High level structure

Stunning dishes, a gruelling competition and witty John Torode and Gregg Wallace - MasterChef has all the ingredients for a recipe to success. While sitting on our sofas at home, it's easy to end up starving as people whip up delicious meals in what seems like seconds. But is the MasterChef experience all it seems? Former MasterChef semi-finalist Liz Cottam , who appeared in series 12, has shared how the show really works. She now runs three restaurants with a 67-strong team and predicted revenues of £3.2M for the year ahead. But in 2016, she bravely went on MasterChef - and has shared how the gruelling process works - with contestants filming their tasks at the crack of dawn. Liz said: "It was pretty awful, I put so much pressure on myself to win, that was the only thing I wanted. "I just wanted to cook things that I was super proud of and I enjoyed cooking and that was stuff that was fairly advanced for an amateur cook. Get the news you want straight to … [Read more...] about ‘I was on MasterChef – contestants have a secret FB group and there’s a strict suitcase rule’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lumbini, Nepal, though only for a few hours, is full of symbolism and substance. No Indian Prime Minister has visited Lumbini in the last few decades. Mr. Modi’s visit is a combination of personal desire and political and strategic goals. For him, it is the fulfilment of a wish articulated in 2014 when he first became Prime Minister. Since he could not travel to Lumbini during his previous visits to Nepal, as Ambassador, I planted, on his behalf, a sapling of the sacred Bodhi tree in the gardens of the Maya Devi temple where Gautama Buddha was born. Amid the strife and turmoil and the anger and hatred that we see in society, the Prime Minister’s visit also provides a moment for quiet reflection and a reiteration of the message of peace, compassion and non-violence preached by the Buddha and spread by the roaring lions in the four directions, as depicted in the Lion Capital of Ashoka, our national emblem — a message that calls for shunning … [Read more...] about The importance of Lumbini

The story so far: On May 16, a local court in Varanasi directed the district administration to seal the spot in the Gyanvapi Masjid complex where a “shivling” was reportedly found during a court-mandated videography survey. The three-day survey, conducted under tight security, had concluded in the morning. The Supreme Court on May 13 had refused to grant an interim stay on the videography survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple complex in Varanasi, ordered by the local court. Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, however, had said on May 13 that the apex court would examine the documents in a plea requesting a halt to the videography, and later directed that the matter be listed before a Bench headed by Justice D.V. Chandrachud. This developments comes after a Varanasi court ordered the survey commissioner to resume videography inside the Gyanvapi mosque, directing that the inspection of the complex be completed by Tuesday. The dispute stems from a case filed by … [Read more...] about Explained | The Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath dispute and the current case

In this second and concluding part of a one-hour interview given to N. Ram at ‘Temple Trees' in Colombo, Mahinda Rajapaksa , Sri Lanka's President, responds to questions about his ambitious initiative for a trilingual Sri Lanka, the role of the English language, the contentious 18th constitutional amendment, the jailing and conviction of General Sarath Fonseka, the status and future of 11,000 hard-core LTTE cadres and supporters, and relations with India. You have taken a special interest in language policy. You have announced a Ten Year Presidential Initiative for a Trilingual Sri Lanka and before that the initiative to promote English. This seems to have been thought out over the long term. How do you see this going? Last year was the Year of English and Information Technology. With that the people started spoken English, they started learning English. So I thought the best thing was that all Sinhalese must learn Tamil now, the Tamils must learn Sinhala, and they must all … [Read more...] about ‘Help us bring the communities together’

A brush fire spurred by high winds broke out early Thursday in the Nuevo community of Riverside County, forcing residents to evacuate, authorities said. Dubbed the Cerritos fire, the blaze has singed 200 acres and was 25% contained Thursday evening, officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Calling it a “particularly dangerous situation,” the National Weather Service issued a red flag warning indicating critical fire weather conditions through 10 p.m. Saturday in Riverside County. Winds were gusting up to 35 mph early Thursday in the region. Amid the blustery winds and bone-dry conditions, Southern California Edison shut off power to more than 50,000 customers Wednesday night, including 24,000 customers in Riverside County. Nearly 250,000 additional customers across eight counties are under consideration for a shutoff as well, Edison spokesman Ron Gales said Thursday. Advertisement California Bond fire … [Read more...] about Blustery winds aggravate Cerritos and Airport fires in Riverside County

Turning on the news these days usually entails listening to shrieking voices over the Gyanvapi Mandir in Kashi. The mosque’s name is said to have come from an adjacent well, known as the Gyanvapi or the Well of Knowledge. The fact that it — ostensibly — is the only mosque in the world with a Sanskrit name eschews human logic, but it is what it is! The present-day debate over the Gyanvapi temple is not the first. Since 1194, the masjid has been a bone of contention. The so-called ‘flag-bearers’ of Nehruvian secularism, the ‘devotees’ of the Constitution and the ‘believers’ of Islam, especially the ‘chieftains’ — the clerics and ulema — have been caught on the wrong foot this time. Part of this trepidation arises from the fear of losing the VETO they have enjoyed hitherto. Part of this nervousness comes from the fact that the Constitution is being followed verbatim, upholding its true spirit — with no compromises. Using acrimonious and obscene language on national television no longer … [Read more...] about Opinion | Gyanvapi: Fading Minorityism in India and Zealots’ Last Stand

From labelling him an atheist who has no respect for Hindu gods to claiming he kick-started casteist politics in Maharashtra, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar is under attack from all corners. The attacks aren’t only from political parties — there have been death threats, comments on his illness and age, and some have even wished him hell. The veteran Maharashtra politician, who was instrumental in setting up the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ruling alliance, and from whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi once used to take advice, is facing a well-coordinated attack, both online and offline, from Right wing sympathisers. Last week, the Maharashtra BJP’s Twitter handle posted an edited video of Mr. Pawar’s public rally in Satara, where he recited a poem by Jawahar Rathod, in which the poet talks about atrocities committed on people from lower castes. The tweet said that “atheist Sharad Pawar always hated Hindu gods”. An army of social media trolls picked up the … [Read more...] about Sharad Pawar faces a concerted offensive from the Right, online and offline

From labelling him an atheist to claiming he started caste politics in Maharashtra, Opposition leaders and right-wing trolls in the State have found a common target in Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. The attacks are not purely political; some have gone on to issue death threats, commented on his illness, age and even wished him hell. The veteran Maharashtra politician — whose stature has been acknowledged even by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who once had said in a public event that he used to take advice from him — has come under a well-co-ordinated attack from the right-wing ecosystem, both online and offline. The line of attack, however, has been different — while the BJP has questioned his faith, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has accused Mr. Pawar of “dividing” Maharashtra along caste lines. Last week, the Twitter handle of the Maharashtra BJP posted an edited video of Mr. Pawar’s public rally in Satara where he recited a verse by new-age Marathi poet … [Read more...] about Pawar power: oppn., right-wing trolls find a common target

A group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers discovered a type of clay commonly used in cat litter is effective at removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. Professor Desirée Plata and her team were inspired by methanotroph, a seafloor-dwelling bacteria that metabolize methane without dangerously high temperatures or expensive materials, according to the Wall Street Journal. The team found that the porous structure of the clay material zeolite made it ideal for absorbing methane and turning it into carbon dioxide, a less potent greenhouse gas, the Wall Street Journal continued. They also found that, when treated with small amounts of copper, zeolite was able to effectively remove methane from the air even in areas with very low concentrations, making the compound ideal for targeting widely dispersed sources of methane emissions, reported MIT News. Unlike most current methane capturing techniques, which … [Read more...] about Scientists Think They’ve Found A New Remedy For Climate Change: Cat Litter

Working as a phlebotomist at a clinical laboratory meant that Julia Enright wasn’t squeamish about handling blood. Dealing with test samples every day might not have appealed to everyone but Enright was obsessed with blood – even in her private life. In fact, her obsession was getting disturbingly out of control. In 2018, the then 21-year-old would do her day job and then work by night as a dominatrix, advertising herself on business cards as Mistress Jasmine. Enright had a taste for BDSM – and openly admitted that she enjoyed “blood play” in her sex life. At her home in Ashburnham, in the US state of Massachusetts, she made art from animal bones and kept animals in jars, known as “wet specimens”, plus vials of blood. Two years earlier, Enright had been studying at a vocational technical high school and met Brandon Chicklis while travelling on the bus. Although they were quite different, they dated for a while. Brandon, a former boy scout, was kind and thoughtful. He was also … [Read more...] about Blood-obsessed dominatrix stabbed her ex to death in her treehouse sex lair