This Karnataka mom-daughter duo is set to circumnavigate earth in motor glider

News Network
November 30, 2017

Mysuru, Nov 30: In a first-of-its-kind sojourn to create a world record in a motor glider, a mother-daughter duo from Karnataka’s Mysuru is all set to circumnavigate around the world — 21 countries, covering 51,000 km — in a motor glider.

Capt Audrey Deepika Maben and Amy Mehta will fly around the planet in 80 days, criss-crossing over South East Asia, Japan, Russia, Alaska, North America, Iceland, Greenland, Europe, Iran and Pakistan before touching down in India. The jaunt will begin on February 18, 2018.

Maben’s plane ‘Mahi’ is a Sinus 912 that’s smaller than the size of an average kitchen, can fly around the world in lesser fuel than you need to make it to office and back, and has never been flown by a female pilot; until now. Given the size constraints, the pilot will be unable to fly across the globe with extra clothes and not always have her daughter alongside her, and will have to fly commercial from time to time.

The expedition was announced at the Jakkur Aerodrome on Wednesday. The journey is conceptualised by Social Access Communications as part of their campaign ‘WE! Women Empower’ and is supported by a private TV channel and the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Audrey, who started flying gliders in Jakkur as a 15-year-old NCC cadet, was the first woman microlight aircraft instructor in the country. She also set a record as the only woman ultralight pilot in the Air Race India in 2003.

Nineteen-year-old Amy has flown beside her mother from when she was a child and she is excited to be with her on this mission.

“I will be my mother’s eyes and ears during the journey. I will be looking after social media, where we will post about our journey,” she said.

Amy is a photography student and she will be taking special leave to be on this expedition. “I will be taking pictures and I hope to bring out a photography book at the end of the trip,” she said.

Audrey is now on a nutrition programme and is undergoing strength and endurance training to prepare for the physically and mentally demanding journey. “I am also preparing my children and family for this trip, because everybody perceives this journey as a risk. But I say the roads are much more dangerous than the skies,” Audrey said.

She hopes to empower young girls and women by showing them that they can also fly. The campaign has a crowdfunding drive to create ‘We! Udaan Scholarships’ to support underprivileged girls who want to fly.

Comments

Mohan
 - 
Thursday, 30 Nov 2017

Great expedition. All the best for future plans

Sruti Kotian
 - 
Thursday, 30 Nov 2017

Inspiring. I wish I can do atleast all India tour with my mom

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News Network
June 10,2020

Puttur, June 10: Passengers of a KSRTC bus had a miraculous escape while driver and conductor suffered minor injuries after it fell on a house below 25ft.

Police said that except for some minor injuries to the driver and conductor none of the 21 passengers were hurt.

The bus was bound for Ishwaramangala from Puttur when the mishap took place as the driver lost control over the steering.

The roof and walls of the house on which the bus fell was partially damaged.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
June 7,2020

The Himachal Pradesh police have confirmed the arrested a man for injuring a pregnant cow by feeding her wheat flour ball laced with firecrackers. 

The cow’s jaw was blown off-- reprising the tragic story of a pregnant elephant that lost its life after eating a pineapple stuffed with a firecracker in Kerala.

While the incident took place on May 26 in Jhandutta area of Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district, it came to light only on Saturday, May 6, when the cow’s owner, Gurdayal Singh, uploaded a video of the injured animal on social media.

In the video, Gurdiyal Singh describes how the cow’s mouth had been injured after one Nandlal fed her explosives.

He confirmed that Nandlal works as a mechanic in Singh’s neighbourhood. Singh said that Nandlal has no remorse for his action. Nandlal has said that he is not scared of the repercussions and that he will continue to do whatever he deems fit. “Even the village sarpanch cannot harm me”, challenged Nandlal when confronted by Singh. 

The cow has given birth to a healthy calf since but Singh said the animal is still not able to eat because of an injured jaw and is being administered Glucose.

The video went viral with people demanding strict action against the person who fed firecrackers to the animal.

The practice of studding dough balls with firecrackers isn’t uncommon in Himachal, and farmers resort to this to keep wild animals, especially boards, off their fields. In the Kerala incident too, the explosive-filled-fruit was meant for wild boars. In many parts of the country, including Himachal, the method is also used to hunt for bush meat -- an illegal practice.

Bilaspur superintendent of oolice (SP) Devakar Sharma confirmed the incident and said the cow was fed a highly explosive firecracker popularly called “aalu bomb”. 

Aalu is Hindi for potato. He said a case under Section 286 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act has been registered and the role of the neighbours named by Singh is being investigated.

Comments

Colleen Rock
 - 
Tuesday, 9 Jun 2020

Someone needs to educate these disgusting Indian pigs. Religious? After what they do to women and animals? They are less than animals. A disgrace to their God and the human race. Sadly, officials are corrupt and those that aren't are powerless.

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News Network
March 10,2020

Mangaluru, Mar 10: Four airports which are run by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), including Mangaluru International airport, have been adjudged among the best aerodromes in the world, winning 10 awards in four different categories at the 2019 ASQ awards.

ASQ is a globally established programme that measures passengers’ satisfaction while traveling through an airport. Airports Council International (ACI), which is an independent agency of airport operators, carries out international benchmarking of aerodromes.

“Four AAI airports — Chandigarh, Mangaluru, Trivandrum and Lucknow — have been adjudged the best in the world in recently announced 2019 ASQ awards. These airports won 10 awards in four categories,” Airports Authority of India (AAI) said in a release here on Tuesday.

The survey measures passengers’ satisfaction across 34 key performance indicators that include eight major categories such as access, check-in, security, airport facilities, food and beverage, retail, airport environment and arrival services.

The four categories in which these airports bagged the best airport awards were size and region, environment and ambiance, customer service and infrastructure and facilitation, as per the AAI.

The survey was carried out at across 356 airports across North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

The survey results are monitored by airport tariff regulator AERA, NITI Aayog, and civil aviation Ministry, the release added.

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