Luxury cruise liner sets sail
India’s very own premium luxury Cruise liner, Jalesh Cruises, launched its first cruise vessel ‘Karnika’ from Mumbai last week. Karnika is home ported in Mumbai and will play on Mumbai-Goa-Mumbai and Mumbai-High Seas-Mumbai routes. In future, however, it will also offer its services on other routes such as Porbander, Chennai, Cochin and even overseas destinations, including Singapore, Dubai and Muscat, making around 74 calls to Mumbai per season. This is big leap for Indian Cruise Tourism as with this cruise, calls to Mumbai port will rise from 55 (in 2016) to around 250 (in 2019).
Alexandria Mumbai’s twin city?
Newly appointed ambassador of Egypt to India Dr Heba Salaheldin Almarassi has said that she is working on establishing a ‘Twin City’ arrangement between Mumbai and Alexandria. She also expressed her keenness to establish close cooperation between the world-renowned Alexandria Library and the Asiatic Society Library of Mumbai during a meeting with Maharashtra governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao here. Apart from the cooperation with regard to library, shooting of Indian films in Egypt and scholarships to Indian aspirants in the field of agriculture are among fields where the country is seeking to boost ties with India, she said.
Finding a match for autistic sons
A new initiative in the city has the potential to change popular perception about Autism. Due to popular belief that people with autism are socially awkward and emotionally distant, their marriages are not commonly discussed. However, social media is now being used for seeking spouses for educated and earning sons who suffer from autism. Of the five mothers who launched the initiative, one is from Mumbai. The initiative was started after efforts to use other matrimonial sites for finding spouses for their sons failed.
Mumbai prepares for bullet train
While almost 45 percent work on tunneling for underground Metro in the city has been completed, Mumbai is also getting ready for the Maharashtra leg of Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet train. First tenders for twin tunnels between Mumbai and Thane for the project were floated earlier this week by National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd (NHSRCL). The 21km tunnel between the underground station at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) and Shil village, across Thane creek, is expected to be completed in about four years. Work will begin sometime in early 2020. The tunnel would be 20-40 meters below ground level and, hence, have minimal impact on environment, NHSRCl has claimed. The project had sparked bitter agitation last year over compensation in exchange for land acquisition.