A MMRDA official on the condition of anonymity said, “We are looking for better technology and suppliers for the buses. We need buses that can run 200 km per charge.”

There are buses that run 40 km per charge, but to use it in public transport, we need higher range and better quality of bus, he added.

MMRDA is also looking for operators and investors for this project, as BEST has managed to get a private company to give then 50 world class Volvo buses in return of advertising revenue, it is learnt.

Battery power buses will have zero carbon emissions, but MMRDA is scouting for better performance buses that can make the service viable in the city with the output they are looking for.

However, the project is in the preliminary stage and looking after all the aspect this will be implemented all across the city.

“Main concern is that battery-run buses have less power (torque), it is still in the trail phase across many countries worldwide. However, it is good for environment as it will reduce carbon emissions,” said Rajesh Gangar, transport expert.

Currently, nowhere in the country battery power buses are used as public transport. Few buses are used in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus in Powai area of Mumbai and some campus across the country.

This is the first time in India any government agency is studying to implement this for general public.

Battery-powered buses make less noise on road. It is also cheaper and easier to maintain, as they require no tune-ups or oil changes, and typically only take between six and eight hours to fully recharge. These buses are more energy-efficient than vehicles that employ traditional internal combustion engines.

Their unique feature is an innovative regenerative braking system that uses the motor as a generator to return as much as half of the vehicle’s kinetic energy to the batteries each time the brakes are used.

It is used in many foreign countries, such as China, US, Hong Kong, Germany, UK, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, Spain and under test in Switzerland since April 2010.

Many media channels and business houses are using Web 2.0 tools to communicate with viewers and workers. Even the government has realized the importance of Web 2.0. Nowadays, government portals are asking people to put/file their comments and complaints online. Using the Web 2.0 tools it has become a hassle-free service for citizens of India.

Web 2.0 Content Workshop 2009

Recently, a Web 2.0 Content Workshop 2009 was held in Mumbai’s Grand Hyatt Regency in which the speaker, Lakhwinder Vohra, spoke about opportunities for Web 2.0 in India. It was organized by NewsroomContent.com and TIE, the world’s largest not-for-profit organization for entrepreneurs.

Participants across the board were present at the conference discussing the success of Web 2.0. The potential of this technology was the major topic of discussion and everyone (from content providers, software developers, and online journalists) was there to grab some knowledge on how to use Web 2.0 to reach the masses.

The important point that came out at the conference was to let the viewers and readers decide , react and comment on any subject and topic.

The conference also noted that many Indian websites are not analyzed properly as Indian people still don’t know how to maximize their website or portal to monetize in this Web 2.0 industry.

After using web 2.0 interfaces, we have increased our viewership base, and we know what our audience likes to watch in their programs. We design the program as per their views, “Ishwar Jha, Director & CEO of Digital Media Convergence, owner of mypopcorn.com.

Looking at the response, Vohra said, “We will be coming next year, I think we can organize these workshop on regular intervals, as I see India is the county of huge potential. Can you imagine only 3.5 per cent of market is captured in the 1.2 billion population.”

Indian University Creates Web 2.0 Training Program

Looking at the success of Web 2.0 in India, the world’s largest open university has organized a four week training program in collaboration with Deutsche Welle Akademie, the sister organization of Deutsche Welle news agency of Germany.

The first of its kind in India, it was a huge success. The main focus of the program was Web 2.0 and online journalism. Participants from all over the South Asian countries, included lecturers, print news editors, department heads, NGO professionals, and journalists.

Revolution in Internet has made the world a global village. But internet penetration is not good as India needs. But, in the metro cities it is growing at fast speed, many new companies are launching their services. According to the India media market 2007 report by Heernet Ventures, media market will grow about 13% to $17 billion from the current $9.2 billion.r

Population of internet in India is pegged at 81,000,000 as of November, 2008, 7.1 per cent penetration, per ITU. But, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), broadband internet connections are 3,130,000 as of March 31, 2008.

The idea to develop marina which will transform the dead beach into a magnificent sea front, the temporary marina was built at the for Mumbai International Boat Show (MIBS) at Gateway of India, Mumbai.

Speaking to the press, Bob Bowrah, Founder of Seaspray & Gulf Marinas said, “We are pleased with the opportunity to partner with MIBS as 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 countries with largest coastlines and if they explore this route it will help their economy to grow and can also ease congestion on roads.

The show showcased yacht and boats from all over the world, including a indigenously built boat of International standard from Goa, by Fiesta Yachts, adding more to this, Manech Shaw, owner of Fiesta said, �It is a 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 have to be consulted before creating one, including environmentalist, local people, developer, government bodies.

India needs infrastructure including marine, as it accounts 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, a panelist & correspondent, IBI addressing the conference on India’s growing leisure boating markets.

]]> http://yovia.com/blogs/newsjockey/2009/08/13/india-on-global-yacht-map/feed/ 2 http://yovia.com/blogs/newsjockey/2009/08/06/lack-of-infrastructure-affects-pilot-training-experts/ http://yovia.com/blogs/newsjockey/2009/08/06/lack-of-infrastructure-affects-pilot-training-experts/#comments Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:37:21 +0000 newsjockey http://yovia.com/blogs/newsjockey/?p=3

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 fulfill the needs of the upcoming airline companies.

This shortage is compelling airlines 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 on a loss for the past few years.

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.

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

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 license 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 license (CPL). They don�t return as they get employed in 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 21^st century is for the Asian countries.