Latest news with #Dhariwal
Mint
29-05-2025
- Mint
Spirited Picks: What India's alcobev insiders buy when they travel
Peak travel season is upon us. People you know, or barely know, are putting out shiny Stories from all over. Chances are your bags, too, are packed. And as a spirits enthusiast, you're probably wondering what bottles to snag — at Duty Free or your destination. If that's indeed the case, we've got reccos from some of the most tuned-in names in India's alcobev ecosystem. As owner of Pass Code Hospitality, which runs 20 restaurants and bars across the country, and co-founder of homegrown agave brand Maya Pistola Agavepura, Rakshay Dhariwal is always sampling new stuff — and recco-ing spirits. The latest addition to his sizeable tequila collection is a sotol from Flor del Desierto, picked up in Thailand. Sotol is a traditional Mexican spirit, like mezcal or tequila, but distilled from dasylirion, a spiny, desert-dwelling plant in the asparagus family. 'This one's a pechuga-style sotol,' says Dhariwal, referring to a rare distillation method in which meat, typically chicken or turkey breast, is added to the still during a final distillation, often alongside fruits and spices. It adds body and complexity, says Dhariwal. The 'Snake Pechuga' he bought includes rattlesnake meat in the distillate, along with local botanicals. 'It's got outstanding flavour and aroma,' he says. If a serpent in your drink feels like a step too far, he suggests the more conventional Fortaleza, a tequila he calls 'one of the smoothest I've ever had.' Flor del Desierto. Currently holidaying in Vietnam, Uday Balaji is all praise for Sampan Rum, an agricole-style rum made by Distillerie Indochine near Hoi An. 'It's made entirely from sugarcane juice and has this lovely fresh, floral character,' says the Coimbatore-based whisky educator. For those heading to Southeast Asia, he also recommends keeping an eye out for Glenglassaugh Portsoy, a coastal single malt from the Brown-Forman portfolio. 'I feel it's a much-overlooked gem,' says Balaji of the peaty dram. 'I've come across it at several duty-free outlets in the region, especially at Changi Airport and in the Philippines.' Also on his radar, if Europe happens this year, is Smogen, a bold Swedish whisky. 'It holds its own against several Scottish single malts,' he says. Glenglassaugh Portsoy. Mayukh Hazarika's Cherrapunji is one of India's standout gins — smoky, rainwater-distilled in Meghalaya, and infused with botanicals from the North East, including second-flush tea from the Lushai Hills in Mizoram. But gin isn't the only thing Hazarika likes to sip after a long day. At times, he turns to Calvados or Armagnac. 'I've mostly picked up the Calvados Chateau du Breuil and Pays d'Auge, from Berlin, and they never disappoint.' The Chateau du Breuil, he says, is smooth and rounded; the Pays d'Auge, sharper and more structured. For Armagnac, he turns to Janneau, which is soft, slightly spiced, and always dependable. If you're in Holland, he recommends picking up Rutte, a 'benchmark' gin distilled at a 150-year-old facility in Dordrecht, about 100 km from Amsterdam. Rutte. Kasturi Banerjee's Maka Zai, launched in 2021, was one of India's first homegrown craft rums. Since then, the former banker has expanded her portfolio with Mesma, a limited-edition barrel-aged expression that leans on aromatic complexity. When she's travelling, Banerjee makes a point of seeking out local spirits, especially rums that experiment with indigenous ingredients. 'I look for flavoured rums, especially those using indigenous fruits or spices, and how distilleries are experimenting with not just traditional Asian crops like sugarcane, but also less common ingredients like cashew.' She is particularly fond of the agricole-style Samui Rum, which is distilled by the Magic Alambic Rum Distillery (La Rhumerie de Samui) on Koh Samui's quiet southwest coast. Dos Maderas Luxus, a rum aged in the Caribbean and then finished in casks that previously held 20-year-old Pedro Ximénez sherry in Jerez, Spain, is another favourite that she picked up in the UK. Her latest find is Rosemullion Honey Rum, from Frankfurt. Made in Cornwall, the rum is infused with local honey and herbs. Her whisky picks are rooted in Ireland, and she especially recommends Redbreast for its elegance and Connemara for its gentle peat. Redbreast. Vinayak Singh, co-founder, Dram Club As co-founder of Dram Club, a community for spirits lovers, Vinayak Singh often leads whisky tours to Scotland, and never returns without a bottle of Highland Park 18. 'It's consistently good… I have no idea why it's overlooked.' Another label that never fails to impress is Octomore. 'We recently had a tasting of the super heavily peated Octomore 9.3 — it was a big hit.' Both brands, especially the Highland Park, are often available at duty-free shops in Southeast Asia, says Singh. Highland Park 18.
Scottish Sun
25-05-2025
- Scottish Sun
BA cabin boss ‘is a serial sex attacker who assaulted women colleagues after boozing with them', a court has heard
The in-flight lead is on trial for a single attack on one — but a jury has heard from two others ASSAULT TRIAL BA cabin boss 'is a serial sex attacker who assaulted women colleagues after boozing with them', a court has heard Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BRITISH Airways cabin boss was a serial sex attacker who preyed on sleeping air stewardesses, a court has heard. Amardip 'Amo' Dhariwal, 54, allegedly assaulted three women colleagues in separate incidents after boozing with them, it was said. 1 Amardip 'Amo' Dhariwal, 54, allegedly assaulted three women colleagues in separate incidents after boozing with them Credit: Doug Seeburg The in-flight lead is on trial for a single attack on one — but a jury has heard from two others who say he raped them on foreign trips. Dhariwal, of Southall, West London, denies the allegations. The sexual assault took place in Bracknell, Berks, in May 2022, it was said. Dhariwal invited his alleged victim to his home for a catch-up over dinner at which they downed beer, wine and whisky. The woman, then engaged and now married, said she dozed off as they watched a film and woke to find Dhariwal touching her intimately. She pretended to be asleep before fleeing when he went to bed, she said. The woman described the meeting as a 'date' in a post and had referred to Dhariwal as her 'work husband'. He told cops: 'Anything that happened was consensual.' The jury heard Dhariwal allegedly raped a second colleague at his Singapore hotel room in March, 2020. She woke naked in his bed, she said, confused at how she got there and what had happened. When she confronted him on Facebook, Dhariwal, was said to have replied: 'You didn't say no in bed, hun.' Singapore cops investigated but took no further action and would not help British police, it was said. The other stewardess said she was assaulted while asleep and drunk in a hotel room Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2018. The trial resumes tomorrow at Reading crown court.
The Irish Sun
25-05-2025
- The Irish Sun
BA cabin boss ‘is a serial sex attacker who assaulted women colleagues after boozing with them', a court has heard
A BRITISH Airways cabin boss was a serial sex attacker who preyed on sleeping air stewardesses, a court has heard. 1 Amardip 'Amo' Dhariwal, 54, allegedly assaulted three women colleagues in separate incidents after boozing with them Credit: Doug Seeburg The in-flight lead is on trial for a single attack on one — but a jury has heard from two others who say he raped them on foreign trips. Dhariwal, of Southall, The sexual assault took place in Bracknell, Berks, in May 2022, it was said. Dhariwal invited his alleged victim to his home for a catch-up over dinner at which they downed beer, wine and whisky. Read More on UK News The woman, then engaged and now married, said she dozed off as they watched a film and woke to find Dhariwal touching her intimately. She pretended to be asleep before fleeing when he went to bed, she said. The woman described the meeting as a 'date' in a post and had referred to Dhariwal as her 'work husband'. He told cops: 'Anything that happened was consensual.' Most read in The Sun The jury heard Dhariwal allegedly raped a second colleague at his Singapore hotel room in March, 2020. She woke naked in his bed, she said, confused at how she got there and what had happened. When she confronted him on Facebook, Dhariwal, was said to have replied: 'You didn't say no in bed, hun.' Singapore cops investigated but took no further action and would not help British police, it was said. The other stewardess said she was assaulted while asleep and drunk in a hotel room The trial resumes tomorrow at Reading crown court.
Time of India
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Knew we were onto something meaningful but response blew us away: OpenAI's Dhariwal on Ghibli trend
Ghibli is the buzzword for today's tech age with millions using AI to convert photographs, cards and much else into instantly recognised images. Meet the man responsible - Prafulla Dhariwal , the force behind GPT-4o that took Ghibli-inspired AI art to the people. Dhariwal (30) admits he was truly blown away by the overwhelming response, especially from India. "We knew we were building something meaningful, but the scale of the response - especially from India - completely blew us away. Within weeks of launch, India became our fastest-growing market in the world for image generation. Globally, it resulted in the biggest growth surge in OpenAI's history," Dhariwal, the Head of Multimodal, OpenAI told PTI in an interview. The creativity coming out of India has been incredible, says Dhariwal, who did his schooling from Dr. Kalmadi Shamrao High School in Pune. His academic pursuits took him to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from where he graduated in 2017. He joined OpenAI in the summer of 2016 as an intern, and became a full time employee a year later. Play Video Play Skip Backward Skip Forward Mute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Happy in Shape Undo Dhariwal says life's journey is a testament that the path from Pune school to working on frontier AI is "absolutely possible" with persistence, humility, and a clear sense of purpose. From selfies to iconic photographs, users across India have embraced the 'Ghiblification' trend, making GPT-4o's image generator, a household name and marking a new - albeit controversial- chapter in AI-powered creativity. Live Events Last year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman lauded Dhariwal, saying GPT-4o would not have happened without his "vision, talent, conviction, and determination". Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories The Pune tech genius says the launch of image generation in GPT-4o has been "one of the most rewarding milestones" in his time at OpenAI, both technically ambitious and creatively energising. While in India last December for his wedding preparations, Dhariwal says he used the model to create design ideas for wedding card. Seeing something he and his team had built, become part of such a meaningful moment "was truly special", he recounts. "Our team of five spent nearly a year building 4o image generation from the ground up - with the goal of making image generation faster, sharper, and more intuitive overall," he said. In fact, OpenAI chief operating officer Brad Lightcap had penned a post on X earlier this month dubbing the first week for images in ChatGPT as "very crazy" with over 130 million users having generated 700 million plus images in a short span. India is now OpenAI's fastest growing ChatGPT market. Asked about the concerns around issues such as copyright and ethics, Dhariwal said the company's aim is to give users meaningful creative freedom while respecting artistic and legal boundaries. "We don't allow generations in the style of individual living artists, but do permit broader studio-inspired styles, which are legally permissible under copyright law-as style itself isn't copyright-protected. The Ghibli-style outputs people are generating are often original, fan-inspired creations, and we're seeing them used in joyful, culturally expressive ways," he said. As real-world use evolves, so do the company's policies, he said and added "we're continually learning and adapting". Looking ahead, OpenAI is "excited" about the potential for new kinds of collaboration with animation studios and artists to co-create authentic, licensed experiences, he added. Dhariwal says it has been humbling to help build something that's not just fun to use, but part of how people create and express themselves. "The creativity coming out of India has been incredible. People are using it to create family portraits, recreate Bollywood scenes, design wedding invitations, and even plan proposals. As a passionate cricket fan, seeing Sachin Tendulkar share an image generated with our tool was a surreal moment- it truly hit me then just how deeply and widely this innovation had resonated," he said. Dhariwal recounts that he and the team were not focused on any one particular style during research or training; and instead, aimed to build a flexible and capable system that could handle a wide range of visual prompts and aesthetics. The Ghibli-style look became one of the most loved outputs, but it was just one example of what the model could do, he points out. The famed techie says his parents are incredibly proud of his work on image generation in GPT-4o-especially after seeing the amazing response from India. "I grew up in a family that cared deeply about both learning and making a difference. So getting to work on cutting-edge AI that has the potential to reach and empower people at scale - it feels pretty special," he said. Dhariwal's message to young researchers, aspiring AI scientists, and India's youth: Stay curious, Keep learning, and be solution oriented. "To young researchers, especially in India, my message is simple. Adopt a growth mindset. Stay curious. Keep learning. Don't shy away from hard problems, even if they feel out of reach at first. Trust that you can grow into the person who can solve them," he said. AI is moving fast, and there's room for people from all backgrounds to contribute in meaningful ways, he says. Ten years from now, Dhariwal hopes to have played a role in building tools that truly empower people- whether they're students, teachers, designers, engineers or simply curious minds exploring new ideas. Especially in India, where there's immense untapped creativity and potential, the opportunity to make a real impact feels incredibly meaningful, he says. "If the tools we create can help someone work more efficiently, learn more intuitively, or express themselves in ways they never could before-that to me would be deeply fulfilling," he said.
