FOCUS
TRW – the tide turned
By Kiron Kasbekar | 13 Dec 2023
There used to be an American company called Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc. This company, which was a global supplier of automotive systems, modules, and components to car and truck manufacturers, started small, as most companies do. Then, as the automotive industry grew bigger, so did TRW.
The rise and fall of Nokia
By Aniket Gupta | 07 Dec 2023
My interest is stories about dominant companies that failed all of a sudden. These companies were once etched into people’s minds but have since become a symbol of nostalgia. One such company, which was the biggest in its industry before it failed catastrophically, is Nokia.
Yahoo!: The first king of the internet
By Aniket Gupta | 01 Dec 2023
The year is 1994. You go to the internet to search for a particular website, but there is no Google that could be used to search your desired website. What do you do? The answer is that you use Yahoo.
The Bata vision
By Kiron Kasbekar | 22 Nov 2023
I find it strange that some big companies keep themselves shut off from public view. Not their products, of course, for the products are on sale worldwide. But their financial data.
.jpg)
The Sahara scam
By Aniket Gupta | 21 Nov 2023
Yes, that Sahara group, once branded as one of the biggest conglomerates in India, has since fallen into a web of controversies and legal battles with the Indian government.
The birth of Ashok Leyland
By Kiron Kasbekar | 20 Nov 2023
The company was first called Ashok Motors. The name came from the founder Raghunandan Saran’s son Ashok.
Segway: A transportation revolution that lost its way
By Aniket Gupta | 09 Nov 2023
The Segway is a motorized personal vehicle featuring a pair of wheels arranged in parallel on either side of a very short platform on which the rider stands, gripping handlebars for control.
Charm of the trams: Mumbai's historic transport revisited
By Kiron Kasbekar | 27 Oct 2023
On 9 May 1874, Bombay (as Mumbai was called then) witnessed a groundbreaking moment in its transportation history - the inauguration of the first horse tram.
History of recycling
By Aniket Gupta | 01 Oct 2023
To say that our world has problems would be an understatement. We seem to have no end of problems, some of them leading to crises of sorts.
Kingfisher Airlines Part 2 - the flight of fancy
By Aniket Gupta | 18 Sep 2023
Kingfisher Airlines was launched with a great deal of enthusiasm and fanfare. Founded in 2003 by the Bengaluru-based United Breweries Group
A ballpoint for outer space
By Kiron Kasbekar | 18 Sep 2023
The alarm went off, shattering the peace inside the spaceship. Everyone dropped their electric blankets and rose up, wondering what had happened. Had a meteor hit the spaceship?
Kingfisher Airlines Part 1 - the backdrop
By Aniket Gupta | 15 Sep 2023
Formerly one of the most prominent airlines, of the initial airline liberalization days, Kingfisher Airlines has plunged into a bottomless abyss.
Tinplate vs. plastic containers: which is more environmentally friendly? - Part 3
By Aniket Gupta | 14 Aug 2023
The environmental impact of tinplate and plastic containers extends beyond their production and disposal phases.
Tinplate vs. plastic containers: which is more environmentally friendly? - Part 2
By Aniket Gupta | 14 Aug 2023
The history of plastic containers is a journey of innovation, versatility, and widespread adoption that has shaped the modern packaging landscape.
Tinplate vs. plastic containers: which is more environmentally friendly? - Part 1
By Aniket Gupta | 14 Aug 2023
As people become increasingly conscious of the environmental impact of our consumption habits, we are pushed to make choices between what we are habituated to doing and what we should be doing.
Bengaluru suffers staggering Rs.20,000 crore annual loss due to traffic congestion
By Aniket Gupta | 08 Aug 2023
Traffic congestion in Bengaluru has resulted in an enormous economic loss of nearly Rs 20,000 crore for the city.
$40-50 billion target for Indian technical textiles
By Cygnus | 28 Jul 2023
The technical textile segment in India has experienced robust growth, in domestic sales and in exports, and the government is predicting a doubling of the market in the next five years.
You don’t have to be James Bond to travel on a flying boat!
By A Correspondent | 19 Jul 2023
Flying boats are a reality. And they’ve been so for decades. Hovercraft, which are flying boats that literally float in the air have been in use since the late 1950s.
The light bulb scam
23 Jan 2023
A conspiracy was hatched in Geneva in Switzerland on 23 December 1924. The conspirators were top executives of the biggest light bulb manufacturing companies in the world.
Featured
Company story – Quaker Oats
By Kiron Kasbekar | 08 Mar 2024
Quaker Oats is a company whose products I remember from my childhood days. Years before a foreign exchange crisis caused the Indian government to impose curbs on consumer product imports, we used to see a host of foreign brands in the Indian market. Including Quaker Oats, which I remember eating when I was a child, and which has been available for the past two decades or more.
How Quaker Oats grabbed customers’ attention
By Kiron Kasbekar | 07 Mar 2024
Quaker Oats, the American food products giant that was created in 1901 through the merger of many older oat millers, and was acquired by a bigger foods giant, Pepsi, in 2001, has been an innovative company. One example of its innovativeness shows in its packaging – the cereal box it launched in 1915.
Company story – Cunard Line
By Kiron Kasbekar | 12 Jan 2024
The Cunard Line started its life in Glasgow in 1839 as the British and North American Royal Mail Steam-Packet Company when Samuel Cunard was awarded the first British transatlantic steamship mail contract.
Samuel Slater – textile tycoon or traitor?
By Kiron Kasbekar | 26 Dec 2023
Samuel Slater is a name that holds significant importance in the annals of American industrial history. Often referred to as the ‘Father of the American Factory System’, Slater's contributions played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s industrial landscape.
Underwood Typewriter Company – an icon of the past
By Kiron Kasbekar | 21 Dec 2023
You’ve probably never heard of Underwood typewriters. For the company folded up in 1963 – 60 years ago. You may not even have seen and handled a typewriter, unless someone in your family owned one.
The rise and fall of Chrysler
By Kiron Kasbekar | 16 Dec 2023
A century ago, the American automobile industry was more crowded than a vegetable market on a Sunday morning, with such a wide variety of stuff on sale that buyers were spoilt for choice. Buyers could pick and choose, bargain, pay up and drive out with the newly purchased vehicle.
TRW – the tide turned
By Kiron Kasbekar | 13 Dec 2023
There used to be an American company called Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc. This company, which was a global supplier of automotive systems, modules, and components to car and truck manufacturers, started small, as most companies do. Then, as the automotive industry grew bigger, so did TRW.
The rise and fall of Nokia
By Aniket Gupta | 07 Dec 2023
My interest is stories about dominant companies that failed all of a sudden. These companies were once etched into people’s minds but have since become a symbol of nostalgia. One such company, which was the biggest in its industry before it failed catastrophically, is Nokia.
Yahoo!: The first king of the internet
By Aniket Gupta | 01 Dec 2023
The year is 1994. You go to the internet to search for a particular website, but there is no Google that could be used to search your desired website. What do you do? The answer is that you use Yahoo.
Videos you must see
History of hovercraft Part 3...
Today I shall talk a bit more about the military plans for ...
By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar
History of hovercraft Part 2...
In this episode of our history of hovercraft, we shall exam...
By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar
History of Hovercraft Part 1...
If you’ve been a James Bond movie fan, you may recall seein...
By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar
History of Trams in India | ...
The video I am presenting to you is based on a script writt...
By Aniket Gupta | Presenter: Sheetal Gaikwad
Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Ai...
It is about Kingfisher Airlines, a company that once soared...
By Aniket Gupta | Presenter: Sheetal Gaekwad
The story of Cadbury | Compa...
Today’s video is about the history of a brand we are all fa...
By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar
History of Trams | Industry ...
Today’s video is about the history of trams, those city veh...
By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar
The History of Trolley Buses...
I am presenting to you today is about the history of trolle...
By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar
Flying boats history | Seapl...
Today I am going to talk about flying boats. You heard that...
By Kiron Kasbekar | Presenter: Kiron Kasbekar
.jpg)
