Kingfisher launches aviation training academy

Kingfisher Training Academy, the subsidiary of Kingfisher Airlines was inaugurated by Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and CEO of the company, in Mumbai recently.

Speaking after the inauguration, Mallya said, “we will be giving training to the candidates to work in the modern world, we will provide them exposure of high quality service. The students in this academy will be versed with multi field skills”.

“When we take recruit for our company from other institutes, we have to train them again to fill them in. There is a gap in their training what they get from their institute. We are looking for trained people and opening this academy makes sense for us”.

“We have no tie-up with any university. I am not aware of any university other than some hotel management institutes where students just get degrees. They need exposure of the field”.

Kingfisher has spent more than Rs 10 crore for this new venture and we will be opening 10 more branches in the coming year, including metro cities and other cities will be our target, Mallya said.

More than 2000 students will pass out every year from this academy. There will be a new batch every months. The course will be completed in six months and the fees will be Rs 1 lakh. Already, 100 students enrolled with us for starting session, said Rajesh Verma, head of the Kingfisher Training Academy.

The company claimed to have faculty members are form the Raj group of hotels, Jet Airways and many other top class people from the hospitality industry.

Courses offered at the institute are

• An Image Makeover• The Ground Personnel• Cabin Crew In-flight Service • Hospitality in Hotel Industry

For placement, Kingfisher academy has said that companies across service industry verticals such as domestic and international airlines and aviation companies, leading hotel chains, retail and other customer care management services have already commenced talks with them.

UB group to start aviation varsity, says Mallya

The Kingfisher Airlines, country’s fast growing private airlines will be starting its Aviation University at Nerul, the outskirts of Mumbai by the end of 2008.

This was disclosed by Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO of Kingfisher Airlines while inaugurating the new Kingfisher training institute in Mumbai recently.

Mallya said, his company will be investing more than Rs 200 crore in this new university. The aviation university will house the latest technology in flight training, including simulator and other areas of specifications.

Today, India needs more skilled manpower to cater to the domestic needs, as due to unskilled man power we have to train them again and these cause us monetary losses. The flying schools such as Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi in Rai Bareli and other institutes in Baramati and Gondia are not sufficient to meet the demands of the domestic aviation industry.

Speaking on the ticket fares, he said, today, many airlines have dropped the ticket fares, especially one, without naming it.

“We have maintained our deals, but other have not, hopefully we see a good scope for our company in future. Demand for better quality and service is on our side and I see Aviation has a great future,” Mallya stressed.

Celebrate festivals with GoAir

GoAir, India's private air carrier announced its special GoCelebrate ऑफर।

GoCelebrate offer has prices starting at Rs 225/- for short haul flights between Mumbai – Goa, Ahmedabad - Delhi and Rs 525/- for long haul flights like Mumbai – Delhi, Mumbai – Jaipur, Bengalooru - Mumbai, Mumbai – Chennai। To add consumer delight more than 20,000 tickets at Rs 0/- fare for flights between Mumbai – Ahmedabad, Delhi – Jaipur, Bangalore – Cochin, Hyderabad – Chennai and Srinagar – Jammu would also be available। The offer for booking tickets will be valid from 21st May to 25th May '07 for travel between July to September 2007 Log on to goair.in to avail the offer.

Air Deccan tie-up with Frankfinn for cabin crew

Mumbai, April 4: In order to cope up with booming aviation market in India and shortage of skilled manpower in airlines companies have enabled Air Deccan to signed an exclusive tie up with Frankfinn to provide them more than 400 cabin crew per year to meet the demand.

The tie up will provide Air Deccan with professionals in the industry. It will also provide easy availability of skilled cabin crew, keeping in mind the acute shortage of trained human resource in this sector. The tie-up was announced by KS Kohli, Chairman, Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training and Captain GR Gopinath, Managing Director of Air Deccan at Mumbai.

Speaking on the occasion, KS Kohli said, “This is the first time in the history of Indian aviation that the company will recruit students only from Frankfinn and not from other aviation institute. Students will sign a two year contract with Air Deccan and which is extendable with their performance.”

Citing Frankfinn entry in the Limca Book of records, Kohli said, intake of Frankfinn is eight times higher than in any other institute in the country. So far in India no institute is providing in flight training, they are just giving students a half an hour ride on the plane.

“We are also planning to open a pilot training institute in the near future, but it will be too early to reveal it. We are building a hotel management institute in Goa, every things are finalised”, Kohli added.

To a question from where Air Deccan will get pilots and engineers, GS Gopinath, MD of Air Deccan said, “we are in talks with some aviation institute”.

Coming heavily on the government, Gopinath said, “poor infrastructure in playing a negative role in the development of aviation in our country. Government had never seen aviation as an infrastructure, but as a peripheral activity. We need competition among airports.”

“Air Deccan and Frankfinn will provide platform to hundreds of new aspirants who live in small towns and cities and want to pursue their career in aviation industry”, Gopinath added.

At the current pace Indian aviation industry would require 7500 to 8000 cabin crew per year. Air Deccan is the second largest airline in India with the market share of 21.60 per cent and has the largest network in terms of reach.

According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), by 2010 the travel within Asia will become the largest with 678 million passengers compared to 552 million in the US domestic market. The Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has confirmed that the market share for the low cost airlines in India will reach 70 per cent by 2010 making it one of the world’s leading low cost carriers in terms of total market penetration.

A-I plane makes emergency landing at Delhi airport

New Delhi, April 9 2007

Air India flight AI-349 Shanghai-Bangkok-Delhi-Mumbai made an emergency landing in Delhi on April 9, 2007 at 6:35 am, due to a technical snag in the locking system of the front landing gear. The aircraft landed safely with all the passengers onboard.

In the press release issued by Air India said, the commander used all emergency procedures as per the safety manual and brought the aircraft to a halt on the run way। The passengers were disembarked using the step ladder. However, when the aircraft was being towed away from the runway to a remote bay for repair through a taxi track, the nose gear capsized as a result of which further operations were affected.

However, 183 passengers on board were reported to be safe and de-boarded the plane after being in the aircraft for about an hour। The main runway, which is closed, is cleared.

The 134 Mumbai bound passengers from Delhi, are being accommodated on an Indian Airlines flight, which is depart at 12:30 pm from the domestic terminal। The remaining 57 passengers, already aboard AI-349, have been given the option to board the Mumbai bound Indian Airlines flight along with the other passengers, without their baggage. Their baggage would be delivered directly at the Mumbai airport.

Meanwhile Air India officials along with DGCA experts is investigating the incident and the aircraft is being towed to a safer place for repair by using a recovery kit।

Airport runway is blocked temporarily as a precautionary safety measure। The lights have been installed by the Airport authorities on the run way to demarcate the area which cannot be used. The run way is now open partially, A-I release adds.

The Air India staff at Delhi are taking all measures to assist the passengers and deeply regrets the inconvenience caused.

DBMA’s first batch leaves for UAE

The first batch of students from Don Bosco Maritimes Academy (DBMA), Mumbai was passed out and they will join Lamprell plc, a UAE-based company having its primary facilities in Sharjah and Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai.

The valedictory function was organised by Don Bosco Maritimes Academy with Lamprell, on March 17 at the college campus at Kurla, Mumbai.


James Henderson, Training Adivsor in India for Lamprell Plc speaking to Employment & NRI Times said: “In the past, we have to recruit form the recruitment and manpower consultant, but we used to get unskilled labour. With this collaboration with Don Bosco, now we get skilled labour, who knows the job and we can start from day one as soon as we employ them.

“We are looking forward for the first batch to join in the next four weeks and the second batch in the next three months,” James revealed.

Explaining why Lamprell selected Don Bosco as its partner, Justin Taylor, Operations manager, Lamprell Sharjah, said: “The academy has a history of technical training, ITI background, best faculty, the ratio of 1:1, that means one instructor for one student, proper public transport connectivity, good instructor, value of each subject they teach, syllabus it covers, we got the overall package that we were searching from an institute to offer us.

Speaking at the function, Prasad T, Chief Instructor said: “the performance will give the proof what you (students) have learned here. Training adults is very difficult, students are not learning, but interacting. They should develop their own skills while they are interacting.

“For one candidate, one instructor is what we have adopted to train them. Whatever you have learnt should be put for further development.” Prasad added.

“The knowledge they have acquired has given them brightness on your face and body, use your organisation to develop your skills. You should not remain just satisfied in acquiring knowledge, Parsad said addressing the gathering.

Technical persons should not worry about marks they have scored in their written exam, whether they get 35 per cent is not the problem, but they should work for 100 per cent and give this in the first attempt.

Lamprell plc based in the UAE and listed on London AIM, alternative stock exchange, it is a leading provider of specialist engineering services to the international oil and gas industry and having more than 3000 people working in their organisation.

Its area of operation is to operate a full service jackup rig refurbishment facility in Sharjah and a modern, well equipped fabrication facility in Jebel Ali Free Zone, Dubai, including Croatia.

Established in 1998 with the objective of training prospective and serving seagoing personnel, as per the STCW Convention of International Maritime Organization (IMO). Don Bosco Maritime Academy is recognised as one of the leading maritime training academies with special focus on workshop and practical training.

The academy has won an ISO 9001:2000 certification for this course from Indian Register Quality Systems. The institute has an active liaison with several shipping companies, dry docks, new constructions in the offshore and onshore industries, catering to services, processes and construction. It also conducts varied training programmes and skill assessment tests for engineers and technicians of these companies.

Training Programme
The ten week training was started on January 3, 2007 and was completed on March 17, 2007. The Academy intends to train more than 200 traniees in one year. The cost of the entire traning is borne by Lamprell PLc. On completion, the candidate will be absorbed by Lamprell for their service in UAE.
Candidate with ITI or NCVT qualification in any trade with some industrial experience is preferred, he/she should have at least SSC cleared with Math as one subject, with English and science as additional subject.

Kingfisher Airlines announces the mega mile move offer

Kingfisher Airlines, India's private airline announced a mega offer for all frequent flyers across airlines in India- the Kingfisher Airlines Mega Mile Move (MMM) ऑफर.

The objective of the MMM offer is to encourage a shift over of the most frequently flying members of other airlines' Frequent flyer programs (FFP) to King Club, with the incentive of providing the frequent flyer with an opportunity to 'move' his or her miles from the current FFP to Kingfisher Airlines' King Club

For more information kindly visit www.flykingfisher.com/megamilemove

Community radio is more of sharing views: Pankaj

To have involvement of students and people, community radio is the must, said the FM head of Mumbai University, Pankaj Athavle. Stressing on the role of community radio, Pankaj talked to Employment & NRI Times, about the benefits and how it can be used for the betterment of the people staying in the area covered in the 22 sq km of Mumbai University’s 107.8 Community Radio operations.

Excerpts:
What is your say regarding setting up Community Radio?
It’s a great opportunity for the students to showcase their talents on a non profit non commercial radio of their own. Today in the times of radio revolution a community radio will open up new avenues in terms of radio broadcasting.

Which are area your community radio is concentrating?
Basically, a community radio caters to a particular community. But in an urban place like Mumbai, certain improvisations will be required. The Mumbai university starting such a radio open up new avenues for all the students. We will be looking at infotainment to its core. Every minute will be full of information and entertainment from all faculties and all topics. We plan to rope in all the 400 affiliated colleges, all faculties and all the depts.of the university to get involved.

How the community Radio different from Commercial Radio?
A commercial radio concentrates on hardcore entertainment which is film based. Their revenues depend upon space selling and they differ in terms of which category of listeners they target. Its all about making profit out of entertainment. But a community radio is more of providing information or sharing views among the community. So a community radio abroad for Indians will get all the NRI’s together. So in Mumbai its amalgamating all the people, not just students into sharing of useful information from all walks of life.

How is response from the students about their campus having their own community radio?
Its has been a mix of excitement and anxiety. Few are very enthusiastic, few are trying to differentiate between commercial and community radio and few are all set to perform.

How many hours your radio will function daily?
Initially, we will go on air for 4hrs, 2hrs in the morning and 2hrs in the evening. But soon we are planning to be on air for about 8-10 hrs daily.

What would you like the students to do for their community radio?
Infotainment programs on all the topics available. Be it technical, music, environment, economics, statistics, computers, social causes, sports, careers, information about their college and almost everything that they can constructively think off.

How many months it will take to be on air?
A few clearances are still left, but maybe in a couple of months.

How many languages you are going to start operation?
We will be using all three languages, which includes, Hindi, English and Marathi. But the language departments will also be gelled into the community radio. Already the French, German, Russian, Sanskrit departments are working on shows.

How would you manage your resources?
This is a university supported venture. But soon the government may allow certain amount of space selling on community radio not for making profit but for self sustainance.

As you have said government has given five minutes advertisement in one hour transmission, which type of advertisements you are targeting?
Anything and everything that can be associated with students, academics, colleges, schools and social awareness.

Community radio—a new way of involving people

Community Radio has its own area of development, it is involvement of people who are let out by the commercial FM or other radio stations, including all people apart from their age, sex, caste, religion. The importance of community radio is more of educational, social, informative rather commercial.

The community radio is set up at a very low cost, the licence is provided by the Ministry of Communication, the government don’t charge licence fees for the community radio.

Community radio was set in the Annamallai Campus, in Tamil Nadu, with the success, it opened doors for more set up of community radio in other colleges in India, JNU Campus has its own community radio, SNDT girls college has its own radio named Gyan Vani, but it is not popular.

Any one can opt for the community radio licence, within some rules set by the government of India, it includes, Non-governmental organization, educational institutions, cooperative societies, but it is non-profit venture.

The purpose to set up is just to inform educate and entertain people and not commercial purpose.

The Equipment used by community radio is the same that is been used by FM or other commercial radios.

Many illiterate people are the member of community radio in the case of Kutch Mahila Sanasthan, which is run by nine illiterate women.

We need academic freedom, says Baswan

Quality higher education is still the cause of concern for the government of India, said BS Baswan, senior consultant (education), planning commission, Government of India.

He was speaking on the talk on “Higher education in India: Towards a new policy paradigm”, organised by Rajiv Gandhi for Contemporary studies in the University of Mumbai (Kalina Campus). We need to make institution which is more transparent and answerable to people, he added.

Emphasising on the private participation, he said, we cannot avoid private participation in the field of education. We are not the quality provider of education, we must first have to improve our base and then expand to other countries. The WTO norms have pressurized to open education in India.

He said, only the not known universities are coming in India, whereas the Stanford and other big universities have given a miss to India.

Commenting on the reforms, Baswan said government was forced to reform and the reforms took place. We need to guard our universities interest in their freedom, we need academic freedom, he stressed, thereby increasing the fess in the higher education, other wise we are going to go nowhere, he cautioned.

Baswan recommended, private players should be allowed to raise the fees and this way they can help government school students.

The focus area of the education in the current scenario is engineering, hospitality, chemistry, aviation, Baswan said.

The norms decided by UGC and AICETE are good, but in the urban areas it is unpractical in setting up new college or universities, he said.

Asking why faculties are opting for private universities or even living the country, he said the remuneration set by the government is not at par at the private one, but he said government give other benefits, such as housing, etc.

In the US the faculty gets more than $160,000 per annum, but in India it is not even the 20 percent of it, it is learnt.

Giving more information on the Foreign Education Bill, Baswan said if the law come into force, foreign universities has to become deemed university. This law may encourage many foreign universities to come and operate in India thereby opening doors of investment in the field of education.

Commenting on the community radio role in higher education, he said it helps to create awareness in the field on education, but visual media is very important medium in higher education, he concluded.

The Vice chancellor of Mumbai University, Dr Vijay Kole was also present at the talk.

India on leisure yacht map: MIBS

The day is not far, when people will travel on their personal boats and yacht to breath fresh air in the middle of the sea. With this idea Mumbai is the first step where international boats and yacht manufactures have put down their anchor to explore the opportunity in leisure segment.

The idea to develop marina which will transform the dead beach into a maginificent sea front, the temporary marina was built at the Gateway and it was inaugurated by the Mumbai Port Trust Chairperson, Rani Jadhav on February 23, at The Mumbai International Boat Show (MIBS) was held between last week at Gateway of India, Mumbai.

Speaking to Employment & NRI Times, Bob Bowrah, Founder of Seaspray & Gulf Marinas said,”we are pleased with the opportunity to partner with MIBS and India has huge scope for development in this area”.

“The marina will be developed near the Apollo Bunder in the coming years”, he added.

India is one of the country with largest coastlines and if they explore this route it will help their economy to grow more fast and can also ease congestion on roads.

The show showcased the boats, yacht all over the world, including a indegeniously built boat of International standard from Goa, by Fiesta Yachts, adding more to this, Manech said it is pure Indian product, only the engine is imported.

At the business conference, Chairman of Walcon Marine, Robin Walters said it will take three years to develop a new marina, as all people has to be consulted before creating one, including environmentalist, local people, developer, government bodies.

India needs to infrastructure including marine. India accounts for only 25,000 to 30,000 boats, yacht (less than one per cent), while America accounts for 70 per cent, Europe 26 per cent and Gulf 1.5 per cent, revealed Mike Derrett, correspondent, IBI addressing the conference on India’s growing leisureboating markets.

The boats and yacht displayed at the Bandra-Kurla complex exhibition was costing in lakhs, the exhibitiors was targeting the niche customers, who can buy their product.

World's first 24 hrs global marine TV channel to go on air soon

MarineBiz TV, the world’s first 24 hrs channel will be launched by May 1, 2007, focusing on all areas of marine and to become the single point of contact for all marine activities and information worldwide.

On the sidelines of the Mumbai International Boat Show in Mumbai, Shyam Kurup, project manager for MarineBiz TV said,” we will be the unrivalled world’s first global coverage and free to air channel, specialized and focused on maritime markets worldwide”.

Providing immediate recevening and delivering of news, we will guide the sailing ships through our special satellite tie-ups and helping marine business to penetrate in the underdeveloped and potential markets with the help of maritime professional, he stressed focusing on Travel and Job opportunities.

It will cover Docks, Ports, news, Travelogue and Toursim which include marine destinations, crusing marine tourism, marine painters, marine museum, job oppurtunites and many more.

The coverage will be worldwide, the company has already launched the website on January 1, 2007, Satellite tv covering areas of Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia will be launched on May1 and the other areas by August 1.

Airbus 380 to touch India on April 25

MUMBAI: Airbus 380, the world’s largest commercial passenger aircraft, will land in Mumbai or Delhi in April. The double-decker aircraft will test the competence of Mumbai’s runways.

The European aircraft company has sent a team to India to explore the Mumbai and Delhi airports could handle such a huge aeroplane. The source confirmed that Mumbai’s test has been fixed for April 25.

Though an airport source claimed that an A380 can land in Mumbai even today, he admitted that parking is a problem. The airport will also require additional ladders and extra vestibules for passengers.

The airport revamp plan will enable parking of two A380s, but that will only come about by 2010. Till then, it will have to be ‘remote’ parking for the super-sized plane.

Lack of infrastructure affects pilot training: Experts

Over the next 10 years more than 400 planes will be delivered to airline companies in India. Each plane will need more than 10 pilots and 20 engineers necessitating, as much as 4000 pilots and 8000 engineers.

The aviation industry has been going through an unprecedented boom, as more and more players are entering the markets. The lack of infrastructure is hampering the country to produce enough pilots to fulfil the needs of the upcoming airline companies.

This shortage is compelling them to hire foreign pilots, as they are hired for about $13000 to $14000 per month as against the $8000 to $9000 per month for domestic pilots, which is increasing their operating costs. As there is lot of competition in the airline industry, many airlines are operating for a few years in the loss.

India will need at least five to seven years to meet their domestic pilot’s requirement, said Capt Desmond Rodriguez, CEO, Kompass Aviation.

Due to open sky policy lots of airlines have come up in the last few years, many players including industrial houses are also in this fray.

“The way the aviation boom started was too fast for the other sectors to catch up along with it, lack of infrastructure and proper planning is hampering the smooth flow of new talents in the airline sector”, said Rizwan Kadri, chairman of Indian Aviation Academy, to Employment & NRI Times.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) syllabus of commercial pilot’s licence paper is also tough, as students have to study from different book. There must be one common book, so that students can study easily.

According to DGCA norms, 200 hours of flying is required to qualify for pilots. Students from the science background can go for pilot training. As the students who are from the commerce or arts field cannot do the training, he has to go for foreign flying schools, which is cost prohibitive.

After getting the licence form the foreign country, the student has to clear the conversion papers, which can go for months and if he or she has taken a loan, it causes some concern.

In the developed countries, such as the UK, US, Canada or Australia anyone who clears the exam and flying hours can become a pilot.

“As the aviation industry started growing, the infra projects which helps to roll out new pilots started coming down, hampering training new pilots,” said Wing commander Ahluwalia, Institute of Aviation and Aviation Safety, adding government has to take drastic steps to fill the supply gap in new domestic pilots.

Many flying club have been closed in the last few years and the flying instructors have joined the airlines. As no flying clubs are operating students are going to other countries to get the commercial pilot licence (CPL). They don’t return as they get employed in the foreign airlines.

Melissa Diamond, director international of Sydney Flight Training centre said Indian students need to take the better decision which flying institute will give them training needed to become commercial pilots, they should not miss this opportunity in the aviation markets”

All is needed is to make the training environment-friendly. DGCA has amended rules in August last to make it compulsory for a student to fly 50 hours before taking the CPL ground test. One does not understand the reason behind this. There is no point in undergoing expensive flight training before passing the CPL papers. If a student does not pass after completing 50 hours of flying, the entire expense is a waste. It is a waste, as thousands of rupees are spend for one hour of flying.

There are many other companies which need pilots, apart from low cost airlines include charter operators, helicopter operators and business jets service providers.

We need more than five years to cop up with the current trends, said Raj Shetty, Chairman of Kompass Aviation.

Even the World bodies have said that 21st century is for the Asian countries.

Lack of infrastructure affects pilot training: Experts

Now, rail reservations 90 days in advance

Railways to earn more, passengers to suffer further

To boost the profits of railways, the ministry of railways is finding new ways that will benefit railways rather than passengers. Recently, the railway board has increased the reservation booking to 90 days instead of 60 days.

This development is only because the cancellation of tickets earn the railways currently Rs 60 lakh per day. This will increase the income from cancellation of tickets to Rs 1 crore per day. Every day more than 2.5 lakh of tickets are sold, the railway will earns over 40 per cent more on the cancellation of tickets. More than 16 per cent of tickets are cancelled which are booked in advance.

Speaking to Employment & NRI Times, chief public relations officer, Central Railways, Shriniwas Mudgerikar said this is done on a trial basis and it will come into effect from March 1, 2007 for three month and the feedback from the passengers will be taken.

However, there will be no change in reservations in the case of certain day time express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express, etc. There will be no change in the case of the limit of 360 days for foreign tourists, he adds.

“There was pressure from the tourism fraternity as they planned their vacation well in advance. We have to boost tourism sector also”, said Harish Kunwar information officer for Indian Railways. He also retreated that this is just on an experimental basis for three months, as railways will review it after the trail period is over.

“It will benefit to railways more than passengers, railways must give some incentives to the passengers as given by the airlines”, said Bhavin Toprani, marketing head, Indiatravelite.com.

Passengers book their tickets well in advance to get confirmed tickets, especially on the north, eastern and central India routes. The government should have gone for awareness program before implementing the 90 days schedule. Most of the people travelling to central, Northern and eastern Indian will have to face problems in the coming months.

The new development has come at a time when there is huge rush to booking tickets, people go to native places, vacation, etc., just to lure tourist the railways have changed the schedule. The common people will find it more difficult to plan their schedule, as majority of the passengers plan their travel one to two months in advance. This will benefit the travel agents. In the peak season’s people even pay double the amount to get confirmed to Railway travel agents.

We offer scholarships to students, says Amherst president

As India is emerging as a new economic power, foreign educational institutions want to make their presence felt. Tony Marx, president of Amherst College, the US, was in Mumbai recently to promote his college in the field of liberal arts. In an exclusive interview to Employment & NRI Times, Tony said his college students will in the future responsible leaders of the global society, students will get exposure to study at diverse schools with tremendous resources. Excerpts:

Tell us about your organisation and its operation in the US and other countries?
We are a small Liberal Arts College located in Amherst, Massachusetts, dedicated to educating the most talented and accomplished students from around the United States and the globe. Our philosophy of a Liberal Arts undergraduate education emphasises the development of analytical and critical thinking skills in the humanities, social sciences, and the natural sciences. We believe that we educate students in such a manner that they can develop academic interests as well as passions that can lead to a myriad of professional fields without limiting them to a pre-professional track that mandates a particular career. We also incorporate opportunities for experiental learning into our curriculum. Internships and community service are both emphasised as vital supplements to the education taking place within the classroom.

What are your organisation’s interest in India?
As a school with a small but diverse student body, we believe that recruiting students from India not only gives us some brilliant minds in the classroom, but it also creates a global community on campus where students from around the US and the world are able to exchange ideas freely and learn from each others life experiences and backgrounds. Currently, we have 11 Indian citizens enrolled at Amherst -- though this might seem like a small number, keep in mind that there are only 1,600 students enrolled at Amherst and Indian students make up one of the largest sections of international students.


What is the prospect for Indian student in the US?
Students can come to Liberal Arts Colleges such as Amherst and receive a first-rate education in which they interact closely with renowned professors in intimate classroom environments. Education at Amherst imparts the skills and confidence necessary for today's students to become responsible leaders in a global society.

Does your institute provide any assitance, such as scholarship to Indian students?
We provide need-based scholarship assistance to all students admitted to Amherst. We guarantee to give scholarships to any student who is admitted to Amherst College but unable to pay the full amount of our tuition due to financial constraints.

What do you like to say about Indian students who are willing to study in the US?
While it is no doubt a difficult adjustment to leave home and commence your studies so far from friends and family, you will form new, lifelong friends at schools like Amherst, form meaningful relationships with your professors, and generally benefit from the exposure you will receive to studying at diverse schools with tremendous resources.

Why should student join your college?
Students should join Amherst if they are bright, intellectually curious and excited about the prospect of learning with some of the finest faculty and most accomplished students from around the world.


According to you, what would be the career focus in the 21st century?
The 21st century is a time of rapid change and increasing globalisation. It is, therefore, important for students to have a broad understanding of our world -- including the experiences of people from diverse backgrounds. That's why Amherst is committed to enrolling the most academically talented students from all backgrounds, including international students. We aim to educate leaders who are able to navigate this changing career landscape and who are capable of finding effective solutions to the many complex problems facing our society today.

How is your college different from others?
We are recognised by any number of measures as one of the leading educational institutions in the world. Amherst is, among the liberal arts colleges, one of the most selective and the most diverse, combinations that is educationally powerful and of which we are very proud.

Berggreun to launch 'Keys' budget hotels in India

Looking at the vast scope in the hospitality industry, Berggruen Hotels, a new venture of the US-based, Berggreun Holdings will launch boutique and budget hotels, brand named “Keys” in India in the coming years.

With the investment of $ 100 million, the company is expected to make inroads in the budget hotel segment. The company is planning to open 38 hotels in the next five years, spanning all over the country. The first hotel will come up by June 2008, focusing on the 20 million budget travellers.

Speaking to Employment & NRI Times, Nicolas Berggreun founder of Berggreun Holdings said, “India is a priority market and central to Berggreun’s global expansion strategy. We will develop a brand and carter to the needs of people who wants quality and service at the budget price, there is huge scope for us to grow.”

India needs this type of hotels as more emphasis is given on luxuries travellers and there is space to be filled, he stressed.

Answering to the query, whether the company is going to go for joint venture, Partha Chatterjee director of board and chief marketing officer, said: “We are in talk with many airline companies, retail giants and in the coming months the names will declared. I am confident that boutique budget hotels are a win-win equation for both customers and the company, it will give us to provide the Keys experience to many customers world wide.”

We will develop the brand in India and then go international, we are the first company to do this and this will be done in the years to come, Partha added.

Catering to the needs of business class and to provide them service that of five star class, we are focusing on the NRI states, including, Gujarat and Kerala, he explained.

Commenting on the new brand success, Sanjay Sethi founding director on the board and CEO, said, “I am confident of this brand and the Indian market is big enough to accept us, there is lot of space to grow and make your presence felt in the hospitality industry.”

One hotel will come up at Navi Mumbai and the other at the upcoming international airport near Panvel, we are in talks and finalising land in Jogeshwari-Kandivali (JVK) and Santacruz-Chembur (SCLZ) area and this will the center point of Mumbai development, said Monesh Vig general manager-business development of Berggreun Hotels.

“We look forward to invest in diversified India business including greenfeild start-up chain of full-service budget and mid-market hotels, resorts and service apartments, real estate projects, hospitality education, equipment retail business and logistics”, said Kabir Kewalramani managing director of Berggreun advisor and founding director on board.




38 hotels by 2010-11
24 sites in negotiations
First hotel by June 2008
100-170 rooms in boutique budget hotel
Room rates from 1400-2200 depending on the location
To set up Hotel management schools
One of the first American companies to invest in Indian professionals
Expecting turnover Rs 350 crore

Indian aviation sector is on full throttle

As the domestic airline companies are mushrooming in all major cities, foreign players are also starting operation from Mumbai and other metro cities. Eva Air, a Taipei-based airline has started flights from Mumbai – Taipei from December 2006. In an interview to Nehul Jagdish Kumar, Eric Chiang, General Manager, Eva Air, discuss air routes in India and other areas.




Sir, tell us about Eva Air and its operation?
Eva Air is the sister concern of Evergreen Group, under the leadership of Dr Y F Chang, Chairman and Founder. It was incorporated in 1989 and started its maiden flight in 1991, we have more than 50 passenger and cargo aircrafts with operation network stretching to Europe, the US, Asia and Oceania, linking more than 40 cities, including Mumbai and New Delhi.

What are the services Eva Air provides?
Eva Air's economy class seating ensures passengers a restful slumber even during the longest flights. Every economy-class passengers abroad has a personal colour VGA screen with audio-visual. We have tie up 800 hotels for free room all over the world for frequent Eva Air flyers. The staff is professionally by the state-of-the-art technology traning centre.

When it was launched and its first operation?
We are operating in India, since 1999, we started with cargo operations and then launched passenger service direct flight to Mumbai-Taipei from December 11, 2006 .

Tell us about the Mumbai-Taipei route, response to this service?
Launched in December 11, 2006, we got good response, we are also in the process of starting services from other metro cities. "Departure in the morning and you can have your lunch in LA."
Any other metro cities will be connected in the coming days or months?
Kolkata, Chennai are on our extension map.

Sir, your views on Indian aviation industry?
The Indian gross domestic product (GDP) will grow in the double digit and the people of India will become rich in the coming years, they will travel, spend lots of money in travelling, shopping. More than 1,400 foreign companies are coming in India for business, this will increase people's purchasing power. The aviation boom has compeled many foreign airline company to start their operation from Mumbai. Some Taiwan banks will also open branches in Mumbai and Delhi. We are happy to do business in Mumbai and Delhi, our service will provide passengers to save time and money.

Which plane model do you use in Mumbai-Taipei route?
Currently, we are using Boeing 747/400 combi on this route, In coming months Boeing 777 will be used.

Any code sharing agreement with other airlines in India ?
We have code sharing agreement with Air India on Mumbai-Taipei route and we are in talks for code sharing on other routes also.

Is your company aiming for full-fledged operations in India ?
Yes, first we will start cargo operation and then passenger service.

Sir tell us about the safest airline award by Aero international?
Eva Air come under top 10 safest airline in the world by the Aero International, frequent flyers' magazine. In our operation history not a single accident occurred.

Fly for just 99 paisa

SpiceJet, the fastest growing low cost airline company had unveiled its exciting promotional offer on the occasion of 58th Republic Day of India. Under this offer, the air travelers can avail 99,999 seats at an unbelievable price of 99 paisa applicable on traveling between 15th February 2007 to 15th April 2007. These promotional seats will be available on all SpiceJet routes spanning across 14 destinations with 118 daily flights.

Announcing this offer, SpiceJet’s CEO, Mr. Siddhanta Sharma said, “There can not be any better way to celebrate the 58th Republic of India, than giving the citizens of India freedom to fly at 99 paisa. This is also a small gesture of thanks giving to all those passengers who rendered their valuable support to us.”

Within its two years of operations, SpiceJet has achieved many landmarks in the aviation industry. The airline recently crossed three million passengers mark since its inception in 2005. SpiceJet achieved this with its 10 new generation Boeing 737 – 800 aircrafts, making it the only domestic airline with the highest average of 3 lakh passengers per aircraft.

With an overall market share of 9 per cent, SpiceJet achieved one of the highest load factors of 88 percent in December 2006. It also holds a record for highest load factor achieved by any airline based in India, with all time high 95.4 percent passenger load factor achieved on April 18, 2006.

Spreading its wings all across major cities and adding flights on a regular basis between various destinations; the airline has been termed as the most preferred airline in the country.