Festivities are under way for Nowruz, popularly known as the Persian New Year.
Believed to have been celebrated for more than 3,000 years, the festival is held on the spring equinox to usher in the blooming season. Around 300 million people celebrate the occasion, though the start dates can vary between countries.
It can be traced back to the ancient religion Zoroastrianism but has evolved to become a secular celebration, observed by people with Silk Road roots, including those from Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, India, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Kurds across the Middle East.
Nowruz is a combination of the Farsi words “now”, meaning “new”, and “ruz”, meaning “day”.
When is Nowruz?
The start of Nowruz varies in different countries because of time zones. It is marked during the vernal equinox, or the astronomical start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This year, the festival starts on Thursday, March 20, in Iran.
Similar to last year, Iranian artist Pendar Yousefi has created a Google Doodle for the occasion. The artwork incorporates elements central to Nowruz traditions, such as the haft-sin table, a display of seven symbolic items each beginning with the Persian letter “sin”. These are sprouts for rebirth, wheat pudding for strength, olives for love, berries for the sunrise, vinegar for patience, apples for beauty and garlic for health.
There are also depictions of activities during Nowruz, such as spring cleaning to prepare for a fresh start, decorating eggs, and even leaping over a bonfire, which is believed to cleanse energy from the previous year and invite vitality in the future. The Google Doodle appeared on the search engine on Thursday in several countries, including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, the UK and Canada.
Celebrating Nowruz was added to the Unesco list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009. Updated annually, the list by the UN agency safeguards traditions and ways of living in the face of increasing globalisation. In 2010, the UN declared March 21 as International Nowruz Day.
How is Nowruz celebrated?
Festivities typically run for two weeks. While there are many unique traditions connected to the celebration around the world, almost all communities will mark the day with a feast and by spending time with family and friends.
People also give their homes a spring clean, buy auspicious items such as fish and flowers, and decorate their doors and windows with flowers.
Many set their tables based on haft-sin. While buying sweets and nuts is common, most people also have certain go-to dishes during Nowruz, including sabzi polo mahi, or herbed rice with fish. It is traditionally served as the first meal of the new year in Iran.
In Kurdish households, dolma or rice-stuffed vegetables, are a staple. Popular sweets include raisin and walnut cookies, and nan-e nokhodchi or Persian chickpea cookies.
To celebrate, people light bonfires, set off fireworks and send wish lanterns floating into the night sky. Others jump over and around fires, chanting: “My yellow is yours, your red is mine,” invoking the replacement of ills with warmth and energy.
In more regional celebrations, people in Kyrgyzstan display traditional horsemanship to mark the arrival of the new year.
Greetings during the festival include “Happy Nowruz” and “Nowruz Mubarak”.
Nowruz during Ramadan
While Nowruz is a secular festival for many of the communities that celebrate it, it remains a holy day for Zoroastrians and people of the Baha'i Faith.
This year, however, it falls during Ramadan when Muslims fast during the day. In Iran, tourism minister Reza Salehi Amiri said that Nowruzgahs – cultural events held to mark Nowruz – will be held after the evening iftar meals until midnight.
“We have formed a dedicated committee to ensure that Nowruzgah activities align with the sanctity of Ramadan while maintaining the celebratory essence of Nowruz,” he told state news agency Irna.
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1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 04:18:18
2 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep 00:00:02
3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:04
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General Classification
1 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal 07:47:19
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3 Arnaud Demare (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 00:00:16
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5 Alexey Lutsensko (KAZ) Astana Pro Team 00:00:19
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6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: RB Money To Burn, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
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8.50pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m, Winner: Motafaawit, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
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When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
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“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
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Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
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Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
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“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
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Staff will be trained in distance learning programmes from March 15 - 19
Teaching hours will be 8am to 2pm during distance learning
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