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25-748: Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar Gopinath (born 13 November 1951) is an Indian entrepreneur, the founder of Air Deccan , a retired Captain of the Indian Army , an author and a politician. 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

50-672: A low-cost airline in March 2003. In July 2004, Deccan Aviation partnered with the Favourite Group of Sri Lanka to launch a helicopter charter company called Deccan Aviation Lanka. In early 2007, the company started fixed-wing charter operations. Deccan Charters exited from the company in November 2011, after selling their 48% stake to Singapore-based Millennium Aero which renamed the company as Millennium Airlines . In February 2012, Deccan Charters partnered with Taj Air , Bjets and other partners under

75-574: A certain amount of time, usually one year from their date of commission as a lieutenant, for the reserve components. The rank of captain should not be confused with the naval rank of captain , or with the UK-influenced air force rank of group captain , both of which are equivalent to the army rank of colonel . The term ultimately goes back to Late Latin capitaneus meaning "head of [something]"; in Middle English adopted as capitayn in

100-497: 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. 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

125-600: A nine-seater Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft. The service wound up in 2013. In April 2017, Deccan charters bid for and won 34 regional Indian routes under the UDAN scheme. Operating under the brand name Air Deccan, it will commence operations in December 2017 with flights between Mumbai and Nashik. 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

150-631: 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. The airline started operations on 3 December 1997. as Deccan Aviation. It established Simplifly Deccan (formerly named Air Deccan),

175-452: Is his mother's uncle), believed that schools were systems of regimentation and was resolved to teach Gopinath at home. 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

200-470: The French Revolution , during the early modern period , was a nobleman who purchased the right to head a company from the previous holder of that right. He would in turn receive money from another nobleman to serve as his lieutenant . The funding to provide for the troops did not come from the monarch or their government; the captain responsible for feeding, housing, and provisioning their company. If he

225-608: The Rolex Laureate Award in 1996. Next, he started the Malnad Mobikes (Enfield dealership) and opened a hotel in Hassan. 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

250-438: The 14th century, from Old French capitaine . The military rank of captain was in use from the 1560s, referring to an officer who commands a company. The naval sense, an officer who commands a man-of-war , is somewhat earlier, from the 1550s, later extended in meaning to "master or commander of any kind of vessel". A captain in the period prior to the professionalization of the armed services of European nations subsequent to

275-481: The British Army, captain is the entry-level rank for officer candidates possessing a professional degree, namely, most medical professionals (doctors, pharmacists, dentists) and lawyers. In the U.S. Army, lawyers who are not already officers at captain rank or above enter as lieutenants during training, and are promoted to the rank of captain after completion of their training if they are in the active component, or after

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300-727: The Lok Sabha elections but was defeated. In 2014, he unsuccessfully contested Lok Sabha elections on the ticket of the Aam Aadmi Party . 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. Deccan's helicopters were chartered by most politicians and

325-857: The Powerfly brand to provide an air charter membership program through which customers can access Jets, Turbo Props and Helicopters. Deccan Charters Ltd. initiated non-scheduled chartered services in Gujarat under the brand name of Deccan Shuttles in August 2012. This service connected Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Kandla. In April 2013, Deccan announced its decision to suspend all Gujarat operations citing poor patronage. In August 2014, Deccan Charters partnered with Luan Airways for providing medical evacuation services in North-East India. In April 2017, Deccan charters bid for and won 34 regional Indian routes under

350-405: The UDAN scheme. Operating under the brand name Air Deccan, it will commence operations in December 2017 with flights between Mumbai and Nashik. 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. In March 2017, the firm

375-598: The airline was losing money. The following year, the Vijay Mallya lead UB group purchased a strategic 26 per cent stake in Deccan Aviation. At the time of purchase, Air Deccan connected sixty nine cities around India. Mallya merged the two airlines soon after and Capt. Gopinath sold most of his stake in the company in 2009. During the merger process of Kingfisher with Air Deccan, the Charter services division of Deccan Aviation

400-524: The army. However, the United Kingdom 's Royal Air Force , many other Commonwealth air forces and a few non-Commonwealth air forces use an air force-specific rank structure in which flight lieutenant is OF-2. A group captain is derived from the naval rank of captain. Canada is a unique exception. Due to the unification of the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968, the air force rank titles are

425-680: 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. 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. Deccan Aviation went public in May 2006, however by then

450-596: The same as those of the Canadian Army. However, like their Commonwealth counterparts, rank braids are pearl grey and increase in half strip increments. The decision was taken not to restore the historic rank titles for the RCAF due to it being deemed 'too confusing'. Deccan Charters Deccan Charters is an aviation company based in Bengaluru , India that operates helicopter and fixed-wing charter services. Its main base

475-463: The vicinity of these cities. 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 . In 2024, Sarfira starring Akshay Kumar , based on the life of Gopinath was released. Captain (armed forces) In some militaries, such as United States Army and Air Force and

500-690: Was allowed to write the exam in Kannada and he cleared the entrance on his second attempt. 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 . After school, he earned

525-450: Was awarded 21 regional air routes under the Indian Government's regional connectivity scheme, UDAN. Deccan Charters decided to use the popular Air Deccan brand to launch these services that will connect emerging towns across Indian states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura at affordable prices. Air Deccan received the scheduled commuter operator (SCO) permit from regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on 22 December 2017 and

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550-705: 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. 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. In 2009, Gopinath contested as an independent candidate in Bangalore South constituency at

575-403: 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. 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

600-533: 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. Gopinath used the money from the UB Group deal to start Deccan 360 , a cargo airline, in May 2009. But that enterprise too

625-485: Was unable to support the company, or was otherwise court-martialed, he would be dismissed (" cashiered "), and the monarch would sell his commission to another nobleman to command the company. Otherwise, the only pension for the captain was selling the right to another nobleman when he was ready to retire. Many air forces, such as the United States Air Force , use a rank structure and insignia similar to those of

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