This coming August 28 to September 3, the Serial Cup which is a serial-class only paragliding competition will take place at Tolmin, Slovenia. The objective of such competition is to develop the skills of the cross country pilots especially in their distances flown, competition tactics, grasping their conditions, and the like. This is actually somehow related to the Ozone Chabre Open.

The pilots that will be included in the top-level competition will be announced the following month. Every pilot will give their talk on relevant subject matters together with flying the tasks on EN B wings together with other participants. Almost 125 pilots will be part of the Serial Cup and it will cost €120 before 31 March, €150 until 31 July and €170 thereafter to be part of the event. You can visit Slo-Comps registration system to be part of the event.

The new solar-powered office building of Slovenia was an innovative project made by OFIS Architects for Eles Electro located at Ljubljana. It makes use of renewable energy sources like solar and wind. This net-zero project is designed to get the different angles of sunlight there is at different directors throughout the 187 days of the year that sees the sun in such part of the earth. Furthermore, every part of this building is covered with ample solar panels which can power the entire building without leading to grid-fired juice.

The interior part of the facility was made modern and rational and at the same time using organic materials. It is likewise made from concrete and natural materials like wood together with prefab concrete halls. For direct heating as well as cooling, the facility uses ground water together with wind for their natural ventilation.

The Koper Port of Slovenia handled approximately 15.37 million tons of cargo last year, which is a rise of about 17% from the previous years. Based on preliminary estimation, the operating revenues topped 119 million Euros up to 10% year-on-year as claimed by Luka Koper, port operator. Although there was an increase, the biggest rise was noted in the container transshipment that rose 40% to 476,731 units (TEU) which is a new record of the Slovenian port.

The largest maker of industrial robots internationally namely Yaskawa Electric is currently constructing a production center within Europe in the so called town of Ribnica which is 35 km from the south of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The said plant will be a strategic supplier for all subsidiaries of the Japanese group within Europe. Furthermore, the plant is likewise an update of their current activities at Yaskawa’s Slovenian operations, Motoman Robotec and Yaskawa Ristro. Director of the company Hubert Kosler stated that they will be finishing the present financial year ending this February with revenues approximately EUR 3.2m and EUR 7m, respectively.

Among the 5 European countries who citizens are granted to work temporarily in the United States, Slovenian citizens are one of them. The citizens will be on special guest worker visas as claimed by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) last Friday. Included in the 5 European countries aside from Slovenia are Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, and FYR Macedonia.

The 10 participants during the Slovenian selection for Eurovision 2011 has been recently announced and among them is the famous Omar Naber who was Slovenia’s representative during 2005 with the song Stop.

The complete line-up of EMA 2011 are as follows: April, Feliks Langus, LeeLooJamais, Maja Keuc, Nina Pušlar, Omar Naber, Rock Partyzani, Sylvain, Mike Vale feat. Hannah Mancini, Tabu, and Time to Time.

All the participants in the event were picked internally without the need for a public call for entries taking place. The songs are yet to be announced soon.

For the national final, a jury will pick 2 super-finalists out of the participants and the winner from the two acts will be selected through televoting. Last year’s Eurovision Song Contest was represented by Ansambel Žlindra and Kalamari with the song Narodnozabavni Rock wherein they garnered the 16^th place during the second Semi-Final.

Krista Group, a Russian auto parts moulder will be supplying plastic car seat components to Togliatti, Russia wherein a new production plant will be established as planned by TPV, a Slovenian auto seats manufacturer. TPV from Novo Mesto, Slovenia is planning to put up a €10m facility within the Samara region for them to supply seats for vehicles that will be assembled within Togliatti by the Russian car maker AvtoVaz. The seats were intended to be utilized in the AvtoVaz car model, the Lada Granta that will be replacing the auto group’s previous Lada Kalina model late this year.

TPV specializes in making and manufacturing seat frames, seals, castings, castings, and wire and pipe products. Other companies the seat maker serves are Magna, Faurecia, Grammer, Johnson Controls and the Renault group, a 25% owner of AvtoVaz.

When Adria announced that they are experiencing a serious financial problem, it was followed by the resignation of Tadej Tufek, Adria Airways’ former CEO. But, the Slovenian government together with Adria’s Management Board recently announced Adria Airways’ new CEO, Klemen Boštjančič. He is the former CEO of the insolvent construction company Vegrad and the former head of the Mineral Council. Just yesterday, Adria’s new CEO announced that he is confident that they can revive the airlines and do measures to get back Adria right on track. He believes that Adria should explore new markets and increase their flights together with the review of Adria’s destinations. It is said that they are willing to establish a new base in Skopje. As claimed by Boštjančič, “The next 6 months are crucial for Adria’s survival. We need to change the airline’s current business model and secure short term liquidity, otherwise the company will go bankrupt. As soon as you don’t pay your suppliers they are in a position

From May 28 to June 4, 2011, the 2011 British Paragliding Open series happens at Kobarid. There is approximately 150 places available during this FAI Cat 2 event.

For the event, xTc and Passion Paragliding will be joining forces to run a pre-comp training week from May 22 to 28 for the pilots to get familiar with the area, its launches and cross country potential. The total training week costs will be £395 (475€) which covers the transfers/flying fees, guiding and training but excluding accommodation. To know more about this or perhaps book on the course, you may get in touch with Brett or Toby. After the event, the Polish competition will follow to be held at the same location.

For those individuals who are planning to take a trip to Slovenia, you’d be lucky to witness some of the best and special events of the country as they celebrate their 20^th year of declaration of national independence.

Among the highlights is the Statehood Day to be held on June 25, 2011 that is actually a mark on the day when the country’s independence was officially declared in 1991. The event will then be followed by a meeting of Slovenians worldwide on the 21^st of July at Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital city.

The events included during the celebration according to the national tourist board range from exhibitions at certain venues like Museum of Recent History in Celje and the National Liberation Museum in Maribor. Tourists can also visit certain parts of the country’s permanent attractions, such as the castle, bridges and old town area of Ljubljana. You can visit Slovenia through booking with the following carriers: easyJet, Swiss, Lufthansa together with other carriers.