In what is being described as the largest industrial bankruptcy in American history, and the third largest overall, General Motors (GM) filed for bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York today. A move that will clear the way for a sweeping reshaping of the famous company. (See here…)
The Times of London reports: “The move, which has been expected for weeks, will see the US Government take a 60 per cent stake in GM, officials of the Obama Administration revealed yesterday.”
The NYT provides a useful Q&A about GM…pl click here…
GM was founded in Flint, Michigan, in 1908 by William C. Durant, who brought a clutch of car companies – Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Pontiac – together under one roof and developed a strategy of “a car for every purse and purpose” . It steadily added more marques, including Chevrolet.Read here GM’s fascinating history.. And here…
With the iconic auto maker “all set to steer itself into bankruptcy, each share of the company is just than a penny in value. At the closing of the market on May 29, the scrip of General Motors was available for as low as 750 cents and the market capitalisation stood at $457.2 million.” More here…
Meanwhile despite GM’s well-flagged bankruptcy filing on Monday, GM’s Asia-Pacific sales in May grew 44 percent to an all-time record, GM said. More here…
GM India has announced that it continues all its normal operations and is not included in the court reinvention process of GM’s US operations. See here…
In Australia the Federal Government, the local car industry and the unions say they are confident that local operations of US car maker, General Motors, won’t be affected if the parent company files for bankruptcy. There has been speculation here that General Motors Holden could be sold off, but that’s been dismissed by Industry Minister, Kim Carr. More here…
The BBC provides interesting pictorial history of GM. See here…
(Photo above courtesy AP: This 1908 Cadillac was produced the year GM was formed.)
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.