Logo India

RANI DURGAVATI VISHWAVIDYALAYA Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya (RDV) was established under Jabalpur University Act on June 12, 1956. The emblem has a lotus emerging from water under a shining sun on earth in the ambience of air and space. The lotus symbolises and the water, light, earth, air and space represent the five elements  or ‘pancha bhootas’ denoting the physical and energetic qualities of the human body and of the physical world. The lotus symbolises purity, enlightenment, rebirth, transformation, overcoming obstacles and divine beauty. These are ensconced in a blue circular border which carries its name and its motto in Sanskrit ‘आपूर्यमाणम् अचलप्रतिष्टम्’ (Shlok 70 Chapter 2 Bhagavad Gita) meaning ‘The Ocean Remains Undisturbed’.

NO. 6 SQUADRON The No 6 Squadron is one of the ten senior squadrons of the Indian Air Force, raised before Independence. The squadron formed at Trichinopoly (now Tiruchirapally) on December 1, 1942 under the command of the redoubtable Squadron Leader Mehar Singh. The 'Dragon' emblem was initially carried on the B-24 Liberators of the Squadron. A modified version of this dragon is shown on the patch currently worn by the pilots of the Squadron. By representing its association with both the sea and the air and its motto, ‘Sada Satark’ ‘Always Alert’. A squadron veteran interested in heraldic matters informs us that the crest as originally designed violated accepted rules of heraldry, in having the dragon facing from left to right. (This is because when flown on a flag, crest designs conventionally show the flagstaff on the left, which would have resulted in the dragon moving backwards when the flag was marched.) The error was only noticed after the Presiden

MAINTENANCE COMMAND Maintenance Command was formed at Kanpur on January 26, 1955, with Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh MBE PVSM as its first Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief. Kanpur was the hub centre of maintenance activities even before independence. The only Base Repair Depot - BRD of the Indian Air Force existed at Kanpur, along with a Repair and Manufacturing Depot - RMD. A unit called Aircraft Manufacturing Depot - AMD, was subsequently added to undertake manufacture of the AVRO aircraft. In the perspective of the industrial revolution in India, when the role of IAF was more clearly defined, the AMD was transferred to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited - HAL. This division of HAL is today known as Transport Aircraft Division, or HAL(TAD) and is based at Chakeri, Kanpur. Its insignia has a micrometre screw gauge with an eagle in the centre in a circle which is topped by India’s national emblem. Its motto in Sanskrit  ‘Sarvada Gagane Charetu’ meaning  ‘Always Flying

TRAINING COMMAND Prior to 1939, there was hardly any training carried out in India either of pilots or ground engineers, there was no organisation at Air HQ level for this purpose. However, when it became impossible to send Indians to the UK for training due to war, it was decided to create training facilities in the country itself. To cater to the expansion of the IAF, a target of 300 pilots and 3000 technical personnel was fixed. To cope with such a large training commitment, a Directorate of Training was formed in Air HQ. A Recruits Training Centre (for discipline, drill, etc.) and a non-technical training centre was formed at Lahore. No.1 Technical School at Ambala provided technical training. These training centres provided intensive training courses, designed to make the trainees fit to shoulder responsibilities as soon as they were posted to the Units after passing out. This system continued till 1947. Independence of India and formation of Pakistan, led t

SOUTHERN AIR COMMAND Southern Air Command with its headquarters at Trivandrum was born on July 19, 1984 out of the changed geopolitical situation around southern peninsula since early eighties super power rivalry in Indian ocean, attempts to destabilise the littoral states and continued ethnic problems in Sri Lanka compelled the defence planners to look afresh the defence requirements of peninsular India in order to effectively defend the Island territories and protect our exclusive economic zones extending deep into the oceans. The need was felt to establish a full fledged Operational Air Command covering the geopolitical area of peninsular India extending to 18 deg N including the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian sea. Accordingly, on July 20, 1984, Smt. lndira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India inaugurated the Headquarters Southern Air Command at Trivandrum at ‘Belhaven Palace’, an old palace of Maharaja of Travancor

CENTRAL AIR COMMAND Indian Air Force had undergone a major expansion process during the 1950s wherein the command and control structure was reorganised. The No.1 Operational Group of 1947 at Calcutta was revived in 1958 and was given the responsibility of organising and supervising the aerial operations of the IAF in the Eastern as well as the Central sector of the country. Post Chinese aggression of 1962, further requirement of change was felt and the area of responsibility of this Operational Group was bifurcated in two separate commands. Accordingly, Central Air Command (CAC) was formed in March 1962 to keep vigil along the Indo-Nepal boundaries at Rani Kutir, Kolkata. But keeping in view the area of responsibility of CAC, the location of Kolkata was found too skewed towards East. Therefore, in February 1966, HQ CAC was shifted to Bamrauli, Allahabad. Presently, the area covered by CAC ranges from the snow peaked mountains in the North to the Gangetic plains a

EASTERN AIR COMMAND The threat perception arising due to the Chinese occupation of Tibet necessitated the formation of a Command that could effectively oversee the operations of the IAF in the eastern region of the country. With this primary aim, the No 1 Operational Group was upgraded to Eastern Air Command on December 1, 1959 at Calcutta. During the Indo-China conflict of 1962, practical experience highlighted the difficulty of Kolkata being the location of Eastern Air Command. In order to have more effective operational control over the region of the north-east, the Command Headquarters was shifted to Shillong on June 10, 1963. Initially, HQ Eastern Air command was housed in the old buildings located at Nonglyer village at upper Shillong. As the legend goes, the Nonglyer Village, location of HQ Eastern Air Command, was once inhabited by the Khasi clan of Meghalaya. During the Second World War, this was taken over by the Bristishers to develop a military base.

WESTERN AIR COMMAND The origin of the Western Air Command can be traced back to the nascent years of independent India, when the various formations of the Air Force were organised into two groups. These were the No 1 Operational Group which controlled all the flying units including the flying training units and the No2 Training Group responsible for the entire spectrum of training activities except flying training in the IAF. On July 22, 1949 the No 1 Operational Group was re-designated as the Operational Command. The Air Officer Commanding the Operational Command was then of the rank of an Air Commodore. This was upgraded to the rank of Air Vice Marshal in 1958 and later to the rank of Air Marshal. The Command assumed its present name of Headquarters Western Air Command on June 10, 1963, primarily as a consequence of formation of other operational commands and demarcation of specific areas of responsibility. Headquarters Western Air Command, located at Subroto Par

SOUTH WESTERN AIR COMMAND Jai Shree Varte Veeram, meaning victory garlands the gallant, is a bye word to the soul and spirit of one of the most operational commands of the Indian Air Force, the South Western Air Command (SWAC). Originally established as No 1 Operational Group at Jodhpur on September 21, 1972, it was subsequently rechristened as the South Western Air Command on July 23, 1980. The operational area, carved out of the Western Air Command, included most of Rajasthan and the entire Gujarat. The crest of the South Western Air Command depicts the national emblem on the top as a pendant of a garland of flowers with ‘Dakshin Paschim Vayu Kaman’ encrypted inside in a semi circle. The centre is adorned by a dagger with wings. At the base, under the inscription 'Bharatiya Vayu Sena', is a scroll with the command motto ‘Jai Shree Varte Veeram’. In a major expansion in the mid eighties, the units located at Pune and Mumbai were transferred from Central Ai

AIRCRAFT AND SYSTEMS TESTING ESTABLISHMENT In 1972, Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) first started training pilots of the Indian Air Force for production testing. Three years later, senior ASTE officers visited ETPS and studied its training methods. These were eventually used to start a course for experimental test flying in 1976. The IAF Test Pilots School, co-located with ASTE at Bangalore, conducts Experimental Flight Test Course (11 months ) for Test Pilots (TP) and Flight Test Engineers (FTE) from the Air Force, Naval Aviation and Army Aviation. The school is one among the eight recognized test pilots school in the world to impart flight test training. There are two streams for training - Rotary Wing and Fixed Wing. Hence, there are four entry streams - RW TP, RW FTE, FW TP and FW FTE. The FTEs have two sub-streams - FTE and FTE (Avionics). Occasionally, under a special arrangement, engineers from non-military organisations involved with aviat

SPICEJET LIMITED SpiceJet’s mission is to become India’s preferred low-cost airline, delivering the lowest air fares with the highest customer value, to price sensitive customers. SpiceJet's vision is to address that and ensure that flying is for everyone. With a dynamic fare structure, SpiceJet offers fares that are affordable and significantly lower than most airlines. Its logo has three sets of five dots transforming from orange to yellow, flying towards the wordmark ‘SpiceJet’ in red colour. The flying dots represent speed, dynamism, growth and passion while red colour gives vibrancy, ‘much like today’s traveler.

TATA SIA AIRLINES LIMITED Vistara is a joint venture of Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), wherein Tata Sons holds 51% stake in partnership and Singapore Airlines owns 49% stake. The company is registered as TATA SIA Airlines Limited. In 2013, two legendary brands, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, decided to fulfill a long-cherished shared dream to bring forth a distinguished flying experience to air travelers in India. On November 5, 2013, Vistara’s holding company, TATA SIA Airlines Limited, was incorporated. The brand name ‘Vistara’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Vistaar’ that means ‘a limitless expanse’. The name Vistara draws inspiration from the world that Vistara inhabits, viz. the ‘limitless’ sky. The brand also draws stimulus from the image that passengers most associate with a smooth and enjoyable flight – the endless, blue horizon they see through the windows of an aircraft. As it aims to transform the flying experience o

ALL INDIA RADIO India’s National Broadcaster and also the premier Public Service Broadcaster, All India Radio (AIR) with brand name Akashvani has been serving to inform, educate and entertain the masses since its inception by truly living up to its motto - ‘Bahujan Hitaya : Bahujan Sukhaya’. One of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the number of languages of broadcast, the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it serves, AIR’s home service comprises 479 stations, located across the country, reaching nearly 92% of the country’s area and 99.19% of the total population. AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 179 dialects. Its dark blue emblem in the form of a microphone has its acronym 'AIR' placed over a map of India crested by Ashok Chakra in a border which has its motto ‘Bahujan Hitaya : Bahujan Sukhaya’ in Devanagari meaning 'Public Welfare : Public Good ', written on both the sides. Its name in H

ARMY AIR DEFENCE COLLEGE Army Air Defence  College (AADC), a prestigious training institution of army air defence is located in the lap of nature aside the majestic Bay of Bengal on the Eastern Sea Coast of India. The sprawling complex of the college, spread over more than 2700 acres of land, is brimming with state of the art training infrastructure and facilities belonging to the contemporary technologies, ably managed by a dedicated and possessed team of Instructors. In addition to Army, personnel of the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force and students from friendly foreign defence forces also undergo various courses at this college. The role of this College is to function as a centre of excellence, on all matters concerning army air defence. In 1955 a case was taken up to relocate Air Defence Wing due to lack of adequate ranges for gun and missile firing. In 1963 Government of Orissa offered 3000 acres of land at Gopalpur-on-sea along with seaward firing range, whic

INDIAN AIR FORCE The Indian Air Force  (IAF) was officially established on October 8, 1932. Its first flight came into being on April 1, 1933.  It possessed a strength of six RAF-trained officers and 19 Havai Sepoys (literally, air soldiers). In January 1950, India became a Republic within the British Commonwealth and the Indian Air Force dropped its ‘Royal’ prefix. At this time, it possessed six fighter squadrons of Spitfires, Vampires and Tempests, operating from Kanpur, Poona, Ambala and Palam, one B-24 bomber squadron, one C-47 Dakota transport squadron, one AOP flight, a communications squadron at Palam and a growing training organisation. The Motto of Indian Air Force has been taken from eleventh chapter of the Gita, the discourse given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna  on the battlefield of Kurukshetra during the Great War of Mahabharata . The Lord is showing His Supreme Divine form to Arjuna and the great form of the Lord is reaching the sky with glory, evoking

INDIAN ARMED FORCES The Indian Armed Forces  are the military forces of the Republic of India. They consist of the Army , Navy , Air Force  and Indian Coast Guard, supported by paramilitary forces and various inter-service institutions such as the Strategic Forces Command . The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. The Indian Armed Forces are under the management of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which is led by the Union Cabinet Minister of Defence. The Indian armed forces have been engaged in a number of major military operations, including the Indo-Pakistan wars of 1947, 1965 and 1971, the Sino-Indian War, the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish, the Kargil War and the Siachen conflict among others. India honours its armed forces and military personnel annually on Armed Forces Flag Day on December 7. The crest of the Indian Armed forces consists of the symbols of the Army, Navy and Air Force placed one above the other  in the middle of

AIR INDIA LIMITED 1 National Aviation Company of India Limited – NACIL was incorporated under the Companies Act 1956 on March 30, 2007 with its Registered Office at Airlines House in New Delhi and Corporate Office at Air India Building, in Mumbai. Its name was changed on November 24, 2010  to Air India Limited. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after sale by the Government of India on January 27, 2022. The logo of Air India is a red coloured flying swan with the 'Konark Chakra' in orange, placed inside it. The flying swan has been morphed from Air India's characteristic logo, 'The Centaur', whereas the 'Konark Chakra' is reminiscent of Indian Airlines logo. The logo features prominently on the tail of the aircraft. While the aircraft is ivory in colour, the base retains the red streak of Air India. Running parallel to each other are the orange and red speedlines from front door to the rear door