Working ... the live .conf file had an extra block controlling the image caching which overrides the auth block ... easy when you know how ...

The question now is do I have the right setup for proxy_pass

do need the
resolver 8.8.8.8;
proxy_pass https://indiastudycircle.org/auth/auth.php?content_id=$query;

but is there another way of getting it to use a local link to the vhost defined server?