Mobile rigs were the beginning of mobile phones for use in vehicles such as taxicab radios, two way radios in police cruisers, and the like. Originally, mobile phones were permanently installed in vehicles, but later versions such as the so-called transportables or "bag phones" could also be carried, and thus could be used as either mobile or as portable phones.
In Europe, radio telephony was first used on the first-class passenger trains between Berlin and Hamburg since 1926. At the same time, radio telephony was introduced on passenger airplanes for air traffic security. Later radio telephony was introduced on a large scale in German tanks during the Second world war. After the war German police in the British zone of occupation first used disused tank telephony equipment to run the first radio patrol cars.
The first fully automatic mobile phone system, called MTA (Mobile Telephone system A), was developed by Ericsson and commercially released in Sweden in 1956. This was the first system that didn't require any kind of manual control, but had the disadvantage of a phone weight of 40 kg (88 lbs). MTB, an upgraded version with transistors (weighing "only" 9 kg), was introduced in 1965 and used dual-tone multifrequency signaling. It had 150 customers in the beginning and 600 when it shut down in 1983.
First Gen Mobile Phones (1G)
The first handheld 1G mobile phone to become commercially available was the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, which received approval in 1983.
In 1984, Motorola lead the way with its Motorola DynaTAC 8000X "Brick Phone", which weighed 2 pounds, offered only one half hour of talktime and sold for $3,995. Developed by Rudy Krolopp, later dubbed the father of the wireless phone by Motorola's Chief Executive Officer, the phone was the first of its kind. The design took nearly 10 years and a total of $100 million in development costs before its official unveiling.
In 1984 there were 25,000 cell phones sold in the U.S. In 1990 that number had grown to 18,88,000 units sold, and in the year 2000. 52,600,00 units were sold – a million phones a week!
Second Gen (2G)
In the 1990s, second generation (2G) mobile phone systems such as GSM, IS-136 ("TDMA"), iDEN and IS-95 ("CDMA") began to be introduced. The first digital cellular phone call was made in the United States in 1990, in 1991 the first GSM network opened in Europe. 2G phone systems were characterized by digital circuit switched transmission and the introduction of advanced and fast phone to network signaling. In general the frequencies used by 2G systems in Europe were higher though with some overlap, for example the 900 MHz frequency range was used for both 1G and 2G systems in Europe and so such 1G systems were rapidly closed down to make space for 2G systems. In America the IS-54 standard was deployed in the same band as AMPS and displaced some of the existing analog channels.
Companies like Nokia, Sony Erricson, Panasonic, Samsung came up with games like Poker on their handsets. Other features like camera, Color LCD, Polyphonic ringtones, MMS were also introduced in 2G mobiles.
Third Gen (3G)
Not long after the introduction of 2G networks, projects began to develop third generation (3G) systems. Inevitably there were many different standards with different contenders pushing their own technologies. Quite differently from 2G systems, however, the meaning of 3G has been standardized in the IMT-2000 standardization processing. This process did not standardize on a technology, but rather on a set of requirements (2 Mbit/s maximum data rate indoors, 384 kbit/s outdoors, for example). At that point, the vision of a single unified worldwide standard broke down and several different standards have been introduced.
World Mobile Market
RNCOS’ “World Mobile Market (2006)”, report provides extensive research and objective analysis on the growing marketplace for the global mobile handset industry-
-Key Technologies Analyzed
Key Handset technologies including the most recent one as GSM, CDMA, 1xEV-DO, WiFi VoIP, TDMA, 3G, 4G and Blue Tooth are also analyzed supported by the facts like revenues and the market share.
-Key Players Analyzed
This section provides the overview, key facts and numbers and key competitors of several players like Alcatel, Ericsson, Fujitsu Microelectronics, Intel Corporation, Nokia, LG, Sony Ericssion, Motorola, Siemens, Samsung, Sun Microsystems, NTT Docomo, RF Micro Devices, Zarlink Semiconductor Infineon Technologies, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Sprint, Nextel, AT & T Wireless, Vodafone, China Mobile (Hong Kong) Limited, Deutsche Telekom AG, China Unicom, Telefónica Móviles, América Móvil, France Telecom /Orange, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Cingular
-Key Findings
The mobile handset sales continue to grow worldwide, going up from 482.5 million in 2003 to 816.5 million in 2005. This growth rate is expected to gradually slow down over a period of five years. The estimated growth figures for these five years are—10% in 2005, 7.7% in 2006, 6.4% in 2007, 4.8% in 2008 and 2.6% in 2009. Notwithstanding the gradual decline in the growth figures, the annual handset sales are predicted to reach more than US $ 3 Billion by 2009.
Thursday, 12 July 2007
Friday, 6 July 2007
‘Organised retail boom won’t affect street corner shops’
“The boom in organised retailing in India would not affect the traditional street corner shops in the country” said real estate guru David Fischel. Elaborating further he said organised retailing would make its own way increasing size of the market and create new jobs in the country.
Fischel, who is CEO of UK based $18 billion realty major Liberty International, said organised retailing would help improve the efficiency of the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. He said organised retailing helps develop efficient supply chains, which in turn improves the efficiency of an economy.
Fischel said, In country like India, where 64% of consumption drives GDP, growth of new city centres and malls would spur consumer spending, which , in turn, would drive growth in GDP. This would lead to improvement in government revenues further fuelling infrastructure development.”
He said, New city centres and upgraded existing town centres would emerge as destinations where consumers would spend time with their families. This would have a multiplier effect on job creation and revenues. He said retail is an occupation available to the relatively unskilled. Therefore for a country like India it will be a great employer.
“In countries like India, where distribution of wealth is uneven,” he said, propensity to spend will improve only with the equitable benefits of these developments. Large retail infrastructure would be followed by establishments of cold chains and packaged food industry. With 40% of farm produce in India getting wasted, creation of new age infrastructure will reduce farm wastage and create prosperity for farmers. Social developments are best when its benefits touch farming, technology and services,” He said organised retailing entails industries which touch all these sectors.
Fischel said in organised retailing, developers of malls and city centres should only lease out shops to retailers instead of outright sale .He said in case of outright sale of shops, there would be a multiple ownership in a mall, which would create problem in implementing a planned zoning system. He said a planned scheme of retail outlet is important for the success of a mall as it provides better experiences to shoppers. He said mall owners have not only to keep the retailers happy but also have to address the requirements of shoppers.
MY PERSPECTIVE
First things first. The rise of organised retail does not mean the end of traditional retail. According to "Retail in India: getting organised to drive growth", a joint report by global management consultancy A T Kearney and the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Indian retail sector is valued at $320 billion (Rs 14,40,000 crore), of which organised retail accounts for a minuscule 6 per cent (Rs 86,400 crore or Rs 864 billion).
Of course, the latter's 35 per cent growth is multiple times the 7-8 per cent forecast for the sector as a whole: which is why Kearney forecasts organised retail will cross $100 billion by 2012. Even at that level, though, it will be far behind traditional retail. Most manufacturers understand that.
"For a very long time to come, the biggest chunk of business will be from general trade. The corner shop will not disappear," says V S Sitaram, executive director, consumer care division, Dabur India. Even modern format retailers agree.
"Micro enterprise is the most adaptable retail entity in India. It will always remain relevant," points out Damodar Mall, president and CEO, foods business, Future Group.
CONCLUSION
Still, with the rise of modern retail outlets, the nature of shopping will change. While stock-up purchases (buying the month's groceries, for instance) are likely to move to the supermarkets and hypermarkets, top-ups (when you run out of, say, shampoo, in the middle of the month) will continue at local stores. That shift in buying habits has far-reaching consequences for consumer product companies.
Fischel, who is CEO of UK based $18 billion realty major Liberty International, said organised retailing would help improve the efficiency of the manufacturing and agriculture sectors. He said organised retailing helps develop efficient supply chains, which in turn improves the efficiency of an economy.
Fischel said, In country like India, where 64% of consumption drives GDP, growth of new city centres and malls would spur consumer spending, which , in turn, would drive growth in GDP. This would lead to improvement in government revenues further fuelling infrastructure development.”
He said, New city centres and upgraded existing town centres would emerge as destinations where consumers would spend time with their families. This would have a multiplier effect on job creation and revenues. He said retail is an occupation available to the relatively unskilled. Therefore for a country like India it will be a great employer.
“In countries like India, where distribution of wealth is uneven,” he said, propensity to spend will improve only with the equitable benefits of these developments. Large retail infrastructure would be followed by establishments of cold chains and packaged food industry. With 40% of farm produce in India getting wasted, creation of new age infrastructure will reduce farm wastage and create prosperity for farmers. Social developments are best when its benefits touch farming, technology and services,” He said organised retailing entails industries which touch all these sectors.
Fischel said in organised retailing, developers of malls and city centres should only lease out shops to retailers instead of outright sale .He said in case of outright sale of shops, there would be a multiple ownership in a mall, which would create problem in implementing a planned zoning system. He said a planned scheme of retail outlet is important for the success of a mall as it provides better experiences to shoppers. He said mall owners have not only to keep the retailers happy but also have to address the requirements of shoppers.
MY PERSPECTIVE
First things first. The rise of organised retail does not mean the end of traditional retail. According to "Retail in India: getting organised to drive growth", a joint report by global management consultancy A T Kearney and the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Indian retail sector is valued at $320 billion (Rs 14,40,000 crore), of which organised retail accounts for a minuscule 6 per cent (Rs 86,400 crore or Rs 864 billion).
Of course, the latter's 35 per cent growth is multiple times the 7-8 per cent forecast for the sector as a whole: which is why Kearney forecasts organised retail will cross $100 billion by 2012. Even at that level, though, it will be far behind traditional retail. Most manufacturers understand that.
"For a very long time to come, the biggest chunk of business will be from general trade. The corner shop will not disappear," says V S Sitaram, executive director, consumer care division, Dabur India. Even modern format retailers agree.
"Micro enterprise is the most adaptable retail entity in India. It will always remain relevant," points out Damodar Mall, president and CEO, foods business, Future Group.
CONCLUSION
Still, with the rise of modern retail outlets, the nature of shopping will change. While stock-up purchases (buying the month's groceries, for instance) are likely to move to the supermarkets and hypermarkets, top-ups (when you run out of, say, shampoo, in the middle of the month) will continue at local stores. That shift in buying habits has far-reaching consequences for consumer product companies.
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Special Economic Zone
Special Economic Zone or Real Estate Zone?
Nightmare for Farmers
The recent move of the Commerce Ministry with its noble idea of creating foreign territories (under SEZ Act, 2005) within India is meeting with a great resistance at least in Maharashtra, if not anywhere else as of now. The protest of Paddy farmers from Kokan and Potato farmers from Rajgurunagar in Pune District speaks the same language of strong discontentment with any discussion of giving away their only means of livelihood, the Land.
“Maru pan amhi amchi jameen denar naahi! Paise wagairah kahi nakot amaala, Lakh kay koti dile tari amhi eak inch pan jameen denar nahi”
- Farmers of
More than 140 SEZ’s have been planned in country. In Santa Cruz (Maharashtra), Cochin (Kerala), Kandla and Surat (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Falta (West Bengal) and Nodia (Uttar Pradesh), at Indore ( Madhya Pradesh ) Positra (Gujarat), Navi Mumbai and Kopata (Maharashtra), Nanguneri (Tamil Nadu), Kulpi and Salt Lake (West Bengal), Paradeep and Gopalpur (Orissa), Bhadohi, Kanpur, Moradabad and Greater Noida (U.P.), Vishakhapatnam and Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), Vallarpadam/Puthuvypeen (Kerala) Hassan ( Karnataka), Jaipur and Jodhpur ( Rajasthan) on the basis of proposals received from the State Governments.
FARMERS STRIFE AGAINST LAND ACQUISITION UNDER RELIANCE SEZ FOR GREATER MUMBAI
On June 22, a few Mumbai-based Marathi newspapers carried the news of the demonstrations of hundreds of farmers against the land acquisition by the state government for the Reliance Company for a 10,120 hectare Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The farmers in the obscure Pen tehsil in Raigad district Maharashtra took a strong protest rally of almost 4000 farmers against Reliance SEZ on 21st, that curbed by police lathi charge on the rally which was a response of stone throwing by some miscreants and damaging the property. Later it was found that, that was not done by the protesting farmers.
“The Reliance Company managed to create disturbance in the peaceful meeting of hundereds of farmers and our process of presenting objections to the Land Acquisition notices to the officials. The company is nervous about the growing resistance by the farmers for usurping their productive land and therefore trying to use the police to crush the movement" told Arun Shivkar, of Pen Panchkroshi Sheti Bachao Samiti (Pen area Committee for save the farmland).
The villagers now know fully well they are pitted against the formidable adversary – the giant Reliance, which has just obtained 25,000 hectares land for its own SEZ in Haryana, already took the governments in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and even the so called the Left wing government of W. Bengal. It is spreading its wings in textiles, power, contract farming, medicinal herbs, sugar industries and retail stores. They realize that the Company has enormous sway over the political, bureaucratic establishment and the media. This company has been given the largest SEZ in the 45 villages in Pen-Panvel-Uran area, in the name of the activities like manufacturing, trading, services, processing, logistics, repackaging, warehousing etc.
"There is no question of increased compensation for the land – we just do not want to give our land to the Reliance," that was the spirit of the meeting held on June 24-25, hosted by the Samiti and the NCAS, at Bardawadi near Pen. The meeting, attended by various organizations in Konkan region along with the representatives of NAPM, People's Political Front (PPF), and Shoshit Jan Andolan resolved to intensify and widen the struggle against the SEZ, by involving the affected people in other parts of
1. A week long Padyatra to show resistance to the proposed foreign autonomous territory in farmers land
2. A daylong hunger protest and rally with meeting with various officials
3. Lobbying with state and national groups and with political party representatives
The people's movements from various parts of the country under the aegis of the NAPM, in the recently held
This is one of the 27 approved SEZs in the state out of 53 proposed, both by the private parties (13) and the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC, 11). There are other 17 SEZs that are to be given approval (11 private and 7 MIDC). These SEZs are part of the more than 140 SEZs that are earmarked in almost all the parts of the country. With this one stroke of SEZ Act, the corporate powers have cornered exemptions from almost every tax, while getting the services of water supply, electricity, usurping the natural resources, distorting the constitutional sovereignty of the people.
FARMERS PROTEST IN RAJGURUNAGAR AGAINST MIDC SUPPORTED BHARAT FORGE
In only Pune district more than seven SEZ has been approved out of 27 in
One of this is Bharat Forge limited, for which the land would be acquired from 16 villages like Gulani, Wafgaon, Wakalwadi, Warude, Gadakwadi, Chaudharwadi, Chinchbaigaon, Jaulake Budruk, Jarewadi, Kanesar, Pur, Gosasi, Nimgaon, Retwadi, Jaulake Khurd, Dhore Bhamburwadi and Pabal.
The 7,500 hectares agriculture and non-agriculture land has been identified by MIDC. On which most of the land is under cultivation by Maratha, other backward and Adivasi communities. Their major crops are potato, onion, sorghum, jowar, rice, flowers and pulses. Village youths are engaged into agriculture and allied industries by running their own businesses like poultry, milk collection, pig raring and Shahamrug farm. Nevertheless, people’s livelihood is dependent on farming activities dependent on monsoon rain and irrigation by well. Their demand for water, drinking and irrigation, from the Chas-Kaman Scheme, is pending for a decade unheard by the same government which has proposed land acquisition today for Bharat Forge. Electricity for irrigation is a far distant dream for people of Gulani, the largest village among all proposed for land acquisition.
There has been a drinking water scheme which is about 35 crore’s investment but due to the lack of maintenance it is not in use. Even though this area comes under the
On this background to oppose SEZ project farmers and local people’s representatives have constituted a Khed Taluka Purva Vibhag MIDC Virodhi Kruti Samiti (Anti Land Acquisition Committee from East Khed-Wafgaon and
Their previous experience of earlier projects has made them wise enough to oppose this SEZ project because ‘once one looses the land, it looses the bargaining power’, as this had happened incase of previous projects e.g.
1. Water for drinking and irrigation, support to the agriculture-allied activities and support to small business.
2. Complete the work of drinking water scheme and Gulani percolation tank at the earliest.
3. Save the agriculture land from the MIDC and SEZ project.
The farmers have warned to government officers that they will fight against SEZ unless and until it gets stopped the survey and entire project, the Gram Sabha’s have passed resolutions to this effect. They would rather increase the agriculture production qualitative and quantitative for exports if government provides only waters to them.
Can INDIA be a BRAND
“Brand India” is an idea. Can India be a brand? A brand is a symbol representing all the information of a product or a service. It could be a name, a slogan, a logo or a graphic design. When the brand is mentioned, it accompanies all the experiences of the public mind and the expectations of how it perform. The band can be built by advertising but ultimately what maters is the actual performance of the product or service it stand for. If the brand delivers what it promises then the brand name is going to be a great asset in itself. Properly managed the brand can increase the value of the product on the other extreme, can undermine the product itself.
So coming back to our question, Can India be a brand? India is not a soft drink or Cosmetic, but the very name itself can bring certain memories in the mind of people. That is why our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, insisted on the retaining the name “India”, rather than “Bharat” for the newly independent country. To the world, “India” was a fabled and exotic land, the dream land for travellers and traders for centuries. It seems that, Nehru want to hold on to the brand to proclaim to the world that the India he was leading was heir to that precious heritage.
This brand image worked for some time, India retained its exoticism, royalness, and majestic beauty along with the carrier of moral force for peace and justice. But it could not last long. As poverty and famine attacked the land, the global media replaced the exotic image with the picture of suffering and despair. The brand became dirtied. It was no longer a brand that could attract the world.
Today, the branding is changing again. India is transferring itself economically and it needs a fresh brand image to keep up with the times. Even the government too understood the need and joined hands with the Confederation of Indian Industry to make one. Thus born the India Brand Equity Foundation who came up with the brand
“India: Fastest growing free market democracy” which was heard loud in World Economic Forum 2006 session in Davos.
To our ears, its sounds good “India fastest growing free market democracy”, but is that enough. It is not doubt that our economy is at rapid growth and our’s is a free market and a democracy. Also it’s much better to replace the old picture of suffering and despair. It may be easier for small countries like Singapore to come up
with “surprisingly Singapore” and Bahamas to come up with “It’s better in the Bahamas” as they are concerned with one-issue branding. That’s not the case with “India” which is blessed with abundant potential.
What the world must think when they hear the name “India”. Certainly ,it’s more than fastest growing free market democracy. Many things like natural beauty of our country, as branded as “Incredible India” by Tourism department, Indian fashion and jewellery, advancement in Information Technology headed by infosys and wipro , glamour of Bollywood with India being noticed at International Film Festivals and Oscar Awards , our high potential human resource as marketed as IIT ians a IIM ians, unparalleled diversity of our plural society, with people of different religion speaking different languages live side by side in harmony. Moving further, India as the contributor to the world in Space Technology and peaceful use of Nuclear Technology. Above all, richness of our cultural heritage. It is impossible to put all these attributes to into a poster, or a commercial.
So the challenge of building Brand India is before us, the budding Marketing Managers. However the essential fact remains; what really matters is not the image but the reality. We must join hands to make India a healthy and prosperous place for all people. Then only we can say “INDIA SHINING….”
So coming back to our question, Can India be a brand? India is not a soft drink or Cosmetic, but the very name itself can bring certain memories in the mind of people. That is why our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, insisted on the retaining the name “India”, rather than “Bharat” for the newly independent country. To the world, “India” was a fabled and exotic land, the dream land for travellers and traders for centuries. It seems that, Nehru want to hold on to the brand to proclaim to the world that the India he was leading was heir to that precious heritage.
This brand image worked for some time, India retained its exoticism, royalness, and majestic beauty along with the carrier of moral force for peace and justice. But it could not last long. As poverty and famine attacked the land, the global media replaced the exotic image with the picture of suffering and despair. The brand became dirtied. It was no longer a brand that could attract the world.
Today, the branding is changing again. India is transferring itself economically and it needs a fresh brand image to keep up with the times. Even the government too understood the need and joined hands with the Confederation of Indian Industry to make one. Thus born the India Brand Equity Foundation who came up with the brand
“India: Fastest growing free market democracy” which was heard loud in World Economic Forum 2006 session in Davos.
To our ears, its sounds good “India fastest growing free market democracy”, but is that enough. It is not doubt that our economy is at rapid growth and our’s is a free market and a democracy. Also it’s much better to replace the old picture of suffering and despair. It may be easier for small countries like Singapore to come up
with “surprisingly Singapore” and Bahamas to come up with “It’s better in the Bahamas” as they are concerned with one-issue branding. That’s not the case with “India” which is blessed with abundant potential.
What the world must think when they hear the name “India”. Certainly ,it’s more than fastest growing free market democracy. Many things like natural beauty of our country, as branded as “Incredible India” by Tourism department, Indian fashion and jewellery, advancement in Information Technology headed by infosys and wipro , glamour of Bollywood with India being noticed at International Film Festivals and Oscar Awards , our high potential human resource as marketed as IIT ians a IIM ians, unparalleled diversity of our plural society, with people of different religion speaking different languages live side by side in harmony. Moving further, India as the contributor to the world in Space Technology and peaceful use of Nuclear Technology. Above all, richness of our cultural heritage. It is impossible to put all these attributes to into a poster, or a commercial.
So the challenge of building Brand India is before us, the budding Marketing Managers. However the essential fact remains; what really matters is not the image but the reality. We must join hands to make India a healthy and prosperous place for all people. Then only we can say “INDIA SHINING….”
women flying high
WOMEN FLYING HIGH
The last time you boarded a plane did u hear a women voice telling you to sit back and enjoy the flight. More and more woman are making the leap from the cabin to corporate. They are flying, they are flying as captains and they are flying with all women crew. The flight from Prem Mathur the first Indian women to become the commercial pilot more than 50 years ago to the youngest commercial pilot (18 year old Japji Kaur Cheema) has been a long one but women are finally chasing their lofty dreams.
Driving this increase in number of women pilots is a growing aviation market. Little wonder that Chandigarh girl 18 years old Japji, had more than 3 offers before she opted for Spice Jet. It is also becoming an exciting and lubricating career choice for youngsters looking to spread their wings.
Its a far cry from the days when Indira Mitra started flying in the eighties. “Those days they use to be just a handful of women pilots and i often fly with all women crews” says Air Deccan Mitra, who is one of the rare women to have made it to the rank of Captain, handling both her managerial and operational task with ease.
So does she informed passengers when they are flying with all women crew? “Always but only after we have landed” she says, with a smile. She even recalls an incident two years ago while landing an Airbus 320 at Chennai Airport “My crew comprised only women, the Air traffic controller who gave us permission to land was a women and a flight that took off just after we landed had a women pilot. When we brought this to the notice of the passengers through the PA, all of the passengers stood up and applauded us”.
Caption Mamta, who runs Fly Tech Aviation in Hyderabad, says the intake of women trainees has increased by 10-12% in the last two years. Recalling her own days as a student, she says,” from 1 or 2 women in a batch of 100 students, its now around 10 or 12.” The ratio could improve further, she feels. However there are still hurdles that women have to face.” The training is expensive and there are still parents who don’t want to fork out that much money for a daughter”. Says mamta.
Indian has 76 women pilots, and the number is rising with every new batch. 40 of Air Deccans 496 pilots are women, Kingfisher who 26 women pilots out of 390, got its first women caption recently. “flying has now become a much sought-after career for women. With each new batch, we are adding more and more women pilots.” Says Rubi Arya vice president of Kingfisher Airlines.
“ Choppers have attracted few women as compared to fixed wing aircrafts because they are riskier and the pay isn’t that lucrative.” Explain D A Yadav, public relation manager of Pawan Hans. But the wind of change is flowing here as well. After a gap of many years, the company is now getting ready to welcome women pilot for those who are keen to travel beyond the stars, plant earth offers more than enough career opportunities.
The last time you boarded a plane did u hear a women voice telling you to sit back and enjoy the flight. More and more woman are making the leap from the cabin to corporate. They are flying, they are flying as captains and they are flying with all women crew. The flight from Prem Mathur the first Indian women to become the commercial pilot more than 50 years ago to the youngest commercial pilot (18 year old Japji Kaur Cheema) has been a long one but women are finally chasing their lofty dreams.
Driving this increase in number of women pilots is a growing aviation market. Little wonder that Chandigarh girl 18 years old Japji, had more than 3 offers before she opted for Spice Jet. It is also becoming an exciting and lubricating career choice for youngsters looking to spread their wings.
Its a far cry from the days when Indira Mitra started flying in the eighties. “Those days they use to be just a handful of women pilots and i often fly with all women crews” says Air Deccan Mitra, who is one of the rare women to have made it to the rank of Captain, handling both her managerial and operational task with ease.
So does she informed passengers when they are flying with all women crew? “Always but only after we have landed” she says, with a smile. She even recalls an incident two years ago while landing an Airbus 320 at Chennai Airport “My crew comprised only women, the Air traffic controller who gave us permission to land was a women and a flight that took off just after we landed had a women pilot. When we brought this to the notice of the passengers through the PA, all of the passengers stood up and applauded us”.
Caption Mamta, who runs Fly Tech Aviation in Hyderabad, says the intake of women trainees has increased by 10-12% in the last two years. Recalling her own days as a student, she says,” from 1 or 2 women in a batch of 100 students, its now around 10 or 12.” The ratio could improve further, she feels. However there are still hurdles that women have to face.” The training is expensive and there are still parents who don’t want to fork out that much money for a daughter”. Says mamta.
Indian has 76 women pilots, and the number is rising with every new batch. 40 of Air Deccans 496 pilots are women, Kingfisher who 26 women pilots out of 390, got its first women caption recently. “flying has now become a much sought-after career for women. With each new batch, we are adding more and more women pilots.” Says Rubi Arya vice president of Kingfisher Airlines.
“ Choppers have attracted few women as compared to fixed wing aircrafts because they are riskier and the pay isn’t that lucrative.” Explain D A Yadav, public relation manager of Pawan Hans. But the wind of change is flowing here as well. After a gap of many years, the company is now getting ready to welcome women pilot for those who are keen to travel beyond the stars, plant earth offers more than enough career opportunities.
Biotechnology in India- Present Market Economics and Trends
The Indian Biotechnology sector, although nascent at the present time and accounting for a mere 2% of the global Biotechnology market, is poised for exponential growth over the next 5 years with an expected global market share of 10%. Indigenous Biotech products and services presently accounted for the year 2006-2007 for approximately US$ 1 billion. (4800 crores). With the sector finally crossing the 1 Billion US Dollars mark industry analysts are saying that the Biotechnology industry has finally arrived in India. The industry recorded a robust 36.55 % growth compared to the previous year’s revised figure of Rs 3,475 crore ($788 million). In 2003-04, there were just four companies with revenues in excess of Rs 100 crore. Now two more companies crossed this landmark. More importantly these are not the companies from the health care pharma biotech sector, which so far occupied the top five positions. Venkateshwara Hatcheries is an animal health care company and Mahyco-Monsanto Biotech is an agribiotech company.
The top five home grown Biotech Companies are (1) Biocon, (2) Serum Institute of India, (3) Paneac Biotech, (4) Venkiteshara Hatcheries (5) Mahyco Monsanto
The high growth sector has resulted in a 30% increase in investment which is expected to reach 50% in the next two years.
Venture capital funding of about Rs. 3000 million has been estimated as needed for the biotech sector Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Indian Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) have committed about 35% each .
Banks still remain the major financing source for biotechnology with venture capital accounting for less than 20% of funding in various survey.
Health care products will dominate the scene and may account for about 40% of the market by 2010. Contribution of biotechnology in agriculture may also rise to nearly 33.7% from its share of 29.8% in 1999
Bangalore as a BT HUB
Today most of the biotech companies want to harness the prowess of IT to develop products and Bangalore, a global IT hub, makes it a natural choice. Bangalore has also demonstrated several successful collaborative partnerships. And entrepreneurial culture is highly prevalent here. That is the reason for seeing several start-ups. Strand Genomics, Metahelix, Molecular Connections and Gangagen are a few examples. A proactive and supportive state government is an attraction for investors. This is the reason why Bangalore has attracted several companies in past few years. ReaMetrix, MWG Biotech, Cancer Genetics, ClinWorld, ClinTec and Jubilant Biosys are just a few examples. Bangalore is a known global brand; It has a strong international technology culture; it has several R&D establishments like NCBS and IISc. and Astra Zeneca to leverage upon.
The top five home grown Biotech Companies are (1) Biocon, (2) Serum Institute of India, (3) Paneac Biotech, (4) Venkiteshara Hatcheries (5) Mahyco Monsanto
The high growth sector has resulted in a 30% increase in investment which is expected to reach 50% in the next two years.
Venture capital funding of about Rs. 3000 million has been estimated as needed for the biotech sector Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Indian Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) have committed about 35% each .
Banks still remain the major financing source for biotechnology with venture capital accounting for less than 20% of funding in various survey.
Health care products will dominate the scene and may account for about 40% of the market by 2010. Contribution of biotechnology in agriculture may also rise to nearly 33.7% from its share of 29.8% in 1999
Bangalore as a BT HUB
Today most of the biotech companies want to harness the prowess of IT to develop products and Bangalore, a global IT hub, makes it a natural choice. Bangalore has also demonstrated several successful collaborative partnerships. And entrepreneurial culture is highly prevalent here. That is the reason for seeing several start-ups. Strand Genomics, Metahelix, Molecular Connections and Gangagen are a few examples. A proactive and supportive state government is an attraction for investors. This is the reason why Bangalore has attracted several companies in past few years. ReaMetrix, MWG Biotech, Cancer Genetics, ClinWorld, ClinTec and Jubilant Biosys are just a few examples. Bangalore is a known global brand; It has a strong international technology culture; it has several R&D establishments like NCBS and IISc. and Astra Zeneca to leverage upon.
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