G'day India September 2019

SEP 2019

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VOL 13 ISSUE 149

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A U S T R A L I A N I N DI AN P E R S P E CTIVE

QUEST FOR IDENTITY

MISS FUNNY BONE

COURAGE PERSONIFIED

Melbourne-based Ravi Chand is creating projects that aim to build awareness on culture and identity

Making her debut at the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Sunanda Sachatrakul spills the beans on a few things

How Mitu Bhowmick Lange has been able to stretch and challenge the notions of film and entertainment

CULTURAL ENTREPRENEUR Sanchita Abrol believes it is a good time to start expressing what Kathak means in Australia

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NEWS AUSTRALIA

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Sri Lankan asylum seeker family faces deportation

Rudd warns of rising protectionism, populism

CANBERRA, AUG 30: An Australian court agreed to extend an injunction into the deportation of an asylum seeking Sri Lankan family, until September 4 during which they would plead their case to remain in the country.

SYDNEY, AUG 29: Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has taken aim at the rise of populist politics around the world, warning that an increase in protectionism will lead to a downturn in global growth.

Addressing the case, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said it was time for them to go home.

Addressing a University of Sydney event, Rudd said that the recent move against free trade, partly engineered by the world view of US President Donald Trump, has acted to re-legitimize protectionism among some people, in a way he never imagined would be possible.

“I would like the family to accept that they are not refugees, they’re not owed protection by our country,” he told the media.

The Australian Border Force (ABF) on Thursday night attempted to deport asylum seekers Priya, her husband Nadesalingam and their two Australian-born daughters.

The couple came to Australia by boat separately six years ago.

A last minute injunction from the Federal Court forced the plane transporting the family from Melbourne back to Sri Lanka to land in Darwin.

“They came here by boat and we’ve been very clear that they couldn’t stay. We have brought in many families but in this case they have been found to the High Court not to be refugees,” said Dutton. “We will help them resettle in Sri Lanka.”

“As a consequence, trade is now growing more slowly than the global economy. Whereas for the previous 40 years, trade growth actually drove global economic growth,” he said.

Representing the family in court on Friday, lawyer Angel Aleksov argued that the couple’s daughters were owed protection by Australia because they were born in the country.

The family will now make an application for a visa in the name of two-year-old Tharunicca.

Christopher Tran who represented the immigration department and David Coleman, the Minister for Immigration, said in court that the family’s removal from Australia was inevitable.

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(Agencies)

“So we have economies such as ours (Australia) bumping along the bottom with 1-2 per cent growth and many other developed economies much the same, because trade is no longer playing the role it did.”

With current Prime Minister Scott Morrison set to travel to Washington in September as part of an official visit, Rudd urged him to use the two countries’ “special relationship” to engage with Trump on the issue of the trade war.

“So the central message for Prime Minister Morrison is to say that free trade... does legitimately raise global living standards, including for this country (Australia) as well. He (Morrison) has to engage that up front, in my judgment,” Rudd added.

(Agencies)

China arrests Aussie writer on spying charges

CANBERRA/BEIJING, AUG 27: An Australian writer of Chinese origin has been arrested on suspicion of espionage in China, where he has been detained since the beginning of the year, officials said.

Yang Hengjun, a former Chinese Foreign Ministry official, was detained in Guangzhou in January during a stopover on his way to Australia and had since been held without any charge.

“The government is very concerned and disappointed to learn that Australian citizen and academic Dr Yang Hengjun (Dr Yang Jun) was formally arrested in China on suspicion of espionage on August 23,” Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement cited by Efe news.

“Dr Yang has been held in Beijing in harsh conditions without charge for more than seven months. Since that time, China has not explained the reasons for Dr Yang’s detention, nor has it allowed him access to his lawyers or family visits,” Payne said.

The Foreign Minister said she had discussed the issue twice with her Chinese counterpart,

Wang Yi, and had also written to him three times to express her concern about the health and well-being of the 53-year-old academic and prodemocracy activist.

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

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Australia ‘cautious’ in offering aid to fight Amazon fires

CANBERRA, AUG 28: Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the fires raging across the Amazon rainforest are “distressing” but that his government must consider its own country’s challenges before offering help to fight them.

“I’ll be listening carefully to what’s put forward, particularly today, I mean it’s very distressing,” Morrison said in an interview with Sky News posted to his website after the G7 meeting in Biarritz in France.

“It is important, and we expect, that basic standards of justice and procedural fairness are met.

I respectfully reiterate my previous requests that if Dr Yang “China is a country with rule is being held for his political of law and Australia should beliefs, he should be released,” earnestly respect China’s Payne said. judicial sovereignty and stop interfering in China’s caseThe Chinese Foreign Ministry handling in any form,” the confirmed on Tuesday that Yang spokesperson said. was detained and was accused Yang, who worked at of espionage.

Columbia University and lived with his family in New York, “This case is being faces between three years in investigated. According to law, prison and the death penalty his rights are lawfully and fully if found guilty of espionage by guaranteed. He is in good China’s opaque judicial system. health condition,” said Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang.

China has a long history of arresting dissidents, some of Geng urged Australia to them while they are residing “respect” China’s judicial abroad, to later charge them process and expressed with various crimes. displeasure over its interference in the case.

(Agencies)

“But we also have a lot of our own challenges to deal with in Australia. If there’s the capability to meet the challenges that are there, well then I would hope that would be the case, but let’s just see what they, what requests they make,” he added.

Morrison’s remarks come after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro declined an offer of $22 million in aid by the G7 group to fight the Amazon wildfires, saying he will only accept it if his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron retracts his statements calling him a liar.

Macron accused Bolsonaro of lying about Brazil’s commitment to environmental protection, threatened to not ratify a free trade agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur group, and suggested the possibility of giving the Amazon “international status” to prevent its destruction.

Asked whether blame for the catastrophe lies with the government led by Bolsonaro - who has been backed by US President Donald Trump - Morrison responded: “I don’t think it helps to be getting into those sorts of commentaries.”

“I think Australians always take a very practical view about this.

Where there’s a problem, where there’s a challenge, where there’s a need, if we can play a meaningful role, then we’ll obviously consider that but we won’t be in the business of running around offering countries lectures,” he said.

A record number of fires burning in Brazil, most of them in the Amazon region.

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(Agencies)

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NEWS AUSTRALIA

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Indian surgeons gather expertise from Epworth Richmond

MELBOURNE, AUG 21 More than 20 Indian surgeons visited Epworth Richmond to observe surgical techniques in neurosurgery to guide best practise in their home country to provide better outcomes for patients.

Epworth HealthCare neurosurgeon and spine surgeon Yagnesh Vellore performed a series of minimally invasive procedures on patients with herniated lumbar discs. The aim of these operations is to remove portions of the herniated disc to relieve pressure on the spinal nerve column, according to a press release.

The surgeons were also interested in observing the use of robotic techniques and the use of Oxiplex gel as an adhesion barrier for enhanced clinical outcomes.

The group watched the operations being performed in the Epworth auditorium via a virtual link from operating theatres.

Finding the courage to tackle racism and prejudice

MELBOURNE: Against the alarming backdrop of a surge in racist and discriminatory attacks in Victoria, Courage to Care Victoria is tackling bad behaviour one school at a time.

Alpha Cheng, whose father Curtis was shot dead by an ISIS radicalised teenager in 2017, was the keynote speaker at Courage to Care’s recent gala event. His key message for all Australians was to be ‘’upstanders” rather than bystanders against racism, according to a press release.

procedure was a driving motivator for him.

“The benefit for the surgeons is to hopefully provide better outcomes for their patients and reduce re-operation rates in theory.”

Epworth Richmond Director of Perioperative Services Pauline Fogarty said the visit was an opportunity for Epworth to play an active role in improving global health outcomes.

Vellore is the single most experienced robotic spine surgeon in Australia, having Dr Vellore said the patients were of completed more than 150 procedures with varying ages and walks of life, with the Mazor Renaissance unit. the common feature being severe longstanding debilitating symptoms in their Epworth has a proud history of investing legs. in technology and particularly becoming a leading Centre of Excellence in Dr Vellore said Epworth Richmond was robotic surgery across multiple areas of an Australian Centre of Excellence in therapeutic care. spinal surgery and aiding best practise in (Press release) India for the benefit of those needing the

“As Australians we must speak out against inequity. No-one, especially young people, should feel any less of themselves or be disadvantaged because of their race, religion, identity or postcode,” said Alpha, who is a Courage to Care Ambassador.

Alpha has turned his personal tragedy into a call for Australians to unite rather than be divided by hate. Despite suffering at the hands of extremists, Alpha strongly believes societies will be better when people respect diverse cultures.

‘We cannot give into prejudice, stereotypes and scapegoating for no apparent reasons but to further an extreme ideology. This narrative seeks to divide us. Inclusion, acceptance and respect are the most important values we all need to display to create a society where we can all thrive.’

In 2017-2018, complaints of racism to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and

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Human Rights Commission rose by nearly 90 per cent. In the same period, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry reported a 60 per cent increase in antiSemitic incidents in Australia, with almost 30 per cent of these incidents occurring in Victoria.

The values emphasised by Alpha, despite the tragedy affecting his family, are reflected in Courage to Care’s School Program which informs and educates Victorian secondary school students about the dangers of prejudice, racism and discrimination. It also empowers young people to challenge and speak out against such unacceptable human traits.

Using the Holocaust and other genocides as case studies, Courage to Care explores the dangers of prejudice, racism, stereotyping and bullying and the consequences of bystander behaviour.

James Merlino, Victorian Minister for Education, launched a new exhibition using multimedia units for the schools’ programs in 2016. Since then similar technology has been added allowing the program to be offered to schools as an Incursion.

The Courage to Care Schools Program is taught by volunteers and this year (2019) it is anticipated that 7000 Victorian students will have engaged with the program. Since 2000 more than 135,000 students have participated. A modified version of the program will be available for Victorian students in years 5-8 by the end of the year.

(Press release)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Cracking down on rogue real estate agents in Victoria

MELBOURNE, AUG 31: The Andrews Labor Government is cracking down on rogue real estate agents with 39 infringement notices worth almost $200,000 issued during the last financial year.

Minister for Consumer Affairs Marlene Kairouz said these fines are being used to immediately put a stop to agents underquoting.

Consumer Affairs Victoria inspectors have issued 39 infringements worth almost $200,000 to estate agents during the 2018-19 financial year.

New underquoting laws introduced by the Labor Government in 2017 have seen 145 notices issued to estate agents, requiring them to produce relevant documents for Consumer Affairs Victoria to review compliance.

Agents that provide unreasonable estimates risk penalties of more than $33,000 and the loss of their sale commissions.

As part of the new underquoting laws, agents are required to prepare a Statement of Information for each residential property they are selling.

Flu shots for kinds Fairer birth under five another certificates for trans and step closer

gender diverse Victorians

MELBOURNE, AUG 30: Families are another step closer to having the flu shot for all kids under five placed on the National Immunisation Program, making it free.

The flu can be deadly, especially among children, and the best protection is vaccination, but currently, the Andrews Labor Government funds the vital flu shot because the Commonwealth doesn’t, an official media release said.

Already this year, there have been more than 5,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza in children aged under five notified with the Department of Health and Human Services.

Consumer Affairs Victoria undertook a review of the Statement of Information and supporting documentation,cons ulting with industry after a year of use and have now revised the forms and guidelines to ensure more transparency for potential buyers.

The Morrison Government now has all the information they need to determine the flu vaccination for kids under five belongs on the National Immunisation Program, but must act fast in order to make sure our kids are protected by next year’s flu season, the release said.

The Statement of Information has been modified to allow agents to more accurately specify the type of property the median sale price relates to, with a ‘property type’ text box rather than only a choice of house or unit. The statement must also now include the date on which it was prepared.

Victoria has been hit hard by flu this year, with 49,329 laboratory-confirmed cases already. Sadly, we have been notified of 105 Victorians who have died, including seven children.

Additionally, the guidelines for agents have been amended to clarify when fewer than three comparable properties can be listed.

For more information about the changes see consumer.vic.gov.au/ underquoting. These changes will come into effect from Monday 16 September.

(Agencies)

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Victoria has been hit hard by flu this year, with 49,329 laboratory-confirmed cases already. Sadly, we have been notified of 105 Victorians who have died, including seven children.

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(Media release)

MELBOURNE, AUG 28: Trans and gender diverse Victorians wanting to alter the sex recorded on their birth certificate will no longer need to undergo sex affirmation surgery under new laws passed by the Andrews Labor Government.

The new laws will allow applicants to self-nominate the sex listed in their birth registration as male, female, or any other gender diverse or non-binary descriptor of their own choice, a media release said.

The Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages will be able to refuse to register a descriptor that is obscene or offensive, or if it is not reasonably established as a sex descriptor.

Children will also be able to apply to alter the sex recorded on their birth certificate, with parental support and a supporting statement from a doctor, registered psychologist or another prescribed person confirming that the decision is in the best interests of the child.

Currently, trans and gender diverse Victorians are forced to ‘out’ themselves whenever a birth certificate is requested, which can cause embarrassment and raise privacy, safety and discrimination concerns.

(Media release)

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THAT’S MELBOURNE

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Spring into the fields at the annual Tesselaar Tulip Festival

GRAB your clogs and head to Melbourne’s picturesque Dandenong Ranges for the 66th annual Tesselaar Tulip Festival. Each year, Tesselaar Tulip Festival draws in visitors from Australia and internationally, to experience a dazzling display of over a million spring bulbs in bloom including 900,000+ Tulips in every colour of the rainbow.

The Festival starts with an explosion of colour on Turkish Weekend, celebrating the origins of the Tulip with Melbourne’s vibrant Turkish community on September 14 – 15.

Spring Fever Weeks are the first and last weeks of the Festival and are a great way to enjoy the Tulips and everything else on offer without the school holiday crowds. Even better, entry is slightly cheaper these weeks, Sep 16 – 19 & Oct 7 – 10.

The Festival turns into a mini Holland during Dutch Weekend with Dutch treats, entertainment, dancing and more from September 20 – 22. Get your photo taken in one of the world’s largest wooden clogs or indulge in a plate of hot Dutch pancakes while you walk the fields.

Children are celebrated everyday at the Festival but no more so than during the school holidays. Kids LOL Week (September 23 – 26) brings daily entertainment from the Splash Test Dummies, while Superhero Week (September 30 – Oct 3) encourages kids to dress up as their favourite superhero while they watch the PJ Masks stage show. There is also a petting zoo, giant garden games, storytelling, a fairy garden and rides on the famous Tulip Tractor. Best thing? Kids entry is free every day of the Festival.

Enjoy jazz tunes all day long on Food, Wine and Jazz Weekend (Sep 27 – 29) with live bands, delicious foods from around the world teamed with award-

Melbourne International Arts Festival

Provoking and inspiring, Melbourne International Arts Festival seeks to connect art forms, people and ideas. At the heart of Melbourne’s culture of creativity, the Festival curates unique experiences that bring people together and break new ground in culture and the arts from 2-20 October 2019.

Melbourne Fringe Festival

winning wine, beer and ciders.

Rock the Fields Weekend (Oct 4 – 6) will have you jiving in the flower fields with live music from the 50’s and 60’s all weekend. Food trucks, dancing demonstrations and fashion in the fields will ensure everyone has a rockin’ good time!

What better way to close the Festival than with a pint of Guinness during Irish Weekend (October 11 – 13).

There will be all day entertainment with live bands, Irish pipers and dancers, Celtic arts and the odd Leprechaun.

Throughout the Festival, visitors will enjoy some good old Dutch hospitality with our legendary Poffertjes, Dutch sweet and savoury treats and Tesselaar’s very own Double Dutch ice-cream. Have a crack at a Dutch game or two, try on some clogs at Habitat Nursery or pose in front of our Amsterdam streetscapes, windmills or photo frescos.

When: 10am – 5pm daily from Sep 14 to Oct 13. (for details visit http://www.tulipfestival.com.au)

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Melbourne Fringe Festival is an open-access festival that brings the city alive with over 450 events, performances and exhibitions.Artists and community members present work across every possible artform imaginable.

From Sep 12 to 29.

Royal Melbourne Show

This year’s All New Royal Melbourne Show will be a show like no other, with an all new program of activities and pavilions on offer. There are more opportunities to experience the joy at the animal nursery, indulge in the award-winning food and drink precincts, enjoy the new entertainment program and the newest and most exciting rides and showbags. (whatsonblog.melbourne.vic.gov.au)

COMMUNITY

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Culturally supported playgroups for newly arrived families

New approach to reduce homelessness

MELBOURNE, AUG 28: Families new to Victoria will be able to take their children to culturally supported playgroups, allowing them to feel more at home in their new community, thanks to new Andrews Labor Government funding.

MELBOURNE, AUG 23: Nearly 60 Victorians experiencing chronic homelessness have moved into stable housing, thanks to an innovative partnership led by the Andrews Labor Government.

Minister for Multicultural Affairs Richard Wynne today announced $490,000 for the Victorian Coooperative on Children’s Services for Ethnic Groups (VICSEG) to expand their successful Supported Playgroups program, a media release said.

The Journey to Social Inclusion program is a joint project with Sacred Heart Mission, supported by NAB, which aims to deliver long-term housing and improved health and wellbeing outcomes for vulnerable Victorians.

with other mums and dads and fostering quality parent-child connections, such as shared book reading, under the guidance of trained facilitators.

It is expected the program will support 180 people over five years and is The program has already been running one of the Partnerships Addressing in five areas across northern and western Disadvantage that bring together public, Melbourne, with dozens of families taking private and not-for-profit sectors to part. improve social outcomes.

Playgroups are important in developing a child’s social skills, emotional VICSEG’s integrated model provides A case study outlining the structure of functioning and support the transition to group support and ongoing learning in the program’s new innovative low-cost new learning environments, like kinder or education and employment for parents financing model has just been released school. and children from the time they arrive in – highlighting future opportunities Australia. for Government, service providers, (Media release) Parents also benefit from socialising philanthropists and other investors.

The playgroups cater to families of different cultural backgrounds, giving them the confidence and security of attending a welcoming play environment.

Boost for men’s residential healing program

MELBOURNE, AUG 30: A successful residential diversion program for Aboriginal male offenders is set to be expanded thanks to the Andrews Labor Government.

Minister for Corrections Ben Carroll on Friday announced an additional $440,000 for the Ngarra Jarranounith Place program.

The Labor Government is investing in

engagement safety worker.

Key supporters of the program include the Collingwood Football Club and Melbourne Storm.

The program – part of the Labor Government’s response to the Royal Commission into Family Violence – is a residential healing and behaviourchange program for Aboriginal men who have been convicted of family violence offences.

The funding will enable Aboriginal service provider Dardi Munwurro to open a third residential property in Melbourne’s The 16-week program is achieving north, an official media release said. a 90 per cent completion rate and is helping create safer communities by It will also allow Dardi Munwurro rehabilitating offenders and providing to employ two more intensive case support to impacted family members.

(Media release) managers and an extra family

New health-based response to public drunkenness MELBOURNE, AUG 22: The Andrews Labor Government will decriminalise public drunkenness and replace it with a health-based response, in order to provide vulnerable Victorians with appropriate help and support.

Abolishing the offence of public drunkenness was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, almost 30 years ago, and has been reiterated by numerous inquiries since. It has also been advocated for in submissions to the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.

The Attorney-General will write to

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Coroner Caitlin English, in relation to the inquest into the death of Tanya Day, to advise that the Government commits in principle to decriminalising public drunkenness. Coroner English has previously indicated that she proposes to recommend the outdated law be abolished in her final report.

Tanya Day died after being removed from a train and taken into custody for being drunk in public. The Labor Government will establish an Expert Reference Group to provide advice about the decriminalisation and the development of an alternative, healthbased response.

(Media release)

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housing and homelessness services at record levels.

This includes 1,000 new public housing properties over the next three years and 500 new affordable rental properties delivered in 2019 through the $1 billion Social Housing Growth Fund.

An additional $153.8 million over the next five years will be invested into homelessness services.

This will see more on-site treatment services in crisis-supported accommodation, private rental assistance for over 6,000 Victorians who need it and the continuation of state-wide homelessness after-hours crisis services.

(Media release)

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INDIA AT A GLANCE

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

After ‘Hyderabad’, now ‘Andhra’ to slip into banking history

HYDERABAD, SEP 1: After Hyderabad, it is now the turn of Andhra Pradesh to disappear from the list of public sector banks, depriving both Telugu states of their identity in the banking sector.

With its merger with the State Bank of India (SBI), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) became part of the history in 2017. SBH was the identity and an integral part of the rich legacy of this historic city and one of the last remnants of the Asaf Jahi dynasty of the erstwhile Hyderabad State.

The latest move by the Centre will cut the emotional connect of Teluguspeaking people with Andhra Bank.

“First it was SBH and now Andhra Bank. Telugus have lost both their banks,” analyst Telakapalli Ravi told IANS. He pointed out that after bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Bank continued its presence in Telangana.

“People had all the trust in the bank. It was another name for safety,” he said.

Leaders irrespective of party affiliations in Andhra Pradesh found fault with the Centre’s move and said this would hurt the sentiments of Telugu people. Two MPs of ruling YSR Congress Party and opposition Congress urged the Centre to withdraw the decision or at least retain the name Andhra Bank if amalgamation becomes inevitable.

People also took to social media to express their resentment over the merger move and shared their special bonding with Andhra Bank.

It was on November 20, 1923 that freedom fighter Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya founded Andhra Bank as a small private bank in Machilipatnam with a paid up capital of Rs 1 lakh and authorized capital of Rs 10 lakh.

After attaining the status of a scheduled bank in 1943, the bank expanded its operations beyond Andhra Pradesh to open a branch in Tamil Nadu.

Following formation of Andhra Pradesh with the merger of Telangana with then Andhra State in 1956, Andhra Bank’s headquarters was shifted to Hyderabad.

After first phase of nationalized bank in 1969, Andhra Bank emerged as the largest private sector bank and remained so till 1980 when it was nationalised.

With its foundations rooted in the freedom struggle, the bank enjoyed a special place in the hearts of Telugu people. Since inception, it had been the main source of finance for farmers, small scale industries and weaker sections of the society.

Considered a pioneer in issuing credit cards, Andhra Bank also introduced kisan card for farmers and expanded its operations to rural and remote regions of Andhra Pradesh.

With the merger, the bank will lose its identity and logo while the new entity will have its headquarters in Mumbai.

The new entity is expected to emerge as the fifth largest bank with annual business of Rs 14.59 lakh crore.

Interestingly it was in early last month that Andhra Bank had announced that it returned to profit in the first quarter ended June 30, by recording a standalone net profit of Rs 51.56 crore as provisions for bad loans came down.

For the full year 2018-19, the net loss was Rs 2,786 crore, against Rs 3,413 crore in the previous financial year.

(Agencies)

Era of Swiss bank secrecy over, details from Sept

NEW DELHI, AUG 31: India will start getting details of bank accounts held by its citizens in Switzerland from September, ending the era of Swiss bank secrecy.

The development is a major success of the Modi government’s fight against black money ever since it first came to power in 2014.

“India will receive information of the calendar year 2018 in respect of all financial accounts held by Indian residents in Switzerland. This will be a significant step in the government’s fight against black money as the era of Swiss bank secrecy will finally be over,” the Income Tax department said in a tweet.

The announcement follows meeting of a Swiss delegation led by Nicolas Mario

GUWAHATI, AUG 31:The final National Register of Citizens (NRC) seems to have failed to bring in the expected rejoice to the people of Assam in northeast India, who were waiting for over three decades for the resolution of the vexed problem of infiltration.

As the final NRC was published on Saturday, political and non-political organisations in unison condemned the document that excluded 1.9 million people.

Two years after State Bank of Hyderabad became history with its merger with the State Bank of India, it will soon be curtains down on another bank from Telugu states.

The Centre’s decision to merge Andhra Bank with Union Bank of India and Corporation Bank will snap the emotional link the people of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had with this 96-year-old bank.

34 years after Assam pact, NRC brings little rejoice

Luscher, Deputy Head of Tax Division, State Sectt for International Finance, with Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey and senior tax officials of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

(Agencies)

The Congress said there was sufficient circumstantial evidence to indicate that 19,06,659 people, excluded from the final NRC, included many genuine citizens, cutting across linguistic and religious lines.

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which had been vocal regarding updation of the NRC, expressed Expressing its unhappiness, the Assam dejection over exclusion of only 1.9 BJP said the final NRC had excluded million from the final list and said it would many genuine citizens and included soon approach the Supreme Court for a many illegal foreigners. remedy.

(Agencies)

How offline apps allow terrorists to chat freely in Kashmir Valley

NEW DELHI, AUG 31: With fake videos on Kashmir coming in droves from Pakistan amid Internet shutdown in the Valley, communication channels are open among separatists as well as local terrorists via several offline chat apps and highly-encrypted anonymous chat platform Tor, giving a hard time to security agencies and authorities in Jammu and Kashmir.

Popular among terrorists networks and anti-government protesters globally, Tor prevents people from tracing location or spying on users’ browsing habits.

The app uses Bluetooth to connect to nearby phones that also have the app installed. The company describes it as “crowdsourcing the connectivity of those around you.”

Available for Windows, Mac, Linux and The “Serval Mesh” software works by Android, TOR has been used to mobilise protesters without any risk of government using phone’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to communicate with other phones. cyber cells infiltrating into the network and crack down on the groups. It isolates It allows one to easily make private websites you visit so third-party trackers phone calls, send secure text messages and ads can’t follow the users. and share files -- even when cellular The Indian government has completely networks fail or are unavailable. shut down the telephone and Internet Signal offline messenger is a Wi-Fi network in the Valley, but there are Direct based app. With this app, one can various ways the people are trying communicate without internet or local numerous circumvention tools to avoid network in range of upto 100 metres. the web shutdown.

The worrying part is “off-the-grid” chat apps which are likely being used to communicate with one another via smartphones within a range of up to 100200 metres -- by broadcasting encrypted data via Wi-Fi or bluetooth.

These apps work even without Internet connection or 2G, 3G or 4G network coverage, somewhat like the WalkieTalkie app for iOS and Android.

It is like a peer-to-peer software without a central server like Facebook or WhatsApp and works like Mesh Network chat.

“Mesh Network works when two or more smartphones are within range of each other. The distance or coverage The first automatic exchange of depends on the smartphone’s signal financial account information (AEOI) strength, it varies from one model to under Common Reporting Standard another. Approximate distance is 100 (CRS) would start from next month. feet between two smartphones,” reports During the 2-day meeting in the Capital www.geckoandfly.com. on August 29-30, both sides discussed FireChat is another latest app that bilateral exchange of information matters lets users communicate to nearby to expedite execution of tax information devices without Internet or mobile phone sharing requests made by India in coverage. specific cases.

“Enhancing collaboration in offshore tax compliance matters were also discussed,” the department said.

The final NRC excluded 19,06,657 people, and found 3,11,21,004 eligible for inclusion.

The app also lets people use standard Internet connectivity to participate in a running conversation with FireChat users anywhere in the world.

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“User can share audio, text, photo and video messages to nearby users over Wi-Fi Direct”.

Vojer app delivers encrypted messages from a phone directly to another phone. With Vojer, user can get connected in mountains and places with intermittent or no coverage.

“Psiphon” is an open source web proxy that helps users skirt content-filtering systems.

Such apps and private gateways have been widely used across the globe.

Encrypted messaging app Telegram which has become very popular in India is sending out an update soon where protesters in Hong Kong will be able to hide their phone numbers from being seen by the authorities, thus communicating privately and without any threat of being discovered.

This leaves little space for the authorities to crack down on terrorists and separatist networks from communicating with one another in the valley, unless they fully utilise valleybased sources and get cracking.

(Agencies)

DIASPORA DIARY

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Trump nominates Indian-American to federal judgeship

Indian-origin ex-Trump Hotel partner arrested for theft

WASHINGTON, AUG 27: Dinesh Chawla, an Indian-origin developer who previously partnered with the Trump Organization to bring a series of new hotels to the state of Mississippi, has been arrested for allegedly stealing luggage from a Memphis airport, media reports said.

NEW YORK, SEP 1: US President Donald Trump has nominated Shireen Mathews, an Indian-American lawyer, to be a federal judge.

She is a partner with the elite law firm Jones Day, where she specialises in whitecollar crimes.

Before that, she was an assistant federal prosecutor in California serving as the coordinator for criminal healthcare fraud cases.

Her nomination to Southern California Southern District federal court in San Diego was announced on Wednesday by the White House and her appointment has to be approved by the Senate.

According to Shelby County Jail records in Memphis, Tennessee, Dinesh Chawla, 56, was arrested on August 22 and charged with one count theft of property $1,000 -$2,500 and one count theft of property $2,500 to $10,000, the Mississippi-based Clarion Ledger newspaper reported on Monday.

Chawla was given a $5,000 bond and released the same day.

17

told the police he stole the bags.

He is one half of Chawla Hotels, a Delta-based company that owns 17 hotels across Mississippi.

the baggage claim belt at the Memphis International Airport on August 18.

The police told the station that Chawla put the bag in his vehicle then went back inside to catch a flight. Police then searched his vehicle and found “several bags that had been stolen”, the station reported. The bags “contained thousands of dollars worth of items”.

In 2017, Mississippi company and hotelier family Chawla Pointe LLC announced a partnership with Trump Hotels. The two companies planned to open SCION hotel at West End in Cleveland in 2018.

A second line of hotels, called American Idea, were expected to open in 2019 in Greenville, Cleveland and Clarksdale. The Chawlas planned to develop the hotels while the Trumps would brand and manage them.

All four hotels were scrapped by the Trump Organization earlier this year, citing the current political climate.

(Agencies)

Mathews is the sixth Indian-American nominated to the federal judiciary at various levels by Trump.

According to the WREG TV station in Memphis, Chawla was seen taking a suitcase off

South Asia Bar Association (SABA) President Aneesh called it “a historic nomination” and urged “the Senate to quickly confirm her, adding another deserving South Asian voice to the judiciary.”

Bahrain pardons 250 Indian prisoners on Modi visit

Mathews has served on SABA North America board of directors.

According to Jones Day, while she was a prosecutor, Mathews uncovered a multi-million dollar fraud in stolen medical equipment and also won one of the highest restitution awards for the Social Security (general public pension) trust fund.

By Arul Louis

MANAMA, AUG 25: In a special gesture as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was visiting the Gulf kingdom, Bahrain pardoned 250 Indian prisoners serving sentences in the country.

According to WREG, Chawla

“In a kind and humanitarian gesture, the Government of Bahrain has pardoned 250 Indians serving sentences in Bahrain. PM@narendramodi thanks the Bahrain Government for the Royal Pardon,” the PMO

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tweeted.

Modi was in Bahrain on a twoday visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister.

(Agencies)

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NEWS WORLD & BUSINESS

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

German Prez asks Poland forgiveness for Nazi ‘tyranny’

WARSAW, SEP 1: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday asked Poland’s forgiveness for Nazi “tyranny”, 80 years on from the start of World War Two.

At dawn on September 1, 1939, the German Luftwaffe (air force) bombarded Wielun, a town with no military significance. Thousands of people are estimated to have died in the bombings, designed to sow terror among the civilian population.

Steinmeier condemned the “desire to annihilate” that led to the attack.

“I bow my head before the Polish victims of Germany’s tyranny. And I ask forgiveness,” Steinmeier said, speaking in German and Polish.

Steinmeier spoke alongside his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, who denounced Nazi Germany’s attack on Poland as “an act of barbarity”.

At the ceremony, which began shortly after 4 a.m., a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the victims.

“Wielun was to show what kind of war it would be, that it would be a total war, a war without rules, a destructive war,”Duda said.

Other world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US VicePresident Mike Pence, will gather for a ceremony in the Polish capital, Warsaw.

Steinmeier, Duda and Pence will deliver speeches at the ceremony in Warsaw’s Pilsudski Square, the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Poland suffered some of the worst losses of World War Two: about six million of its citizens were killed, the BBC reported. Eighty years on, Poland is still demanding compensation from Germany for the death and destruction inflicted.

(Agencies)

WELLINGTON, SEP 1: The New outcomes for Maori and Pacific people,” Zealand government released the Cancer she added.

Action Plan for 2019-2029 on Sunday to improve cancer care and outcomes.

According to the Cancer Action Plan, New Zealand will launch a Cancer “Cancer touches just about every Control Agency to ensure consistent one of us at some stage in our lives. standards nationwide, while more On average 66 people every day are medicines for more people will be diagnosed with cancer and they deserve provided through an immediate funding world-class care,” Prime Minister Jacinda boost for Pharmaceutical Management Ardern said, Xinhua news agency Agency (PHARMAC) and faster decision reported. making process.

Health Minister David Clark said the government has listened to calls for strong central leadership and will deliver the promised Cancer Control Agency by Dec. 1, 2019.

(Agencies)

40 arrested after chaos in HK metro station

HONG KONG, SEP 1: At least 40 people have been arrested for “participating in an illegal assembly, destroying property and obstruction of justice” inside the Prince Edward metro station in Hong Kong, police said on Sunday.

Video footage showed members of the police’s Special Tactical Squad, known as “raptors”, charging into a stationary train at Prince Edward station on Saturday night, reports the South China Morning Post.

One clip showed officers from the squad hitting two men and two women in masks who were crying and cowering

The Chinese products affected by the punitive taxes include clothing, footwear and school supplies.

The Trump administration also has vowed to impose 15 per cent (up from an initial 10 percent) tariffs on Dec 15 on smartphones, laptops, video games and other consumer goods valued at around $160 billion.

Although the president had initially threatened to apply tariffs on those products on Sept 1, he later delayed them until mid-December so they do not adversely affect the holiday shopping season.

Trump announced a pair of tariff increases on Aug 23 in retaliation for tariffs imposed by China.

One affected imports of $250 billion worth of products that are used mainly by businesses and which began to be hit with 25 per cent tariffs starting in July 2018.

The other increase affected the consumer products that were subject to a 10 per cent tariff threat on Aug 1.

New Zealand announces cancer control agency

“We campaigned on improving cancer care and establishing a national cancer agency because after years of underfunding by the previous government our standard of care is variable and we have work to do to ensure better

WASHINGTON, SEP 1: The United States is preparing to impose 15 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports valued at roughly $112 billion, a rate five per cent points higher than President Donald Trump had initially threatened on Aug 1.

According to the Office of the US Trade Representative, those tariffs will go into effect news agencies reported.

Steinmeier and other world leaders are in Poland to commemorate the outbreak of the conflict, the BBC reported.

Earlier on Sunday, a ceremony was held in the Polish city of Wielun, where the first German bombs fell.

US set to impose 15% tariffs on Chinese imports

on the ground, while one officer pepper sprayed them.

As the officers left the cabin, other passengers, some of them masked, could be seen with their umbrellas up.

Other footage showed several commuters bleeding from head wounds, and officers tying up suspects who had been wrestled to the ground.

Police said they entered the station as there were protesters destroying ticketing machines and the control room window, and said they had received emergency calls about a dispute in the station.

(Agencies)

“Starting on October 1st, the 250 BILLION DOLLARS of goods and products from China, currently being taxed at 25 per cent, will be taxed at 30 per cent,” Trump said in one tweet.

“Additionally, the remaining 300 BILLION DOLLARS of goods and products from China, that was being taxed from September 1st at 10 percent, will now be taxed at 15 per cent.”

(Although Trump uses the figure of

$300 billion, the total value of Chinese imports to be hit with 15 per cent tariffs is closer to $272 billion).

Trump also said in a tweet on Aug 23 that the US “has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years.

They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen!”

“We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them. Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA,” he added.

According to a report by economist Chad Brown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, 50.6 per cent of Chinese imports are currently affected by tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

Once the 15 per cent tariffs on the $112 billion worth of imports go into effect Sunday, that percentage will grow to 68.5 per cent. Should 15 per cent tariffs go into effect on Dec 15 on the batch of roughly $160 billion worth of consumer electronics, around 96.8 per cent of Chinese imports would be subject to punitive taxes.

Trump’s Aug 23 announcement of tariff hikes came after China said earlier that day that starting Sept. 1 it would retaliate against the US by imposing 5 percent and 10 percent tariffs on $75 billion worth of American goods - mainly agricultural and automotive products imported from states that could be important to the US president’s reelection bid next year.

Trump launched the trade war as part of his “America First” bid to lower a wide trade deficit with China, but the tariffs imposed thus far have barely made a dent in that gap.

(Agencies)

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s account hacked

SAN FRANCISCO, AUG 31: Hackers on Saturday broke into Twitter Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey’s account and posted a flurry of rogue tweets, including racial slurs.

The micro-blogging platform later said that it secured Dorsey’s account which became victim of ‘SIM swapping’ or ‘SIM jacking’ where a mobile number is transferred to a new SIM card.

By taking control of Dorsey’s number, hackers posted tweets via text messages on his Twitter account. A hacker group called ‘Chuckling Squad’ claimed that it was behind the cyber attack on Dorsey’s Twitter account which has over 4 million followers.

“The phone number associated with the account was compromised due to a security oversight by the mobile provider,” Twitter said in a statement.

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“This allowed an unauthorised person to compose and send tweets via text messages from the phone number,” the company added.

According to TechCrunch, one of the tweets posted a Twitter handle of someone who purported to take credit for the account takeover. That account was immediately suspended. “We’re aware that @jack was compromised and we are investigating what happened,” said Twitter.

The tweets appear to have come via Cloudhopper, a company that Twitter previously acquired to help with its SMS service, reports The Verge. The hacker appears to be from the same group that attacked YouTube celebrities last week on Twitter, including beauty vlogger James Charles, Shane Dawson, and comedian King Bach.

(Agencies)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Hackers earned $21mn in last 12 months via bug bounty

SINGAPORE, AUG 30: Hackers earned $21 million in the last 12 months reporting vulnerabilities via various bug bounty opportunities as governments’ efforts to fix malware increased a whopping 214 per cent globally, a new report said on Friday.

Six hackers surpassed $1 million in lifetime earnings, seven more hit $500,000 in lifetime earnings and more than 50 earned $100,000 or more in the past year alone, revealed HackerOne, hacker-powered bug bounty platform.

The “2019 Hacker-Powered Security Report” examines trends from over 120,000 security vulnerabilities resolved for more than 1,400 customers, earning hackers over $62 million in bounties.

“Hacking is here for good, for the good of all of us. Half a million hackers have willingly signed up with HackerOne to help solve one of the greatest challenges our society faces today,” said HackerOne CEO Marten Mickos.

“We cannot prevent data breaches, reduce cybercrime, protect privacy or restore trust in society without pooling our defences and asking for external

Newspapers among the preferred choice for high-net worth individuals in India

FROM investment philosophy to tourist destination, here’s what India’s rich prefer for them according to the Hurun Research Institute on Friday released the ‘Hurun Indian Luxury Consumer Survey 2019.

This is the first year that the institute has published this report to reveal the changes and preferences of lifestyle, consumption habits and brand cognition of high-net-worth individuals in India (HNIs), and try to describe the changes in lifestyle of HNIs. Hurun Report Global’s ‘Best of the Best Brand Awards’ is widely regarded as an ISO for high net worth brands.

help,” he added.

The average bounty paid for critical vulnerabilities increased to $3,384 in the past year -- a 48 per cent increase over last year’s average of $2,281 and a 71 per cent increase over the 2016 average of $1,977.

Bounty values for less severe vulnerabilities are also rising, with the average platform-wide bounty increasing 65 per cent.

Strong bug bounty programme adoption took place in automotive (113 per cent), telecommunications (91 per cent), consumer goods (64 per cent), and cryptocurrency and Blockchain (64 per cent) industries.

(Agencies)

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Some of the findings given in the report: *Real Estate and Stock Market are the most preferred personal investments *More than one fourth said that their investment philosophy for this year will be “avoiding risk” *UK is the most preferred overseas investment destination, followed by Singapore *UK is also the most popular international tourist destination, followed by Italy and Maldives *Education tops the list of major expenditure, followed by travelling and entertainment *Watches are the preferred choice for men’s gifts *The most popular Indian liquor brand is Old Monk *Amongst collectibles, Indian HNIs prefer to spend the most on art *Newspaper followed by TV are the preferred choices for HNIs to access information “Increase in opulence and the rising

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millennial population in the country, investment into luxury products and service would witness an upward trend. If India’s GDP doubles in the next 4 years, that will have an impact on the number of new millionaires in the country – resulting in a direct impact on luxury spending and investments,” Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun Report India, said.

In order to understand the spend trends of UHNIs, it used the Hurun India Rich List, which features 831 richest Indians, Hurun India Real Estate List and Hurun India Women List.

The average age of the survey respondents is 35 years, with males and females accounting for 58% and 42% respectively. 51% are married, 46% are unmarried, and 2% are divorced. Their wealth sources are mainly composed of investment, dividends and wages.

They come from many states and cities across India, including Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and major second-tier cities and overseas cities, of which 64% are in the north and south.

(Agencies)

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SOCIAL MEDIA

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

WhatsApp helping Indian entrepreneurs write success stories

NEW DELHI, SEP 1: Ice cream lover Aarti Laxman Rastogi decided that not all indulgences need to be sinful and, in March 2018, she started Artinci to provide ice creams with premium, all-natural ingredients.

“When I started TBS Planet in July 2016 with comic book ‘Ved,’ it was a hobby,” said founder Rajeev Tamhankar.

“Soon, we got contracts from Balaji Motion Pictures and Ajay Devgn FFilms to create comics for their movies ‘A Flying Jatt’ and ‘Shivaay,’ respectively.

That’s when I quit my job and started this venture full-time”.

Running a business has its own challenges and she also had to go through hardship till she joined the WhatsApp Business app.

“I have a hearing disability. WhatsApp has become a great communication enabler for me. I text my way through the planning and execution of any business day. It helps give and receive instructions in writing too, and leaves no room for misinterpretation,” said Rastogi who now has a 14-member team with five outlets in WhatsApp, small and micro-enterprises are providing the majority of jobs in the Bengaluru, and two more coming soon. country and driving economic growth.

In addition to connecting Rastogi with “We’re excited to play a role in helping customers, WhatsApp Business app to match the enormous talent and helped the company launch a limited ambition of Indian entrepreneurs with edition ice creams made with jaggery. the opportunity of a very strong domestic “We sold out half of this batch through consumer base - and to make it easier to WhatsApp exclusively,” she added. tap a vibrant global market,” Bose said.

Several such success stories are Poonam Bir Kasturi has made home being written via WhatsApp in India. composting a habit for thousands of Many Indian entrepreneurs have built people globally with Daily Dump, India’s something from scratch and are seeing first home composter for urban spaces, it thrive and expand with support from the Facebook-owned app which has 400 which she designed in 2006. million users in the country.

Daily Dump offers pioneering solutions for decentralized waste management.

In a recent survey of Indian small Its range of composters, segregation businesses on WhatsApp, 77 per cent products, books, services and awareness said that it helps them connect with material enable people’s change in customers - including in other cities behaviour to harm the environment less. while 62 per cent said WhatsApp helps them increase sales and is essential for The company has a dedicated running their businesses.

WhatsApp Business number for According to Abhijit Bose, India Head,

customers to connect for any queries, support, information and other details, and also use WhatsApp Business groups to connect as a team internally and with partners in different parts of the country.

“We have many customers who reach out on our helpline with photos and we give them live demos on what to correct,” said Kasturi.

According to Will Cathcart, Global Head of WhatsApp, India is producing a new generation of small businesses and micro enterprises that are shaking up markets, growing economies and boosting jobs.

“We’re excited to see what more people are doing with WhatsApp, particularly in India, to grow their business and support their local communities,” he said during his India visit in July this year.

Amid the comic book craze, TBS Planet is working to bring Indian superheroes into the spotlight.

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Jabalpur-based TBS Planet which develops comics in six languages - Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bangla, Marathi, and English - is on WhatsApp Business app.

“Since almost everyone uses WhatsApp, it helped us scale distribution quickly. No one needed to download a new app to read our comics,” said Tamhankar.

Since they started using the WhatsApp Business app, the company has seen high growth rates, up to 40 per cent month over month. TBS Planet has approximately 14,000 subscribers - some from as far away as Dubai and the US. Many Indian entrepreneurs, said Cathcart who launched “Gateway to a Billion Opportunities” -- a collection of impactful user stories from across India”, have built something from scratch and are seeing it thrive and expand with support from WhatsApp. When WhatsApp Pay becomes a reality soon in India, these small and micro-businesses will thrive more as peer-to-peer (P2P) payments will be done within WhatsApp, keeping transactions simple and secure.

By Nishant Arora

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

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Facebook working on new Twitter, Facebook shut down messaging app to take on China-backed fake accounts Snapchat SAN FRANCISCO, AUG 20: As prodemocracy protests gain momentum in Hong Kong, Twitter and Facebook have suspended several accounts that were part of the Chinese government’s influence campaign and targeted protest movement and the call for political change in Hong Kong.

SAN FRANCISCO, AUG 27: In a fresh assault on Snapchat, Facebook is developing a new messaging app called “Threads” which will promote sharing your status, location and more with your closest friends.

Twitter said it has suspended more than 200,000 accounts involved in coordinated inauthentic behaviour -including 936 accounts originating from within the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

According to The Verge, “Threads” which is being tested internally at Facebook is meant to be a companion to photo-sharing app Instagram.

“Threads invites users to automatically share their location, speed, and battery life with friends, along with more typical text, photo, and video messages using Instagram’s creative tools,” the report said late Monday.

Earlier this year, Instagram put an end to “Direct”, its standalone camera-first messaging app which was used to send Instagram direct messages.

Initially launched in six countries -- Chile, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Turkey and Uruguay --Ain 2017, the Direct app came in with plenty of Snapchat-style filters and also allowed users to swipe down from the top of the screen to type messages to their Instagram contacts.

This time, a messaging app built around close friends might be more popular.

“For Facebook and Instagram, which have long coveted Snapchat’s strong

engagement among younger users, ‘Threads’ could represent another effort to chip away at their rival’s appeal,” said the report.

The core of Threads appears to be messaging, and it looks very similar to the existing messaging product inside Instagram.

Photo-messaging app Snapchat is the most preferred social networking platform among the US teenagers, surpassing the user base of Facebook and Instagram in that age-category.

In its latest campaign called #RealFriends, photo-messaging app Snapchat took a jibe at Instagram, asserting that close friends choose Snapchat for sharing personal photomessages.

(Agencies)

“Overall, these accounts were deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground,” Twitter said in a blog post late Monday.

The company identified large clusters of accounts behaving in a coordinated manner to amplify messages related to the Hong Kong protests.

“As Twitter is blocked in China, many of these accounts accessed Twitter using VPNs. However, some accounts accessed Twitter from specific unblocked IP addresses originating in mainland China,” the micro-blogging platform added.

The accounts were suspended for a range of violations of Twitter’s platform manipulation policies like spam, coordinated activity, fake accounts, attributed activity and violative content.

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The micro-blogging platform said it will also ban ads from China-backed media companies, for which it has already faced the flak from users.

Facebook said it has also removed seven Pages, three Groups and five accounts originated in China and involved in posting fake news pertaining to the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.

The individuals behind this campaign engaged in a number of deceptive tactics, including the use of fake accounts, “some of which had been already disabled” to manage Pages posing as news organisations, post in Groups, disseminate their content, and also drive people to off-platform news sites.

“About 15,500 accounts followed one or more of these Pages and about 2,200 accounts joined at least one of these Groups,a Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of Cybersecurity Policy at Facebook, said in a blog post.

“Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government,” he added.

Based on a tip shared by Twitter about activity they found on their platform, Facebook conducted an internal investigation into suspected coordinated inauthentic behaviour in the region and identified the malicious accounts.

(Agencies)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

22

G’Day Mate

!

GETTING MARRIED IN AUSTRALIA

Marriage data from 2017 In Australia, there were 112,954 marriages registered and 49,032 divorces granted in 2017. Over threequarters (79.1%) of these marriages were registered in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. New South Wales recorded the largest decrease in registered marriages (2,430) between 2016 and 2017.

In 2017, Australia’s marriage rate was 4.6 marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population. This compared with 4.9 marriages per 1,000 persons in 2016, 5.5 in 2007 and 5.8 in 1997.

The median age at marriage for males in 2017 was 32.0 years, an increase from 31.9 years of age in 2016. The median age at marriage for females in 2017 was 30.1 years, an increase of 0.2 years since 2016. This is the first time the median age at marriage for females exceeded 30 years of age.

The median age at marriage has remained relatively stable for both males and females for more than a decade, increasing by only 0.4 years for males and 0.8 years for females since 2007.

The median age at first marriage in 2017 was 30.4 years of age for males and 28.8 years of age for females. The median age at first marriage has slowly increased for both males and females over the past decade, with a 0.8-year increase for males and a 1.2-year increase for females since 2007.

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The majority of marriages continues to be overseen by Civil celebrants.

The proportion of marriage ceremonies overseen by a civil celebrant increased to 78.0 per cent of all marriages in 2017. In 2017, the majority of brides (80.9%) and grooms (79.3%) had not been married before.

The number of divorces granted increased by 2,428 (5.2%) in 2017 and the divorce rate increased from 1.9 divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population in 2016 to 2.0 divorces per 1,000 estimated resident population in 2017.

The median age at divorce for both males and females was unchanged in 2017. For males the median age at divorce was 45.5 years of age and the median age of females was 42.9 years of age. The median duration from marriage to divorce in 2017 also remained stable at 12.0 years

OFF BEAT

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Foreigners return home with ‘mudra and meditation’ from Rajasthan Says Sharon from Hong Kong, “After completing yoga training in Jaipur, I returned to Hong Kong and started teaching at yoga studios. Currently, I’m implementing mindfulness and yoga to make a difference in young bodies and minds at an international primary school.

I also work there as a full-time primary school teacher.”

JAIPUR, AUG 25: Foreign tourists visiting the Rajasthan capital are not just city hopping but have a definite purpose of late -- they are coming to learn yoga and taking it to their native shores.

These travellers to the culturally-rich city learn mudra and meditation, and then go on to open yoga centres in their countries to reap the twin benefits of health and wealth there.

Palma from Spain, says, “There is a yoga boom in Spain. When I came to Jaipur for six months with my husband on a official tour, I was suggested by my niece, who runs a yoga centre for corporates in Barcelona, to learn the art of yoga and meditation during my stay.

She said people in Spain wanted to practice yoga and it would be good if I learn it.

“I did my quick search and zeroed in on one of the centres. It was an amazing feeling to learn this ancient practice, which made me calm, agile and active.

On return to Spain, I shall be starting my yoga classes in October as September is pretty hot and people are in holiday mood.”.

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Internet sensation Ranu Mondal records new song with Himesh Reshammiya

While these professionals have taken yoga to the next level in foreign lans, Daphn Dudemaine, a yoga professional in France, plans to visit India with her students to take part in yoga sessions here and introduce them to the rich cultural legacy of this nation.

“I am a yoga integral teacher. I impart yoga to groups, associations and yoga studios. I also give private lessons and organise yoga internships and retreats in France or other nations. In 2020, I will organise yoga retreats in Cyprus and Greece. India is also on my calendar. I will visit India in October/November to prepare this project. With this, I want to share yoga and introduce my students to the Indian culture,” Dudemaine said.

On the occasion of the International Yoga Day, I organised an event that was open to all of my city to discover yoga.

After the first edition, I went to the Indian embassy in Paris, who supported me for the 2nd edition, Dudemaine said.

Not only these foreign guests are taking yoga beyond borders, Indian too are spreading this ancient art of meditation across the globe.

By Archana Sharma

MUMBAI, AUG 30: After recording her first song “Teri meri kahani”, Indian internet sensation Ranu Mondal has sung another track for singer-composer Himesh Reshammiya, titled “Aadat”.

Reshammiya took to Instagram and shared a glimpse of the recording session of the song, which will be featured in his upcoming movie “Happy Hardy And Heer”, He captioned the video: “After the epic blockbuster track ‘Teri meri kahani’, recorded another track ‘Aadat’ from ‘Happy Hardy And Heer’, in the divine voice of Ranu mandol , here’s the glimpse of the song , the alaap and

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voice over is the theme of ‘Happy, Hardy And Heer, thanks for all your love and support.”

Mondal became an overnight social media sensation after avideo of her singing Lata Mangeshkar’s soulful number “Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai” on a railway platform went viral on the internet.

The video went viral in no time and turned Mondal into a singing sensation on the internet. It also paved way for her phenomenal rise from a street singer to her debut as a playback singer in Bollywood.

(Agencies)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

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GLITZ & GLAMOUR

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

25

A recap of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, one of the city’s iconic celebrations of the arts

MITU BHOWMICK LANGE, THE FORCE BEHIND IFFM If the theme of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne is courage, it begins with its creator- Mitu Bhowmick Lange as she serves both artistes and the audience with courage. The force behind what has now come to be known as the southern hemisphere’s biggest celebration of films, Lange exemplifies both courage and conviction as she rolls the IFFM into its tenth year and makes it grow to newer heights.

as ‘strangely diverse’ as the Indian film industry, Lange has managed to bring Indian cinema to Australia and to the diaspora, for whom films are what they hanker for to step back into nostalgia and time. Of course, not to mention the honour with which stars are felicitated, Khan added.

As per readers of G’day India and The Indian Weekly, Lange is indeed courage personified. To organise events of such magnitude as the IFFM Awards Night, the Indian flag hoisting ceremony Chief guest and Bollywood King Shah and Bollywood dance competition at Rukh Khan, recounted Lange’s dream of Federation Square, masterclasses starting an Indian film festival a decade with Bollywood royalty and outstanding ago when he was shooting for Chak De in actors and filmmakers and bringing a Melbourne over card games they played selection of films that reflect diversity and during off time. Lange’s nascent dream inclusion is no mean task. That added then is now a full-fledged thriving reality, with the logistics of providing security something that Khan says is at once “so and maintaining order is something that heartening and so encouraging”. And require great management skills and there is his reason why: for something foresight. Indeed, this icon of a lady

deserves credit where it is due.

Ten years ago, getting Indian films and stars to Australia was a rarity and for the hundreds and thousands of Indians and Australians, a selfie with their favourite is no longer a far-fetched dream, thanks to Lange. Standing confident, tall and unfazed by the glitterati, Lange has only one thing on her mind: that the festival is always a success, the guests treated with utmost hospitality and every Melburnian carries a memory to take home.

Lange is happy that “many incredible voices that have come out”. Her festival, she says, has always been tied to the principles of diversity and inclusion, which is why films being showcased are selected with great care.

This year the festival entered its 10th sweet year with Lange able to stretch and challenge the notions of film and

entertainment by bringing to Australia the best in the arts. “We have always believed that films are the greatest cultural bridge between countries and communities and IFFM continues to be that with the guests that it invites and with its programs,” she said.

And with courage she makes her contribution to something bigger than herself on the landscape of Australia’s cultural and entertainment landscape.

Importantly, fostering such a pioneering idea about cinema among Australia’s burgeoning Indian community and mainstream Australians is a dream many would want to realise.

AWARDS NIGHT Best Actor: Vijay Sethupathi for Super Deluxe Best Actress: Tabu for Andhadhun Best Film: Gully Boy Best Director: Sriram Raghavan for Andhadhun Best Indie film: Bulbul Can Sing Best Short Film: My Name is Mohamed and Raghad, We Don’t Exist Anymore Be My Brother Diversity in Cinema: Onir Telstra People’s Choice Award: Simmba Excellence in Cinema: Shah Rukh Khan PwC Equality in Cinema: Chuskit PwC Equality in Cinema: Super Deluxe (G’day Staff)

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26

QUEST FOR IDENTITY

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Ravi Chand attempts to create awareness about culture & identity

F

or more than 20 years of his life, Ravi Chand struggled with his identity. Was he Australian?

Was he Fijian? Was he Indian?

These conflicting thoughts presented themselves to him more starkly when he tried to enter the screen industry.

He was often told there were no lead roles for a brown people which is no fault of the casting agent, as it starts in the writer’s room. It took Chand more than two decades to resolve his identity crisis and today he is on a path to create awareness about culture and identity to help others going through the same.

for who I am and it didn’t matter,” says Chand, who also knew that when he met his grandmother he, on some level also embodied all of her six kids who had tragically passed away. A responsibility he took very seriously.

But importantly, it was his grandmother telling him not to apologise for who he was that Chand felt anchored. She could see the hesitation in him as Chand struggled to speak to her in his broken Hindi. She made him realise he was born in Fiji, carried Indian heritage and is also

roles to happen, he decided to create them for himself.

This year, Chand was accepted into the Documentary Australia Foundation Story Moreover, meeting his grandmother Works initiative backed by Film Victoria. anchored him to the point where he knew The large scale of the documentary he is exactly who he was and what he wanted working on is called Colonial Lies and is to say in the world. focussed on “uncovering the lies of British colonial history and how all people of Chand created screen projects with the colour and first nations and how people aim to bring some change. “I don’t want around the world are all interconnected,” my son, my nephews and nieces to grow say Chand who established his company up feeling the same way I did, feeling Entertainment Embassy in 2007, which totally disconnected from their culture and morphed into a digital content and film ridiculed by their school friends just to fit production company while working parallel as an actor.

Chand’s great grandparents moved from India to Fiji as part of the indentured labour system. He was born in Fiji and when he was very young his family migrated to Australia. But it was when he lost his mother to a car accident at the young age of 12 that he started to grapple with the huge question of identity.

At the same time, he is documenting his story going back to Fiji, discovering his grandmother and also looking at the Girmit history of how Indians came to Fiji. The documentary is called FiveYear Grandma. Sadly, his grandmother recently passed away (30 minutes before Chand could get to her), which makes his project all the more meaningful.

“Missing mum and growing up through racism at school and, on the opposite end, trying to assimilate into Australian life but being teased by your family for being too Australian – I just felt I didn’t fit in anywhere that I went,” he reflects.

His web series titled Brothers of Kin is a crime drama and a different story altogether but all his projects are tied to the theme of identity. Interestingly, the web series were shortlisted for the Sundance YouTube New Voices Lab and Chand was accepted into the Cinespace Writer’s Fellowship program supported by the Victorian State Government.

These issues didn’t fade with time. “I grew up thinking that to be Australian and to be assimilated into Australian life and be accepted, I had to completely disassociate from my culture. I became completely Australian as I could possibly become. And then as I was getting older, I found out it doesn’t make a difference,” he explains.

At the same time, he wanted to find out more about his roots as Chand had little idea about the origins of his family. When Chand found out about his maternal grandmother, who he had assumed was dead, something changed. “I found out my grandmother was alive after 24 years,” reveals Chand, who wasted no time to reconnect with her. So it was five years ago that he took this historic visit to Fiji to meet a woman who was the solid link to his past.

“When I met my grandma, it was the very first time that I started to realise who I was. It was also the first time I felt I was really wanted by somebody. I felt unconditional love, someone loved me

Ravi with his mother

In September 2017, Chand was selected to attend the highly competitive Talent Camp run by Screen Australia, Film Victoria and AFTRS, which has given him the tools to develop his ideas and put him on their radar. The same year in November, he was offered a scholarship to attend the Compton School’s film business course backed by Film Victoria.

Australian, and that still made him her grandson; he didn’t have to pick a side, he could be all of them.

Like Chand, hundreds of South Asians undergo identity crisis. Chand experienced them in his career in the screen industry. Starting out as an actor 10 years ago, a casting director told him that no matter how good he was, if nobody wrote a lead role for someone that looked like him there was very little they could do. So, rather than waiting for

in. I want them to know that it’s OK to be Australian and also OK to be true to their own culture. That’s my mission to make sure that that gets there in the world, not just in Australia but globally.”

However, studying the marketplace in Australia made him realise that it was hard to get a feature film for a screen writer with no official credits so he started developing a TV show aimed directly at streaming through mediums such as Amazon, Netflix, Stan, etc.

Ravi meeting his Grandmother

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Screen Australia and Film Victoria are doing an amazing job of providing opportunities, says Chand, adding, “It is a bit difficult to get into those initiatives and it should be, but at the same time there is a lot of us that have been working on this for a very long time. And I feel it will eventually kick over.”

With his projects, Chand is creating stories that create strong culturally diverse talent and stories.

Today, Chand realises identity is a fluid thing. “You can certainly get through this world by not having anything to do with your culture and be very successful, and, if that’s your choice that’s OK. But for some that want to connect or for even those that have that awakening it is something quite extraordinary to understand the magic that came before you, and how people of all colour around the world are inter-connected. It is hard to explain, it is something you feel inside on a spiritual level. Once you understand that, I think that helps you as a person,” he sums up.

By Indira Laisram

QUEST FOR IDENTITY

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

27

Sanchita Abrol brings her

presence to Australia k a Kath

S

anchita Abrol did not foray into dancing by chance but she admits ‘Kathak found her and she found Kathak’ one afternoon when she was very young.

There has been no looking back since.

After being trained under renowned gurus in India such as Padma Shri (India’s fourth highest civilian award) winner Shovana Narayan, Abrol has performed in many international platforms. In 2014, Abrol came to study her Master’s in Public Policy and Management from the University of Melbourne. The Melbourne connect was immediate, the city felt like home and today she works as a public policy consultant here while, at the same time, being fully immersed in propagating the Indian classical dance form of Kathak teaching all over Australia and in India. As founder and director of Kathakprana Dance Academy in Melbourne, Abrol is a cultural entrepreneur and a thought leader.

She tells G’day India about her Kathak journey and what it means to be a cultural entrepreneur in multicultural Australia.

in Hungary 2016, ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) Festival of India in Italy 2016 and ICCR Festival of India in Morocco 2016 among others. But even though I have represented India in various stages and at various levels, the best memory is the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. Representing the host country and being part of the main stage artistes was an emotional but proud experience.

How did the Australia chapter of your life begin?

I was working in development projects with Ernst & Young and KPMG when in 2014, I got the opportunity to study

Where did your interest in Kathak stem from and how did it evolve?

I was about fiveyears old in Rohtak, Haryana, when I used to accompany my older sister to her dance class, she was learning Odissi then. Watching her sparked a certain interest and I would imitate her movements.

But my decision to start Kathak was circumstantial. I was playing with my friend who was learning Kathak and I happened to accompany her.

When the teacher saw me, he said ‘why don’t you join in as well?’

The moment I did that I realised I really liked the dance flow. It just felt so natural to me, I felt I didn’t have to do much and I could find myself in that dance. But I couldn’t understand that at that age. Later on, I realised how I love Kathak and how I cannot live without it. So yes, it was by chance and luck that I found Kathak and Kathak found me.

a Master’s degree in Public Policy and Management at the University of Melbourne. When I came here, I liked the place, the environment and the people.

Even though I have travelled everywhere, Melbourne immediately felt like home. I stayed on to fulfil my academic, dancing and social goals. And I established the Kathakprana Dance Academy here.

My initial training was under Guru Ved Vyas ji and later with Kathak maestro and Padma Shri awardee Shovana Narayan.My Kathak journey has been very long and interesting. I started dancing professionally at a very early age, and since then I have performed at many international platforms like Ganges-Danube Cultural Festival of India

How is Kathak received in Australia?

Kathak is not that well known among the population here unlike in Europe or in the UK where it enjoys large popularity. There are many reasons to that, but most probably it is because the north Indian population came much later. There are very few Kathak schools here but a noticeable trend is that as

people are getting interested and asking some kind of earning. Later on, when questions about it. It’s a good time to start you establish yourself and gathered expressing what Kathak means. the experience through all the other opportunities you got on the way, you What sort of initiatives are you can move on and establish your business taking to maintain the interest of if you want to do nothing else. But it is Kathak dance here? a long journey, it is not easy. I am still My personal objective is to reimagine struggling and, probably, all my gurus too our cultural communities through because even if you reach that stage, you Kathak – something I have been working want to do more. The problem is, artistes for a long time now. What I mean by are never satisfied as they are driven to reimagining cultural communities is do more in their field - which is a good being aware and bringing on stage these thing! cultural communities through Kathak. We are all global citizens now and we need to What advice would you give to explore the depth and beauty of various others who are interested in building cultures, their linguistic properties and an arts-based business?

Don’t think of running one small institute with one or two annual functions.

Develop a broader perspective of how you can communicate with other artistes, how you can interact with other art forms and how you can put all of these together. There needs to be creativity not just in your own art forms but also in how you express what you have to tell. The whole journey then becomes easy as you come to know your audience, your capacity and how to progress in that. So, it is very important for artistes to communicate with one another. In Australia we have multiculturalism, but we have to think beyond multicultural opportunities that are available and look at interacting with other artistes on different platforms.

their elements of history. Because Kathak means story-telling, the benefit is that I can tell these stories to the world through dancing.

As a cultural entrepreneur, how can one combine creativity with business approach?

As a cultural entrepreneur, you are always competing with many to get few of the sponsorships that are available either through government or private opportunities. I always recommend that it is always good to find the job that you like first. It applies to any field, say, as an artiste you can start working as a manager for some senior artistes or you can start dancing in the troupe of some senior artistes so that you have at least

www.gdayindia.com.au | M: 0412-114-383

What do you derive out of this commitment to Kathak?

Dancing for me is like a spiritual journey.

It’s not just about movement but also dancing in space and dancing in your soul. Whenever I go on stage or dance in my own studio and no matter what I am going through in life, I get a sense of contentment that calms me down. Dance has become a part of my life. The days I don’t dance are the days I am not happy.

I feel I was just born to be a dancer and that I am doing my work. I believe I am passing on knowledge with every step that I take or every choreography that I do or every student that I teach. So it’s that satisfaction which is sometimes hard to express in words. I intend to continue my tryst with Kathak for life alongside balancing my academic and social goals.

(As told to G’day India)

28

MISS FUNNY BONE

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Sunanda Sachatrakul on being openly gay and her debut at Melbourne Fringe Festival

B

y her own telling, Sunanda Sachatrakul admits she has a peculiar last name. A third generation Punjabi Thai, her great, great grandfather moved to Thailand from India before Partition.

“My father adopted a Thai first and last name because at the time, that was the Law for all “Thais” to have a Thai name. Originally, we were Sachdev, but the law was also that you could not have the same last name as another family, but since there were so many Sachdevs, everyone began to invent different spellings or similar sounding names leading us to Sachatrakul,” says Sunanda.

The Punjabi community in Bangkok is small and close-knit. ‘’Everybody knows everybody, mostly because everybody is related to everybody. We all went to the same Hindu temple or the Gurudwara, same weddings, and we all worked next to each other in China Town. We don’t have a family tree, just a family bush,’’ she laughs.

it could take me 30 years to process this information about myself, I was going to have to give them more time than the 24 hours I gave them before they gave me their response.

A year later, I went back to Bangkok and put up a secret show about me being gay where I invited 40 of my relatives.

They all came to support me as I am the baby of the family, but they didn’t know what to expect. Most of my cousins really loved it, some were not surprised at all, which is the same reaction my friends had when I told them I was gay. Let me tell you, this was really disappointing when you think something is really big news after decades of your life being kept under wraps and then you share it with your close friends only to be told, ‘I am so glad you know now too’ (laughs).

How did you foray into comedy?

After I told my parents, I went back to my life in New York. I started doing comedy because it was as if one door had opened to a part of who I really was so that other doors could open. I felt a lot freer and I felt I could pursue other things that were true to me as well. I have a background in production and worked on multiple comedic shorts, feature film, many marketing events and concerts. But what I didn’t realise was that I had things to say of my own and I always took a backseat to other people’s visions earlier.

But after I came out as gay, I realised comedy was something that really appealed to me, set me on fire and gave me life. I realised this when I was working with a friend who is a photographer and takes pretty photos. When I tried to give comedic input to her works, she told me ‘go find your own creative expression’.

That’s how I started taking comedy

Given this background, Sunanda assumed she was being the good daughter, studying hard and not dating boys until she came to her own realisation that she was queer in her late 20s. But opening up to her family took a lot of courage. Once she did that, it opened other doors for her and she found her calling in comedy. This September, Sunanda will be making her debut at the Melbourne Fringe Festival with a onehour solo. Sunanda talks to G’day India about her coming out of the closet and career.

classes.

I started taking improv classes in New York at the Annoyance Theatre and I also took a solo character workshop there.

Three years ago when I went home to Bangkok and did the show for my family members, a stand-up club promoter in Bangkok approached me and asked me if I wanted to participate in a stand-up competition. I gave it a shot and ended up winning. It was the Magners Big V competition, the Magners International Comedy Festival is one of the largest in Asia. After I won for Bangkok, I went to Singapore, got second place there and the next year I toured a few other Asian cities with Magnus International Comedy Festival as a stand-up.

After that I moved back to Los Angeles and started taking lessons at The Groundlings Theater and Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre - very worldrenowned comedy schools that focus on improv and sketch comedy and that was my introduction to improv and sketch comedy. I auditioned for some sketch teams in LA at different theatres and I got on a couple of sketch teams. I thought ‘OK this is what I am doing now’.

I was also accepted as a writer in the CBS Diversity Sketch Showcase which is an initiative by CBS, one of the biggest channels in the US that create diverse talent. There I met other brown, desi gay kids who had to fight their families at some level and it was great to have a community of other like-minded performers in Los Angeles. I think that’s when I really grew as a performer.

I started a show in LA called Indian Wedding, it was a monthly variety show where I would host as a character with another performer. We would showcase south Asian talent that we found in LA – whether it was musical, comedic, poetry, video filmmakers, it was fantastic.

When did you realise you were gay?

I was in the closet for a very long time. To myself I said I was gay when I was 27. I never had a relationship before 27, I never had boyfriends and I always rationalised it to being a good girl ‘because mummy and daddy don’t want me to have a boyfriend’. Something sparked in me when I was living in New York being out of the small community I grew up in, being surrounded by very bright people and open perspectives and a lot of culture that it clicked I was queer.

I also felt I had to be honest with my parents first before seriously dating.

Then my US work visa ran out and at the same time I met my girlfriend in Bangkok so I moved back last year, took a little pause from accelerating comedy just because there weren’t many venues or opportunities to perform in Bangkok.

Now, I am excited to be in Melbourne where I am doing comedies several nights a week and am about to present my first hour-long solo show at the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

How did you open up to your family and what were their reactions?

I have always had a pretty open relationship with my parents who are quite the conservative Punjabi couple raised in Bangkok but educated in India.

I had to tell them because I didn’t want them to find out through social media as word travels very fast. So when I was home on a trip I remembered finding the courage to tell them.

What would you tell people who demarcate love on the basis of gender?

People who are homophobic or are scared of gay people for any reason or even disgusted, I just want to say get to know somebody who is gay. I also want you to think back and realise that the reason homosexuality was illegal in India is not because it is an Indian value, it was a Victorian English value. So, this is your way to fight colonialism.

Their official statement was ‘take it out of your mind’. I told them that’s what I was trying to do for the past 30 years leading me to this point where I couldn’t keep it a secret anymore. I realised that if

(As told to Indira Laisram)

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SPORTS

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

29

Bumrah enters history books Crash kills Formula 2 driver at with hat-trick, says owes it Kohli Belgium GP

KINGSTON, SEP 1: Jasprit Bumrah became the third Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket after he dismissed Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks and Roston Chase off consecutive balls on Day 2 of the second Test between India and West Indies.

BRUSSELS, SEP 1: Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert was killed in a crash at the Belgium Grand Prix (GP), said motorsport’s governing body FIA.

Bumrah’s historic feat came in the ninth over, he went on to take three more wickets to finish Day 2 with a six-wicket haul. Shimron Hetmyer -- who fell to Mohammed Shami -was the only man to fall to another bowler on Saturday in Kingston as West Indies were reduced to 87/7 in reply to India’s 416.

According to a BBC report, the incident took place on Saturday when the 22-yearold Frenchman’s car suffered a huge impact from the car of American Juan Manuel Correa at about 170 mph at the Raidillon swerves.

Bumrah had started the innings with the wicket of opener John Campbell in the seventh over. In his next over, he started with a wide outswinger that Bravo left alone.

The next was a length delivery that was pitched on middle stump swinging away. Bravo was forced to play and got a high edge that flew to K.L. Rahul at second slip, who did well to take the low catch.

Correa was admitted to the intensive care of a hospital where his condition is

Shamarh Brooks was then caught dead in front of the stumps with an inswinger.

Brooks reviewed the decision but replays only confirmed that the ball will be hitting the wicket if it wasn’t for his front pad.

Chase then took a full swinger low on his pads. The umpire turned down the LBW appeal from the Indian players but captain Virat Kohli went for the review.

Interestingly, none of his teammates were too enthusiastic about taking the decision upstairs but replays showed that Kohli was right in going for it. The ball was hitting leg stump and the umpire had to reverse his decision.

This is only the 44th instance of a bowler taking a hat-trick in the history of Test cricket and the third time that an Indian has done so. Harbhajan Singh did so in the historic Eden Gardens Test

between India and Australia in 2001 when he got Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne off consecutive deliveries.

Irfan Pathan then dismissed Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf in the third Test of India’s 2005/06 tour of Pakistan in Karachi.

The third wicket of the hat-trick was that of Roston Chase but India’s initial appeal against him for LBW was turned down by the umpire. While Bumrah did not look convinced about it, Kohli went for the review and as it turned out, the ball was hitting the stumps.

(Agencies)

DERBY (UK), SEP 1: Australia’s pace spearhead Josh Hazlewood is confident of doing well in the remaining two Ashes assignments, as he feels he is bowling well and hitting the right areas.

“I can’t see why not unless we bowl a mountain of overs in the next game, but the body’s feeling really,” Hazlewood said when asked about the workload pacers need to take in such a long five-day series.

(Agencies)

Osaka overwhelms 15-year-old Gauff at US Open

NEW YORK, SEP 1: Cori “Coco” Gauff has already proven the Grand Slam spotlight isn’t too bright for a 15-year-old.

After two thrilling wins at the US Open, she has quickly become a crowd favorite with her powerful groundstrokes and an energetic game, Efe news reported.

On Saturday night, Gauff faced her biggest test, a third-round matchup in Arthur Ashe Stadium against defending champion Naomi Osaka, the world’s No.1-ranked player.

“I’m just curious to see how my game matches up against her,” Gauff said ahead of the match at Flushing Meadows here. “Obviously I want to win.”

“The body’s really good,” Hazlewood was quoted as saying by www.cricket.com.au.

Hazlewood did not play the first Test which Australia won before returning to the squad in Lord’s following a back injury. He was impressive in Headingley with a career-best match haul of 9-115, which included 5-30 in England’s first innings of 67.

The race was stopped after the crash when the seriousness of the accident came to light.

Bumrah said that he owes his hat-trick to captain Virat Kohli as the latter decided to review an LBW decision even when he was not sure about it. Bumrah on Saturday became the third Indian bowler to get a hat-trick in Test cricket as India reduced West Indies to 87/7 on Day 2 of the second Test in Kingston.

Hazlewood confident of continuing good work with ball

“I felt a lot better at Headingley than Lord’s, just getting those miles into the legs in that first Test (back),” he added.

stated to be stable after a surgery.

On his bowling, he said: “It certainly feels like I’m bowling well. Ever since I bowled at Worcester a few weeks back, I took it into Lord’s and into Headingley.”

The fourth Ashes Test starts from Wednesday in Manchester after England rode Ben Stokes’ epic 135 not out to level the five-match series 1-1 at Headingley.

Hazlewood and other Australian pacers like Pat Cummins and James Pattinson failed to stop Stokes who smashed eight sixes to take England from 286/9 at one stage to gun down a target of 359.

(Agencies)

point. But that wasn’t enough as Osaka showed her experience by exploiting her younger opponent’s weakness, breaking Gauff’s serve in that game and two other times in the set to close out the match at love in the second set.

After the match, with Gauff in tears, Osaka asked her to join her on the court for her post-match interview. Gauff thanked Osaka for her support.

Osaka addressed Gauff’s family and friends, saying how remarkable it was that two girls from the same Florida area both have made it to tennis’s grandest stage.

“Coco, I think you are amazing,” she said.

Although Gauff may very well develop into one of the sport’s best players, she Both players said their fathers are isn’t quite there yet. Osaka, 21, controlled friends, and they recalled a practice most of the rallies and was stronger session two years ago in Miami, when physically, in a 6-3, 6-0 win that took one Gauff was only 13. hour and five minutes.

“That was super cool. I was able to In an error-riddled first set, Osaka keep the ball on the court. I was super raced out to a 3-0 lead, hitting seven nervous,” Gauff said. winners. Gauff clawed back to take the next two games but continued to struggle After winning back-to-back Grand Slam to hold her serve. In the eighth game of titles, with victories at the US Open last the match, Osaka broke Gauff’s serve year and the Australian Open in January, for the third time in the set and then held Osaka split with her coach Sascha Bajin. serve to take the set 6-3.

She has struggled with her consistency In the opening game of the second since the change and entered this set, Gauff quickly fell behind 0-30 on her tournament with concerns over a knee serve. After hitting her first serve into the injury. Osaka will lose the No. 1 ranking net, Gauff swung her racket in disgust. if No. 2 Ashleigh Barty reaches the quarterfinals here or if No. 3 Karolina The crowd offered encouragement and Pliskova reaches the semifinals.

(Agencies) cheered loudly when Gauff won the next

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30

TRAVEL

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

BLUE SEA

and belly dances turn Istanbul into travellers’ delight

T

he scintillating blue water of the Bosphorus strait and the high boundary walls of the erstwhile Byzantine civilisation strewn with royal structures in every nook and corner of Istanbul offer travellers everything they would ask for on a holiday.

Thanks to Bollywood, Indians have of late become acquainted with various parts of Istanbul and Turkey at large.

The film “Guru” (2007), apart from picturising the sizzling belly dance in the song ‘Mayya Mayya’, had also shown Istanbul’s Nuruosmaniye Mosque. Also, several scenes of “Baby” (2015), a film based on international terrorism, were shot in the Turkish capital.

Belly dancing is very popular in entire Turkey. One can visit a night club to get a glimpse of this spectacular show. Belly dancers are even hired for private parties and weddings.

The scenic beauty of the place and various historical sites spanning several civilisations have always attracted tourists from across the globe.

Istanbul, earlier known as Constantinople and Byzantium, is the most populous (around 15 million) city in Turkey with the majority of the population believing in Islam. Uniquely located in two continents -- Europe and Asia -- the city is home to seven hills. Thus, while travelling across the city, one experiences a lot of undulating landscapes.

Emerging from Istanbul’s Kemal Ataturk Airport and approaching the city, one can see a lot of construction work under way in this centuries-old city. But as one heads deeper into the city the high walls of Byzantine civilisation stand tall to welcome visitors.

In some parts of the city, the old houses may make Indians feel they are in Goa. A cruise down the Bosphorus strait along the azure coloured Marmara Sea, looking at the landscape and buildings in Asia on one side and Europe on the other, makes

people feel they are straddling two worlds.

And when one is tired of taking selfies and clicking pictures of the sea and the beautiful palaces alongside, a host of eateries are there along the strait waiting to welcome guests. On alighting from the cruise, one can adequately satisfy gastronomical desires.

One must-visit is the Blue Mosque or the Sultan Ahmed Mosque with its five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes. It was built between 1609 and 1616 during the Ottoman period.

Adjacent to Blue Mosque is the Topkapi Palace. This was one of the major residencies of the Ottoman sultans for around 400 years. The sprawling palace, which overlooks the Marmara Sea, has interesting museums of armoury and clocks. The royal structures and the greenery around cast a sort of spell on every visitor.

For food connoisseurs, Istanbul is a mustvisit destination. A visit to a fine Ottoman

cuisine restaurant, Asitane, will surprisingly reveal an extensive vegetarian menu.

It serves dishes like Ottoman humus, which is crushed chickpeas, lightly pureed with currants and cinnamon powder; Lor cheese blend, a mix of Lor cheese with scallions, parsley, green peppers and tomatoes, seasoned with rosemary and paprika among many other preparations.

If you want to loosen your purse strings, the places to go are the Spice Bazaar and the Grand Bazaar. The Spice Bazaar, as the name suggests, offers a variety of exotic spices and herbs along with other Turkish delights, while the Grand Bazaar has everything from hand-painted porcelain items and textiles to gold jewellery.

The warmth of Turkish hospitality is visibly in the hawkers’ attempt to lure Indians by singing film legend Raj Kapoor’s famous “Awara hoon...”

Even film star Aamir Khan is quite popular among the masses. Many recalled watching his hit movie “3 Idiots”.

But tourism has taken a hit after the attempted military coup in mid-July that claimed at least 90 lives in Ankara and left around 1,150 injured.

“We get a lot of Indian tourists, but they are mostly from the US or Europe. In the last few years we have seen lots of tourists coming from China as well. But, of course, after the coup attempt, the flow of tourists has slowed,” Ozlem, a tourist guide told said.

The Turkish government and Turkish Airlines are going all out to spread the word that the country is safe and tourists can visit without fear.

The best time to visit is AprilMay and September-October.

By Aparajita Gupta

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G’DAYG’DAY INDIAINDIA | JANUARY | SEP 2018 2014

ART & CULTURE BEAUTY

Striking Parallelism in Science and Spirituality

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hroughout the ages, science and spirituality has overlapped in numerous ways and this similarity was recently portrayed through Indian arts.

The FIMDV (Federation of Indian Music and Dance Victoria) recently celebrated its decennial festival “Dasa Avatar – An evolutionary Journey”, pertinently portraying the decade long thoughtful journey of the organization. The presentation drew parallels between the Hindu Dasa Avatar or the 10 Incarnations of Lord Vishnu and the modern age Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

The show was opened by the President of FIMDV, Shobha Sekhar and a musical choir with almost 100 participants singing ‘Vande Maataram, Jai Bharat, Jai Australia’ – Mother I bow to thee, the mother land India and the home land Australia.

Monica Singh’s Odissi group presented a brief overview of all the Avatars as described in the opening Ashtapadi of Sri Jayadeva’s ‘Gita Govinda’ of 12th century. The piece was well choreographed, evoking Vishnu as Krishna and every verse ending with the words, ‘Praise be to Jagadish! Lord of the universe!’

Following the orders of Avatars, Matsya Avatar was depicted by a musical offering collaborating Raga Mayamalavagowlai (Carnatic) and Raag Bhairav (Hindustani). The piece was performed by Ramnath Iyer and Gopinath Iyer, Radhey Shyam Gupta OAM, Sridhar Chari

and Pandurang Torvi.

Through a composition of Lalgudi siblings, Meghala Hirasave ornately showcased the episode of ‘Samudra Manthan’ or the churning of the milky ocean when Vishnu incarnated as Kurma.

Another musical collaboration of Hindustani and Carnatic music brought out the valour and bravery of Varaha Avatar in melodious Raag Durga. The piece was presented by Murali Kumar, Sridhar Chari, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Pandurang Torvi. Later, Sindhu Shree Harsha (Bharatanatyam) presented the story of Varah Avatar saving the Bhudevi.

After that, Shobha Sekhar chanted ‘Narayan Hari…’ and beautifully intoned the legend of Narsimha Avatar through Katha Kalakshepam or the dramatized singing of the story of Prahlad. The same story was then interpreted in Odissi by Nilakshi.

The story of Vamana Avatar and the Bahubali was then presented by Nithya Gopu (Mohiniattam) under the guidance of Smt. Tara Rajkumar OAM with Shyama Sashidharan, Lekshmi Sarath, Therma Katticaran and Divya. Vocals by Smt Jayashri Ramachandran the piece captivated the audience.

Parashuram Avatar was presented

by Jayshree Ramachandran OAM and the Rama Avatar was presented through dance by Ushanthini Sripathmanathan and students of Natyalayaa. Balaram

Avatar eloquently presented by Govind Pillai, depicted similarities in the modern-day science of surrogacy and mythological stories. Afterwards, Dr. Rama Rao presented a medley on Krishna including, ‘Krishnam Vande Jagat Guru’ and ‘Krishna Gayatri Mantra’.

The final Avatar of Kalki by FIMDV members, questioned the good and the evil in society and among ourselves. The choreography questioned the misuse of intelligence leading to our planet’s destruction. To which the answer was given by talented dancers: Therma Katticaran (Mohiniattam); Shyama Sasidharan; Christina Prasnthan (Bharatanatyam) and Sanchita Abrol (Kathak) through their individual pieces.

The dance ensemble then came together with a soul stirring choreography leaving the stage with a positive message from Rig Veda, ‘Samgacchadhwam Samvadadhwam...’ May we all move in harmony, speak in one voice, just as the ancient gods, may we all be unified.

By Sanchita Abrol

Shining A Light On Rhythmic Dialogue

By Sanchita Abrol

An interview with Dr. Sandy Evans OAM and Sangeet Natak Academy Awardee Guru Kaaraikudi Mani.

Sandy, an internationally renowned composer and Saxophonist with a passion for improvisation, has played with some of the most important groups in Australian jazz.

She has to her credit the study “Meetings at the Table of Time”, that condenses the similarities and differences in Jazz and Carnatic music. Sandy spoke about her upcoming event “New Springs”, a crosscultural event bringing together a group of musicians from India and Australia.

How did this happen? “Since 1996, I have been collaborating with and learning from Guru Kaaraikudi Mani. Since our first show together with Australian Art Orchestra, I was mesmerized by his rhythm precision.

Influenced by his methods and my own love for rhythm, I want to honour him through this show.” This concert also features B.V. Raghavendra Rao (Violin) and

Tip from the Art Guru Warm Up and Stretch Before you start dancing, make sure that your body is ready for it!

The muscles, bones and nerves must be prepared for the challenges of dancing.

That is when warm up and stretching comes into play. A safe warm up helps gradually increase body temperature to an optimal level which reduces the chances of dance injuries.

Regardless of the style of dance, a thorough and effective warm up generally takes about 15-20 minutes to complete.

As a dancer you can set your own warm

Guruprasanna (Kanjira).

Talking about the importance of collaborative shows, Sandy said, “certainly, such shows are important for a musician’s personal growth, you learn from each other. Moreover, as humans, you learn to appreciate the rich history of existence.”

What is special about the upcoming show? In Sandy’s words, “stunning virtuosity, energy, intercultural dialogue and emotive melodies of Carnatic and Jazz music is what you will get to see.” Guru Kaaraikudi Mani, a pioneer in bringing rhythm awareness in Carnatic music stated that the finer nuances of Kapi Raga and a Jugalbandi piece with Kanjira will be the highlight.

Guru Mani noted that, “as an artist you embellish each other’s music and try create something new every time. This performance will bring freshness to the existing work.”

New Springs will be held at the Hawthorn Arts Centre, Friday, September 6, 8 pm.

up routine to be carried before each session.

However, for all Indian classical dancers, it is recommended to include elementary exercises for main joints and also to include basic footwork, spins and postures in the warmup routine. You can also choose to do your warm up routine with your preferred Taal or Raga.

Our Art Guru says, to match the physical demands of dancing, prepare your body with a warm up routine.

Guru Kaaraikudi Mani

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Dr Sandy Evans OAM

B.V Raghavendra Rao

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2018

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Victorian Parliament honours Sanskrit scholar Bhadreshdas Swami

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elbourne, Aug 23: World-renowned Sanskrit scholar Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami, credited for creating the most important in Vedantic philosophy this century, was felicitated at Parliament of Victoria for his contributions to Hindu philosophy.

Bhadreshdas Swami began his address in Parliament by acknowledging his gurus. “I would like to dedicate this honour to the lotus feet of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and my beloved guru Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Mahant Swami Maharaj. Whatever strength, knowledge and inspiration I have is solely due to their grace and blessings.”

Having been travelling to Australia for the past month, he said, “I have seen the great work the elected members of Australia are doing to promote multiculturalism in this country.

I have observed the sincere worship of tolerance and harmony on this beautiful land. I have also realised the strong bond that exists between the Parliament of Victoria and various cultural communities.”

The lineage of commentaries (Bhashya) on the Prasthantrayi is a part of India’s intellectual heritage. Now, in the 21st century, inspired by Pramukh Swami Maharaj and blessed by Mahant Swami Maharaj, Bhadreshdas Swami has advanced this tradition by writing a commentary on the Prasthantrayi according to principles of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, the Swaminarayan Bhashya known as the AksharPurushottam Darshan. After 1,200 years, this is the first time a Bhashya has been written by one author on all three texts of the Prasthantrayi.

On behalf of BAPS Australia and the Hindu community, Bhadreshdas Swami presented the Parliament of Victoria six volumes of the Swaminarayan Bhashya.

Explaining the bhashya, Bhadreshdas

Swami said, “Scriptures such as Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita teach us how to understand our self and how to understand others. They teach us how to love our self and how to love others. They guide us to accept the existence of other people, other communities, other cultures and other religions. They inspire us to celebrate the diversities of cognitions, conceptions and beliefs. We learn to tolerate and to respect others from these scriptures. With this thought in mind, we decided to present this special gift to the Parliament of Victoria.”

Leane and the Honourable Colin Brooks, former president of the Legislative Council Bruce Atkinson, the Consulate General of India in Melbourne Raj Kumar, Craig Ondarchie MLC (Member for Northern Metropolitan), Abhijit Bhide (Hindu Council of Australia), and Rajiv Baheti (Hindu Organisations, Temples and Associations Forum).

An ordained monk of the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), Bhadreshdas Swami has six Master’s degrees in various darshans (philosophies), a PhD in Sanskrit from Karnataka State Open Furthermore, Bhadreshdas Swami has University, a D.Litt and is also a recipient written the ‘Swaminarayan-Siddhantof the Mahamahopadhyaya (Prestigious Sudha’, a vadagrantha that offers an Scholar) award by Kavikulguru Kalidas exposition and justification of philosophical Sanskrit University in Nagpur, India and principles. For such a vadagrantha to be the Indian government. His academic written by the Prasthantrayi-commentator achievements span certificates from 62 (bhashyakar) himself is unprecedented in universities, he has written books on the history of Vedantic literature. Thus, the Vedic literature and has edited more creation of these texts by Bhadreshdas than 25 books in the field of Sanskrit and Swami is considered by many scholars to Vedas. be this century’s most important work in Vedanta philosophy.

Addressing the assembly, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Colin Brooks Bhadreshdas Swami was invited by the said, “The Hindu community is a vital part Parliament of Victoria during his one-week of our Victorian community. It is vital for us tour of the state. The felicitation ceremony to understand the Hindu faith, traditions at Parliament was organised in a biand culture. I had the opportunity to partisan way with the support from the look into the extraordinary work he has Presiding officers, the Honourable Shaun done and the challenges he faced in

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producing it. You (Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami) have enhanced the Hindu culture. Your work from another part of the world has profound influence on us all here and not just the Hindu community in Victoria. On behalf of Victorian Parliament with the greatest respect and sincerity I wanted to say thank you for that work. And I’m thanking the broader Victorian Hindu community for the engagement you provide, the diversity and all the things you bring to our community.”

Former President of the Legislative Council Bruce Atkinson MLC added, “We are delighted to welcome you here today.

It’s important for us to have the inspiration from the people like yourself. Being here, helping us to meet the challenges. For strengthening our understanding, through ensuring that we, as the members of parliament and leaders in community, in particular in this space, to understand the importance of taking people with us and respecting the dignity of humanity. Thank you for being here and I trust your visit to Melbourne will be a successful one.”

Consulate General of India in Melbourne Raj Kumar also addressed the assembly on behalf of the Indian government and honoured Bhadreshdas Swami’s scholarly achievement.

(G’day Staff)

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G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

AR glasses can help visually impaired navigate better

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ugmented Reality (AR) glasses can help people with low vision better navigate their environment as the eye-wearable device managed to enhance mobility and function in patients who have difficulty with peripheral vision or seeing in low light, say researchers.

Anastasios N. Angelopoulos, study project lead, said in a university statement.

The AR system overlays objects within a six-foot wireframe with four bright, distinct colours.

In doing so, the glasses provide visual colour cues that help people with constricted peripheral vision interpret complex environments, such as avoiding obstacles in dimly lit environments.

The research was conducted with patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited degenerative eye disease that results in poor vision.

The team from Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California (USC) found that adapted AR glasses can improve patients’ mobility by 50 per cent and grasp performance by 70 per cent.

“Current wearable low-vision technologies using virtual reality are limited and can be difficult to use or require patients to undergo extensive training,” said Mark Humayun, Professor of Ophthalmology at the Keck School.

“Using a different approach -- employing assistive technology to enhance, not replace, natural senses -- our team adapted

AR glasses that project bright colours onto patients’ retinas, corresponding to nearby obstacles,” Humayun informed.

Patients with retinitis pigmentosa wore adapted AR glasses as they navigated through an obstacle test.

Patients also were asked to grasp a wooden peg against a black background -- located behind four other wooden pegs -- without touching the front items. They demonstrated a 70 per cent increase in grasp performance with the AR glasses.

Using video of each test, researchers recorded the number of times patients collided with obstacles, as well as the time taken to complete the course.

Patients with retinitis pigmentosa have decreased peripheral vision and trouble seeing in low light, which makes it difficult to identify obstacles and grasp objects.

The patients averaged 50 per cent fewer collisions with the adapted AR glasses.

“They often require mobility aids to navigate, especially in dark environments,”

To accomplish this, researchers used a process called simultaneous location and mapping, allowing the AR glasses to fully render the 3D structure of a room in real time.

According to Humayun, while major cost and technical issues remain, this type of assistive technology could eventually become more practical for everyday use in the near future.

“Through the use of AR, we aim to improve the quality of life for low vision patients by increasing their confidence in performing basic tasks, ultimately allowing them to live more independent lives,” Angelopoulos added.

(AGENCIES)

Hackers can detect what is being typed with a smartphone

U tion.

sing just a smartphone, hackers can listen to what is being typed with remarkable accuracy and access your personal informa-

There are many kinds of sensors in smartphones that cause the phone to know its orientation and to detect when it is sitting still on a table or being carried in someone’s pocket.

According to researchers from Dallasbased Southern Methodist University (SMU), it’s possible to access your information in a subtler way: by using a nearby smartphone to intercept the sound of your typing.

The team from SMU’s Darwin Deason Institute for Cybersecurity found that acoustic signals, or sound waves, produced when we type on a computer keyboard can successfully be picked up by a smartphone.

The sounds intercepted by the phone can then be processed, allowing a skilled hacker to decipher which keys were struck and what they were typing.

The researchers were able to decode much of what was being typed using common keyboards and smartphones - even in a noisy conference room filled with the

“Some sensors require the user to give permission to turn them on, but many of them are always turned on,” Thornton explained.

sounds of other people typing and having conversations.

“We were able to pick up what people are typing at a 41 per cent word accuracy rate.

And we can extend that out - above 41 per cent - if we look at, say, the top 10 words of what we think it might be,” said Eric C. Larson, assistant professor in SMU Lyle School’s Department of Computer Science.

It might take only a couple of seconds to

obtain information on what you’re typing, noted lead author Mitch Thornton, professor of electrical and computer engineering, in a paper published in the journal Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies.

“Based on what we found, I think smartphone makers are going to have to go back to the drawing board and make sure they are enhancing the privacy with which people have access to these sensors in a smartphone,” Larson noted.

“We used sensors that are always turned on, so all we had to do was develop a new app that processed the sensor output to predict the key that was pressed by a typist.”

There are some caveats, though.

“An attacker would need to know the material type of the table,” Larson said, because different tables create different sound waves when you type. For instance, a wooden table like the kind used in this study sounds different than someone typing on a metal tabletop.

(AGENCIES)

Your video selfie may measure blood pressure

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n good news for people who have blood pressure (BP) problems, monitoring BP might one day become as easy as taking a video selfie.

Researchers, including one of an Indian-origin, have tested a technology called transdermal optical imaging that measures blood pressure by detecting blood flow changes in smartphone-captured facial videos.

“This study shows that facial video can contain some information about systolic blood pressure,” said Indian-origin researcher Ramakrishna Mukkamala, Professor at the Michigan State University.

Ambient light penetrates the skin’s outer layer allowing digital optical sensors in smartphones to visualise and extract blood flow patterns, which transdermal optical imaging models can use to predict blood pressure.

“High blood pressure is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease -- a leading cause of death and disability. To manage and prevent it, regular monitoring of one’s blood pressure is essential,” said study lead author Kang Lee, Professor at the University of Toronto in Canada.

“Cuff-based blood pressure measuring devices, while highly accurate, are inconvenient and uncomfortable. Users tend not to follow American Heart Association guidelines and device manufacturers’ suggestion to take multiple measurements each time,” Lee said.

For the study, published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, the research team measured the blood flow of 1,328 Canadian and Chinese adults by capturing two-minute videos using an iPhone equipped with transdermal optical imaging software.

The researchers compared systolic, diastolic and pulse pressure measurements captured from smartphone videos to blood pressure readings using a traditional cuff-based continuous blood pressure measurement device.

The researchers used the data to teach the technology how to accurately determine blood pressure and pulse from facial blood flow patterns.

They found that on average, transdermal optical imaging predicted systolic blood pressure with nearly 95 per cent accuracy and diastolic blood pressure with pulse pressure at nearly 96 per cent accuracy.

The technology’s high accuracy is within international standards for devices used to measure blood pressure, according to Lee. Researchers videoed faces in a well-controlled environment with fixed lighting, so it

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is unclear whether the technology can accurately measure blood pressure in less controlled environments, including homes.

Also, while the study participants had a variety of skin tones, the sample lacked subjects with either extremely dark or fair skin.

(AGENCIES)

RELATIONSHIPS

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

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Study links extramarital affairs with professional misconduct

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eople who cheat on their spouses are significantly more likely to engage in misconduct in the workplace, a study said.

white-collar criminals, CEOs and CFOs.

Even after matching misconduct professionals to misconduct-free individuals with similar ages, genders and experiences and controlling for a wide range of executive and cultural variables, the researchers found that people with histories of misconduct were significantly more likely to use the Ashley Madison website.

According to the findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers from the US looked at the records of police officers, financial advisers, white-collar criminals and senior executives who used the Ashley Madison marital infidelity website.

Their findings suggest a strong connection between people’s actions in their personal and professional lives and provide support to the idea that eliminating workplace sexual misconduct may also reduce fraudulent activity.

Operating under the slogan, “Life is short.

Have an affair,” Ashley Madison advertises itself as a dating service for married people to have “discreet encounters”.

“This is the first study that’s been able to look at whether there is a correlation between personal infidelity and professional conduct, and we find a strong correlation, which tells us that infidelity is informative about expected professional conduct,” said researcher Samuel Kruger from the University of Texas.

“Our results show that personal sexual conduct is correlated with professional conduct.

The study found that Ashley Madison users, studied in professional settings, were more than twice as likely to engage in corporate misconduct.

The researchers investigated four study groups totalling 11,235 individuals using data on police officers, financial advisers,

“Eliminating sexual misconduct in the workplacecould have the extra benefit of contributing to more ethical corporate cultures in general,” Kruger said.

(AGENCIES)

Multiple spouses can be good Even passive presence of romantic partner can reduce pain for women too

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esearchers have found that the passive presence of a romantic partner can reduce pain and that partner empathy may buffer affective distress during pain exposure.

The study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Pain, confirmed the analgesic effects of social support -- even without verbal or physical contact.

The research team assessed sensitivity to pressure pain in 48 heterosexual couples with each participant tested alone and in the passive presence of their partner.

Dispositional empathy was quantified by a questionnaire.

n certain societies, having multiple husbands can be an advantage for women in difficult times as they can buffer themselves against effects of the economy, finds an interesting research.

I

To reach this conclusion, Borgerhoff Mulder collected data on births, deaths, marriages and divorces of all households in a western Tanzanian village over two decades.

The study by University of California, Davis (UC Davis), challenges evolutionaryderived sexual stereotypes about men and women, finding that multiple spouses can be good for women too.

Working with the demographic data, Ross found that women who moved from spouse to spouse tended to have more surviving children, controlling for the number of years they had been married.

It is well known that men benefit reproductively from having multiple spouses, but the reasons why women might benefit from multiple marriages are not as clear.

Men by contrast, again controlling for their number of married years, tended to produce fewer surviving children with the individual women they married over their lives, said the paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Women, as a result of pregnancy and lactation, can’t reproduce as fast as males.

“Our work (together with suggestions of others) suggests that marrying multiply may be a wise strategy for women where the necessities of life are hard, and where men’s economic productivity and health can vary radically over their lifetime due to the challenging environmental conditions,” said lead researcher Monique Borgerhoff Mulder from UC Davis professor of anthropology.

Researchers infer that by acquiring multiple spouses, women can buffer themselves against economic and social crises, and more effectively keep their children alive.

“As evolutionary biologists we measure benefit in terms of numbers of surviving children produced -- still a key currency in rural Africa,” explained Borgerhoff Mulder.

“In many parts of rural Africa, reproductive inequality among women emerges not from reproductive suppression as in some other highly social mammals ...but more likely from direct competition among women for access to resources.”

These resources include high-quality spouses, multiple caretakers to help around the house and farm, and (at least in this particular cultural context) helpful inlaws, she said.

(AGENCIES)

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In the presence, as compared to the absence, of their partners both men and women exhibited higher pain thresholds and tolerance as well as lower sensory and affective pain ratings on constant pressure stimuli.

Partner empathy was positively associated with pain tolerance and inversely associated with sensory pain experience.

“Repeatedly, talking and touching have been shown to reduce pain, but our research shows that even the passive presence of a romantic partner can reduce it and that partner empathy may buffer affective distress during pain exposure,” said Stefan Duschek, Professor at UMIT in Austria.

(AGENCIES)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

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HEALTH

Air pollution as bad as smoking Eat more plant-based foods a cigarette pack per day for better heart health

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ating more plant-based foods and fewer animal-based foods may be linked to better heart health and a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases, a new study suggests.

“Eating a larger proportion of plant-based foods and a smaller proportion of animalbased foods may help reduce your risk of having a heart attack, stroke or other type of cardiovascular disease,” said study lead researcher, Casey M. Rebholz, Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the US.

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esearchers have found that ozone air pollution which is increasing with climate change can accelerate lung disease as much as that by smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

“We were surprised to see how strong air pollution’s impact was on the progression of emphysema on lung scans, in the same league as the effects of cigarette smoking, which is by far the best-known cause of emphysema,” said Joel Kaufman, Professor at the University of Washington.

If you live in areas with increased levels of ozone, researchers found an increase in emphysema roughly the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 29 years.

The study, published in the journal JAMA, demonstrates an association between longterm exposure to major air pollutants - especially ozone - with an increase in emphysema seen on lung scans.

Emphysema is a condition in which destruction of lung tissue leads to wheezing, coughing

and shortness of breath and increases the risk of death.

The results are based on an extensive, 18year study involving more than 7,000 people and a detailed examination of the air pollution they encountered between 2000 and 2018 in six metropolitan regions across the US. The participants were drawn from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Air and Lung studies.

Published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the researchers reviewed a database of food intake information from more than 10,000 middle-aged US adults who were monitored from 1987 through 2016 and did not have cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.

Those who ate the most plant-based foods overall had a 16 per cent lower risk of having a cardiovascular disease such as heart attacks, stroke, heart failure and other conditions; 32 per cent lower risk of

“To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study to assess the association between long-term exposure to air pollutants and progression of percent emphysema in a large, community-based, multi-ethnic cohort,” said Meng Wang, Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo.

While most of the airborne pollutants are in decline because of successful efforts to reduce them, ozone has been increasing, researchers said. Ground-level ozone is mostly produced when ultraviolet light reacts with pollutants from fossil fuels.

(AGENCIES)

Mobile tower radiation increasing risk of oral problems

R pital.

adiation from mobile phone towers could be a reason for increasing oral problems in people, said a doctor at Saveetha Dental College and Hos-

“The environment plays an important part in the health and oral health. Even the radiation from the cell phone towers can be a reason for oral problems,” said Pratibha Ramani, Professor and Head of Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology at the hospital.

She was speaking to the media after extraction of 526 teeth from the mouth of a sevenyear-old boy in a rare surgery performed at the hospital.

“As part of a research currently on in some localities near our college in Chennai, we have taken mouth smears of about 250 people living near cell towers. The mouth smears will check for presence of micronuclei, which would indicate something more happening in a cell than in a normal human cell,” said Ramani.

“We found the presence of micronuclei in 10 per cent of the smears taken,” Ramani said.

Rakesh Kumar Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Saveetha Institute ofMedial and Technical Sciences said: “The presence of micronuclei indicates something wrong with a cell and increases the risk of oral disorders.

According to Ramani, her team decided to conduct the research after Central government issued guidelines for cell towers recently.

(AGENCIES)

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dying from a cardiovascular disease and 25 per cent lower risk of dying from any cause compared to those who ate the least amount of plant-based foods.

“Our findings underscore the importance of focusing on your diet. There might be some variability in terms of individual foods but to reduce cardiovascular disease risk people should eat more vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fruits, legumes and fewer animal-based foods,” Rebholz said.

(AGENCIES)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

ASK Dr. Raj… This months Q: Q: Raj, My mother has a heart condition and I was keen to see if you could help with it?

A:

Heart is one of the vital organs for normal and harmonious functioning of the body. It is not only influenced by the physical stress but also by emotional disturbances. Although cardiac issues are a specialized area to be under the supervision of a cardiologist, Homeopathically you can complement the treatment by addressing the individual as a whole to bring about natural balance in the system. Based on the presentation of the signs and symptoms and the person’s body constitution specific Homeopathic remedies can be selected to address the conditions related to heart. You can simultaneously use both allopathic and Homeopathic remedies to bring about a better results.

Apart from the physical causes, in many cases there will be an emotional back drop for a case without any pathology of the heart itself, which can cause cardiac symptoms including tachycardia(faster heartbeat), spontaneous palpitations causing anxiety and panic attacks. This is the area where Homeopathy can be effectively used and bring a better recovery.

People with past history and family history of cardiac conditions can use Homeopathy for general wellbeing and rejuvenation of heart, which can help as a preventive aspect of the treatment. Apart from treating with indicated remedies it is also equally important to adopt some sort of physical activity and do amendments in diet which are lighter and healthier. Meditation and Pranayam are of choice if there is an emotional component.

To avoid a hangover, eat cucumber slices that contain enough sugar, vitamins and electrolytes to replenish you

Health tip:

Q: Hello Dr. Raj, I think my son has rhinitis, chronic runny nose that comes out of nowhere. I think Homeopathy can help him.

A:

Yes, Rhinitis has a definitive answer in Homeopathy. Rhinitis can be classified broadly into Allergic Rhinitis – where there is an allergen causing the symptoms and Non Allergic Rhinitis- where there is no known cause. Most commonly Allergic Rhinitis is episodic in nature and associated with runny nose, sneezes and some involvement of eye symptoms such as itchy and watery eyes.

Although similar symptoms can happen in Non Allergic Rhinitis sneezes and itchy eyes may not be predominant.

The other classification for Rhinitis is seasonal if it happens only in Spring season and Perrineal if the symptoms happen all through out the year. In chronic Rhinitis generally the symptoms may start as seasonal occurring only during spring and then may become perrineal occurring all throughout the year.

Western medicine’s approach is to treat the symptoms with medicines such as anti histamines. Which can help relieve symptoms on an 24 hr basis and is mainly suppressive.

So you keep taking the medicines to treat the symptoms. Homeopathically you can address rhinitis on the constitutional level and specific remedies can be picked based on the presentation of the symptoms. As every individual suffering with Rhinitis suffers with different combination of symptoms the remedies selected will also be different to each case. Generally it will take two similar seasons to address the problem so the individual can overcome the problem.

By Raj Kothuru

Please send any of your health related questions to drraj@aurahealth.com.au with Ask Dr Raj as the subject line or ph: 94788649 / 0425761826. The questions will be published with your identity protected.

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High Vitamin A intake can lower skin cancer risk

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esearchers have found that people who intake high levels of Vitamin A were 17 per cent less at risk of getting a skin cancer as compared to those who ate modest amounts of foods and supplements rich in Vitamin A. “Our study provides another reason to eat lots of fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet. Skin cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma, is hard to prevent, but this study suggests that eating a healthy diet rich in Vitamin A, in addition to wearing sunscreen and reducing sun exposure, may be a way to reduce the risk,” said Eunyoung Cho, Associate Professor at the Brown University.

Vitamin A is known to be essential for the healthy growth and maturation of skin cells but prior studies on its effectiveness in reducing skin cancer risk have shown mixed results.

In the study published in the Journal of American Medical Association Dermatology, the researchers analysed data from two longterm observational studies in which 121,700 US women were followed from 1984 to 2012 and 51,529 US men from 1986 to 2012.

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The research team looked at the diet and skin cancer results of the participants. Between the two studies, around 123,000 participants were white (and thus had a significant risk of developing skin cancer), had no prior history of cancer and completed the dietary reports multiple times.

A total of 3,978 cases of squamous cell carcinoma were reported and verified within the 24 to 26 year follow-up periods.

Participants’ hair colour, the number of severe sunburns they had received in their lifetime and any family history of skin cancer were also taken into account.

After grouping the participants into five categories by their Vitamin A intake levels, the researchers found that people in the category with the highest average daily total Vitamin A intake were 17 per cent less likely to get skin cancer than those in the category with the lowest total Vitamin A intake.

The team also found that the majority of Vitamin A came from the participants’ diets, particularly from fruits and vegetables, rather than from animal-based foods or vitamin supplements.

(AGENCIES)

HEALTH

40

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Over 3 cups of coffee per day may trigger migraine Red wine improves

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gut health

offee lovers, please take note. Drinking three or more servings of caffeinated beverages a day increases the risk of migraine.

In a study published in the American Journal of Medicine, researchers evaluated the role of caffeinated beverages as a potential trigger of migraine.

They found that, among patients who experience episodic migraine, one to two servings of caffeinated beverages were not associated with headaches on that day, but three or more servings of caffeinated beverages may be associated with higher odds of migraine headache occurrence on that day or the following day.

“While some potential triggers - such as lack of sleep - may only increase migraine risk, the role of caffeine is particularly complex, because it may trigger an attack but may also help control symptoms, caffeine’s impact depends both on dose and on frequency,” said Elizabeth Mostofsky from Harvard University.

During the study, 98 adults with frequent episodic migraine completed electronic diaries every morning and every evening for at least six weeks.

Every day, participants reported the total servings of caffeinated coffee, tea, soda and energy drinks they consumed, as well as filled out twice daily headache reports detailing the onset, duration, intensity, and medications used for migraines since the previous diary entry.

Participants also provided detailed information

about other common migraine triggers, including medication use, alcoholic beverage intake, activity levels, depressive symptoms, psychological stress, sleep patterns and menstrual cycles.

To evaluate the link between caffeinated beverage intake and migraine headache on the same day or on the following day, researchers used a self-matched analysis, comparing an individual participant’s incidence of migraines on days with caffeinated beverage intake to that same participant’s incidence of migraines on days with no caffeinated beverage intake.

The researchers further matched headache incidence by days of the week, eliminating weekend versus week day habits that may also impact migraine occurrence.

Self-matching also allowed for the variations in caffeine dose across different types of beverages and preparations.

“One serving of caffeine is typically defined as eight ounces or one cup of caffeinated coffee, six ounces of tea, a 12-ounce can of soda and a 2-ounce can of an energy drink,” Mostofsky said.

“Those servings contain anywhere from 25 to 150 milligrams of caffeine, so we cannot quantify the amount of caffeine that is associated with heightened risk of migraine. However, in this self-matched analysis over only six weeks, each participant’s choice and preparation of caffeinated beverages should be fairly consistent,” Mostofsky added.

(AGENCIES)

Pomegranate juice helps in unborn babies’ brain development

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rinking pomegranate juice during pregnancy may improve brain development and connectivity in unborn babies.

A person’s gut microbiome with a higher number of different bacterial species is considered a marker of gut health.

Polyphenols, which include tannic acid and ellagitannins, are part of a class of antioxidants found in many foods and beverages, including nuts, berries, red wine and teas.

Published in the journal Gastroenterology, a team of researchers explored the effect of beer, cider, red wine, white wine and spirits on the gut microbiome and subsequent health in a group of 916 UK female twins.

“Our study provides preliminary evidence suggesting potential protective effects for newborns exposed to pomegranate juice while in the womb,” said study senior author Terrie Inder from Brigham and Women’s hospital in the US.

They found that the gut microbiome of red wine drinkers was more diverse compared to non-red wine drinkers. This was not observed with white wine, beer or spirits consumption.

“These findings warrant continued investigation into the potential neuroprotective effects of polyphenols in at-risk newborns, such as those with hypoxic-ischemic injury,” Inder said.

In cases of IUGR, a baby in the womb measures small for its gestational age, often because of issues with the placenta, which brings oxygen and nutrients to the growing foetus. One out of every 10 babies are considered to have IUGR. The current randomised, controlled study enrolled 78 mothers with IUGR diagnosed

“Moderate red wine consumption is associated with greater diversity and healthier gut microbiota that partly explain its longdebated beneficial effects on health,” said Caroline Le Roy from King’s College London.

An imbalance of ‘good’ microbes compared to ‘bad’ ones in the gut can lead to adverse health outcomes such as reduced immune system, weight gain or high cholesterol.

Pomegranate juice is a particularly rich source of polyphenols which are known to cross the blood-brain barrier.

In the study published in the journal PLOS One, the team presents its preliminary findings from a clinical trial of expectant mothers whose babies were diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

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esearchers have found that people who drink red wine have an increased gut microbiota diversity as well as lower levels of obesity and bad cholesterol.

The team observed that the gut microbiota of red wine consumers contained a greater number of different bacterial species compared to non-consumers. at 24-43 weeks’ gestation.

Women were randomised to receive eight ounces of pomegranate juice daily or a taste/calorie matched placebo that was polyphenol free. Women drank the juice daily from enrolment until delivery.

The team measured several aspects of brain development and injury, including infant brain macrostructure, microstructural organization and functional connectivity.

While the team did not observe differences in brain macrostructure, they did find regional differences in white matter microstructure and functional connectivity.

“These measures tell us about how the brain is developing functionally. We saw no difference in brain growth and baby growth, but we did see improvement in cabling network and brain development measured by synchronous blood flow and visual development of the brain,” Inder said.

(AGENCIES)

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According to the researchers, this may be due to the many polyphenols in red wine.

Polyphenols are defence chemicals naturally present in many fruits and vegetables. They have many beneficial properties (including antioxidants) and mainly act as a fuel for the microbes present in our system.

The result was also observed in three different cohorts in the US, UK and the Netherlands.

(AGENCIES)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

41

Regular exercise may cut Alzheimer’s risk in older adults

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egular exercise is not only good for memory as people age, but it also appears to help prevent the development of physical signs of Alzheimer’s, in those who are at risk for the disease, says a study.

“Our research shows that in a late-middle-age population at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, physically active individuals experience fewer age-related alterations in biomarkers associated with the disease, as well as memory and cognitive functioning,” said Ozioma Okonkwo, Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin.

For the results, the research team conducted three studies--in the first study, the researchers examined 317 participants enrolled in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer’s Prevention, an ongoing observational study of more than 1,500 people with a history of parents with probable Alzheimer’s dementia.

In the second study, researchers studied 95 people, also from the registry, who were given scores called polygenic risk scores, based on whether they possessed certain genes associated with Alzheimer’s.

Similarly, the third study examined MRIs from 107 individuals from the registry who were asked to run on a treadmill to determine their oxygen uptake efficiency slope, a measure of aerobic fitness.

Participation in the registry included an initial assessment of biological, health and lifestyle factors associated with the disease and follow-up assessments every two to four years.

All participants completed a questionnaire

about their physical activity and underwent neuropsychological testing and brain scans to measure several biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers compared data from individuals younger than 60 years with older adults and found a decrease in cognitive abilities as well as an increase in biomarkers associated with the disease in older individuals.

However, the effects were significantly weaker in older adults who reported engaging in the equivalent of at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week.

“The most interesting part of our research is that we now show evidence that lifestyle habits - in this case regular, moderate exercise - can modify the effect of what is commonly considered a non-modifiable risk

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factor for Alzheimer’s, in this case, aging,” Okonkwo said.

“Overall, these studies suggest that the negative effect of aging and genetic risk on Alzheimer’s’ disease biomarkers and cognition can be lessened in physically active, older adults at risk for the disease compared with their less active peers.

(AGENCIES)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

42

Ayushmann Khurrana feels the ‘good pressure’

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ational Award-winning actor Ayushmann Khurrana says it’s great to know that the audience expects him to do good cinema and considers it a “good pressure” to have.

With back-to-back hits -- “Andhadhun”, “Badhaai Ho” and “Article 15” -- in recent times, the audience’s expectation from the actor has gone up, and he is loving it.

With his upcoming “Dreamgirl”, Ayushmann continues to deliver quality content that is hugely entertaining. He has proven that he is the go-to star for the best scripts in town.

“I do feel that audiences expect me to disrupt content with every single film and I’m loving this expectation. It’s great to know that they expect me to do good cinema. It’s good pressure to have and always motivates me to discover and endorse some of the best scripts that are being written in our industry. I’m truly fortunate that audiences are placing their trust in me to be the torchbearer of good cinema in India,” Ayushmann said.

In his upcoming film, “Dreamgirl”, Ayushmann will be seen playing the role of a man who can

speak in a woman’s voice.

pion equality among genders.

“’Dreamgirl’, in its own way, is about gender fluidity in society. We have always spoken about a woman in a man’s world and this film reverses that equation on its head and puts a man in a woman’s world as a social experiment,” he said.

“Even a girl in today’s world should feel absolutely okay to chase her dreams and take up a job of her choice without thinking of societal stereotypes or consequences. That’s the kind of society I would like to live in, celebrate and champion.

“In the film, my character is absolutely okay doing what is traditionally looked at as a girl’s job and doesn’t feel awkward about doing it,” he added.

He believes in the need for society to cham-

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“Today, when I look back, it feels like I have come a long way. There have been successes and there have been failures but most important are the lessons I learnt from my failures. My failures have made me who I am today and now my choices come from a place of having learnt from those failures,” Hrithik said.

Talking about his film choices, the 45-yearold star, who is currently being lauded for his performance in his latest release “Super 30”, says he looks for “entertaining scripts” while signing the projects irrespective of genre.

“Honestly, I did not come on board for ‘Super 30’ because of the social message. I did it because it’s a great script. My father always says that if you want to give a message to the society, you make a documentary, don’t make films. If you make a film, it has to be entertaining. I am not going to do a film only because it is a biopic on a great man. I am going to do a film if it’s an entertaining script,

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hitrangda Singh is all set to make her digital debut as an actress and a producer, with a musical drama web series. The shoot of the series begins at the end of the year.

“I will be starting to shoot for a web series at the end of the year or the beginning of next year. So, there is a bit of free time at the moment. The series is will be a musical drama. I am excited because I was waiting to do something interesting. It’s been a long time since I have acted in a project,” “The power to create equality is with us and we said Chitrangda, in Mumbai. need to ensure that gender doesn’t come at play at any cost. Women are equal to men and Chitrangda also revealed she is developthat’s what we should always strive to achieve ing the series under her production banner, in every-day life to see effective change,” he while interacting with the media. said. (GDI) The actress has ventured into production in the past with the 2018 film “Soorma”, a biopic of former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh. She said that as a producer she wants to support content that is interesting and engaging.

My failures made me who I am today: Hrithik Roshan

ctor Hrithik Roshan made a blockbuster Bollywood debut 19 years ago with “Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai”, and since then he has been featured in several films that ran the gamut of genres from love story to patriotism. His movies like “Fiza”, “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham”, “Koi Mil Gaya”, “Dhoom 2” and “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara” turned out to be hits though he failed to impress with a string of projects such as “Yaadien”, “Na Tum Jaano Na Hum”, “Lakshaya”, “Kites” and “Mohenjo Daro”.

Time and again, however, Hrithik has tried to prove his versatility as an artiste and, according to him, it was “failure” which helped him scale greater heights.

Chitrangda to produce her debut web series

that’s it! Those are the kind of stories I am looking forward to,” he said.

With “Super 30”, Hrithik continues maintaining his charm at the box-office. The film raked in over Rs 146 cr in India.

Chitrangda was last seen onscreen in “Baazaar” (2018). She played Saif Ali Khan’s wife in the film.

(GDI)

Disha Patani’s fit body takes social media by storm

Bollywood’s Greek God, however, claims that does not give much heed to box-office numbers.

“Box office numbers do hold some level of importance as it is a direct indication of people watching your film, but I don’t choose my scripts keeping in mind whether or not it will cross Rs 100 crore or not. It is important that the film connects with the masses and entertains them. Crossing the 100 crore-mark is only the cherry on top of the cake.”

For Hrithik, it is experimentation that matters the most.

“I have always tried experimenting with characters I play. Whether it is Rohit in ‘Koi Mil Gaya’, Rohan in ‘Kaabil’, Ethan in ‘Guzaarish’ or Anand Kumar in ‘Super 30’. I have been drawn to different characters. I feel more encouraged and empowered as an actor now. I am thoroughly enjoying the process. I have to work hard to achieve what I want to, even today. There is a constant effort from my side to become better at what I do and to deliver what is expected out of me,” he added.

After portraying a de-glam look in the biopic of Patna based maths teacher Anand Kumar in “Super 30”, Hrithik will be seen in an high-octane action avatar in “War”, which is scheduled to release in October.

By Simran Sethi.

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ollywood actress and a fitness enthusiast Disha Patani has shared a string of photographs of her flaunting her fit and well-chiselled body on social media.

Disha took to Instagram and shared a bunch of photographs where she can be seen flaunting her perfecting toned hourglass body in a white bralette and thigh high slit yoga pants.

In one image, she is seen flaunting her muscles with her back towards the camera: “(muscle emoji) be better than you were yesterday.”

Disha, who was last seen on screen in “Bharat”, often shares videos of her work out regimes on social media.

On the work front, she is currently busy with “Malang”. It also stars Aditya Roy Kapur, Anil Kapoor and Kunal Kemmu.

(GDI)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

JUN 43

Auditioning for roles keep me grounded: Kalki Koechlin

Been fortunate to the get trust of some of best filmmakers: Bhumi

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ational Award-winning actress Kalki Koechlin, who plays a pivotal role in the upcoming show “Sacred Games 2”, has bagged the project after an audition. Despite having a successful career in films, she says she has no problem auditioning to prove her capability.

“As an artist, I’m constantly looking for good scripts. I’m constantly hungry for great content and thankfully I have been fortunate enough to get the trust of some of the best filmmakers of our country,” Bhumi said.

While the phone call for the audition of the Netflix TV Series came as a surprise for her, recalling the incident, Kalki said: “I watched the show and after a month I got an audition call for the show. Of course, I never thought that I will become part of the show when I watched the first season. I was surprised and excited when I got called.

ver since her acting debut in 2015 Bhumi Pednekar has worked with talented directors like Sharat Katariya, R.S Prasanna, Abhishek Chaubey and Zoya Akhtar among many others. The actress says she has been fortunate enough to get the trust of some of the best filmmakers of the country.

The actress has an interesting slate of films coming up. She will be seen in “Saand Ki Aankh”, “Bhoot - Part One: The Haunted Ship”, “Dolly Kitty Aur Wo Chamakte Sitare”, “Bala”, “Pati Patni Aur Woh” and “Takht”.

“Auditioning for a role is quite refreshing because the director should know if I am able to pull off the character I am offered. They might have seen my work so far but if I am offered something different from what I have done in the past, they should audition me. I do not mind auditioning at all.”

“My next films are also scripts that are extremely diverse and are brilliant scripts that I truly love. Each one of them are projects that will present me in extremely different avatars and that’s what excites me to do cinema. I get to be such diverse characters, learn about them, live their lives and become them,” she added.

“I may not have auditioned many times for Bollywood projects but I keep auditioning for international projects and that process keeps it real for me, keep me grounded,” added the “Gully Boy” actress.

The 30-year-old actress ventured into the glitzy world of Hindi cinema with the National Award-winning film “Dum Laga Ke Haisha” in 2015. She has always done characters that are “strong and have a major impact on the story of a film.”

In “Sacred Games 2”, she plays a girl named Batya, who hails from a conflicting background. Her father is a Jewish French and mother is a Palestinian, who abandoned her as a teenager. The character transforms from being a drug addict and a rebellious angry girl to a follower of the godman ‘Guruji’, played

by Pankaj Tripathi.

The initial outlook of the character has similarities with a few of her earlier works, isn’t it?

“I know, there might be a little element here and there from ‘Dev D’ or ‘Shaitaan’, but you know just because you play a gangster in one film, does not mean that all of them are the same.

So,my character in ‘Sacred Games 2’ is different from the rest of the references I mentioned,” she smiled.

What was new about Batya that drew her to the character? “My audition scene was the intriguing point for me, to get drawn towards the character Batya.

In that scene, where she is interacting with Sartaj (played by Saif Ali Khan) for the first time, she is calm and has a Zen-like energy, but something is simmering underneath. I loved that conflicting element. Her rebellion isn’t in your face but hidden,” said Kalki.

BY ARUNDHUTI BANERJEE

“I wouldn’t have chosen to do these films if they were any different. I’m really excited about my next set of films because they have given me super exciting and memorable characters to portray. I’m in a great phase of my career and I want to keep doing my best with every single film that I do,” she added.

(GDI)

A nce e l o i v , x e se of s u s s e l d t nee ayee s p j n i a a B g j a o n I’m e: Ma c a p s b e in w

cclaimed actor Manoj Bajpayee says the digital space gives a lot of freedom but is against the use of violence and sex when not required to attract eyeballs.

In aninterview earlier, superstar Salman Khan had said there should be censorship for content on the digital space and that there should be an appointed body for the purpose.

“Web space gives you lot of freedom and one needs to be very responsible with this freedom. Using sex and violence just to attract the eyeballs is something that I don’t agree with when it’s not even required,” Manoj said.

But Manoj feels that the director’s should be given the right to censor their content.

Manoj is not new to the web space. He has previously starred in a short film “Kriti” and “Taandav”.

The National Award winner will soon be seen in Netflix’s “Mrs. Serial Killer” and Amazon Prime’s “The Family Guy”.

There has been a constant debate the digital space having some kind of censorship.

Without divulging much about his role in “Mrs. Serial Killer”, the 50-year-old actor described the character as “nice” (GDI)

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“It’s always better to give the right to the directors to censor their films and they will do it. They need to be trusted upon,” he added.

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

44

Our generation over consuming resources: Kangana

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ollywood actress Kangana Ranaut who recently made headlines after making a public appearance wearing a plain cotton sari says a generation that is “over consuming resources” is noticing her Rs 600 sari.

The actress has urged people and the fashion industry to be “considerate” and encourage celebrities when they repeat their outfits and recycle fabrics.

“I’m happy, people have noticed it. I tell the fashion industry we, as a generation, are over consuming resources. We got to be considerate. Also, the shaming (of people) for repeating outfits and recycling fabrics should be stopped,” the “Manikarnika” star said.

from Kolkata. She was shocked to know one can get such good organic cotton in this amount and its heart breaking to see how hard our people work and how little they earn. Please support our own before international brands take away this also from them. Indian weavers,” she captioned the photograph.

Commenting on this, the National Award-winning actress said, “Just because it’s from the roadside (shop) doesn’t mean it’s not good.

When you buy it from a big store, it does make it a different stuff.”

Kangana said her perception towards herself changed after she entered the Bollywood, and now she didn’t think herself as a “small entity” whose contributions were irrelevant.

Remarking that we need to encourage people every time they style differently, she said, “They got to appreciate that spirit. Also, we spent so much on organic stuffs when they come from fancy stores. But we don’t really see the people -- farmers and handicraftsmen. They are so poor that they can’t afford pesticides and synthetic fabrics and are organic, by default. We don’t realise that. We got to appreciate that.”

She believes that every person can contribute to the world and even a small contribution is relevant. “I initially used to think the world is very big and I’m very small and I can’t make a difference to the world. But I don’t feel like that anymore. I feel every one of us can contribute to the world. Believing that we are irrelevant in this scheme of things is the biggest mistake that we make,” she said.

Recently, Kangana’s sister Rangoli Chandel took to Twitter to upload a photograph of the actress in the sari. “On her way to Jaipur today, Kangana is wearing Rs 600 sari she picked

“As a woman, I don’t always have to stuck up to big producers, heroes and directors. I don’t believe in this. I feel as anindividual I have a standing,” Kangana said.

By Puja Gupta

Hope B’Wood actresses can pull big crowds someday: Vidya Balan

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n Bollywood, it is mostly the male superstar who is the crowd-puller of a film -- the primary draw whose name ensures blockbuster business. On the other hand, films with female actors in the lead, often witness poor box-office performance, or have to be produced in a mediumto-low budget set-up, so that they can make profits quickly and at least record a hit status.

Vidya Balan hoped the situation would change, while speaking at a promotional event for her new film, “Mission Mangal”, which stars Akshay Kumar and also features Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Nithya Menen in key roles.

“There is no denying that the biggest star in this film and one of the biggest stars in the country is Akshay Kumar. When you talk about the business of a film, you talk in terms of the male actor. But things are changing, we have been headlining films, our films are doing well. Hopefully, in a few years, this change will

also happen. But as of today, when you talk about the business of a film, you do say that an Akshay Kumar film has earned this much,” said Viyda, when quizzed on why films with actresses in the lead do not get a huge box office opening.

Vidya found logic why the success of a film starring a male superstar as Akshay should be credited primarily to him. “You can’t take it away from him. Look at the business his films have done over the years. I’ll be foolish to say, ‘oh they didn’t take my name’, but hopefully someday (the change will take place). I am hopeful because I have seen things change drastically in the past ten years,” she said.

Director Jagan Shakti’s “Mission Mangal” managed to collect Rs 29.16 crore on its opening day on Thursday, but the figures fell to Rs 17.28 crore on Friday.

Vidya, however, insisted she didn’t think in terms of numbers while judging a film’s success.

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“I am happy because the film is being loved so much. From the time it was narrated to me, I knew it is going to be a good film. I just wanted it to do well. I don’t think in terms of numbers -- as in (its collection on) the first day or second day. All through, even during the making (of the film) and promotions, I felt there is good energy around this film. I am so happy and excited to see that the film is doing well,” said the actress.

“Mission Mangal” is Vidya Balan’s third film with Akshay Kumar after the “Heyy Babyy” and “Bhool Bhulaiyaa”. Asked why don’t they pair up more frequently, the actress said that they don’t get offers together. At this point, Akshay Kumar, who was also present at the event, interrupted her, saying: “I wanted her in two or three projects but she said she was getting married.”

On hearing this, the actress burst into laughter and asked: “So, you don’t work with married heroines?

(GDI)

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

JUN 45

I DID WHATEVER I WANTED TO: TABU

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wo National Awards as Best Actress and an experience of over three decades in Bollywood has taken Tabu to a space where there is no room for self-doubt, but the acclaimed actress reveals that even today she questions herself a lot before signing a new project.

“We wanted a really quirky look for this character,” she says of her role in “Jawaani Jaaneman”, adding: “She is not your regular run-of-the-mill person. She’s quirky and she has a personality of her own and is funny.”

Directed by Nitin Kakkar, the film is a comingof-age story of a father and a daughter, and co-produced by Saif, Jackky Bhagnani and Jay Shewakramani.

“(It’s) Not self-doubt, but I try to ask myself lots of questions before saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a project. I want to be sure, because that is important for me. I ask myself, ‘why am I doing it?’, or ‘why don’t I want to do this particular thing’? When I am convinced with my answers, only then will I go ahead with it.

However, a film’s becoming successful or not is a chance that everyone takes,” Tabu said.

The actress faced the camera for the first time to do a small role in Sagar Sarhadi’s 1982 film, Bazaar, but was really noticed when she played Dev Anand’s school going daughter in “Hum Naujawan” (1985). Her Bollywood debut as a lead actress happened opposite Rishi Kapoor in the 1994 rom-com, “Pehla Pehla Pyaar”. Over the decades since then, she has won the National Film Award as Best Actress twice and has also been feted with the Padma Shri in 2011.

Did stardom and survival come at a price? “I didn’t have to trade anything. I did whatever I

This year so far, Tabu has been seen in the romantic comedy “De De Pyaar De”, and essaying a cameo in the Salman Khan-starrer “Bharat”.

wanted to. Whatever I have given, I did on my own will. I did not think of it as a sacrifice. I did what I liked and didn’t do what I didn’t (like).

There are ups and downs in every profession, but I don’t look at those as sacrifices,” Tabu said.

So, what is her recipe for success? “Being satisfied with life (is the recipe for success).

If you have been able to follow your intuitions and your heart andbe true to who you

Social media creates bio-envy: Richa Chadha

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ollywood actress Richa Chadha who, along with the “Udta Punjab” director Abhishek Chaubey, attended the Mountain Echoes 2019 here, says strategic posts on social media by celebrities create a lot of “bio-envy”.

During an interactive session with students from India and Bhutan at the Royal University of Bhutan, Richa and Abhishek were asked how social media impacts our lives and if art can change that.

“I think social media creates a lot of bio-envy.

My social media team asks me to share pictures of what I am eating, what car I am riding and the kind of lifestyle I am having as an actress because that is called flexing on social media. It is a strategy and it creates bio-envy.

It is a lost battle,” said Richa.

“It is clear that five per cent of the people in the world will be having that life and the rest

95 percent are being repeatedly told that what they have is not good enough,” said the actress.

Therefore, the actress avers, people should not live with the idea that money and success offer happiness.

“Money and happiness get intertwined and it goes on and on. The whole idea of having more and showing off continues,” she explained.

Citing an example, Richa said: “Culturally if we look at our parent’s generation, when someone had an expensive car, they would rather park the car at a distance and walk into the venue while meeting other people who did not have something so luxurious - because showing off was not a part of our culture. I think we have to reorient (to such a mindset) sooner than later because the practice of showing off is causing a lot of problems.

(GDI)

are and to your work, I think that is success.

I don’t know if I have cracked it, but I have been lucky. Of course, hard work and sincerity have also contributed (in my success),” said Tabu.

The 47-year-old actress will next be seen in “Jawaani Jaaneman”, a comedy co-starring Saif Ali Khan. The film also marks the debut of actress Pooja Bedi’s daughter, Alaia F.

Over 30 years, Tabu’s distinct stature among actresses of her generation has been cemented by her critically acclaimed performances in films such as “Maachis”, “Virasat”, “Hu Tu Tu”, “Astitva”, “Chandni Bar”, “Maqbool”, “Cheeni Kum”, “Haider”, “Drishyam” and “Andhadhun”, besides international projects including Mira Nair’s “The Namesake” and Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi”.

Lately, she has won wide acclaim with her negative role in Sriram Raghavan’s black comedy thriller “Andhadhun” (2018), which was screened at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) this year.

By Durga Chakravarty

Casual sexism is going away: Shraddha Kapoor

Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor says that she feels proud of those girls who are making their mark in the professional field that was earlier dominated by men and for her gender equality is all about equal opportunity that is not limited by gender but based on skillset.

As the portrayal of the female character is changing in Bollywood films, asked about how she looks at the change, Shraddha said: “ I think whether it is in our entertainment business or in our society, the casual sexism is going away and it was bound to happen. It is wonderful to see how gender is not limiting a job profile, there is no such things as ‘men’s job’ anymore. All those notions that were previously practised are challenged now.”

“That is why, many parents are ‘ok’ with the decision of their children when they do not follow a so-called timeline to get married, to have a baby or even not having either of them,” added the actress who is

www.gdayindia.com.au | M: 0412-114-383

quite excited about her new film ‘Saaho’ that had released.

Making her debut in 2010 with the film Teen Patti, Shraddha has spent nine years in Bollywood and delivered some of the successful films like - “Aashiqui 2”, “Haider”, “Ek Villain”, “ABCD 2”.

Citing an example of how women are finding space in every corner of the society, Shraddha said, “ when I started my career, I saw a few female photographers and never got peppedby any female paparazzi. In last three years, I see there are four female photographers who are also doing paparazzi just like other men…I feel so proud of those girls.”

“We should get opportunity only based on our skill and not based on our gender. There are many such examples where women are making their marks in the field that is predominated by men. This is what gender equality for me,” explained the actress who will be seen in ‘Chhichhore.

(GDI)

46

DINE-OUT GUIDE

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

BRUNSWICK Curry King Returns: 841 Sydney Rd Tel: 9386 9227 OPEN 7 NIGHTS: 5pm - 12am (BYO) RESTAURANT & FUNCTION VENUE Authentic North Indian food Eat in or takeaway of all your favourite North Indian specialities.

Catering from 15 - 120 people

MELBOUNRE Flora Indian Restaurant and Café: 238A Flinders St Tel: 9663 1212 OPEN: 7 Days: Sun-Thu: 10am-10pm, Fri & Sat 10am-11pm Dine In/Take Away | Fully Licensed Melbourne’s most talked about fast food restaurant, offers Tandoori, North and South Indian dishes. The professional team at Flora have years of experience & are always willing to please.

BUNDOORA Aangan: 1191 Plenty Road Tel: 8383 3355 | 9467 9899 Open 7 Nights 5.00pm - 10.30pm Lunch 12:30pm – 3:00 pm (Saturday-Sunday)

MELBOURNE Tandoori Junction Catering Tel: 0417 379 224 Tandoori junction has put up a state of art commercial kitchen to provide catering at a venue of your choice. For all occasions, wether it be Pooja, Langar, Birthday, Wedding or any corporate event. We cater for 20 to 2000 guests. We can cater a menu to suit your budget, taste and requirements.

Dinner 5:00pm – 10:30 pm (all days) Dine In/Take Away | Fully Licensed and BYO

Experience authentic Indian food at it’s best

CAMBERWELL Tandoori Den: 261 Camberwell Rd Tel: 9813 2598 | Open 7 Nights 5.30pm - 10.00pm Lunch 11.30am - 2.30pm (Monday - Friday)

MELBOURNE Tejas: 20-22 McKillop St Tel: 973 9193

Tandoori Den is an award-winning restaurant renowned for its consistency, its authentic North Indian cuisine, delightful in-house specials, and wide range of vegetarian dishes

Fully Licenced | Dine in & Take Away Experience the scrumptious dishes here one bite will make one realize you’ve just discovered something amazing. Situated in the heart of CBD. Open for functions.

Dine In/Take Away | Fully Licensed and BYO

Dinner: Mon-Sat: 5.30pm - 10.00pm Lunch: Mon-Sat: 11.00am - 3.00pm

DERRIMUT Aangan: Unit 6-7/85 Mount Derrimut Road Tel: 8361 7280 | 8390 4976 OPEN: Dinner: Wed to Mon 5pm-11:00pm LUNCH: 12:30pm-3:00pm (Sat & Sun) Fully Licenced BYO Wine only | Dine in & Take Away Every occasion is a very special occasion at Aangan.

Experience authentic Indian food at it’s best

PRAHRAN Sachin Garg Catering: 530 Malvern Rd For an obligation free quote please call Sachin on 0431 112 144 or Arun on 0413 100 759 Sachin Garg Catering redefines cuisine of India and takes great pride in offering services for office catering, business lunches, product launches, exhibitions, conferences, cocktail and dinner parties.

ELTHAM Machan Indian Restaurant: Shop 2&3, 953 Main Rd Tel: 9439-0088 OPEN: 7 Nights: 5.30pm - 10.30pm Lunch: Sat & Sun 11.30am - 2.30pm Dine in & Takeaway For very authentic & tasty Indian food in Melbourne, come & visit Machan Indian Restaurant! We offer our patrons the finest in food, service and ambiance!

PRESTON Gujarati Rosoi Returns: 4 Cramer St Tel: 9041 0725

ESSENDON FIELDS Hyatt Place Event Centre:1 Larkin Boulevard Tel: 9190 1247 Email: HyattPlaceMelbourneEF.Events@hyatt.com 80 - 1300 guests Are you looking for a personalized modern wedding or an elegant Indian reception? Our team is here to make your celebration a memorable one with your friends and family.

PRESTON Shahnai Indian Restaurant: 278 High St Tel: 9478 9637 OPEN 7 DAYS: 12pm - 8.30pm RESTAURANT & TAKEAWAY Authentic North Indian cuisine.

Eat in or takeaway of all your favourite North Indian specialities and famous sweets.

Catering available

FOOTSCRAY WEST Aangan: 559 Barkly Street Tel: 9689-4175 | 9396-1359 OPEN: Dinner: Wed to Mon 5pm-11:00pm LUNCH: 12:30pm-3:00pm (Sat & Sun) Fully Licenced BYO Wine only | Dine in & Take Away Every occasion is a very special occasion at Aangan.

Experience authentic Indian food in Aangan’s unique beer garden

SPRINGVALE Paesano International Buffet Restaurant: 754 Princes Hwy Tel: 9540 8222

MELBOURNE Gaylord Indian Restaurant: 33 Spencer St @ Quest Grand Hotel Tel: 9663 3980

THOMASTOWN Brookwood Receptions: 10-12 Lawson Cres Tel: 9460 2946 www.brookwoodreceptions.com.au Grand & Elegant Being a wedding, engagement, social event or any special occasion, with customisable decor and unsurpassed personal service.

You are assured that your function will be an amazing one!

Established since 1985, Gaylord has been one of the favourite for many Indian food lovers.

Specialising in Tandoori, Traditional Curries and much more!

Also known for their catering.

Open 7 Days: 10am - 9pm Eat in or takeaway of all your favourite Gujarati specialities.

Pure Vegetarian Gujarati home-style cooking Catering orders welcome

Open 7 Days Licenced Dine in. Experience Melbourne’s finest and most indulgent International Buffet destination Prior Bookings highly recommended

www.gdayindia.com.au | M: 0412-114-383

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

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47

48

FOOD

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Did you know: bon appétit ‘Indian’ Colonel Sanders unveils KFC’s Zinger at Madame Tussauds

Watermelon is 92 per cent water. The water content keeps you hydrated, and the juice is full of good electrolytes

Just as the actual Zinger burger is handmade with care at the KFC restaurant, the Zinger at Madame Tussauds Delhi was crafted with similar precision, the statement added.

Madame Tussauds has hitherto featured only celebrities or characters made famous by movies and television. How did the burger find its way to the museum?

I

n a historic break from tradition, a largerthan-life KFC Zinger, aka ‘The original celebrity burger’, has been unveiled at the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Delhi, quite appropriately by the ‘Indian Colonel Sanders’, complete in a white suit, black string tie, a mop of blonde hair and blonde goatee.

“Just like a true celeb, the Zinger has real fans, has made it to headlines and is truly an original; one of a kind celeb burger. And a place among leading celebrities and iconic personalities is just what it deserves,” said a statement from Madame Tussauds.

“While many have wondered if the Zinger is a piece of art or a celeb. All debates are now put to rest with the Zinger asserting its celeb status at Madame Tussauds. Surely, this isn’t any regular burger. It is the only burger that has travelled to space and has even inspired tattoo artworks for some. In 2018 alone, we sold more than 10 million Zingers in India -- that’s like a Zinger each for every person in New Zealand and Singapore,” explained Moksh Chopra, Chief Marketing Officer, KFC India.

Last year, KFC India roped in theatre actor Denzil Smith to play the role of Colonel Harland David Sanders, the American businessman who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken (now known as KFC), and also act as the fast food restaurant chain’s brand ambassador and mascot.

(AGENCIES)

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G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

49

Humble ‘Khichdi’ is haute cuisine at Mumbai chain eatery Tours”, but often suffered from ‘khichdi pangs’, especially abroad where the culinary options were limited.

“As the tour numbers soared, the Indian tourists demanded ‘home-style food’ in alien lands. I started taking Indian cooks, who made it a point to serve at least 50 per cent of all meals as ‘khichdi’ in different varieties. My patrons would go wild with joy, enjoying piping hot ‘khichdi’ in the bone-chilling cold of Russia, the snowy Alps of Switzerland, near the Niagara Falls in USA and Canada, cold rains in Australia, cool climes of Europe, China, et al,” he said.

At his outlets in Mumbai’s Vile Parle, Mulund, Ghatkopar and Borivali, Shah started with a manageable 25 ‘khichdi’ varieties, which were lapped up by the hungry patrons faster than they were cooked in huge earthen pots.

Now, it has gone up to 111 ‘khichdi’ varieties and with further research, he promises to offer a whopping 250-strong ‘all-khichdi’ menu, covering all states, regions, community specialities, etc.

G

uess what dish turns on Jitendra Shah, a Mumbai-based tour operator-turned-restaurateur?

Something that turns off most people -- the humble and dismissively prepared ‘Khichdi’.

whipped up a ‘khichdi’ as main course for lunch/dinner for the entire family when they secretly desired ‘an off’ from the cumbersome kitchen chores,” Shah said.

“Khichdi finds reference in our ancient texts, during the Mohenjo Daro era of the Indus Valley Civilisation nearly 4,500 years ago. Unfortunately, its significance has dimmed only in the past five decades with the advent of so-called ‘fast foods’.

Through my restaurants, I have tried to revive it and people have endorsed it,” he said modestly.

most common dish of Indian kitchens!

They had heard of and even tasted ‘khichdi’ at home, but never prepared it professionally in huge quantities for restaurants,” he laughed.

Group CEO Tina Joshi said hungry patrons at the restaurants daily await their turn, but weekends in particular witness a rush of customers all thronging to gulp their preferred variant of ‘khichdi’ from ‘Parsi’, ‘Kashmiri’, ‘Swaminarayan’, ‘Gujarati-Kathiawadi’, ‘Rajasthani’, ‘Hyderabadi’, ‘Kashmiri’, ‘Punjabi’, ‘fusion’, etc, with a generous dollop of pure cow-ghee.

So, besides genuine ‘khichdi’ varieties from almost every state in India (except the Northeast), Shah has attempted a ‘fusion khichdi’ with Italian, Chinese, Spanish, pizza or burger flavours, and other styles of global cuisine... and the customers, particularly the gen-next, seem to get a ‘khichdi kick’ out of it.

“At one point of time, this very ‘khichdi’ enjoyed an unglamorous reputation -- considered a ‘cheap item’ for the ‘sick and poor’. That’s because doctors recommended it to patients for its nutrition value, and charitable organisations routinely prepared and distributed it to masse to poor queueing outside religious places,” Shah smiled.

However, at Shah’s outlets, a proper ‘khichdi’ meal can cost around Rs 350/ head, and there are different options,

The ‘khichdi’ came with a variety of aromatic home-made spices, with rice This backbencher dish has been an and one or more ‘dals’ (pulses), served all-time favourite of Shah, who has been with a large dollop of pure cow-ghee as relishing the concoction prepared by his an icing on the bubbly hot delight, mostly mother and grandmothers (both maternal/ as an independent dish, but occasionally paternal) for years. accompanied by ‘curd curry’, ‘liquid dal’, buttermilk, or lassi to wash it down However, it was only at the age of 60 smoothly. that he could muster the courage to bring ‘Khichdi’ to the forefront of Mumbaikars’ “Indeed, those were hearty meals, palates, offering them delicious plates all family members relished it till their of the simple preparation as hautetummies were full, but nobody ever fell cuisine in the luring ambience of his four ill, and our original ‘Kitchen Queens’ also restaurants, “Khichdi - The Global Food”. enjoyed a sort of ‘weekly off’, thanks to the ‘khichdi’ celebration,” Shah recalled.

“I still remember how my mother and grandmothers used to casually prepare Having left his native Jamnagar ‘khichdi’, as a quick snack or a full meal, (Gujarat) to become a domestic and when the kids were ill, and occasionally global tour operator in 1987, Shah for the school tiffin. Sometimes, they roamed around the world with his “Heena

“If Café Coffee Day, McDonalds, Starbucks and Pizza outlets can lure people with their limited offerings, ‘Khichdi’ stands an even better chance, for its high nutritional value, health benefits and historical linkage. It’s a culturally unifying dish,” said Shah.

Before launching the first outlet in mid-2018 without fanfare, for six months Shah conducted a thorough research on ‘khichdi’ prepared all over India, then took great pains to source the local spices, the huge earthen vessels made with the right kind of earth for the cooking.

“Then, the bigger challenge was - training my bewildered retinue of professional chefs on how to ‘cook’ the

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combos, accompaniments, etc, said Joshi.

After lip smacking success in Mumbai, Shah plans to launch at least four outlets annually in India, plus venture abroad to bring the best of the humble ‘khichdi’ to the Indian diaspora.

“Then, we plan to dehydrate and sell dry packets of ‘ready-to-eat Khichdi’ with a long shelf-life, easy to carry-consume anywhere in the world, just pour in a cup of hot water and enjoy. It will be available through global online marketing companies,” Shah said, ordering his favourite plate of mouth-watering ‘Gujarati-Kathiawadi’ khichdi.

By Quaid Najmi

50

FOOD

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

Discovering India through food, says chef Ratnani

Millets – truly ancient grains!

‘desi’.

As a chef, he said, “I believe I supporting local farmers believe in sustainability.”

Ratnani, who believes he is exactly the same person at home or with his friends, visited the local wholesale fruit and vegetable market in Sector 26 to explore all the local seasonal ingredients.

Whenever he is in Delhi, he prefers to visit Khari Baoli, Asia’s largest wholesale spice market selling all kinds of spices, nuts, herbs and food products.

According to him, healthy food becoming the preferred choice.

“The health element is pretty high among consumers these days. They are not only calorie conscious but also conscious about what they are eating, I mean quality of food,” he said.

Celebrated MasterChef Vicky Ratnani said he is discovering India through food.

About his foray into the food industry, he said as a child, he learnt cooking from his family, his mom and his friends, all great cooks.

Currently, the celebrated chief, who is born and raised in Mumbai, is doing the ‘Mother India project’.

“My mom is a vegetarian. Also, we Sindhis have a lot of vegetarian food on their plate. I am documenting all her recipes minutely and this is a Mother India project,” Ratnani said.

Ratnani, who graduated from Dadar Catering College (Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai) and then travelled across the globe for 14 years before returning to India, believes his specialty is Western but his soul is

For his first ever gig in the region, Ratnani is all set to curate an exotic ‘Global Gourmet Menu’ for 35 BREWHOUSE at JW Marriott here.

“I get very excited when I get to collaborate with people who share my love for food, exploration and innovation,” Ratnani said.

As global flavours meet the produce of the local markets in the backdrop, Ratnani takes centre stage as he dons his chef’s hat to create the magic of flavours.

“Each bite of your food will be a dash of new flavour combinations. Take the crispy fish tacos, for instance, a Mexican delicacy that will be topped with an Indianised sauce combining the fresh flavours of beetroot, cucumber and yogurt. Yet another amazing flavour pairing is of exotic vegetables and Rajasthani mathania chillies which we will be serving in the plant-based calzone,” he added.

(AGENCIES)

Museum of Ice Cream to launch in New York Francisco and New York.

The new flagship space is expected to feature some of the museum’s most multi-sensory installations that will bring to life the delightful dreams of guests through various means like -- savoring the sweetest treats on a floating table, sliding down an epic three-story slide, seeing a spectacular hall of giant scoops, and following the sound of a buzz that will lead one to a giant “Queen Bee hive”.

As per the museum, it would open to the public by late autumn this year.

(AGENCIES)

We are quick to adapt new things especially when it comes to foods - for example oats, quinoa, chia etc.

These foods are marketed well and from biryani to burger, these ingredients are added! But it is high time we also give some ancient grains their rightful place on our plates and make them an integral part of our diets.

We are talking about millets here!

Millets then…

Millets are one of the oldest of cultivated crops and have been discovered in pots used for storing grains at archaeological sites in present day China, India, Europe and different parts of Africa. Millets have been mentioned in some of the oldest Hindu texts and their consumption in the Indian subcontinent dates back to more than 4500 years ago. There is evidence of the cultivation of millet even in the Korean Peninsula dating around 3,500–2,000 BC. So millets have been a good part of the staple diet among many communities across the world. References to millets keep popping up in literature, paintings, folk songs and religious compositions from different times periods and these grains truly in some sense have been global for ages now!

Millets now…

No wonder the global market for millets is set to register a steady expansion in the coming years. Over US$ 13,500 million worth of millets are estimated to be sold across the globe by end of 2022. The market size of millet will exceed USD 12 billion by 2025 - according to a new research report by Global Market Insights. So clearly it is time we join the millet bandwagon and go back to the root of our cultures -- better late than never!

A quick recap on these grains Millets like rice and wheat belong to the grain family but are small seeded. There are 8 popular types of millets: Sorghum, Finger Millet, Pearl millet, Fox tail, Little millet, Proso, Barnyard and Kodo and they all vary in size and colour – for example, sorghum is a big millet while finger and little millet are small sized.

Some millets are good enough to replace wheat and some can replace rice, hence can be used in many dishes and provide better nutrition well. The net is abuzz with delectable recipes like millet risotto, spiced millet pilaf, cauliflower and millet mash, millet and parmesan biscuits, broccoli and millet salad, showing that these grains can be used in cuisines around the world. Check out for some recipes from Australia at https://www.taste. com.au/ Millets are gluten free and much more These ancient grains filled with goodness are gluten free - truly a boon for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Known for their versatility, millet grains can be used in varied dishes around the world – from flatbreads, salads, porridges, muesli, drinks, pilafs to breads, biscuits. These grains due to their adaptability appeal to a wide range of people and satiate all their cravings with ease!

An experiential Museum of Ice Cream (MOIC), with an Indian co-founder, will be opening soon in New York.

The flagship museum will span nearly 25,000 square feet over 3 floors, featuring 13 new installations, including a New York inspired “Celestial Subway” and MOIC’s biggest sprinkle pool to date.

The Museum of Ice Cream in New York “is the first of several flagship locations that will launch in the United States and abroad over the next 18 months,” the museum co-founder Manish Vora said.

Finally, millets are nutrient packed – they have a reasonable amount of protein, are high in dietary fibre, a good source of micronutrients like magnesium, iron, calcium, zinc and B vitamins. They are also a source of antioxidants!

Since 2016, MOIC has welcomed guests, including celebrities like Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry, among its 1.5 million visitors, to its popups across the US cities of Los Angeles, Miami, San

Bring home these humble yet powerful grains and treat your family with variety and healthier dishes!

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RECIPE

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

51

Royal Vegetable Pulao Soya bean has always been a nutritionist’s favourite ingredient. It is low calorie, high in protein and a great substitute for meat.

Aromatic and great tasting Pulao has been created with loads of vegetables. Vegetarians, this one is especially for you!

Ingredients: 1/2 cup soya nuggets 2 tsp olive oil 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 2 inch cinnamon 2-3 cardamom 1-2 bay leaves 1/2 cup onion, chopped 1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1/2 cup green peas 1/2 cup corn kernels 1 1/2 cups Basmati Rice, washed and drained 1 tsp chilli powder 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp cumin powder salt to taste

Method: 1. Soak the soya nuggets in hot water for about 20 minutes.

Drain and keep aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves.

3. When the cumin seeds sizzle, add the onions and sauté for about 5 mins 4. Add the soya nuggets carrots, green peas and corn and stir to mix well.

5. Stir in the chilli, turmeric, coriander and cumin powders and salt. Stir well to combine.

6. Gently stir in the Basmati rice and mix well with.

7. Pour in 4 cups of hot water and stir gently to combine. Bring to the boil.

8. Cover and cook on low heat for about 20 mins or until rice is cooked and aromatic.

9. Serve hot.

recipe

Serves 2-3

Garnish:

Serve:

Chopped coriander and lemon wedge.

Serve with Khakhra or Pappadum, raita, salad, pickle and lassi or drink of your choice

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BY MANJIT SETHI

from the private collection

52

ASTROLOGY

MESHA (Aries)

September 2019 gives you lots of energy to start new things and express yourself creatively. Your creativity, temporarily looks frustrating. While this won’t last very long at all, it will give you a perspective on how you sometimes use your emotions. This is a great time to learn more about surrender and to synchronize with the timing of the Universe. This will be a very important lesson at mid-month. In advance of this period take the time to feel passionately about what you’d like to manifest in your life.

Best days: 3, 12, 30 Lucky Colour: Red, Orange & Cream

SIMHA (Leo)

You feel creatively fertile, ready to produce some new talent or aspect of who you are. This is a good time for precisely that as doors are opening in your job or your career field. Don’t let your anxiousness get the best of you early in the month. Pay close attention to family and home needs so that they receive appropriate and conscious attention.

Finances should be doing well but avoid increasing your debt load without due consideration. Better to save up for bigger and better things ahead.

Best days: 5,3 Lucky Colour: White & Orange

DHANU (Sagittarius)

There are some deep issues percolating which require your awareness. Your inspiration and motivation will be piqued soon enough, however. On September 14th there is a New Moon taking place conjunct transiting Jupiter who is the powerful ruler of your Sun sign. On the 15th Sun and Mars are conjunct. These two potent events both take place in your tenth house of career, status and responsibility. The portal is open if you would like to do some healing or service-related work. This is the time for you to dream things as they could be and say ‘Why not?’

Best days: 9, 18 Lucky Colour: Red, Blue

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

VRISHABH (Taurus)

By D. Narayan (Tantracharya)

As the month begins This will be an important time for matters particularly communication, writing and business. It allows you to look at motivation in these areas. What would you like to communicate or accomplish? Where do you hold back in these areas and how can you change that?

Use this period for home improvement and getting closer with the family. Give special attention to the children. The energies of romance and creativity are in the air.

Best days: 9, 18, 27 Lucky Colour: Green, Blue

MITHUNA (Gemini)

Emphasis this month is on home, family and your emotional self. Challenges appears on the September 14th providing an opportunity for breakthrough or meltdown. This is a time to nurture yourself. Sort out relationship needs sensitively and be with the family. There may be deeper, nagging questions about career and life direction that are at the heart of your frustration. What do you need in this regard? It’s time to be really honest with yourself so you can achieve the fulfilment you deserve.

Best days: 2, 7, 9 Lucky Colour: Red, White, Yellow

KANYA (Virgo)

TULA (Libra)

Best days: 3, 12 Lucky Colour: Orange, Green

Best days: 9, 18 Lucky Colour: Red, Blue

Feel the power of your passion for life. Your passion represents your sense of Knowing and Truth about who you are and why you are here. What a powerful month astrologically! Auspicious for new beginnings, takes place on the 14th, This will be a good test for you. You are bubbling with inspiration, ambition and likely yearning for a new sense of direction. You are going to have to feel this energy of possibility palpably with your body. The ‘plan’ you are always needing will reveal itself. Trust yourself and the Universe.

MAKARA (Capricorn)

The Moon in fiery Aries provides motivation at the beginning of the month. That can mean a chance for romance for those who are actively seeking.

For others it signifies focusing on existing relationships and what they are telling you. Your thoughts would be welcomed. Opportunities for creative expression are at a peak this month. Let your creative talents fly. There is also a great deal of inspiration to be gained from ninth house affairs, travel or higher teachings. Visit your teacher, take a workshop or read a book that will help you to shift your perception.

Best days: 1, 3, 4 Lucky Colour: White, Green, Blue

Use this time to ‘lighten up’ with your sense of over-responsibility. If you can’t love your work, then try to work with love. Take the pressure off of yourself wherever you can. Do things around the home to make you feel more cosy and special.

Finances can show improvement at the end of the month just in time to buy yourself the birthday present you really deserve. It is suggested that the energies of change in some areas – energies set in motion are moving toward resolution in the next six to eight weeks.

KUMBHA (Aquarius)

You may focusing a lot these days on your goals and life direction. Even though the last few weeks have made things as clear as mud, don’t sweat it. The transformative power of the Sun, Mars and Jupiter in your eighth house of change may be very revealing.

The 14th and 15th will crystallize many things for you. Consider pending possibilities carefully. Synergy is the secret to being a happy Water Bearer. Give the healing waters of the gods away to whoever will receive from you and you will be always happy. The 24th and 25th are green light days for you to take action.

Best days: 5, 3, 6 Lucky Colour: White, Green

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KARKAT (Cancer)

September offers great opportunities to make new friends, promote yourself, advertise your business or create an internet presence. Saturn’s transit of your Sun sign gets an energetic, creative bounce from the Sun, Mars and Jupiter moving through your third house of mind, communication and business. Your mind is fertile and active and can help you out of a creative rut. The enlightenments or attitude adjustments near the 9th can be turned into action in the second half of the month.

Best days: 9, 18 Lucky Colour: Red, Blue

VRISHCHIK (Scorpio)

You may find the first days of September a bit like slogging through mud that’s up to your hips. The eleventh house is the house of friends, networking, promoting oneself, ones’s ideal, long-term goals and money generated from career. There is lots of energy available so pay particular attention to these areas of your life. You simply cannot change other people. Change the lens through which you view them by adjusting your beliefs about yourself.

Best days: 1, 3, 4 Lucky Colour: Red, Orange

MEEN (Pisces)

Your creative energies are looking for just the right avenue for expression. Don’t rush the process; take your time to find what feels right for you.

There are likely some matters that have been left hanging that require discussion. Clarify with your partner what works for you and what does not and what is negotiable. You have let the ball be in ‘their’ court long enough this lifetime. If you feel in a rut socially, some new, stimulating, supportive friendships may be in order. You are flexing your spiritual muscles now. Have faith in yourself.

Best days: 2, 7, 9 Lucky Colour: Red, Yellow, White

CLASSIFIEDS

G’DAY INDIA | SEP 2019

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54

L AUGHTER HAVE A LAUGH

God’s most intelligent creation: ‘WOMAN’ A lady was very sick in her bed and asked her husband “Honey, how long will you take to marry another lady in case I die?”

Then the husband said “Honestly, my love, I can only bring another lady after your grave is completely dry” After few days, the lady died and the husband kept on visiting her graveyard on daily basis,.

This took 15 years and the grave looked wet always.

One evening as he visited the graveyard, he met his brother in-law at the grave with an empty bucket and asked, “Hey James what are you doing here?”

Then his brother in-law was like “I am here to fulfil my only sister’s wish, she said I should be coming here daily to wet her grave” The man fainted.

T HERAP Y

A drunkard walking on the street, is approached by the police at 3:00 AM. The policeman asks: Where are you going at this hour?

The drunkard answers: I am going to attend a conference on alcohol abuse and The lethal effects on the body, The bad example it creates on children, The harmful consequences for the family, The problem it causes to the family economy, ... in addition to being an absolute irresponsibility.

The surprised policeman says: Really!!! Who will give this lecture at this time of night?

My wife ... as soon as I get home‼️

(Never joke with women, even in death, their jealousy still smells.)

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FOOD WHOLESALER Sabi Foods (Pattu) 31 – 35 Letcon Drive Dandenong Sth 97676666 BFS - Bulk Food Services F7/18-20 Law Crt Sunshine West 9330 4415 Flying Poultry 4/3a Newlands Rd Reservoir 9460 3066 GROCERY RETAIL - INDIAN India Spice Corner 7 Borrack Square Altona North 99435172 MKS 282 Warrigal Rd Ashwood 98859932 Limra Groceries 162A Carlise St Balaclava 95371515 Aarya Supermarket 4, 277-279 Centre Rd Bentleigh 95574004 Berwick Spices Shop 5, 248 Clyde St Berwick 87868006 Satnam Indian Groceries 91 Whitehorse Rd Blackburn 98780002 Guru Bazaar Shop 26B, Upper Level Boronia Mall 0466510367 Bombay Music & Groceries 904 Cantebury Rd Box Hill Sth 98906377 India at Home 897 Canterbury Rd Box Hill Sth 98904855 J&J Grocery World 424B Station St Box Hill Sth 90786386 Hayat Hyper Market 839 Sydney Rd Brunswick 93837233 Spice Galore 852 Sydney Rd Brunswick 90770971 Arora Spice 7 Nicholson St Brunswick E 93875541 Spicy n’ Taste 10-12/43 Plenty Rd Bundoora 0425844381 Tales of India 3/15-23 Westwood Drive Burnside 83617811 Carnegie Indian Express 8 Morton Ave Carnegie 95680464 Spice Mart Shop29, 13-15 Lake St Caroline Springs 83584558 Vel Spices 20 Boundry Rd Carrum Downs 97828611 Spices and Saree Bazar 1/16-18 Station Rd Cheltehnam 95842279 India At Home 113 Carnish Rd Clayton 95435568 Spice Supermarket 152 Rosebank Ave Clayton South 95479999 Sarawan Spices 335 Clayton Rd Clayton 95446766 Alishaan India 366 Clayton Rd Clayton 95629588 Desi Needs 5/95 Waterfield St Coburg 93507110 Laligurans 243 Sydney Rd Coburg 93835546 Golden Mini Mart 2-10 Murray Rd Coburg North 93557786 Guru Australia 3/3 Maffra St Coolaroo 93097222 Amma Spice 47-53 High St Cranbourne 59963967 Ahmed Supermarket Shop 1,2 - 33–39 High St Cranbourne 59961722 Punjabi Bazar 1 Linsell Blvd Cranbourne E 5995 0235 Universal Way Spices Shop4, 1-3 Universal Way Cranbourne W 97856509 Best Choice Spices 2 Rushwood Dr Creigieburn 83519241 HS Quality Foods Indian Grocer Shop T13, 300 Grand Blvd Craigieburn 93038004 KML Enterprises 79 Hamilton St Creigieburn 93082828 Spice Warehouse 10 Craigieburn Rd West Craigieburn 0425772083 Touch of Asia Pacific 1/334 Hume Hwy Craigieburn 99738696 MKS International Pty Ltd 23 Pultney St Dandenong 97013165 C.J Spices & Video 355-359 Lonsdale St Dandenong 97936888 India Bazar 77 Foster St Dandenong 97947010 Gulistan Supermarket 187-189 Thomas St Dandenong 97085518

Hindustan Imports 50 Greens Rd Dandenong S 97946640 Real Spice 829A Ballarat Rd Deer Park 93634522 Spice Connection 5/85 Mt Derrimut Rd Deer Park 93630346 Synergy Enterprises Shop1, 350 Taylors Rd Delahey 93645844 Touch of Asia Pacific Unit1, 1-11 Elgar Rd Derrimut 83584331 Dalton Spices 731 High St Epping 94084066 India at Home 768 High St Epping 84013040 India Gate 14c/560 High St Epping 94087572 JMD Groceries 770 High St Epping 84013040 MK Spice 147 Wheatsheaf Rd Epping 93069911 P&C Grocery 5, 41-53 Miller St Epping 94013810 Fawkner Mini Mart 33 Bonwick St Fawkner 93592215 Bharat Traders 580 Barkly St West Footscray 96876071 Bhorer Pakhie Traders 79 Irving St Footscray 96870452 Aap ka apna Indian Groceries 38 Irving St Footscray 96873633 Salam Namaste 57 Leeds St Footscray 90779814 Saharah Spice 29/8-34 Gladstone Park Dr Gladstone Park 90772960 Quality Groceries 1120 Glenhuntly Rd Glen Huntly 95715544 India at Home 1208-1210 Glen Huntly Rd Glen Huntly 95718494 Spice Mahal 155 Wheatsheaf Rd Glen Roy 93069911 Touch of Asia 826 Pascoevale Rd Glen Roy 93042111 Amba Bazar 204 Blackburn Rd Glen Waverley 98878822 Elephant House 25 Coleman Pde Glen Waverley 98033567 Swadesh Groceries 28 Willow Ave Glen Waverley 88380253 Quality Grocery 61 Railway Pde North Glen Waverley 98879041 Venus Industries 28-30 Thompson St Glen Waverley 98879063 Khyber Market 6 Spring Sq Hallam 97031164 Kabul Bazaar 76 Spring Square Hallam 97023219 Kandy Food 6/3 Fordholm Rd Hampton Park 97998651 Grover Groceries 26 Hampton Park Central Hampton Park 87687149 Shoppers India 493 Burwood Rd Hawthorn 98185268 Surabhi Groceries 359 Burwood Rd Hawthorn 98180452 Pickles & Pappads 10/101-111 Burgundy St Heidelberg 90771533 Delhi Haat 11 Old Geelong Rd Hoppers Cros’g 97495771 Grocery Eez S5, 428 Old Geelong Rd Hoppers Cros’g 83608480 Mohini & Mani 3/302-306 Old Geelong Rd Hoppers Cros’g 93693526 India at Home 317 Cheltenham Rd Keysbrough 97923839 My Grocer Shop 4/317 Cheltenham Rd Keysbrough 0470211667 Laverton Spice 16 Lohse St Laverton 93609777 Spice Lines 3 Triholm Av Laverton 99311901 Spice Town 159A Railway Rd Laverton 0433422106 Swagath Grocery 16 May Rd Laylor 94647699 Sada Grocery Store 2/8 Northey Rd Lynbrook 87520110 Joy Grocery Shop 2, 75 Lynbrook Blvd Lynbrook 87687448 The Spicery A17, 945 Thompson Rd Lyndhurst 87389168 Shahi India 41 Glenferrie Rd Malvern 95093113 Curry Corner S2, 180 Russell Sr Melbourne 96634040 MGS Melton 8B Station Rd Melton South 87462255 West Zone Grocery 9 Staughton St Melton South 87405814 Maa Durga Indian Groceries Shop 2/ 523-531, High St Melton West 0415552335 Synergy Spices 81/ 314 -360 Childs Rd Mill Park 9404 4488 Shriji Supermarket 520 Plenty Rd Mill Park 94378080 Synergy Spice 45/314-360 Childs Rd Mill Park 94044488 True Spice 22 Station St Mitcham 98738897 Indian Srilankan Grocery 7 Aspen St Monnee Ponds 93703813 Mini Bazaar 428 Huntingdale Rd Mt Waverley 98072920 Raj Kamal Enterprise 22 Station St Moorabin 90777945 Amba Bazaar 482 Neerim Rd Murrumbeena 95691386 Chanda Grocerry Bazaar 9/6 Rebound Ct Narre Warren 87387072 Apna Desh 26 Douglas St Noble Park 85550184 Deshi Bazaar 246 Railway Pde Noble Park 97912772 Singh Bros 23 Douglas St Noble Park 9543854 Spice Supermarketz 27 Douglas St Noble Park 95742161

Excel Food Mart 140 Peel St Nth Melbourne 93297877 Indian Big Bazaar 12/48-56 Tom Roberts Pde Point Cook 83538473 1st Choice Grocery 8/73-75 Point Cook Rd Point Cook 99311784 Indian Grocery & Spice 349 High St Preston 94789835 King of Spice 355 High St Preston 94789082 MKS International Pty Ltd 258 High St Preston 94169011 Healthy India 276 Broadway St Reservoir 94624230 Reservoir Spice Shop 4, 683 Plenty Rd Reservoir 94704228 Variety Grocery Store & Spices 978 High St Reservoir 94702200 P&C Crocery 246 Broadway St Reservoir 94601292 Sri Lankan Paradise Grocery 222 Broadway St Reservoir 94601177 Shri Ram 299 Broadway St Reservoir 94609330 Melbourne Grocery 330 Victoria St Richmond 94295200 Delhi Bazar 4 Murray Pl Ringwood 98797636 Taj Spiiceway 2/54 Wantirna Rd Ringwood 98768765 Spice World 1221 Stud Rd Rowville 97556177 Reliable Groceries S57G, 250 Sommerton Rd Roxburg Park 83392266 India Gate Groceries Shop 3, 338 McDonalds Rd South Morang 0401247982 India Town 308-310 Springvale Rd Springvale 95742992 JMJ Spices 125-127 Springvale Rd Springvale 95740829 Shahi India 5,134 Springvale Rd Springvale 90044178 Pahal Groceries 1/323 Main Road East St Albans 0430830329 Tony Di Hutti 53 Main Rd West St Albans 93560020 Mera Desh 13 Clarke St Sunshine 0430123394 Sagar Spices 11A/254 Hampshire Rd Sunshine 93121440 Convenience Store Sh2,Overton Lea Drv Sydenham 83808537 Best Bazar 1/53 Wickford Ave Tarneit 97316811 Our Spices S10, 380 Sayers Rd Tarneit 87421696 Fusion Spices 4/550 Tarneit West Villiage Tarneit 87424202 Kumar Sweets S6&7, 377 Syers Rd Tarneit 87427728 Yes Yes Indian Supermarket 540 Derrimut Rd Tarneit 87630144 Mini Punjab S7, 2-14 Calder Park Drv Taylors Lakes 93079190 Super Spice Shop 94, Watergardens SC Taylors Lakes 94494410 Mini Punjab 2a/216 Station St Thomastown 0417932469 Shri Ram 175 High St Thomastown 94647327 Patel Trading Melbourne 211 Leaks Rd Truganina 83532992 Royal Spice Market Shop 2/475 Leakes Rd Truganina 93693632 Divya Groceries 104 Coleman Rd Wantirna Sth 98875447 Just Spice Werribee 4,67 Synnot St Werribee 97423652 Werribie Spice House 41-45 Railway Ave Werribiee 97424237 SVS Global Groceries 100 Overton Rd Williams Landing 83545583 HOME IMPROVEMENT NEA - Northern Electrics & Automation Please call: Vijay Dhiman 0433920261 Secure Window Roller Shutters Please call 1800554877 HEALTH / BEAUTY Aura Health S8, L1, 358 Lonsdale St Melbourne Salon Roop (Beauty Therapist) 38A Greenridge Av Templestowe IMMIGRATION Australia Fair Migration S802 L8, 365 Lt Collins St Melbourne Brasica Migration Level 2, 10-16 Queen St Melbourne Handa Immigration Specialists Lvl 9, 416-420 Collins St Melbourne SetRite Consultants L6, 40 City Rd Southbank

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REAL ESTATE / BUILDERS / CONVEYANCE Home Group L1, 605-609 Doncaster Rd Doncaster 0404479440 Melvic Real Estate 7-9 Siddons Way, Hallam 0425849227 Build4Me Suite 2, 1401 Burke Rd Kew East 1300000868 RESTAURANTS Atta Restaurant 159 -161 Victoria Ave Albert Park 96963388 Curry King 841 Sydney Rd Brunswick 93869227 Tandoori Den 261 Camberwell Rd Camberwell 98132598 Taste of Taj Sweets 1/151 Carinish Rd Clayton 0430345101 Punjabi Curry Café 87 Johnston St Collingwood 94195307 Punjabi Curry Cafe 2 71B Hamilton St Craigieburn 93337367 Bikaner Sweets 52B Foster St Dandenong 97929246 Calcutta Sweets 52E Foster St Dandenong 97938101 Aangan @ Derrimut 6-7/85 Mt Derrimut Rd Deer Park 83617280 Kumar Sweets 3/85 Mt Derrimut Rd Deer Park 83617303 Sharma Sweets Shop 4, 350 Taylors Rd Delahey 93564400 Bhoj Indian Restaurant 54 New Quay Promenade Docklands 96000884 Tantra Indian Restaurant 256 Blackburn Rd Doncaster East 98425454 Machan Indian Restaurant Shop 2&3, 953 Main Rd Eltham 94390088 Curry Leaf 99-101 Brighton Rd Elwood 95313404 Aangan Indian Restaurant 559 Barkly St Footscray W 96894175 Dosa Hut 604 Barkly St Footscray W 96870171 Hyderabad Inn 551 Barkly Street Footscray W 96890998 Tandoori Daawat 1/432 Napean Hwy Frankston 97837909 Shiraaz 48 Malop St Geelong 52297777 Gold Restaurant 1214 Glenhuntly Rd Glenhuntly 95711005 Patiala House Shop T4, 821Melton Hwy Hillside 0403700503 Cafe Saffron 238 Upper Heidelberg Rd Ivanhoe 94971084 Tandoori Junction Catering Please call Karan 0417379224 Raju Omlet Centre 424 Burwood Rd Hawhorn 90773900 Ethnic India 4/2-6 Kilmur Road Hoppers Crs’g 0434249279 The Host Indian Restaurant 3/900 Old Calder Hwy Keilor 94493078 Gujjus Cafe 1/141 Waverley Rd Malvern East 95711188 Curry Point 392 Bourke St Melbourne 0403700503 Delhi Rocks 212 King St Melbourne 96000985 Desi Dhaba 134 Flinders St Melbourne 96509908 Flora Indian Restaurant 238A Flinders St Melbourne 96631212 Gaylord Indian Restaurant 33 Spencer St Melbourne Tejas 20 -22 McKillop Street Melbourne 99739193 Tonka 20 Duckboard Pl Melbourne 96503155 Haveli Heritage Indian Restaurant 147 Springvale Rd Nunawading 98941619 Sachin Garg Catering 530 Malvern Rd Prahran 95102037 Dosa Plaza 4 Plenty Rd Preston 94848444 Gujarati Rasoi 4 Cramer St Preston 90410725 Shahnai Sweets 278 High St Preston 94789637 Babu Ji 4-6 Grey St St Kilda 95342447 Paesano Buffet Restaurant 754 Princes Hyw Springvale 95408222 Masala Craft 623 High St Thornbury 94951188 Azooba 267 Mickelham Rd Tullamarine 93304563 Le Taj 70 Rosslyn Street W.Melbourne 93298402 Bikanos 70 Watton St Werribee 87426450 Bollywood Sweet Bazaar Shop2, 49 Synnot St Werribee 8742 3513 TRAVEL AGENT Gaura Travel Please Call: 1300 flyIndia Best & Less Travels S3, 237-239 Flinder Ln Melbourne Mann Travel Please Call: Open 24/7 Gurkhas Travel 1124 Glenhuntly Rd Glen Huntley

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