The Indian Weekender, 2 April 2021

02 APRIL2021 • VOL 13 ISSUE 03 

www.iwk.co.nz /indianweekender /indianweekender 

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2 NEW ZEALAND 

Friday, April 2, 2021 

The Indian Weekender 

SUPPLIED CONTENT 

To know what Good Friday is and 

why it’s good despite Jesus Christ 

died on the cross, a brutal and most 

horrific death. 

We must get to the beginning when God 

created everything by just speaking his word 

and also created man as his own image. 

In the beginning, after god had created 

Adam and Eve, he loved to fellowship with 

them while they walked together in the Garden 

of Eden. 

Adam and Eve did not know about sin and 

evil because they were innocent and pure. God 

gave Adam and Eve only one commandment 

to obey. 

They were not to eat of the tree of the 

knowledge of good and evil. 

God wanted them to know good and evil 

through Himself so that they will choose to do 

good and love good. 

From the beginning, God has given 

humankind the power of choice, and He has 

never revoked it. 

Satan, a powerful fallen angel, deceived 

Eve by tempting her to eat the fruit from the 

forbidden tree. 

He told her she could disobey God without 

any consequences and that eating the fruit 

would give her Godlike knowledge. 

Then Eve chose to eat and offered the 

fruit to her husband, and he made the same 

terrible mistake. 

It was their choice to disobey God. What a 

fatal choice! 

Their innocence was gone. They now found 

they were inclined to do evil. 

Their knowledge of good and evil did not 

keep them from doing wrong. 

Spiritual death passed down to their children 

and, eventually, to all their posterity. 

The result of sin is death, spiritual 

separation from God (Romans 

6:23). 

The influence of evil is all around us. 

We find every evil thing imaginable in our 

world today. 

But there is hope! 

God sent His Son who is equal to God 

Himself, equal in Power and Glory to die for 

your sins! 

Jesus is the Son of God born on earth, fully 

man and fully God. 

Jesus Christ cleanses us from our inside 

evil and restores our relationship, which was 

lost since Adam’s time and got us into right 

standing with God. 

Whatever that evil has caused or brought in a 

person’s life, every form of darkness, whether 

sickness, disease, torment, fear, nightmares, 

unholiness, filthiness, madness, brokenness, 

poverty, depression, broken relationships, 

loneliness, addiction, bondage and curses, 

Jesus delivers from them all. Your right and 

hearty confession of Jesus sets you free. 

Confess your trespasses and Confess that 

Jesus, my life belongs to you. 

Confess to follow Him and will depart from 

every form of evil rest of your life. 

God loves you and has a plan for you! 

Are you struggling with sin, sickness, 

relationship breakdown or any other issues? 

We can pray for you and stand with you. 

We have seen amazing testimonies of 

What is Good Friday 

people’s lives being transformed through prayer 

and surrender. 

We would encourage you to come 

and join us: 

– Pastor Prashant, Faith Fellowship of 

God Church, Auckland. 

Every Sunday at 10:00 am 

Every Friday at 7:30 pm 

at 129 Kolmar Road, Saanjh Community 

Center, Papatoetoe, Auckland. 

Please feel free to get in touch with us on 

0220848955 for prayers. 

Follow us on facebook.com/ffgcnz 

www.ffgc.org.nz 

Good Friday Healing Service 

FAITH FELLOWSHIP OF GOD CHURCH 

We welcome you all to our special Good Friday Healing Service. 

There is healing in the Atonement made by Jesus Christ. 

Come and experience God's presence and worship Him. Special prayers for 

people who need healing, deliverance, breakthrough, and any of your needs. 

Nothing is impossible for God. 

So come believing that Jesus Christ will touch you even if you don’t 

know Him. 

Friday | April 2ND 

7.30 PM NZT 

Word by Pastor Prashant 

Worship by Gregory Paul 

(South Africa) 

At: 129 Kolmar Rd, Saanjh 

Community Centre, 

Papatoetoe, Auckland, 

New Zealand 

Church services: Every Friday 7:30 pm & Every Sunday 10 am 

(English, Hindi & Punjabi) 

Call, text or whats app 022 084 8955 

www.ffgc.org.nz 

social media - Facebook.com/ffgcnz 

Free Service

The Indian Weekender Friday, April 2, 2021 

NEW ZEALAND 3 

Waitakere Indian Association’s festival in 

West Auckland leads Holi celebrations in NZ 

SANDEEP SINGH 

The Waitakere Indian Association’s Holi 

festival held on Sunday, March 28, at 

the Trusts Arena, West Auckland, led 

celebrations of the traditional Indian festival of 

colours – Holi – in New Zealand this year with 

much fanfare. 

This year the festival of colours Holi, which is 

spread over two days with Chhoti Holi or better 

known as Holika Dahan falling on Sunday, 

March 28 and the main festival or Rangwali 

Holi falling on Monday, March 29 – gave the 

opportunity for bringing together multiple Holi 

celebrations all around New Zealand over the 

same weekend. 

Several Holi celebrations were reported 

last weekend from Auckland, Hamilton, 

Palmerstone North & Wellington, among other 

cities of New Zealand, showcasing the rich 

heritage of the Indian culture, bringing together 

people from all walks of life and immerse in 

multiple colours, and leave behind any weight 

of the past and embrace positivity. 

This year the festival had a special meaning 

for everyone, especially after being jaded and 

anxious under the shadow of Covid-scare and 

being restricted by multiple lockdowns in the 

last twelve months. 

The Holi festival gave them the muchneeded 

opportunity to come out, feel relaxed 

and liberated from all those worries. 

Waitakere Indian Association’s Holi festival, 

which holds the unique recognition of starting 

the first community celebrations of 

Holi in the country almost two 

decades ago - witnessed 

"We 

are very grateful 

to the community for 

coming out in thousands 

to support the mega Holi in 

New Zealand. It exceeded our 

expectations and shows how blessed 

we are in NZ and are able to 

celebrate such events while the 

enthusiastic participation 

of thousands of excited 

festival-goers. 

Speaking with the 

Indian Weekender, 

Sunil Kaushal, President 

of Waitakere Indian 

Association, said, “We 

are very grateful to the 

community for coming out 

in thousands to support the mega 

Holi in New Zealand. It exceeded our 

expectations and shows how blessed we are in 

NZ and are able to celebrate such events while 

the world still grapples with waves of Covid 

strains.” 

The day’s celebrations began with the 

traditional singing of Holi songs (faag) by 

local mandalis (religious groups) and followed 

by Indian classical and Bollywood dances by 

children and adults. 

Kids and many enthusiastic adults were busy 

playing with water guns and splashing water on 

everyone, while the rest everyone preferred to 

drench themselves just in gulal (dry colours) 

and enjoy the festivities. 

After the official ceremony, which included 

a brief welcome speech by WIA president 

Sunil Kaushal, Minister Phil Twyford from 

the Labour Party and Member of Parliament 

Melissa Lee from the National Party, the stage 

was handed over to DJ Gabbroo to run upbeat 

music for everyone. 

There were plenty of food stalls to keep 

everyone hydrated and fulfil their taste buds 

with Indian vegetarian delicacies. 

Labour Party’s MPs Minister Carmel 

Sepuloni, Minister Phil Twyford, Parliamentary 

Under-Secretary Dr Deborah Russell, and MP 

from Upper Harbour Vanushi Walters, and 

National Party’s MP Melissa Lee, former Kiwi- 

Indian MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Party 

Board member Alastair Bell were among key 

dignitaries present at the event. 

Several board members from the local 

world still grapples with 

waves of Covid 

strains" 

J006800_16.03.21 

Massey-Henderson Local 

Board, including Chris 

Carter, Linda Cooper and 

many others, also graced 

the occasion. 

Expressing satisfaction on 

the turnout, WIA president Kaushal 

said, “A big shout out to the volunteers and 

partners who made this event possible after a 

gap of two years. Waitakere Indian Association 

Have 

your say 

has been striving to serve our community 

over the last 21years, and we look forward to 

continuing to serve to make our community 

stronger and United in the coming years.” 

More about Holi festival 

The festival of Holi is a traditional Indian 

festival signifying the victory of good over evil 

and also marks the arrival of the spring season 

in the Northern hemisphere. 

It is an ancient Hindu festival, which has 

now gained popularity and acceptance among 

all non-Hindu-communities in India and is now 

gaining increasing acceptance in the global 

West, including New Zealand. 

The idea of forgetting about the past, 

overcoming all personal animosities, if any, and 

immersing in colours that symbolise positivity 

and hope for the future is being recognised by 

more and more people. 

On the 10-year plan for 

Auckland’s transport 

network 

Regional Land Transport Plan 

(2021 – 2031) 

To learn more and tell us what you think, 

go to AT.govt.nz/haveyoursay and click 

on ‘Regional Land Transport Plan’. 

Come talk to us 

Speak to someone in person at one 

of our drop-in sessions. 

Give your 

feedback by 

2 May 2021 

Visit AT.govt.nz/haveyoursay for a list of all events 

and event updates. (These events will not be held 

if Auckland is at COVID-19 Alert Level 2 or higher).

4 NEW ZEALAND 



Bhajan Satsangh Trust to organise Koti 

Vishnu nama Prayer for universal peace 

SANDEEP SINGH 

An Auckland based charitable 

organisation Bhajan Satsangh Prayer 

Group Trust, is organising a three-day 

prayer event that will see devotees chant special 

verses in reverence of Lord Vishnu – the Hindu 

god epitomising perseverance, sustenance, and 

continuity of life. 

Scheduled to be held in Shri Shirdi Saibaba 

Sansthan (Temple) in Onehunga, from Friday, 

April 23 to Sunday, April 25 later this month, 

it will be one of its kind of event witnessing 

a large number of people gathering together to 

offer prayers in a staged manner, for universal 

well-being and welfare. Members of the 

community interested to be part of this one 

in a kind event in New Zealand can register 

themselves at http://bhajansathsangh.org/ 

registration-form/. Devotees using WhatsApp 

could also use https://formfacade.com/sm/ 

SvOBbkVNc to register. 

Vishnu Sahasranama means the list of the 

thousand names of Lord Vishnu to (wherein 

‘Sahasra’ means thousand and ‘nama’ means 

name) and is a part of the Anushasana Parva of 

the great ancient Indian epic - the Mahabharata. 

It is widely believed that devotees chant 

Vishnu Sahasranama to reap health-related 

benefits, including increasing calmness and 

improving focus towards other mundane 

endeavours in life. 

Notably, in the Hindu pantheon lord, Vishnu 

is one of the three most important deities 

along with Brahma and Mahesh (Shiva), who 

represent sustenance, creation and destruction, 

respectively. 

Bhajan Satsangh first came up about 20 years 

ago in New Zealand as a loosely organised 

group of enthusiastic people to serve the 

religious and cultural aspirations of around 

300 families through regular events of bhajans 

before formally emerging an organisation 

registered under the Societies act in 2009. 

Speaking to the Indian Weekender, 

Venkatachalam Subramanian, one of the 

spokespersons of Bhajan Satsangh, said, “As a 

prayer for universal peace and welfare, with the 

unconditional support of various likeminded 

“ 

For this endeavour, we are 

calling upon interested 

devotees to register online 

and pick up time and slot of 

their choice and convenience 

to come and chant Vishnu 

Sahasranama prayer 

organisations, Bhajan Satsangh has organised 

mass chanting of Vishnu Sahasranamam 

with the aim of achieving Koti Vishnu Nama 

Parayanam (10 million times chanting of Lord 

Vishnu’s names).” 

Explaining further how they intend to 

collectively achieve such a mammoth 

number of recitations of Lord Vishnu’s name, 

Subramanian said, “it is going to be a collective 

effort of a number of people.” 

“Chanting Vishnu Sahasranama once is equal 

to chanting 1000 Vishnu Namas and constitutes 

one avarthi.” 

“500 people chanting 20 times 

(avarthi) equals 10 million Koti Namas,” 

Subramanian said. 

“For this endeavour, we are calling upon 

interested devotees to register online and pick 

up time and slot of their choice and convenience 

to come and chant Vishnu Sahasranama prayer.” 

“The devotees will get an opportunity to feel 

being part of something larger than individual 

and pray for collective, universal good.” 

“Chanting Vishnu Sahasranamam creates 

positive energy and peace of mind for the 

whole family at home. Doing so in the 

temple energises the temple and provides 

peace of mind to the whole community,” 

Subramanian said. 

Hundreds of managed isolation 

vouchers now available for April 

RNZ 

Hundreds of managed isolation 

vouchers have come free for April, 

and authorities are urging travellers to 

snap them up. 

They say the booking system for places 

in border facilities has not had this level of 

vacancies since October last year. 

Except for travellers cancelling their 

reservations, no vacancies were expected until 

June. 

“For the first time in a number of months, 

demand for managed isolation vouchers is 

down and a number of vouchers are available 

in April and beyond,” a managed isolation and 

quarantine (MIQ) spokesperson told RNZ. 

“MIQ wants to make the most of the rooms 

in managed isolation and get as many New 

Zealanders home as possible. For anyone 

looking to come home, we encourage them 

to get on to the Managed Isolation Allocation 

System (MIAS) website and book their 

space now. 

“We have not had this level of MIAS 

vouchers available in the upcoming few 

weeks since late October 2020, when we saw 

a significant increase in demand ahead of the 

summer months.” 

Capacity in the next fortnight is forecast to 

fall as low as 3500 rooms - about 1000 lower 

than the system’s operational capacity. Half of 

the rooms at the Pullman Hotel - 150 - are still 

out of action after guests contracted Covid-19 

there in January. 

Empty rooms come at a cost to taxpayers, 

who paid $499 million towards managed 

isolation last year. MIQ did not explain 

the possible reasons for so many 

vacancies emerging in April. 

Seasonal demand from 

New Zealanders, who are 

less likely to visit in autumn 

and winter, could be one 

explanation - although 

managed isolation had been 

booked out until 31 May. 

When MIQ released June 

and July spaces earlier this month the website 

crashed because there were about 1m hits. But 

following that rush, vacancies 

"MIQ 

wants to make 

the most of the rooms in 

managed isolation and get as 

many New Zealanders home as 

possible. For anyone looking to come 

home, we encourage them to get on 

to the Managed Isolation Allocation 

System (MIAS) website and book 

their space now" 

have remained. 

Managed isolation has 

been mandatory since 

November, causing 

chaos when it 

started - as not 

everyone who 

had bought flight 

tickets knew about 

it - and heartache 

when the places 

started running out in the run-up to Christmas. 

The managed isolation booking system was 

getting about 100 formal complaints each week 

and a wait-list was under consideration to 

manage demand. 

The opposite problem occurred in October, 

when the average daily vacancy was 1291. 

Overseas workers 

New government figures are forecast to show 

that at least one in 10 managed isolation rooms 

has been allocated to overseas critical workers 

since January. 

It came at a time when New Zealanders 

wanting to return had faced huge challenges 

getting accommodation at the border. 

A government spokesperson said it had 

introduced a target to allocate 10 percent of 

spaces in managed isolation facilities to honour 

an election pledge. 

“The target was put in place from 1 January 

and is being monitored on a quarterly basis. 

Information for the first quarter of 2021 will 

be available shortly but current indications are 

that, on average, at least 10 percent of MIQ 

capacity is being allocated to critical workers - 

in line with the government’s election manifesto 

commitment.” 

That election pledge was among a slew of 

announcements in one week in September. 

Temporary visa holders, such as workers and 

students, are being charged more towards their 

stay from last week to try to recoup a greater 

share of the costs.


NEW ZEALAND 5 

Nepal festival 

celebrated in Auckland 

SANDEEP SINGH 

New Zealanders of all ethnicity and 

culture were treated with glimpses 

of Nepali culture on the occasion of 

the Nepal Festival held in Auckland CBD on 

Saturday, March 27. 

The festival has only very recently come 

out in open public spaces three years ago 

in 2018 after having been organised for 

more than a decade in the closed doors of 

community centres. 

Explaining the rationale behind this move, the 

then president of New Zealand Nepal Society 

Dinesh Khadka had told the Indian Weekender, 

“In the last few years, we have seen a spike in 

the number of visitors to the event and not just 

the Nepalese community but the Kiwi, Maori, 

Chinese and extended Indian community which 

led us to think and plan for a bigger venue.” 

Three years since then, the Nepal festival 

has grown more beautiful and richer in its new 

avatar, bringing great participation from the 

wider ethnic communities, including the Kiwi- 

Indian communities. 

The new president of NZ Nepal Society, 

Santosh Bhandari, had expressed satisfaction 

and his gratitude towards the number of people 

turning up to the event despite current levels of 

Covid-scare and anxieties. 

“Due to the uncertainty posed by Covid-19, 

we thought there wouldn’t be many people here, 

but we are happy with people’s participation,” 

Bhandari told RNZ. 

The event exhibited the rich culture of Nepal 

that includes music, dance, ethnic dresses 

and food, drawing not only people from the 

Nepalese and the South Asian communities but 

also wider New Zealand. 

A cultural parade was organised from Aotea 

Square to Customs Street and back, with artists 

and performers leading the parade full of proud 

Nepali people wearing traditional Nepalese 

dresses, playing the drums and other popular 

Nepalese folk music instruments. 

Among dignitaries attending the event, the 

key was Minister for Ethnic Communities 

Priyanca Radhakrishnan, Minister of Transport 

Michael Wood, Labour MPs Vanushi Walters, 

National MP Melissa Lee and Simeon Brown 

and Hon Consul of India Bhav Dhillon. 

The festival was supported by a number of 

Indian community organisations and the wider 

Indian diaspora, who were present in numbers 

to support the event. 

Hamilton Kirikiriroa 

को मिलकर नया आकार दें 

आप हमारे दीर्घकालिक योजना के प्ारूप पर 

अपनी प्तिक्रिया 7 April िक दें 

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6 NEW ZEALAND 

Friday, April 2, 2021 The Indian Weekender 

Ras Bhav Rang: A tribute 

to Queens of Thumri 

SANDEEP SINGH 

Aucklanders were treated to 

a kaleidoscope of a musical 

rainbow in Ras Bhav Rang, 

a tribute to the Queens of Thumri 

to mark the ongoing Holi festivities 

going around in different parts of 

New Zealand over the weekend. 

Thumri is a vocal genre of Indian 

music – a unique art of singing 

based on classical Hindustani music 

– which initially emanated from 

the courts of Lucknow in the 19thcentury 

princely state of Nawabs 

of Awadh. 

One of the unique features of this 

art form is the liberty it offers to the 

singer in moving between different 

Raags and emphasising the words 

and presentation. 

The singer not only sings but also 

emotes the Thumri – as the name 

suggests, “Thumakana” (movement 

of a maiden with dancing bells) 

through their facial expressions and 

body movements while performing, 

formulating instant connection with 

the audiences. This was clearly 

visible when a small gathering of 

passionate and dedicated music 

lovers was fully engrossed in the 

performances of several local talents 

who paid tribute to the legends 

of this genre. 

The programme was conceived 

and presented by Migrant 

Heritage Charitable Trust 

Inc (MigHT-i) and Aarohi 

Academy of Music. The 

quartet of Varsha Belwalkar, 

Prashant Belwalkar (MigHT-i) 

and Vidya Teke, Shekhar Teke 

(Aarohi) visualised the concept 

and presentation of this genre as it 

is often neglected by mainstream 

Hindustani Vocal presenters. 

Speaking to the Indian Weekender 

Prashant Belwalkar said, “The 

programme was a tribute to these 

greats and a humble salute to the 

those dedicated to the spread of 

Thumri even today.” 

"The 

programme 

was a tribute to 

these greats and a 

humble salute to the 

those dedicated to the 

spread of Thumri 

even today." 

“The audiences 

were blessed to 

listen to some 

melodious 

Thumris that 

included Ghir 

Ghir aaye 

Badariya sari 

(Sardari Begum), 

Maine Lakho ke bol sahe, 

Balam tere, Rangi Sari chunariya, 

Jamane mein and the only duet 

thumri – Raah mein bhichi hai in the 

first half. These were presented by 

Daljeet Kaur, Kishori Telang, Vidya 

Teke, Dr Moushmi Das and Amrita 

Kaur,” Prashant said. 

The second half was super treat 

with Saiyan rooth gaye, Koyaliya Na 

Bol, Saiyan Nikas gaye, Le na gai 

bemanua, Aae mohabbat tere anjam 

pe, Baju Band khul khul jaye and 

finale – Hamari Atariya pe. 

A tribute to legends by 

local artists 

The singers were competently 

supported by Samir Bhalodkar 

(Samvadini), Dr Malur (Violin), 

Manjeet Singh (Tabla) and Nikhil 

Ghate (Tabla). 

Vidya Teke told the Indian 

Weekender that it was a long-held 

dream amongst the organisers to 

bring such a program dedicated 

to this particular genre of Indian 

classical music and finally came true 

last weekend. 

Buoyed by the support and 

patronage received from the 

music lovers of Auckland, Varsha 

Belwalkar is excited to make this 

event an annual feature henceforth 

on the occasion of Holi as they 

explore other unique genres for the 

music-loving crowd of Auckland. 

The program had the support of 

COGS, Tamaki Health and Saattveek. 

More about Thumari 

The genre has often been 

besmirched as the songs of Tawayafs 

(courtesans). However, it is far from 

the truth and had a grand run in the 

late 18th and early 19th century 

when the shahi darbars (royal courts) 

and nobility gave patronage to this 

art form. 

It was popularised by yesteryear 

greats like Rasoolan bai, Siddeshwari 

Devi, Gauhar Jan (the most recorded 

artists once upon a time) and then the 

tradition continued later by greats 

like Begum Akhtar, Girija Devi, 

Kishori Amonkar, Prabha Atre, 

Shobha Gurtu, Farida Khanum and 

Nirmala Devi. 

Even today, disciples of these 

greats, Shruti Sadolikar, Aarti 

Ankalikar, Shubha Mudgal, Shobha 

Joshi and the queen of melody 

Lata Mangeshkar have carried the 

tradition forward. 

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They have partnered with PORSE, the largest in-home education provider, to offer a managed facility at Eden Park for children while 

want to develop a family-friendly environment at Eden Park for our members and fans,” said Todd Hewitt, the Blues 

“We 

Manager of Commercial. 

General 

partnership with PORSE is a first for our sport in New Zealand and a novel way for parents to enjoy rugby with the 

“Our 

that their children are being well cared for and having fun. 

knowledge 

is excited about the prospect and we can see real potential to grow our core business through the Blues brand and 

“PORSE 

this interesting initiative at Eden Park.” 

with 

was purchased by well-known early learning center providers the Rainbow Group of companies in 2019, ensuring 

PORSE 

business remains independently owned and in kiwi hands. 

the 

Rainbow Group, established in 2006 and owned by Rrahul and Bhavini Dosshi, has substantial investments both in 

The 

and in-home Early Children Education operations in New Zealand. 

center-based 

Blues are embarking on a novel new partnership to encourage young families to enjoy watching the Sky Super Rugby 

The 

games at Eden Park. 

Aotearoa 

Mum and Dad can enjoy supporting the Blues. 

currently supports 1,100 educators around the country who care for more than 3000 children. 

PORSE 

what the Blues believe is a first in New Zealand, the company will ensure that those families wanting to attend Blues 

In 

home matches have an affordable option for their kids with a well-regarded and experienced provider. 

“Families are at the core for the Blues and this initiative highlights our inclusive approach at the Blues. 

“PORSE provides an interactive childcare service with great activities and a real focus on development. 

“The Blues believe it is a perfect fit for our club and our commitment to make rugby games an attractive proposition for all.” 

PORSE owner Rrahul Dosshi said the company is looking forward to this new and novel partnership.

8 NEW ZEALAND 



Concerns raised with Shakti Mat 

distributors in NZ about use of Hindu 

religious symbols on yoga-mats 

SANDEEP SINGH 

Concerns have been raised with the local 

New Zealand distributors of Shakti 

Mat – an acupressure mat for relaxation 

and healing - about the inappropriate depiction 

of traditional Hindu religious symbols for the 

marketing of the product. 

Responding to a query by the Indian 

Weekender on a concern raised by a member 

of the public, Jonathan Heslop, director Shakti 

Mat said, “We are aware of this complaint and 

are taking it very seriously.” 

Earlier, a member of the public has raised 

concerns and had been in constant touch with 

Shakti Mat distributors in New Zealand after 

he found the use of Hindu religious symbols 

– OM and Shri Yantra – on the yoga mats as 

inappropriate and disrespectful to his core 

religious sentiments. 

Lalit Sharma, a Christchurch resident, is 

offended by the manner in which NZ based 

company is marketing yoga mats on their 

website with traditional Hindu religious 

symbols displayed on the foot mats. 

Aum is one of the deeply religious and most 

revered symbol of Hindu religion. 

“This company is selling foot mats and other 

products with OM and Shri Yantra symbols on 

them. People stand on them with their shoes 

which I find completely inappropriate.” 

“I have contacted the firm and expressed 

my anguish on what I see as cheap marketing 

gimmicks at the cost of our religious beliefs and 

Indian culture.” 

“There are other creative ways of marketing 

a product,” Lalit said exasperatingly. 

“I haven’t seen a generous display of religious 

symbols of other religions say Christianity or 

Islam being depicted on foot mats or other mats. 

Notably, the use of Hindu religious symbols 

for marketing, or just satire in public spaces, has 

long been a frivolous practice in many regions 

of the global West, including in New Zealand. 

In Nov 2020, global online marketing 

giant Amazon came under fire for selling 

products such as underwear and doormats with 

Hindu sacred symbols, causing a furore on 

social media. 

Near our shores, a few years ago, an 

Australian brewer has come under fire for using 

" 

This company is selling foot 

mats and other products 

with OM and Shri Yantra 

symbols on them. People 

stand on them with their 

shoes which I find completely 

inappropriate.I have contacted 

the firm and expressed my 

anguish on what I see as 

cheap marketing gimmicks at 

the cost of our religious beliefs 

and Indian culture. 

images of Hindu gods (Lord Ganesha) on its 

ginger beer bottle labels. 

In that regard, Lord Ganesha - known most 

commonly in the West for his elephant face – 

is the most common inappropriately-depicted 

Hindu deity for the sake of product-marketing. 

Shakti Mat came into existence in 2009 when 

Swedish Yogi Om Mokshananda, earlier known 

by the name of Jonathan Hellbom, invented a 

spiked-mat based on an ancient Indian practice 

of “bed of nails,” which is believed to provide 

some health benefits. 

Two young Kiwi-lads had a chance encounter 

with the Swedish yogi in Thailand many years 

ago and got introduced to the Spiky mat, who 

immediately plunged upon the idea of bringing 

the product in New Zealand. 

The duo secured rights to sell the mats in 

Australia in 2016 and soon got distributing 

rights for New Zealand. The Shakti Mat is a 

Swedish company, but the product is made 

in a charity workshop in the holy Indian 

city of Varanasi. The design on the product, 

though, is of the proprietor Swedish Yogi Om 

Mokshananda. 

Acknowledging the social connection with 

the product, New Zealand director Jonathan 

Heslop said, “As distributors of The Shakti 

Mat, we were drawn to this product because 

of its connection to India and the socially 

responsible way that it is manufactured in 

India. Our purpose is to celebrate and honour 

this connection. 

“We understand now that the design of the 

product is not fulfilling this purpose and are 

working towards a solution,” Jon said. 

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NEW ZEALAND 9 

Auckland’s population may 

hit 2 million in early 2030s 

RNZ 

Statistics New Zealand says Auckland’s 

population may rise to two million by 

early next decade. 

Auckland’s population is about 1.7m, 

home to just over one-third of the country’s 

population (34 percent) and by 2048, it could 

make up 37 percent. 

“Auckland will likely have the highest 

average annual growth of New Zealand’s 

16 regions over the next 30 years, from net 

migration and natural increase (more births than 

deaths) in relatively equal shares,” population 

estimates and projections manager Hamish 

Slack said in a statement. 

Auckland may have two million residents by 

the early 2030s, but the milestone may come 

earlier or later depending on levels of migration 

over the coming years, according to Statistics 

New Zealand. 

The supercity will account for half of New 

Zealand’s population growth over the next 30 

years under Stats NZ’s medium projection. 

This is similar to its share of growth over the 

last 30 years. 

Auckland reached a population of one 

million in the early 1990s and New Zealand’s 

population reached 5m in March 2020. 

Projected Auckland region population 

growth from 1996-2048.A Stats NZ graph 

showing low, medium and high projections 

for population growth in the Auckland region. 

Graphic: Stats NZ / Screenshot 

A 

n ageing population 

means we can expect more 

deaths, despite increasing 

life expectancy, so population 

growth will generally slow in 

the long term 

Ageing population projected to slow NZ 

growth in long term 

The rate of population growth is 

expected to slow in the long term due to an 

ageing population. 

“An ageing population means we can expect 

more deaths, despite increasing life expectancy, 

so population growth will generally slow in the 

long term,” Slack said. 

All regions are projected to have natural 

population decreases by the late 2040s, with 

the exceptions of Auckland, Waikato, Gisborne, 

Wellington and Canterbury. 

Slack said the number of people living in 

each area in the future is uncertain, but every 

area would have more older people. 

Stats NZ medium projections indicate that 

the West Coast is the only region that may 

have a lower population in 2048 than in 2018, 

likely due to more deaths than births and low 

net migration. 

The West Coast’s population, which was 

32,400 last year, has dropped before. It was 

down to 31,100 in 2001 and 2002, but climbed 

again in 2011 and 2012 to 33,100 people. 

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FESTIVAL OF COLOURS: Holi 

celebrated across the country 

Earlier last week on Sunday, March 21, the Indian Weekender had organised a Holi Festival at Vodafone Events Centre 

Members of the Bihar Jharkhand Sabha of Australia and New 

Zealand, celebrated Holi and Phagua on March 27 at the Ellerslie 

War Memorial Hall, Auckland. The celebration was attended 

by a large number of members. The guests were welcomed by 

Nisheeth Prakash, president of the Bihar Jharkhand Sabha, who 

stressed that the spirit of Holi is to sink personal differences and 

conflict and renew friendship and brotherhood. 

Waikato Indian Association organised a festival of Holi in Hamilton on Sunday, March 28, that witnessed participation from hundreds of 

members of the public. Kiwi-Indian MP from Hamilton West Dr Gaurav Sharma, joined others in celebrating the traditional Indian festival. 

The staff and officials at the Indian High Commission celebrated the festival of Holi in Wellington. High Commissioner of India Muktesh 

Pardeshi and his wife Rakhi Pardeshi were joined by families of officials and staff of the High Commission and played with dry colours.

2021 

Wednesday, June 16, 2021 

Friday, 

CORDIS, 

August 

Auckland 

14, 2020 

CORDIS, Auckland 

Supported by

Editorial 

A Global Concert for 

a new Global Era? 

Promising the best and most realistic way to advance a new world order, the Global Concert 

promises peace and prosperity for every human being. Well, the murmurs were already there 

in the pre-Covid era that the plans are afoot to change the present global governance and 

usher in a new world order. But now things have slowly started falling in place. Influential think 

tanks and world bodies are flush with new insights or analytical interpretation of the so-called new 

world order, which could usher in a new era of cooperation and economic and social prosperity for 

all nations, irrespective of their ideological base and past histories. 

A recent article published by the influential Washington-based Centre for Foreign Relations 

(CFR), written by veteran diplomat and CFR’s president, Dr. Richard Haass and Charles Kupchan, 

a senior fellow at CFR and professor of international affairs at Georgetown University in the Walsh 

School of Foreign Service, argues for a new international setup which will try to undo or overcome 

the fallacies of the past and instead try to setup a system which hears every voice and caters to the 

common well being. In their article, Dr. Haass and Kupchan assert that most of the current world’s 

problems stem from the fact that the existing international governance architecture, which was 

framed soon after WWII, is outdated and not up to the task of preserving global stability. They 

regard the current global setup as too US-centric and term it as a club of democracies, which is 

poorly suited to fostering cooperation across ideological lines. Terming G-7 and G-20 as mere 

talk shops and the UNSC as grandstanding and responsible for a paralysis among veto-wielding 

permanent members, they urge for establishing a new world setup. 

The Global Concert 

The duo suggests forming a Global Concert (GC) of powers -- which will be an informal steering 

group of the world’s most influential countries, and will be casted in the mould of the nineteenthcentury’s 

Concert of Europe. It was a grouping of Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria 

formed in 1815, and successfully preserved peace for a half-century in the absence of a dominant 

power amid ideological diversity. Emerging after containing the bloody Napoleonic Wars, the 

grouping relied on a mutual commitment to conduct regular communications and the peaceful 

resolution of disputes to uphold the territorial settlements. 

The blueprint for a new Global Concert, terms it as the best vehicle for managing a world not 

dominated by the US and the West. The proposed members would be China, the EU, India, Japan, 

Russia, and the US, giving it a geopolitical clout while protecting it from becoming an unwieldy 

talking shop, and collectively representing roughly 70 per cent of world GDP and global military 

spending. The GC will have a completely different and thin hierarchical system to ensure efficiency 

and ensure quick response and decision-making. The member states would send senior permanent 

representatives to a standing headquarters in a place determined through mutual agreement. Summits 

would occur on a regular basis and as needed to address crises. Although they would not be formal 

members, four regional organisations -- the African Union, the Arab League, the Association of 

Southeast Asian Nations, and the Organisation of American States -- would maintain permanent 

delegations at the concert’s headquarters. When discussing issues affecting these regions, concert 

members would invite delegates from these bodies and other relevant countries to join meetings. 

The concert would not replace the United Nations but will leave the operational oversight to 

the UN and other existing bodies. Instead it would be a consultative, not a decision-making body, 

addressing emerging crises, fashioning new rules of the road, and building support for collective 

initiatives. It would thus augment, not supplant, the current international architecture, by sitting 

atop it to speed up decisions that could then be taken and implemented elsewhere. 

A contemporary concert, like its nineteenth-century forbearer, would enable sustained strategic 

dialogue. It would bring to the table the most influential states, regardless of their regime type, 

thereby separating ideological differences over domestic governance from matters requiring 

international cooperation. It would shun formal procedures and codified rules, instead relying 

on persuasion and compromise to build consensus. The GC advocates further stress that the GC 

would also seek to generate collective responses to longer-term challenges, such as combating 

the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as well as terrorist networks, promoting global 

health, forging norms in cyberspace, and combating climate change. As these important matters 

often fall between institutional cracks which the concert could fill. The GC votaries further say that 

establishing a global concert would be no panacea, however. Convening the world’s heavyweights 

hardly ensures a consensus among them, and success would often mean managing, not eliminating, 

threats to regional and global order. Need for a new world order 

The moot paramount question is why a new GC is being mooted now, particularly after the 

Covid-pandemic. Or in other words, as the conspiracy theorists say, was the pandemic created in 

order to test the tenacity and resilience and response of the global community to such a threatening 

scenario, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of human beings. Or was it staged 

to analyse the response time and also hope of any camaraderie between different nations on an issue 

afflicting all of them, as the more demanding issue as compared to it but with less apparent results 

i.e. the Climate Change has been unable to solicit from them due to a hunger for profit and more 

luxuries? In addition, the idea does not spell out how territorial issues would be resolved or how 

sovereignty would be implemented? It gives the member states the right to take unilateral action 

when they deem their vital interests to be at stake, though in the same breath it says that ideally, 

sustained strategic dialogue would make unilateral moves less frequent and destabilising. 

However, the silver lining is that the idea gives India a place at the top table, perhaps for the 

first time in history, and also due to the P5’s hesitancy to include India at the UNSC. But the move 

besides adding to India’s prestige would also make it responsible to work for the collective good 

and retain, nurture and strengthen those values, for which space has been shrinking recently in 

India. 

Thought of the week 

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work 

in hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought 

to a focus." – Alexander Graham Bell 

Indian Weekender : Volume 13 Issue 03 

Publisher: Kiwi Media Publishing Limited 

Content Editor: Sandeep Singh | sandeep@indianweekender.co.nz 

Chief Technical Officer: Rohan deSouza | rohan@indianweekender.co.nz 

Sr Graphics and Layout Designer: Mahesh Kumar | mahesh@indianweekender.co.nz 

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Editor at Large: Dev Nadkarni | dev@indianweekender.co.nz 

Views expressed in the publication are not necessarily of the publisher and the publisher 

is not responsible for advertisers’ claims as appearing in the publication 

Views expressed in the articles are solely of the authors and do not in any way represent 

the views of the team at the Indian Weekender 

Kiwi Media Publishing Limited - 133A, Level 1, Onehunga Mall, Onehunga, Auckland. 

Printed at Horton Media, Auckland 

02 April – 08 April 2021 

Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Thu 

On-and-off 

rain and 

drizzle 

22° 

14° 

Partly 

sunny 

24° 

13° 

Parlty 

sunny 

25° 

14° 

Clouds and 

sun 

24° 

15° 

A touch o 

dafr 

This week in New Zealand’s history 

25° 

25° 

5 April 1871 

NZ's first overseas diplomatic post created 

Copyright 2020. Kiwi Media Publishing Limited. All Rights Reserved. 

Sunshine 

and pactcy 

clouds 

26° 

15° 

A few 

morning 

showers 

26° 

17° 

It is no surprise that New Zealand’s first overseas diplomatic posting was to the United 

Kingdom. 


First state secondary school opens 

The first state secondary school in New Zealand, Nelson College, opened in temporary 

premises in Trafalgar St with a roll of just eight boys. It eventually attracted boys from 

around the country as well as the local area. It now has a roll of over 1000 and continues to take 

both boarders and day pupils. 


Julius Vogel becomes premier 

Julius Vogel was the dominant political figure of the 1870s, serving as colonial treasurer and 

premier on several occasions, and launching massive programmes of immigration and public 

works. 


Smallpox epidemic kills 55 

Mormon missionary Richard Shumway arrived at Auckland from Vancouver on the 

steamer Zealandia for a hui attended by Māori from around the country. Sweating and 

sneezing as he pressed noses with the visitors, Shumway thought he was suffering from measles – 

bad enough for those without immunity to it. In fact he had smallpox, an incurable disease which 

quickly spread across the northern North Island. 


Sisters of Mercy arrive in New Zealand 

Nine Sisters of Mercy arrived in Auckland on the Oceanie with Bishop Pompallier and 

a number of priests. The Irish nuns of the order were the first canonically consecrated 

religious women to become established in New Zealand. 

9 April 1932| 

Unemployed disturbances in Dunedin 

During the ‘angry autumn’ of 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, unemployed 

workers in Dunedin reacted angrily when the Hospital Board refused to assist them.

The Indian Weekender Friday, March 26, 2021 FIJI 13 

Fijians to bear cost for 14-day quarantine 

Fijians involved in non-essential travel, protocols with a cost of over $18 million to Those exempted are: 

endorsed scholarships. 

including visiting friends and family, the Fijian Government, which covered meals, • Fijian citizens who have travelled overseas • Fijian citizens employed under the 

will have to bear their own cost for the accommodation, swab tests, transportation and before 28 March 2020 and are now returning Government-to-Government arrangement to 

mandatory 14-day quarantine beginning today, 

March 29, 2021. 

In a statement Government confirmed 

that it will no longer cover the cost of nonessential 

repatriation. Since March 2020, more 

than 12,800 Fijians have been repatriated 

other costs. 

New charges apply to: 

• Fijian passport holders. 

• Fijians residing overseas and are dual 

passport holders or; 

• Permanent residents of another country. 

home; 

• Patient and the approved companion who is 

supported by the Fijian Ministry of Health 

and Medical Services to seek medical 

assistance/intervention overseas; 

• Students returning after the completion of 

which the Fijian Government is a party to, 

for example, workers returning under labour 

schemes. 

• Returning Fijian Government officials, 

servicemen and Fijian Diplomats (including 

spouse and children under 18 years of age) 

through Fiji’s COVID-safe quarantine • The charges will cover the cost of meals and studies, with their approved dependents, who have travelled for official purposes. 

accommodation. 

on Government-sponsored or Government 

100,000 doses of vaccines 

from India received by PM 

The AstraZeneca vaccines were handed over to Prime Minister 

Voreqe Bainimarama at the Nadi International Airport. 

Speaking at the handover, Bainimarama says these vaccines 

have been produced by the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the 

Serum Institute of India. 

He says the vaccines are also the same that Fiji procured through 

the COVAX facility – another initiative working hard to see our 

people protected. The Prime Minister says this batch of doses will 

go immediately towards protecting the remainder of our front liners; 

our doctors, nurses, quarantine and hotel workers, and members of 

our Disciplined Forces. It will also kick-start the second phase of our 

vaccine roll-out, which will include the more vulnerable segments of 

our population. Bainimarama also says that he is proud to report today 

that they have successfully administered more than 6,000 doses of 

COVID-19 vaccines on schedule to our front liners. 

$250k NZ assistance for cyclone affected villagers 

CYCLONE affected villagers along 

the coast of Macuata have received a 

boost as the New Zealand Government 

injected another $250,000 for cyclone 

recovery purpose. 

The New Zealand High Commission’s 

Counsellor Development Virginia Dawson who 

visited Naividamu villagers said they would 

continue to support and help cyclone affected 

communities recover from the impacts which 

destroyed houses and livelihoods. 

“We are proud to be working with ADRA 

to provide support to help with recovery from 

these events,” she said. 

Naividamu village Self Help Project head 

Pita Ramasima described the assistance as 

answers to their prayers. 

“The NZ Government, earlier this year gave 

us chainsaws to rip timber and that ha shelpe 

dus very much.” 

ADRA Fiji Country Director Iliapi Tuwai 

said such assistance has greatly helped families 

recover from the impacts of the cyclone. 

The funding assistance is in partnership with 

ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief 

Agency) under the NZ Aid Programme. 

WHO aims to 

vaccinate 20 

percent of Fiji’s 

population by 2021 

Speaking on FBC TV’s ‘4 the record’ 

show, WHO Representative to the South 

Pacific, Dr Akeem Ali says the WHO 

has a partnership called COVAX where they 

have come together to procure vaccines from 

manufactures. 

He adds there are three vaccines that have 

emergency use license from WHO and it is 

being made available across the world. 

“For that program, Fiji is one of the countries 

that is benefitting, we have 92 countries that 

are called AMC countries, these are advanced 

market commitment. COVAX has agreed 

with manufacturers to make sure that those 

vaccines become available so Fiji is receiving 

one of those vaccines that has become available 

through that system, and is receiving that 

AstraZeneca vaccine.” 

As of last Thursday, a total of 6278 individuals 

in the three divisions have received the first jab 

of the COVID-19 Astrazeneca Vaccine. 

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Over a ton of colour to be used at 

Krishna Holi 2021 event in Kumeu 

The Indian Weekender Friday, February 12, 2021 11 

RIZWAN MOHAMMAD 

T 

he biggest Holi event in the country 

on Sunday, February 14 at ISKCON 

Temple in Kumeu will put over one 

ton of colours for 10,000 visitors to play with 

celebrating the annual Hindu festival. 

Holi is one of the most popular and widely 

celebrated festivals for the Indian community 

after Diwali that is celebrated by the diaspora 

and the adjoining communities across the globe. 

The annual festival of colour falls on March 

28-29 this year, and the religious element of the 

festival signifies the triumph of good over evil. 

It is observed a the end of winter and advent of 

spring month (in the Indian subcontinent), and 

spiritual part of the festival starts with Holika 

Dahan (burning demon Holika) also known as 

Chhoti Holi and the following day as Holi. 

In its 9th year, Krishna Holi event at the 

iconic Hare Krishna Temple in Kumeu, West 

Auckland attracts thousands of people from all 

walks of life, different ethnicities and faiths to 

be a part of a colourful and joyous event. 

Speaking with the Indian Weekender, 

Krishna Chandra from the temple said they are 

excited to see the festive season of Holi back 

after a gloomy year of Covid-19 in the country. 

“Holi at the Krishna Temple is one of the 

most vibrant events in our calendar- we see 

families dressed white clothing visi the temple 

and then dance and drench in dry and wet 

colours from noon till early evening,” Krishna 

Chandra, secretary and spokesperson of Hare 

Krishna Temple said. 

The temple spread over 100 acres start the 

free event at 11 a.m. and will have stalls that 

distribute at least ten to 12 colours, and there 

will also be watercolours for the visitors. 

A giant LED screen is also installed on the 

stage with a DJ and live music for the attendees 

to dance and have fun. 

“It’s a family-friendly- tobacco and alcoholfree 

event. People of all ages can have fun as 

there will be colour stalls, water stations, food 

stalls, changing rooms, showering stations for 

people drenched in colour,” Mr Chandra said. 

He added tha the temple stocks colours to be sanitisers are in place for people, arrangements 

used at the festival at least 2-3 years at a time. for children activities, so that everyone gets to 

The temple will be used over a ton of colour at enjoy the even to its fullest. 

the event both in its dry form and with water. “We have volunteers, security to usher 

“We have given 200 kgs of colour to fire vehicles to park in the appropriate places, 

brigade who will mix it in their water tank manage the oncoming and returning traffic, 

and then splash it on the visitors at different and make sure visitors feel comfortable at the 

intervals. 

event,” Mr Chandra added. 

“Since this year’s event coincides with The event organisers have appealed the 

Valentine’s Day, we have kept valentine theme visitors to come in white dress as colours tend event like previous years will be high octane, 

gifts and gift station too at the venue for the to exhibit its vibrancy on white clothing, get full of energy and good vibes,” Mr Chandra 

public to celebrate the occasion there,” Mr spare clothing to change after playing with added. 

Chandra added. 

colour and food and water arrangements have ISKCON Temple is located on 1229 

Mr Chandra says all arrangements in been made a the venue. 

Coatesville-Riverhead Highway, Kumeu, West 

terms of Covid QR Code scanning and hand “Hol is always a fun event and Krishna Holi Auckland, and the event starts at noon to 5 p.m. 

Hare Krishna temple to host ‘Saatvik food festival’ 

RIZWAN MOHAMMAD 

T 

he Hare Krishna Temple in Kumeu, West Auckland 

is hosting its annual food festival event on Saturday, 

February 13, for the community. 

More than 3000 people are expected to attend the event 

where they will be served saatvik vegetarian food, tour the 

temple premises and have a relaxing family-fun day. 

“Our Hare Krishna Food Festival is very popular amongs the 

wider Kiwi community in Auckland, people from all faiths and 

ethnicities come to the temple, take a tour of the place knowing 

about the deities, the ISKCON establishment, its works for the 

community and have snacks and food during the day,” Krishna 

Chandra, secretary and spokesperson for Hare Krishna temple 

told the Indian Weekender. 

The event is said to be quiet, and exhibit a relaxing 

environment where people get to meet new people, make 

friends, experience the calmness being with nature, have 

Saatvik (pure) vegetarian food and have good family day. 

“This event is happening just one day before our most 

popular Krishna Holi event which is will be loud, full of energy, 

playfulness, music and dance,” Mr Chandra added. 

The events will start at 2 p.m. and end at seven in the evening. 

Besides the food festival, Krishna Temple organises lunch 

event every Sunday at its premises where 300-400 people 

come, chant mantras, meditate, spend some time with nature 

and dine with the community members. 

“It is a soothing atmosphere at the temple, chanting mantras 

with the community, knowing more about the religion, what 

can they do a the temple and how can they make a difference in 

the community by serving others and the less privileged. 

“There are also children’s activities 

organised so that they engage themselves 

and also have a good time at the temple,” Mr 

Chandra said.

14 

INDIA 


NEWS in BRIEF 

Two Indian states vote in test for Modi 

Voters in India’s Assam and West Bengal cast their ballots on Saturday 

in elections that will indicate how Indian Prime Minister Narendra 

Modi’s support is holding up after a year of the coronavirus pandemic and 

months of protests against his farm reforms. 

Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah campaigned energetically for their 

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, encouraging defections from 

the Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, whose firebrand leader Mamata 

Banerjee has been chief minister since 2011. 

India’s fourth most populous state, with 90 million people, was for 

decades a bastion of communism, and registered a voter turnout of nearly 

80% in Saturday’s first phase of voting. 

Politicians on the campaign trail often showed scant regard for social 

distancing, but as voters queued patiently at polling centres, security 

personnel and election workers handed out masks, hand sanitisers and 

gloves. Modi was re-elected for a second five-year term in 2019, and his 

BJP is pushing to extend its influence beyond the 12 out of 28 states where 

it rules alone, and several others where it is part of a ruling alliance – not 

least because this would help it to control the upper house of the federal 

parliament. 

India’s Modi gifts Bangladesh 1.2m doses of 

AstraZeneca vaccine 

India gave 1.2 million free 

doses of the AstraZeneca 

coronavirus vaccine to 

Bangladesh, its foreign minister 

said, as Dhaka urged New Delhi to 

maintain a regular supply of shots 

to battle the pandemic. Indian 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the offering at the end of a two-day 

tour of Bangladesh to celebrate its 50th independence anniversary. The trip 

also marked Modi’s first foreign travel since the outbreak of the pandemic. 

Bangladesh signed a deal in November with the Serum Institute of India, 

the world’s biggest vaccine maker, for 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca 

vaccine. The country of more than 160 million people has already received 

9 million vaccine doses from Serum. India has also previously gifted 

its neighbour 2 million doses of the shot that Serum is producing for 

many countries. India has told its international partners that it will 

prioritise domestic inoculations over exports of vaccines as it battles a rise 

in new infections. 

“Bangladesh has requested a regular supply of the remaining vaccines 

purchased from the Serum Institute,” the country’s foreign minister A.K. 

Abdul Momen said in a televised speech. 

India will donate military equipment used 

in 1971 for museums 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that New Delhi will 

donate military equipment used the country's in the 1971 Liberation War 

to be displayed in museums in Bangladesh. 

Modi made the announcement on Saturday in Dhaka on the last day of 

his two-day official visit to Bangladesh, which was his first trip abroad after 

the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. On Saturday evening, Modi met his 

Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina for one-on-one talks at the latter's 

office in Dhaka after which the two sides signed five MoUs, inaugurated 

and launched eight projects and made 10 announcements. During his visit, 

he also laid the foundation stone for a memorial honouring martyrs from the 

Indian Armed Forces who were killed during the Liberation War. 

It will be built at Ashuganj, near Dhaka. This is the first memorial in 

Bangldesh exclusively honoring the Indian martyrs. Modi arrived in Dhaka 

and participated in a gala event commemorating the birth centenary of 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as well as the celebrations marking 

golden jubilee of Bangladesh independence. 

Parts of India to see deadly heat waves in coming 

decades: Study 

Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will likely reduce the impact of 

deadly heat waves by half, but the heat waves will become commonplace 

across South Asia, including major crop-producing regions in India -- such 

as West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, says a new study. The findings, published 

in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, indicated that these deadly heat 

waves will likely become more commonplace in the coming decades even if 

global warming is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius. 

"Even at 1.5 degrees, South Asia will have serious consequences in 

terms of heat stress," said researcher Moetasim Ashfaq from the Oak Ridge 

National Laboratory in the US. The future looks bad for South Asia, but the 

worst can be avoided by containing warming to as low as possible," Ashfaq 

added. The results differ from a similar study conducted in 2017, which 

predicted that heat waves of lethal temperatures will occur in South Asia 

toward the end of the 21st century, the researchers said. 

The researchers suspect the earlier study is too conservative, as deadly 

heat waves have already hit the region in the past. 

In 2015, large parts of India and Pakistan experienced the fifth 

deadliest heat wave in the recorded history, which caused about 3,500 

heat-related deaths. 

COVID VACCINE: 

How many people 

has India vaccinated? 

More than 55 million doses of coronavirus 

vaccines have been administered in India in 

what is the world's biggest inoculation drive. 

India's Covid caseload had dropped sharply by the time 

it began vaccinating people early this year. It was adding 

under 15,000 infections daily. But cases began to spike 

again in March, largely driven by poor test and trace and 

lax safety protocols. 

On Thursday, the country reported 59,118 new cases - 

the sharpest daily rise since October last year. 

Since the pandemic began, India has confirmed more 

than 11.7 million cases and over 160,000 deaths. It's the 

third-highest number of Covid-19 infections in the world 

after the United States. 

How is the rollout going? 

India launched its vaccination drive on 16 January, but 

it was limited to healthcare workers and frontline staff - a 

sanitation worker became the first Indian to receive the 

vaccine. 

From 1 March, the eligibility criteria was expanded 

to include people over 60 and those who are between 45 

and 59 but have other illnesses. The government has now 

announced that from 1 April, the jab will be available to 

anyone aged 45 years and above. 

The country's drugs regulator has given the green light 

to two vaccines - one developed by AstraZeneca with 

Oxford University (Covishield) and one by 

Indian firm Bharat Biotech (Covaxin). 

Several others candidates are at 

different stages of trials. 

India also wants to scale 

up the drive quickly to stem 

the spike in cases in recent 

weeks. So it has placed a 

temporary hold on all exports 

of the Oxford-AstraZeneca 

coronavirus vaccine, which 

is being made by India's largest 

vaccine manufacturer, the Serum 

Institute of India (SII). Foreign ministry 

sources told the BBC that a spike in cases meant that 

demand in the country for the vaccine was likely to pick 

up in the coming weeks, and so more doses were needed 

for India's own rollout. 

Some 190 countries under the World Health 

Organisation (WHO)-led Covax scheme will be affected. 

India has exported more than 60 million vaccine doses 

to 76 countries so far, with majority of these being the 

Oxford-AstraZeneca jab. 

How many have been vaccinated so far? 

More than 55 million doses of coronavirus vaccines 

have been administered so far. 

On Friday, the government said it administered more 

than 2.3 million doses in the last 24 hours. 

Nearly 40 million people have received one dose, and 

over eight million people have been fully vaccinated 

after receiving two doses. For decades now, India has 

been running one of the world's largest immunisation 

programmes that vaccinates tens of millions and newborns 

and pregnant women against various diseases. 

So experts believed India was well-prepared for the 

challenge. But the uptake has been slow because of 

vaccine scepticism as well as lack of awareness among 

the poor or in rural areas. 

Many of the poor have little information on how to 

register themselves and access the vaccine free of cost. 

Online registration could be an impediment for those who 

don't own phones or use the internet. 

"There's very little public health communication for the 

poor and the working class regarding the vaccines," says 

Radha Khan, an independent consultant working in the 

field of gender, governance and social inclusion. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who's 70 years old, got 

his vaccine shot on 1 March. He was administered a jab of 

the indigenously developed Covaxin. 

After receiving the jab, he urged people to take the 

vaccine when their turn came. 

The government aims to use up to 500 million doses 

to cover 250 million "priority people" by the end of July. 

More than 56 million people have registered for the jab 

mostly through two government apps. Interestingly, in 

some states, more women than men have been vaccinated. 

The reasons are not clear. 

Who is paying for the vaccines? 

Vaccination is voluntary. State-run clinics and hospitals 

are offering free jabs but people can also pay 250 rupees 

($3.4; £2.4) a dose at private facilities to get vaccinated. 

The government is spending around $5bn for free doses 

at state-run clinics, public health centres and hospitals. 

It has also bought millions of doses of two approved 

vaccines and provided funds to states for their vaccination 

programmes. 

Have there been 'adverse events' after 

vaccination? 

Vaccines come with side effects for some people. 

India has a 34-year-old surveillance programme 

for monitoring such "adverse events" following 

immunisation. Experts say a failure to transparently 

report adverse effects could easily lead to fearmongering 

around vaccines. 

Until early February, India reported 8,483 

"adverse events" after vaccination. Most of these 

events were "minor" - anxiety, vertigo, giddiness, 

dizziness, fever, and pain, and all patients had 

recovered, the government said. 

The surveillance programme has examined 412 cases 

of "severe adverse events", including 79 deaths after 

vaccination until 13 March, according to a senior official. 

It found the "deaths happened in cases where the person 

had underlying conditions, including heart problems, high 

blood pressure and diabetes".


WORLD 15 

Australian PM 

promotes women 

in cabinet reshuffle 

amid poll slump 

Australian Prime Minister Scott 

Morrison reshuffled his Cabinet 

as he sought to repair his 

standing following a series of damaging 

allegations about the mistreatment of 

female lawmakers and staff. 

Morrison has struggled to placate 

public anger amid allegations of sexual 

abuse, discrimination against women and 

misconduct in parliament. 

In a move designed to regain voter 

support, Morrison said he would now 

have a record seven female lawmakers in 

his Cabinet as he awarded promotions and 

additional remits to five women. 

“I have always wanted to ensure 

there is a strong voice of women in my 

government, and there has been. But I 

think what we are announcing today has 

gone further than that,” Morrison told 

reporters in Canberra. 

“I have very capable women operating 

in very important portfolios.” 

While promoting several female 

lawmakers, Morrison also moved two 

MPs who have been the subject of 

allegations. Both, however, remain in his 

Cabinet. 

Linda Reynolds would leave the role of 

defence minister and would be replaced 

by Peter Dutton, previously home affairs 

minister. Reynolds has been criticised for 

her handling of an allegation of rape by a 

member of her staff two years ago. 

Christian Porter will be replaced as 

attorney general and minister for industrial 

relations by Michaelia Cash, who was 

promoted from the role of minister for 

employment, skills and small business. 

Porter is the subject of a historical 

rape allegation which he denies and is 

currently on mental health leave. 

Police said on March 2 there was 

insufficient evidence to investigate the 

alleged rape as the accuser was no longer 

alive. A Newspoll conducted for The 

Australian newspaper on Monday showed 

Morrison’s public support dropped seven 

points in two weeks to 55%, the lowest 

level in a year. 

Morrison’s government also trails 

opposition Labor on a two-party preferred 

basis, where votes for minor parties are 

distributed, by 52-48. If the poll result 

was replicated at an election, Labor 

would win. 

Ever Given ship freed in the 

Suez Canal, authority confirms 

The Ever Given container ship has 

been dislodged and is now 

floating, after blocking the Suez 

Canal for almost a week, authorities said. 

Tug boats had spent several hours 

working to free the bow of the massive 

vessel after dislodging the stern earlier in 

the day. Marine traffic websites showed 

images of the ship away from the banks 

of the Suez Canal for the first time in 

seven days following an around-the-clock 

international effort to reopen the global 

shipping lane. 

The successful refloating was met with 

triumph and relief, as hundreds of vessels 

that have been trapped since last Tuesday 

prepare to restart their journeys. 

"We pulled it off!" Boskalis, a salvage 

company which helped with the operation, 

said in a statement Monday. 

"Boskalis announces the successful 

salvage operation of the grounded 20,000 

TEU container vessel Ever Given in the 

Suez Canal," the firm said, adding: "With 

a length of 400 meters and a width of 

nearly 60 meters, this giant ship had been 

wedged in this vital shipping route since 

23 March 2021 blocking all shipping 

traffic." 

The ship is now being towed towards 

Egypt's Great Bitter Lake, where 

it will undergo an inspection, 

the head of the Suez Canal 

Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie 

said, according to state-run 

Al Ahram newspaper. The 

vessel's charter company 

will decide on the next steps 

once that has been carried out. 

"The outcome of that inspection 

will determine whether the ship can 

resume its scheduled service. Once the 

inspection is finalized, decisions will be 

made regarding arrangements for cargo 

currently on board," charter company 

Evergreen said. 

The ship was refloated at 3pm Egypt 

Standard Time on Monday (9a ET), 

according to Evergreen. 

Marine traffic websites show the ship 

moving at a speed of 1.5 knots towards 

the lake. 

The rescue operation had intensified 

in both urgency and global 

"The 

outcome of that 

inspection will determine 

whether the ship can resume 

its scheduled service. Once the 

inspection is finalized, decisions 

will be made regarding arrangements 

for cargo currently on board." 

attention with each day 

that passed, as ships 

from around the 

world, carrying 

vital fuel and 

cargo, 

blocked 

entering 

were 

from 

the 

canal during the crisis, raising alarm over 

the impact on global supply chains. 

Promising signs first emerged earlier on 

Monday when the rear of the vessel was 

freed from one of the canal's banks. 

"The container ship began to float 

successfully after responding to the 

pulling maneuvers," said Osama Rabie, 

head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), 

in a phone interview with state TV. "Once 

the ship is withdrawn, we will resume 

navigation directly, and we will take it to 

the Bitter Lakes." 

People at the canal cheered as news of 

Monday's progress came in. 

"Thank God the ship has floated," one 

person could be heard saying in a video, 

as the surrounding boats blew their horns 

in celebration. "God is great. The ship 

has floated." 

NEWS in BRIEF 

UK urged to share COVID-19 vaccines 

with poorer nations 

A 

group of charities is urging the UK Prime Minister to 

"swiftly clarify" how many Covid vaccine doses the 

UK is prepared to donate to poorer countries. 

Save the Children and the Wellcome Trust are among those 

calling on Boris Johnson to begin donating vaccines through 

Covax which the scheme that aims to provide vaccines for 

low and middle-income countries like Fiji. 

The UK, which has ordered 400 million vaccine doses and 

will have many leftovers, has said it will donate most of its 

surplus vaccine supply to poorer countries. 

Nepal shuts all educational institutions as 

air pollution worsens 

The Nepal government 

announced it was 

shutting all educational 

institutions for the next 

four days owing to the 

severe deterioration of 

air quality in the recent 

period. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology 

said that the increasing levels of air pollution could adversely 

affect the children's health. A meeting, chaired by Education 

Minister Krishna Gopal Shrestha, took the decision to 

close down all education institutions owing to the rising 

air pollution and its possible impact on children's health, 

according to a statement issued by the Ministry. 

Nepal is experiencing a serious spike in air pollution, 

with thick smoke blotting the skyline across the country 

since Wednesday and this also affected flights. Almost all 

national and international flights have been cancelled since 

Wednesday. The Ministry of Health has already cautioned 

people with breathing ailments and others medical conditions 

not to leave the house due to the rising air pollution. 

Climate change: Seas around 

S.Korea get warmer 

Seas around South Korea have become warmer over the 

past five years due to rising temperatures, a report by the 

country's fishery ministry said on Sunday. 

The warming of seawater is causing the habitats of marine 

life on the seabed to move northward, according to the 

report, Yonhap news agency reported. 

According to the research report by the Ministry of Ocean 

and Fisheries, climate change raised the temperature of the 

seawater between 2015 and 2020 in the country, affecting the 

habitats of creatures living on the seabed, such as crabs and 

conchs. In 2011, conchs were found to have lived along the 

country's southern coast located at 35 degrees north latitude, 

but they expanded their habitats to 37 degrees north latitude 

in recent years, the report said. 

Ghost crabs living near the country's eastern coast moved 

their habitats to the coast of Uljin, 80 kilometres north of 

Pohang, 374 kilometres southeast of Seoul. 

Astronomers obtain 1st image of black 

hole's magnetic fields 

A 

new view of a 

supermassive 

black hole marks 

the first time 

astronomers have 

captured and 

mapped polarisation, 

a sign of magnetic 

fields, so close to the 

edge of a black hole. 

Images released by 

the Event Horizon 

Telescope (EHT) 

collaboration revealed how the black hole, some 55 million 

light-years away at the centre of galaxy M87 appears in 

polarised light. 

The EHT collaboration involves more than 300 researchers 

from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. 

Scientists still do not understand how magnetic fields 

-- areas where magnetism affects how matter moves -- 

influence black hole activity. Do they help direct matter 

into the hungry mouths of black holes? Can they explain 

the mysterious jets of energy that extend out of the galaxy's 

core? In two studies published in the Astrophysical Journal 

Letters, EHT astronomers revealed their latest findings and 

how magnetic fields may be influencing the black hole at the 

centre of M87.

16 ENTERTAINMENT 


The Big Bull 

actor Abhishek 

Bachchan: I 

saw Scam 1992 

and thoroughly 

enjoyed it 

Actor Abhishek Bachchan has 

opened up about the 

comparisons between his 

upcoming film The Big Bull and 

Hansal Mehta’s web series Scam 

1992. Both the stories are based on 

Harshad Mehta’s securities case. 

While speaking to Bollywood 

Hungama, Bachchan said that many 

were drawing comparisons between 

the two but it stopped after the trailer 

of The Big Bull came out. “I’ve 

noticed thankfully that after our 

trailer came out, that conversation 

has pretty much stopped. I think 

the reason is people have seen what 

we’ve made and realised that it’s 

actually a very different approach,” 

he said. 

The Big Bull actor was happy to 

praise the work of Hansal Mehta and 

his team and applauded the Sony LIV 

web series. “I saw Scam (1992) 

last year and I thoroughly enjoyed 

it. I think it was just a wonderful 

achievement on behalf of the entire 

team,” he said. 

" 

There can be multiple 

tales on the same 

story. Every story-teller 

will have his own way 

and should be seen 

independent of the other. 

This film has so many 

talents involved just 

like my show. They’ve 

done their best and they 

deserve your love 

Hansal Mehta had also spoken 

about the comparisons earlier. He 

said, “Please don’t make unfair 

comparisons. 

"There can be multiple tales on the 

same story. Every story-teller will 

have his own way and should be seen 

independent of the other. This film 

has so many talents involved just like 

my show. They’ve done their best 

and they deserve your love.” 

The Big Bull trailer takes the 

viewers on a journey inspired by the 

life of Harshad Mehta. But unlike 

Scam 1992, The Big Bull does not 

use real names and is said to be 

inspired by Harshad Mehta’s story. 

Emraan Hashmi 2.0? Keep hearing that 

but I honestly don't know, says actor 

Actor Emraan Hashmi has 

a slew of interesting films 

lined up over the next 

months. Fans, social media and the 

media alike is of the opinion that it 

is finally time for Emraan Hashmi 

2.0, after a period of slump in the 

recent past. 

His new film, Sanjay Gupta's 

multistarrer gangster drama Mumbai 

Saga has opened in theatres, 

and Emraan he will soon co-star 

with Amitabh Bachchan in the 

psychological thriller Chehre. He 

has the horror film Ezra lined up, 

too, and unconfirmed sources have 

Filmmakers take a 

page out of their own book 

A 

new breed of filmmakers 

who have veered into the 

profession from other 

vocations are drawing inspiration 

from their past calling. 

Kookie Gulati's upcoming 

Abhishek Bachchan-starrer "The Big 

Bull" is an instance. 

The film draws its plot from 

the securities scam of 1992, and 

is broadly based on stockbroker 

Harshad Mehta's life and his 

involvement in financial crimes over 

a period of 10 years from 1980 to 

1990. Gulati reveals how his stint 

working at the stock market in the 

past helped him. 

"I have worked at the stock market 

in 1990 and 1991, so I immediately 

related to this story and idea. From 

there, we started researching and 

working on it. Those times were so 

different," says Gulati. 

Gulati had other references 

from his own life in the script. "It's 

basically the struggle of a guy who 

said he could play the villain in the 

Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif biggie 

Tiger 3. Is it time for Emraan Hashmi 

2.0, finally? "I keep hearing that but 

I honestly don't know because I am 

still putting in the same effort that I 

always have in my work. I wanted 

to change things around me. Now 

Chehre is up for release and I can say 

that it's a new side of me that people 

haven't seen. I have been lucky to get 

such opportunities," the actor replied. 

The year has started on a bright 

note for Emraan. He stars in 

the music video of singer Jubin 

Nautiyal's new superhit Lut gaye. 

starts from the beginning and a lot of 

it actually happened with my father 

when he came to Mumbai from 

Ahmednagar. So, I have actually 

borrowed a lot from his life to put 

into this film. The concept was 

brought to me by my co-writer Arjun 

Dhawan," he added. 

Another example is that of director 

Danish Renzu, whose Hollywood 

film "The Illegal" recently released 

on an OTT platform. 

The film talks about the journey 

of an Indian boy who goes to the 

US to study filmmaking. However, 

due to financial burden, he is forced 

to take up a part-time job at an 

Indian restaurant in Los Angeles, 

as a waiter. Danish has stated in 

various interviews how he, too, was 

trying to live up to his big American 

dream when he shifted there from 

Srinagar 15 years ago. The LA-based 

filmmaker has revealed how he 

worked at a restaurant and doubled 

up as a Math tutor to sustain himself. 

Emraan says he would definitely 

want to work in a music video again. 

The actor however adds that his fans 

would have to wait, because he wants 

to maintain exclusivity. 

"I feel happy when I hear people 

Sports biopics have always 

received a lot of attention from 

the audience. Telugu filmmaker 

Venu KC, who is making a biopic 

on National kabaddi player Arjun 

Chakravarthy, was himself a statelevel 

sportsperson at the junior level. 

The director has revealed that he 

heard about Arjun Chakravarthy's 

struggle from his coach. 

"I have been a sportsman who 

participated at state level junior meet 

and at that point of time my coach 

used to tell a story about his coach to 

motivate us. That story inspired me 

to write a script. 

"After several years I developed an 

interest in writing scripts. Ever since, 

I have written 25 scripts but none of 

them excited me as that coach's story. 

So, I decided to turn his story into a 

film," he says, about how his real-life 

experience turned into his film. 

True life can often be more 

interesting than fiction, as they say – 

and lucrative, too. 

saying there is no replacement of me 

when it comes to featuring in music 

videos. But I think if I keep doing 

music videos then they will definitely 

start looking for a replacement for 

me! The audience will have to wait 

a bit because that's the whole thing 

about exclusivity," said Emraan. 

Talking about the song's success, 

Emraan said: "I am still in shock! 

I knew this was a special song that 

will do well but now I have stopped 

keeping track because every day 

the views are increasing by 10 

or 15 millions. It has completely 

gone insane!" 

Ayushmann: My 

career journey is 

same as every Indian 

Actor Ayushmann Khurrana 

finds it humbling that people 

find him relatable and says 

his career journey is the same as 

every Indian who is trying to carve a 

name for himself. 

"It is truly humbling to know that 

the people of India find me relatable. 

It's a huge compliment because I 

do consider myself to be one of the 

masses, and my career journey is the 

same as every Indian who is trying to 

make a name, build a legacy through 

pure dedication and hard work," 

Ayushmann said. 

He added: "I have tried to bring 

out their lives on screen, tell their 

unique and inspiring stories and 

show everyone where the heart of my 

country lies. I guess that's what has 

resonated the most with people and, 

in turn, resonated with the brands 

that I currently endorse." Ayushmann 

says that he will continue to be 

disruptive. 

"I truly believed that audiences 

wanted to see new, disruptive cinema 

and I'm glad that my vision for 

content stands vindicated today," he 

said. 

Rajkummar Rao on being 

called 'star': Call me Raj, 

it's a nice name 

Rajkummar Rao has a candid 

retort when you tell him he is 

successful enough now to be 

called a star. 

"You can call me whatever, but 

call me Raj. I think Raj is a nice 

name," says the actor. The actor, 

who won the National Award in 

2014 for his title role in Shahid, has 

given memorable roles in numerous 

films in his 11-year-old career -- 

notably, Aligarh, Bareilly Ki Barfi, 

CityLights, Omerta, Newton and 

Trapped. Despite fame and awards, 

he has always come across as 

grounded. How does he manage to 

stay that way? 

"God has not given me wings to 

fly so there is no point flying! I am 

doing this for myself because I saw 

this dream when I was a kid who 

wants to act. I wanted to be an actor 

and acting gives me the most amount 

of happiness and I am doing this for 

my sanity and for my own happiness. 

It reaches out to so many people and 

you get so much love from them," he 

replied. 

"I don't see any reason for me 

to not be real. I am an actor by 

profession but before that I am just a 

normal guy," he added. 

ice-of-life, realistic and drama 

films. One genre missing from 

his filmography is an out-and-out 

commercial masala entertainer, 

something Bollywood is famous for. 

"Never say never. I haven't really 

given a thought to it honestly and not 

like I have gotten such films but if I 

get a script like that, which has some 

base story attached to it, then I would 

love to a try. Why not?" he said.


FEATURES 17 

TAMARIND CHUTNEY 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1cup - tamarind ( tightly packed 

imli ) 

• 3cups - water 

• 1tsp - cumin seeds 

• 1/3tsp - ginger powder ( saunth ) 

• 1pinch - asafoetida (hing) 

• 1/2tsp - red chilli powder 

• 1/2cup - chopped jaggery or as 

required – adjust as per your taste 

• 1tbsp - oil 

• 1tsp - rock salt 

METHOD: 

• Soak tamarind in water overnight 

or for 4 to 5 hours in a medium 

size bowl. 

• Squeeze the pulp out from 

the tamarind with your hand. 

Strain the pulp and set aside. 

• Heat oil in the heavy base 

saucepan over medium flame. 

• Add cumin seeds; when they start 

to splatter add tamarind pulp, mix 

MINT CHUTNEY 

INGREDIENTS: 

2cups - coriander leaves 

• 1cup - mint leaves 

• 4-6 - green chilies 

• 1tsp - cumin seeds 

• 3 - garlic cloves 

• 1inch - ginger 

• 2 - lemons 

• 1tsp - salt or according to taste 

METHOD: 

• Blend washed coriander and mint 

leaves in a blender. 

• Add washed green chillies, cumin 

seeds, garlic cloves and ginger. 

• Squeeze lemon; add salt and 

water; blend everything together 

CHANA CHAAT 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1cup - boiled chana with tea bags 

and salt 

• 1/2cup - red onion, chopped 

• 2 - tomatoes, chopped 

• 3 - green chillies 

• 1 - potato, large and boiled 


• 1tsp - cumin powder 

• 1tsp - chaat masala powder 

• 1tsp - salt 

• 2tbsp - chopped coriander 

2tbsp - tamarind chutney 

METHOD; 

• Place boiled chana in a large bowl 

along with onions, tomatoes and 

well. 

• Add ginger powder, asafoetida 

and red chilli powder, stir. 

• Add chopped jaggery and salt, 

mix well; cover and let cook for 

4-5 minutes ( the mixture should 

become thick ). 

• Remove from the flame and 

transfer it into a bowl set aside for 

later use and let it get to a room 

temperature ( when cooled, store 

the imli chutney in an air-tight 

dry jar or container. Refrigerate 

and serve whenever required with 

chaat or snacks ). 

into a fine paste. 

• Transfer into a bowl, cover and 

set aside for later use. 

TIP: 

• Mint chutney can be kept for a 

week in the fridge and for 1 month 

in the freezer. 

• If you are using pot for making 

chana’s; cook them for 30 

minutes. 

• Samosa’s ( 8-10 ) can be replaced 

for tikkies. 

green chillies. 

• Crush potatoes with your hand 

and add them to the chana. 

• Add red chilli powder, cumin 

powder, chaat masala powder, 

salt, coriander and tamarind 

chutney, mix everything together 

with the spatula. 

• Serves - 4 

Crispy tikki chola chaat 

INGREDIENTS FOR TIKKI: 

• 5 - potatoes, large 


• 1/2tsp garam masala powder 

• 1tsp - coriander powder 

• 1tsp dry mango powder 

• 1/2tsp – cumin powder 

• 2tbsp - bread crumbs 

• 2tbsp - rice flour 

• 2tbsp - fresh coriander chopped 

• 1/2tsp - salt or according to taste 

• 1cup - oil for frying or as per 

required 

INGREDIENTS FOR 

CHOLA: 

• 1cup - whole chickpeas 

• 3cups - water 

• 2 - tea bags 

• 1inch - cinnamon stick 

• 2 - bay leaves 

• 4 - green cardamom 

• 1tsp - salt 


FOR TEMPERING: 

• 2 - onions, medium size 

• 1tsp - ginger paste 

• 1tsp - garlic paste 

• 1tsp - chana masala powder 


• 1/2tsp - cumin powder 

• 1/2tsp garam masala powder 

• 2 - tomatoes 


TO ASSEMBLE: 

• Tamarind chutney 

Mint chutney 

• 2cups - plain yoghurt 

• 1 - red onion 

• 2tbsp - fresh coriander chopped 

• Sev to sprinkle 

• Chaat masala to sprinkle 

• 2tbsp - pomegranate arils 

METHOD FOR TIKKI: 

• Place unpeeled potatoes in a large 

saucepan, fill with water, and 

place it over high flame. 

• Bring to a boil; cook until potatoes 

are soft and tender ( check with a 

knife or fork to see if the potatoes 

are cooked well. The knife should 

be able to slid easily if the potatoes 

are cooked properly ). 

• Drain, cool, and peel potatoes. Set 

aside. 

• Add potatoes to a large size bowl. 

• Add red chilli powder, garam 

masala powder, mango powder, 

cumin powder and salt to the 

mashed potatoes, mix well with 

your hand or by using the fork. 

• Add breadcrumbs, rice flour and 

chopped coriander, mix well 

again. 

• Rub oil on your palms; take 

a hand full of potato mixture 

and shape it into flat cutlets by 

rolling it gently and then slightly 

pressing it between your hands; 

make it into about 2 or 3 inches in 

diameter and 1 inch thick. 

• Repeat until the whole mixture is 

used and place them onto a plate. 

• Spread breadcrumbs in a separate 

plate. 

• Add corn flour into a bowl along 

with half cup of water and mix 

well. Set aside. 

• Dip each cutlet in the cornflour 

then coat each cutlet lightly in 

bread crumbs, and place them 

onto a plate. 

• Heat about 2 tablespoons oil in 

a large heavy base skillet over 

medium flame. 

• Fry cutlets in batches until 

golden brown and crisp on both 

sides; gently flipping it over with 

spatula ( Between batches, add oil 

as needed ). 

• Transfer them onto a kitchen 

towel paper for the extra oil to be 

absorbed. Set aside. 

METHOD FOR CHOLA: 

• Rinse chickpeas under running 

water until the water runs clear 

then transfer them into medium 

size bowl; add 3 cups of water; 

cover and leave it overnight or for 

at least 6 hours. 

• Add chickpeas to a pressure 

cooker along with its water. 

• Add tea bags, cinnamon stick, bay 

leaves, green cardamom, salt and 

oil. 

• Pressure cook chickpeas 

on medium flame for 3-4 

whistles; remove the led and 

check if the chickpeas are 

done ( you should be able 

to press the chickpeas easily 

with your fingers if they are 

done other wise cook them 

for some more time ). 

• Discard whole spices and tea 

bags and set chickpeas along 

with its water, aside. 

• Heat oil in a heavy base 

saucepan over medium 

flame. 

• Peel, wash and chop onions; 

add to them to the oil and fry 

until brown in colour. 

• Add ginger paste, sauté, add garlic 

paste and sauté for 2-3 minutes. 

• Lower the flame and add chana 

masala powder, red chilli powder, 

cumin powder and garam masala 

powder with a splash of water, 

mix well. 

• Add washed and chopped 

tomatoes and sauté until oil 

separates. 

• Add chickpeas along with its 

water to the masala and mix well. 

• Cover and let simmer for 4-5 

minutes on medium flame, stirring 

in between ( the gravy should be 

medium thick ). 

• Season with salt ( do remember 

that salt has been added in the 

chickpeas while boiling them ). 

• Remove chickpeas from the flame 

and set aside. 

TO ASSEMBLE THE CHAAT 

• Place 2 tikkies in a serving plate. 

• Spread some chana masala on top. 

• Whisk yoghurt and then spread 1 

tablespoon on top of the chana. 

• Spread 1 teaspoon of each 

tamarind chutney and mint 

chutney. 

• Peel wash and chop onion and 

spread some on top of chutneys. 

• Sprinkle sev and chaat masala in 

the end. 

• Garnish with pomegranate arils. 

• Serve fresh immediately. 

• Serves - 6-8 

5 Health benefits of turmeric milk and why you should drink this golden elixir before bedtime 

Popularly known as haldi 

doodh in Indian households, 

turmeric milk is literally the 

magic potion that many of us love to 

consume on a daily basis for several 

reasons. 

It has multiple health benefits that 

essentially helps in fighting diseases 

and keeping viruses at bay. It gives 

your body an immunity boost along 

with beautifying your skin and hair. It 

purifies your blood and hence, helps 

your body get rid of all the toxins. 

The rejuvenating properties of 

turmeric is an ancient remedy to 

purify the body and protect it from 

diseases. One glass of turmeric milk 

every night can improve your overall 

health and wellbeing. 

Here are 5 health benefits of the 

magic potion, turmeric milk aka haldi 

doodh. 

Improves the immune system 

Turmeric milk has proven to 

be really effective in building the 

immune system of the body. 

Turmeric powder is packed with 

mineral and vitamins, antioxidants 

and anti-inflammatory properties that 

help strengthen the immune system of 

the body. 

Promotes healthy heart 

Turmeric powder is good to purify 

the blood. Hence, it clears the arteries 

and regulates blood pressure. It 

ensures that your heart is healthy and 

toxin free. 

Keeps diseases at bay 

As it builds a great immune system 

in the body, your body is fit to fight all 

the diseases and especially, the cold. 

It keeps cold and other viruses at bay. 

Turmeric has antibacterial and 

antibiotic properties that help fight 

bacterias in your body and viral 

infections. 

Purifies the blood 

A hot glass of turmeric milk at night 

will help clear all the toxins from the 

body and purify the blood. Turmeric 

milk helps in detoxifying your body 

and strengthening the immune system. 

Promotes good skin 

At last, it not only benefits the 

physical wellbeing of the body, but it 

also helps beautify the skin and hair. 

Turmeric milk is a great way 

to naturally heal acne as it has 

antimicrobial and antiseptic 

properties. This helps in fighting acne 

internally by just adding one glass of 

milk into your daily skincare regime 

at night before bedtime.

18 FEATURES 


CROSSWORD FreeDailyCrosswords.com 

NO: 65 

5th February ANSWERS CROSSWORD NO: 65 

FreeDailyCrosswords.com 

SUDOKU SOLUSIONS AND ANSWERS NO: 65 

5th February 

ACROSS------------, 

ACROSS------------, DOWN 

I) What cymbals do 39) Cram into the overhead 

I) What cymbals do 39) Cram into the overhead 

6) Neurotic worry 

11) "My country_ 

40) Nasty look 

42) Some studio of thee 

short 

6) Neurotic worry 

40) Nasty look 

" 

tapes, for 

44) It may gird a geisha 

14) Nest on high 

45) Elementary school practice 

11) "My country_ of thee 42) Some studio tapes, for short 

15) Legendary singer Vaughan book 

" 

16) Genetic component 47) River horses 

44) It may gird a geisha 

17) One bite and you know it's 49) Stretcher at the gym? 

14) Nest on high 

45) Elementary school practice 

not right 

51) Casts out from the body 

19) Small hotel 

52) Alarm bell 

15) Legendary singer Vaughan book 

20) Ski hill 

53) Giving the once-over 

21) Told your dog "Attack!" 55) "Arabian Nights" name 

16) Genetic component 47) River horses 

23) Bora Bora neighbor 56) Like a good police witness 

17) One bite and you know it's 49) Stretcher at the gym? 

26) 100-meter runners, e.g. 

27) Hardly melodious 

61) Go against God 

62) Skylit hotel lobbies 

not right 

51) Casts out from the body 

28) Mix again 

63) From around here 

29) At all times, in verse 64) Big pig 

19) Small hotel 

52) Alarm bell 

30) Type of nut 

65) Freeloader 

32) Things to wish upon 66) Dust particle 

20) Ski hill 

53) Giving the once-over 

35) Have trouble saying "S" 

21) Told your dog "Attack!" 55) "Arabian Nights" name 

37) Greek architectural order 

23) Bora Bora neighbor 56) Like a good police witness 

26) 100-meter runners, e.g. 61) Go against God 

CHAPTER OF HISTORY 

27) Hardly melodious 62) Skylit hotel lobbies 

1c 2L 3A 4s sH 

B Clarke K. Dennin er 

GA 7N sG 9s 1T 

1 

28) Mix again 

63) From around here 

E R I E S A R A NA 

29) At all times, in verse 64) Big pig 

E 1 k A 

N N 

30) Type of nut 

65) Freeloader 

E D 

32) Things to wish upon 66) Dust particle 

E R S 

35) Have trouble saying "S" 

37) Greek architectural order 

DOWN 

I) Front of a semi 

2) Hawaiian neckwear 

3) What you'll find in a museum 

4) Jams with the band 

5) Audible dance step 

6) Right away, in memos 

7) Back of the neck 

8) Org. or assoc. 

9) Dips for chips 

10) They believe in God 

11) Three-horned dinosaur 

12) Adjective for sanctum 

13) White_ Missile Range 

18) Agitated 

22) Debt markers 

23) Chinese weight units 

24) Dined at home 

25) Sport with betting 

26) Jeans fabric 

28) Less frequent 

31) Manuscript volume 

33) Mechanical worker 

34) Watch word? 

36) Hammer ends 

38) Beneficiary's brother, perhaps 

41) Moderate's opposite 

43) Heralds 

46) Symbolize 

48) Wooden spinning toy 

49) Hidden supply 

50) Salk vaccine target 

53) Film with many extras 

54) "Okey-dokey" 

57) Valuable rock 

58) Hockey surface 

59) Wet-dry_ 

60) Broad-antlered animal 

ob P 

T R I 

HITORI NO: 65 

T 58 1 

0 CAL 

P ECK 

I) Front of a semi 

2) Hawaiian neckwear 

3) What you'll find in a museum 

4) Jams with the band 

5) Audible dance step 

6) Right away, in memos 

7) Back of the neck 

8) Org. or assoc. 

9) Dips for chips 

10) They believe in God 

11) Three-horned dinosaur 

12) Adjective for sanctum 

13) White_ Missile Range 

18) Agitated 

22) Debt markers 

23) Chinese weight units 

24) Dined at home 

25) Sport with betting 

26) Jeans fabric 

28) Less frequent 

31) Manuscript volume 

33) Mechanical worker 

34) Watch word? 

36) Hammer ends 

38) Beneficiary's brother, perhaps 

41) Moderate's opposite 

43) Heralds 

46) Symbolize 

48) Wooden spinning toy 

49) Hidden supply 

50) Salk vaccine target 

53) Film with many extras 

54) "Okey-dokey" 

57) Valuable rock 

58) Hockey surface 

59) Wet-dry_ 

60) Broad-antlered animal 

Eliminate numbers until there are no duplicates in any row or 

column. Eliminate numbers by marking them in Black. You are 

not allowed to have two Black squares touching horizontally or 

vertically (diagonally is ok). Any White square can be reached 

from any other (i.e. they are connected). 

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

1. What does DNA stand for? Deoxyribonucleic acid 

2. How many bones are in the human body?206 

3. The concept of gravity was discovered by which famous 

physicist? Sir Isaac Newton 

4. What is the hardest natural substance on Earth? Diamond 

5. Which is the main gas that makes up the Earth’s 

atmosphere? Nitrogen 

6. Humans and chimpanzees share roughly how much DNA? 

98% 

7. What is the most abundant gas in the Earth’s atmosphere? 

Nitrogen 

8. Roughly how long does it take for the sun’s light to reach 

Earth – 8 minutes, 8 hours or 8 days? 8 minutes 

9. Which famous British physicist wrote A Brief History of 

Time? Stephen Hawking 

10. At what temperature are Celsius and Fahrenheit equal? -40 

11. What modern-day country was Marie Curie born in? 

Poland 

12. What is the biggest planet in our solar system? Jupiter 

13. What name is given for the number of protons found in the 

nucleus of an atom? Atomic number 

14. How many vertebrae does the average human possess? 33 

15. What was the name of the first man-made satellite launched 

by the Soviet Union in 1957? Sputnik 1 

16. Which oath of ethics taken by doctors is named after an 

Ancient Greek physician? Hippocratic Oath 

17. What is a material that will not carry an electrical charge 

called? Insulator 

18. Which Apollo moon mission was the first to carry a lunar 

rover? Apollo 15 

19. How many teeth does an adult human have? 32 

20. What is the study of mushrooms called? Mycology 

2 April to 8 April 2021 | By Manisha Koushik 

ARIES (MAR 21-APR 20) 

There is a bright chance of performing beyond 

your expectations on the academic front. You 

are likely to feel more fit and energetic this 

week. Things that are weighing heavy on your 

mind are set to disappear soon. A suitable 

match for the eligible is likely to be found. 

Some celebration or ritual may be performed 

at home. Spending time with lover is foreseen. 

An adventure trip undertaken will prove most exhilarating. Taking 

up a hobby seriously is possible. Lucky No.:6 / Lucky Colour: 

Rosy Brown 

TAURUS (APR 21-MAY 20) 

An excellent opportunity awaits some on the 

academic front. You are likely to plan something 

exciting with family and friends. Lover responds 

positively to your romantic aspirations, so brace 

yourself for an electrifying evening. You may be 

in a mood for a vacation and may drive off to 

someplace exotic. Something committed to you 

on the professional front will be fulfilled. Keeping fit and healthy 

will not be too difficult, as you make all the right moves. Lucky 

No.:8 / Lucky Colour: Parrot Green 

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUN 21) 

Keep emotions under check to keep from 

spilling the beans in a confidential matter. 

Spending time with lover is foreseen and will 

help you in letting your hair down. Someone 

may motivate you to accompany him or her for 

a short journey to someplace interesting. You 

may become extra careful of what you eat and 

drink for retaining good health. Something not completed at work 

may make you spend extra time in office. Sale of property is likely. 

Lucky No.:7 / Lucky Colour: Lemon 

CANCER (JUN 22-JUL 20) 

Helping others is in your nature and you will 

get your due soon. You are likely to take long 

strides in achieving something important on the 

professional front. Professionals will be able 

to add to their client’s list. An exciting week on 

the family front is foreseen with the arrival of 

someone close. A drive with family will be most refreshing and 

help bring the members closer. No difficulty is foreseen in securing 

a loan. Lucky No.: 11 / Lucky Colour: Peach 

Manisha Koushik is a practicing astrologer, tarot card reader, numerologist, vastu and 

fengshui consultant based in India with a global presence through the online channels. She is 

available for consultations online as well. E-mail her at support@askmanisha.com or contact 

at +91-11-26449898 Mobile/Whatsapp: +91-9716145644 • www.askmanisha.com 

LEO (JUL21-AUG 20) 

You may have to get a pressing matter sorted out 

quickly, before it becomes an albatross round your 

neck. Those suffering from some medical problem 

will be able to make full recovery. Resuming an 

exercise routine is indicated for some. You will 

be able to add to your wealth as profits accrue. 

Money is not likely to pose any problems for those 

thinking of a new venture. Salaried persons can expect additional 

perks on the professional front. Lucky No.22 / Lucky Colour: 

Dark Turquoise 

VIRGO (AUG 23-SEP 23) 

Don’t trust anyone blindly, who promises you 

the moon. You will financially be in a position 

to upgrade an expensive gadget. A good advice 

will let you seize an investment opportunity. An 

evening out with lover is indicated. Loving bonds 

are likely to get strengthened for newly married 

couples. Children are likely to brighten the 

domestic atmosphere. Shifting to a new house is indicated for some. 

Health remains perfect by being regular in your daily exercises. 

Lucky No.: 9 / Lucky Colour: Maroon 

LIBRA (SEP 24-OCT 23) 

You will need to be absolutely clear regarding 

your career options. Getting more focussed 

on the academic front will not be difficult. 

Someone at work may have a pleasant surprise 

waiting for you. Don’t be impulsive in spending 

money or you may regret your actions later. 

Not adhering to doctor’s advice may have its 

repercussions. You manage to bring peace and tranquility on the 

home front. A short journey will help in refreshing and unburdening 

your mind. Lucky No.:5 / Lucky Colour: Dark Green 

SCORPIO (OCT 24-NOV 22) 

You will need to come into the flow of things 

quickly at work. This is a good week to organise a 

gathering of your near and dear ones at your place. 

Meeting people and visiting places will keep some 

happily engaged. You are likely to keep the ones 

who matter in good humour on the professional 

front. Your bargaining skills are likely to come to 

your rescue in negotiating a deal. Regular workouts will help in 

keeping fit. Lucky No.:15 / Lucky Colour: Coffee 

SAGITTARIUS (NOV 23-DEC 21) 

You may find the grass greener on the other side of 

the fence, but looks can be deceptive. Enlisting for 

a social cause is indicated for some. Organising a 

function or an event on the home front can keep 

some busy this week. A lot of planning may be 

required before starting a project, so put on your 

thinking cap. Weigh someone’s advice carefully before you commit 

your money as it may not give the promised returns. Lucky No.:3 / 

Lucky Colour: Beige 

CAPRICORN (DEC 22-JAN 21) 

Someone may try to get the better of you on the 

professional front and upset you. Your financial 

situation may worsen due to some dubious 

investments. An added responsibility awaits 

you on the professional front and is likely to 

add to your workload. Promises made by lover 

on the romantic front may not be kept. Some 

of you may be compelled to travel on an official tour. An active 

lifestyle will keep you in good shape. Lucky No.:22 / Lucky 

Colour: Turquoise 

AQUARIUS (JAN 22-FEB 19) 

Your competence in tackling with issues at work 

may be in full evidence this week. A new venture 

is likely to turn profitable soon. Someone will 

be considerate enough to assist you on the 

academic front. You may make plans to meet a 

family member not with you at present. Positive 

nature of someone close will keep the domestic 

atmosphere light. Happiness in love life is yours 

for the asking! Efforts on the fitness front will give rich dividends. 

Lucky No.:18 / Lucky Colour: Saffron 

PISCES (FEB 20-MAR 20) 

An influential person is likely to patronise you. 

An excellent opportunity for networking on the 

social front is likely to present itself. Help from 

someone from the family side will save a lot 

of your time. Your ideas to rekindle your love 

life will curry favour with partner. Something 

positive will come off by meeting an old 

associate. Speed will remain on your side in a journey. You will be 

able to manage the work front well. Lucky No.: 9 / Lucky Colour: 

Dark Red


FEATURES 19 

Direct charter flight set to ease some nerves 

of anxious travellers amidst second wave of 

Covid pandemic in India 

SANDEEP SINGH 

As the revival of unfettered 

international travel still 

remains a distant dream, a 

travel operator taking a charter plane 

to India is hopeful that the option of 

direct flight will ease the nerves of 

many anxious travellers amidst the 

rise of the second wave of Covid 

pandemic in India. 

Sehion Tour and Travels is 

operating its eighth repatriation 

direct charter flight to India on April 

21 from Auckland to Kochi after 

first receiving a provisional NOC 

(No-Objection Certificate) from the 

Indian High Commission to run two 

such flights back in August 2020. 

The Indian High Commission 

continues to assess and give 

provisional NOCs to travel operators 

on a case-by-case basis. 

Travelling to and from deep down 

South India has been a challenge 

throughout last year with the closure 

of travel routes previously available 

to travellers in the pre-Covid world, 

including the repatriation flights 

operated by the New Zealand 

government to bring back stranded 

Kiwis from that part of the world. 

Amidst this chaos and uncertainty, 

Sehion Tour & Travels had managed 

to run quite a few repatriation flights 

to South India, taking travellers 

who have stranded in New Zealand 

after the sudden border closures 

and imposition of global travel 

restrictions. 

Sijo Abraham of Sehion Tour & 

Travels told the Indian Weekender 

that till now, they had repatriated 

more than 1600 travellers to 

different parts of India, including to 

destinations like Kochi, Bangalore, 

Ahmedabad and Mumbai. 

“We believe in offering a reliable 

service to our passengers during 

these uncertain times and ensure we 

provide further connecting flights to 

other parts of India after the initial 

port of arrival,” Sijo said. 

"Under 

these circumstances, 

a direct 

end to end flight from the 

port of departure to port 

of arrival is better suited 

for travellers, especially 

for elderlies and senior 

citizens" 

E v e r y 

time there is 

a surge in the 

number of Covid 

cases anywhere in 

the world, the travel 

industry takes a maximum hit 

as governments and authorities 

scramble to break the chain of the 

spread of the virus. 

Currently, there is a resurgence of 

the second wave of Covid in some 

parts of India, raising concerns 

among some quarters if it would 

result in further tightening of 

domestic travel in India. 

Presently travellers from New 

Zealand and Australia wanting to 

travel to India are only relying on 

Emirates Airlines with transit via the 

port of Dubai. 

“Under these circumstances, a 

direct end to end flight from the 

port of departure to port of arrival is 

better suited for travellers, especially 

for elderlies and senior citizens,” 

Sijo said. 

It is important to note that a 

large number of travellers initially 

stranded in New Zealand wanting to 

travel back to India included parents 

of Kiwi-citizens and residents who 

were temporarily visiting their 

children before the global travel 

restrictions came into place.

The Indian Weekender, 2 April 2021

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