WHAT’S ON

Seminar

Why there's more to learn from Mahatma Gandhi's activism

Thu 11 April (6:30 pm - 8:00 pm) The University of Sydney program Sydney Ideas presents Gandhian scholar

Dr Shobhana Radhakrishna of the Gandhian Forum for Ethical Corporate Governance in a conversation about the transformational leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and its ongoing relevance.

Venue: Charles Perkins Centre Auditorium, Johns Hopkins Drive (off Missenden Road), The University of Sydney. Details 02 8627 1444.

Politics and Fashion

Fri 12 April (6:30 pm - 9:30 pm) The Sherman Centre for Culture and Ideas (SCCI) presents Bandana Tewari, former Editor-At-Large for Vogue India and currently one of the nation’s foremost authorities on fashion, in a talk entitled ‘Gandhi’s Mindful Luxury’.

Venue: Museum of Sydney, Phillip St Sydney. Details 02 8376 0850

Saffron and Silk

Sat 27 April (1:30 pm – 3:30 pm)

Blacktown City Libraries presents author Anne Benjamin talking about her latest book Saffron and Silk: An Australian in India. Married to an Indian national she met in Canada, Anne spent years struggling with the frustrations of being a ‘foreign wife’ and uses her personal experiences to explore the larger issues of India’s culture and history. She brings a unique insight into a country that is of increasing significance to contemporary Australia. Venue: Max Webber Library Function Centre, Level 1, Cnr Flushcombe Rd & Alpha St, Blacktown.

Details 02 9839 6640.

Community

Mela Melna Da

Sun 7 Apr (12.00noon - 5.00pm)

A ladies only event celebrating the Punjabi festive season of sisterhood with stalls, food, shopping and entertainment. At Bowman Hall, 35 Campbell St, Blacktown. Details 0451 786 205.

Baishakhi Mela

Sat 6 Apr (10.00am – 11.00pm)

Enjoy the festival of Baisakhi this month at Fairfield Showground, 443 Smithfield Rd, Prairiewood. Details 0433 448 022.

Gangaur

Sun 7 April (11.30am - 3.00pm)

Rajasthan Association of NSW Inc presents the ladies only Gangaur Sinjara event, titled Glitzy Gangaur 2019. Venue: The Grand Marion, 85 Marion St, Harris Park. Program includes 3-course vegetarian meal, interactive games, henna, dancing, colourful photo booth and superb entertainment. Part of the proceeds go towards Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation of Australia. Details www. rani.org.au

Boishakhi 2019

Sat 13 Apr (2.00pm onwards) The Multicultural Society of Campbelltown Inc presents Multicultural Boishakhi/ Vaisakhi Festival 2019. Performances from the local language schools, children’s performances, local singers, bands, dancers and a diverse range of models will be displaying international designs in the fashion show. At Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Cnr Rose Payten Dr and Pembroke Rd, Leumeah, Campbelltown. Details 0408 028 446.

ANZAC day service

Sat 13 Apr (1.00pm - 3.00pm) Event to commemorate services of Indian origin servicemen who had joined Australian forces during the World Wars. At ANZAC Jawan Cenotaph, Cherrybrook Greenway Park, in front of Carlisle swimming centre, Shepherds Lane, Cherrybrook.

Details 0403 163 002.

Punjabi harvest, Tamil new year

Mon 15 April (10.30am - 1.30pm)

RAIN presents a multicultural festival at Park Road Anglican Church Hall, 34 Park Road, Carlton. Rangoli, fashion parade, seniors’ presentations, folk dances, Indian vegetarian food.

Details Sudha 0420 271 570

STAGE

Curry Kings of Parramatta

18 - 20 April Lennox Theatre, Riverside Parramatta. Details 02 8839 3399 or online at www. riversideparramatta.com.au

Kanan Gill

Fri 26 Apr (9.15pm – 12.00am)

Indian stand-up comedy and YouTube superstar Kanan Gill is coming to Australia for the very first time with his solo show Teetar. At The Factory Theatre, 105 Victoria Rd, Marrickville. Details at http://www. sydneycomedyfest.com.au

Mickey Singh

Thu 18 Apr (8.30pm – 3.00am)

Urban Asian icon Mickey Singh will be bringing his headline World Tour to Sydney this Easter. Home The Venue, 101/1-5 Wheat Rd, Darling Harbour.

Details 0431 026 656.

Sartaaj at Opera House

Sat 27 Apr (7.00pm – 10.00pm)

Sartaaj performs live at Opera House in Sydney. At Sydney Opera House, Bennelong. Details 0411 709 559.

Spiritual

Chinmaya Mission youth camp

5-7 April Inviting youth in the age group 18-35 for the annual national youth weekend, titled ‘Be fearless’, with Swami Swaroopananda. Venue: St. Joseph’s Convention Centre, Bringelly. Details www.auschykcamp or call Naman 0425 262 103.

Motivational speaker and social advocate

Sat 13 April (6.00pm onwards)

Lokenath Divine Life Mission

Sydney, in collaboration with MuktiGupteshwar Mandir Sydney, presents a divine evening of mindfulness with Sri Sri Shuddhaanandaa Brahmachari. Venue: Cherrybrook Community and Cultural Centre, Ironbark Hall, 31 Shepherds Lane, Cherrybrook. Details Sharmila Maitra 0479 043 252

Guru Nanak anniversary

Sat 13 Apr (4.30pm – 9.00pm)

National Sikh Council of Australia invites you to celebrate 550th anniversary of Guru Nanak Devji. At Don Moore Community Centre, Corner North Rocks Rd and Farnell Avenue, Carlingford. Details 0401 211 111.

Pilgrims Paada Yatra

Fri 19 Apr (5.30am - 8.30am) This is strictly a devotional, non-profit endeavour to promote tradition and culture to pass on the legacy to our future generations. The event starts at Sri Murugan Temple, Westmead. Details 0433 972 160.

Journey to Wellbeing

Sat 4 May (1.00pm – 5.00pm)

Tamil Women's Development Group presents Journey to Wellbeing an afternoon with inspirational speakers and a workshop addressing our mental wellbeing. At Parramatta RSL 2 Macquarie St, Parramatta. Details 0417 210 268.

Sant Nirankari Mission Sydney weekly congregations

Sundays 5:30pm to 7:30pm followed by community meals.

Venue: Sant Nirankari Bhawan, 166 Glendenning Road, Glendenning. Details Devinder 0403 216 084.

Free Yoga with Divine Life Society

Tuesdays 7pm Swami

Uditramanandaji of The Divine Life Society of Australia offers free Yoga classes every Tuesday from 7.00pm8.15pm at Strathfield Girls High School. All levels of fitness welcomed. Entrance via Oxford Rd. Details Karo 0413 535 157.

Seniors

AASHA

Hornsby Every second and fourth Friday of the month, 11.00am2.00pm. Venue Hornsby Youth and Community Centre, cnr Muriel and Burdett Sts, Hornsby, close to Hornsby Station. Programs feature yoga, music, dance, games, health and tech presentations, health checks and light lunch. Details 0412 786 569

Crows Nest Every third Wednesday of the month, 10.00am -11.30am.

Venue 2 Ernest Place, Crows Nest. Social event with free tea. Details 02 9439 5122

Misc

Business networking session

Sat 13 Apr (9.00am onwards)

India Aus Leadership Organisation presents a session to learn, lunch, network with professionals and business owners. At India Aus Leadership Organisation, Parramatta. Details 0422 757 846.

Documentary movie screening: Ride For Rights: An Indian Odyssey

Wednesday 24 April (7:00 pm - 10:00 pm) In 2016, four friends began a motorcycle journey through India, visiting and advocating for child rights. This is a documentary about their travels. Palace Chauvel Cinema, 249 Oxford St, Paddington. Details 02 9361 5398.

Traditional South IndianVegetarian

Thu 2 May (5.30pm - 8.30pm) A cooking class by Sue Kumar that will teach you all the essentials of a vegetarian South Indian meal. At The Essential Ingredient Newcastle, Junction Fair Shopping Centre, 200 Union St, The Junction. Details (02) 4926 1991.

Entertainment

AASHA

Bollywood Night

Fri 5 Apr (6.00pm - 1.00pm)

Showcasing the iconic live Bollywood Dance Showfollowed by DJ Sasha & DJ Sonu. At River Canyon Restaurant 96 Phillip Street, Parramatta. Details 9689 2288.

Desi Me Rollin

Sat 6 Apr (10.30pm - 3.30pm) Get ready to flaunt all the moves on the desi beats of Bollywood. At Marquee Sydney, 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont. Details 0411895770.

Rhythms of Bollywood

Sat 13 Apr (6.30pm - 1.30pm) Ekal Youth Australia is back with the most anticipated Bollywood dance event of the year. At Hurstville Entertainment Centre, 16 MacMahon St, Hurstville. Details 0429 041 997.

Desi Swag Bhangra

Thu 18 Apr (9.00pm onwards) An invasion of Bhangra and Bollywood at Sydney’s best party spot. At Zeta Bar, Level 4, Hilton Sydney. Details 0412739020.

School holiday program: Bollywood dance class

Wed 24 Apr (1.00pm - 3.00pm)

Cumberland Council School Holiday Program and Swastik Institute of Dance present Bollywood dance classes for kids aged 5 to 12 years that live in the Cumberland Local Government Area. Venue Westmead Progress Hall, 43 Hassall St. Details 02 8897 2218.

Bollywood dance night

Sat 4 May (6.30pm - 9.30pm) DJ, entertainment, fashion and fun at Bollywood dance night. Dinner included. At Oz Funland, 2/11 Hollylea Rd, Leumeah. Details 02 4626 7777

WhatsApp unveils tipline to report fake news in India

WhatsApp has launched a service in India where over 200 million users in the country can tip off fake news, misinformation and rumours related to elections. Launched by PROTO, a media skilling start-up, the tipline will help create a database of rumours to study misinformation during elections for Checkpoint - a research project commissioned by WhatsApp, the company said in a statement. People in India can submit misinformation or rumours to the Checkpoint Tipline on WhatsApp at +919643-000-888.

Dig Deeper Media and Meedan, who have previously worked on misinformationrelated projects around the world, are helping PROTO to develop the verification and research frameworks for India."The goal of this project is to study the misinformation phenomenon at scale - natively in WhatsApp," said PROTO's founders Ritvvij Parrikh and Nasr ul Hadi.

When a WhatsApp user shares a suspicious message with the tipline, PROTO's verification centre will seek to respond and inform the user if the claim made in the message shared is verified or not.

The response will indicate if information is classified as true, false, misleading, disputed or out of scope and include any other related information that is available.

"The centre can review rumours in the form of pictures, video links or text and will cover four regional languages including Hindi, Telugu, Bengali and Malayalam, other than English," said WhatsApp.

Following the project, PROTO aims to submit learnings to the International Centre for Journalists to help other organisations learn from the design and operations of this project.

"The research from this initiative will help create a global benchmark for those wishing to tackle misinformation in their own markets," said Fergus Bell, Founder and CEO, Dig Deeper Media.

It’s election tourism time in India

Being promoted as the Kumbh Mela of elections, international and national tourism firms are hoping to cash-in on the world's largest polling exercise - the Indian General Elections 2019 - to give a boost to their businesses.

Accordingly, everyone from tour operators, online sales agents and niche guide-touring firms are promoting the electoral process as a theme-based holiday package.

"I think the process in itself is amazing. Just the sheer number of people voting. We have customers travelling in India at the moment and they have been following the polls," Nicholas Wood, Director of the

London-based firm Political Tours said. "They are interested in how Prime Minister Modi has managed to maintain his popularity despite blemishes to his record - notably demonetisation and the lack of significant job creation."

Interestingly, it’s not just the average adventure seeker but students, teachers, heritage, history and even art lovers who are flocking to destinations like Varanasi, Gandhinagar, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bhopal, Jodhpur, Delhi and Nagpur to witness the mega event.

"Election tourism is new a phenomenon which is fast gaining popularity. It is being marketed as an additional attraction to those who are already planning a trip or have made their bookings for holidays in India," said Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com.

"As it is a major world event and international attention is focused on it, tourists have shown interest in extending their stay by adding major election battleground states and cities like Varanasi and Gujarat in their itinerary."

Ahmedabad-based firm Election Tourism India, which started to sell niche political tour packages during the Gujarat assembly polls in 2012, is expecting to attract around 10,000 foreigners for the elections. "The Indian election holds everything of their interest, right from the election campaign till the announcement of the code of

A tourist checks out the flowers inside the Tulip Garden in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 01 April 2019. Spread over an area of about 12 hectares, Kashmir’s Tulip Garden is one of the largest of its kind in Asia.