Mangaluru: Lotus and Globe travels donate smart classroom technology to Bengre Govt. School
Mangalore: Globe travels Mangalore which introduced Mangalore to the world of cruise world since 1980’s always helps the poor children to build their dreams. The Staff of Globe travels do chip in to educate the poor children every year. The Lotus DMC Cochin headed by Sanjeev Kumar had a dream to develop the Thota Bengre as a tourist destination. They contacted their counterpart Globe travels, Mangalore who willingly supported their dreams come true.
Result of this to bring the foreign nationals to the Thota Bengre to view the country ship yard, Beedie rolling and the visit to the Govt. Hry. Pry School. Lotus DMC and Globe travels, Mangalore chipped a huge amount of their little revenue to bring joy to the little children with putting up a smart class room costing Rs. Seven Lakhs with modern equipment which was inaugurated by the Capt. Sokratis Sklavos, of Costa Victoria cruise ship visited Mangalore. The cruise ship team along with the captain of the ship visited the school to inaugurate the smart class room and were thrilled at the good Samaritan deed of Lotus DMC and Globe travels who are their ground handling agents for years.
Inaugurating the smart class room Capt. Sklavos said that children should have good facilities to get educated and he stressed that the children are the future of any country. He congratulated Sanjeev Kumar of Lotus DMC and William D’ Souza of Globe travels saying, Bravo, Bravo expressing his happiness in Italian language. He asked the children to listen to their teachers and to respect them to build a beautiful future for them. In his inaugural address Capt. Sokratis Sklavos said, “Being myself a father of two beautiful young girls, I am truly blessed and overwhelmed to be among all these happy and beautiful children. While I was in the tourist bus on my way to this school, I asked the bus driver who are the good people in this scenic area, and he said, they are the villagers and children of Bengre. And I think he was right, by looking at all these people and children who have so much love and the spirit of hospitality and friendship in them. No doubt, the dream of having smart class room has come true for the teachers and students of this school. I am happy to be part of this inaugural ceremony, and will cherish this moment for the rest of my life”.
The Chief Guest Y.R. Belgal Traffic Manager of New Mangalore Port Trust thanked Sanjeev Kumar and specially William D’ Souza who was the reason to have cruise ships to Mangalore and wished the children best in their life. He said: Their example of donating their partial wealth to a needed cause should be followed by others. A person can earn lots of money and remain rich forever, but his life is useless if part of his wealth is not shared with others in need in the surrounding areas. Helping others should be our motto. And it was indeed nice of the Ship Captain in entertaining the children on a ship tour”.
The ship crew members entertained the school children with sing songs and a short play and taking the children to the ground and playing with them. The children of the school were thrilled at this and the teachers of the school were simply drum struck since this school had this type of interaction for the first time in the history of the school.
Delphine D’ Souza, Manager of Globe travels compared the programme and the school children sang the prayer song with their own sweet melodies voices. Rev. Sr. Agnes Frank proposed vote of thanks.
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Emirates flight strikes flock of flamingos in Mumbai, prompts environmentalists’ concerns
Mumbai, May 21: An Emirates flight from Dubai struck a flock of flamingos, resulting in the death of around 40 birds in Mumbai, an official said on Tuesday.
“Emirates can confirm that EK508 from Dubai to Mumbai on May 20 was involved in a bird strike incident upon landing. The aircraft landed safely and all passengers and crew disembarked without injury, however sadly a number of flamingos were lost and Emirates is cooperating with the authorities on the matter,” an Emirates spokesperson said.
The aircraft was also damaged in the incident on Monday night and, as a result, the return flight EK509 scheduled to depart to Dubai Monday night was cancelled, the spokesperson said in a statement.
All passengers and crew were accommodated overnight and a replacement aircraft is being arranged for all passengers, Emirates said. The flight is scheduled to depart Mumbai on Tuesday night, the airline added.
“Emirates apologises for any inconvenience caused. The safety of our passengers and crew is of the utmost importance and will not be compromised,” the airline said.
The bird strike, which happened closer to Laxmi Nagar in Ghatkopar East, claimed the lives of at least 36 flamingos, a forest official said.
Environmental activists demanded a probe by DGCA, claiming urban planners had ignored warnings about such incidents.
While a police official said the birds were hit by the aircraft before it landed, Emirates said its aircraft was involved in the bird strike incident upon landing.
Stray dogs scavenged a few birds after they fell on the ground and some body parts were also spotted by locals, said Pawan Sharma, honorary wildlife warden with the forest department.
The carcasses were sent for an autopsy and would later be disposed of as per the protocol, he said.
Zoologist Chinmay Joshi said the Wildlife Conflict Mitigation and Management Plan needs to be reviewed by the airport authorities in coordination with the forest department and wildlife experts to avoid such incidents.
B N Kumar, Director of NatConnect Foundation, an environmental protection organization in Navi Mumbai, said he has written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation seeking a high-level probe to ascertain how the Emirates aircraft hit the birds. Kumar wondered why the pilot could not notice the flock on his radar.
"Had any passenger been affected due to the bird hit, it would have made global headlines, but the death of 40 flamingos does not seem to bother the authorities and urban planners in particular," Kumar said.
Kumar cautioned that the upcoming international airport in neighbouring Navi Mumbai could also be prone to such incidents. This is because the wetlands and the flamingo abodes in Navi Mumbai are being systematically buried despite warnings from organisations such as BNHS, he said.
The flamingos were apparently on way to Gujarat and their death is a warning on impending disasters, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) researcher Mrugank Prabhu said.
Environmental activist D Stalin from NGO Vanshakti suggested that the new power lines through the sanctuary area might be causing disorientation among the birds, leading to Monday’s incident.
