The Indian Weekender, Friday 21 August 2020

21AUGUST2020 | Vol 12 Issue 23 

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2 NEW ZEALAND 

Was Alert Level 4 lockdown 

legal? High Court says first 

nine days not legal, but justified 

SANDEEP SINGH 

The High Court has settled the question 

around the legality of Alert Level 4 

complete lockdown by saying that the 

first nine days did not have a legal basis under 

Bill of Rights, though the move was completely 

justified then as the government dealt with a 

rapidly growing public health pandemic. 

The Court was delving into the Borrowdale 

v Director-General of Health and the Attorney- 

General case that sought to challenge the 

government’s decision to ask people stay at 

home on the basis of no legal basis in the Bill 

of Rights. 

“The court did find that there was a breach 

of the Bill of Rights Act in the first 9 days of 

the Alert Level 4 lockdown because the original 

oral request for people to stay home and in their 

bubbles was not put in a formal order until 3 

April,” Attorney General David Parker said. 

Notably, the government had first issued 

a directive on March 25 whereby closing 

premises providing non-essential services and 

prohibiting outdoor congregating in preparation 

for going into Alert Level 4 complete lockdown 

at 11.59 pm, Wednesday, March 26. 

Despite being the most commonsensical 

approach, the government decision was 

contested by a Wellingtonian lawyer 

Borrowdale for not having any legal basis for 

ordering people to remain at home. 

“While there is no question that the 

requirement was a necessary, reasonable and 

proportionate response to the Covid-19 crisis 

at the time, the requirement was not prescribed 

by law and was therefore contrary to s 5 of the 

New Zealand Bill of Rights Act,” the threejudge 

judgement said. 

RIZWAN MOHAMMAD 

Friday, August 21, 2020 

The High Commission of India in New 

Zealand hoisted the Indian tricolour flag 

on Saturday, August 15, celebrating the 

74th Indian Independence Day. 

New Zealand being the first country to see 

the sunrise geographically is also the first 

country in the world to raise the Indian flag and 

celebrate Independence Day. 

Present at Bharat Bhawan in Wellington, the 

High Commissioner of India Muktesh Pardeshi 

along with his team and joined by community 

members and leaders standing at two metres 

apart from each other maintaining social 

distancing unfurled the tricolour and sang the 

national anthem. 

Most of the community members gathered at 

the flag hoisting ceremony in Wellington clad 

in tricolour dresses in their effort to enhance the 

limited yet joyous celebrations. 

Post flag hoisting, High Commissioner 

Muktesh Pardeshi and his wife Rakhi Pardeshi 

honoured the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the 

Bharat Bhawan lobby, followed by a brief 

program that included singing performances 

and speeches for the community members 

gathered at the occasion in the hall. 

Earlier, several Indian Independence Day 

celebrations were planned throughout New 

Zealand, but most of them were withdrawn due 

to Covid-19 Alert Level 2 and 3 restrictions. 

High Commissioner of India, Muktesh 

Pardeshi conveyed his wishes on occasion 

The Indian Weekender 

to the Kiwi Indian community via video 

message through the Indian Weekender and 

thanked them for their contributions during the 

lockdowns earlier this year, and support for the 

Vande Bharat Mission. 

HEALTH MINISTER CHRIS HIPKINS RULES 

OUT AUCKLAND MOVING TO ALERT LEVEL 4 

RADIO NEW ZEALAND 

The health minister says 

alert level 3 restrictions in 

Auckland are helping get to 

the bottom of the cluster and the city 

would not go into level 4. 

Following the positive case of the 

hotel maintenance worker, health 

officials are being urged to use 

serology testing which could reveal 

if a person has had the disease even 

if they haven›t had a positive Covid 

test. 

Health Minister Chris Hipkins 

said serology tests were used but not 

routinely. 

He told Morning Report it had been 

used for the Auckland cluster but 

wasn’t sure if the test had been used 

for the Rydges Hotel maintenance 

worker. 

“We use it where it can help us to 

slot new pieces into the puzzle.” 

He said the government didn’t yet 

have a good understanding of how 

the hotel maintenance worker caught 

Covid-19. 

“It remains a bit of a mystery.” 

At this stage, he couldn’t rule 

anything out - “surface transfer 

certainly possible”, he said adding 

that an investigation was still 

ongoing. 

So far tests of all coworkers, close 

contacts, family and household have 

returned negative results, Hipkins 

said. 

“That’s promising ... we got that 

one early enough that it hasn’t been 

passed on or if it has been passed 

on, it won’t spread further because 

we’ve isolated all the people that 

person could have potentially passed 

it on to.” 

He said the workmates would be 

tested again, but a decision on testing 

the household members again was 

yet to be made. 

“We’ll be making sure there’s no 

risk of any of those contacts passing 

it on to someone else if they’ve 

picked that up.” 

He said everyone at the facility 

was being tested, and if there was a 

spread, it would have almost certainly 

showed up in testing results. 

“This is the system as it should 

operate.” 

Hipkins ruled out Auckland 

moving to alert level 4. 

That’s because there was no spread 

at the Rydges Hotel, and though 

there was an unidentified spread of 

"That’s 

promising ... we 

got that one early 

enough that it 

hasn’t been passed 

on or if it has 

been passed on, 

it won’t spread 

further because 

we’ve isolated all 

the people that 

person could have 

potentially passed it 

on to 

the ‘Auckland August cluster’, the 

government was trying to get ahead 

of it. 

Indian High Commission 

celebrates Independence Day 

in Wellington in Alert Level 2 

He said level 3 restrictions were 

helping get to the bottom of the 

cluster. 

However, National Party leader 

Judith Collins would not say if 

Auckland should stay in level 3 or 

not. 

Covid-19 border controls were 

front and centre yesterday in the 

first sitting of Parliament since the 

postponement of the election. 

Collins told Morning Report not 

testing all border staff was «a 

massive failure» for the government. 

“I’m not going to blame [Director- 

General of Health] Dr [Ashley] 

Bloomfield.” 

Collins said Prime Minister Jacinda 

Ardern should take responsibility, 

first for letting David Clark stay on as 

health minister for three months, and 

then appointing Chris Hipkins - who 

already holds several portfolios - as 

the new minister. 

“The buck stops at the top and it 

stops with her. She’s responsible, she 

needs to explain it. 

“You don’t as prime minister put 

out a press release on 23 June saying 

we’re testing frontline staff at the 

border and then find out eight weeks 

later ... the public finds out that was 

not true.” 

Collins said there should be 

mandatory testing for border staff. 

“Once every two weeks is better.” 

She said National health 

spokesperson Shane Reti had advised 

her that about 30 percent of tests 

could return false negative results, 

which is why she said frequent 

testing was necessary. 

“It’s not just about testing, it’s also 

about contact tracing.” 

She said the government’s NZ 

Covid Tracer was not working 

competently and only 6 percent of 

the population was currently using it. 

“We will be putting out our policy 

in relation to this,” she said. 

By 1pm yesterday afternoon, 

Bloomfield said nearly 1.5 million 

people, or 37 percent of the 

population, had downloaded the app. 

Collins said people risked losing 

their jobs after a “total and systemic 

failure at the border”. 

“What I believe is that when 

Covid-19 comes in through the 

border that we have to have a system 

in place that immediately can find 

out where this has gone.”

The Indian Weekender Friday, August 21, 2020 

NEW ZEALAND 3 

NO OFFICIAL TALKS YET BETWEEN NZ AND 

INDIA ON THE POSSIBILITY OF AIR TRAVEL 

BUBBLE BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES 

SANDEEP SINGH 

Laying rest to a lot of speculations 

dominating the social media in the last 

couple of days the Ministry of Foreign 

Affairs and Trade had confirmed that there 

were yet no talks between the two countries 

on a possible air travel bubble. 

The Indian Weekender has approached the 

office of the MFAT for a comment following 

a tweet by India’s Civil Aviation Minister 

Hardeep Puri on Wednesday, August 19, 

which said that India was in talks with 13 

countries for expanding their global air travel 

arrangements, which included New Zealand. 

Mr Suri had tweeted. “We continue 

to further strengthen the reach and the 

scope of Vande Bharat Mission. Air Travel 

arrangements are already in place with the 

USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar & 

Maldives. 

“We are now taking these efforts forward 

& are negotiating with 13 more countries to 

establish such arrangements.” 

Responding to the Indian Weekender’s 

enquiry, an official spokesperson of the MFAT 

said, “New Zealand has been working closely 

with India since the outbreak of COVID-19 to 

support repatriation flights in both directions. 

"We are aware of a recent Indian Government 

announcement about establishing air bubbles 

with a range of countries, including possibly 

with New Zealand. 

"There have not been any discussions to 

date on the possibility of an air bubble with 

India,» the spokesperson said. 

"We are now 

taking these 

efforts forward & are 

negotiating with 13 more 

countries to establish 

such arrangements 

This news will expectedly shatter hopes 

for a large number of people who are 

currently stranded in both countries amidst 

global travel restrictions and limited travel 

opportunities and are keen to travel between 

the two countries. 

India has been working aggressively in 

expanding air travel arrangements along 

with operationalizing the world’s biggest 

repatriation mission - Vande Bharat Mission. 

New Zealand, on the other hand, had 

been following one of the world’s stringent 

elimination strategies for managing Covid-19 

health pandemic and progressing very 

carefully in forming any air travel bubbles, 

including a Trans-Tasman bubble. 

However, the fact that the two governments 

(New Zealand and India) continues to engage 

closely, including on facilitating maximum 

possible travel of stranded people between 

the two countries augurs well for any talks 

at the official level for any possible future air 

travel bubble between the two countries. 

New election 

date announced 

SANDEEP SINGH 

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has 

announced new election date on October 

17, giving political parties a tentative 

nine-week times after Auckland moves out of 

Alert Level 3. 

The dissolution of Parliament will now take 

place on 6 September and 3 October is when 

advanced voting will begin. 

“The Electoral Commission, via the Ministry of 

Justice, has advised me that a safe and accessible 

election is achievable on this date. This short 

delay gives the Commission more time to prepare 

including freeing up facilities for early voting 

during school holidays,” Jacinda Ardern said. 

“Moving the date by four weeks also gives 

all parties a fair shot to campaign and delivers 

New Zealanders certainty without unnecessarily 

long delays. 

“With the re-emergence of Covid-19 in our 

community these are not ordinary times and 

so while the decision as to the election date sits 

with me, I spoke with all party leaders to seek 

their views. 

No future change in election date 

Prime Minister has ruled out any future change 

one election date regardless of any potential 

Covid-19 related situation. 

“Covid will be with us for some time to 

come. Continuously pushing out an election 

does not lessen the risk of disruption and this is 

why the Electoral Commission has planned for 

the possibility of holding an election where the 

country is at Level 2, and with some parts at 

Level 3. 

“I will not change the election date again,” 

Ardern said.

4 NEW ZEALAND 

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Govt brings in 500 more defence personnel 

to strengthen border management 

SANDEEP SINGH 

The government has moved-in another 

500 personnel of the defence forces to 

coordinate what is being described as 

“multi-agency tasks” required to speed up the 

testing at the managed quarantine facilities. 

The decision was announced by Prime 

Minister Jacinda Ardern on Wednesday, August 

19, public health briefing. 

Revealing more details about the nature of 

the new deployment a press release from, the 

office of Minister of Managed Isolation and 

Quarantine (MIQ), Megan Woods further said, 

“It is important we do all we can to strengthen 

the layers of security systems in our facilities. 

“This boost in defence force personnel 

will be progressively rolled out over the next 

six weeks and will see the number in each 

managed isolation and quarantine facility 

increase from around 4 people to 19 people, and 

also see around 80 extra personnel stationed 

at the maritime border to assist Customs,” Dr 

Woods said. 

Currently, there are 32 managed isolation 

and quarantine facilities. 

Notably, recently the government has 

come under increased pressure for its alleged 

shambolic management of quarantine 

facilities at the border and 

"While 

the current 

community cluster 

has not been sourced to 

a managed isolation and 

quarantine facility, nothing 

is fail-safe and strengthening 

security is a 

step we believe is 

useful." 

being inconclusively 

linked to the reemergence 

of the 

second wave of the 

Covid-19 in the 

country. 

Minister of Health 

Chris Hipkins had earlier 

accepted a damning media 

report revealing that almost 

60 per cent of frontline border staffs have 

not been tested, despite the government’s 

earlier expectations for rigorous testing of 

everyone involved in border management. 

Since then the government has taken a 

number of steps to bolster border management, 

including rigorous testing. 

Minister Woods has however strongly 

rejected the allegation that the second wave 

of Covid-19 in the country can be linked with 

shambolic border management. 

“While the current community cluster has 

not been sourced to a managed isolation and 

quarantine facility, nothing is fail-safe and 

strengthening security is a step we believe is 

useful,” Megan Woods said. 

Thirty staff will deploy to Auckland this 

Thursday to staff the first two MIQ facilities. 

Currently, there are around 1200 Defence 

Force personnel supporting the Covid-19 

response, with 990 at Managed Isolation 

Facilities and 70 in Police traffic management 

services. 

National promises to 

create a special border 

agency as a safeguard 

against Covid-19 

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SANDEEP SINGH 

The National Party has released a 

border safety plan against Covid-19 

virus promising to create a dedicated 

border agency in the first 100 days of coming 

into government and regular testing of 

frontline staff. 

In a press release on Thursday, August 

20, the National Party has avowed to put the 

responsibility on future international travellers 

to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test 

before arriving in New Zealand. 

“The threat of Covid-19 will be with us for 

years to come and National is committed to 

safeguarding the health of all New Zealanders, 

as well as the wider economy,” Judith 

Collins said. 

The party had also avowed to bring 

comprehensive oversight in day to day 

operations of the border security management 

along with a promise to use compulsory contact 

tracing technologies by agency employees, 

border facility workers, and District Health 

Board staff who treat or test patients. 

Judith Collins has criticised the government 

for its alleged ineptitude in border security 

management. 

“The current ad-hoc system of managing 

Covid-19 at our border – putting various 

agencies in charge of different facets – has led 

to a disorderly and confused response, putting 

the health and livelihoods of five million New 

Zealanders at risk,” Ms Collins says. 

“More than 1.6 million Aucklanders 

are locked down right now because the 

Government dropped the ball on testing, tracing 

"The current 

ad-hoc system 

of managing Covid-19 

at our border – putting 

various agencies in 

charge of different facets 

– has led to a disorderly 

and confused response, 

putting the health and 

livelihoods of five million 

New Zealanders at risk 

and managing people in isolation. It’s not good 

enough,” Collins said. 

National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane 

Reti said that the Party recognises the need to 

also prepare a second line of defence, behind 

our border, so any incursions can be identified, 

traced and isolated quickly. 

“The first line of defence must be strong 

border management, but a high-quality contact 

tracing system is a vital second line. 

“With strong contact tracing systems and 

a more sophisticated testing and compliance 

structure we can minimise the impact of further 

incursions and protect those vulnerable to 

the disease.” 

National will follow international models 

and require people coming into the country to 

not only quarantine but also test themselves 

for Covid-19 three days before departure, and 

provide the results of that test to airline staff 

before boarding their plane, Dr Reti says.


NEW ZEALAND 5 

Auckland under Alert Level 

3 lockdown: What happens 

If your visa expires after 

July 9, and you are in NZ? 

SANDEEP SINGH 

The latest lockdown and change of Alerts 

levels in Auckland has expectedly 

generated some anxiety among 

temporary visa holders, both who are ordinarily 

living in New Zealand on a long-term basis and 

particularly who are visiting on a short-term 

basis. 

The Indian Weekender had been approached 

by a number of such anxious temporary visa 

holders, specially those who were in the 

country at the time of the first lockdown in 

April when the government had extended 

different categories of visas, and believed that 

their visas will again be automatically extended 

on this occasion. 

In this regard, here is the most updated info on 

visa situations as updated by the government’s 

Covid-19 all response team. 

The government says that it remains 

sympathetic to individuals who are in New 

Zealand and unable to return home at the 

moment and following provisions are in place 

to help such people. 

Employer-assisted temporary work visa 

Your employer-assisted temporary work visa 

is extended by 6 months if you: 

• are in New Zealand, and 

• your visa is due to expire before 31 

December 2020. 

This includes employer-assisted temporary 

work visas that: 

• expire after 9 July 

• were previously extended to 25 September 

under the Epidemic Management Notice. 

This extension does not apply to any partner 

or dependent child who holds a visa based on 

their relationship with you. Their expiry date 

will remain the same. 

If you were in NZ on 2 April and your 

visa expired before 9 July 

Your work, student, visitor, limited or interim 

visa was extended to 25 September 2020 if: 

• you were in New Zealand, and 

• your visa had an expiry date between 

00:01am, 2 April to 11:59pm 9 July 2020. 

This extension was made under the original 

Epidemic Management Notice. A confirmation 

of this was emailed to all visa holders. 

If your visa expires after 9 July and you 

are in NZ 

Certain visas have not been extended. This 

applies if your visa expires after 9 July and you 

have: 

• an open work visa 

• a student visa 

• a visitor visa 

• a limited visa, or 

• an interim visa. 

Your current visa expiry remains the same. 

You need to: 

• leave the country before your visa expires, 

or 

• apply for a new visa 

This includes partners or dependent children 

who hold a visa based on the relationship with 

an employer-assisted work visa. 

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6 NEW ZEALAND 

Police tighten security 

operations in Christchurch 

IWK BUREAU 

Police will have 

an increased 

and highly 

visible presence around 

Christchurch ahead of, and 

during, next week’s High 

Court sentencing for the 

offender convicted of the 15 March terrorist attacks. Canterbury 

District Commander Superintendent John Price says Police have 

been working closely with other agencies in preparation for the 

sentencing hearing, which is expected to last several days. 

“This is an unprecedented event with a large number of 

victims and their families expected to attend court. 

A number of them will read victim impact statements in court 

or have them read on their behalf. 

“A major security operation has been planned to help ensure 

the safety of everyone involved.There will be visible, heightened 

security in and around the Justice and Emergency Services 

Precinct/Te Omeka (JESP), including parking restrictions and 

vehicle barriers in Tuam and Lichfield streets. Anyone entering 

the Christchurch Law Courts will be subject to usual court 

screening measures and is encouraged to arrive early. 

“Please leave bags at home, if possible. 

“Police would like to thank the community for their 

understanding and cooperation as we work together to ensure a 

safe environment for these proceedings.” 

Police front counter services at JESP have been suspended for 

the duration of the sentencing hearing. 

Papanui and Christchurch South stations will extend their 

front counter hours until 9pm, and Police are always available 

24/7 by calling 105, or in an emergency, 111. 

There will also be changes to public access and services 

available from the Christchurch Law Courts during the 

sentencing hearing. 

New Wage Subsidy Scheme announced: 

Here’s what you need to know 

SANDEEP SINGH 

Finance Minister Grant Robertson has 

announced a new wage subsidy scheme 

today after the earlier wage subsidy and 

subsequent extension of wage subsidy scheme. 

The new wage subsidy scheme will cost $510 

million. The costs are expected to be covered by 

the previous underspend on the extended wage 

subsidy. The new wage subsidy scheme will 

save 470,000 jobs and along with the original 

wage subsidy and extension schemes will save 

a total of 930,000 jobs. 

The criteria for the new wage subsidy will 

remain similar with businesses required to 

experience or predicted to have a 40 per cent 

revenue drop due to COVID-19. 

The revenue drop, for the purpose of 

eligibility under new wage subsidy should be 

for any consecutive period of at least 14 days 

within 12 August and 10 September compared 

to last year. 

Mr Robertson said, “The new wage subsidy 

will help support cashflow and confidence. 

Along with the existing wage subsidy extension 

– which is open until 1 September for eligible 

businesses – the Treasury estimates that about 

930,000 jobs will be covered by the two 

schemes.” 

The wage subsidy will cover a two week 

period (the time Auckalnd has been moved into 

Alert Level 2), which businesses can apply for 

any stretch of consecutive 14 days where they 

have experienced a 40 per cent fall in revenue 

anytime between 12 August and 10 September. 

Mortgage deferral scheme is also 

extended 

The mortgage deferral scheme 

is also being extended from 

its current end-date of 27 

September, to 31 March 2021. 

Further details will be made 

available by the Reserve Bank 

and the retail banks. 

"To 

further 

support wide-scale 

testing, we’ve removed 

the revenue-drop and 

‘negatively impacted’ tests 

for the COVID-19 Leave 

Support Scheme." 

MSD has advised the new wage subsidy 

scheme will be open for applications by the end 

of the week, Friday 21 August. 

COVID-19 Leave Support 

Scheme to encourage 

widespread testing 

Finance Minister also announced 

strengthening of Covid-19 Leave Support 

scheme to help businesses with wage subsidies 

for staff who have been asked for self-isolation 

after testing by appropriate medical officers and 

public health officials. 

“To further support wide-scale testing, we’ve 

removed the revenue-drop and ‘negatively 

impacted’ tests for the COVID-19 Leave 

Support Scheme. This means businesses with 

workers who have been told by health 

officials or their medical practitioner 

to self-isolate will receive the 

equivalent of the wage subsidy to 

help cover that person’s wages 

for the time they cannot be at 

work,” Mr Robertson said. 



Additional security systems 

announced for managed isolation 

IWK BUREAU 

Additional security systems, including thermal CCTV that 

triggers an alarm if returnees break out, will be rolled 

out to all Managed Isolation and Quarantine Facilities, 

Housing Minister Megan Woods announced today. 

The estimated $6 million rollout is part of an ongoing 

programme of continual improvement in the managed isolation 

and quarantine system and follows yesterday’s announcement of 

a 500-person boost to defence force personnel in manage 

isolation and quarantine facilities, and previous 

"We 

are mindful 

of the privacy of 

returnees and any 

additional surveillance 

will take place only in 

the public areas of the 

facilities, not in 

rooms." 

increases to Police and security fencing. 

The Government will also be commencing 

a pilot of the COVID card with staff inside a 

managed isolation facility, with a view to a wider 

roll out in the coming months. This technology 

will add a layer of assurance to ensure we can 

track movements within facilities to enable rapid 

contact tracing and builds on the various other 

initiatives we have been rolling out to minimise risk of an 

outbreak coming from our facilities. 

“Managed isolation and quarantine facilities are commercial 

hotels with security systems that support the hotel function but 

there is room to improve these systems to better protect our 

communities from COVID-19,” Megan Woods said. 

Whilst each facility is very different it is proposed to add the 

following security enhancements where feasible: 

• Thermal CCTV (night and day vision) around the perimeter 

with geo-fenced alarming. This technology would create an 

alarm when people move within a defined area; 

• CCTV in public and exercise areas to monitor distance 

breaches; 

• CCTV in accommodation corridors to monitor any breaches 

between rooms; 

Indians stranded in NZ 

urged to buy ticket on Air 

India website for August 

25 repatriation flight 

SANDEEP SINGH 

The Indian High Commission has issued 

a new directive urging all Indians 

stranded in New Zealand and keen to 

travel back home on the next Vande Bharat 

Mission repatriation flight (August 25) to 

keep an eye on the Air India website and 

purchase ticket. 

The directive was issued by the Indian High 

Commission in a social media post earlier today 

guiding the next steps to all those keen to return 

to India on the next repatriation flights under 

NZ leg of the Vande Bharat Mission. 

The interested passengers are being urged 

to first register on a weblink http:// 

repat.videshapps.gov.in/regis. that will 

automatically generate a registration number 

that they will need further for purchasing flight 

tickets to India. 

It seems that this automated process will be 

working on a first come first serve basis as the 

users who can timely register themselves, get 

a registration number and further log-in on Air 

India’s website will be able to purchase a ticket. 

The office of Indian High Commission 

has stated that they are focused on sending 

stranded Indians home expeditiously and have 

been continuously trying to streamline the 

procedures to make that easy. 

Paramjeet Singh, Second Secretary at the 

office of the Indian High Commission told the 

Indian Weekender, “This process is designed 

after some serious deliberations between our 

Mission and Air India with a focus on reducing 

anxiety and increasing satisfaction of people 

experiencing distress.” 

• Security Control Room/Desk, 

• Audible alarms on fire exits 

Electronic access systems to restrict or track 

movement around a facility. 

“Benefits include an increased ability to quickly 

detect and respond to perimeter breaches and incursions, 

and breaches of managed isolation and quarantine facility rules 

and security such as physical distancing and use of PPE. It will 

also enable better evidence collection to support enforcement 

action and if necessary police prosecution for non-compliance. 

“Keeping COVID-19 at the border is a priority for the 

Government and these security enhancements are another tool 

in our toolbox to ensure returnees stay in the facilities and limit 

risk to the community. 

“While no system is fool proof these additional security 

arrangements add an extra layer of protection to help keep 

COVID at the border. 

“We are mindful of the privacy of returnees and any additional 

surveillance will take place only in the public areas of the 

facilities, not in rooms,” Megan Woods said. 

"This process 

is designed 

after some serious 

deliberations between 

our Mission and Air India 

with a focus on reducing 

anxiety and increasing 

satisfaction of people 

experiencing distress 

Mr Singh refused to divulge any further 

information. 

Meanwhile, some of the lucky passengers 

who have been able to purchase and book 

tickets on the August 25 flight have told the 

Indian Weekender that the cost of an economy 

class ticket was NZD $2,478.85.


NEW ZEALAND 7 

Kiwi Indian among the 

doctor-duo who lost 

lives in a road accident 


THIS MONTH’S SPECIAL 

OFFER VALID : 01/08/2020~31/08/2020 

Two resident doctors of Palmerston 

North Hospital died in a horrific road 

accident on Wednesday, August 12. 

Names of the two men were released by 

police, 27-year-old James Huang and 26-yearold 

Kiwi Indian Vinay Angadi Rudresh 

who were as resident medical officers at 

the emergency department of Palmerston 

North Hospital. 

Police were called at around 7:45 a.m. at the 

intersection of Roberts Line and Railway Road, 

Milson when the duo travelling in their sedan 

crashed on to a truck. 

Friends of the deceased have started a 

Facebook page in their memory and shared 

their most fond memories with the duo and 

extending their condolences with their families. 

Deceased Vinay Angadi was brought up 

in Auckland, New Zealand and did his early 

schooling at Auckland Grammar School and 

completed his higher studies at Auckland 

University of Technology. 

Rahul Chopra, a close friend of Vinay whom 

he met at a youth group and association at 

Chinmaya Mission New Zealand, told The 

Indian Weekender that Vinay was a smart, 

humble and intelligent person. 

He added that Vinay’s family earlier lived 

in Auckland, New Zealand but had moved 

overseas a few years ago. 

Taking approval from his family, Rahul has 

started a Givealittle page to raise funds for 

Vinay’s family with travel and funeral cost. 

“I met him around eight years ago; he 

was a smart and intelligent man with loads 

of potential. We were associated in several 

programs, camps and youth groups,” friend 

Rahul Chopra said. Rahul added that Vinay 

had recently completed his medical studies and 

lived in Palmerston North working at a hospital 

there for a few years. 

Hospital staff at Palmerston North posted a 

video on social media sobbing and praying their 

lost colleagues who they said ‘their smiles will 

be missed dearly by us’. 

Friends of James Huang are also hosting 

a separate Givealittle page to raise fund to 

support James’ funeral and family. 

Residents in Palmerston has in the past 

claimed the intersection to be potential high 

accident zone with near misses, crashes in the 

last few years. 

A resident in Palmerston North has started a 

petition on change.org to Palmerston North City 

Council to make the intersection of Railway 

Road and Roberts Line safer, either by lowering 

the speed limit or creating a roundabout. 

An accident at the same intersection killed a 

63-year-old Kusum Sarin, a tourist from India 

on December 31, 2018. Sarin had died at the 

scene, and four other fellow passengers were 

taken to Palmerston North Hospital then, two 

with moderate and two with serious injuries. 

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8 NEW ZEALAND 



Indian High Commission gives Certificates 

of Appreciation to mark support provided 

to communities during the lockdown 


The Indian High Commission has on the 

occasion of 74th Indian Independence 

Day acknowledged and felicitated 

nine individuals and organisations for their 

exceptional contributions towards stranded 

Indian nationals and temporary migrant 

workers out of resources during the first Alert 

Level 4 lockdown in the country. 

The names were announced and presented 

certificates at the Independence Day celebration 

event under Alert Level 2 in at Bharat Bhawan 

in Wellington on Saturday, August 15. 

Prominent charitable organisations such as 

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, Supreme Sikh 

Society of New Zealand, Ekta Foundation, Jeet 

Suchdev of Bhartiya samaj Charitable trust, 

along with noted individuals within community 

such as Mahesh Ranchhod, Monty Patel, 

Prithipal Singh Basra, , and Dr Vikas Sethi 

from Prana Health were amongst those who 

received the certificate of appreciation. 

During the national lockdown in New 

Zealand earlier this year, approximately, 

3000 Indian nationals, who had come to 

NZ for tourism, visiting their families, for 

business, and temporary workers were left 

stranded without many financial resources to 

support themselves. 

The issues then ranged from running out 

of money to pay necessary living expenses 

and bills, people having medical conditions 

and ran out of their prescriptions, there a few 

bereavements, the mortal remains of whom had 

to be sent back home (India), and many were 

desperate to be able to return to their homes 

and families. 

In such times, the High Commission of 

India assured to help the needy with essentials, 

accommodation, food up until a repatriation 

flight was organised to take those stranded 

nationals back home. 

In this endeavour, several Indian community 

organisations and individuals came forward 

offering money, food, shelter, medicines, and 

some even to transport essentials to the doors 

of the needy individuals and families. 

“Many volunteered to deliver food, medicines 

and other essentials to their doorsteps, doctors 

offered their services free of charge, and It 

was a collective victory of the human spirit,” 

Indian High Commissioner Muktesh Pardeshi 

said at the felicitation ceremony in Wellington 

last weekend. 

“It is obviously not possible for us to name all 

those who came forward to help, but we have 

identified nine organisations and individuals, 

the ‘Navratnas’, who rendered yeoman’s 

service to the stranded Indians and we recognise 

their contribution by way of ‘Certificates of 

Appreciation’,” Mr Pardeshi added. 

The recipients were: 

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha 

BAPS Swaminarayan has always been 

proactive in helping the communities, and 

apart from providing spiritual succour in these 

stressful times (lockdown), they gave 50 kits 

of food items and other basic needs to High 

Commission of India for distribution in the 

Wellington area and 100 kits to our Honorary 

Consul in Auckland for distribution in the 

larger Auckland area. 

Ekta Foundation 

Ekta NZ has been at the forefront in helping 

the homeless and the deprived with 


Fate took a drastic turn for a 

young migrant couple living in 

New Zealand when the wife of a 

migrant worker got hospitalised due to a 

terminal illness and husband left work to 

be by her side during the last days of his 

sick partner. 

A 31-year-old woman temporary 

migrant worker from India, Manwinder 

Kaur died in Auckland last week ending 

her four months trial with blood cancer. 

Community mourned the loss of a 

young life to Leukaemia, who worked 

as a healthcare professional in an 

Auckland company. 

Manwinder was diagnosed with the 

illness earlier in April this year and spent 

her last days in Auckland Hospital with 

her husband, Gagandeep Singh by her 

community kitchens, distribution of clothes and 

in so many other ways. 

They closely coordinated with High 

Commission of India in reaching out and helping 

stranded Indians in the larger Wellington area. 

Jeet Suchdev 

President of Bhartiya Samaj Charitable Trust 

from Auckland has been the voice of ethnic 

senior citizens for more than two decades. 

During the first lockdown, he provided every 

possible assistance to HCI and Consulate in 

Auckland with the stranded Indians and while 

seeing them off from Auckland airport. 

Mahesh Ranchhod 

Mahesh Ranchhod comes from a family 

with a long history of philanthropy, 

which firmly believes in giving back to society. 

A flourishing businessman who came together 

with Honorary Consul in Auckland to provide 

food and other basic needs to the stranded 

community. 

Bhav Dhillon 

Honorary Consul of India, Bhav Dhillon led 

the mission in Auckland dedicating not 

just his time and but also resources, directing and 

side. 

Manwinder hailed from Kotkapura 

district of Punjab, India and got married 

to Gagandeep in 2015. 

She was on Essential Skills Work Visa 

in New Zealand and the couple visited 

by their in-laws earlier in 2019. 

Being the only family member to his 

sick wife here in Auckland, Gagandeep 

left work supporting her with hospital 

visits, medications and taking care 

of Manwinder. 

Adding to the stress of being the sole 

breadwinner out of work amid Covid-19 

pandemic, Gagandeep applied for visa 

exemption of her family members in 

India earlier in April to visit their loved 

one, but Immigration New Zealand 

declined the application. 

Manwinder lost the battle to her illness 

on Tuesday, August 11 at Auckland 

coordinating relief efforts including arranging 

food items, bringing community organisations 

and individuals together, managing volunteers 

and distributing food bags to needy individuals. 

Monty Patel 

Owner of a chain of restaurants and food 

processing businesses in the Wellington 

area, Monty Patel when came across the news 

that foodbanks in the region were running low 

on supplies- he came forward and donated 

22 tonnes of rice worth around hundreds of 

thousands of dollars, which have been finding 

their way to the people in need through various 

charities. 

Prithipal Basra 

Lack of accommodation was one of the 

biggest challenges that the stranded Indian 

nationals faced. 

A prominent Auckland hotelier came forward 

and opened the doors of his motels and gave 

shelter to the stranded Indians for weeks 

that included meals for both individuals and 

families living there. 

Supreme Sikh Society of New 

Zealand 

The Supreme Sikh Society of New Zealand 

embodied this teaching of serving 

humanity as they distributed thousands of food 

packets not only to the stranded Indians but to 

all those in need in the community, spread from 

Auckland to several small cities and towns in 

North Island. 

Dr Vikas Sethi 

As per the SOPs for international travel 

in these Covid times, passengers had to 

undergo medical screening before they could 

board the Vande Bharat Mission led Air India 

flights back home. 

Dr Vikas Sethi and his colleagues from 

Prana Health came forward and helped the 

High Commission of India in meeting this vital 

requirement and offered free medical services 

to many stranded Indians travelling back home. 

Temporary migrant 

worker loses battle to 

terminal illness, rested in Auckland 

Hospital last week. 

Husband had Gagandeep applied for a 

short-term visa exemption for her family 

members from India to attend the funeral 

but said he did not receive any response 

from Immigration New Zealand. 

Gagandeep, having been out of work 

for months since he was taking care 

of his wife, reached out to the High 

Commission of India to help cover some 

funeral costs. 

Gagandeep conducted his wife 

Manwinder’s funeral on Friday, August 

14 at Ann’ Funeral in South Auckland in 

the presence of friends and community 

members which was limited to ten due to 

Alert Level 3 in Auckland. 

A prayer ceremony was held at Sri 

Guru Nanak Dev Sikh Sangat Gurdwara 

in Otahuhu for the peace of the departed 

soul earlier on Monday, August 17.


NEW ZEALAND 9 

The Govt’s resurgence 

plan with COVID-19 

Priyanca Radhakrishnan 

Labour List MP based in Maungakiekie 

and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the 

Minister for Ethnic Communities 

We currently have cases of COVID-19 in 

our community once again. As a result, the 

Auckland region will remain in Alert Level 

3 until 11:59pm Wednesday 26 August, while the rest of 

New Zealand will remain in Alert Level 2 for the same 

duration. 

The Prime Minister has recently announced 

that the General Election will now be held on 

17 October 2020. This short delay gives the Commission 

more time to p repare, including freeing up facilities for 

early voting during school holidays. 

The government’s focus right now is on keeping New 

Zealanders safe from COVID-19, while minimising 

the ongoing economic impact of the virus – and not on 

electioneering. 

We will face this together. We’ve done it before and 

we’ll do it again. 

Our strong systems have kept us COVID-free almost 

longer than anywhere else. We had more than 100 days 

without community transmission, in which time we 

were able to learn from incidents of resurgence in other 

countries. 

But there was always a chance the virus would 

reappear here. 

That’s why we developed a plan for dealing with 

it. This was based on lessons from overseas and we 

activated it immediately. It is a rapid response to break 

the chain of transmission. The aim now is to quickly 

identify cases and stamp them out. 

We said from the start that the best economic response 

was a strong health response. And so we are prepared to 

go hard now with our plan, in the knowledge that this 

can save lives in the short term and soften the economic 

blow in the long term. 

In addition, the government has moved quickly 

with a further economic package to cushion the blow 

for businesses and workers that includes a new wage 

subsidy scheme and a simplified leave scheme. 

The new wage subsidy will help support cash flow and 

confidence. 

Along with the existing wage subsidy extension – 

which is open until 1 September for eligible businesses 

– the Treasury estimates that about 930,000 jobs will be 

covered by the two schemes. 

Practising good hygiene, keeping track of where you 

go, and staying home if you feel sick are all still among 

the best ways to stop the spread of COVID-19. At higher 

alert levels please use a mask when accessing essential 

services. 

At lower alert levels we advise their use in places 

where social distancing can be difficult. Also, please 

download the NZ COVID Tracer app to enable more 

efficient contact tracing when required. 

You will see and hear from the Government daily as 

we move cautiously through this period. What we do in 

the coming days will determine what the coming months 

look like for us. 

Let’s be calm, kind and supportive. 

As a team of five million, we’ve done it before and 

together we’ll do it again.

10 NEW ZEALAND 



Shri Radha Krishna Mandir celebrated 

festival of Janmashtami in its full glory 

SUPPLIED CONTENT 

The catering team handed out 

This week we celebrated 

prasad to every devotee visiting 

the most awaited festival 

the temple on the day who couldn’t 

of the year, Shri Krishna 

stay till midnight. We thank each 

Janmashtami. It’s an auspicious 

and every devotee who came and 

occasion for all. 

who made various offerings at the 

Shri Krishna is the eighth avatar of 

temple. We are also grateful to all 

Lord Vishnu who was born on earth 

the committee members into 

to restore peace and dharma in the 

"Stay making this celebration a 

dwapar yug. 

home if grand one. 

Janmashtami is observed on the 

possible, maintain The day ended with 

eighth-day of ashtami of the Krishna 

social distancing, an announcement 

paksha in the month of Shravan. 

wear a mask, wash of lockdown level 

hands frequently. 

On Tuesday, August 11, we 

3 from Wednesday 

Stay healthy and 

celebrated one of the world’s 

midday. 

safe." 

most widely observed spiritual 

“We urged everyone to 

festivals Shri Krishna Janmashtami 

strictly follow the guidelines 

also known as Gokul Ashtami. 

given by government officials 

Preparations were in full swing a 

regarding Covid19. Together we 

week before the celebration. Temple 

will win over Covid19. Stay home if 

was open all day. 

possible, maintain social distancing, 

People offered flowers, fruits 

wear a mask, wash hands frequently. 

and sweets and took blessings. 

Stay healthy and safe” Pandit 

Janmashtami, celebrations started 

Devrambhai said. The holy month of 

with bhajans from 7.30 pm conducted by Acharya Shri Dr seemed like we had Lord Krishna Krishna in the decorated cradle. 

Shravan ended on August 19. 

The temple will be closed until 

onwards by the Pushpanjali group Devrambhai Raval. The idol of Shri amongst us. The atmosphere was Devotees broke their fast by 

further notice. For updates, 

followed by RK Mandir group until Krishna was placed in a cradle after absolutely divine. 

traditional and favourite foods of please like the Radha Krishna 

after midnight. 

the pooja. 

Maha Aarti was performed after Lord Krishna: panjiri, makhan, Mandir Facebook page, or if you 

have any enquiries, you may 

Krishna’s ritualistic pooja At midnight we replicated midnight by hundreds of devotees malpua, kheer, moong curry 

kindly ring Acharya Shri Dr 

includes 16 steps which are part baby Krishna in a basket taken by present at the temple. Devotees etc. which was prepared by the Devrambhai Raval on 3794463. 

of the shodashopachara pooja was Vasudev from Mathura to Gokul. It lined up to have one glance of Lord catering team. 

INDIAN AUCKLAND MEETUP: A great 

way to meet new people and have fun 


On Sunday, August 9, Rachit 

Kushwaha and his team 

hosted 180 people from 

various cultures, backgrounds 

and experiences at their 8th 

Indian Auckland Meetup. With 

a photo booth, food, chocolate 

stall, performances, and engaging 

activities, people made some 

wonderful memories and friends to 

cherish a lifetime. 

“Sometimes all it takes is leaving 

the boxes we live in, day in, day 

out and meet people from different 

walks of life and learn to live out of 

the box. It’s a simple yet powerful 

idea of bringing all Indian living in 

Auckland (New Zealand) under one 

roof every month to engage with each 

other in a positive and supportive 

way,” organiser of the event Rachit 

Kushwaha said. 

Over the past eight events, the 

meetup had an amazing bunch 

of enthusiastic people willing to 

participate in activities. Through 

these meetups, many networks were 

built, received offers of opportunities, 

built long-lasting friendships; people 

met like-minded friends, found a 

new confidence, developing people’s 

skills and a lot more. 

In Indian Auckland Meetup’s 

Facebook group, one can easily see 

members post explaining how this 

meetup impacted them positively 

and how some came out of their shell 

rediscovered themselves. 

In conversation with The 

Indian Weekender, founder Rachit 

Kushwaha gives more insight about 

the group and the meetup, how it 

has become popular and their future 

plans. 

IWK: What is Indian Auckland 

Meetup and why one should 

join it? 

Rachit: A common platform to 

wake up the social butterfly inside 

you and meet a potential future best 

friend, your employer, perhaps a 

network that might bring a dream 

opportunity. Most importantly, our 

meetup aims to “get people off the 

internet” and make it a family event 

where we care, we nurture one 

another and celebrate who we are. 

IWK: How this meetup started? 

Rachit: It all started by the saying 

of 14 people “Khoob jamega rang 

jab mil baithenge kuch yaar, hongi 

kuch batien aur kuch mastie”. 

This basically means there will be 

colourful happenings and beginnings 

when those amazing friends will 

come together, talk about life and 

have some fun. These 14 people 

dreamed of this and converted the 

meetup into a 100 then to a 1000 and 

today we are 4000 altogether! How 

amazing is that? Ah! I know you 

want to join in! 

IWK: Why this meetup is different 

from others? 

Rachit: The uniqueness of this 

meetup is that we welcome people 

from various walks of life. Not only 

that, but the fun activities we organize 

also encourages everyone to interact 

with each other, and become more 

open-minded and accepting towards 

others. As we all know, moving to 

and settling in a new country can be 

hard. These meetups have been 

especially helpful for the new 

immigrants as it allowed them to 

open up about their experiences, 

which in turn has also helped others. 

IWK: What were the highlights 

of your recent meetup? 

Rachit: Our event was a 3-hour 

long event. We scheduled and 

designed everything carefully simply 

to wake up the social butterfly inside 

the attendees. Yes! It was a paid event 

($10), but as per the reviews we 

received, people found it worthwhile. 

We did two ice-breaking activities, 

a free mingling session while our 

amazing DJ KAZ (Karan Bhatia), 

played his tunes in the background. 

A photo booth was also stationed to 

allow 

participants to capture selfies with 

new-found friends. There were also 

some fun group activities organized 

- a comedy standup (Gaurav Juneja), 

a singing performance (Ashish 

Ramakrishnan), a group dance 

performance (Aaja Nachle NZ) and 

a jam session to end the evening 

smoothly with. 

We were also accompanied by some 

well know personalities like Priyanca 

Radhakrishnan (MP, NZ Labour 

Party), Jeet Suchdev (Bhartiya Samaj 

Charitable. Trust), Mit Patel (Page 3), 

Jilesh Desai (Radio Tarana), FitNit 

(Fitness Influencer), Ashima Singh 

(Legal Associates Papatoetoe) and 

Giridharan Giri (Relianz Forex NZ). 

Last but not least, I was amazed 

to see the dedication and hard work 

that group moderators showed to 

make this meetup a successful one. 

A shoutout to Sabiha Patel, Kanika 

Rakheja, Yasmeen, Apoorva Ch, 

Sanjana Macwan, Mayuri Mahadik, 

Rohit Guglani, Palak Malhotra, 

Gaurav Juneja, Supreet Kaur and 

Sarableen Singh. 

IWK: What are your future 

plans with the meetup? 

Rachit: That’s a good question! 

"Given that we have had such a 

success with the meetups, I plan to 

organize nationwide meetups, that 

is, a separate meetup for each city. 

This means you don’t have to travel 

too far plus it will allow people to get 

to know each other from their own 

community/city so they can meet up 

with each other if they want to. 

"I am also thinking of a meetup 

app to make it easier for everyone to 

access the meetup information. We 

are on a lookout for people who can 

help us build this community app. 

"Furthermore, my objective is 

to promote unity and accepting 

diversity. This will set the right 

example for the young generation 

in NZ. There is a need for everyone 

to understand and learn that when 

we are united, we can achieve great 

things! 

If you have read this far, I am sure 

you are interested in joining us at our 

next Indian Auckland Meetup. Click 

the link below to join our Facebook 

group and keep an eye on our next 

meetup’s updates. Also, don’t forget 

to look at our albums from previous 

events to understand what to expect 

in our upcoming meetups! See you 

then! 

Indian Auckland Meetup 

Facebook Group: 

https://www.facebook.com/ 

groups/Indianaucklandmeetup/


NEW ZEALAND 11 

Second wave of Covid-19 in NZ: 

Undeterred Jacinda Ardern 

holds nerve and continues 

with elimination strategy 

SANDEEP SINGH 

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has held 

her nerves and opted to continue with 

the government’s elimination strategy 

by keeping Auckland’s current lockdown and 

rest of New Zealand’s Alert level 2 status for 

12 more days. 

There were concerns in some quarters that 

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will be under 

pressure especially after the astounding attack 

by the opposition leader and her deputy last 

week and compounded by some aggressive 

probing in the mainstream media around 

alleged ineptitude in border management, and 

eventually blink from her focus of eliminating 

the Covid-19 virus from the country. 

To be fair to the government and her caucus 

colleagues, including the coalition partners 

who are collectively behind the decisions 

of continuing with the elimination strategy. 

However, in the end, it is left for Prime Minister 

Ardern - their ultimate sales-person – to sell 

those seemingly hard decisions that can cause 

much inconvenience, distress and weariness 

among a section of the public – a task that she 

has repeatedly accomplished with aplomb. 

Her detractors, including the leader of 

the Opposition Judith Collins and National 

Party’s deputy leader Gerry Brownlee, have 

so far not succeeded in making a successful 

hit on her political persona, despite many 

repeated attempts. 

The suggestions coming from Gery Brownlee 

about the government’s lack of sharing of 

accurate information about the second wave 

of Covid-19, which dangerously bordered 

closed to conspiracy-theories going around that 

are already weakening our collective human 

response to a virus that is far from being tamed 

MontayKart: Revolutionising the way we buy groceries 


Last decade has seen steady and continuous 

growth in the e-commerce business as 

people are getting used to buying things 

online rather than going to the stores. Every 

range of products is available online; however, 

buying groceries online remains a challenge for 

many. 

It is not due to the demand; it is because not 

many groceries businesses have gone online 

as there are many challenges like logistics, 

marketing, request, etc. 

Covid-19 made things challenging for all of 

us. Everything was being purchased online by 

the majority; however, the options for groceries 

was minimal, especially ethnic Indian groceries. 

For many, this was a challenge, but for Sameer 

and Jasmit, it was an opportunity as collectively 

they build MontayKart which offered a solution 

to this problem. 

MontayKart launched its website with a 

limited range of products like many startups 

do; however, soon, it became the first choice 

of many, and people started suggesting and 

demanding more products. 

Looking at the demand, both worked their 

way out and increased the inventory five times 

within two months and met the requirements of 

the majority. 

They still feel that they need to grow even 

more prominent so that MontayKart can keep 

or managed, has not gone down well with 

experts and the public. 

The members of the public despite having 

all valid interest in continuous probing of 

the government, in pursuit of excellence and 

consistent improvement in our public health 

response, does not favour a line of attack that 

ultimately undermines the credibility of the 

public health system. 

Our public health system, along with the 

scientific community who have been providing 

the cutting edge research and advice to the 

system, who eventually are preparing official 

advice to the Minister of Health and eventually 

to the cabinet and the Prime Minister are 

the core basis of New Zealand’s successful 

response to the Covid-19 virus so far. 

The success that our system had so far 

achieved in being ahead of the curve in 

managing the virus or pacing up quickly where 

the virus had been smart enough to deceive us 

is also a matter of appreciation and attention. 

The repeated attempts of castigating the 

same public health system that has so far not 

let us down, appears politically motivated, 

and not hidden from the anxious eyes of the 

New Zealanders. 

National has to be mindful, and so should 

be the section of media that is relishing the 

opportunity of casting aspersions on a public 

health system that is consistently rising to the 

occasion every time the virus has raised its ugly 

head in the community. 

The testing capacity was ramped up 

significantly in Auckland region ever since 

the decision of moving the supercity to Alert 

Level 3 was taken on Tuesday, August 11 

with a number of pop-up test centres being 

made available for mass-testing, while several 

mobile test centres chasing the close and casual 

up with the demands they are getting. 

Startups are nothing but a sack full of 

challenges, and this team has so far overcome 

all the hurdles they have faced and are 

dedicated to face anything that comes their way. 

Currently, Montaykart is offering the majority 

of the Indian grocery items, including dairy and 

frozen products. It is a feat in itself as only big 

players have been able to do that so far. 

MontayKart offers delivery options all across 

Auckland, where you can get your groceries 

delivered at your door within 24 hours and all 

that with the comfort of ordering while sitting 

on the cosy couch of your living room. 

contacts of the family of South Auckland 

region who are yet believed to be the first 

case of the second wave of Covid-19. 

The performance is indeed 

immaculate and deserves the backing 

of the nation, and any probing and 

scrutiny though desirable, should not 

be seen as politically motivated. 

So is the performance of Prime 

Minister Ardern, which is standing 

out even further, because of 

clear shortcomings of her main 

political adversaries. 

The seeming political immaturity 

of her opponents is giving her ample 

political space to successfully 

manoeuvre through any period 

of inconvenience within the 

nation’s politics. 

The second wave of Covid-19 

in the country was never meant 

to be politically comfortable 

for Jacinda Ardern and was the 

opportunity that many political 

pundits had ascribed to the 

opposition National party as 

their opportunity to win back 

the voters confidence. 

However, it seems Prime 

Minister Jacinda Ardern 

has been able to deal with 

the crisis so far, like a walk 

in the park - at least for 

now - while the National 

Party remains as clueless 

as it was a few months ago 

when the country had entered 

into complete lockdown. 

Covid-19 in New Zealand, 

Round 2 also goes to Prime Minister Ardern. 

Visit www.montaykart.co.nz and be the next 

to try its exceptional service. 

Why Online grocery shopping is a need 

of the hour 

Buying your groceries online is the New 

Normal. There are many benefits of buying 

groceries online. 

Firstly it saves you a lot of time. On average, 

every week for a household, it takes from 2 to 

3 hours for buying groceries and travel. Just 

imagine if you spend that time with your family 

or doing something more productive. 

Secondly, Not just time it saves you the 

transportation cost or petrol for your car. 

Sometimes you need the particular grocery 

item which is not available in the nearest 

grocery store and for that, you’ll have to travel 

some distance 

Buying groceries at Montaykart will save 

you that hassle and save you some money. 

Thirdly, Many times when you are in the 

grocery store, you buy things that you don’t 

need and regret later on why you wasted money 

on that product. 

Buying your groceries online saves you from 

that hassle as you do not get carried away by 

seeing a product physically. It is another way 

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Editorial 

Indian cricket 

guidelines - ‘age 

is just a number’ 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has come out with guidelines as to how 

cricket will operate at this time of COVID-19 pandemic. This is essential as the safety of 

the players and the people involved in cricket needs to be foremost protected. 

The world is reeling under the spread of this unexpected virus attack and the uncertainty of 

being able to deal has put a threat to all. “The show must go on” and therefore cricket as a sport 

has taken the plunge to get back on track. 

England, by creating a bio-bubble and isolating teams from the outside world, so as to greatly 

minimise the risk of getting an infection, proved that it could be done successfully. This has been 

a huge positive where cricket is concerned as countries around the world now have a template 

to follow. Indian cricket finally breathed a sigh of relief as the popular and financially lucrative 

Indian Premier League (IPL) can be played finally. This they plan to do in the UAE as India is still 

not ready to hold a major tournament given the current circumstances. 

The IPL is a very important tournament in world cricket, especially for India. The glamour and 

glitter that it brings along with the cricket uncertainties is a script that is unique as every match 

creates an excitement similar to what one feels when reading a murder mystery. This is what 

makes T20, the shortest official format of the game, so absorbing. 

The BCCI will have a major challenge in ensuring that the 53-day tournament goes through 

without any blemish. The only way this will be possible is for all the participants to take the 

responsibility on themselves and follow the rules and regulations to the tee. A single error could 

burst the bubble and jeopardise the whole tournament. 

With eight participating teams, the controls to ensure that nothing goes awry will be a humongous 

task for each franchise. The IPL has been one event which has always brought out the BCCI with 

flying colours. One hopes and prays that this edition showcases that India has the capabilities of 

hosting a major sporting event successfully even in such a difficult time. 

BCCI has also in the meanwhile issued very elaborate guidelines for domestic cricket. Each 

Indian cricket association has been told to follow them. One is a bit skeptical as to how effectively 

it will be implemented. A bio-secure bubble to create around India is a huge challenge. This 

requires players, support staff as well as all the people involved, to be ensconced in a secured 

space for two months or more. 

The BCCI has announced that they will be only playing two tournaments this season -- the 

Ranji Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. A domestic cricketer is paid on a match-fee 

basis and hence many of them will be affected financially. With the reduction in the number of 

matches, their annual income will be reduced quite drastically. One hopes that the BCCI and the 

state associations will take this into consideration and compensate them suitably. 

However, the U-19 and junior tournaments will be played as usual. This is rather unusual as 

creating a safe environment for them, especially as they do not stay in five-star comfort like their 

seniors, would be an enormous task. 

The tournament, that one cannot understand as to why it is being omitted this season, is the 

prestigious Irani Trophy. This is a match between the winner of the Ranji Trophy and the Rest 

of India. The match is very important for players from the winning Ranji Trophy side, in this 

case Saurashtra, because a good performance in this encounter could catapult one into the Indian 

team. The Rest of India side also has players vying for a place in the Indian side. Depriving the 

Saurashtra players and the rest is definitely unfair. 

The Irani Trophy should have been the first match of the season. Most of the players would 

already have been a part of the IPL whereas the players missing could have been put into a safe 

bubble at a stipulated venue. 

This would have been an ideal game for selecting players for the difficult tour that India will be 

embarking on Down Under against Australia at the end of the year. 

The recent guidelines issued by the BCCI also has one more controversial regulation which 

needs to be enforced. It states that no coaching or support staff can be 60 years or over. Many 

of the teams have former cricketers as coaches, mentors and advisors who are above the age 

stipulated. Some of them have done extremely well for their respective state sides and for them to 

lose their job just because of the age factor is simply not acceptable. 

The age barrier is one area that has been the bone of contention even in the Lodha committee 

proposed recommendations that were approved by the Supreme Court and inserted into the BCCI 

Constitution. The BCCI also has put their own age criteria as regards selectors, match referees, 

fitness coaches and even administrative staff. 

It is rather unfortunate to enforce the age barrier of 60 or 70 years on people who are fit and 

capable of bringing experience and knowledge and are a valuable asset. 

The BCCI cricket administrators like J. Dalmia, N. Srinivasan and Sharad Pawar and many 

others have shown the way Indian cricket can flourish off the field even after they have passed 

their golden age. 

Arun Lal for Bengal and Karsan Ghavri for Saurashtra, both former cricketers and above the 

magic age limit, have shown what they can do with their bunch of cricketers on the field. All these 

stalwarts have proven that it is how one thinks, feels and behaves that is important and that age as 

one says “is only a number”. 

Thought of the week 

"People who are crazy enough to think 

they can change the world, are the ones 

who do.” – Rob Siltanen 

14 August – 20 August 2020 

Fri Sat Sun Mon Tues Wed Thu 

On-and-off 

rain and 

drizzle 

16° 

9° 

Partly 

sunny 

15° 

8° 

17° 

9° 

Indian Weekender : Volume 12 Issue 23 

Publisher: Kiwi Media Publishing Limited 

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

Chief Reporter: Rizwan Mohammad | rizwan@indianweekender.co.nz 

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

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

Graphic Designer: Yashmin Chand | design@indianweekender.co.nz 

Accounts and Admin.: 09-2173623 | accounts@indianweekender.co.nz 

Media Sales Manager.: Leena Pal: 021 952 216 | leena@indianweekender.co.nz 

Sales and Distribution: 021 952218 | sales@indianweekender.co.nz 

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 

Parlty 

sunny 

Clouds and 

sun 

14° 

10° 

A touch o 

dafr 

15° 

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This week in New Zealand’s history 

21 August 1915 

New Zealanders attack Hill 60 

Copyright 2017. Kiwi Media Publishing Limited. All Rights Reserved. 

Sunshine 

and pactcy 

clouds 

16° 

9° 

A few 

morning 

showers 

Hill 60 was the last offensive action fought by the New Zealanders during the Gallipoli 

campaign. The ‘abominable little hill’, as it was dubbed by Brigadier-General Andrew 

Russell, saw bitter fighting between New Zealand and Ottoman troops in late August 1915. 

22 August 1969 

First 'Young Farmer of the Year' chosen 

Held at the South Pacific Hotel in Auckland, the competition was open to all members of 

the Young Farmers’ Club. The inaugural winner was Gary Frazer from Swannanoa, near 

Christchurch. The contest has become an established part of the farming calendar. 


New Zealand's first female Olympian 

On 23 August 1920, 15-year-old Violet Walrond entered the chilly waters of an outdoor 

swimming pool adjoining a canal in Antwerp and became New Zealand’s first female 

Olympian. 


Assisted immigration resumes after war 

The first draft of 118 British immigrants arrived in Auckland on the New Zealand Shipping 

Company liner Rangitata. They were among 77,000 men, women and children who arrived 

from Great Britain under the assisted immigration scheme between 1947 and 1975. 


Wellington steam-tram service opened 

The governor, the Marquess of Normanby, formally opened the new service, which was said 

to be the first in the southern hemisphere. 


New Zealand soldier executed 

After being found guilty of desertion, 28-year-old Private Frank Hughes was killed by a 

firing squad in Hallencourt, northern France. He was the first New Zealand soldier executed 

during the First World War. 


First flight across Cook Strait 

Captain Euan Dickson completed the first air crossing of Cook Strait, flying a 110-hp Le 

Rhone Avro from Christchurch to Upper Hutt with the first air mail between the South and 

North Islands. 

15° 

9°

The Indian Weekender Friday, August 21, 2020 FIJI 13 

Fijians in NZ in good state amidst COVID-19 outbreak 

Fijians currently residing in 

New Zealand are in good 

health amidst the COVID-19 

outbreak recently. 

This has been confirmed by the 

New Zealand High Commissioner 

to Fiji Jonathan Curr as there are 

on-going consultations regarding the 

safety of Fijians and the safe return of 

citizens through repatriation flights. 

Indian Government reaffirms commitment 

The Indian government has reaffirmed its 

commitment to further strengthen Fiji-India 

bilateral engagements. 

Indian High Commissioner to Fiji Padmaja highlighted 

this while donating $15, 000 to the Prime Minister’s 

Relief Fund. 

She says the relationship can be strengthened through 

robust consultations on the potential development 

opportunities for the two nations. Padmaja says the 

He says that a decision is yet to be 

made on safely re-opening ports of 

entry. 

“I’ve been in touch with the 

Fijian community that lived in New 

Zealand that makes New Zealand 

their home. They’re in a good state 

at the moment. We’ve been working 

with Fiji on helping to repatriate 

Fijians who are in other countries 

trying to get home and whether they 

needed to transit Auckland. Again try 

and help each other out.” 

Meanwhile, Australian High 

Commissioner to Fiji John Feakes 

says with an influx in cases in 

Australia, the Federal government 

has imposed stringent measures 

to safeguard its people, including 

Fijians. 

assistance is also in recognition of the commendable 

work by the Fijian Government to increase outreach to 

revive the livelihood of communities who have been 

affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While receiving the assistance permanent secretary for 

the Prime Minister Office Yogesh Karan conveyed his 

gratitude. Karan says the assistance signifies the enhanced 

bilateral cooperation in advancing the development 

priorities of Fiji and India. 

Education is the greatest investment: PM 

Prime Minister Voreqe 

Bainimarama says while the 

effects of COVID-19 has put 

a tremendous strain on government 

revenues, they believe that education 

is the greatest investment. 

He made the comments while 

opening the new teacher’s quarters at 

Tailevu North College. 

Bainimarama says they’ve thought 

carefully about every dollar spent 

and in a way, this crisis has revealed 

where the Government’s greatest 

priorities lie. 

He says they have not cut 

the salaries of any civil servant, 

including teachers and neither 

have they removed free education, 

free textbooks, or subsidized 

transportation to school. 

Bainimarama says education 

is usually seen as a long-term 

investment; something that pays off 

returns a generation on from now 

as young people grow up and apply 

their knowledge throughout their 

careers. 

“No teacher should spend their 

days making long, difficult treks just 

to get to work. Your community has 

seen how unreliable that can be. 

"On days with heavy rains, your 

teachers could find themselves 

stranded on the wrong side of 

floods affecting the Nausori and 

Korovou highways. 

"But reports or rain shouldn’t 

Fiji PM conveys well wishes 

on India’s Independence Day 


Bainimarama has conveyed 

his good wishes to India on 

their 74th Independence Day. 

In his congratulatory message 

to Indian PM Narendra Modi, 

Bainimarama conveyed the 

governments and the people of Fiji’s 

best wishes. Bainimarama says the 

two countries have enjoyed warm 

and friendly relations over the years 

based on our historical ties, shared 

values and aspirations. 

The Prime Minister is confident 

that this will provide a foundation for 

deeper bilateral engagements and cooperation 

during these unprecedented 

times and into the future. 

determine whether or not a class 

at the Tailevu North College is 

in session. 

"So, we’ve built these new 

quarters to give your teachers a home 

on this campus, making each of them 

full members of the Tailevu North 

College community.” 

Over half-a-million-dollars 

has been invested in the new 

teacher’s quarters. 

The Ministry of Health 

confirms there is an outbreak 

of dengue and leptospirosis. 

Health Minister Dr Ifereimi 

Waqaibete confirms fourteen people 

have died from Dengue Fever and 

Leptospirosis so far this year. 

Speaking to FBC News, Dr 

Waqainabete confirmed four people 

have died from Dengue Fever and 10 

from Leptospirosis. 

“My thoughts are with Australians 

particularly with those in Melbourne 

at the moment. And of course with 

the Fijian community there. But 

obviously, it’s a very difficult times 

for all Victorians and our hearts 

are with them and all the Fijian 

community not only in Victoria and 

other places.” 


Fijians urged 

to download 

careFIJI app 

following cases 

in NZ 

Minister for Economy, 

Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum is 

once again emphasizing 

the need for Fijians to download the 

careFIJI App. 

This comes as there has been a reemergence 

of COVID-19 cases in 

New Zealand. 

The careFiji App uses the 

Bluetooth technology to make 

contact tracing faster and accurate 

and it notifies users if they are 

exposed to the Coronavirus. 

Sayed-Khaiyum stresses that 

digital contact tracing is efficient. 

“If for example, we do have a 

situation like what’s happened in 

Auckland, we very quickly need to 

be able to trace where the source is 

and the reality of the matter is as you 

have seen in Auckland if you aren’t 

able to trace it you have to go into 

lockdown and that’s an enormous 

economic impact on your towns, 

cities and indeed on your country” 

Bainimarama recently stated that 

Fijian hearts ache with new closeness 

as we watch the Australians and New 

Zealanders contend with outbreaks 

of the pandemic. 

Bainimarama also conveyed our 

heartfelt prayers for the two countries 

and says Fiji will continue to render 

support where possible as we strive 

to overcome COVID-19. 

He reiterates that with more Fijians 

downloading the App, it will be 

easier for the government to market 

Fiji and generate interest among 

holidaymakers. 

“When countries like Australia 

and New Zealand, when you have 

a tourist sitting now planning their 

holiday, planning when the borders 

will open because they know there 

will be very good rates available they 

not only going to look at what’s the 

cost of going to Fiji in terms of hotel 

rates or air travel they will see what 

kind of health measures they have in 

place.” 

Forty percent of the country’s GDP 

is driven by the tourism industry. 

Sayed-Khaiyum says once more 

Fijians download the App, the 

government will be able to promote 

Fiji as a safe destination for tourists 

from Australians and New Zealand. 

Fiji will come out of dark period 

stronger than ever: PM 


Bainimarama says while 

the Fijian economy has 

slowed down due to the effects of 

COVID-19, the country will come 

out of this dark period stronger than 

ever. The Prime Minister highlighted 

that a lot has been sacrificed and hard 

decisions have been made, but these 

were necessary steps. 

He made the comments while 

commissioned the Nayavu 

Community Police Post in Tailevu. 

With the economy slowing 

down due to the pandemic and the 

society struggling for its health, the 

Prime Minister says it is up to the 

Government to be the locomotive 

that keeps us going. 

“We are sacrificing a lot right now, 

but there are limits to how much I will 

ask my fellow citizens to sacrifice. 

We have established a curfew, and 

we ask our Police to enforce it, which 

they do. And we were forced to close 

the country to visitors. Both of those 

Permanent Secretary Dr James 

Fong says they have recorded around 

3, 300 Dengue Fever cases and 1, 

100 Leptospirosis cases to date. 

“We have an outbreak of dengue 

and leptospirosis at the moment. 

Our health inspectors are on to it. 

They doing their various cleanup 

campaigns. We have had a few 

adverse outcomes in terms of 

mortality but most of that has been in 

were hard decisions, but they were 

necessary. But building and creating 

jobs is also necessary, and we will 

move forward wherever we can. “ 

Bainimarama says rebuilding 

facilities and infrastructure are 

critical to stimulating economic 

growth. 

“They provide good jobs for 

Fijians. They provide jobs for Fijians 

who do the building. They provide 

jobs for Fijians who supply building 

materials and services. And when 

those people get paid, they buy 

things they need. They buy food and 

clothing and school supplies and 

household good. And that creates 

more jobs and more income for 

Fijians. “ 

The Prime Minister opened the 

Nayavu Community Post which 

sustained structural damage during 

Tropical Cyclone Winston. 

Extensive renovation has been 

carried out on the post. 

14 deaths from Dengue Fever and Leptospirosis 

those who presented late and severe.” 

Dr Fong adds majority of the cases 

have been recorded in the Central 

Division and there are also cases of 

Dengue Fever and Leptospirosis in 

the Northern Division.

14 

INDIA 

Friday, August 21, 2020 The Indian Weekender 

India: Coronavirus cases 

Confirmed: 2,767,273 

Deaths: 52,889, 

Recovered: 2,037,870 

Active: 676,514 

NEWS in BRIEF 

‘Take the right precautions’: PM Modi cautions 

citizens amid dengue season 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to be cautious about tropical 

and vector-borne diseases and asked them to take steps to be safe amid 

the country’s battle against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). 

“This is the season of tropical and vector-borne diseases. I urge you all 

to take the right precautions. The Government is also closely monitoring 

the situation and ensuring care to those affected. Stay safe, be happy!” 

PM Modi tweeted. PM Modi’s tweet comes at a time when India is likely to 

face challenges during the dengue season, prompting state governments to 

prepare protocols and find ways to ease the burden on country’s healthcare 

infrastructure. 

India tests record 8.97 lakh swab samples in a day 

India continues to aggressively ramp up its daily testing count for 

coronavirus disease (Covid-19), as 8.97 lakh swab samples were tested. 

The country is close to achieving the daily testing target of around a 

million swab samples. India has conducted 309,38,400 Covid-19 tests to 

date since the first swab sample was diagnosed on January 23. There has 

been a threefold rise in conducting Covid-19 tests, as compared to a month 

ago, when 10 million samples were tested. 

“A new peak was achieved following 8.97 lakh Covid-19 tests in the last 

24 hours. Even with such a high level of testing, the positivity has remained 

low at 8.81%, as compared to the weekly national average of 8.84%,” said a 

release from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW). 

Will the superfast 'Sputnik V' vaccine put 

citizens at risk? 

With over 175 Covid-19 vaccines currently in 

different stages of development, the entire 

human race is hoping that eventually one of them 

would work and enable us all to return to normal life. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently 

announced the first ever approved Covid-19 vaccine 

"Sputnik V" and inoculated it to one of his own 

daughters, stating that it was "safe". 

This however has not gone down too well with the World Health 

Organization (WHO) that feels that the "hasty" vaccine needed rigorous 

safety review. The medical fraternity and the scientists are dealing with 

uncertainty as they cannot be sure yet if any vaccine could permanently 

prevent people from contracting Covid-19 and help eliminate the virus or 

at least limit its outbreak. The novel coronavirus continues to spread at an 

alarming rate even as 21.9 million people have tested positive for the disease 

so far worldwide, while over 7,74,000 have died. 

13 airlines to repatriate Indians to Bengaluru 

from overseas 

Thirteen airlines will connect Bengaluru to 14 international destinations 

as part of the latest air bubble, Vande Bharat Mission and repatriation 

programmes to bring back Indians stuck in foreign countries because of 

Coronavirus pandemic, an official said. 

"International repatriation flights as well as Government of India's Vande 

Bharat Mission and air bubble programmes have enabled Kempegowda 

International Airport Bengaluru (KIAB) to connect Bengaluru to 14 

international destinations," Official said. As many as 13 airlines, domestic 

as well as international, will operate in these sectors from the city airport 

The destinations connected directly from Bengaluru include Abu Dhabi, 

Dubai, Amsterdam, Doha, Frankfurt, Kuwait, Kuala Lumpur, London, 

Muscat, Narita, Paris, Riyadh and Singapore. The Central government is 

repatriating thousands of Indians stuck in various countries because of the 

Coronavirus pandemic and earlier lockdowns through Vande Bharat flights. 

These repatriation flights are bringing back Indians to multiple Indian cities. 

Malaysia detects coronavirus strain that’s 

ten times more infectious 

Malaysia has detected a strain of the new coronavirus that’s been found 

to be 10 times more infectious. The mutation called D614G was found 

in at least three of the 45 cases in a cluster that started from a restaurant 

owner returning from India and breaching his 14-day home quarantine. 

The strain was also found in another cluster involving people returning 

from the Philippines. The strain could mean that existing studies on vaccines 

may be incomplete or ineffective against the mutation, said Director-General 

of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah. 

“People need to be wary and take greater precautions because this strain 

has now been found in Malaysia,” he said. “The people’s cooperation is 

very needed so that we can together break the chain of infection from 

any mutation.” 

India’s Covid-19 recoveries 

cross 2m; daily recoveries 

higher than new infections 

India’s coronavirus disease 

(Covid-19) recoveries have 

crossed the two-million mark, as 

the number of recovering patients has 

outnumbered new viral infections, 

the Union Ministry of Health 

& Family Welfare (MoH&FW) 

data showed. 

At present, the number of active 

Covid-19 cases are less than 25% 

of the total number of the viral 

infections reported since January 30. 

“When we talk about the viral 

caseload of a particular country, it 

is always the active cases that are 

counted. It is never the total number 

of positive cases,” said Rajesh 

Bhushan, secretary, MoH&FW. 

Around 60,000 Covid-19 patients 

are recovering daily from their viral 

infection. While around 55,000 

new Covid-19 cases are being 

reported a day. 

A continuous uptick in average 

daily recoveries has led to India’s 

recovery rate at 73.18% and a low 

case fatality rate (CFR) at 1.92%. 

Higher number of recoveries and 

declining fatality has shown that 

the country’s graded strategy has 

worked, according to the ministry. 

“The number of hospitalisation 

cases has also reduced. A small 

percentage of Covid-19 patients 

With international air travel still out of bounds 

due to the Covid-19 pandemic, India has 

proposed air bubbles with five neighbouring 

countries, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri 

said. Air bubbles seek to restore commercial passenger 

services to pre-pandemic levels. Pakistan is not on the list 

of five countries. 

“Air bubbles have also been proposed with our 

neighbours Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal 

& Bhutan. Going forward, we will consider such 

arrangements with other countries also. It is always our 

endeavour to reach out to every stranded citizen. No 

Indian will be left behind,” Puri tweeted. 

India’s international flight operations are currently 

largely limited to evacuating its residents from various 

countries under the Vande Bharat mission (VBM). 

“We continue to further strengthen the reach & scope of 

VBM. Air Travel arrangements are already in place with 

need to be admitted to hospitals. 

Most of them recover from their 

viral infection under home isolation. 

Few Covid-19 patients are in need 

of a ventillator support. A majority 

of those who get admitted make 

a smooth recovery. However, the 

problem is by and large with highrisk 

cases such as senior citizens and 

those with comorbidities,” said Dr. 

Rommel Tickoo, senior consultant, 

department of internal medicine, 

Max Healthcare. 

The government’s target is to bring 

down the percentage of Covid-19- 

related deaths to either 1% or below. 

“As a result of collaborative 

and focussed efforts by the Centre 

and state/UT (Union Territory) 

governments built on effective 

implementation of the test, track 

and treat strategy of the Union 

government, 30 States/UTs are 

reporting lower CFR than the 

national average,” said the ministry 

in a statement. 

Aggressive testing leads to early 

identification and isolation of 

positive cases. Besides, efficient 

clinical treatment has ensured the 

country’s Covid-19 fatality rate is 

low, said ministry officials. 

India is testing around 900,000 

swab samples daily and three million 

people have undergone Covid-19 

tests since January 23, when Pune’s 

National Institute of Virology, under 

the Indian Council of Medical 

Research (ICMR), conducted the 

first test. 

India plans air bubbles with five neighbours, 

Pakistan not among them 

USA, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Qatar & Maldives. 

We are now taking these efforts forward & are negotiating 

with 13 more countries to establish such arrangements.” 

“These include Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, 

Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, 

Singapore, South Korea & Thailand,” he said in another 

tweet. The latest air bubble was the one with Canada that 

became operational on August 15. 

Supreme Court orders CBI investigation 

in Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case 

The Supreme Court on 

Wednesday rejected 

actor Rhea Chakraborty’s 

petition to transfer the investigation 

from Patna to Mumbai in Sushant 

Singh Rajput’s death case. The court 

said that said Bihar government was 

competent to give consent to CBI for 

probing into the Patna FIR. 

A single-judge bench of Justice 

Hrishikesh Roy pronounced the 

judgement. 

The bench held that the contents 

as disclosed by the FIR registered 

in Patna indicate that even Mumbai 

Police has jurisdiction. 

The apex court had reserved its 

judgement on Chakraborty’s petition 

after a hearing on August 11. 

In her petition, Chakraborty 

said that the Bihar Police have no 

jurisdiction in the case and that the 

actor’s death was being used for 

political gains ahead of elections 

in the state. Heightened media 

attention and sensationalising of the 

case is another ground on which 

Chakraborty has sought the transfer 

of the case to Mumbai. 

Based on Rajput’s father KK 

Singh’s complaint that Rhea 

Chakraborty was responsible for 

abetment of his son’s suicide, Patna 

Police registered an FIR on July 25. 

Singh also alleged that Chakraborty 

illegally transferred Rs 15 crore from 

Rajput’s bank account. However, the 

actor has denied all allegations and 

maintained that she will cooperate 

with an investigation launched by 

the Enforcement Directorate (ED). 

Meanwhile, Singh was quizzed by 

the ED on his son’s finances. 

The Central Bureau of 

Investigation (CBI) also registered 

a case against Chakraborty and three 

members of her family members. 

Sushant Singh Rajput, 34, was 

found dead in his Mumbai apartment 

on June 14.


WORLD 15 

Pandemic now driven by 

20s, 30s, 40s group, many 

asymptomatic: WHO 

The World Health Organization 

said it was concerned that the 

novel coronavirus spread was 

being driven by people in their 20s, 

30s and 40s, many of which were 

unaware they were infected, posing a 

danger to vulnerable groups. 

WHO officials said this month the 

proportion of younger people among 

those infected had risen globally, 

putting at risk vulnerable sectors 

of the population worldwide, 

including the elderly and 

sick people in densely 

populated areas with 

weak health services. 

“The epidemic is 

changing,” WHO Western 

Pacific regional director, 

Takeshi Kasai, told a virtual 

briefing. “People in their 20s, 30s 

and 40s are increasingly driving the 

spread. Many are unaware they are 

infected.” 

“This increases the risk of 

spillovers to the more vulnerable,” 

he added. 

A surge in new cases has prompted 

some countries to re-impose 

curbs as companies race to find a 

vaccine for a virus that has battered 

"What 

we are 

observing is not 

simply a resurgence. We 

believe it’s a signal that we 

have entered a new phase 

economies, killed more 

than 770,000 people 

and infected nearly 22 

million, according 

to a Reuters tally. 

Surges were reported 

in countries that had 

appeared to have the 

virus under control, 

including Vietnam, which 

until recently went three months 

without domestic transmission due 

to its aggressive mitigation efforts. 

“What we are observing is not 

simply a resurgence. We believe 

it’s a signal that we have entered a 

new phase of pandemic in the Asia- 

Pacific,” Kasai said. 

He said countries were better 

able to reduce disruption to lives 

of pandemic in the 

Asia-Pacific," 

and economies by combining early 

detection and response to manage 

infections. 

While mutations had been 

observed, the WHO still saw the 

virus as “relatively stable”, Kasai 

said. 

WHO also reminded drugmakers 

to follow all necessary research and 

development steps when creating a 

vaccine. 

Socorro Escalante, its technical 

officer and medicines policy advisor, 

said the WHO was coordinating with 

Russia, which this month became 

the first country to grant regulatory 

approval for a COVID-19 vaccine. 

“We hope to get the response in 

terms of the evidence of this new 

vaccine,” Escalante said. 

Biden, Harris maintain double-digit 

lead over Trump, Pence: Poll 

Democratic presidential 

candidate Joe Biden and 

his running mate Kamala 

Harris are maintaining a double-digit 

lead in the country over incumbent 

President Donald Trump and 

Vice President Mike Pence, as the 

presidential election draws closer, 

says a Washington Post-ABC 

News poll. 

As the Democrats 

kicked off their 

National Convention 

on Monday, Biden and 

Harris lead Trump and 

Pence by 53 per cent 

to 41 per cent among 

registered voters, The 

Washington Post reported. 

Among voters, Biden’s current 

national margin over Trump is 

slightly smaller than the 15-point 

margin in a poll conducted last month 

and slightly larger than a survey in 

May when he led by 10 points. As 

the pandemic was in its initial stage, 

Biden and Trump were separated by 

just two points, with 

the former having a 

statistically insignificant 

advantage. 

Nearly 9 in 10 of Trump’s 

supporters are enthusiastic to cast 

ballots for him and 65 per cent saying 

they are “very enthusiastic”. Slightly 

over 8 in 10 Biden supporters stated 

they are enthusiastic about voting 

for the former Vice President, with 

48 per cent saying they are “very 

enthusiastic”, the poll said. 

Overall, 54 per cent of registered 

voters said they are following the 

presidential election “very closely”. 

The share of Republicans and 

Republican-leaning independent 

voters stands at 58 per cent, the same 

as it was in September 2016. 

53 per cent of Democrats and 

Democratic-leaning independent 

voters are also saying they are very 

closely following the campaign, a 

jump of 13 points around this time 

four years back. 

Australia locks in coronavirus 

vaccine deal as new cases ease 

A 

fresh 

outbreak of infections 

in Australia’s coronavirus 

hot zone of Victoria appeared 

to have eased, as the country signed a 

deal to secure a potential COVID-19 

vaccine that it intends to roll out free 

of cost to its citizens. 

Australia has signed a deal with 

British drugmaker AstraZeneca 

to produce and distribute 

enough doses of a potential 

coronavirus vaccine for its population 

of 25 million, Prime Minister Scott 

Morrison said late on Tuesday. 

"Slightly 

over 8 in 10 

Biden supporters 

stated they are enthusiastic 

about voting for the 

former Vice President, 

with 48 per cent saying 

they are “very enthusiastic" 

All Australians will be offered 

doses but a medical panel will 

determine the priority list of vaccine 

recipients, Health Minister Greg 

Hunt said. 

“Naturally you would be focusing 

on the most vulnerable, the elderly, 

health workers, people with 

disabilities in terms of the speed of 

roll out, but I think there would be 

widespread uptake in Australia,” 

Hunt told Sky News on Wednesday. 

AstraZeneca last month said good 

data was coming in so far on its 

vaccine for COVID-19, already in 

large-scale human trials and widely 

seen as the front-runner in the race for 

a shot against the novel coronavirus. 

The vaccine, called AZD1222, was 

developed by Britain’s University of 

Oxford and licensed to AstraZeneca. 

A flare up in infections in 

Australia’s second most populous 

state of Victoria forced authorities 

two weeks ago to impose a nightly 

curfew, tighten restrictions on 

people’s movements and order large 

parts of the state’s economy to close. 

World: Coronavirus cases 

Confirmed: 22,308,044 

Deaths: 784,365 

Recovered: 15,050,063 

Active: 6,473,616 

NEWS in BRIEF 

Infectious Covid-19 mutation may be a 

good thing, says disease expert 

A 

mutation of the novel coronavirus 

increasingly common throughout 

Europe and recently detected in 

Malaysia may be more infectious but 

appears less deadly, according to a 

prominent infectious diseases doctor. 

Paul Tambyah, senior consultant at 

the National University of Singapore 

and president-elect of the U.S.-based 

International Society of Infectious Diseases, said the D614G mutation has 

also been found in Singapore. 

The city-state’s health ministry did not immediately respond to a request 

for comment. Tambyah said there is evidence the proliferation of the 

mutation in Europe has coincided with a drop in death rates, suggesting it 

is less lethal. The mutation is not likely to impact the efficacy of a potential 

vaccine, despite warnings to the contrary from other health experts, he 

added. “Maybe that’s a good thing to have a virus that is more infectious but 

less deadly,” Tambyah told Reuters. 

China, U.S. will allow air carriers to 

double flights between nations 

China and the United States will each allow air carriers to double current 

flights to eight per week between the world’s two largest economies, the 

U.S. Transportation Department said on Tuesday. 

The department said it will allow four Chinese passenger airlines currently 

flying to the United States to double flights to eight weekly round-trips, as 

China has agreed to allow U.S. carriers to double flights to China. 

U.S. carriers voluntary halted flights to China after the coronavirus 

outbreak. President Donald Trump on Jan. 31 barred nearly all non-U.S. 

citizens from traveling to the United States from China. 

Argentina exceeds 300,000 coronavirus cases, 

6,000 deaths – health ministry 

Argentina confirmed 6,840 new cases of coronavirus and 172 new 

deaths, taking it simultaneously over the 300,000 case and 6,000 death 

threshold as the Latin nation battles a surge of contagions in recent weeks. 

The country’s health ministry reported a total of 305,966 cases and 

6,048 deaths. Dr Luis Camera, a member of the Argentine government’s 

health advisory group, said while cases, intensive care admissions and 

hospital bed occupancy rates were not still climbing, they had settled at an 

unsustainable level. 

“The highest points for the City of Buenos Aires could have been the 

last days of July and the first days of August,” he told Reuters TV. “Now 

the infection curve has stabilized at a plateau, but a high plateau. In South 

America, you call it the altiplano, as opposed to the lowlands.” 

WHO calls for widespread flu vaccinations this year 

The world must administer widespread 

anti-flu vaccinations this year to 

help to ward off the risk of complicating 

coronavirus infections, World Health 

Organization senior adviser Bruce 

Aylward said on Tuesday. 

More than 21.9 million people have 

been reported to be infected by the novel 

coronavirus globally and 772,647 have 

died, according to a Reuters tally. WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove 

told a briefing in Geneva that studies to date showed that less than 10% of 

the population has evidence of antibodies against the virus 

US Covid-19 cases surpass 5.5 million 

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the US surpassed 5.5 million, 

according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) 

at Johns Hopkins University. The US case count rose to 5,505,074, with the 

national death toll reaching 172,418, according to the media 

The hardest-hit US state of California reported 640,722 cases, followed 

by Florida with 584,047 cases, Texas with 569,331 cases, and New York 

with 426,571 cases, the tally showed. 

Other states with over 180,000 cases include Georgia, Illinois, Arizona 

and New Jersey, according to the CSSE. 

By far, the United States remains the worst-hit nation, in terms of both the 

caseload and death toll.

16 SPORTS 

Friday, August 21, 2020 The Indian Weekender 

MS Dhoni: team: Rohit on Dhoni 

The man who turned 

Rich tributes 

poured in as MS 

dreams into reality 

Dhoni announced 

his retirement from 

international cricket, 

posting a simple montage 

Ahead of the India-West Indies encounter at last Sachin Tendulkar. 

of images from the high 

year’s World Cup, MS Dhoni was undergoing Since his absence from cricket last year, the belief is 

and low points of his 

his routine nets session at the Old Trafford in that everyone knew the time had come – Virat Kohli, Ravi 

international cricketing 

Manchester. Over the years, Dhoni has had a fixed pattern Shastri, his friends, even a section of his fans. Although 

career over the years 

– usually stepping into the nets late and facing the spinners it was never said out loud, the fact that MSK Prasad, the 

with a short caption: 

first. Slowly, he brings out the big shots, readying himself former BCCI chief selector had stated in October that the 

to face the pacers, and if need be, take some throwdowns. panel had decided to ‘move on’ from Dhoni, was a huge 

"He is calling time on 

June 27, 2019 wasn’t much different. Dhoni batted for indication in itself. 

it." 

around half an hour and packed his kit. 

Hark back to 2004, the year Dhoni 

It marked the end of 

The moment he stepped out, Dhoni was mobbed by burst on to the scene. Long before 

a trophy-laden career 

a plethora of journalists – reporters and photographers the LEDs, UHDs and 4K came into 

spanning nearly 15 

alike. Seeing almost 25 of them, quite literally, charging existence, a young Dhoni was 

years, in which 

towards him, Dhoni took a step back and said: “Arrey! 

Kya ho gaya? Abhi retirement nahi announce kara maine. 

(What’s the matter? I haven’t announced my retirement 

yet). The words got lost amid the cheers as Dhoni 

acknowledged almost everyone. A few autographs and 

selfies later, he was given his space. These are the same 

people who’ve had the privilege of covering him for 

years – some of them were in Chittagong on December 

23, 2004, the day Dhoni had marked his ODI debut. 

You’d think this kind of mobbing by the press must 

be pretty normal, right? Wrong! Veteran journalists had 

seldom seen this kind of madness from their younger 

presented to us on our TV screens. 

The 21-inch Flatron was the best 

available in the market and that’s 

the first memory of an exuberant 

Dhoni for many. MAX (now Sony 

Max) aired India A’s tour of Kenya, 

and I in particular, happened to catch 

both of Dhoni’s centuries against 

Pakistan A (119 and 120) 

for a much-refreshing 

experience. 

He had brute force. 

Dhoni also 

peers. Little over a year later, Dhoni has indeed called The sixes reminded 

time on his international career. This time, there was no 

big ICC event, nor a flock of journalists. Dhoni went out 

and how? Through a post on Instagram. A video montage 

that’s, to be honest, rough around the edges. I find the 

announcement surprising. 

Despite being aware deep down that the semi-final 

against New Zealand on July 10 was his last in India 

colours, I felt Dhoni would never officially announce his 

retirement, and that it would be understood – when he 

wouldn’t have played another game for India in the next 

year – that he’s done. 

Afterall, that’s how it’s always been with him. Even 

when he walked away from Test cricket, helping India 

save the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, legend has it 

that no one had even the slightest of ideas about it. After 

wrapping up the press conference, Dhoni returned to the 

change room and dropped a bomb on his teammates. 

Then again, he does give you those subtle hints, and it’s 

up to you whether you can crack it. 

At the MCG, Dhoni had walked off holding a stump, 

while at the World Cup 2019, Dhoni, pretty articulately, 

thanked his sponsors – SG, Spartan, BAS – for their 

onlookers of Ricardo 

Powell’s magical knock 

of 124 against India in 

Singapore in 1999. 

The sight of an Indian 

batsman tonking huge sixes 

was, quite simply, unheard of. 

And of course, the fabled long 

hair was an early sign of his 

cavalry. 

Back in the day, seldom did you 

hear a player mentioning a cricket 

website, let alone acknowledged 

reading it during a presentation 

ceremony. 

Nor did one ever imagine an 

Indian captain asking the players 

to simply ‘enjoy themselves’ in 

a crunch final. 

Dhoni was the maverick of 

a new Team India, that would 

go on to achieve incredible 

support over the years by sporting different logos on his things, including reaching 

bat. But perhaps Dhoni owed it to his fans, who’ve had a 

huge role in making him an icon – perhaps next only to 

the pinnacle of the ICC Test 

rankings for the first time. 

Dhoni one of the best leaders 

I have come across: Kirsten 

Gary Kirsten, who was the coach of the 2011 

World Cup-winning Indian team, has hailed MS 

Dhoni, saying it was a privilege for him to work 

with one of the best leaders that he came across. 

Dhoni retired from international cricket last Saturday, 

thus bringing an end to an illustrious career 

spanning more than 16 years. Kirsten 

expressed gratitude to Dhoni for all the 

good memories that he made during his 

tenure with the Indian team. 

"A privilege to work with one 

of the best leaders I have come 

across. Thanks MS for many fond 

memories with the Indian cricket 

team," said the 52-year-old in a 

tweet. 

Kirsten was handed an initial 

two-year deal from March 1, 

2008. He was then handed 

over a one-year contract 

extension that saw him lead 

India to their second World Cup 

title. Under his stewardship, India 

also took over the numero uno spot 

in Tests in 2009. The former South 

Africa opener also revisited 

a past statement, which 

described their bond. 

"I would go to war with 

Dhoni by my side." 

Dhoni, who made his ODI debut 

in 2004, played a whopping 

number of 350 ODIs, 9 0 

Tests and 98 T20I 

matches for India. 

He was the first 

and is still the only 

captain till date to 

have won all three 

ICC Trophies. 

The 39-year-old from 

Ranchi holds the record for 

most international matches as 

captain (332). 

Unarguably the quickest 

man behind the wicket, 

Dhoni affected a 

staggering 829 dismissals 

behind the 

stumps. 

Man with vision, master 

who knew how to build 

oversaw the rise of the likes of current Indian 

captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. 

"One of the most influential man in the history of 

Indian cricket. His impact in and around cricket 

was massive. He was a man with vision and a 

master in knowing how to build a team. Will 

surely miss him in blue but we have him 

in yellow. See you on 19th at the toss @ 

msdhoni," limited overs vice-captain Rohit 

tweeted with a pic of him with Dhoni in the 

IPL. 

Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, 

who also made his debut under Dhoni's 

captaincy, tweeted: "Thanks for 

everything Mahi Bhai... you will always 

be special for me, have learnt so much from 

you! Always wishing you the best!" 

Indian head coach Ravi Shastri tweeted: 

"Massive boots to fill. It's been a privilege and honour 

to be part of the dressing room and seeing you as a 

thoroughbred professional at work. Salute one of 

India's greatest cricketers. Second to none. Enjoy. 

God Bless MS DHONI." 

Shastri also tweeted a video of Dhoni famously 

hitting the six over long-on at the Wankhede 

Stadium in the final of the 2011 World Cup against 

Sri Lanka to win the title. Indian women's T20 

captain Harmanpreet Kaur also paid tribute to 

batsman Suresh Raina, who also announced his 

retirement from international cricket minutes 

after Dhoni. 

"Legends of the game. Learnt so much 

from you. Watching you guys on the field was 

an amazing experience. Thank you for all the 

memories #7 #3 @msdhoni @ImRaina," she 

tweeted. 

Her teammate and ODI captain Mithali Raj said: 

"The man who immortalised jersey no.7, whose 

sharp mind and a cool head earned him the tag of 

#CaptionCool, the man who fulfilled billion Indian 

dreams by lifting two World Cup trophies and who bid 

adieu in his inimitable style. Congratulations #MSDhoni 

on an outstanding career #Thala." All-rounder Hardik 

Pandya tweeted: "There's only one #MSDhoni. Thank you 

my friend and elder brother for being the biggest inspiration 

in my career. Will miss playing with you in the blue jersey but 

am sure you will always be there for me and will keep guiding 

me #7." 

Rishabh Pant, who has been touted as Dhoni's long-term replacement 

as India's wicketkeeper, tweeted: "A little boy had a dream of batting 

on the other end of the pitch with you. That little boy's dream came 

true, learning from you and being close to you has been the highest 

privilege. India will always be proud of @msdhoni. Enjoy the journey 

ahead Mahi bhai. Legend #7." 

Australian batsman David Warner has faced Dhoni a number of 

times on the field during the often intense matches between 

India and Australia. He is set to do s o 

again whenever his Sunrisers Hyderabad 

meet Dhoni's Chennai 

SuperKings in the upcoming 

season of the Indian Premier 

League (IPL). He tweeted: 

"Congrats @msdhoni on a fantastic 

career, he is one of the coolest 

guys I've played against on the 

park. #greatknock #calm #finisher." 

"One 

of the most 

influential man in the 

history of Indian cricket. 

His impact in and around 

cricket was massive. He 

was a man with vision and 

a master in knowing 

how to build a team."


FEATURES 17 

KOREAN CHICKEN BAO BUNS 

Tofu Bao Buns 

INGREDIENTS: 

FOR BUNS 

• 450gm - flour 

• 1/2tsp - salt 

• 210ml - water, warm 

• 2tbsp - castor sugar 

• 2tsp - dry yeast 

• 3tbsp - milk, room temperature 

• 3tbsp - butter, room temperature 

• FOR TOFU 

• INGREDIENTS: 

• 200gm - tofu, organic 

• 1/2cup - gochujang sauce 

• 1cup - spring onions, chopped 

• 2tbsp - ginger paste 

• 2tsp - garlic paste 

• 1/4cup - sugar 

• 1/4cup - soy sauce 

• 1/4cup - dark soy sauce 

• 2tbsp - Chinese five spice or 1tsp - red chilli powder 

TO ASSEMBLE: 

• 1cup - salad (Super slaw with beetroot, carrot, Italian 

parsley). 

• 2tbsp - sesame seeds 

• Hoisin sauce, optional 

• Few chopsticks 

METHOD: 

• In a medium bowl add flour and salt, mix well using 

the fork. 

• In a seperate bowl add water, sugar and dry yeast, mix 

until incorporated. 

• Add milk and melted butter to the yeast mixture and 

mix it with the fork. 

• Pour water mixture onto the flour mix and knead it into 

a pliable dough. 

• Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and 

knead for 10-15 mins, or until smooth. 

• Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth 

and leave to rise for 2 hrs, or until doubled in size. 

FOR TOFU 

METHOD 

• Cut tofu into long strips and set aside. 

• In a medium size bowl add gochujang, chopped spring 

onions, ginger paste, garlic paste, sugar, soy sauce, 

dark soy sauce and Chinese five spice, mix well with 

the fork. 

• Pour the mixture onto the tofu and make sure all the 

pieces are well covered. 

• Cover and keep aside for 1 hour to marinate. 

FOR DOUGH 

• Tip the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead 

for 5 mins. 

• Divide it into 20 equal size balls. 

• In the palm of your hand, roll each piece of dough into 

a ball and leave to rest for 2-3 mins. 

• Use a rolling pin to roll out each ball, one by one, into 

an oval shape about 3-4mm thickness. 

• Rub the surface of the dough ovals with oil and brush 

a little oil over a chopstick. 

• Place the oiled chopstick in the centre of each oval. 

• Fold the dough over the chopstick, then slowly pull out 

the chopstick. 

• Cut 20 squares of baking parchment and put a bun on 

each. 

• Transfer to a baking tray, cover with a clean tea towel 

or lightly oiled cling film and leave to prove in a warm 

place for 1 hr 30 mins, or until doubled in size. 

• Heat a large steamer over a medium-high flame. 

• Steam the buns for 8 minutes or until puffed up (In a 

small steamer you’ll need to do this in batches). Set 

aside. 

FOR TOFU 

• Heat frypan over medium flame, fry tofu in batches 

along with its sauce until the edges are brown on both 

the sides. 

• Transfer fried tofu onto a plate. 

TO ASSEMBLE 

• Prise open each bun and spread some hoisin sauce. 

• Fill with tofu and salad and sprinkle some sesame 

seeds on top. 

• Eat while they are still warm. 

• TIP; frozen bao buns can also be used. 

• To warm the frozen bao buns or store bought: 

• Place the bao into a steamer and cover with the lid. 

• Fill a wide saucepan with a 1 inch depth of water and 

bring to the boil over a medium flame. 

• Turn the flame down to low then place the steamer into 

the pan. 

• Steam for 5-6 minutes if they were frozen, or 2-3 

minutes if they’re fresh. 

SHRIMP BAO BUNS 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 20 - bao buns 

• 3 - chicken thighs 

FOR MARINATION: 

• 240ml - butter milk 

• 1/2tsp - salt 

• 1/4tsp - white pepper powder 

• 1/4tsp - garlic powder 

FOR FRYING: 

• 180gm - flour 

• 1tsp - salt 

• 1tsp - black pepper powder 

• 1/2tsp - garlic salt 

• 1.2tsp - celery salt 

• 1tsp - dry thyme 

• 1tsp - baking powder 

• 1tsp - red chilli powder 

• Oil for frying 

FOR KOREAN SAUCE: 

• 2tbsp - Korean gochujang sauce 

• 2tbsp - honey 

• 4tbsp - brown sugar 

• 4tbsp - dark soy sauce 

• 2tsp - garlic paste 

• 2tbsp - ginger paste 

• 1tbsp - sesame oil 

• 2tbsp -vegetable oil 

TO ASSEMBLE: 

• 1cup - salad ( Super slaw with 

beetroot, carrot, Italian parsley ). 

• 1 - red onion, small and sliced 

• 1tbsp - sesame seeds 

• Sriracha sauce, optional 

METHOD 

• Wash and cut chicken into thin 

strips. 

• In a large bowl add butter milk, 

salt, white pepper powder and 

garlic powder, mix well. 

• Add chicken, mix well, cover 

and keep aside for 2 hours. 

• In a seperate bowl add flour, 

salt, black pepper powder, 

garlic salt, celery salt, dry 

theme, baking powder and red 

chilli powder, mix well and set 

aside. 

• Again in a seperate bowl add 

Korean sauce, honey, brown 

sugar, dark soy sauce, garlic 

paste, ginger paste, sesame oil 

and vegetable oil. Mix well until 

incorporated, cover and keep 

aside for later use. 

• Heat oil over medium flame for 

frying. 

• Add marinated chicken to the dry 

flour mixture ( Make sure that all 

the chicken pieces are well coated 

with the dry mixture ). 

• Fry chicken pieces in batches 

until brown and crisp on both the 

sides, then transfer them into the 

bowl. 

• Pour Korean sauce over the fried 

and hot chicken pieces and mix 

until all the pieces are well coated 

with the sauce. 

TO ASSEMBLE 

• Prise open each bun and spread 

little sriracha sauce in the inside 

of the bun. Optional. 

• Fill the bun with chicken, salad 

and red onions. 

• Sprinkle some sesame seeds on 

top. 

• Eat while they are still warm. 

TIP: Siracha sauce can be the 

substitute for gochujang sauce in the 

sauce mixture. 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 12 - bao buns 

• 24 - shrimps, large 

• 1/4tsp - baking soda 

• 11/2tsp - salt or according to taste 

• 1/2tsp - sugar 

• 1tsp - garlic paste, divided 

• 2tbsp - vegetable oil, divided 

• 1 - red hot chilli, thinly sliced 

• 2 - spring onions, thinly sliced 

• Freshly ground black pepper 

FOR SAUCE: 

• 11/2tbsp - sriracha sauce 

• 5tbsp - mayonnaise 

• 1tsp - lime juice 

TO ASSEMBLE: 

• 1cup - salad ( Super slaw with beetroot, 

carrot, Italian parsley ) or shredded cabbage. 

• Pickled cucumber 

METHOD 

• Shell and devein the shrimps then transfer 

them into a bowl. 

• Combine shrimp, baking soda, salt, and 

sugar in a medium bowl and toss to coat. 

• Transfer to refrigerator and allow to rest for 

1 hour. 

• Meanwhile, combine half of garlic and half 

of oil in a small bowl. Set aside to baste 

shrimps before cooking them. 

• Combine remaining garlic, oil, chili, and 

spring onions in a large bowl. Set aside. 

FOR SAUCE 

• Combine sriracha, mayonnaise, and lime 

juice in a small bowl and stir ( Add more 

sriracha until desired level of spiciness is 

achieved ). Cover and refrigerate. 

• When shrimps are ready to grill, brush both 

sides with garlic and oil mixture. 

• Place shrimps directly over hot side of 

grill and cook, turning occasionally, until 

shrimps are just cooked through and well 

charred for 4 to 5 minutes total ( You can 

also slightly cook them in the fry pan over 

medium flame ). 

• Transfer shrimps to bowl along with its 

garlic and oil mixture. 

• Pour chili and spring onion mixture, toss to 

coat. 

• Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

TO ASSEMBLE 

• Spread 1 1/2 teaspoons sriracha mayonnaise 

on the bottom of each bun. 

• Top with pickles and mixed salad ( Shredded 

cabbage ). 

• Top with 2 shrimp each and close buns. 

• Serve immediately. 

• TIP; shredded cabbage can be an option for 

salad. 

• NOTE; Gochujang is a spicy, Korean 

fermented chilli paste. It can be found in 

many Korean or Chinese grocers and even 

in larger supermarkets. 

• If you want to make this even easier, you 

can buy the ready made Bao Buns from your 

local supermarket bakery.

18 

ENTERTAINMENT 

Friday, August 14, 2020 The Indian Weekender 

'Sholay' turns 45: 

Big B, Ramesh Sippy, Hema 

on why it remains special 

The blockbuster Sholay turned 45 on 

August 15. Amitabh Bachchan, Hema 

Malini and director Ramesh Sippy looked 

back to dissect how and why the film stays fresh 

and relevant in the minds of people even after so 

many decades. 

"Sholay starred Amitabh Bachchan, 

Dharmendra, Sanjeev Kumar, Hema Malini 

and Jaya Bachchan among others. The film 

is remembered for Amjad Khan's iconic 

performance as the film's arch villain, dacoit 

Gabbar Singh. 

"The way Sholay was written, and the detail 

in which each and every character of the movie 

was etched, all the characters of Sholay are still 

fresh in people's mind – be it Gabbar's dialogue 

"Sholay 

or Basanti's non stop babbling. Even a character 

beautifully 

like Sambha, who in the entire movie spoke only 

in three hours 

two words, is till today fresh in the memory of 

encapsulated the 

people," Sippy said. 

victory of good 

Big B, who played Jai, spoke of how the film, 

over evil. " 

India for the film, and then the film was 

besides creating new records, was about many edited in the United Kingdom – so many 

production firsts. 

firsts occurred. Ramesh Sippy ji as a director 

"Sholay beautifully in three hours encapsulated made many unconventional changes in its 

the victory of good over evil. It was the first reproduction and its making – the location, the 

time ever that a dialogue CD for an Indian film action coordination, the camera work, the 70 mm 

was released. 

and the scale – I guess it all worked out fine," 

"Action sequences were for the first time said Bachchan. 

directed by a British crew, specially invited to The film was released on Independence Day 

Karisma recalls Raja Hindustani days with Aamir Khan 

Actress Karisma 

Kapoor went 

down memory 

lane and shared a picture 

with Aamir Khan from the 

days of their 1996 superhit, 

Raja Hindustani. 

In the still that Karisma 

posted on Instagram, she is 

seen posing with Aamir in a 

red dress. 

The actor wears a tuxedo. 

"Guess the film #flashbackfriday 

#guessinggameon" Karisma 

captioned the image. 

Raja Hindustani, directed 

by Dharmesh Darshan, tells 

the tale of a smalltown cab 

driver who falls in love with a 

rich heiress. 

The film is loosely based 

on the 1965 superhit, Jab Jab 

Phool Khile that starred Shashi 

Kapoor and Nanda. 

Karisma was last seen in 

Ekta Kapoor's digital show 

Mentalhood, which explores 

the multitasking nature of 

different types of mothers, and 

their efforts to ensure the best 

upbringing for their children. 

Sonu Sood recalls his initial days of struggle in Mumbai 

Actor Sonu Sood is being hailed as 

messiah of migrants lately, due to his 

efforts in helping them reach home 

during the pandemic-induced lockdown. 

However, there was a time when 

things were not so rosy for him here. 

Talking about his days of 

struggle, Sonu said: "I am an 

engineer, and after my graduation 

when I went back to my family, 

I thought I would start a family 

business there. But I always wished 

to come to Mumbai. Initially I thought 

that my parents would stop me from going to 

Mumbai as I am their only son, but my mother 

asked me to go and achieve my dreams." 

Actor Chunky Panday says it was all 

about heroes doing the right thing 

on screen when he ventured into 

Bollywood in the eighties. 

Far from his greenhorn days in Bollywood, 

the actor is now all set to portray a grey role in 

the web series Abhay 2, and he sees it as a great 

change that actors today are exploring the dark 

side of characters. 

"When I came into films in the late 1980s 

and early 1990s, it was all about these heroes 

doing all the right things. The hero couldn't 

"I still remember when I first came to Mumbai, 

I had Rs 5,500 which I had saved. I went to Film 

City, paid Rs 400 to get an entry because 

I was stopped at the gate. I thought 

that if I roamed around in Film 

City, a director or a producer 

would spot me and cast me 

in their project, which never 

happened. It is only because of 

my parents' blessings that I am 

here now," added the actor, who 

had started his film career with the 

1999 Tamil movie Kallazhagar. 

Sonu opened up on his film journey while 

shooting for the Azadi special episode of the 

show "India's Best Dancer". 

dream of doing anything negative, but then 

came SRK and he attempted films like Darr 

and Baazigar, and now slowly I have seen that 

even Akshay (Kumar) is doing it, and Aamir 

(Khan) is doing it. Ranveer (Singh) has done it 

so convincingly in Padmaavat," Chunky said. 

The actor, who has been in the industry for 

over 30 three years, says he made his transition 

in 2000 because he realised he wouldn't play 

the hero anymore. "I did this transformation 

in 2000 when I came back from Bangladesh. 

I realised that I wouldn't be playing the hero 

1975. Looking back, Sippy has an interesting 

anecdote. 

"I spoke to a theatre owner in south Mumbai 

after the film released at the box office, and 

he showed me the popcorn and refreshments 

counter and said look, it's empty. 

"At first, that upset me a little because I 

thought my film wasn't doing well and that's why 

there were no people at these counters. 

"But then, he told me that all the audience 

was glued to their seats inside the theatre, and 

they didn't want to leave the hall. That is how 

capturing the film was. I couldn't have been 

happier!" he recalled. 

"A lot of technological advancements 

were done way back then, be it the 

action sequence, or the editing or the 

way the film was shot. Hence people 

enjoy Sholay even today," Sippy 

noted. 

Hema Malini, who played Basanti, 

said: "Before we started shooting, I was 

told that there is a dance sequence where my 

character would be dancing on glass on a rough 

mountain. 

"The shoot took place over the month of April 

when it is extremely hot. I remember Ramesh ji 

being very particular about it, but that sequence 

went on to become an epic." 

Dev Patel: My love affair with India 

started with 'Slumdog Millionaire' 

India celebrates its 74th Independence 

Day, Slumdog Millionaire fame Dev Patel 

recalled how his affair with the country 

began while shooting for the film. 

"I had been to India a couple of times as 

a child but my real exposure to the country 

happened when I shot for'Slumdog Millionaire. 

My love affair with India started while working 

on the film. I did not understand Indian culture 

properly while growing up in London. I feel 

blessed that through Slumdog Millionaire I got 

the opportunity to witness India's beauty and its 

people in a detailed way," Dev said. 

British filmmaker Danny Boyle's 2008 film, 

Slumdog Millionaire, casts Dev in the title 

role, recounting the travails of an orphan who 

grows up in the slums of Mumbai and uses his 

common sense and general awareness to win 

the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A 

Millionaire?" The global hit won eight Oscars 

and helped Dev earn a name for himself. 

"Slumdog Millionaire changed my life in 

many ways. There were not many roles for us 

in the West that time. I think what it did for me 

is what it also does for the industry. Winning 

several Oscars was a big thing. I think there 

was a tectonic plate that shifted, which was 

incredible. It gave me exposure to a big world 

out there and started my obsession with India," 

he shared. 

anymore -- even though I never played the 

main hero except in a couple of films," he said. 

Chunky mostly worked in films that had several 

actors, and he was cast as one of the many 

leads. "I was always in multistarrer films and 

I was one of the lead actors, but when I made 

a conscious effort to get back into characters, I 

realised how enjoyable it is to play characters. 

There is no pressure on you. Once you get into 

that character, it becomes you." Abhay 2, an 

eight-episode series, marks the return of Kunal 

Kemmu as an investigative officer who has a 

Jiah Khan's mother 

calls Mahesh Bhatt 

mouthpiece of 

Bollywood mafia 

Rabia Khan, mother of late actress 

Jiah Khan, says filmmaker Mahesh 

Bhatt is a mouthpiece of Bollywood 

mafia. She has also claimed that Bhatt once 

threatened her. 

Jiah was found dead at her Mumbai 

residence in June 2013. Her family accused 

Sooraj Pancholi, Jiah's then boyfriend, for 

her death. 

About Jiah being declared depressed, 

Rabia told India Today Television: "Who 

said it? Except Mahesh Bhatt? At my 

daughter's funeral, he came to me and said 

that Jiah was depressed. I said, 'Excuse me 

sir. She was never depressed.' 

He told me, 'Tum chup ho jaao varna 

tumhe bhi injection deke sula denge' (You 

shut up, else you too will be put to sleep with 

an injection)." 

Earlier, Rabia had shared a post on social 

media demanding a CBI probe into the 

ongoing Sushant Singh Rajput death case. 

Talking about Mahesh Bhatt being vocal 

about Sushant's mental health, she said: "He 

is a mouthpiece of Bollywood mafia. He 

knows nothing. 

He is so pathetic that I have no words 

to express. He was intimidating when my 

daughter worked for him at the age of 16. 

He told me to leave her alone. 

How could I leave her alone? I will speak 

for justice. I will tell the world what these 

people are." 

Dev, who has shot several films in India 

since then, is eagerly waiting to shoot again in 

the country for his next film. 

"I was actually in India just before things got 

really crazy with the coronavirus. I was about 

to shoot a film in India. 

" I really would love to be in India when 

the borders open up again and it becomes safe 

for everyone to travel, especially for the film 

crew," he added. 

Dev has recently donned the hat of narrator 

for the National Geographic series "India From 

Above", which showcases unique stories from 

India from an aerial perspective. The two-part 

series uses drone cameras to let people see the 

country's geographical, cultural, technological 

and historical aspects from the aerial view. 

Chunky Panday: In '80s and '90s, heroes couldn't dream of doing negative roles 

knack for solving 

crimes by 

thinking like 

the offender. 

Directed 

by Ken 

Ghosh, the 

show will 

premiere 

on Zee5 on 

August 14.


FEATURES 19 

21August – 27 August 2020 | By Manisha Koushik 

ARIES (MAR 21-APR 20) 

This is the right time to spell out your ideas, if you 

want them implemented. You may not have much 

to do at office, since you will either delegate your 

tasks to someone else or sidestep them! Care needs 

to be exercised on the academic front. You will 

need to be careful with your money, as spending it 

on frivolous things cannot be ruled out. Someone’s 

insistence on something on the home front may 

make you relent. Lucky No.:22 / Lucky Colour: Sky Blue 

TAURUS (APR 21-MAY 20) 

A popular location is likely to be enjoyed by some. 

You spend well, but you earn well too, so expect this 

happy situation to persist on the financial front. An 

old ailment is likely to disappear, as you start taking 

the required precautions. Leaning too heavily on 

luck is a formula for disaster, so remember that on 

the academic front. Mental pressure at work may 

increase for some. It may become difficult to endure the idiosyncrasies 

of lover. Lucky No.:4 / Lucky Colour: Dark Slate Grey 

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUN 21) 

You need to have some balance, so stop oscillating 

from one extreme to the other. Some work may 

come up and dash your hopes of enjoying the 

week, but you will manage to wriggle out of it! 

Shopping will be fun, but keep a tab on spending, 

as chances of going overboard look real. Give a 

more professional look to your outfit, if you want 

to attract clients. You are likely to double your 

efforts on the academic front. Lucky No.:1 / Lucky Colour: Light 

Yellow 

CANCER (JUN 22-JUL 20) 

Maintaining secrecy over a matter with those 

around may not be the best course of action, so give 

it a rethink. Romance beckons you and how! But 

in your anticipation don’t cross the line as you can 

get into an embarrassing situation. You are likely to 

remain strong on the academic front and be able to 

take the competition head on. Your helpful nature 

will be appreciated and help boost your image on 

the social front. Lucky No.: 4 / Lucky Colour: Lavender 

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 leave something unattended at work and 

become answerable for it, so take care. Nervousness 

cannot be ruled out for those meeting lover for the 

first time. Carry adequate cash for a transaction as 

you may need it. Your attempts to infuse fun and 

gaiety to make a celebration lively may meet with 

partial success. Those ailing for long may take 

some more time to recover totally, but recover they 

will. A pat on the back awaits some. Lucky No.:18 / Lucky Colour: 

Saffron 

VIRGO (AUG 23-SEP 23) 

This is an excellent time for you to invest, as you 

are likely to get fantastic returns. You are likely to 

fare well on the academic front, irrespective of how 

you have prepared. Your efforts on the home front 

will be lauded by all. Networking is likely to get 

you places on the social front. Chances of finding 

an expensive item look bright. Taking up a fitness 

course is on the cards and will prove highly beneficial. Lucky No.:1 / 

Lucky Colour: Light Brown 

LIBRA (SEP 24-OCT 23) 

You may have to seek alternatives, if you are unable 

to accomplish something at work. Efforts on the 

academic front put in now will pay rich dividends 

later. You are likely to benefit immensely by making 

health your priority. Despite rising expenses, you 

will be able to remain fairly well off financially. You 

will feel loved by those around you. On the social 

front, it is better to accept your mistakes, than defend them and be 

labelled stupid! Lucky No.: 8 / Lucky Colour: Violet 

SCORPIO (OCT 24-NOV 22) 

Someone may go out of his or her way to help you 

out. You can remain in wonderment at your good 

fortune ! There is every possibility of securing 

a position or achieving the unexpected on the 

academic front. Consistency and performance on 

the professional front is likely to take you places. 

Love can happen at the oddest of places and you 

are likely to realise it soon! Financial worries 

become a thing of the past. Lucky No.: 1 / Lucky Colour: Light 

Brown 

SAGITTARIUS (NOV 23-DEC 21) 

An impending expenditure may seem way beyond 

your pocket, but you will be able to tackle it 

somehow. Much appreciation is in store for you 

on the social front for something that you have 

achieved. If you are in love, you can expect a most 

fulfilling time with your beloved. Wriggling out 

of a job that entails travel will be in your interest. 

Street food can have serious consequences on your health, so desist. 

Lucky No.:15 / Lucky Colour: Grey 

CAPRICORN (DEC 22-JAN 21) 

You may be given the go ahead for venturing into something new. Giving 

quality time to family is indicated in this week, so 

expect a highly rewarding time. Some of you may 

decide to take your romance to the next level. A 

trip with friends will not only be exciting, but 

refreshing too. Something new may be procured 

for the house. Easing off on the academic front is 

possible, so it is time to tighten your belt. Lucky 

No.:7 / Lucky Colour: Pink 

AQUARIUS (JAN 22-FEB 19) 

YYou just need to give time for things to settle down on their own. 

Your efforts on the social front will need a push 

for things to work out. Good time management 

will hold you in good stead on the academic front. 

Avoid any kind of argument, as it may go against 

you. Someone is trying hard to highlight your 

shortcomings on the professional front. Money 

may become a problem. You are likely to enjoy 

good health. Lucky No.:11 / Lucky Colour: 

Yellow 

Pisces (Feb 20-Mar 20) 

Keep track of whatever resources you have at your 

disposal, as you may need them at a later date. You 

may take steps to improve your health. A short break 

from the routine will help you unwind. Restlessness 

needs to be guarded against on the academic front. 

If there is something pending at work, it will be in 

your interest to complete it the soonest. You may 

resent someone’s ways in the family, but it is best to ignore. Lucky 

No.:6 / Lucky Colour: Chocolate 

CROSSWORD FreeDailyCrosswords.com 

NO: 60 

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

I) Diamond weight 

6) One of the Three Bears 

10) Chutzpa 

14) Linguist's concern 

15) Old orchard spray 

16) Succulent plant 

1 7) What a witch might do 

20) _ chi ch'uan 

21) Skirt feature 

22) T-bones 

23) Keats title opening 

25) Freedom from difficulty 

26) Well-qualified 

28) Striking scene 

32) Seems imminent 

34) British blue blood 

35) Tennis redo 

38) Steppenwolf classic 

WHEE! 

14 

17 

20 

32 

38 

2 

BREAK TIME 

2 3 4 5 7 

42) Where supper is slop 

43) In need of a shampoo 

44) Nettle rash 

45) Delicateness 

48) Red coin? 

49) Actor's handful 

51) Word with "lock" or 

"barrier" 

53) Like the North Pole 

55) Norwegian city 

56) Something to pitch 

59) Endure difficulties 

62) Experiencing jitters 

63) Suspicious of 

64) Full complement of Wise 

Men 

65) Tiger's pegs 

66) Squirrel away 

67) _ Hall University 

8 9 

Dennis E. Mitchell 

11 12 13 

May 10th 

DOWN 

I) Terse 

2) Where Myanmar is 

3) Branch of medical science 

4) Add years 

5) Rib 

6) Boater's haven 

7) Oodles 

8) Big name in communism 

9) They're taken up in war 

10) French pastry 

11) Blotter entry 

12) English thinker John 

13) Albanian coins 

18) Use absorbent paper 

19) Cat quality 

24) Prefix meaning "half' 

26) Charitable offerings 

27) Gravy container 

29) Green gem 

30) Place for a computer 

31) Literary "before" 

33) Zodiac sign 

35) Flowerless plant 

36) Garden of good and Eve? 

37) Midterm, e.g. 

39) Espionage grp. 

40) "Rumble in the Jungle" victor 

41) Law feared by the fugitive financier 

45) Long-in-the-tooth types 

46) Boob tube offering 

47) Eli's school 

49) Joy companion 

50) Long narrow crest 

52) Appointments 

53) Not have peace of mind 

54) Some pop groups 

55) Germany's von Bismarck 

57) Cookie brand 

58) A sign of a kind 

60) Nitro's cousin 

61) An article 

ANSWERS CROSSWORD NO: 60 

FreeDailyCrosswords.com 

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

I) Diamond weight 

6) One of the Three Bears 

10) Chutzpa 

14) Linguist's concern 

15) Old orchard spray 

16) Succulent plant 

1 7) What a witch might do 

20) _ chi ch'uan 

21) Skirt feature 

22) T-bones 

23) Keats title opening 

25) Freedom from difficulty 

26) Well-qualified 

28) Striking scene 

32) Seems imminent 

34) British blue blood 

35) Tennis redo 

38) Steppenwolf classic 

WHEE! 

1 

c 

2 A 3R 4A 

S T 

1 

tJ s 

1 

'" 

I 

2 A 

2i l L E 

3l 0 0 M 1; 

3ftn A G 

!; T y 

HITORI NO: 60 

I 

42) Where supper is slop 

43) In need of a shampoo 

44) Nettle rash 

45) Delicateness 

48) Red coin? 

49) Actor's handful 

51) Word with "lock" or 

"barrier" 

53) Like the North Pole 

55) Norwegian city 

56) Something to pitch 

59) Endure difficulties 

62) Experiencing jitters 

63) Suspicious of 

64) Full complement of Wise 

Men 

65) Tiger's pegs 

66) Squirrel away 

67) _ Hall University 

A 

Dennis E. Mitchell 

l; 1 A 1 l 1 l 

L 0 E 

I C 

I D E 

I V E s 

RM 

H R E E 

67S E T ON 

May 10th 

DOWN 

I) Terse 

2) Where Myanmar is 

3) Branch of medical science 

4) Add years 

5) Rib 

6) Boater's haven 

7) Oodles 

8) Big name in communism 

9) They're taken up in war 

10) French pastry 

11) Blotter entry 

12) English thinker John 

13) Albanian coins 

18) Use absorbent paper 

19) Cat quality 

24) Prefix meaning "half' 

26) Charitable offerings 

27) Gravy container 

29) Green gem 

30) Place for a computer 

31) Literary "before" 

33) Zodiac sign 

35) Flowerless plant 

36) Garden of good and Eve? 

37) Midterm, e.g. 

39) Espionage grp. 

40) "Rumble in the Jungle" victor 

41) Law feared by the fugitive financier 

45) Long-in-the-tooth types 

46) Boob tube offering 

47) Eli's school 

49) Joy companion 

50) Long narrow crest 

52) Appointments 

53) Not have peace of mind 

54) Some pop groups 

55) Germany's von Bismarck 

57) Cookie brand 

58) A sign of a kind 

60) Nitro's cousin 

61) An article 

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). 

SUDOKU SOLUSIONS AND ANSWERS NO: 60 

59 

62 

64 

65 

67 

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE 

QUESTIONS AND 

ANSWERS 

1. What is the capital city of Australia? Canberra 

2. Which US state was Donald Trump born in? New York 

3. If you completed the Three Peaks challenge, which three 

UK mountains would you have climbed? Ben Nevis, 

Snowdon, Scafell Pike 

4. Which UK city is situated further west – Bristol or 

Edinburgh? Edinburgh 

5. How many countries are there in the region of Europe? 

(Recognised by the United Nations) 44 

6. What is the capital of Finland? Helsinki 

7. What is the currency of Vietnam? Vietnamese dong 

8. What language is spoken in Brazil? Portuguese 

9. What do the French call the English Channel? la Manche 

10. How many permanent members are there on the 

UN security council? Five: China, France, Russian 

Federation, United Kingdom, United States 

11. How many notes are there in a musical scale? 7 

12. What temperature centigrade does water boil at? 100 

degrees centigrade 

13. What company is also the name of one of the longest 

rivers in the world? Amazon 

14. What in the animal kingdom is a doe? A female deer 

15. What is the tallest mountain in the world? Mount Everest 

16. How many centimetres in a metre. 100 

17. What language is spoken in Norway? Norwegian 

18. What is the busiest airport in Britain called? London 

Heathrow 

19. Who is next in line to the British throne after Queen 

Elizabeth II. Prince Charles 

20. What number is a baker’s dozen? 13

The Indian Weekender, Friday 21 August 2020

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