Latest news with #Ode
Mint
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Mint
India's bars get creative with zero-proof drinks
How hard is it to find a good mocktail in a city like Mumbai? The answer is a struggle, as I inevitably learned. As someone who has always been a teetotaller, my biggest conundrum while dining out is to find a balanced, non-alcoholic drink. Most restaurants and bars tend to list the usual variety of tried and tested beverages like fresh lime soda, iced teas, virgin mojito or for the sake of nostalgia, pina colada—which get boring. With the introduction of zero-proof drinks and spirits as well as the rise of the 'sober curious", especially amongst Gen Z, one would think that restaurants and bars would be doing more. And while many are, with a significant shift towards organic ingredients and innovative flavour profiles, are they actually good enough to draw customers back? Also read: The most recommended books on spirits and cocktails Recently, I enjoyed a non-alcoholic cocktail at Ode, a European-forward restaurant in Mumbai. The drink, Apro Nuts, was well-balanced with the use of coconut water as the base, along with apricot brine, pickled apricot for a touch of tartness, and rosemary and lime to balance out the sweetness. It got me thinking about what establishments are doing to cater to sober drinkers. At Pandan Club, a Peranakan-inspired restobar in Chennai, restaurateur and partner Manoj Padmanaban shares how they've crafted their zero-proof programme, called 'zero fake", with the intention of flipping the script on mocktails. 'Most mocktail menus read like they've been written by a reluctant intern. Our menu isn't a footnote and we wanted to change that perception," he says, referring to some of their creations like nitro-infused zero-proof stout or a coconut toddy-inspired zero-proof champagne. Their 0% stout features kaya jam and pandan. Jamun and grapes are vinified for the 0% rosé, while ingredients like fennel and yuzu feature in their 0% sake. Padmanaban says there is now an uptick in places embracing fermentation, homemade tinctures, and botanical infusions for mocktails. At Masque, in Mumbai, seasonality is one of the mainstays of the beverage programme, which extends to non-alcoholic pairings. Head mixologist Ankush Gamre says they usually ask guests their flavour preference and then build the drink from there. 'Currently, a summer favourite is mango kombucha, where we use mango peel trimmings," he says. During the monsoon, the restaurant switches to ingredients like roselle and mint, and also makes batches of tepache, a Mexican fermented drink using pineapple skin. 'We get the best variety of pineapples from July to September, and come winter, we try to introduce drinks with ingredients like pomelo," he says. 'Increasingly, people are keen to know about the ingredients going into their drinks. They even tell us how they'd like us to sweeten them with agave nectar, honey, stevia or other sweeteners." Also read: Will zero-proof cocktails outrun the G&T? Bar and beverage consultant Nitin Tewari points out that one broad trend that they're seeing with zero-proof beverages is that restaurants and bars are making the effort to use regional-inspired ingredients, and create in-house sodas. 'To be fair, as a country we have always had a penchant for seasonal drinks like aam panna, shikanji, chaa, and sharbats. People often see value in ordering these, versus just lemonades and iced teas when dining out," he says. 'We're also seeing the use of exotic ingredients, such as Thai flavours like kaffir lime, galangal and lemongrass." Gurugram-based regional Indian restaurant, Bhawan, makes its own sharbat sodas in flavours like cucumber, mint and bela, and litchi and rose. Similarly, at the Thai restaurant Banng in Gurugram, zero-proof cocktails feature vibrant flavour profiles such as pink guava, tom yum broth, kaffir lime and salted plum water, in a conscious effort to cater to the growing number of sober drinkers. According to Tewari, a majority of restaurants don't realise the potential to make more profits off non-alcoholic drinks. 'After spending a significant chunk on acquiring liquor licenses, cocktails and spirits become one of the primary products for them to push out, leaving little scope for non-alcoholic beverages," he explains. On average, five out of 100 such restaurants that are paying close attention to their zero-proof menus, he adds. For all the efforts to appease the 'sober curious" or those who crave the flavour of their favourite spirit—minus the buzz, the numbers are still very minuscule. Not to mention, the flavours don't appeal to all. For a teetotaller like me, who has no reference point for a spirit like gin or tequila, such menus often tend to go unnoticed. Tewari notes that there is still not much demand for non-alcoholic wines and beers across the country, explaining the lack of such products. For one, the percentage of such drinkers is still very small. He also points out how mostly its alcobev brands that are producing such products, as a means for surrogate advertising. Sana Bector Parwanda, co-founder of Delhi-based Zoet Desserts, says she consciously started moving away from alcoholic drinks a few years ago. One of her biggest frustrations was the lack of sugar-free mocktails. 'I'm someone who would rather eat my sugar than drink it, so I end up ordering tonic water as a safe choice." She adds that while travelling to other countries, non-alcoholic aperitifs with evolved flavour profiles are quite enjoyable, and even non-alcoholic wines and beers, which are tougher to find in India. Gamre is optimistic about the future of zero-proof menus. 'The fact that zero-proof beverages are finding a place on bar menus is pointing to a much bigger demand than we acknowledge," he says. 'Creating these drinks is also like writing a new flavour book each time, as guests don't want to settle for a concoction that tastes like a blend of juices they can easily make at home." Tewari adds that even a platform like 30 Best Bars India is acknowledging zero-proof drinks with the addition of an award category titled 'Best non-alcoholic cocktail menu" in 2023. The winners include Pandan Club in Chennai and Bandra Born in Mumbai. Is it a sign that zero-proof drinks will finally see the evolution it deserves? Arzoo Dina is a Mumbai-based food and travel writer. Also read: Why classic cocktails will never go out of style
Scottish Sun
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Big money app with 600,000 customers issues warning ahead of introducing new fee in DAYS
We explain how you can avoid the fee TAKE A HIKE Big money app with 600,000 customers issues warning ahead of introducing new fee in DAYS A BIG money app with 600,000 customers has issued a warning ahead of introducing a new fee in days. Hyperjar is a free money management app and prepaid debit Mastercard designed for both adults and children aged six and above. 1 The app will begin charging customers a fee Credit: HYPERJAR But the firm will soon begin charging a £3 monthly fee to customers who have not used their account for more than 12 months. Customers were informed in an email which read: "It costs money to maintain a HyperJar account and so it doesn't make sense for either us or our customers if it's not being used and enjoyed. "We want to encourage everyone to use HyperJar regularly for budgeting, reaching their financial goals, and making their money go further." This fee will be automatically deducted from your HyperJar balance if your account remains inactive for 12 months or longer. It added that it would begin charging inactive customers from June 3. For example, if there has been no activity since June 2 2024, Hyperjar will take a £3 fee from the account balance on June 3 2025. Customers have just under two weeks to prevent being charged, and there are steps to avoid being caught out. Just using your account will prevent you from being charged. You can send or receive money from another bank or HyperJar account. Transferring money between your HyperJar "jars" will also prevent the fee. Scottish firm goes bust after plunging into administration Making a purchase with your HyperJar card or buying a voucher through the app are other ways to avoid the charge. Remember, to avoid being charged, you need to use your HyperJar account at least once every 12 months. However, if customers prefer to close their account rather than keep it, this can be done by tapping the Profile tab and then heading to profile security to close the account. What does HyperJar offer? HyperJar is a free money management app and prepaid debit Mastercard designed for both adults and children aged six and above. It functions as a digital "jam jar" budgeting system, allowing users to divide their money into separate "jars" for specific spending categories like groceries, holidays, or bills. Users can pay directly from these jars using the linked HyperJar card. The app also offers features such as shared expenses, bill splitting with other HyperJar users, and cashback rewards of up to 20% with selected retailers through "Cashback Vouchers". Kids' Cards are available, offering parents control over children's spending with features like spending limits and instant notifications. HyperJar boasts no fees for overseas spending, using Mastercard's exchange rate. The app also provides budgeting tools, spending controls, and bank-grade security. If you are on the hunt for alternatives, Tesco Clubcard Pay+ is a fee-free option earning Clubcard points. Ode offers cashback at various retailers for those in charity, education, or healthcare, with a £2.99 annual fee after the first year.
Borneo Post
15-05-2025
- General
- Borneo Post
China taps digital tech to save thousand-year-old cliff inscriptions
People visit Wuxi's digital museum in Yongzhou City, central China's Hunan Province on Dec 6, 2024. – Xinhua photo CHANGSHA (May 16): On a cliffside in southern China, ancient inscriptions weathered by more than 1,000 years are being rediscovered – not with chisels, but with code. The Wuxi Stele Forest in Yongzhou, Hunan Province, is one of China's most remarkable open-air repositories of carved texts. Over 500 inscriptions, etched into cliff faces and stone tablets from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) through the early 20th century, bear witness to centuries of poetry, politics, and devotion to the art of the written word. At the heart of the site stands the inscription of the 'Da Tang Zhong Xing Song' (literally 'Ode to the Restoration of the Great Tang Dynasty'), originally composed in 761 by poet Yuan Jie. At Yuan's invitation, master calligrapher Yan Zhenqing transcribed the text in 771 for engraving on the cliff face. The result – celebrated for its brilliant prose, masterful calligraphy, and the exceptional quality of the cliff stone – has been revered for centuries as an example of the 'Three Perfections' among cliff inscriptions. That inscription proved catalytic. For more than a millennium, inspired by Wuxi's dramatic scenery and the cultural gravity of the Ode, scholars, poets and officials continued to leave behind verse and commentary carved into the surrounding rock. Together, they created a layered archive of Chinese intellectual and aesthetic history. But Wuxi's stone heritage is under threat. After centuries of exposure to wind, rain and biological erosion, many of the inscriptions have faded into near invisibility. For conservators, the task to preserve what remains and recover what has already slipped from sight has become urgent. Now, a team of digital preservationists in Changsha is leading the effort. Under the title 'Revitalising China's Stone Inscriptions through Digitisation', the project is giving new life to Wuxi's weatherworn texts. 'When an inscription that once looked like a faint shadow suddenly becomes legible again, it feels as if we've traveled back hundreds of years,' said Kong Hao, who leads the Wuxi stele digitisation project and was born in the 1990s. 'You can almost see ancient scholars and poets brushing their words onto the cliff face.' Her team uses specialised imaging equipment to capture each stele from dozens of angles, then layers the data using computer vision and processing power to reconstruct even the most fragile traces. 'As long as the carved strokes are deeper than 0.01 millimeters,' she said, 'we believe we can recover them.' Details that had long vanished to the naked eye – fragments of characters, fading stroke lines, the rhythm of a master's hand – are now reappearing on-screen, frame by frame. They are entering a growing digital archive designed for both research and creative reuse. The project is not only reviving what was fading, but also reimagining how people engage with it. A WeChat mini program, 'Digital Wuxi', allows users to trace calligraphy strokes, explore historical annotations, and take virtual tours of the site. At the on-site digital museum, visitors can browse digitally enhanced replicas of the site's steles, try simulated stone carving, interact with a digital Yuan Jie, and visit a gift shop featuring 3D-printed mementos. The museum has become a popular destination for families and students. 'Through digital preservation, the 'Ode to the Restoration of the Great Tang Dynasty' becomes more relatable,' said Zeng Yucheng, a professor at Jingdezhen Ceramic University. 'This ensures that the story of the Wuxi Stele Forest continues, allowing more people to discover its history and cultural significance.' Zhou Ping, president of Hunan Epigraphy Culture Research Association, agrees. Photo taken on Jan 5, 2021 shows a view of the Wuxi Stele Forest in Yongzhou City, central China's Hunan Province. – Xinhua photo 'Cliff inscriptions hold immense historical, artistic, and scholarly value,' he said. 'Modern technology enables us to recover their voices, and share them widely.' The Wuxi project is now a key part of Hunan Province's cultural digitization strategy. 'We want more people to connect with history,' said Zhou Zhiyong, deputy director of the provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. 'Digital tools are opening new pathways to do that.' This momentum is spreading well beyond Wuxi. The 'SumHi' app, developed by a Hunan-based digital technology firm, functions like a 24-hour virtual museum. Users can explore digital replicas of national treasures – from the Gansu Galloping Horse and the jade seal of Liu He, the Han-era Marquis of Haihun, to the sheer gauze robe from Mawangdui – in hyper-detailed 3D, with textures and hues rendered more vividly than what the naked eye could perceive in person. Beyond simply displaying artifacts, the platform is also piloting a new cultural access model, merging museum and creative industry resources into an open ecosystem where content creators can co-develop and share digital assets via smart contracts. Such platforms are transforming how the public interacts with history. 'It felt like stepping into a scroll painting,' said visitor Luo Wenjing, reflecting on her visit to Wuxi's digital museum during the Qingming holiday this spring. 'I'm bringing this home,' she added, holding up a 3D-printed bookmark engraved with the phrase 'Last for Thousands of Years', an excerpt taken from the final line of the 'Ode to the Restoration of the Great Tang Dynasty'. 'It's like carrying the spirit of Yuan Jie with me when I read.' – Xinhua China hunan Wuxi Stele Forest Xinhua
West Australian
28-04-2025
- General
- West Australian
The heart of town was packed as the community came out in force to honour and remember Anzacs
The heart of a regional South West town was packed as the community came out in force to honour Australian and New Zealand service men and women. Following a chilly dawn service, the centre of Harvey saw a crowd of more than 200 gathering at the war memorial to pay their respects on Anzac Day. The event was coordinated by Harvey's David Marshall with the welcome address from Harvey RSL president Eric Hall. Revered Allan Ward presented the prayer and Harvey RSL member Les Liddington delivered the Ode. Following the minute silence, the service heard from Northam RSL sub-branch and secretary of its women's auxiliary Donna Prythulak OAM who spoke to the crowd about the establishment and importance of RSL branches across the State. Once the ceremony ended the community gathered in the Harvey town hall for a shared community lunch.
ABC News
23-04-2025
- General
- ABC News
What day of the week is Anzac Day this year? Where is a dawn service or parade near me?
Australians around the country will tomorrow pause to reflect on Anzac Day and commemorate the work of those in the defence forces. The day will also bring with it a second long weekend for much of the country, and public holiday hours for shopping, businesses and services. Here's what you need to know about one of the most solemn days on Australia's calendar. How is Anzac Day commemorated? There are many traditions associated with the day, but the two key events are a memorial service at dawn and a march later in the day. Dawn services are symbolic of the time Anzac forces originally landed on the shores of Gallipoli. These ceremonies typically involve the laying of floral wreaths, a moment of silence and a rendition of The Last Post — which is played on a bugle. If you do go to a dawn service, you may want to stick around for a feed — called a gunfire breakfast — afterwards. Usually this will be held by the Returned Services League (RSL) sub-branch as a fundraiser, so have some cash on you. "A gunfire breakfast typically involves rum-laced coffee or tea, hot food such as bacon and eggs, and is a chance for veterans – and often other community members – to enjoy shared camaraderie," the RSL website says. "The custom stems from 'gunfire' [which is] a mix of rum and black tea dating back to at least the 1890s. "It was made by British Army soldiers – likely as a warming dash of morale or liquid courage ahead of the day's battle – and later adopted by Australian and New Zealand forces." Later in the day, former and current military personnel and family representatives march in a parade and gather with the public for a formal memorial service. Anyone can go to the public services, which are typically held in central areas. You'll hear the phrase "Lest we forget" said quite often. The phrase is uttered in response to the Ode, which is typically read out at every Anzac Day service. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. The speaker will then say "Lest we forget", which is then be repeated by the crowd. The Ode is actually the fourth stanza of a longer poem by Laurence Binyon called For the Fallen. How can I find an Anzac Day service near me? The easiest way is to check out the Returned Services League's (RSL) website. Select your state or territory on the map then, once prompted, enter your postcode or suburb. The website should show you a list of services in locations near you. If you're unable to make it there in person, the ABC always broadcasts a service, which you'll be able to watch free-to-air on ABC TV or on ABC iview. Why is Anzac Day on April 25? It's the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand armed forces during World War I. On April 25, 1915, the soldiers landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in what was then known as Turkey (which is now officially known as Türkiye). More than 8,000 Australian soldiers died during the campaign and the military operation had a profound impact on Australians at home. Why is Anzac Day a public holiday? It's our national day for honouring people who fought for and aided Australia's armed forces. You could liken it to America's Veterans Day or Armed Forces Day in the UK. While the day is the anniversary of the Gallipoli landing in 1915, it's been broadened out to commemorate the efforts of any Australian in any military action. So it's not just about people involved in the Gallipoli landing or even World War I, but every military effort. This year, it falls on a Friday. Friday will be a public holiday for every state and territory, meaning many people will be have a long weekend. That's not always the case, however. If Anzac Day is on a weekday, all states and territories have a public holiday on April 25. But if it falls on a weekend, some jurisdictions will have a public holiday on the following Monday, but others won't. When Anzac Day fell on a Sunday in 2021, for example, most jurisdictions had the Monday off — except NSW, Victoria and Tasmania didn't. The dawn service is a solemn and moving way to mark Anzac Day. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor ) What does ANZAC stand for? Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This was the name given to the Australian and New Zealand soldiers grouped together in Egypt before heading to Türkiye to land in Gallipoli. What shops are open on Anzac Day? What are the opening hours? While many shops are typically open on other public holidays, Anzac Day might be a bit different depending where you live. Here's a state-by-state breakdown of Anzac Day trading hours.
