Sunday, November 25, 2007

Privatisation - British Airways

Sir John King, later Lord King, was selected as Chairman in 1981 with the mission of preparing the airline for privatisation.When King knew Colin Marshall as CEO in 1983. King was credited with turning just about the loss-making giant into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world, boldly claiming to be "The World's Favourite Airline", while many other large airlines struggled. The airline's flotilla and route map were overhauled in the early years of King's tenure, with brand and advertising experts being recruited to overhaul the airline's image. Over 23,000 jobs were shed in the early 1980s, though King managed the extensive trick of boosting staff morale and modernise operations at the same time. Lord King also recognised the importance of Concorde to the company's business plan, and used the supersonic airliner to win business customers by guaranteeing a certain number of Concorde upgrades in return for corporate accounts with BA.

The flag carrier was privatised and floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987 by the traditional government, with the initial share offering being 11 times oversubscribed. In April 1988 British Airways effected the contentious takeover of Britain's second-force airline British Caledonian, and in 1992 absorbed Gatwick-based carrier Dan-Air.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

British Airways

British Airways is the major airline of the United Kingdom. It is also one of the biggest airlines in the world, with more flights from Europe across the Atlantic than any other operator. Its main hubs are London Heathrow and London Gatwick, with wide-reaching European and conjugal shorthaul networks, including smaller hubs at other UK airports including Manchester, from which some longer-haul flights are also operated.

The airline's origins go back to the birth of civil aviation and the original days after the First World War. On 25 August 1919 its predecessor company, Aircraft Transport and Travel, launched the world's first daily international scheduled air service, between London and Paris. On 31 March 1924, Britain's four hatchling airlines - Instone, Handley Page, Daimler Airways and British Air Marine Navigation - merged to form Imperial Airways, which developed its Empire routes to Australia and Africa.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Corbett's Tiger

Indochinese Tiger The Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti), also called Corbett's tiger, is originate in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, preferring to stay alive in forests in mountainous or hilly regions. Estimates of its inhabitants vary between 1,200 to 1,800, with only several hundred left in the wild, but it seems likely that the number is in the lower part of the range; it is considered Endangered. The largest present population is in Malaysia, where illegal poaching is strictly controlled, but all existing populations are at extreme risk from habitat fragmentation and inbreeding. In Vietnam, nearly three-quarters of the tigers killed provide stock for Chinese pharmacies. Also, the tigers are seen by poor natives as a resource through which they can ease poverty. Indochinese tigers are less significant and darker than Bengal tigers. Males weigh up from 150–190 kg (330–420 lb) on average while females are smaller at 110–140 kg (242–308 lb). Their go on a diet consists of wild pigs, cattle and deer; The Indochinese tiger is a carnivore.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Tiger’s in India

Even though this is the most 'common' tiger, these tigers are under severe force from both habitat destruction and poaching. In 1972, India launched a huge wildlife conservation project, known as Project Tiger, to care for the depleting statistics of tigers in India. The project helped raise the population of these tigers from 1,200 in the 1970s to 3,000 in the 1990s and is considered as one of the most successful wildlife conservation programs. At least one Tiger Reserve has lost its full tiger population to poaching. Males in the wild generally weight 205 to 227 kg (450–500 lb), while the average female will weigh about 141 kg. However, the northern Indian and the Nepalese Bengal tigers are invented to be somewhat bulkier than those found in the south of the Indian Subcontinent, with males averaging around 520 lbs (236 kg).