Jean Mackenzie and Ayeshea Perera The flight had made an emergency landing at Muan international airport and crashed into the concrete structure at the end of the runway South Korea will change the concrete barriers used for navigation at seven airports across the country following December’s plane crash that killed 179 people. Seven airports will also have their runway safety areas adapted following a review of all South Korea’s airports that was carried out after the crash – the deadliest in the country’s history. The Jeju Air flight was bringing passengers home from Thailand after Christmas when it made an emergency landing at Muan airport and exploded after slamming into a concrete barrier at the end of the runway. The cause of the crash is still unknown but air safety experts had earlier said the number of casualties could have been much lower if not for the structure. The concrete structure holds a navigation system that assists aircraft landings – known as a localiser. South Korea’s transport ministry had said this system could also be found in other airports in the country and even overseas. Safety inspectors have now identified nine of these systems, which they say need to be altered. These include the systems at Muan and Jeju International Airport which is the country’s second-largest airport. They are looking to either replace the concrete bases with more lightweight structures or bury them underground.

Every year on the fourth Thursday of November, people celebrate Thanksgiving Day. This year, it falls on November 28. Different countries celebrate this holiday on different dates. It is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. In addition, nations including India, the Netherlands, Australia, and Grenada take part in the celebrations.  This festival comes after Halloween but before Christmas celebrations. This is the holiday when family and friends get together to celebrate, eat traditional food, and give thanks for all that they have.  The history behind Thanksgiving? Its origins may be traced back to 1941, when Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president at the time, popularised this practice to guarantee its uniformity and consistency. He suggested that Thanksgiving Day be observed on the third Thursday of November each year, but because of irregularities in the date, it was eventually changed to the fourth Thursday of November, which is how it is observed today.  The feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621, when the Pilgrims were assisted by the Wampanoag Indians, is considered to be the first Thanksgiving ever observed. After battling to survive the difficult winter, the pilgrims had a three-day party with both English and Native Americans to celebrate a successful harvest. What is the significance of Thanksgiving Day? Thanksgiving is associated with a number of benefits, including mental calm, greater joy, less stress, and an improvement in friendships and family ties in general. Relationships can be strengthened and deepened by expressing thanks and valuing ties.  This custom has been carried down through the generations, contributing to cultural preservation and creating a feeling of connection. Many people use it as a time for introspection, meditation, and spiritual development. How is Thanksgiving Day celebrated?  Thanksgiving has been celebrated in a variety of ways, but its core has remained the same like family get-together and delectable meals. Turkey, marinated with spices and stuffed with mashed potatoes, is the main course and the primary dish of the celebration. Thanksgiving Day parades, like the Macy’s Parade, when individuals donate necessities to those in need, are among the other celebrations. The Presidential Turkey Pardon is another custom in which the president spares a turkey from being killed for Thanksgiving and grants it permission to live a healthy life on a farm. The event usually consists of cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and stuffed turkey. 

The market is saturated with automobile options. There are dozens of EVs and hundreds of hybrids ; luxury sedans that (almost) drive themselves; SUVs that can crab-walk and spin; hypercars and million-dollar sports cars made to look like they’re 40 years old. But not every advancement represents progress. Some are downright annoying. Here are the most common bugbears: Outside the car Poorly-placed rear pillars: “Visibility is so important, regardless of technology,” says Marcus Stewart, a New York, US based model, who had to cut short a rental recently because lines in the rear impeded his eyesight. Plastic cladding: Keith Naughton, a Detroit, US-based expert, says automakers tend to affix these nonessential hunks of plastic to cars or SUVs to make them look bigger or tougher, but they’re nothing more than cosmetic clip-ons. “If you want the silhouette of you r vehicle to look r ugged, ju st desig n it that way,” he says. “Don’t design a bland body panel and then butch it up with bulbous plastic.” Oversized SUVs: Cadillac’s upcoming EV is nearly 19 feet long and eight feet wide; it rolls on massive, 24-inch wheels and tyres that bulge out to 35 inches. GMC’s Hummer EV weighs more than 4,000 kg. Tesla’s Cybertruck towers more than 70 inches tall and is nearly 224 inches long — three king-size mattresses laid out top to bottom. Inside the car Touchscreens: Nobody likes too many screens inside their car. From the skateboard-sized screens in MercedesBenz to the tiny screens and touchpads on the steering wheel of the Ferrari Purosangue. These screens wormed their way into the zeitgeist largely through one brand: Tesla. Giant glass roofs: These seem to be standard in most new EVs, but they make the HVAC system work overtime, which, in turn, saps the battery and range. They also leave the interior sweltering. “It’s too hot in sunny spaces,” one responder said. And on top of the temperature issues, they’re also expensive.Imitation leather: Often touted as an eco-friendly alternative to real leather, faux suedes are made from chemicals such as polyurethane and polyvinyl chloride. Rather than being eco-friendly, these synthetics are made with plastics and other oil-based material. The empty space: Especially in the front of an a EV where the engine would ideally be, is an empty block of space, which according to Naughton, displays “a complete lack of ingenuity”. “Think about what they are: A vast void in a spot where an engine used to be,” he says. “But if your car doesn’t need an engine, why are you still leaving space for it and putting nothing there? It’s ridiculous.”. It’s 9 a.m. on a Friday, and I’m in a mirrored suite on the 31st floor of the Wynn Encore Las Vegas, watching an Englishman named Andi McCann practically pirouette across the carpet. “It’s like dancing, you move the head, and the body follows,” he says, turning his chest like a matador toward the November sun seeping through floor-to-ceiling windows. “Make it one smooth movement; it’s theater!” “Opening a Rolls-Royce door should be done effortlessly and in one move,” says McCann, his posh accent as crisp as his white button-down shirt. “It’s done with legs and arms.” As automakers like BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz Group AG race to achieve full autonomous driving, and the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, upsells driverless-ness with his robo-taxis, McCann inhabits quite a different universe. He sits outside two pillars of thought running roughshod through the car world: There’s the full-self-driving camp pursued by companies like Musk’s Tesla Inc. , which promises to turn cars into four-wheeled mobility bots. Then there are those who demand total front-seat driving engagement, like the folks at Porsche AG who swear they will never eliminate the manual gearbox that makes some of their 911 sports cars so thrilling

The personas of illustrious chefs are usually as integral to the dining experience as their signature menus. When it comes to blending sartorial aspects with culinary skills to carve out a unique identity, at least two Indian chefs take the cake with their vivid, custom-made headgear. Simran Singh Thapar, Executive Chef at The Leela Palace Bengaluru, is among those chefs renowned for their one-of-a-kind turbans. It was clearly noticeable when the chef, who has 17 years of experience in fine dining, launched The Leela’s Ajayan menu recently in Delhi. A red turban with an unusual pattern on his head got our attention as he gave details about the menu aimed to revive rare recipes and ancient ingredients from India’s mountainous regions. When we managed to steer the conversation to his headgear, he said: “My turban is inspired by the colours of the sunset at Lake Pichola (Udaipur).” Thapar’s love affair with turbans is not a secret. So we decided to stir his feelings on that topic. “All my bespoke turbans have a story behind them. They are inspired by my food journeys. I get them custom made from my supplier in Amritsar,” he said. The chef fell in love with customized turbans during the Covid days. He was asked to appear on live online shows and he started looking at ways to create a visual ident .. Chef Thapar’s quest to create a distinct sartorial identity began with him tying a nine-yard saree as a turban — ostensibly because of its colour and design. He started experimentation with colours and slowly evolved to using custom-made patterns using handcrafts such as tie-and-dye, block prints and colour gradients. Today, Thapar designs his own turbans and provides a mood board to his supplier for execution. That makes the accomplished chef an apparently gifted fashion designer, too.< .. His collection includes over 25 unique designs, crafted from lightweight, 5.5-metre rubia voile fabric — all specifically chosen to meet the needs of long work hours. Some pieces in his collection cost 10 times more than the usual turbans. For perspective, a turban can cost Rs 150-200 a metre; Thapar spends up to Rs 2,000 a metre for bespoke headgear. Adding ‘tadka’ to desi cuisine and culture For celebrity chef Harpal Singh Sokhi, founder of Karigari restaurants, designer turbans represent cultural pride. “Khaana (food) and pehnaava (clothing) changes nearly every mile in India, and that’s the message I have tried to convey with my attire and turbans throughout my journey as a chef,” he says, recalling his travels during the ‘90s, when he observed the vibrant colours, fabrics and handicrafts across states. The bright colourscapes he saw during a trip from Gujarat to Rajasthan inspired him to blend those colours with his food. To add to his identity of a turban-wearing Sikh, he started donning custom headgear. It also enhanced his style. “Being a Sikh, I would wear my pagadi with a sense of pride. And to stand out as a desi TV personality, I started wearing custom, multi-coloured turbans,” says Sokhi. “My love for colorful turbans also got me my own food show, ‘Turban Tadka’, and the audience gave me the title of ‘India’s most loved chef’ for my vibrant jackets and turbans.” Sokhi is clear that the colour and print of a turban should match one’s personal style, which is why spending extra to get the perfect shade of “pakka rang” is worth it. Crowning glory It is not just the chefs who have realised that adding a personal flourish can make all the difference in an industry where dress code matters. Turbans are an integral part of the wardrobe of Karanbir Singh Gulati, Founder and Director of Two Plus Four is Six Hospitality Services. Like Thapar, he too prefers the 5.15-metre drapes in rubia voile material. “I have about 75 turbans in various colours. Each turban is double-stitched, peckoed, and dyed in specific shades. One essential feature is the ‘fifty’, a small cloth worn on the forehead and under the turban. I have fifties in around 50 colours, which allows me to blend or contrast my looks as desired,” says the hotelier. Gulati says he fell in love with turbans when studying at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla. Today, he gets bespoke turbans from Amritsar Pagri House and Pagri Centre, Mohali. That’s not all. He has splurged on turban cloth with imported specialty dyes, the most expensive of which cost Rs 5,000 a metre. But his most prized pieces are one in deep royal blue, and another in ruby (wine) red. Gulati likes wearing the red one, which his father bought in 2000, for high-end wine tastings and pairing sessions. “I take pride in coordinating my turban colours with my pocket squares and socks and often receive compliments for this personal touch. I also pay attention to my choice of eyewear. I select shades that sit just right without me having to lift my turban at the sides, which ensures a comfortable, refined look,” he adds. In upper crust hospitality, where granular details and personal stories enhance guest experiences, these professionals have found smart ways to infuse personal styles with professional identities — all with a turban.