water 2 tbsp Method To make vanilla pastry cream In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat milk and 1/4 cup sugar over medium heat. In a separate bowl whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, flour and salt. Remove milk from flame and whisk into the flour mixture. When all the milk has been blended in, add the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until the mixture is boiling and thick. Stir in vanilla extracts and pour the mixture through cheese cloth or a fine mesh into a glass bowl. Cover the mixer with plastic wrap so that it does not dry up, keep refrigerated. To make the cronut dough In a microwave safe glass bowl, combine the milk and water and heat for few seconds in the microwave to lukewarm. Whisk in yeast with warm milk and let it stand for 5 minutes until it starts to bubble. Add flour, sugar, salt and 1 1/2 tbsp softened butter to mixer bowl. Add yeast mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a paddle. Press the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, cover with a damp cloth  and place in a warm place, let it rise until double in size for 45 minutes. Punch down the dough and chill for 1 hour, Place softened unsalted butter between 2 pieces of parchment paper or wax paper. Using a rolling pin, flatten and shape into a 8-8 inch square. Once the butter block is ready, roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12 inch by 12 inch square. Place the butter square on top of the dough square so that the corners of the butter block are pointing to the sides of the dough square. Fold the corners of the dough over the butter block to meet in the centre. Roll the dough out into 20 by 8 inch rectangle Brush off excess flour and fold the dough into thirds like a letter, Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour Repeat the folding and chilling process 2 more times, Once the dough is chilled stare its final fold, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a 6 by 18 rectangle. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into 3 nos 6 by 6  inch square and stack the squares on top of each other. Using donut ring cutters cut 12 donut shapes out of the dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet Cover the donuts loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place for about 30 minutes. Place the oil in a large heavy bottom pan to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, fry donut for about 1 1/2 minutes, flipping then in the oil halfway through until they are golden brown all over. In a bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon, fill a piping bag with vanilla cream. In a separate bowl whisk powdered sugar and water to make the glaze. Inject the cronut with vanilla cream, roll in sugar and drizzle with glaze on top.

MES Indian School celebrated the World Hindi Day (Vishwa Hindi Diwas) with great enthusiasm and traditional gaiety in its Boys’, Girls’ and Junior Sections recently. Special assemblies were conducted in all the sections to accentuate the significance of Hindi in India. Students delivered fervent speeches on the importance of Hindi as the national language of India. Patriotic songs and cultural performances marked the day. Teachers of the Department of Hindi glorified the importance of Hindi in their speeches and emphasised its significant role in strengthening the cultural ties among the people of India. Articles and quotes highlighting the importance of the language were also displayed on the school’s bulletin boards.

The 4th Alumni Meet of DPS-Modern Indian School was held recently, providing a platform for old students and teachers to reunite and share their experiences. Around 150 students from notable universities abroad and from India came to attend the event. The evening saw different cultural programmes by students of Grades 9-11. A video montage was also played on the occasion. The alumni also played a friendly game of basketball with their batch mates and juniors to keep up the spirit of sports. The school authorities were happy to note the increasing number of alumni that attend the meet every year.

GENERAL MANAGER: Michael Braidwood. (Right) SUPERINTENDENT: Darren Smith. GREEN: The Education City Golf Club. Qatar Natural History Group holds talk on Education City Golf Club and its eco-friendly focus Qatar Natural History Group (QNHG) on Wednesday evening held an informative and refreshing talk on the topic of “Education City Golf Club: Our Sustainability Mission” at Doha English Speaking School. A good number QNHG members and others attended the event. The QNHG had invited two experts associated with the project of the new golf course at Education City as speakers. The speakers, through presentations and lecture, shared with the audience how they turned the urban desert into a green and nature-friendly space. They said that the new green and multi-lake golf course has attracted a multitude of animals and birds. The group will arrange a field visit to the golf field for the public on January 19 when the visitors will have a chance to see the birds and natural beauty of the course. The speakers were Michael Braidwood, general manager of Education City Golf Club, and Darren Smith, superintendent of the new golf club. Darren and Michael provided a detailed presentation on the practices the club employed during the construction to ensure that it was on track for the Golf Environment Organisation (GEO) sustainability award. They also highlighted the practices they would continue to apply to ensure that they stayed at the forefront of sustainable golf courses in the region. They also touched upon initiatives surrounding the club’s other core values such as research and development, community and education. Sharing vision of the golf club, Michael Braidwood said, “Our vision is to create an internationally recognised golf destination that services existing demand whilst becoming the vehicle that grows the game of golf with in Qatar placing education, innovation, research and development sustainability and culture at the forefront.” He further shared, “The club has a 1238 hectare site in Education City bordering Al Rayyan Road and Dukhan Highway. It is adjacent to Health and Wellness and Al Shaqab and provides beautiful practice facilities. It also has driving range with state of the art facilities. It is a trackman centre of excellence. It is designed by major champion Jose M Olazabal and is built to GEO sustainable standards.” Talking to Community, Michael said that the golf club is the second golfing facility in Qatar. He said that the facility will be open this year for professional golfers and for community players. Earlier, sharing the profiles of the two speakers, Thierry Lesales, representing the QNHG, noted, “Michael has spent his entire career in the golf club business starting as a golf professional and then moved into club management in 1998. He has worked at a number of prestigious venues such as The Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, Royal Golf Club in Bahrain and Skolkovo Golf Club, Moscow, Russia. Prior to joining Education City Golf Club, Michael was the Director of Education for the Club Managers Association of Europe.” About Darren Smith he shared, “He is an Australian citizen originally from New Zealand. He moved to Australia in late 1980s where he gained his qualification in golf course management and from there has honed his skills on both pre and post opening of golf courses in Australia. Having moved to the Middle East in 2001 his experience now spans nearly 15 years in the region. In the Middle East, he spent 11 years with Emaar Properties PJSC, Arabian Ranches Golf & Polo Club Dubai. He joined Education City Golf Club in 2013 during the early stages of the project.” About the QNHG, Thiery said, “The group was founded in 1978, with the aim of bringing together people with an interest in the natural history of Qatar and the Arabian Gulf. Initially the group was called Qatar Natural History Society. Soon after its establishment, the society started organising monthly meetings and field trips.” “During the meetings, guest speakers help members better understand many subjects such as ornithology, marine biology, geology, geography, desert plants, ecology, wildlife, history and archaeology of the Qatari peninsula or the region as a whole,” he noted.

Azure-hued water. Soft, white-sand beaches. Palm trees swaying in the ocean breeze. Deliciously fresh seafood. For most Westerners who’ve never been to the island of Phu Quoc, these aren’t exactly images we would typically equate with Vietnam. But the rapidly developing resort island in the Gulf of Thailand offers all that and more at a price point that even perpetually underemployed and overdebted millennials can afford. Imagine seaside resorts for $20-$60 a night, freshly caught and prepared seafood for a few bucks and a full body massage right on the beach for less than the price of a single cocktail in an American city. A relatively new international airport and relaxed visa rules for Phu Quoc visitors make this paradise resort island the most accessible to Western tourists it’s ever been. And with the monsoon rains of summer now in the rearview, the island comes alive for the dry season from November to March, when the humidity drops and average daily temperatures hover around a pleasant 80 degrees. Know Before You Go Vietnam has been a Communist country since its reunification 40 years ago, although private ownership, free commerce and foreign investment have been encouraged since reforms in the 1980s. As a result, Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia’s most rapidly developing countries with a growing list of economic successes. For casual tourists, there are few markers of communism as experienced in day-to-day life. Many tourists to mainland Vietnam must obtain an entry visa either ahead of time or at the airport. This process can be confusing, as the rules and forms change frequently. To attract more tourists to Phu Quoc, Vietnam offers a 30-day visa waiver for visitors to the island. The push for tourists is also changing the character of the island long known for its prized fish sauce and deserted beaches. Now might be your last chance to experience this quaint fishing island before it’s overtaken by the rapid development that’s popping up along its beaches and in the main town of Duong Dong. The 2030 master plan, adopted in 2014, calls for Duong Dong to expand its population tenfold and for the island to become Vietnam’s tourism diamond. Currently, most tourists come from Russia, Australia and other countries in Asia as well as Europe, but that will surely change as development continues. To that end, most hotels have staff who speak passable English, Russian and some French, but that quickly becomes less common outside touristic areas. The crime rate is very low in Phu Quoc, a generally safe island for tourists and locals alike. Still, crimes of opportunity typically increase with tourism, so tourists should never leave valuables unattended. The local currency is the Vietnamese Dong and the exchange rate is typically around 22,000 VND to $1 USD. Most resorts, taxis, cafes and restaurants accept credit cards, but cash is still king, particularly at street-food carts and locally driven restaurants. ATMs are plentiful. Getting There Phu Quoc’s new international airport only has one runway and few airlines that service it. From Ho Chi Minh, it’s a short 40-minute flight to Phu Quoc on a local airline. Vietnam Airlines is the most reliable, and though the cost of airfare can sometimes be double the rate of the ultra-low-cost VietJet and JetStar, those airlines are plagued by delays and cancellations. (NOTE: You’ll need to book this inter-Vietnam flight ahead of time and show proof at the Ho Chi Minh airport to be granted the visa waiver.) Where To Stay The island offers a range of accommodations and experiences, with low-cost hostels at the low end and five-star resorts at the top end. But even in the middle, a three-star hotel located right on Long Beach, where most resorts are located, can be found for as little as $20-$60 USD a night. At the top end of the scale, rooms at the ultra-chic JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa start at around $400 a night and go up from there. Accommodations on Long Beach offer the convenience of being right on the main drag, with beachside restaurants lining the strip all the way into Duong Dong town. Located on the western side of the island, Long Beach also offers multiple locations to watch breathtaking sunsets. Accommodations can be booked on Agoda and Booking.com Getting Around Phu Quoc has yet to catch on to the ride-sharing app craze that’s prevalent on mainland Vietnam and elsewhere. Luckily, taxis are abundant and easy to hail from the airport and in town. While taxi scams are common in Ho Chi Minh and should generally be avoided on the mainland, they’re all metered and regulated on Phu Quoc – no shady business here. A ride from the airport to most hotels on Long Beach runs about 100,000 VND ($4.40) and a ride into central Duong Dong from Long Beach is about $1. While relying on taxis is perfectly fine, many visitors opt to rent a motorbike – Vietnam’s unofficial mascot. At about $5-$15 a day, a motorbike allows you to zip around the island and explore the more pristine hidden beaches and fishing villages that dot the  island. Many hotels also provide bicycles to guests, and though the island is 220 square miles, much of the action is on Long Beach and the adjacent Duong Dong town, making walking a viable option as well. What To Do Most visitors come to Phu Quoc for its pristine beaches. Resorts on Long Beach provide lounge chairs and food service. There are also vendors hawking fresh coconuts to drink from ($1.30) and other fruit, delivered right to your chair. You can get an hourlong full-body massage on the beach for less than $9. Bai Sao Beach, on the southeastern tip of Phu Quoc, is the most picturesque of the island’s better-known beaches. It can get crowded midday, making the morning and late afternoon the best times to visit. For a more active water experience, there are plenty of guides and boat operators for hire who’ll take you snorkelling, scuba diving or night fishing for squid. Some resorts also offer jet-ski and kayak rental. Before it became Asia’s next big resort destination, Phu Quoc was known internationally as home to the world’s finest fish sauce – a funky, salty and sweet condiment ubiquitous in Vietnamese and Southeast Asian cuisines. Today the island boasts more than 80 fish sauce factories, many of which are open to the public for tours. You might want to hold your nose as you visit the warehouses of enormous wooden tanks full of fish that ferments often for longer than a year. More than half of the island is protected National Park land, making it a destination for ecotourism as well. The island boasts rich biodiversity of flora and fauna as well as hiking trails and waterfalls for adventure travellers. Watching the sunset is somewhat of a daily ritual on Phu Quoc and one of the best spots to do so is the Dinh Cau temple, lighthouse and pier, where locals and tourists alike gather every evening to watch the sun disappear into the ocean. The temple is located atop a rocky outcropping that reaches into the sea, offering unobstructed views. As darkness falls, the surrounding area fills up with street vendors hawking all sorts of grilled meats, banh mi sandwiches, fresh fruits and cheap souvenirs.  When the night takes over, the island comes alive with activity. Children zoom around on lighted bicycles and other two-wheeled vehicles in a park near the marina in Duong Dong, and families gather for dinner at low tables in open-air restaurants and residences. The Phu Quoc Night Market in the heart of Duong Dong is a must-visit at this time. Beginning around 7pm, hundreds of vendors set up shop in this district where you can find fake pearls, Thai rolled ice cream and seafood so fresh it’s still swimming in tanks that front the entrance to many of the restaurants.  Get Out While there’s no shortage of activities to keep you busy or beautiful beaches for relaxing on, there are also plenty of escape routes if and when island fever strikes. Tour companies along the main drag south of Duong Dong offer bus tours of nearby Cambodia, as well as tours and travel to other parts of Vietnam. You’ll need a visa to visit mainland Vietnam, but those can be arranged through the tour operators or the immigration office in downtown Duong Dong. But with everything Phu Quoc has to offer, it’s unlikely you’ll want to leave in the first place. – Detroit Free Press/TNS

Raheel Shaikh had worked his way up from a $90-a-month entry-level job in digital marketing to a position that paid 10 times as much. He remodelled the two-room apartment he shares with his parents, bought a motorbike and was planning his January wedding. Finally, over the summer, the 30-year-old Shaikh splurged on the new must-have item for the upwardly mobile Indian: an air conditioner. On a warm afternoon in November, Shaikh sat inside his living room and explained how the $800 Japanese appliance quietly exhaling overhead had made it easier for his parents to sleep in the deadening tropical heat of Mumbai, India’s commercial capital, and bearable to work on his laptop late into the night. It had also pleased his fiancee to know she would move into an air-conditioned home. “My parents lived without it all their lives, but I am earning well so I wanted to give them that comfort,” Shaikh said. “For a middle-class Indian like me, it was part of my plan.” More than any other household good, the air conditioner symbolises the soaring aspirations of one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. Although only 5 percent of Indians own the appliances today, they are buying millions more every year, driving a worldwide boom that, according to one estimate, will nearly triple the global stock of air conditioners to 2.5 billion by 2050. When Shaikh was growing up, air conditioning was a luxury associated with five-star hotels, while ordinary Indians survived the summers by lugging pedestal fans from room to room or dabbing themselves with wet towels. As temperatures and incomes rise, the air conditioner is now what Nikit Abhyankar, a researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, calls “a threshold good – the moment you cross into that middle-class income level, you go and buy one.” But all that crisp air will carry mammoth challenges. The average air conditioner sucks 20 times as much energy as a ceiling fan, and studies show that space cooling accounts for 40 percent to 60 percent of the peak energy load during the summer in hot Indian cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi. By 2030, Abhyankar projects, the surge in air conditioning alone will raise India’s electricity demands by 150 gigawatts, the equivalent of adding three economies the size of California to its power grid. Most of that electricity will come from coal, pumping out more of the carbon emissions that are blamed for worsening pollution, respiratory diseases, millions of premature deaths and hotter air temperatures – which will only push people to buy more air conditioners. India is in the midst of one of the biggest urban transitions in history, with more than 400 million people projected to migrate to cities by 2050. How it meets the energy needs of its growing urban middle class – and the village dwellers it’s connecting to electricity for the first time – will determine whether it fulfils its pledges to shift away from heavily polluting fossil fuels and contribute to the global fight against climate change. “Meeting such rapidly rising demand in a cost-effective, sustainable and equitable manner is the biggest challenge,” Abhyankar said. “And this is from just one appliance. There are multiple appliances that Indians will add as incomes rise. So it is really a make-or-break moment.” China faced a similar moment in the last decade of the 20th century. Over 15 years, urban Chinese plugged in more than 200 million new room air conditioners, adding 200 to 250 gigawatts of peak electricity demand – most of which was met by carbon-belching thermal power plants. Those emissions trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet. India has pledged to grow more efficiently by expanding its use of renewable energy sources and, under the Paris climate agreement, committed to slash the carbon emissions it creates per unit of economic activity. As the price of solar power has plunged, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has boasted of creating some of the world’s biggest solar parks. But to lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty requires readily available electricity, and Indian officials say that means coal will remain the country’s most important fuel source for the foreseeable future. “The reality of India’s energy sector is that around three-quarters of our power comes from coal-powered plants and this scenario will not change significantly over the coming decades,” NITI Aayog, the government’s main policy planning think tank, said in an August report in which it spelled out a nine-point plan to increase coal production. India’s ageing coal infrastructure is notoriously noxious. The Center for Science and Environment, a New Delhi-based independent research group, studied the country’s industrial sector and found that power plants produce 60 percent of the particulate matter that hangs in the air and clogs lungs. Pollution from coal-fired thermal plants was one cause of the thick smog that enveloped New Delhi in November and caused car pile-ups and school closures. But despite a growing public outcry, coal plants failed to meet a December 2017 deadline to achieve modest reductions in emissions. The link between prosperity and a hotter, smoggier planet is not often appreciated by India’s newly minted middle class. In Mumbai, a sliver of land jutting into the Arabian Sea, coastal breezes and mangrove forests once kept the summers mild. But pell-mell development has swallowed the city’s tree cover as its population has ballooned to more than 18 million – accelerating what scientists call the “heat island” effect, where dry, exposed surfaces like roads and rooftops bake in the sun and radiate even more warmth into the air. Across South Asia, whose tropical zones include some of the world’s largest cities, extreme heat waves are becoming more common and deadly, making air conditioners lifesaving pieces of technology. In 2009, a study by Michael Sivak of the University of Michigan estimated that the potential demand for cooling in Mumbai alone was one-quarter that of the entire United States, which has 18 times the population. “The climate was much better in my childhood,” said Shaikh, who grew up with three sisters on a hilltop that was once covered in trees. Even if they could have afforded one, they never needed an air conditioner, he said. Now the neighbourhood is full of families who have gradually replaced mud walls with concrete and affixed satellite dishes to their roofs. The cagelike compressors of split air-conditioning units poke from the sides of several houses. “With the real-estate boom in Mumbai, so much greenery has been cut,” Shaikh said. “You see how the temperatures are now. It’s possible we’ll have to use the AC even in the winter.” India has taken steps to introduce more energy-efficient appliances to the market, and it has joined 197 countries in agreeing to phase out hydrofluorocarbons – a family of heat-trapping greenhouse gases used in air conditioners and refrigerants – by the late 2040s. The cost of buying and running air conditioners has plunged; Shaikh’s premium unit raised his monthly power bill by only 25 percent over the summer, he said. But many old, power-guzzling models live on, refurbished by second-hand dealers and sold for a fraction of the cost of new ones. India heavily subsidises electricity bills, offering most consumers little incentive to spend on more efficient products. An hour east of New Delhi in the industrial city of Ghaziabad, where cargo trucks and taxis inch along a clogged highway and boxy apartment blocks rise from former pastureland, 23-year-old Manish Nagar operates a small repair shop decorated with pictures of appliances. Over the summer, when temperatures touched 115 degrees, Nagar got roughly 30 calls a day to fix air conditioners – most from clients who own noisy old window units kept alive by his team of a dozen repairmen. “The working class can’t afford a $500 AC, but they can get some comfort with a $200 one,” Nagar said. “There are so many people living here and commuting to jobs in Delhi. Villagers see the progress in the city and they want to bring a little bit of that progress into their homes.” A short drive away in his neighbourhood of weathered two-story houses, Nagar ticked off the names of neighbours who had bought coolers from him. Business was so good that he finally installed one last year in the house he shares with his parents and three younger brothers. The year-old model, which a customer resold to him for about $150, was far from the most efficient on the market, Nagar said. But it did not matter, because his family – like 80 percent of the 35 million households in Uttar Pradesh state – doesn’t have an electricity metre installed and instead pays a fixed price for a black-market connection. His mother, Usha, did not like the window unit, made by the Indian manufacturer Voltas. She thought the gusts of cool air made her sick. “But I’m happy we have one,” she said on the concrete porch, fanning herself with one end of her patterned scarf. She hoped Nagar would soon be married, she added, and his future wife would appreciate it. “The AC is not an option anymore,” Nagar said. “It is a way of life.” – Los Angeles Times/TNS This story was reported with a grant from the United Nations Foundation.

If you are tired after a busy day and just want a place to relax and simmer down with friends and colleagues, The Lounge is the perfect place for you. It is a place where you can shake hands with the elite while savouring flavours that will definitely suite your palate. These were the words used by Alican Sunal, director food and beverage at Kempinski Residences and Suites, while introducing the new facility on its opening day on Tuesday evening.  A good number of people from different communities, social groups, and media persons were present at The Lounge on the occasion. They were seen enjoying a variety of food and beverages as the chef prepared delectable hors d’oeuvres and the staff members were vigilant and on their toes.  “The Lounge is a unique place to relax. The set-up reminds one of classic, luxurious, and an ideal place to sit together. It will provide live entertaining music from well-known musicians from Brazil, UK, and Ireland. The musicians from Doha will also be playing their music at The Lounge,” Sunal said. He said, “We are having a changed approach here. We are offering a variety of foods with healthy options. We care for calorie count. The Lounge will not only provide you a variety of tastes but also healthier options. We are also bringing in more options when it comes to having coffee at our Gourmet House. We have special facilities for business lunch, offering multiple options for different cultures and regions.” Sunal added, “Providing true and excellent European heritage at Kempinski, the ultimate party is at our 61st floor. We are the highest building in West Bay. The view of Doha from the top floor is awesome. At the Z Lounge, we have a vocal house band that offers excellent music. Our DJ from the US plays some good music for the ultimate party at the top.” As the guests were enjoying their food and beverages, Community got a chance to catch up with the new resident manager of Kempinski Residence and Suites. Originally from Switzerland, 40-year-old Christoph M Strahm – who joined two months ago – exudes energy.  Sharing his views on The Lounge opening, Strahm said the place will be exceptional, with the traditional uniqueness of Kempinski. He said, “Food and beverages are in our genes at Kempinski. It is our heart. Kempinski celebrates its 120th birthday this year. It started as a bar initially, got into the food and beverage business, and then became a full-fledged hotel. At The Lounge, we will try to revitalise the heart of food and beverages for our customers. It is a place where people can meet after their daily work. We offer a variety of foods according to different cultures and tastes here.” When asked how Kempinski in Doha differentiates itself, Strahm said, “Kempinski maintains its traditions and tastes across the world. However it also adds elements according to different cultures and tastes, keeping the [base] intact. We, unlike other hotels, do not follow on an SOP for all countries and cultures. We do not copy and paste. We learn new things at new places and introduce innovations accordingly. We also maintain our European brand with a unique quality. Kempinski in Qatar is our unique brand. We offer high quality services with a variety of food and beverages. Our guests at the residence do not stay for a short period. They will stay for say 10 months or 12 months.” When asked how he will describe his experience of working with Kempinski, he said, “It has been 15 years since I joined Kempinski in Switzerland. I have worked with the hotel in Switzerland, Italy, China, and in Rwanda. Working with the brand has been a wonderful experience. I have learnt a lot of new things, worked in different environments, with different people and in different cultures. It has been an amazing journey. “I am looking forward to our 2018 plan. Qatar is a fast growing country and economy. The drive of self-reliance has been bringing in new projects and companies.” When asked how he decided to get into the industry, Strahm said, “I an MBA but joined the food business out of my passion for it. I do not want to serve a plate but an experience. I do not want to provide just a comfortable room to a guest but a feel-like-home feeling.” About his family and life in Qatar, he noted, “I am married to a woman from Vietnam and have two kids. I am living here with my family. Qatar is a beautiful country. I like the corniche, Souq Waqif and big malls. But what I love is outside Doha. I love the sea, sand, and silence, with the sun setting in the west. Living in Qatar, you can see how the future of the world is going to be. Three continents meet here. People from different cultures, creeds, and countries live together here.”

A 3-year survey published in the journal Science demonstrates that even small news outlets can have a substantial impact on issues The US president may be fond of complaining about “fake” news, but the truth is that journalism drives the national conversation, and science has proven it. A new study published in the journal Science demonstrates that even small news outlets can have a substantial impact on the issues Americans talk about and when they talk about them. That’s especially true when these news outlets work together. “Journalists have a job that affects American democracy,” said study leader Gary King, director of Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. “People talk about this a lot, but now we actually have evidence of it.” King and his co-authors found that if three small- to medium-sized news outlets publish stories on the same topic simultaneously, they can cause the volume of social media posts on that issue to increase by an average of nearly 20 percent in a single day. “This is a big impact, especially given the size of the outlets we worked with,” said Ariel White, a political scientist at MIT who worked on the study. The news industry has lots of ways to monitor how many people are reading an individual article online, what devices they are reading it on, and how they came to find those stories in the first place. What’s traditionally been harder to measure is whether the articles inspire readers to talk about a topic with friends and family, or take a public stand on a particular issue. Before the rise of social media, the only way to know if media coverage was moving the needle on national conversations was to eavesdrop on water cooler discussions, read letters to the editor, and in the deeper past, listen to soap box speeches in public squares and read leaflets, the authors said. But times have changed. “Today, we can take advantage of the fact that much of the conversation has moved to, and is recorded in, the 750 million social media posts that appear publicly on the web each day,” they wrote. Still, measuring how a single set of stories can influence what gets discussed online is no easy feat. Researchers can’t control the news. And if they can’t do that, how can they run an experiment? To help them get started, the investigators enlisted the help of Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, executive director of The Media Consortium. Her group is an association of mostly small, independent news outlets and includes publications like Grist, Ms. magazine and The Chicago Reporter. Green Kaiser, who previously worked as an editor at the progressive magazine Tikkun, knew that journalists would not sit on a breaking news story, even for the sake of science. But she thought they might be flexible with some of their feature stories that were not tied to a specific event and thus could run at any time. “Any good editor worth his or her salt has feature stories stowed away for dry periods when you don’t have any news,” she said. “We realised we could randomise the timing of those stories. So the intervention was not about the content. It was about the timing.” It took three years of negotiation, but the researchers and journalists from 48 news outlets finally agreed on a study design. They worked together to come up with a list of 11 broad topics — such as immigration, climate change, race relations and education policy — that the news organisations were either covering or were interested in covering. Next, a set of two to five outlets volunteered to publish stories on the same topic on their websites at the same time. The journalists were in charge of deciding what story they told, and how they told it. However, if the end result strayed too far from the original topic, the researchers could decide not to include it in the experiment. If a story simply didn’t come together, the outlets could pull out of that particular experiment. Next, the researchers identified a pair of consecutive weeks during which they expected the news to be generally slow. One week was randomly selected to serve as the “treated week,” when the stories would be published, and the other week would serve as a control. That allowed the authors to measure the effect that a cluster of stories had on the Twitter conversation. All they had to do was compare the number of times the agreed-upon topic was mentioned in the week after the stories were published to the number of mentions during the control week. (For the record, that was a lot harder than it sounds). The investigators ran the experiment 35 times between October 2013 and March 2016. The effect was significant: social media posts about a given topic jumped 19.4 percent, on average, the day after stories on that topic were published. That translated into an average of 13,166 additional posts about a topic after it was covered in the press. The size of the effect varied widely, and the authors said it would likely scale up with the size of the news outlets that published a story. To see if this was true, they measured the effect on the Twitter conversation of a New York Times story about fracking and water quality that few other outlets covered. The day the story ran, there was a one-day spike of more than 300 percent in tweets about water quality and related topics. The effect that news stories had on the social media conversation was equal regardless of tweeters’ gender, political party, place of residence or the number of Twitter followers an individual has. While the average effect of a news “intervention” was larger than the researchers had expected, it was still quite small compared to the influence of “huge entertainment events,” such as the airing of a new episode of the TV show Scandal, the study authors wrote. Still, King, Green Kaiser and their co-author Benjamin Schneer conclude that journalists do indeed influence what the country talks about. “The decisions made in the nation’s editorial boardrooms have remarkably large effects on the character and composition for the national conversation,” they wrote. — Los Angeles Times/TNS

It is always tricky to make any movie that is related to historical figures in India because it inevitably gets politicised and all the lumpen elements of society try to profit from the controversy. In the case of Padmavati, there is not even much history available to distort. Her story became famous a few centuries after her life when a poet turned it into a fable. It is based on this that Sanjay Leela Bhansali made his movie. But he is now being accused of distortion and a case was even filed in the Supreme Court to halt the release of the movie. Thankfully, the court refused to do so last week. Meanwhile, Bhansali himself released a video message online saying that he had not made any distortions to the epic and sought to quell all the rumours that are swirling around about a dream sequence showing romance between Padmavati and the ruler Alauddin Khilji who invades her kingdom. He reiterated that there was no such scene in the movie. Meanwhile, local right wing political outfits are demanding that they be shown Padmavati before it is released so that they can be sure of there being nothing objectionable. That might be very impractical for Bhansali because if he agrees to one such party, then many more might crop up and how much such go-aheads can he get. Send your feedback to [email protected]