Two issues dog the sale of the national carrier. One is the $2 billion bank guarantee the winning bidder will need to furnish. The other is the nearly 5000 lawsuits filed against Air India, many of them overseas. Anjuli Bhargava reports.
A decade has seen many welcome changes in this hill district of Jammu and Kashmir, says Anjuli Bhargava.
On February 19, India's largest private low-fare airline IndiGo announced the resignation of one of the two founders, Rakesh Gangwal, from the airline's board and his intentions of offloading his stake in the airline over the next five years. The announcement came on a Friday, giving the stock markets the weekend to absorb the news but the markets registered a tepid response on Monday's opening. In contrast, in July 2019, when the fight between the two founders and erstwhile friends first became public, the markets reacted savagely. The IndiGo scrip at the time fell 19 per cent, wiping out millions of rupees of shareholder wealth before bouncing back. For readers who may be hazy on the details of the dispute, here is the context.
The Tatas are rather overwhelmed with some facets of the airline they have discovered, but even more unnerved by what they may not have yet uncovered, reveals Anjuli Bhargava.
'You could have an additional pool of 15,000-odd qualified and competent doctors.'
Why settle for $400-500 million when you can make a billion or even more? That, in a nutshell, is why Krishna Kumar, 43, and Kashyap Dalal, 40, co-founders of Bengaluru-based edtech firm Simplilearn, one of the big players in the segment, sold a 51 per cent stake to Blackstone instead of selling 100 per cent as close competitor and rival Great Learning chose to do.
'The kind of jobs the advent of artificial intelligence, data science and so on are creating simply didn't exist before'
No government can 'ignore inclusiveness in a democracy', Montek Singh Ahluwalia tells Anjuli Bhargava.
After 18 months of closure, what really could be salvaged? And the answer sadly is, precious little, Patience, perseverance and plenty of moolah is the way forward even assuming intent is in place, says Anjuli Bhargava.
The initial speculation over who is likely to down shutters seems to have given way to a resigned acceptance that all the players are determined to stay in the game.
For Jet's revival, Mr Jalan should be on the scene long enough for everyone to get to know him, appreciate his skills, and not vanish into thin air within a matter of months or even weeks, observes Anjuli Bhargava.
'There are large cohorts of students who cannot recognise the alphabet or numbers.' 'We are suggesting schools 'start early and end late'.'
'The pay cuts have been very tough on those with entire families to support.'
'The question is really can we prevent half a million deaths.' 'We are fast approaching that number.'
In March 2020, soon after the cessation of airline operations globally and domestic flights within India, many in the aviation sector had written Delhi-headquartered low-fare airline SpiceJet's obituary well before that of most of its rivals. Unlike IndiGo, GoAir (now rechristened Go First), Vistara and even AirAsia India, SpiceJet did not have founders or backers with deep pockets. Although it is the only other listed carrier in India besides IndiGo, it was considered the weakest and the least likely to survive the pandemic. But chairman and managing director Ajay Singh surprised everyone by not only surviving but taking the lead on many fronts. Within a few weeks of the scheduled flight stoppage, SpiceJet was doing as many charter flights as it could get hold of.
The industry is hoping the Tatas deepen their dive and offer two stable airlines -- a Vistara merged into Air India servicing the international routes, and an AirAsia India merged with Air India Express that competes with the low fare airlines in India and offers destinations within five hours, says Anjuli Bhargava.
Of the 200 to 250 students who enroll in a graduate language course at Doon University annually, nearly all are assured placement in a range of companies like Amazon (France), AXA Insurance, Oracle and Capgemini.
In the midst of all the self-flagellation at our collective inability to assist the country's migrants through their misery, at least one person (or a group of people) decided to do more than just chest beating. Anjuli Bhargava traces the tale of how a relief effort in Goa is transforming into a movement to drive long-term change.
'It is no longer practical to expect parents to pay anywhere between $40,000 and $55,000 for the year or even half for the term if there is no clarity.'
A combination of demonetisation, a poorly and hurriedly implemented GST, and more recently the "botched up" lockdown of the economy to control the spread of Covid has brought the economy to its knees.
I'The entire display is a lesson in how to turn a mountain of a collection into a molehill, notes Anjuli Bhargava after a visit to the Albert Hall Museum in Jaipur.
We need to bring solid waste management into all school curricula in an organised and cohesive manner, suggests Anjuli Bhargava.
The market buzz is that the GoAir promoters are hoping for a valuation that is at least a little more than double its closest rival SpiceJet.
In India, many players are in the throes of chaos and pain but at least one partnership -- Air Asia India -- that was fraying even before the pandemic now finds itself at breaking point, says Anjuli Bhargava.
'Industry observers are certain the next attempt will succeed even if they have to browbeat someone into buying as the government has put its might behind it,' predicts Anjuli Bhargava.
An initiative to fund the education of bright Indian youngsters undertaken by two Indian-Americans has now acquired a momentum of its own, discovers Anjuli Bhargava.
Anjuli Bhargava reports on how the Aam Aadmi Party is making quality education more inclusive and at no cost to parents.
Market estimates suggest the airline has already totted up Rs 1,800 crore of losses in FY20, and FY21 is expected to see losses in the region of Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore Many in the sector say that Vistara lacks the light-footedness of the airlines with which it competes, reports Anjuli Bhargava.
'With a less than comely bride and no dowry to speak of, the prospects of landing a good match look bleak, a grim, sinister and no-nonsense prospective father-in-law notwithstanding,' says Anjuli Bhargava.
Strangely, a few days after filing the charges, the CBI teams arrived in Hyderabad and Mumbai to raid GVK's offices and found incriminating evidence, a reversal of the normal course of events.
An overriding ambition to rule the domestic skies prevented Jet Airways from becoming a strong and formidable player in the international market. The Sahara buy added to the complexity of its operations and a dilution of what the airline stood for, says Anjuli Bhargava.
How can we compare say an upcoming Munjal University to an IIT-Mumbai?
In 2020, Indian users went up by 400 per cent, making it the fastest growing market in the world for Duolingo, with China coming in second.
Uttarakhand's Kumaon hills are setting new standards in dirt and poor solid waste management, sys Anjuli Bhargava.
Right from the word go, Bijoya Sawain's focus was on teaching students good manners and behaviour, the difference between right and wrong, the value of cleanliness, integrity, honesty and so on.
The biggest let down for India's aviation sector has been the failure of the government to privatise Air India, says Anjuli Bhargava.
Many or sometimes all the teachers are pulled into administrative and other non-teaching duties, says Anjuli Bhargava.
And learn what not to do from the so far jinxed Navi Mumbai International Airport.
The Right to Read programme hopes to cover 100,000 schools, covering 15 million students.
'We have severely under-invested in waste water treatment.' 'We charge for water a minimal amount and we don't charge anything extra for providing sewerage service.' 'As a result, every water entity is cash-strapped.'
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