Category: PIO’s

MasterChef’s Sashi Cheliah gears up to launch Pandan Club in Chennai

Sashi was the winner of MasterChef Australia Season 10. This will be his first restaurant in India, in T Nagar, serving Peranakan cuisine and lemongrass cocktails

Police officer turned MasterChef contestant turned chef turned restaurateur Sashi Cheliah seems apologetic about his requirements for his first restaurant in India. “The thing is, we need professional chefs for this project,” he says, over filter coffee at the Leela Palace lobby, glittering with chandeliers and fragrant with vases of marigolds.

In Chennai with World On A Plate, Sashi is relaxing after cooking seven-course degustation menus, two nights in a row, for completely sold-out dinners at The Leela Palace. Then, true to form, the Singapore-born, Adelaide-based chef headed straight from the five-star kitchen to Chennai’s popular Erode Amman Mess for his own dinner. “It was fantastic,” he says, “When it comes to flavour there are so many great places to eat in this city.”

With roots in Tamil Nadu, including grandparents who came from Madurai, he has chosen to launch his restaurant, Pandan Club, in Chennai. A post on his Instagram profile, which has 1,29,000 followers, announcing openings for kitchen personnel resulted in a storm of resumes: many from fans and amateur cooks.

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Lisa Sthalekar to be first woman president of international cricketers’ association

Lisa Sthalekar, who played for Australia from 2001 to 2013, replaces Vikram Solanki as president of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations

Former Australia international Lisa Sthalekar is the first woman appointed president of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations.

Sthalekar, who played for the Australian women’s team from 2001 to 2013 before becoming a broadcast commentator, has replaced Vikram Solanki as president, FICA announced Tuesday.

‘New phase of the game’

“We are entering a new phase of the game which covers more cricket than ever before for our male and female players,” the 42-year-old Sthalekar said in a statement. “More countries are playing the game, which demonstrates that cricket is certainly becoming a global game.

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IMF Managing Director Appoints Krishna Srinivasan as Director of the Asia and Pacific Department

Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced today her intention to appoint Krishna Srinivasan as Director of the Asia and Pacific Department (APD). Mr. Srinivasan’s appointment as APD Director becomes effective on June 22, 2022. He will succeed Changyong Rhee, whose retirement from the Fund was announced on March 23, 2022.

Mr. Srinivasan, an Indian national, has more than 27 years of Fund experience, starting in the Economist Program in 1994. He is currently a Deputy Director in APD, where he oversees the department’s surveillance work on a number of large and systemically important countries such as China and Korea, and smaller states in the Pacific such as Fiji and Vanuatu. He also oversees APD’s work on key ASEAN countries, namely Malaysia and Singapore, as well-advanced economies, including Australia and New Zealand. During the Global Financial Crisis, while in the Research Department (RES), Mr. Srinivasan led the Fund’s work on the G20 including the preparation of analytical notes for the meetings of the G20 Ministers and Leaders.

“Krishna is a highly regarded member of our Fund family and has made many important and innovative contributions to our mission throughout his career at the Fund. His appointment to the Director position is a culmination of his superior record of leadership across a wide range of departments, including African Department (AFR), European Department (EUR), Monetary and Capital Market Department (MCM), RES, Strategy, Policy and Review Department (SPR), and West Hemisphere Department (WHD). This range of work and experiences is reflective of his career during which he has worked on the full spectrum of the Fund’s membership from low-income countries, to emerging markets, and advanced economies,” said Ms. Georgieva.

Prior to joining the Fund, Mr. Srinivasan was an Assistant Professor of Economics and International Finance at Indiana-Purdue University and a consultant at the World Bank in DC and the Center for Policy Research and Planning Commission in New Delhi. His wide research on Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and on climate and other economic and development issues has appeared in books, academic journals, and media publications.

Mr. Srinivasan holds a PhD (Honors) in Economics from Indiana University, a Master’s in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics, and a Bachelor’s (Honors) in Economics from the University of Delhi.

imf.org

Kodagu Origin Doctor To Head American Academy Of Audiology

Having studied at AIISH Mysuru, Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda becomes the first Indian-American to occupy the top post.

Dr. Bopanna Ballachanda is a Professor (Adjunct) at Texas Tech Health Sciences and Chief Audiology Officer at National Hearing and Balance centres in Albuquerque, New Mexico. With more than 30 years of experience, he is now the President-Elect of the American Academy of Audiology (AAA) and he will have a three-year term from October 1, 2022.

Hailing from Kodagu and coming from a humble background, he did his B.Sc. in Speech and Hearing from the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing (AIISH – 1970 batch), then under the University of Mysore. By becoming the first person of colour to head AAA, Dr. Bopanna has become a role model for many.

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Guterres appoints ex-diplomat of India Amandeep Sing Gill as technology envoy

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday appointed former Indian diplomat Amandeep Singh Gill as his envoy on technology to coordinate programmes for international digital cooperation.

Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announced the appointment calling Gill a “thought leader on digital technology”.

Gill, who graduated from the Panjab University in Chandigarh in BTech in electronics, has a doctorate in nuclear learning in multilateral forums from the King’s College in London.

According to the UN, the envoy on technology “coordinates the implementation of the Secretary-General’s roadmap on digital cooperation and will advance work towards the global digital compact proposed in the common agenda, in close consultation with the member states, technology industry, private companies, civil society, and other stakeholders”.

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Chef Vikas Khanna first Indian to make Gazette Review’s global top 10

Indian celebrity chef Vikas Khanna was ranked sixth in Gazette Review’s rankings of the top 10 global chefs. The list is topped by Gordon Ramsay.

Michelin star celebrity chef Vikas Khanna has been ranked among the top 10 global chefs in the world by Gazette Review, becoming the only Indian chef who has made it to the prestigious list. Gazette Review ranked Mr. Khanna sixth, with British chef Gordon Ramsay leading the list.

The 50-year-old Amritsar-born and New York-based Khanna is known for taking Indian cuisine across the globe and on the world food map. He is the only Indian origin chef who has made it to the list along with great names in the industry.

Mr. Khanna, who also wears other caps including that of being a writer, filmmaker and philanthropist, took to social media on Tuesday and shared his joy on being listed.

In elite company

Others on the list include Anthony Bourdain, Paul Bocuse, Alain Ducasse, Emeril Lagasse, Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal, Wolfgang Puck and Jamie Oliver.

Mr. Khanna is one of the first Indian chefs to receive international acclaim. Since 2011, his main restaurant Junoon in New York City has received a Michelin star, a hallmark of fine dining.

Mr. Khanna has served food to the former U. S. president Barack Obama, the Dalai Lama, Pope Francis, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and many other world leaders and celebrities.

Mr. Khanna is known for creating the most expensive cookbook in the world. From 2011, Khanna hosted five seasons of Master Chef India, a series based on the original British version.

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** From Jharkhand to Singapore, Chandradev Sharma’s fairytale journey . Restaurant Entrepreneur.

Chandradev shared his story with IANS. He said that because of his family’s poor financial condition, he started distributing newspapers at the age of 15-16. In those days the undeclared rule of the Maoists was prevailing in their village and the surrounding areas. He used to give news and information of the area to a newspaper office in Hazaribagh district headquarters. Due to this people also started recognising him as a reporter in the rural areas.

During the year and a half, the company’s director Mahadevan got very impressed with Chandradev’s dedication, hard work and honesty. In those days, the company decided to open a restaurant in Singapore. Mahadevan sent some people, including Chandradev to Singapore. There also, Chandradev started working as a waiter, but his salary increased to Rs 30,000. After a few months, seeing his efficiency, he was made the manager of the restaurant.

Impressed by his behaviour, a frequent customer of the restaurant offered Chandradev to open a new restaurant in partnership. By that time Chandradev had saved about Rs 3 lakh from his salary money. The estimated cost of opening the restaurant was Rs 50 lakh. The person offering the partnership said that even if he invests Rs 6 lakh, he will make him a partner in the restaurant. Chandradev raised the money by borrowing from friends and then opened the first restaurant — Tandoori Culture — in partnership in 2011.

Chandradev did not leave the job of Oriental Cuisine even after opening his restaurant. He worked there during the day and at his restaurant at night. Within a year, his restaurant got established and made a profit of about Rs 50 lakh.

In 2013, another restaurant with a capacity of 70 people with the same name was opened by him on a partnership basis. Chandradev said that as per the rules of Singapore, a person who is not a citizen there is only allowed to do business in partnership with a local citizen.

In the year 2020, on February 28 and 29, on two consecutive days, he opened two different restaurants, namely ‘Tandoori Zaika’ and ‘Salaam Mumbai’.

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** Gautam Adani, advocate Karuna Nundy, jailed activist Khurram Parvez in TIME’s 100 most influential list

Apart from them, Indian American Bela Bajaria, the head of Global TV at OTT platform, Netflix, is also part of TIME’s list.

TIME magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people of 2022 includes billionaire Gautam Adani, advocate Karuna Nundy, who has been championing the cause of the criminalisation of marital rape in India, and human rights activist Khurram Parvez, who is currently in jail as part of an investigation in a terror-funding case in Kashmir.

Apart from them, Indian American Bela Bajaria, the head of Global TV at OTT platform, Netflix, is also part of TIME’s list.

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** ‘India-Japan are natural partners’: PM Narendra Modi meets Indian diaspora  in Tokyo

Addressing the Indian community here on the first day of his two-day visit to Tokyo, Modi also said that India’s relationship with Japan is of spirituality, of cooperation and of belonging. “India and Japan are natural partners. Japan has played an important role in India’s development journey,” said Modi, who is visiting Tokyo at the invitation of his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida.

“Today’s world needs to follow the path shown by Lord Buddha. This is the way to save humanity from the challenges facing the world today, be it violence, anarchy, terrorism and climate change,” Modi said.

Noting that India has always found a solution no matter how big the problem is, Modi said that during coronavirus pandemic, there was an atmosphere of uncertainty, but even in that situation, India supplied ‘Made in India’ vaccines to crores of its citizens and also sent it to more than 100 countries.

“Whenever I visit Japan, I witness your affection. Many of you have settled in Japan for years and assimilated the Japanese culture. Still, the dedication toward Indian culture and language is ever-growing,” Modi told the Indian diaspora amid chats of slogans ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.

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** Man Of The Mat: Meet Siddharth Singh, India’s Brazilian-Jiu-Jitsu Champ

Everything was going well in Siddharth Singh’s life. After Doon School, Delhi University and University of St Andrews in Scotland, he got a well-paid job as regional business manager for Europe, the Middle-East and Africa with the Italian apparel brand Ellesse. It was a job that came with plenty of travel and a house at Hampstead Heath in London.

Yet Singh was restless. He liked his work, but what he really lived for happened after office hours, when he changed out of his suit and into shorts; stepped out of formal shoes and onto the mat barefoot.

Singh was introduced to combat sports at age 12, in boarding school, where he picked boxing. While studying in Scotland, he switched to Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing). Now, all day, he itched to get to his gym and lose himself in training.

Singh eventually quit the cushy career at 26, became a mixed-martial-arts (MMA) specialist, started a chain of training centres. And now, at 35, is India’s only elite-level international medallist in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). It all began in London, when a slim, lithe woman knocked him out.

globalcirculate.com