title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Blue previously used a familiar formula pioneered by airlines such as Southwest Airlines and Ryanair of eliminating costs such as included in-flight meals and printed tickets in favour of selling food on-board and using telephone and internet booking systems. It also cut costs in the past by limiting the number of airports serviced and by operating one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737. This strategy changed with the introduction of a second type into the fleet. The airline ordered 20 Embraer E-jets, in a mix of six E170s and 14 E190s. These were ordered specifically so that the airline could re-enter the Sydney–Canberra market that it abandoned in 2004, and to fly to less populous areas. The first E-170 arrived in Australia in September 2007 and by the end of the year the three on initial order had been delivered. These were placed on limited-frequency services before full-scale operations were launched on 4 February 2008 with services from Sydney to Canberra (branded as 'Capital Jet' services), Mackay in Queensland, and the New South Wales regional centres of Port Macquarie and Albury, which were promoted with a one-cent fare. The flights to Canberra and the regional centres signified an effort to compete more directly with Qantas and its subsidiary QantasLink operation, which flies to all three cities, and with independent Regional Express Airlines.


title: Virgin Australia

text: At its inception in 2000, Virgin Blue did not have interline or marketing alliances with other airlines. However, after the collapse of its domestic competitor Ansett Australia, it began a codeshare agreement with United Airlines. This allowed United customers to fly from the United States to any of Virgin Blue's Australian destinations that United did not already serve. In 2006, in an effort to compete with Qantas, Virgin Blue started exploring these relationships, forming frequent flyer agreements with Emirates, Hawaiian Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. Virgin Blue also had an Interline Agreement with Regional Express Airlines for travellers to and from smaller regional centres in the eastern states of Australia, and operated its own two routes with Virgin Australia Regional Airlines in Western Australia. In November 2007, the airline announced an agreement with Garuda Indonesia, offering easy transfer from a domestic Virgin Blue flight to an international Garuda Indonesia service departing from Perth, Melbourne, Sydney or Darwin. Virgin Blue subsequently announced an agreement with Vietnam Airlines which allowed passengers to fly from Melbourne and Sydney and connect with Vietnam Airlines' destinations through its flight network.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In 2008, premium economy class was introduced throughout its entire fleet. New seating was installed in the first three rows of the cabin. These could be converted from three seats in economy configuration to two seats for premium economy. The premium product offered priority check-in, larger baggage allowance, lounge access, priority boarding, increased legroom and all-inclusive in flight entertainment, meals and beverages on board. The product was aimed at business and corporate customers. The airline began charging economy-class passengers for checked baggage in September 2008. The airline further announced its intention to operate Airbus A330 aircraft between Perth and the East Coast, starting in May 2011.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In December 2010, Virgin Blue entered into alliances with Etihad Airways and Air New Zealand for code-sharing, reciprocal lounge and frequent flyer access and other co-operational projects. Virgin Blue also entered into talks with Delta Air Lines about the possibility of joining SkyTeam, one of the top three alliances in the world, as V Australia and Delta sought approval for an agreement between the two airlines to co-operate on trans-Pacific services. The agreement was rejected by the United States Department of Transportation under United States antitrust law. Upon review the agreement was approved by the United States Department of Transportation on 10 June 2011.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 20 January 2011, Air New Zealand announced it would take a shareholding stake of between 10% and 14.99% in Virgin Blue. Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe described the investment "as part of Air New Zealand's strategy to develop scale and reach in this region" but said the airline had no intention of making a full takeover.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In early 2006, Virgin Blue announced its intention to operate up to seven flights a week to the U.S. through either Los Angeles or San Francisco. At the time, only Qantas and United Airlines competed in the Australia-US transpacific market. The airline was given permission for ten flights a week to the U.S. by Australian regulators on 24 July 2007. The plans were approved by US regulators on 15 February 2008, due to the signing of an open skies agreement between Australia and the US. Instead of using its existing brand, Virgin Blue launched a fully owned subsidiary with a separate Air Operator's Certificate, named V Australia as the result of a public naming competition, with a fleet of five specifically branded 777-300ERs.


title: Virgin Australia

text: The airline launched flights between Sydney and Los Angeles in 2009, followed by flights from Melbourne and Brisbane after obtaining permission to operate an unlimited number of flights between Australia and the U.S. by the Australian International Air Services Commission. V Australia also applied to the United States Department of Transportation to operate services to San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, and New York, but these plans never materialised. V Australia later launched flights to Nadi International Airport, Phuket and Johannesburg (all of which were discontinued prior to the brand being absorbed into Virgin Australia, although Virgin Australia continued to operate to Phuket until 2015, and to Nadi), and Abu Dhabi to consolidate Virgin Blue's codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 7 May 2010, Brett Godfrey officially stepped down as Virgin Blue CEO after steering the company through its first 10 years. John Borghetti, former Qantas executive general manager, took over as the new Chief Executive. Following Borghetti's arrival as CEO, a number of key Qantas staff moved to Virgin Blue while key Virgin Blue staff departed the airline, causing much speculation regarding a forthcoming rebrand or reorganisation of the airline. In February 2011, the re-brand was confirmed when the airline announced that the word 'Blue' would be dropped from its name as part of a campaign to attract more business travellers away from rival Qantas. This came shortly after the unveiling of new crew uniforms and business-class seats. The airline stated that the re-brand would proceed in stages and would reportedly include a new fleet livery and the renaming of the other Virgin Blue Group airlines as well.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 4 May 2011, the former Virgin Blue revealed its new name, Virgin Australia, as well as its new livery. In addition to the new name, branding and livery, the airline also showed off its new flagship the Airbus A330 with new domestic business class. Boeing 737 business class seating was also revealed, to be introduced on all of Virgin's jet aircraft by the end of 2011. Pacific Blue and V Australia were both folded into the new Virgin Australia brand, following an agreement with former Virgin Atlantic shareholder Singapore Airlines, which ever since the establishment of Virgin Blue in 2000 had previously prohibited use of the "Virgin" brand outside Australia.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Early in 2011 it was announced that Virgin Blue had signed a ten-year deal with Perth-based regional airline Skywest Airlines, for Skywest to operate up to 18 ATR-72 turboprop aircraft leased by Virgin, in order to better compete in east coast regional markets served by QantasLink and Regional Express Airlines. The turboprops would supplement the existing Embraer E-190s and replace the E-170s, which would be phased out due to their being uneconomical on the routes operated by Virgin.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In October 2011, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) approved a proposed code-share alliance between Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia, subject to other regulatory approvals in both countries.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 31 May 2016, Chinese aviation holding company HNA Group agreed to purchase 13% of Virgin Australia Holdings for A$159 million, subject to authorisation from the ACCC, a stake which HNA Group ultimately intended to increase to 19.99%. The deal also created a codeshare partnership between Virgin Australia and Chinese airlines in which HNA Group held shares, on routes between Australia and China. Virgin intended to launch flights between Australian destinations and Beijing and Hong Kong by 2017 to consolidate the agreement.


title: Virgin Australia

text: By October 2016, Air New Zealand was no longer a Virgin Australia shareholder, after selling its remaining 2.5 percent stake for A$65.7 million to investors including the Nanshan Group. On 4 April 2018, Air New Zealand announced the end of the code- and revenue-sharing partnership with Virgin Australia, effective 28 October 2018.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 12 June 2018, Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti confirmed that he would leave the airline before the end of his contract in January 2020. Borghetti, who became CEO in May 2010, mentioned that his initial plans were to stay in the position for three to four years, however, the company's growth and success prompted him to stay on. In February 2019 Paul Scurrah was announced as Borghetti's successor, with Scurrah commencing as CEO on 25 March 2019.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 18 March 2020, Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah announced the grounding of the equivalent of 53 planes due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, effective 30 March. This had the effect of temporarily returning Virgin Australia to being a domestic-only airline.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 31 March 2020, Virgin Australia confirmed it had asked the Federal Government for a $1.4 billion loan to help it through the COVID-19 crisis. The airline said its bailout proposal was "subject to approval by the Virgin Australia Holdings board and the Australian Government" and "may or may not include conversion to equity in certain circumstances". Qantas responded by noting its revenue was three times higher than Virgin's, meaning that if Virgin was bailed-out they should be given a $4.2 billion loan as to not distort the market.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 4 April 2020, the Australian Government announced it would be subsidizing a bare-bones international network operated by Qantas and Virgin Australia for four weeks in April. Virgin's began operating later that month to Hong Kong twice weekly and once weekly to Los Angeles. On the same day, it became known that Virgin Australia had decided to shut down its New Zealand operation permanently, resulting in 600 jobs in New Zealand to be lost.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 9 April 2020, it was announced that all services, except one Melbourne-Sydney return flight six times a week, would be suspended from 10 April.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 14 April 2020 Virgin Australia Holdings was granted a trading halt on the Australian Securities Exchange pending a company announcement or to start trading again on 16 April 2020.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 16 April 2020, the Federal Government announced it would spend $160 million subsidizing a minimum number of services operated by Virgin Australia and Qantas. The domestic minimal network announced is effective 17 April until 8 June 2020 and involves 64 flights weekly. It serves Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, regional WA and regional Queensland.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 18 April 2020, the Queensland Government offered $200 million to help bail out Virgin Australia, however, the bailout had a number of conditions including Federal Government backing, debt restructuring, shareholders and bondholders contributing, headquarters remaining in Brisbane and ongoing regional flights.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 21 April 2020, Virgin Australia confirmed it had gone into voluntary administration, citing its inability to continue operations without a Federal Government bailout. However, there are no changes being made to which flights are being operated.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Australia Holdings, Ltd. and 39 affiliated debtors filed Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The primary case is #20-11024.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In August 2020, Bain Capital announced the plan for a new 'Virgin Australia 2.0', signalling that the move was more focussed towards streamlining and refocussing Virgin Australia, rather than a complete overhaul. The announcement included the immediate retirement of the remaining ATR, Airbus A330 and 777 fleets, in addition to the retirement of the Tigerair brand.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 15 October 2020, as a result of numerous restructuring measures by Bain Capital, Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah announced that he would resign. Jayne Hrdlicka was announced as Scurrah's successor, with Hrdlicka commencing as CEO on 18 November 2020.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 15 December 2021, Virgin Australia and United Airlines announced a new partnership beginning in April 2022. This would be the end of the Delta Air Lines partnership after over a decade.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Until its move to South Bank in September 2020, Virgin Australia's head office was the Virgin Village in Bowen Hills, Brisbane. The building, with about A-Grade office space, was triple net leased to Virgin Blue.


title: Virgin Australia

text: As the airline started operations, it decided to place its head office in the Brisbane area. Brett Godfrey, the airline co-founder and Chief Executive for 10 years, said in 2006 that the decision "was a long considered one and has worked well". The airline originally had its head office in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. The airline purchased a $61 million site in Bowen Hills for its new head office. The firm Sunland Group, which had acquired the Bowen Hills site for $8 million in 2005, had scheduled to complete the new head office in March, and the airline would be ready to move into the new head office by August of the following year. The Virgin Village formally opened on 17 October 2008. As of 2008, 1,000 employees worked at Virgin Village.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In September 2003, Pacific Blue was set up to offer a low-cost service between New Zealand and Australia. Pacific Blue aimed to position itself as a low-cost competitor to Air New Zealand and Qantas on trans-Tasman routes. Pacific Blue also operated services on behalf of the Polynesian Blue joint-venture with the government of Samoa. Pacific Blue has since been rebranded under the Virgin Australia name and livery.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In early 2006, Virgin Blue's parent company announced its intention to operate up to seven flights a week to the United States using either Los Angeles International Airport or San Francisco International Airport, saying that the route was needed to make the airline as profitable as possible. On 25 July 2007, it was announced that "V Australia" would be the name of the new carrier.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 30 October 2012, Virgin Australia Holdings announced it had purchased a 60% stake in Tiger Airways Australia for $35 million. Tiger would continue to operate as a low cost subsidiary for 20 years. In October 2014 Virgin took full control of Tigerair for one dollar.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 11 April 2013, Virgin Australia Holdings completed its acquisition of regional airline Skywest Airlines. Skywest was then renamed Virgin Australia Regional Airlines.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In February 2007, Virgin Blue signed a two-year sponsorship deal with NRL team the South Sydney Rabbitohs. The Rabbitohs were the first rugby league team Virgin Australia sponsored. One of the airline's Boeing 737-800s had slight changes to its livery to commemorate this sponsorship; the Australian flag held by the "Virgin Girl" was replaced by the Rabbitohs' flag. Virgin Australia is also the official sponsor of the National Basketball League (NBL), and the title sponsor of NBL team the Brisbane Bullets.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In November 2010, the Australian Football League (AFL) decided not to renew its marketing contract with Qantas, instead choosing Virgin Blue for a deal worth A$5–8 million.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Blue gained extra revenue (and publicity) by painting two aircraft as "flying billboards". One promoted a brand of men's razor, the other a Queensland Government campaign to attract businesses to the state. Both aircraft have since been withdrawn from the Virgin Blue fleet.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In 2007, Virgin Blue introduced an advertising campaign with the slogan "Get What You Want", named after the song by Queensland band Operator Please that featured in its TV advertisements. In 2009, Virgin Blue introduced an all new advertising campaign entitled "Now there's an idea". TV Commercials showing comparisons between flying in Australia in 1999 as opposed to 2009 were screened, to the tune a song by The Cat Empire. New billboard advertising was launched, showcasing Virgin Blue's variety of products and on-time performance records.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In 2011, with the airline's rebranding as Virgin Australia, the airline's slogan was changed to "Now you're flying".


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Australia became a sponsor of the newest AFL clubs, the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants, in 2011 and 2014 respectively. Virgin Australia also appear as a sponsor on the guernseys of the Carlton Football Club since June 2017 initially due to the loss of a sponsor of the club, but Carlton announced in August 2017 that the partnership will be extended until the end of the 2022 AFL season. In 2016, the airline reached an agreement with V8 Supercars to rename the annual motorsport series to the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship starting 1 July.


title: Virgin Australia

text: The airline has won a number of awards since its inception. It and certain of its employees won five 2009 service excellence awards of the Customer Service Institute of Australia. Since being named as best low-cost airline in the Asia/Pacific region in the Skytrax 2002 Airline of the Year Survey, the airline has been voted best airline in a number of different categories and by a number of different organisations.


title: Virgin Australia

text: As an employer, Virgin Australia was recognised as the most attractive employer in Australia in 2015 at the annual Randstad Award. It also placed in the top 3 for the previous five years, including a top spot in 2011.


title: Virgin Australia

text: The airline's frequent flyer program, Velocity Rewards (now Velocity Frequent Flyer), won the 2009 Freddie Awards for best frequent flyer program, best award redemption, best affinity credit card, best member communications and best website. This was the fourth consecutive Freddie Awards that Velocity won.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Velocity Frequent Flyer won the 2018 Freddie Awards for program of the year, best elite program, best customer service, and best redemption ability. This was the sixth consecutive year that Velocity won the best redemption ability award.


title: Virgin Australia

text: , the Virgin Australia Airlines fleet - excluding Virgin Australia Regional Airlines - consists of the following aircraft:


title: Virgin Australia

text: Initially, Virgin Australia leased its aircraft, but recent additions to the fleet have been purchased outright. Virgin Australia-owned Boeing 737s are indicated by the Boeing customer code FE in the model suffix. Aircraft formerly owned by V Australia are indicated by ZG in the model suffix. In order to conserve capital, Virgin Australia has started accepting second hand aircraft into their fleet, like the Boeing 737-700s from KLM to replace the ageing Fokker 100s.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In November 2006, Virgin Blue announced plans to purchase 11 Embraer 190 and 3 Embraer 170 aircraft with options for six more E-jets, which later became orders for an additional three E170s and three E190s. In February 2008 a further four E190s were ordered, leaving six options and ten purchase rights. Virgin Blue received its first Embraer 170 in early September 2007 at a special ceremony at the Embraer plant in Sao Jose dos Campos. A revised logo was introduced on the tail, bringing the Virgin Blue brand into line with the logos of other Virgin-branded companies.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Like Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia gives the aircraft in its fleet names, previously incorporating female names and words connected with Australian cities and localities or other quintessentially Australian themes. Recent additions to the fleet have featured names of famous Australian beaches. Names on Virgin Australia aircraft include 'Brissie Lizzie' ("Brissie" being an Australian slang name for Brisbane, and "Lizzie" being slang for Elizabeth), 'Sassy Sydney' (Sydney is a female name as well as the name of Australia's largest city), 'Prue Blue' (incorporating the name Prudence and also a pun on the Australian phrase "true blue", meaning "patriotic"), 'Tassie Tigress' (incorporating both the slang name for Tasmania and the common name for the thylacine) and 'Mackay-be Diva' (a pun on the city of Mackay, Queensland and Makybe Diva, a famous Australian racehorse). Beaches which have aircraft named after them include Cable Beach, Cottesloe Beach and Bondi Beach. Each aircraft in the Virgin Australia livery (some were painted in Pacific Blue livery for cross-promotional reasons) also features a "virgin girl" as nose art, complete with a wide-brimmed Aussie hat, trailing an Australian flag.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 24 October 2007, Virgin Australia announced the introduction of premium economy on all domestic flights. As the e-jets already have four-abreast seating, the number of seats on these aircraft remained unchanged after the rollout of premium economy.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Australia began long haul international operations as V Australia, commencing its first passenger flight operations on 27 February 2009. V Australia was re-branded as Virgin Australia's Long Haul International Operations on 7 December 2011.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 10 January 2011, Virgin Blue entered a 10-year strategic alliance with Perth-based Skywest Airlines (now Virgin Australia Regional Airlines), to operate up to 18 new Virgin-branded turboprop aircraft from mid-2011. On 23 February, it was announced that the aircraft would be ATR-72s, to enter service beginning in May 2011; they would allow Virgin Australia to both replace its fleet of Embraer 170s and introduce new regional routes. The turboprops would be operated by Skywest Airlines under a wet lease agreement. The May in-service date was not met, and in late July the first announcement was made concerning routes to be served. It was reported that the ATR-72s would be initially employed on services between Brisbane and Gladstone, Queensland; from Brisbane and Sydney to Port Macquarie in New South Wales; and on additional services between Sydney and Canberra.


title: Virgin Australia

text: On 25 January 2012, Virgin Australia announced additional services between Brisbane, Proserpine, Rockhampton and Cairns. It wet leased two Fokker 100s from Alliance Airlines to operate these services. On 26 February 2013, Virgin Australia announced it would start flights between Brisbane and Bundaberg on 4 May 2013.


title: Virgin Australia

text: An agreement was signed with Boeing on 1 April 2010 for an order of fifty firm Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with flexibility to convert to either Boeing 737-700s or Boeing 737-900ERs; as well as 25 additional options and 30 future purchase rights. Deliveries were scheduled to be completed in 2017. In July 2012, Virgin Australia announced an order for 23 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, with deliveries planned to be between 2019 and 2021. Virgin converted its outstanding order for 17 Boeing 737-800 aircraft to the MAX model in 2015, bringing the total order for this type to 40 aircraft. In August 2018, Virgin converted 10 of its 737 MAX 8 orders for the larger MAX 10 variant. Deliveries of the MAX 10 were to begin in 2022. In April 2019, the airline deferred deliveries and converted 15 MAX 8 orders to the larger MAX 10 variant. Deliveries of the MAX 10 were scheduled to start in 2021, while MAX 8's are not expected until 2025, however due to worldwide groundings and suspensions of deliveries and production of the 737 MAX aircraft temporarily stopping following two fatal crashes, deliveries are likely to be delayed. In December 2020, Virgin cancelled orders for the MAX 8 and revised its order to just 25 MAX 10s with the planned delivery date deferred to mid-2023. However, in April 2022 CEO Jayne Hrdlicka announced the company had reversed the cancellation of the MAX 8 order with 'at least' four (later rising to 8) MAX 8 jets arriving by February 2023. This announcement was made in conjunction with efforts to replace the older Fokker 100 craft in the Virgin Australian Regional Airlines fleet. With the delays in certifying the 737 MAX 10 being experienced by Boeing it is not likely Virgin Australia would see its first MAX 10 before 2024 as stated by Boeing itself.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Australia Cargo was launched in July 2015 after the airline's contract to carry freight on behalf of Toll expired and was not renewed. The airline signed a five-year carriage contract with TNT in 2016 and operations of dedicated freighter aircraft commenced on 4 July the same year.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Australia offers a business class service on most of its jet aircraft. The seat pitch is on its Boeing 737-800


title: Virgin Australia

text: Economy X offers a more premium experience at the airport and onboard, within the affordability of Economy class. Economy X includes Extra legroom, Preferred overhead locker space (Virgin Australia operated flights only), Priority boarding (where available) & Priority screening (where available).


title: Virgin Australia

text: Economy seats offer seat pitch. Selected Boeing 737 aircraft have Wireless In-flight Entertainment, a state-of-the-art system that provides you with access to hundreds of hours of movies, TV shows and music, all available on your own device.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Australia offered business class passengers a "sophisticated" gourmet menu created by Australian chef Luke Mangan. For lunch and dinner this included a full three-course meal prepared on board by the crew.


title: Virgin Australia

text: The food menu is accompanied by a premium range of Australian wines, beers and spirits and non-alcoholic beverages, including barista-style coffee.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In Economy Class, the airline offers a buy on board service and serves non-alcoholic beverages to all passengers on all domestic Virgin Australia flights. Complimentary beer and wine used to be offered on all services between capital cities departing between 5pm and 7pm. On all international flights, complimentary hot meals and beverages were offered to all Economy passengers.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In December 2006, Virgin Australia (as Virgin Blue) announced a partnership between Australian cable television providers Foxtel and Austar, to introduce a "Live2Air" service on most flights by mid-2007. The Live2Air system was only available on selected Boeing 737 aircraft, and was phased out beginning in 2012.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Australia's Boeing 777-300ERs and Airbus A330-200 aircraft's in-flight entertainment "RED" was based on the Panasonic eX2 system. RED was fully touch-screen and handset controlled. There was no fee for use. RED featured an extensive video on demand library that includes new release film, TV series and TV programmes. Destination guides were available. Other functions available through RED included music on demand (approx 200+ CD library) and video games. Seat-to-seat chat was available as well as in flight map and flight information.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In December 2012, Virgin Australia introduced an in-flight Wi-Fi system to provide music, movies and TV shows to tablets, smartphones, laptops and similar devices. The system, which does not offer internet access, is estimated to be fitted on all the airline's planes within 2 years.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In 2018, Virgin Australia began upgrading the in-flight Wi-Fi system in order to offer wireless internet access. The Boeing 777 fleet was expected to be rolled out by the end of 2018, while the Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 fleets are expected to complete rollout of internet access by the end of 2019. The regional fleets of Airbus A320s, ATR 72-600s and Fokker 100s will not be rolled out with internet Wi-Fi access.


title: Virgin Australia

text: After the Virgin Australia take-over by Bain Capital, they removed access to their in-flight Wi-Fi system. According to the ABC "Virgin Australia is reviewing its in-flight offerings and services including WiFi and entertainment" under the leadership of newly appointed CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, leaving Qantas to be the only Australian carrier to offer in-flight WiFi.


title: Virgin Australia

text: To capture a share of the business traveller market, Virgin decided to provide a members' lounge facility for travellers. Originally this was called "The Blue Room" and provided facilities to members and guests on a pay-as-you-go basis. Many of these facilities became available when Virgin relocated into the former Ansett terminals across the country, with the defunct "Golden Wing club" lounges left behind being used as Blue Room lounges, complete with furnishings.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In 2006, Virgin revamped the lounge facilities and re-launched the product as "The Lounge", which offered all-inclusive facilities on a membership fee or casual fee basis. Upgraded facilities provided included buffet food and refreshments, newspapers, showers, computers, and WiFi internet access for travellers.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In May 2011, Virgin again renamed the lounge simply referring to it as "Virgin Australia Lounge" – designed to be a premium experience, with spaces designed for specific uses and 'moods'.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Complimentary lounge access is available to Velocity Frequent Flyer Gold and Platinum members when flying with Virgin Australia, or when travelling in Business Class.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Membership is also available and can be purchased online by logging into a passenger's Velocity Frequent Flyer account. As of July 2021, membership costs AUD399 per year and there is no joining fee. Lifetime memberships and single-use passes are also available for purchase.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Virgin Australia launched its frequent-flyer program Velocity Rewards in 2005, with partner National Australia Bank offering a companion credit card. By 2007, points collected from selected Westpac, American Express and Diners Club cards could be transferred to Velocity Rewards, and effective September 2008, ANZ reward visa card points as well. The program reached 4 million members by the end of 2014.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Status levels were introduced to the program in late 2007 as part of continued efforts to attract business travellers. Alongside the entry-level "red" status, frequent travellers were given the opportunity to attain "silver" and "gold" status, each with its own set of benefits.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Initially, Velocity was different from most other frequent flyer programs, as points were earned relative to the cost of a flight, rather than distance. Velocity members originally earned 6 points per dollar spent on Virgin Australia flights. This was later altered due to the introduction of status levels; Red members now earned 5 points per dollar, Silver members remained at 6 points, and Gold members earned 7. Points accrual on V Australia, as well as the majority of Velocity's airline partners, have always based on distance.


title: Virgin Australia

text: Velocity was the first frequent flyer program in Australia to offer "any seat, any time" reward flight availability. The number of points required to redeem an award seat directly corresponds to the current fare of that seat, allowing any seat currently available to be redeemed. Qantas introduced a similar feature to their frequent flyer program in May 2008.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In August 2011, the program was relaunched as "Velocity Frequent Flyer" and a platinum status level was introduced, among other changes.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In July 2013, Velocity introduced the Global Wallet function, which was the first prepaid traveller card in Australia. The key feature of this card is it allows you to load your money and store it in other supported currencies before travelling. You can access ATMs around the world as well as shop anywhere where Visa card is accepted. Supported currencies include Australian Dollar (AUD), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Euro (EUR), Pound Sterling (GBP), Hong Kong Dollar (HKD), Japanese Yen (JPY), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Singapore Dollar (SGD), Thai Baht (THB), US Dollar (USD) and South African Rand (ZAR). You also earn 1 Velocity Point per $1 spent overseas and 1 point per $2 spent in Australia.


title: Virgin Australia

text: In 2015, Velocity Frequent Flyer won the 'Program of the Year" in the Middle East & Asia/Oceania District category at the Freddie Awards.


title: Kokopelli

text: Kokopelli () is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who is venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fertility deities, Kokopelli presides over both childbirth and agriculture. He is also a trickster god and master braider and represents the spirit of music.


title: Kokopelli

text: Among the Hopi, Kokopelli carries unborn children on his back and distributes them to women; for this reason, young girls often fear him. He often takes part in rituals relating to marriage, and Kokopelli himself is sometimes depicted with a consort, a woman called Kokopelmimi by the Hopi. It is said that Kokopelli can be seen on the full and waning moon, much like the "man" or the "rabbit" on the moon."


title: Kokopelli

text: Kokopelli also presides over the reproduction of game animals, and for this reason, he is often depicted with animal companions such as rams and deer. Other common creatures associated with him include sun-bathing animals such as snakes, or water-loving animals like lizards and insects.


title: Kokopelli

text: In his domain over agriculture, Kokopelli's flute-playing chases away the winter and brings about spring. Many tribes, such as the Zuni, also associate Kokopelli with the rains. He frequently appears with Paiyatamu, another flutist, in depictions of maize-grinding ceremonies. Some tribes say he carries seeds and babies on his back.


title: Kokopelli

text: In recent years, the emasculated (i.e. non-ithyphallic) version of Kokopelli has been adopted as a broader symbol of the Southwestern United States as a whole. His image adorns countless items such as T-shirts, ball caps, key-chains, and patio decor. He is also noticeable on the wall by the swimming pool on the home of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) in several episodes of Breaking Bad. A bicycle trail between Grand Junction, Colorado, and Moab, Utah, is now known as the Kokopelli Trail.


title: Kokopelli

text: Kokopelli has been revered since at least the time of the Hohokam, Yuman, and Ancestral Puebloan peoples. The first known images of him appear on Hohokam pottery dated to sometime between 750 and 850 AD.


title: Kokopelli

text: Kokopelli may have originally been a representation of Aztec traders, known as "pochtecas", who may have traveled to this region from northern Mesoamerica. These traders brought their goods in sacks slung across their backs and this sack may have evolved into Kokopelli's familiar hump; some tribes consider Kokopelli to have been a trader. These men may also have used flutes to announce themselves as friendly as they approached a settlement. This origin is still in doubt, however, since the first known images of Kokopelli predate the major era of Mesoamerican-Ancestral Pueblo peoples trade by several hundred years, as well as the Aztec Empire and its "pochtecas".


title: Kokopelli

text: Many believe that Kokopelli was more than a trader, and more significantly, an important conveyor of information and trinkets from afar. As a storyteller par excellence, Kokopelli had the gift of languages, with a formidable repertoire of body-language storytelling skills to complement his many talents. Kokopelli's usual noisy announcement upon arrival secured both the identity, and therefore the safety, of his unique presence into a community. Often accompanied by an apprentice in his travels and trade, Kokopelli was important in linking distant and diverse communities together. In the South American Andes, the 'Ekeko' character functioned in much the same way. Upon arrival, his banging and clanging of his wares dangling all about his person signaled to all that a night of entertainment and trade of his goods and talismans was at hand.


title: Kokopelli

text: Even today, occasional outside visitors may be called or referred to as 'Kokopelli' when they bring news, stories, and trinkets from the outside world to share with the little pueblos or villages.


title: Kokopelli

text: Another theory is that Kokopelli is actually an anthropomorphic insect. Many of the earliest depictions of Kokopelli make him very insect-like in appearance. The name "Kokopelli" may be a combination of "Koko", another Hopi and Zuni deity, and "pelli", the Hopi and Zuni word for the desert robber fly, an insect with a prominent proboscis and a rounded back, which is also noted for its zealous sexual proclivities. A more recent etymology is that Kokopelli means literally "kachina hump". Because the Hopi were the tribe from whom the Spanish explorers first learned of the god, their name is the one most commonly used.


title: Kokopelli

text: Kokopelli is one of the most easily recognized figures found in the petroglyphs and pictographs of the Southwest. The earliest known petroglyph of the figure dates to about 1000 AD. The Spanish missionaries in the area convinced the Hopi craftsmen to usually omit the phallus from their representations of the figure. As with most kachinas, the Hopi Kokopelli was often represented by a human dancer. Kokopelli is a cottonwood sculpture often carved today.


title: Kokopelli

text: A similar humpbacked figure is found in artifacts of the Mississippian culture of the United States southeast. Between approximately 1200 to 1400 AD, water vessels were crafted in the shape of a humpbacked woman. These forms may represent a cultural heroine or founding ancestor, and may also reflect concepts related to the life-giving blessings of water and fertility.


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: Dorothy-Marie Jones (born January 4, 1964) is an American actress and retired athlete who has had multiple roles in television. She attended California State University, Fresno, where she set records for shot put. Jones is also a 15-time world arm wrestling champion. She was a recurring guest star starting in the second season of the musical television series "Glee" as Coach Beiste, and appeared through the show's sixth and final season, when she was promoted to starring status. She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011, 2012, and 2013 for her portrayal of Coach Beiste. She is also known for her roles as Coach Kelly in "Lizzie McGuire" and Butch Brenda in "Material Girls".


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: Jones was born January 4, 1964, and was raised in Hilmar, California. She first got involved in strength competitions at a fairly young age. She started track in middle school. While Jones attended Hilmar High School, she was a champion weight lifter and named female athlete of the year. She started arm wrestling on a whim, and won her first arm wrestling world championship at 19 years old and went on to win 14 more.


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: After graduating from Hilmar High School, Jones attended Modesto Junior College and Fresno State, where she continued her involvement with sports. She earned a scholarship in track which paid her way through junior college and university. Jones played softball and competed in shot put and powerlifting. She won All-America honors in shot put both at junior college and university, was state champion in 1983 and 1984 and set the national record at the junior college level from 1983 to 1990. Jones qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1988 for shot put with a throw, surpassing the qualifying mark of . She finished sixth. During her sporting career, she suffered 11 knee injuries, bringing her height of down to . After college, Jones worked as a youth counselor at the Fresno County Juvenile Probation center while continuing her involvement with sports.


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: Jones, who originally had no acting aspirations, was discovered at a bodybuilding competition by Shirley Eson of "American Gladiators" fame. Eson urged Jones to audition for the Gladiators-like "Knights and Warriors", and Jones got the part, becoming one of the few female warriors. Jones was also offered a position in professional wrestling, but turned it down because, she said it was "too fakey."


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: After "Knights and Warriors" finished after one season she became a bit actor. She played small roles in several television series throughout the 1990s and 2000s and breaking into feature films in the late 1990s, including the cult film "The Boondock Saints". While acting, Jones kept up her involvement with arm wrestling. In 1995, her biceps measured .


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: Jones' first recurring role after "Knights" was as a character named "Dot" on the popular show "Married... with Children" in the mid-90s. She appeared in five episodes over two seasons. Jones' next break was on the kids show "Lizzie McGuire" as Coach Kelly. Since then, she has appeared in popular shows "Nip/Tuck", "Desperate Housewives", and "Prison Break". Dot Jones co-starred with Hilary Duff in "Lizzie McGuire". They were later reunited for "Material Girls".


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: Jones, being a fan of "Glee" and having worked with series co-creator Ryan Murphy on "Nip/Tuck" and "Pretty/Handsome", asked co-executive producer Brad Falchuk during an encounter at a supermarket if she could be on the show. Soon after, the character of Coach Shannon Beiste in "Glee" was created for her. She guest starred in seasons two, three, four, and five, and was a main cast member for the sixth and final season. The show allowed her to showcase her singing abilities. Her first song was "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer" with Matthew Morrison's character Will Schuester. It was featured on "Glee: The Music, The Complete Season Two." She also recorded versions of Taylor Swift's "Mean" and Dolly Parton's "Jolene". These were included on the album "Glee: The Music, The Complete Season Three."


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: Jones appeared on Logo TV's "RuPaul's Drag U" as a visiting professor in July 2011, during the second season.


title: Dot-Marie Jones

text: Jones married Bridgett Casteen on December 21, 2013. The two first met in December 2010 and Jones proposed on October 4, 2013, during Anaheim Gay Days.


title: Taylor Armstrong

text: Taylor Armstrong (born Shana Lynette Hughes; June 10, 1971) is an American television personality. From 2010 to 2013, she was an original cast member on the Bravo reality television series "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills". She made guest appearances between 2013 and 2016. Armstrong joined the cast for the upcoming 17th season of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" as a "friend of the housewives", becoming the first housewife to switch franchises.


title: Taylor Armstrong

text: Armstrong was born Shana Lynette Hughes in Independence, Kansas, on June 10, 1971. Her family later left Kansas for Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Armstrong attended Union High School and was a cheerleader. She graduated in 1989. She later changed her name to Taylor Ford and moved to Beverly Hills, California, after starting her own e-commerce business. She met her future husband, venture capitalist Russell Armstrong, at a local restaurant in Beverly Hills while waiting to be seated. The two married less than a year later and Armstrong gave birth to their only child, a daughter named Kennedy Caroline Armstrong, who was born in 2006.


title: Taylor Armstrong

text: Armstrong first appeared in the public spotlight in 2010, as part of the cast of the Bravo reality television series "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills". During the series' run, Armstrong's appearance on the show was plagued by rumors of financial issues and domestic violence, and she later confirmed that she had been physically abused by Russell Armstrong and had to undergo reconstructive surgery for an orbital fracture after being hit by him.


title: Taylor Armstrong

text: In July 2011, after the filming of the second season of "Real Housewives", she filed for divorce, citing verbal and physical abuse. The next month, her estranged abusive husband died by suicide; she found his body on August 15, 2011, dead from an apparent hanging, at a home he rented on Mulholland Drive following their separation.


title: Taylor Armstrong

text: Armstrong is currently married to John Bluher, an attorney, whom she wed on April 4, 2014, in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.


title: Taylor Armstrong

text: In June 2022, Armstrong starred in season two of "The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip", which premiered on Peacock. Filming was completed in September 2021 at Dorinda Medley’s Blue Stone Manor in The Berkshires.


title: Taylor Armstrong

text: On August 1, 2022, it was announced that Armstrong would be joining "The Real Housewives of Orange County" as a "friend of the housewives" for the upcoming 17th season, making her the first housewife to switch franchises.


title: Taylor Armstrong

text: In 2019, a screen-capture of Armstrong on the second season of "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" was used in an Internet meme called "woman yelling at a cat". The meme depicts an upset Armstrong during a heated discussion about her husband's alleged abuse juxtaposed with a photograph of a cat named Smudge. Armstrong reacted positively to the meme. She also talked about her relationship with her ex husband.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Ramayan ("also known as" Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan) is an Indian Hindi-language epic television series based on ancient Indian Sanskrit Epic "Ramayana". The show was created, written, and directed by Ramanand Sagar. It originally aired between 1987 and 1988 on DD National and it was narrated by Ashok Kumar and the director Ramanand Sagar. The music was composed by Ravindra Jain. The show became most watched television series in the world, it had a viewership of 82 percent. The repeat telecast was aired on 20 different channels in 17 countries on all the five continents at different times.The success of the series was documented well by the media. According to BBC, the serial has been viewed by over 650 million viewers. Each episode of the series reportedly earned DD National 40 Lakh.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: The series was reaired during the 2020 Coronavirus Lockdown and broke several viewership records globally which includes setting a record for the most watched TV show in the world with 77 million viewers on 16 April 2020.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: "BBC" recalled that when the series was telecast every Sunday morning, ""streets would be deserted, shops would be closed and people would bathe and garland their TV sets before the serial began."


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: The show is primarily based on Valmiki's "Ramayan (Critical Edition)" and Tulsidas' "Ramcharitmanas". Other sources used were: Tamil Kamb Ramayan, Marathi Bhavarath Ramayan, Bengali Krutivas Ramayan, Telugu Shri Rangnath Ramayan, Kannada Ramchandra Charit Puranam, Malayalam Adhyatma Ramayan, Urdu Ramayan by Chakbast.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Adapted and based on the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana, the series follows the journey of Ram who goes to an exile of 14 years along with Sita and Lakshman.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Shri Vishnu decides to incarnate on earth as Ram, the son of King Dashrath and Queen Kaushalya of Ayodhya to kill Ravan, the evil king of Lanka and establish dharma whereas Goddess Lakshmi would incarnate as his wife Sita. In Ayodhya, a childless Dashrath conducts a yagna for children and as a result, his three wives gives birth to 4 sons. Kaushalya to Ram, Kaikeyi to Bharat and Sumitra to Lakshman and Shatrughan. The 4 boys grow up to be excellent warriors under Guru Vashista's training. Ram is an ideal and perfect son and brother and is a role model to his three younger brothers and always respects his parents and their affection towards him.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: After the brothers return after completing their education, Rishi Vishvamitra arrives at Ayodhya for help as his yagna is disturbed by some demons and asks Dashrath to send Ram to him to kill those demons. Dashrath reluctantly agrees and Lakshman also accompanies Ram. Shri Ram succeeds in killing Taraka and her son Subahu and also protects the yagnas. Rishi Vishvamitra later teaches him about many things required for future.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Later, he takes the two brothers to Mithila to seek the blessings of Lord Shiva's bow at the swayamvar of Princess Sita. Rishi Vishvamitra tells them about the birth of Sita from earth. On their way Ram frees Ahalya of her curse by her husband Rishi Gautama.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Ramayan was regarded as the most expensive TV show produced during the time with a budget ₹9 Lakhs per episode.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Writing for the "Indian Express" upon completion of the airing of the series' final episode, former bureaucrat S. S. Gill wrote that it was during his tenure as the secretary with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in September 1985 that he contacted Ramanand Sagar in association with the project.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Gill added that in a letter to Sagar, he had written about the Ramayana as a subject for the television series was ideal in that it was "a repository of moral and social values" and that its message was "secular and universal".


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: He added that he had noted in the letter that Sagar's "real challenge would lie in seeing the epic "with the eyes of a modern man and relating its message to the spiritual and emotional needs of our age".


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Gill added that he also wrote a similar letter to B. R. Chopra over the production of the series "Mahabharat" based on another epic of the same name, and mentioned that both he and Sagar accepted to his suggestions and constituted panels of experts and scholars to conceptualize the production.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: The series was initially conceptualized to run for 52 episodes of 45 minutes each. But, owing to popular demand it had to be extended thrice, eventually ending after 78 episodes.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Initially, Both "Ramayan" and "Mahabharat" was planned to air together, but later it was decided to air "Ramayan" first which was followed by "Mahabharat" after its end.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Govil expressed his desire to play Rama and appeared for a screen test. Initially, he was considered to be inappropriate for the role. He then appeared for the screen test again wearing a smile on his face and got finalized for the role. Since Govil's collaboration with Debashree Roy in Kanak Mishra's "Jiyo To Aise Jiyo" (1981) was adulated, the actress was approached to play Sita but due to her hectic schedule in Bengali cinema, she failed to appear for the screen test.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Several other famous actresses were approached as well but all of them backed off due to the prevalent premonition that playing the role of Lady Sita would blemish their romantic appeal resulting doom to their on-screen career. Deepika Chikhalia was then summoned to appear for the screen test. She had to undergo rigorous screen tests and was finalized then.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Sanjay Jog was originally approached for the role of Lakshmana but he refused since he was unable to give bulk dates. Sagar then urged him to play Bharata since the role would not require bulk dates. The role of Lakshmana then went to Sunil Lahiri.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Arvind Trivedi went to audition for the role of a boatman where Ramanand Sagar chose him as Ravan. However, when Trivedi rejected the offer, Paresh Rawal convinced him for playing the role. Vijay Kavish played three roles in the series which were Shiva, Valmiki and Mayasura.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Reruns of the series aired on Star Plus and Star Utsav in 2000s. It was re-telecast again between March and April 2020 during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in India on DD National and broke all records for viewership globally for any TV show. Hundreds of millions of viewers have watched the series during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in India.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: DD National said on 16 April 2020 the show created world record, 77 million people watched the show in 1 day and beat the record set by the American TV series "Game of Thrones". It was again telecasted on StarPlus from 4 May 2020. The show is dubbed in Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil which aired on Star Suvarna, Star Pravah, Star Jalsha, Star Maa and Star Vijay respectively.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: After just few episodes had been released, the show received widespread critical acclaim for Ramanand Sagar's writing and direction as well as its casting and Ravindra Jain's music.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: D. K. Bose, the media director of Hindustan Thompson Associates, remarked, ""The unique thing about the Ramayana was its consistency. Other programs like Buniyaad and even Hum Log did achieve viewership of around 80 percent and more, on occasion. In the case of Ramayana, that figure had been maintained almost from the beginning.""


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: He added, ""Starting at around 50 percent the 80 percent figure was reached within a few months and never went down. The viewership was more than 50 percent even in the predominantly non-Hindi speaking southern Indian States of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The show's popularity spanned across religions and people of the Islam faith watched in high numbers as well. It was common among people threatening to burn down the local electricity board headquarters during a power outage.""


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: The success of the series was documented well by the media. Soutik Biswas of BBC recalled that when the series was telecast every Sunday morning, ""streets would be deserted, shops would be closed and people would bathe and garland their TV sets before the serial began.""


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Writing for "the Telegraph", William Dalrymple noted, ""In villages across south Asia, hundreds of people would gather around a single set to watch the gods and demons play out their destinies. In the noisiest and most bustling cities, trains, buses and cars came to a sudden halt, and a strange hush fell over the bazaars. In Delhi, government meetings had to be rescheduled after the entire cabinet failed to turn up for an urgent briefing.""


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Arvind Rajagopal in his book "Politics After Television: Hindu Nationalism and the Reshaping of the Public in India" (2000) wrote that with the series, the government ""violated a decades-old taboo on religious partisanship, and Hindu nationalists made the most of the opportunity." It confirmed to the idea of Hindu awakening and the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party capitalizing on this.""


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Manik Sharma of "Hindustan Times" voiced similar views in that the series "played in the backdrop of a Hindutva shift in Indian politics, under the aegis of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its political outfit, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the media and cultural commentators struggled to consider Sagar's epic one way or the other, there were some who saw it as a catalyst, even if unintended, to the turmoil that the movement resulted in."


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Regarding initial apprehensions about the series being aired by a government-owned broadcaster, it's hitherto producer Sharad Dutt said that "a lot of people within the channel's office weren't supportive of the idea, to begin with. But it had no motivation with what was going on politically. The Congress was in power and it had no agenda of the sort." He however felt the execution was poor and remembered questioning Sagar upon watching "the tape" if he had "made Ramayana or Ram-Leela". Sharma noted that the political clout the series held could be adjudged by the fact that Sagar and Arun Govil (who played Rama) "were repeatedly courted by both the Congress and the BJP to campaign for them", and that Deepika Chikhalia (Sita) and Arvind Trivedi (Ravana) went on to become members of parliament.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: The series was re-telecast from 28 March 2020 with one hour episode during the morning and one hour episode during the night during the lockdown of 21 days due to coronavirus on DD National.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: "Ramayan" notably broke viewership for any Indian television series during that time. It was telecast in 55 countries and at a total viewership of 650 million and re-telecast (24 March - 18 April 2020) nearly 2500 million viewership alone in 25 days, it became the highest watched Indian television series by a distance, and one of top watched television series in world. It entered in the Limca Book of Records as the most watched historical series. On its first telecast (1987), it had 40 million viewership in India. That brought ₹23 crore revenue for the channel.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: The viewership during lockdown garnered record highest ratings for a Hindi GEC (general entertainment channel) show since 2015 making DD National as the most watched Indian channel since its premiere.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Ramayan garnered a total of 170 million viewers in first 4 shows during which DD National became the most watched Indian television channel after many years. The following week it garnered 580 million impressions in morning slot and 835 million impressions in night slot.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: In week 14 2020, it garnered 61.397 million impressions and the following week it got 67.4 million impressions.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: Ramayan created a world record by becoming the highest watched TV show globally by registering 77 million viewers for one episode aired during night slot on 16 April 2020 on DD National.


title: Ramayan (1987 TV series)

text: A follow-up series "Luv Kush" based on the last chapter of Ramayana "Uttara Kanda", aired in October 1988 on DD National. A remake series "Ramayan" produced by Sagar Arts aired on NDTV Imagine in 2008.


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason Verger is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Thomas Harris's 1999 novel "Hannibal", as well as its 2001 film adaptation and the second and third seasons of the TV series "Hannibal". In the film, he is portrayed by Gary Oldman, while in the TV series he is portrayed by Michael Pitt and Joe Anderson.


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason Verger is introduced in the novel "Hannibal" as a wealthy, sadistic pedophile who was horribly disfigured during a therapy session with Dr. Hannibal Lecter. He plans gruesome revenge against Lecter, which sets the novel's plot in motion. The novel and TV series also portray his dysfunctional relationship with his sister Margot, whom he subjects to years of emotional and sexual abuse.


title: Mason Verger

text: In "Red Dragon", Will Graham mentions that Hannibal Lecter has nine known murder victims, while two other victims survived, one of whom is "on a respirator at a hospital in Baltimore." This is the earliest reference to Mason, though he is not named or further detailed until "Hannibal".


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason Verger is the son of one of Baltimore, Maryland's most wealthy, politically connected families. His ancestors founded a meatpacking company that dated back to the American Civil War, and Mason's father, Molson, had expanded the company into an empire by the time of Mason's birth.


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason takes pleasure in acts of cruelty and sexual violence, including torturing animals and molesting children. He also performs autoerotic asphyxiation, and enjoys collecting children's tears with sterile swabs and flavoring his martinis with them. At one point he befriends Idi Amin, with whom he claims to have re-enacted the crucifixion of Jesus by nailing a migrant worker to a cross. Publicly, he claims to be a born-again Christian, and operates a Christian camp for underprivileged children—whom he molests. As a teenager, Mason raped his sister, Margot, who went into therapy with Lecter to deal with the trauma. Lecter suggested that it would be cathartic for her to kill her brother.


title: Mason Verger

text: Verger is eventually arrested for several counts of child molestation, but thanks to his family's political connections he is sentenced to community service and court-mandated therapy in lieu of prison time. Lecter serves as his court-appointed psychiatrist. During one of their sessions, Lecter invites Mason to demonstrate autoerotic asphyxiation, then gives him a cocktail of psychedelic drugs disguised as an amyl popper and suggests that he peel off his own face with a piece of broken mirror. In a state of drug-induced euphoria, Mason complies, and feeds the pieces to his dogs, except for his nose, which he himself eats. Lecter then tightens the noose around Mason's neck so hard it breaks his spine. He survives the ordeal, but is left horribly disfigured—with skin grafts covering the lost portions of his face—blind in his right eye, paralyzed from the neck down, and dependent on a ventilator to breathe.


title: Mason Verger

text: Lecter is arrested soon afterward for committing a series of murders, and Mason tries to influence the resulting trial to make sure Lecter receives the death penalty. When Lecter is instead found not guilty by reason of insanity and institutionalized, Mason begins plotting to feed Lecter alive to a pack of wild boars, specially bred for the purpose.


title: Mason Verger

text: After his disfigurement, Mason becomes a recluse, rarely leaving Muskrat Farm, his country estate, due to a combination of his disfigurement, the general frailty of his physical condition and the difficulty in transporting the necessary equipment to keep him comfortable. He nevertheless indulges in whatever paraphilias his disability allows, such as getting sexual gratification from making children cry. Verger's only sources of human contact are his assistant, Cordell—a fellow sex offender—and Margot, who works for Mason as a bodyguard. Margot despises her brother, but stays in his employ to persuade him to donate his sperm to her partner, Judy Ingram, so they can conceive a child. Mason strings her along, knowing she cannot leave if she wants to see her share of the Verger family fortune; their father had disinherited her when she came out as a lesbian, and willed his estate to any future heir Mason might have.


title: Mason Verger

text: Seven years after Lecter's escape in "The Silence of the Lambs", Mason pays Lecter's former guard, Barney Matthews, for information leading to his capture.


title: Mason Verger

text: When detective Rinaldo Pazzi spots Lecter in Florence, Italy, he contacts Mason in hopes of collecting the reward money. Mason bribes Justice Department official Paul Krendler to discredit Lecter's foil Clarice Starling in order to coax Lecter out of hiding. He hires a gang of Sardinians to kidnap Lecter, and instructs Pazzi to lead Lecter to them.


title: Mason Verger

text: Lecter learns of Mason's plot, and kills Pazzi as he flees to the United States. Mason's men eventually capture Lecter, and Mason prepares to enjoy his long-awaited revenge. However, Lecter escapes his bonds, with help from Starling.


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason is finally killed by his sister Margot, to whom Lecter promised to take the blame. Previously, she had sodomized him in order to get his sperm.


title: Mason Verger

text: In the 2001 film, "Hannibal", Mason is portrayed by Gary Oldman. The film's characterization of Mason Verger follows close to the novel, except for two key aspects: the film omits the character of Margot Verger, and changes the manner of Mason's death. In the film, Mason dies at the hands of his physician, Cordell Doemling (Željko Ivanek), who at Lecter's suggestion pushes his hated boss into the pig pen in which Lecter was intended to die. Mason is then devoured by the pack of wild boars he had bred for killing Lecter. In the film, Mason is also not completely bedridden; he does not require a ventilator to breathe, and as he is able to move his right hand, he is partially ambulatory through the use of a motorized wheelchair.


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason Verger appears in the NBC television series "Hannibal" as the main antagonist for the second half of the second season and the first half of the third season. He is portrayed by Michael Pitt in the show's second season, and by Joe Anderson in the third. Series creator Bryan Fuller called this version of the character "The Joker to Hannibal's Batman".


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason sexually assaults his sister Margot (Katharine Isabelle), who then tries to kill him. He sends her to therapy with Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen). Mason meets with Lecter to discuss Margot's treatment, and agrees to enter therapy with Lecter to find out what his sister is saying about him. Lecter takes an immediate dislike to Mason, considering him "discourteous".


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason tells Margot that he wants them to have an heir, the implication being that he wants to father his own sister's child. He threatens to cut her off financially if she disobeys him. Desperate, Margot has sex with another of Lecter's patients, Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) and becomes pregnant with his child. After Lecter tells him what Margot is trying to do, Mason causes Margot to get into a car accident, and has her womb surgically removed so that only he can father an heir and inherit the family fortune. A furious Graham confronts Mason and warns him that Lecter is manipulating them both.


title: Mason Verger

text: Mason eventually grows suspicious of Lecter and has him kidnapped along with Graham, intending to feed them both to his prize pigs. Lecter escapes with Graham's help, however, and takes Mason as a captive to Graham's house. Lecter gives Mason a hallucinogenic drug cocktail and convinces him to cut his own face off with a pig fat probing knife and feed the pieces to Graham's dogs. Mason does so, and also obeys Lecter's command to cut off his own nose and eat it. Lecter then breaks Mason's neck with his bare hands. Mason survives, but is paralyzed, confined to a respirator and forced to wear a neck brace and a facial mask. He tells FBI Agent-in-Charge Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) that he sustained his injuries after falling into a pig pen; he intends to keep Lecter out of the FBI's hands so he can torture and kill Lecter himself. Mason is then left alone with a vengeful Margot, who promises him she will "take care of you just as you took care of me."


title: Mason Verger

text: After Lecter flees to Europe following the discovery of his crimes, Mason puts a $3 million bounty on him. He enlists Lecter's former lover Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas) to help catch him. He also employs Margot, who is secretly planning to harvest his sperm in order to conceive a child with Alana's assistance. Unbeknownst to her, however, Mason has preserved the fetus Margot conceived with Graham, and implanted it in a giant sow's womb to birth a "Verger baby", which is later found to be stillborn.


title: Mason Verger

text: Italian police detective Rinaldo Pazzi (Fortunato Cerlino) makes a deal with Mason to bring Lecter in, but Lecter kills Pazzi instead. Mason then hires other corrupt Italian police detectives to apprehend Lecter and Graham and bring them to his country estate, Muskrat Farm. He orders his physician Cordell Doemling (Glenn Fleshler) to slowly mutilate Lecter to death and prepare gourmet cuisine from his flesh. Mason also tells Doemling to put him under anesthesia for a special surgery: Doemling will cut off Graham's face and graft it onto Mason's. Before the procedure can take place, however, Lecter escapes captivity, kills Doemling, and helps Margot 'milk' the unconscious Mason's prostate with a cattle prod for the sperm she needs to conceive a child. When Mason awakes, Margot tells him that she will have a baby of her own and inherit their father's estate. She kills Mason by holding him underwater in his eel tank, where his pet moray eel swims down his throat and suffocates him.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Pakistan Navy (PN) () ("romanized": Pākistān Bāhrí'a; ) is the naval branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. It came into existence by transfer of personnel and equipment from the Royal Indian Navy that ceased to exist following the partition of India through a parliamentary act that established the birth of Pakistan and independence of India from the United Kingdom on 15 August 1947.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: Its primary objective is to ensure the defence of the sea lines of communication of Pakistan and safeguarding Pakistan's maritime interests by executing national policies through the exercise of military effect, diplomatic and humanitarian activities in support of these objectives. In addition to its war services, the Navy has mobilized its war assets to conduct humanitarian rescue operations at home as well as participating in multinational task forces mandated by the United Nations to prevent seaborne terrorism and privacy off the coasts.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Pakistan Navy is a volunteer force which has been in conflict with neighbouring India twice on its sea borders, and has been repeatedly deployed in the Indian Ocean to act as a military advisor to Gulf Arab states and other friendly nations during the events of multinational conflict as part of its commitment to the United Nations. The Navy has several components including the Naval Aviation, Marines, and the Maritime Security Agency (a coast guard). Since its commencement on 14 August 1947, the defensive role of the Navy has expanded from securing the sealines and becoming the custodian of Pakistan's second strike capability with an ability to launch underwater missile system to target enemy positions.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Navy is commanded by the Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, who is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. The Chief of Naval Staff is nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the President of Pakistan. The current Chief is Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi who was appointed on 7 October 2020. Admiral Niazi is the 22nd Chief of the Pakistan Navy, taking charge after Zafar Mahmood Abbasi.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Pakistan Navy came into existence on 14 August 1947 with the establishment of Pakistan as an independent state from the United Kingdom. The Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee (AFRC) under British Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck divided the shares and assets of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) between the India and Pakistan in a ratio of 2:1, with Pakistan receiving the two sloops, two frigates, four minesweepers, two naval trawlers and four harbour launches. The Armed Forces Reconstitution Committee (AFRC) allocated about the two-thirds of the assets of the Royal Indian Navy to the India while one third was given to Pakistan despite Pakistan having inherited the high percentage of delta areas on its coast and the large maritime area covering the Arabian sea on West and the Bay of Bengal on East. In addition, India also objected to transfer any machinery at the Bombay Dockyard to Pakistan and further refused to part the machinery that happened to be on its soil.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Navy endured a difficult history— with only 200 officers and 3,000 sailors were inherited to the Navy– the most senior being Captain HMS Choudri who had little experience in the military staffing. Of the ~200 officers, twenty of these had come from the Executive Branch of the Royal Indian Navy, and only six officers were the mechanical engineers while there were none electrical engineers or specialists to care for the electrical systems needed to be look after in the weapons systems or the powering up the machinery in the vessels as whole. The Navy suffered perennial problems with inadequate staff, lack of operational bases, lack of financial support, and poor technological and personnel resources. Secondly, it grew out as the smallest military uniform branch that contributed in its lack of importance in federal budgets as well as the problems relating to its institutional infrastructure.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Army and the Air Force were the dominant forces where the defence planning were based wholly on army and air force point of view. Additional problems relating to the Navy were the lack of facilities and maintenance machinery, as the only naval dockyard on the subcontinent was located in Bombay in India.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: To overcome these difficulties, the Navy had to launch a recruitment program for the young nation, starting in the East-Pakistan which proved to be very difficult to sustain the program; therefore, it was moved back to West-Pakistan to concentrate recruitment on West Pakistan. Furthermore, the Navy's procurement was greatly determined by its war role and it had to struggle for a role for itself throughout its history from its beginning.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Navy's combat actions largely remained in absence during the first war with India in 1947–48 as all the fighting was restricted to land and aerial combat missions. On operational planning, Captain HMS Choudri had engaged on commanding a former RIN destroyer from Karachi to Bombay to oversee the evacuation of Indian emigrants to Pakistan. In 1948, the Royal Pakistan Navy had to engage in humanitarian missions to evacuate Indian immigrants trapped in disputed and hostile areas, with its frigates operating continuously.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: Command and control of the new Navy was extremely difficult as Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan's administration had to extend the employment of large number of the Royal Navy officers from the British Admiralty with Rear admiral James Wilfred Jefford appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) who worked on creating the contingency plan, "Short-term Emergency Plan (STEP)", to work up the frigates and naval defences in case of escalation of the war at sea. In 1948, the Directorate-General for the Naval Intelligence (DGNI), a staff corps, was established under Lieutenant S. M. Ahsan, who served as its first Director-General, in Karachi. When the first war came to an end in 1948, the Navy temporarily established its Navy NHQ in Karachi and acquired its first O-class destroyer from the transfer by the Royal Navy.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Royal Pakistan Navy greatly depended on the generous donations from the British Royal Navy with two s, and . "Tippu Sultan" was commissioned on 30 September 1949, under Commander P.S. Evans, whilst "Tariq" was placed under the command of Lieutenant-Commander A. R. Khan. The two destroyers formed the 25th Destroyer Squadron, as PNS "Jhelum" and PNS "Tughril", under Commander Muzaffar Hasan, also joined the Royal Pakistan Navy.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In 1950, the Navy's nationalisation took place when many officers from the air force and army volunteered to join the navy and NCOs gaining commission as an officers. Support from the army and air force to the navy led to the establishment of logistics and maintenance machinery with vigorous efforts directed towards integrating the navy presence in East Pakistan, thereby creating opportunities for people in East Pakistan to participate in the build-up.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In 1951, the Pakistan government called for appointing native chiefs of the armed forces, but it was not until 1953 that a native navy chief was appointed. The British Admiralty, however, maintained the command of the Navy through Rear-Admiral Jefford who had native deputy chiefs of staff including Commodore HMS Choudhri, Commodore Khalid Jamil, and Commander M.A. Alavi.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: During this time, a number of goodwill missions were carried out by the navy's warships, and non-combat missions were conducted under the auspices of the Royal Navy. In 1951, HMS Choudhri's promotion papers as naval chief were approved by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan but it was not until 1953 when HMS Choudhri was promoted as vice admiral and commander with the support from army commander-in-chief General Ayub Khan. He handed over the command of 25th Destroyer squadron to a Polish naval officer, Commander .


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In the mid-1950s, the Ministry of Finance awarded contracts to the Corps of Engineers (Pakistan Army) for the construction of the Karachi Naval Dockyard. In 1954, several efforts were made to procure a Ch-class submarine from the Royal Navy but was rejected by British Admiralty which agreed to loan the , , which was renamed PNS "Taimur". From 1953 to 1956, HMS Choudri bitterly negotiated with the United States over the modernisation of the navy and convinced the U.S. government to provide monetary support for modernisation of ageing O–class destroyers and minesweepers, while commissioning the Ch–class destroyers from the Royal Navy. British naval tradition was disbanded and cancelled when the United States Navy's advisers were dispatched to the Pakistani military in 1955.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: With the promulgation of the Constitution of Pakistan that established the republicanism featuring the federalised government, the prefix "Royal" was dropped, and the service was re-designated the Pakistan Navy ("PN") with the Jack replaced the Queen's colour and the White Ensign respectively in 1956. The order of precedence of the three services changed from Navy–Army–Air force to Army–Navy–Air Force.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In February 1956, the British government announced the transfer of several major surface combat warships to Pakistan Navy, including a cruiser and four destroyers to be purchased with funds made available under the U.S. Military Assistance Program. In 1957, the Navy finalised the purchase of a cruiser from the United Kingdom and used the government's own funds for the purchase which caused a great ire against Admiral Choudhri in the Finance Ministry.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In 1958, the Navy made an unsuccessful attempt to obtain s from Sweden using the American security funds; it was halted by the United States and Pakistan's Finance Ministry despite the fact that the idea had support from Army GHQ. In 1958–59, the Navy NHQ staff began quarrelling with the Army GHQ staff and the Ministry of Defense (MoD) over plans regarding the modernisation of the navy that resulted in bitter interservice rivalry between army and navy and ended with Admiral Choudri's resignation to the Presidency in 1959.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: Proposal of attaining the aircraft carrier was deferred due to financial constraints, forcing Pakistan to move towards establishing the formidable submarine command. From 1956 to 1963, two destroyers, eight coastal minesweepers, and an oiler were procured from the United States and United Kingdom as a direct result of Pakistan's participation in the anti-Communist defence pacts SEATO and CENTO.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: After the bitter resignation of Vice-Admiral HMS Choudri in 1959, Vice-Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan was appointed as the Commander in Chief in Navy who worked towards building relations with President Ayub Khan in retaining hopes for procuring a submarine despite financial constraints. The Royal Navy accepted the long awaiting requests from the Pakistan Navy for a regular visit to Karachi Naval Dockyard to provide first hand experience in submarine operations in 1960–61. The Ayub administration did not increase the financial funding of the navy at the expense to army and air force but he did not object to American contributions to train the Pakistan Navy in submarine operations. It was the U.S. Navy that provided an insightful and crucial training support to Pakistan Navy enabling it to conduct operations in long range in the Indian Ocean and the proposal of procuring the submarine was met with favourable views in 1963 due to the prospect of the Soviet Navy leasing a submarine to the Indian Navy. After seeing the U.S. contribution, the United Kingdom decided to provide training and education to Pakistan Navy on submarine operations, and in 1964, was commissioned from the United States under the Security Assistance Program (SAP).


title: Pakistan Navy

text: Even though, neither the Navy nor the Air Force was notified of the Kashmir incursion in 1965, the Navy was well-prepared at the time when the second war broke out between Pakistan and India in 1965. The naval chief Admiral Afzal Rahman Khan ordered all war units of the Pakistan Navy to take up defensive positions off the coast, but did not order any offensive operations in the Bay of Bengal. As the Indian Air Force's repeated sorties and raids disrupted PAF operations, the Navy assumed a more aggressive role in the conflict. On 2 September, the Navy deployed its first long-range submarine, PNS "Ghazi" under Commander K. R. Niazi which was charged with gathering intelligence on Indian naval movements that stalked the diverting threats posed by the aircraft carrier .


title: Pakistan Navy

text: On the night of 7/8 September, a naval squadron comprising four destroyers, one frigate, one cruiser, and one submarine, under the command of Commodore S. M. Anwar, launched artillery operation— an attack on the radar facilities used by the Indian Air Force in the small coastal town of Dwarka. The operation ended with limited damage to the area. After gunnery bombardment, was deployed against the Indian Navy's Western Naval Command at Bombay on 22 September and ended her operations and reported safely back to Karachi Naval Dockyard on 23 September 1965.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Pakistan Navy explored the idea of installing Russian missile system on former British frigates but Soviets refrained from doing so due to objections from India.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: After the war, the United States imposed an arms embargo on Pakistan and Pakistani military began exploring options for military procurement from China, France, and Soviet Union. The United Kingdom offered the Navy to jointly built the Type 21 frigate but was rejected by Ayub administration that would only allow the financial capital to be spent on submarine procurement.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In 1966, the Pakistan Navy established its own special operations force, the Navy Special Service Group (Navy SSG) after the recommendations from the United States Navy. In 1966–70, Pakistan Navy had been well aware of massive procurement and acquisitions of weapon systems being acquired from the Soviet Union and United Kingdom, and the danger it will posed to Pakistan. In 1966–69, there were series of unsuccessful talks of acquiring the warships from the Soviet Navy which ended with no yielding results. The Soviet Union offered to sell their but Pakistan Navy wanted the Styx missiles to be installed in frigates in a believe that the missile boats were not big enough to meet the Pakistani requirements in operating in the Indian Ocean. The Russians later determined to their strategic interests lay with India and allowed the developing relationship with Pakistan to wither.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: Difficulties arose between and after the arms embargo was lifted by the United States which lifted based strictly on cash-and-carry basis. Pleas for strengthening the Navy in East Pakistan were ignored due to monetary issues and financial constraints restricted the Navy's capabilities to function more efficiently. In 1968, the s were procured from France while operating s that was refitted and upgraded by the Turkish Navy. Due to the Egyptian blockade of the Suez Canal, the Navy had to execute a notable submerged circumnavigation operation from the Indian Ocean through the Atlantic Ocean in order to undergo a refit program at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard in Turkey which was the only facility to manage the refitting and mid-life upgrades of military computers of the "Tench" class. Despite reservations harbouring by the Navy NHQ about the ageing "Ghazi", she was sailed under the command of Commander Ahmed Tasnim starting from the Karachi coast in Indian Ocean to Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, through the Atlantic Ocean and ended at the east coast of the Sea of Marmara where the Gölcük Naval Shipyard was located.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In 1968–69, the Navy NHQ staff began its tussle with the Air AHQ staff over the issue establishing the naval aviation who feared the loss of fighter jets and their pilots in the sea and was hostile towards this idea. The United States entered in discussing the transfer of P3B Orion aircraft to the Navy in 1970 with Yahya administration but were not procured until the end of the 1970s. In 1970, the foreign relations between Pakistan and East Pakistan further deteriorated and the Navy knew that it was impossible to defend East Pakistan from approaching Indian Navy. Series of reforms were carried when Navy's serious reservations were considered by the Yahya administration and East Pakistanis were hastily recruited in what was known as Eastern Naval Command (Pakistan) but this proved to be disaster for Navy when majority of Bengali naval officers and ~3,000 sailors defected to India to join the Awami League's military wing– the "Mukti Bahini". Such events had jeopardised the operational scope of the Navy and the Navy NHQ staffers and commanders knew very well that it (Navy) was ill-prepared for the war and Pakistan was about to learn the consequences of disconnecting strategy from reality.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: By 1971, the Navy NHQ staffers and their commanders knew very well that the Pakistan Navy was poorly represented in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and there was no main infrastructure to conduct defensive operation against the Eastern Naval Command of Indian Navy in Bay of Bengal. The Navy was only able conducted the riverine-based operations that was being undertaken by the Pakistan Marines with the assistance from the Navy Special Service Group, code named, Barisal, in April 1971. Although, the Governor of East Pakistan, Vice-Admiral S.M. Ahsan, made efforts to increase the naval presence and significance in 1969 but the Indian Navy's Eastern Naval Command continued to pose a significant threat since it had capability of conduct operations in long-range areas.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: Furthermore, the defections from Navy's Bengali officers and sailors had jeopardise the Navy's operational scope who went onto join the Awami League's militant wing, the "Mukti Bahini" in a program known as "Jackpot". Though, the program was disrupted by the Navy from further annihilation but the naval facilities were severely damaged due to this operation on 15 March 1971. East-Pakistan's geography was surrounded by India on all three landward sides by the Indian Army as the Navy was in attempt to prevent India from blocking the coasts.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: During this time, the Navy NHQ was housed in Karachi that decided to deploy the newly MLU "Ghazi" submarine on East while in West for the intelligence gathering purposes.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: With no naval aviation branch to guard the Karachi port, the Indian Navy breached the seaborne borders of Pakistan and successfully launched the first missile attack, consisting of three Soviet-built s escorted by two anti-submarine patrol vessels on 4 December 1971. Nearing Karachi's port area, the Indian Navy's squadron launched Styx missiles anti-ship missiles, which the obsolescent Pakistani warships had no viable defence against. Two of the warships, and , were sunk, while was damaged beyond repair. After the attacks, the Indian Navy's missile boat squadron safely returned to its home base without sustaining any damages.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: On 8 December 1971, commanded by its Commander Ahmed Tasnim, sank the Indian frigate off the coast of Gujarat, India— this was the first sinking of a warship by a submarine since World War II, and resulted in the loss of eighteen officers and one-seventy six sailors of the Indian Navy while the inflicting severe damages to another warship, INS "Kirpan", by the same submarine. The Pakistan Air Force now covering for Karachi made several of the unsuccessful attempts to engage the Indian Navy's missile boat squadron by carrying out the aerial bombing missions over the Okha Harbor– the forward base of the Indian Navy's missile boat squadron. The Indian Navy retaliated with a second missile attack on Pakistan's coast on the night of 8 December 1971 when a small flotilla of Indian vessels, consisting of a missile boat and two frigates, approached Karachi and launched a missile attack that sank the Panamanian cargo ship "Gulf Star", PNS "Dacca" and the British merchant ship SS "Harmattan" were damaged.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The missile-based attacks were the complete success for the Indian Navy, and a psychological trauma for Pakistan Navy, the human and material cost severely cutting into its combat capability, nearly 1,700 sailors perished at the barracks.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The commercial pilots from the Pakistan International Airlines volunteered to conduct air surveillance missions with the Pakistan Air Force, but this proved less than helpful when the Pakistan Navy's forward observer team, led by Cdre. A. W. Bhombal misidentified their own larger frigate, , as an Indian missile boat, giving clearance to the F-86 fighter jets of the Pakistan Air Force which made several attack runs before finally identifying "Zulfiqar" by the Navy NHQ. This serious friendly fire incident resulted in further loss of navy personnel, as well as the loss of the ship, which was severely damaged and the Pakistan Navy's operational capabilities were now virtually extinct, and morale plummeted. The Indian Navy observers who watched the raid nearby later wrote in their war logs that the "PAF pilots failed to recognize the difference between a large PNS "Zulfiqar" frigate and a relatively small Osa missile boat." The PAF, however, contested this claim by holding Cdre. Bhombal of the responsibility of misidentifying his own warship and giving clearance to the PAF to mount an attack on their own ship.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The Navy's only long range submarine, "Ghazi", was deployed to the area but, according to neutral sources, it sank en route under mysterious circumstances. Pakistani authorities state that it sank either due to internal explosion or detonation of mines which it was laying at the time. The Indian Navy claims to have sunk the submarine.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The submarine's destruction enabled the Indian Navy to enforce a blockade on then East Pakistan. According to the defence magazine, "Pakistan Defence Journal", the attack on Karachi, Dhaka, Chittagong and the loss of "Ghazi", the Navy no longer was able to match the threat of Indian Navy as it was already outclassed by the Indian Navy after the 1965 war.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: The damage inflicted by the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force on the Navy stood at seven gunboats, one minesweeper, two destroyers, three patrol craft, eighteen cargo, supply and communication vessels, and large-scale damage inflicted on the naval base and docks in the coastal town of Karachi. Three merchant navy ships; Anwar Baksh, Pasni and Madhumathi; and ten smaller vessels were captured. Around 1,900 personnel were lost, while 1413 servicemen (mostly officers) were captured by Indian forces in Dhaka. The Indian Navy lost 18 officers and 176 sailors and a frigate, while another frigate was damaged and a Breguet Alizé naval aircraft was shot down by the Pakistan Air Force.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: According to one Pakistan scholar, Tariq Ali, the Pakistan Navy lost half its force in the war. Despite the limited resources and manpower, the Navy performed its task diligently by providing support to inter-services (air force and army) until the end.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: According to the testimony provided by the Admiral Mohammad Shariff in 2015, the primary reason for this loss has been attributed to the High Command's failure in defining a role for the Navy, or even considering Navy as military in general. Since then the Navy has sought to improve the structure and fleet by putting special emphasis on sub-surface warfare capability as it allows for the most efficient way to deny the control of Pakistani sea lanes to an adversary. In a thesis written by Dr. P. I. Cheema in 2002, Ayub Khan, who had enjoyed considerable influence on Pakistan's national politicians, did not fully understood the Navy as a military service or neither comprehend the importance of safeguarding the sea lines of communication, which prevented the development of the Navy as a potent force as it should have in the 1970s.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: After 1971 war, steps were taken to modernise and increase the operational scope of the Navy. Unlike the army or the air force, the naval officers were able to continue their military service with the Navy, and their promotions were relatively quicker than other military branches in 1972–74.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In January 1972, the Bhutto administration formed the POW Commission to investigate the number of war prisoners held by the Indian Army in East and submitted the request to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to investigate the causes of the war failure with India in 1971. After concluding a quick visit in the United States in 1972, President Bhutto used his administrative powers to dishonorably discharge the commission of five senior admirals in the Navy, appointing the junior most H. H. Ahmed as the first Chief of Naval Staff of the Navy. In 1973, the Navy NHQ was permanently moved to Islamabad to provide synergy with the Army GHQ in Rawalpindi.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In 1974, the Naval Aviation branch was established with the transfer of the Westland Sea King helicopters from the United Kingdom in 1975, followed by test firing the surface-to-ship Exocet missile as a befitting response to the Indian Navy in 1979. With the ability to fire the land-based Exocet missile from a reconnaissance aircraft, the Navy became the first of its kind in the South Asia to acquire land-based ballistics missile capable long range reconnaissance aircraft.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: In 1976, the Navy moved towards successfully acquiring the military computers from the British firm, the Ferranti, to increase its defences for its coastlines. The War Enquiry Commission noted the lack of strategic communication and the grand strategy between the four-branches of the military during the conflict and wars with India, recommending the establishment of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee to maintain strategic military communication between the inter-services and the federal government, that is to be chaired by the appointed Chairman joint chiefs as the government's principal military adviser. In 1976, Navy saw its first four-star rank admiral when Mohammad Shariff was promoted to this rank, and later becoming the first admiral to be appointed as the Chairman of Joint Chiefs Committee in 1977. In 1977, the United States reportedly transferred the two refitted to the Pakistan Navy, which were much superior to the British frigates, followed by obtaining more destroyers from the U.S. Navy in 1982–83.


title: Pakistan Navy

text: During this time, the Navy to diversify its procurement with defence deals made with China, France, and the United Kingdom but the dependence grew on China when the Navy acquired the anti-submarine warships that gave the Navy credible sea-denial capability. In 1979, the France offered to sell their "Agosta-70A"-class submarine and was immediately acquired which were commissioned as and . Induction of the "Agosta-70A" class gave Pakistan Navy a depth advantage over the Indian Navy, and gave the Navy an ability to conduct operations in deeper Indian Ocean at wider range.