Shaesta Waiz sets sights on global solo flight

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Afghanistan, Aircraft, Airports, Aviation, Beechcraft Bonanza A36, Business, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Environment, NBAA, News, Shaesta Waiz, Technology, Transport, Travel

Shaesta Waiz is already famous as Afghanistan’s first certified civilian female pilot.

The 28-year-old Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student is now setting her sights on a bigger feat – to become the youngest female to fly solo around the world.

Her 90-day, 33-city, 19-country, five-continent flight is scheduled to take off form Daytona Beach, Fla., on June 2, 2016.

The 43,964-kilometre flight was announced Wednesday at the National Business Aviation Association annual convention in Las Vegas.

Waiz will fly a Beechcraft Bonanza A36, being provided by High Performance Aircraft.

“As a pilot, I have this passion for aviation that I want to share. But it’s more than that. I want to show women that they can succeed in anything, including flying around the world,” Waiz said.

She is currently completing a master’s degree in business administration at Embry-Riddle, the world’s largest and oldest university specializing in aviation and aerospace studies.

“To have my university and the aviation industry support me and make this come true speaks volumes not only to their belief in me and this ground-breaking journey, but every young person with a dream,” Waiz said.

Also participating in the project are the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, Bose Corp., American Bonanza Society, Avfuel, Florida Aviation Business Association, MSK Concepts, Beeline, ICAO, UNDP and various individuals.

In 2014, 19-year-old Matt Guthmiller of South Dakota became the youngest person to fly solo around the globe when he completed his 46,570-kilometre journey, also in a Beechcraft Bonanza A36.

The images are courtesy of Embry-Riddle.

 

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The largest habitable work of art

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Airports, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austria, Autmotive, Bad-Blumau, Business, Cities, Culture, Environment, General Motors, Luxury Hotels, Luxury Travel, New Zealand, News, Opel, Rogner Bad-Blumau, Spa Hotels, Tourism, Travel, Travel Blog

“The water feels like silk on your skin.”

That is how Rogner-Bad Blumau describes the thermal water at the Austrian hotel’s spa.

The supply is from the nearby Vulkania springs and is said to be the most mineral-rich curative water in the spa town of Bad Blumau.

And the healing water is just one of many features that make this hotel out of the ordinary.

Billed as the world’s largest habitable work of art, Rogner-Bad Blumau was designed by eccentric Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, whose last name literally means “100 waters.”

“Your name is Hundertwasser, I have water of hundred degrees,” businessman Robert Rogner told the artist as they began the work on the hotel in early 1990s.

Rogner-Bad Blumau is unique in so many ways – the most compelling being the architecture itself.

There are six “houses” connected by a maze of hallways and green roofs with golden onion domes.

In addition to supplies from the Vulkania springs, the hotel’s numerous pools and bathing areas get water from the Melchior and Balthasar springs.

Original roof tiles from old farmhouses have been used for the facade of one of the rainbow-coloured buildings.

The late Friedensreich Hundertwasser

They all fit well with the philosophy of Hundertwasser: A life in harmony with nature.

“The great thing about Blumau is the uniqueness,” said Jasmin Rogner, co-owner of the 312-room, four-star hotel.

“It’s a great artwork, which rather increases in value with time,” she wrote in an email.

“The biggest challenge is to interpret this great place consistently.”

Hundertwasser died in February 2000 in his adopted home country of New Zealand.

The hotel sits on the beautiful rolling hills of Bad Blumau, less than an hour from the city of Graz – a UNESCO City of Design and the hometown of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I stayed at the hotel back in March 1998, barely a year after Rogner-Bad Blumau opened its doors to first guests.

The 1998 launch of Opel Astra at Rogner-Bad Blumau. Photo by Abdul Latheef

I was among a group of journalists flown in from around the world for the launch of a new General Motors car, Opel Astra.

The hotel has since become a major site for product launches and corporate events.

The property is owned by Rogner International Hotels and Resorts.

Bad Blumau is easily accessible from Graz, Vienna and Salzburg. Austrian Airlines has direct flights from Toronto to Vienna while Lufthansa offers flights to Graz from several German cities.

 Images are courtesy of Rogner-Bad Blumau

Dubai is poised to win Expo 2020

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Business, Cities, Culture, Dubai, Life, News, Politics, Social, Tourism, Travel, World Expo

Delegates from nearly 170 countries are meeting in Paris this week to choose the host of the 2020 World Expo.

The competition is between front-runner Dubai, UAE, and Ekaterinburg, Russia; Sao Paulo, Brazil and Izmir, Turkey.

All indications are that the Bureau International des Expositions will overwhelmingly choose Dubai on Nov. 27.

There are many reasons for that, primarily no other city competing for the world’s fair can match what Dubai offers – it has ultra-modern infrastructure, solid financial backing and above all an impeccable track record of hosting mega events.

The Dubai Airshow that concluded just last week is just an example. It generated a record US$206 billion in business for Boeing, Airbus and others.

Dubai has also won the endorsements of several countries, including Britain, France and Canada.

“Canada believes it is time for the Middle East to host the world at a time of such hope and challenge in the region, and Dubai is best placed to bring together the most diverse group of peoples from around the world, to share ideas, aspirations, and concrete solutions for the future,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement earlier this month.

“Canada’s support for Dubai reflects our commitment to the dynamism, hope and future of emerging economies in the region and beyond.”

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton, a frequent visitor to Dubai, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates also have endorsed Dubai’s bid.

“Dubai’s model of shared prosperity is more important today than ever and an inspiration to many countries in the Middle East,” Clinton told students of the American University of Dubai in April.

Dubai under its charismatic Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has made dramatic progress in the past few years.

The emirate has delivered everything it ever promised. Expo 2020 will be no different. It would be another jewel in Dubai’s crown.

But win or lose, Dubai has made its case.

“The UAE will be successful whether it wins the bid or not, as we are working and moving forward with various development plans,” Sheikh Mohammed was quoted as saying this month.

All photos are courtesy of Dubai Expo 2020 and Dubai Government. The video, “Then and Now,” is from YouTube. 

UNICEF: Twittersphere’s choice

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Culture, International Organizations, News, Non-Profit, Politics, Social Media, Technology

The agency that looks after the welfare of children around the world is the most followed international organization on Twitter.

That is the conclusion of Twiplomacy, a study of the use of Twitter by governments and international organizations, conducted by the communications firm Burson-Marsteller.

The United Nations International Children’s Fund, @UNICEF, has almost 2.3 million followers.

“UNICEF is very active with an average of 11 tweets per day and mentions other Twitter users in every second tweet. Almost a quarter of its tweets are retweets and UNICEF often lends its social media power to promote other UN campaigns,” Burson-Marsteller said.

UNICEF is closely followed by its parent organization, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the UN refugee agency UNHCR and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

“However, the number of followers is not the only indicator of an organization’s popularity,” Burson-Marsteller said.

“Another important measure of influence is the number of times an account appears on Twitter lists. In this regard, the UN is the most listed international organization appearing on 25,643 lists.”

Along with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, UNICEF is also among the most effective Twitter users, the study found.

“Their tweets are retweeted on average more than 100 times,” Burson-Marsteller said.

The UN is a distant third, followed by the WWF, Greenpeace and the World Health Organization.

The study revealed that their tweets are retweeted on average more than 63 times while the median average of retweets per tweet among all international institutions covered is only four.

For the study Burson-Marsteller identified 223 Twitter accounts of 101 international organizations.

The firm said it collected the data this month. More than 50 variables were considered, including tweets, following, followers, listed, the date the organization joined Twitter, etc.

Some other interesting conclusions of the study:

– All organizations combined have sent more than 770,000 tweets.

– Nabil Elaraby, secretary general of the Arab League, is the most followed head of an international organization, with more than 340,000 followers.

– Richard Sezibera, secretary general of the East African Community is the most conversational head of an international body. More than 65 per cent of his tweets are replies to other users.

– Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen are in second and third position with more than 150,000 followers each.

Burson-Marsteller said the study showed that no international organization can ignore the power of digital communications and, especially Twitter.

All screenshots are courtesy of the respective organizations.

An autograph to remember

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Nobel Laureates, Physics, Research, Science

Madras, India. January 1981.

I had travelled more than 500 kilometres from my hometown in Kerala to see one of the most celebrated scientists of the time.

Prof. Abdus Salam on the cover of The Illustrated Weekly of India, Feb. 1, 1981.

Prof. Abdus Salam was in the city, now known as Chennai, as part of his first tour of India since winning the Nobel Prize in physics in 1979. At a small meeting place, not far from the centre of the south Indian film industry, my friends and I looked at him with admiration, listening to every word he uttered. Later, during a tea break, we took photos with Salam. My friends jealously watched as he signed the autograph book I carried.

Abdus Salam’s autograph, given to the author.

“This did not occur to us… we could have brought some books too,” they lamented. Then we followed him to the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, or MatScience, for another meeting — this time with a group of scientists, where Salam spoke about the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, the research institute he founded in Italy. The media coverage Salam received during his three-week tour was unprecedented.

He was on the front page of every newspaper, coast to coast. He was also on the cover of the Illustrated Weekly of India, considered a major honour at the time.

The warm Indian hospitality contrasted sharply with the indifference displayed by his own country, Pakistan, because of his Ahmadiyya faith.

Salam acknowledged the irony in his Illustrated Weekly interview.

“I’m spending 21 days in India on this trip. I have never spent 21 days on anything like this before.”

This year’s Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to professors Peter Higgs and Francois Englert for predicting the existence of the so-called Higgs boson. Their independent ideas were confirmed last year when scientists discovered the Higgs particle at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland.

Salam and one of his co-winners of the 1979 prize, Prof. Steven Weinberg, had done some pioneering work in the field.

As a schoolboy, I used to collect newspaper clippings about famous people, including Nobel laureates.

But I never thought I would ever meet one.

Abdus Salam passed away in Oxford in 1996 at the age of 70.

Visionary

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Charity, Politics, Religion, Social

Mobeen Khaja with former prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin. APMC Photos. 

It was the chance reading of an article in the Buffalo News 17 years ago that propelled Mobeen Khaja to establish what has now become a major annual event in Ottawa’s social calendar.   “I was on a visit to Buffalo and I saw this story about Hillary and President Clinton hosting an Eid dinner at the White House and I thought why we can’t have similar events in Canada,” Khaja said last week.Eid is a major Islamic holiday.Not before long, Khaja, then an accountant in Toronto, was on his way to bring members of various faiths together to celebrate Eid.

With the help of his long-time friend and Liberal MP Dan McTeague, he hosted the first event in May 1996 on Parliament Hill.

“Dan said, ‘You bring people and the food, I will bring the Members of Parliament, Senators and Finance Minister Paul Martin.”

That was a big success.

Political leaders and members of the diplomatic corps now join Muslims every year to celebrate Eid on Parliament Hill.

A few years later and with the help of corporate and individual sponsors, Khaja and his team were also able to expand the program to Queen’s Park and City Hall in Toronto.

The events are organised under the banner of the Association of Progressive Muslims of Canada, a group Khaja has headed since he founded it in 1998 to promote peace and harmony.

For his efforts to build bridges of understanding between Muslims and other faith groups, Khaja was awarded the Order of Ontario in 2011.

The citation said he was honoured for “his contribution to promoting peace and cross-cultural understanding between Muslims and other religious groups and ethnic groups.”

Now retired, Khaja is devoting most of his time just for that.