Category: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

** The journey of the Thoothukudi Macaron: From Italian nunneries to the Coromandel coast

The final Kucini Tale tells the story of the creolised macaron uniting the Coromandel and Canara coasts, Portuguese and Muslim traders, Arabs and Jesuits, Italy and France, and, finally, our elusive lovers.

When the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama disembarked near Calicut in 1498, he inaugurated a new phase in history. The sea routes were opened up, and the Dutch, French, Danes, and British soon followed. The coastal enclaves they founded became hubs of cultural exchange. Their economic potential attracted many kinds of people, including merchant communities, from outside and within India. ‘Creolisation’ resulted. New, unexpected cultural products sprang up from this interaction between different languages, different gods, different ways of living, and different ways of cooking and preparing food.

** Rapper Raftaar first Indian artiste to accept cryptocurrency as fees

Rapper Raftaar has become the first Indian artiste to accept cryptocurrency instead of actual currency as performance fee.

“I’ve always been an ardent admirer of blockchain technology. I’ve always wondered why artistes and managers alike haven’t explored the potential of this disruptive medium. Nevertheless, I’ve finally taken the baby steps in this direction and all the credit goes to my manager, Ankit Khanna for making this dream a reality for me,” said Raftaar.

** Aditya Kripalani’s ‘Not Today’ honoured at UK Asian Film Festival 2021

Indie filmmaker Aditya Kripalani’s film “Not Today” has been honoured at the recent UK Asian Film Festival. The film talking about suicide prevention has been awarded the Ray Of Hope Igniting Flame Commendation 2021.

The film starring Harsh Chhaya and Rucha Inamdar has also been officially selected for the Indian Film Festival of Stuttgart 2021.

** How India’s humble sweet lime became key to a competition-winning cocktail

Rohan Matmary, India winner of Diageo Reserve World Class 2021 discusses the ingredient and his preparation for global finals

Did you know India consumes over 54 million tonnes of sweet lime each year? But that the sweet lime can take a sophisticated beverage route was proven by mixologist Rohan Matmary’s cocktail, ‘Zest of Happiness’ that made him the India winner of Diageo Reserve World Class 2021 competition.

** This yoga mat is an eco-conscious tribute to Deepor Beel in Assam

The sturdy and slip-proof yoga mat named after the purple moorhen was created by six young women from Assam. Made from water hyacinths, it is naturally dyed, completely handwoven and biodegradable

Six women, belonging to the fishing community from Deepor Beel (a permanent freshwater lake in Guwahati, Assam), have worked together to create biodegradable and compostable yoga mats that reflect their community’s beliefs in biodiversity, conservation and cultural continuity.

** Ending period poverty wins her laurels

Amika George is the youngest of 1,129 persons named in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honour List for her campaign to ensure free menstrual products for students

On Saturday, 21-year-old Amika George was honoured as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to education.

** Indian-origin journalist wins Pulitzer Prize for exposing China’s vast infrastructure for detaining Muslims

Megha Rajagopalan from BuzzFeed News is among two Indian-origin journalists who won the U.S.’ top journalism award on Friday

Megha Rajagopalan, an Indian-origin journalist, along with two contributors has won the Pulitzer Prize for innovative investigative reports that exposed a vast infrastructure of prisons and mass internment camps secretly built by China for detaining hundreds of thousands of Muslims in its restive Xinjiang region.

Tampa Bay Times’ Neil Bedi won for local reporting. Ms. Bedi along with Kathleen McGrory has been awarded the prize for the series exposing a Sheriff’s Office initiative that used computer modelling to identify people believed to be future crime suspects. About 1,000 people were monitored under the programme, including children.

Mr. Bedi is an investigative reporter for the Tampa Bay Times

** BAFTA Breakthrough India: First among equals

International collaborations to new learnings, here’s what BAFTA Breakthrough India honourees Tanya Maniktala, Arun Karthick, Karthikeya Murthy, Sumit Purohit and Jay Pinak Oza are looking forward to

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced its first Breakthrough Initiative for India, by selecting 10 promising talents in film, television and gaming. Over the next year, these honourees will receive mentoring and global networking opportunities