120-year-old Kerala school gets makeover, becomes case study in UK university
KOZHIKODE: Government Vocational Higher Secondary School for Girls (GVHSS), Nadakkavu, that witnessed a massive transformation under the PRISM (Promoting Regional Schools to International Standards through Multiple Interventions) project of the state government and Faizal and Shabana Foundation, will soon gain recognition on global platforms.
The redevelopment of 120-year-old school has now been taken as a case study on ‘Venture Philanthropy in Education’ by Dr Sreevas Sahasranamam, a Chancellor’s Fellow at the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. Venture Philanthropy refers to an adventurous approach to fund unpopular social causes. The case study titled ‘Faizal & Shabana Foundation: A Venture Philanthropic Approach to Education’ will also be taught in some of the classes on corporate entrepreneurship at the university.
The study covers the refurbishment of school through philanthropic investments made by the Faizal and Shabana Foundation and the execution of the project amidst challenges. The Faizal and Shabana Foundation in collaboration with the state government had developed the PRISM project to improve the standards of government schools. GVHSS Nadakkavu was the flagship school renovated as part of this programme.
The holistic makeover included an infrastructural transformation with new classrooms, toilets, multipurpose hall and astro-turf covered sports field, among other improvements.
Faizal Kottikollon is the Founder and Chairman of KEF Holdings, a diversified company with operations in the Middle East, India, and Singapore. Faizal is also a member of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s prestigious panel of Champions of Change for Infrastructure. A humanitarian at heart he is the Co-founder and Director of the Faizal and Shabana Foundation that is giving back by creating sustainable initiatives to build a more equitable society.
Shabana Faizal is Vice Chairperson of KEF Holdings and Co Founder and Vice Chairperson of Faizal and Shabana Foundation. She is the daughter of B.Ahmed Haji Mohiudeen, a well known entrepreneur in Mangaluru.
With inputs from: The New Indian Express
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
