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G. R. Gopinath | |
|---|---|
 G. R. Gopinath, left, 2010 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 13 November 1951 [1] Gorur, Mysore State At present Karnataka State. India |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | Founder of Air Deccan |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  India |
| Rank |  Captain |
Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath (born 13 November 1951) [2] [3] is an Indian entrepreneur, [4] the founder of Air Deccan, a retired Captain of the Indian Army, an author and a politician. [1] [5] [6]
Gopinath was born in Gorur, Hassan, in a Kannada family and was brought up in a small village in Gorur in the Hassan district of Karnataka State. Gopinath's father Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar, a school teacher (not to be confused with Kannada Novelist Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar who is his mother's uncle), believed that schools were systems of regimentation and was resolved to teach Gopinath at home. [1]
However, Gopinath was admitted to a Kannada medium school quite late and straight away he joined Standard V. Gopinath didn't clear the military school entrance on the first attempt because he wasn't fluent in English. After his headmaster wrote to the defence ministry, Gopinath was allowed to write the exam in Kannada and he cleared the entrance on his second attempt. [7]
In 1962, after Gopinath cleared the admission test, he joined Sainik School, Bijapur. The school helped and prepared Gopinath to clear the NDA entrance exams. After 3 years of vigorous training, Gopinath completed education from the National Defence Academy, Pune. He then went on to graduate from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. [1]
After school, he earned a commission in the Indian Army. When he was graduating in 1971, his training was cut short when the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War broke out. He was 20 when he was first posted to Sikkim. He later rose to the rank of Captain. But he was not happy with waiting for a promotion in the army. [8]
He took early retirement from Indian Army, at the age of 28. Upon retirement from the armed forces, he established an ecologically sustainable sericulture farm; his innovative methods earned him the Rolex Laureate Award in 1996. [1] Next, he started the Malnad Mobikes (Enfield dealership) and opened a hotel in Hassan. [9]
In 1997 he co-founded Deccan Aviation, a charter helicopter service with his two friends, who were also in air force. In 2003, Gopinath founded Air Deccan, a low cost airline; Air Deccan merged with Kingfisher Airlines in 2007. In 2009 he founded Deccan 360, a freight flight business. In July 2013, Deccan 360 was ordered to wind up by the Karnataka High Court order based on petitions filed by Dubai-based United Aviation Services (UAS) and another by M/s Patel Integrated Logistics (PIL) Pvt. Ltd. – seeking recovery of amounts due to them by winding up the company. [10]
In May 2006, he was knighted with "Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur" the civilian award conferred by the French Government. He has received many awards for Air Deccan. [1]
In 2009, Gopinath contested as an independent candidate in Bangalore South constituency at the Lok Sabha elections but was defeated.
In 2014, he unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections on the ticket of the Aam Aadmi Party. [11]
Gopinath moved to Bengaluru in 1992 where he bumped into Captain K.J. Samuel, who was his friend in the army. Samuel was a freelance pilot and was planning to set-up a commercial Helicopter service. In 1995, when the Indian government started a regulatory reforms process to encourage entrepreneurship, Gopinath partnered with Samuel and established Deccan Aviation. [1] Deccan's helicopters were chartered by most politicians and the company also got involved in many rescue missions in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kabul and South India. The Company grew to become one of the largest private air charter companies in India and Sri Lanka. [12]
Inspired by the success of Southwest Airlines in the United States and Ryanair in Europe, Deccan Aviation launched India's first low-cost airline, Air Deccan in 2003. [13] Deccan Aviation went public in May 2006, [14] however by then the airline was losing money. [15] The following year, the Vijay Mallya lead UB group purchased a strategic 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation. [16] At the time of purchase, Air Deccan connected sixty nine cities around India. [1] Mallya merged the two airlines soon after [17] and Capt. Gopinath sold most of his stake in the company in 2009. [18]
During the merger process of Kingfisher with Air Deccan, the Charter services division of Deccan Aviation was transferred into a new company named Deccan Charters Limited after it received its Non-Scheduled Air Operator Permit (NSOP) from the DGCA on 10 October 2008. During that period, the Charter operations continued to perform satisfactorily and increased its presence in off shore flying for the oil sector. [19]
Gopinath used the money from the UB Group deal to start Deccan 360, a cargo airline, in May 2009. But that enterprise too was squeezed by a severe cash crunch and shut shop in 2011. The same year, Gopinath became the 100% owner of Deccan Charters by purchasing the stake Mallya held in the company as part of the 2007 deal. [20] The following year, Gopinath launched daily charter flights in the state of Gujarat under the brand name of Deccan Shuttles. The flights connected Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Kandla using a nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft. [21] The service wound up in 2013. In April 2017, Deccan charters bid for and won 34 regional Indian routes under the UDAN scheme. [22] Operating under the brand name Air Deccan, it will commence operations in December 2017 with flights between Mumbai and Nashik.[ needs update ] Air Deccan will operate 19-seater Beechcraft 1900D turboprop aircraft that are suitable for short-haul flights. The airline has plans to connect Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Shillong to regional towns in the vicinity of these cities. [23]
The 2020 Indian Tamil-language film Soorarai Pottru (or Udaan, in Hindi) was partly inspired by events from the life of Gopinath and is based on his memoir Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey. [28]
In 2024, Sarfira starring Akshay Kumar, based on the life of Gopinath was released.
Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. It was established in 2003 and started its commercial operations in 2005. Through its parent company United Breweries Group, it had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red.
United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL), also called UB Group, is the Indian subsidiary of Heineken N.V.. It is headquartered in UB City, Bangalore, Karnataka. Its core business includes beverages and investments in various sectors. The company markets beer under the Kingfisher brand, and owns various other brands of alcoholic beverages. United Breweries is India's largest producer of beer.
Deccan Charters is an aviation company based in Bengaluru, India that operates helicopter and fixed-wing charter services. Its main base is HAL Bangalore International Airport. Deccan Technical Services, the maintenance unit of Deccan Charters, maintains helicopters on behalf of 50 Indian corporates such as Reliance Industries and Essar Group. Their Mumbai centre is the authorised customer service centre to support Sikorsky S-76 helicopters. In March 2017, the firm bagged 21 regional air routes under the Indian Government's regional connectivity scheme, UDAN.
Hassan is one of the 31 districts of Karnataka, India. The district headquarter is Hassan. It was part of Manjarabad Faujdari a.k.a. Patnada Rayada between 1832-81. In 1882, it was reduced into a sub-division under erstwhile Kadur district. But in 1886, the Hassan district was restored to its current form.
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Mysore Airport, also known as Mandakalli Airport, is a domestic airport serving Mysore in Karnataka, India. It is located eight kilometres (5 mi) south of the city in the village of Mandakalli and is owned and operated by the Airports Authority of India. The Princely State of Mysore constructed it in 1940. The airport was later refurbished and inaugurated in May 2010.
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Simplifly Deccan, formerly known as Air Deccan, was the first Indian low-cost carrier. Headquartered in Bengaluru, it operated domestic flights from seven base airports using a fleet of Airbus A320, ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft. The airline appealed to middle class travellers with low fares and a large route network. It employed several innovative methods to ensure the profitability of its business model. Nevertheless, Simplifly Deccan merged with Kingfisher Airlines in April 2008. Kingfisher replaced the Deccan brand with Kingfisher Red in August 2008.
Bhootayyana Maga Ayyu is 1974 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by Siddalingaiah, who co-wrote the screenplay with Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar, based on Iyengar's short story of the same name from his novel, Vayyari. The film stars Vishnuvardhan and Lokesh; with M. P. Shankar, Jayamala, Rushyendramani and Balakrishna all acting in supporting roles. The film revolves around the enmity between two villagers, Ayyu and Gulla and how they mend their relationship.
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Vijay Vittal Mallya is an Indian fugitive, former businessman, and politician. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India.
Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa is an Indian novelist, philosopher and screenwriter who writes in Kannada. His work is popular in the state of Karnataka and he is widely regarded as one of modern India's popular novelists. His novels are unique in terms of theme, structure, and characterization. He has been among the top-selling authors in the Kannada language and his books have been translated into Hindi and Marathi which have also been bestsellers.
Bolwar Mahammad Kunhi is an Indian short story writer, novelist, playwright and scriptwriter. He writes in the Kannada language. He is the first Indian writer to introduce Muslim ethos and culture into creative Kannada prose. He is the only Indian writer conferred with Central Sahitya Academy twice for creative prose. He is the first ever Kannada writer conferred with Bala Sahitya Puraskar by Central Sahitya Academy.
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