The municipality of Tivat has announced a public invitation to purchase a firefighting hydraulic platform for extinguishing fires and rescues at a height, with a platform - a working bench of minimum 27 meters tall. The estimated value of the tender is 100,000 euros with VAT.

It is a select fire truck that will be used to complete the Tivat Protection and Rescue Service (SZS) fleet. According to the conditions from the public invitation, the horizontal reach of the basket is a minimum 17 meters, carrying capacity 400 kilograms, and an aluminum auxiliary staircase leads to the basket along the hydraulic bridge.

"This is a firefighting vehicle and rescue at high altitudes in multi-storey buildings, roofs and the like. The hydraulic platform we are purchasing will be the first vehicle of this type in Montenegro," said the head of SZS Tivat Zoran Barbic yesterday. The vehicle must include, among other things, a fire extinguisher on the platform, a power generator, a smoke fan, a high-pressure hose and a compressed air tank, two sets of breathing devices, a wood saw chain, a hydraulic winch and two reflectors. It is necessary to have an annual service for the current year, and the offer must include staff training. The public tender will be closed on April 15th, and the decision on the selection of the most favorable bid will be made within 60 days.

Last year through public tenders, SZS obtained a new vehicle for narrow streets and for initial fire extinguishing with two separate new systems for extinguishing with foam and compressed foam. For this purpose, 59,206 euros were spent, while the volunteer firefighter company "Krtoli" used the fire vehicle with a capacity of 7,000 liters of water. For these needs, the Municipality has allocated EUR 14,889.

In 2018, SZS Tivat had a total of 257 activities in the field.

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Text by Sinisa Lukovic, on March 27th 2019, read more at Vijesti

In Kotor, at the 18^th KotorArt Don Branko Days of Music, arrives a world-renowned cellist, Narek Hakhnazaryan. The concert is scheduled for August 5^th in the concert hall at the Church of St. Spirit, starting at 9.30 pm.

A limited amount of tickets are on pre-sale at discounted prices. They can be purchased online via www.gigstix.com or physically throughout Montenegro at the selected Tobacco S Press kiosks. A detailed overview of the locations can be found at www.gigstix.me.

Born in the family of musicians, he began his education in his native Yerevan (Armenia), and continued at the Conservatory in Moscow and the New England Music Conservatory in Boston. He learnt how to play the cello also by the famous Mstislav Rostropovič, whose foundation provided him with the scholarship. He entered the international scene in 2011, when he won, as a 22-year-old, at the 14th International Competition “Tchaikovsky”.

"It is our great pleasure to start presenting artists for this year's Festival. The program that will be implemented in July and August was mostly agreed during the previous year, and early contracting and presentation of the program is a practice and standard for the manifestations of our profile in Europe and critical not only from the aspect of culture but also tourist offer. Among other things, this is also evidenced by the recent acknowledgment by KotorArt: EFFE Label - the European Quality Seal for Art Festivals as well as the "Wild Beauty" awards for the best manifestation in Montenegro for 2018. Narek Hakhnazaryan is an outstanding artist, with incredible energy and musicality, whose solo recital on the cello of the works by J. S. Bach, which is rarely heard, we are all eagerly waiting. His concert will be a kind of culmination of the entire Kotor concert season, which from November to June in our city is organized by KotorArt and the Music School "Vida Matjan", and which this year is dedicated to the cello," said Sara Lakicevic, PR of the Festival.

Hakhnazaryan has played with world orchestras such as the London, Chicago, Detroit, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam, Seoul, Helsinki and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Marinski Theater Orchestra and the Milan Scala, establishing a cooperation with conductors such as Gergiev, Jarvi, Spivakov, Pletnev, Robertson et al. He held recitals in the world's leading halls and plays the cello, which was built in 1707 by Joseph Guarneri. This will be his first visit to Montenegro.

This year's KotorArt Festival Don Branko Days of Music will be realized under the auspices of Kotor Municipality and the Ministry of Culture as well as with the help of numerous sponsors.

Text by M.D., on March 26th 2019, read more at CdM

An exhibition of the best photographs that arrived at the photo contest "Natural beauties of Montenegro" for the municipalities of Niksic, Pluzine, Savnik and Zabljak will be organized at Pluzine Cultural Centre tomorrow.

At the competition above, which was organized by the Art-Music Association "Scena" from Niksic, 258 photos were received by 86 authors, and the expert jury selected the top 30 which will be presented to the citizens of Pluzine, Niksic, Savnik and Zabljak. Photographer Zeljko Sapuric led the jury, and beside him were also Milos Zvicer, Dusko Markovic and Zoran Dziknic.

"In addition to the three-member expert jury, visitors of the traveling exhibitions will have the opportunity to vote anonymously during the exhibition, after which the expert jury will take into account the votes and select the three best photographs, and the authors will be rewarded with tablet computers," it was explained from “Scena".

Authors of the 30 best photographs are Jelena Todorovic, Anastasija Djuric, Sofija Bajagic, Tanja Jovanovic, Vukica Bujisic, Rade Vojinovic, Vukica Tomic, Milenka Samsal, Desimir Medojevic, Luka Vasiljevic, Ognjen Ceranic, Milica Krstajic, Milan Sapuric, Ljiljana Bogdanovic, Danilo Mijanovic, Miloš Dziknic, Dragana Sumic, Dusan Dakic, Boro Raskovic, Marko Nedovic, Dragutin Pasić, Zeljka Zoric, Ilija Vulanovic, Masa Stevovic, Andrija Vasiljevic, Andrej Karadzic, Dijana Lazarevic, Olga Jokanovic, Miljko Bulajic and Jelena Pavicevic.

The goal of the photo competition is, as they said from the NGO above, the promotion of natural beauties of Niksic, Pluzine, Savnik and Zabljak, as well as the promotion of photography as an art among pupils of primary, secondary schools and students from the mentioned municipalities. The photo contest is organized by the Art Music Association "Scena" within the project "Improvement and promotion of cultural and artistic creativity of the young people of Niksic, Plužine, Savnik and Zabljak", financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, and based on the Public Competition "The Diversity of the Expressions at the Independent cultural scene ".

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Text by Svetlana Mandic, on March 26th 2019, read more at Vijesti

The organizing team of Spark.me, one of the largest marketing conferences in Southeast Europe, scheduled for May 25^th and 26^th,  which is organized for the first time in the Porto Montenegro Auditorium in Tivat, announced a new Spark.me conference speaker - Cate Murden. Murden is the founder of PUSH, a consulting firm whose practice is based on research into human behavior and who, with clients such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Saatchi & Saatchi, Havas, IMG, HSBC, Sainsbury's and Vice, is working to create a more productive and healthier working environment. Murden, after an exciting career in the media industry that lasted for almost two decades, rose to the position of director of partnership in one of the largest and most successful media agencies in London.

However, such a demanding career took a tribute, and Murden, due to accumulated stress, was forced to leave the job. She managed to overcome the challenging period that was before her, and then turned her personal experience into business and founded the consulting house PUSH, to assist organizations in helping their employees in planning their time better and in dealing with challenging and stressful business tasks.

Murden believes that the organizations in which we work can also be the cause and solution of such problems. Therefore, her mission is to help employees, teams and organizations work better - to do business with less stress, less sensory overload, fewer unnecessary costs, and ultimately, more profit. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research modes, PUSH strives to understand how companies operate and to regulate the system by making the ultimate goal to be more relaxed and satisfied employees on the one hand, and higher productivity and profit on the other.

Organizers of Spark.me previously published the names of two speakers this year - they are Anab Jain (TED speaker, designer, film producer and co-founder of Superflux, a world-renowned company that innovates in the field of design and technology trying to bring us closer to the world of the future) and Jeremiah Owyang (co-founder of Kaleido Insights and worldwide authority in developing programs that promote innovation of corporations). In the following period, the names of other speakers at the conference will be announced.

More information on Spark.me 2019 can be found here, Facebook page, Twitter account  and Instagram account 

Text by Vijesti Online, on March 27th 2019, read more at Vijesti

March 27, 2019 - "Montenegrin lighthouses as destination icons" is the scientific monograph by Doc. Dr Andjela Jaksic-Stojanovic (Mediterranean Univesity, Montenegro) and prof. Dr Nevena Seric (the Faculty of Economics, University of Split) which recently emerged from the press. 

26 March 2019 - The Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone of Montenegro in cooperation with the Municipality of Budva plans to deal with the most valuable walking space in this town - promenade from Budva to Bečići and to solve this through the development of a quality permanent plan, said Predrag Jelušič director of this public enterprise. He expects the project to be estimated at 10 million EUR.

The Coastal Zone of Montenegro is planning to invest significant funds for international competition tender for the selection of the best architectural and visual solution of the Lungo Mare promenade, from Sole Mio in Budva to Plavi kamen in Rafailovići.

"It will be a very challenging job for both companies and local government. I believe that we will all be equally committed to choosing a quality solution because Lungo Mare promenade should have a completely different form and a different tourist offer," said Jelušić.

He believes that after the promenade in Tivat and Pet Danica in Herceg Novi, and the promenades in Čanje and Sutomore, now it is Budva's turn to reconstruct its own.

"I believe that Budva is ready to reconstruct this space in a quality way and that this will become a permanent solution that will be full for at least nine months of the year. This way promenade will have its own life and suitable premises that will be able to promote tourist offer and application on its own. Budva will gather many more tourist in this way for both the town and for Montenegro," pointed out Jelušić.

He also added that the perfect example of how Montenegrin coast should look alike and the model for other coastal towns to look into is promenade in Tivat.

"This project will be financially demanding, but it will also be a big benefit to hotel chains in the area, such as the hotel group Budvanska rivijera and other venues that are in the interest of making the promenade according to the most up-to-date standards," stressed out Jelušić.

"I am expecting full commitment from local tourism organizations, because management of this destination is crucial for our city. The tourists want to see every city segment working at its best, from parking to horticulture," Jelušić concluded.

Are there free spaces in the parking lot? What is a 21st-century greenhouse like? How do you learn grammar? These are just some of the great projects that the Montenegrin elementary school pupils managed to realize using micro-bit devices.

The micro-bit computer actually allows the use of hardware parts through the software, and the British Council will provide around 4,000 micro-bit pocket computers over the next three years, which should encourage student's innovation.

In 20 schools the students are already designing projects, on 600 micro-bit computers, which are also a gift from the UK Government through the British Council and the Ministry of Education. Irena Selcanin from the Ulcinj Elementary School "Marko Nuculovic" is already familiar with the micro-bit device. She says it seemed interesting, but also complicated."In time, by getting to know this powerful device and its capabilities, it became easier, more interesting, and I was eager and thrilled to start working on them," she said.

The project she worked on is called "Smart Parking".

"We had more ideas. We decided on this project because we wanted to contribute to solving the problems that our local community has. The project involves detecting free spaces in the parking lot. By igniting the lights on one of the micro-bits, busy parking spaces are displayed, and on the second micro-bit, the number shows how many other free places there are. When the number of zero is displayed, the ramp is lowered" she explains.

Pupils of the elementary school "Risto Ratkovic" from Bijelo Polje Milica Markovic, Katarina Dragovic, and Marko Markovic tell us that at one of the workshops they were assigned the task of creating the code for the project that we would present at the competition. Ideas have been merged into one, applicable in language classes, regardless of the course.

How to learn grammar while playing a game – Pupils of the elementary school “Risto Ratkovic”(Photo: Mpin.gov.me)

"We begin with the game by pressing the start button after which a number between one and five displays on the micro-bit screen. The number is the indicator which key the player needs to press. After pressing a specific button on the micro-bit, a letter will appear that represents a specific task. (The player needs to say a particular type of word that begins with that letter). After the acoustic signal, the player has to solve the given word to continue the game. In case a player does not respond to a task at a specific time interval, he falls out of the game. The game continues until one player-winner remains. Depending on whether the player replied correctly or incorrectly on the screen of the micro-bit, a certain signal will appear which is given by the game manager via the radio connection.

Miro Marjanovic and Milo Sekularac from Berane Elementary School "Vuk Karadzic", with the help of micro-bits, made a model of a greenhouse for the 21st century. For "Vijesti" they point out that the idea came from the desire to help farmers to grow their plants more efficiently and in better quality.

"Due to the complexity and specificity of the work in the greenhouse that requires a constant presence of farmers, we wanted to allow the farmer to be able to deal with some other activities or rest, and that the cultivation of plants in the greenhouse is as good and quality as if the farmer himself is present. In other words, the micro-bit would allow the control of the temperature inside the greenhouse - if the temperature exceeds the allowed limits within the greenhouse, the micro-bit with the servo motor opens or closes the windows, and thus prevents the withering of plants due to high or low temperatures.

It would also allow light measurement - if the light intensity drops below a certain limit, the micro-bit includes the light source (light bulb), if the intensity of light meets the predicted level, it turns off the light source. In this way, an additional light source allows the growth of plants."

Micro-bit, it is emphasized, also measures the speed of wind outside the greenhouse, and if the wind has a speed above normal, the micro-bit closes the windows with the help of a servo motor, which protects the plant culture from possible damage.

Students from Berane third in Belgrade

"During the development of the project, we used the knowledge of biology, physics, technology, and informatics. At the national micro-bit computer program competition held in May last year, we won the first place, whereby we acquired the condition to attend the "New Technologies in Education" fair which was held in June 2018 in Belgrade. At the fair, we presented our project with which we won third place at the regional competition in coding micro-bit computers," said Marjanovic and Sekularac.

The digital age does not eliminate the chalkboard 

Minister Damir Sehovic said that the assessment of the Ministry of Education that turning the head from the fact that our children live in the digital age is irresponsible because in this way we would get children who cannot even recognize the numerous possibilities, but also the dangers that lurk in this cyber world.

"That is why we will not turn our head, but we will work on education in which the chalkboard, but also a good book, will occupy the place that belongs to them. But, we will be aware at the same time that the modern age in which we live requires a new - modern way of thinking but also learning because it is the only way to create preconditions for using all the benefits of today, which are unlimited. "

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Text by Tina Popovic, on March 25th 2019, read more at Vijesti

On Sunday, in the organization of the Agency for the Development and Protection of Orjen, a group of 50 nature lovers visited several sites that have their own story about water: Kotobiljski spring, Tajno brdo, Austro-Hungarian water-supply system and ultimately Ljuti krs - the biggest attraction of this tour. An educational tour called "Voda u krsu" was organized on the occasion of the World Water Day.

The area of Ljuti krs is extremely rich in various forms of rocks, coves, canals, gutters, and even pits created by chemical decomposition under the influence of precipitation waters. "The water crushed its huge stone blocks by chemical erosion, creating a fascinating micro-relief. Except for a few stones, there are no drops of surface water here, because it directly goes with vertical channels in its unexplored interior. Water in the areas of the karst is therefore even more precious, but also more sensitive to pollution since limestone terrain is far less purified than usual. On the other hand, as much as it is inaccessible to people, the underground is the only habitat for some forms of life, and so is the olm, the most famous living species of cave streams, the kind that probably inhabits our underworld, which is another argument for the need of careful protection of the water in the karst," the agency said.

In the labyrinth of Ljuti krs

At the end of the tour, participants tried local specialties of this region at the Stanovcic family home in the village Kameno, known among others by the oldest rural water-supply system in our hinterland, made even during the Austro-Hungarian administration.

However important it is to recognize the tourist potential of such an unusual karst relief, it is also important to preserve its underground from the pollution, since Orjen is a mountain with the highest amount of precipitation in Europe, deep in its interior, it was stated from the Agency for the development and protection of Orjen.

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Text by Slavica Kosic, on March 25th 2019, read more at Vijesti

Today, 50 boys and girls arrived in the barracks "Milovan Saranovic" in Danilovgrad for voluntary military service in the Army of Montenegro.

"We are starting a new working week strengthened with 50 boys and girls who arrived today at the “Milovan Saranovic” barracks in Danilovgrad for voluntary military service," reads the official Facebook page of the Ministry of Defense.

From that Government's office, they said that 50 of them would spend the next three months in the barracks and be trained for basic military skills.

"Today is the day to get acquainted with the environment, colleagues, commanders, dressing up in the uniform and pair of boots. Continue to follow us, in the coming period we will show you how #DobrovoljnoUVojsku looks like with our first generation," reads the Facebook profile of the Ministry of Defense.

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Text by Vijesti Online, on March 25th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

24 March 2019 - Montenegro will develop an economy based on know-how and innovation, at the same time preventing the brain drain, Prime Minister Duško Marković underlined at the conference on the occasion of ending the project Towards Entrepreneurial Innovation Ecosystem in Montenegro.