Scindia Steam Navigation Co

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q.1. Prove that Walchand Hirachand was a business acumen?(Imp)

1. Walchand was noted for his ambition and vision.
2. Among his adversaries, the more charitable termed him a
dreamer while
the less charitable dismissed him as a person who wanted to run
even
before learning to walk.
3. Despite not hailing from an established business house, the
projects
undertaken by Walchand were grand in design, to say the least.
4. However, he supported the Indian Independence Movement and
most of
his projects were inaugurated (including launching of new ships)
by famous
freedom fighters. He was able to maintain a fine line between
these
opposite forces. Business Acumen
5. While Walchand pioneered a role for India in several industries,
his
dependence on excessive leverage and nationalisation seem to
have
taken the sheen off his contributions.
6. Among the other companies he pioneered were the
Walchandnagar
Industries Limited, located at Walchandnagar, an industrial
township near
Pune and Ravalgaon Sugar.
7. Absence of direct male heirs may also have had a role in the
nature of the
businesses left behind by him
8. For Walchand, industry was probably not just a place to make
money but
also to have adventure. For example, a visit to Hollywood
inspired him to
construct a huge studio in India and he was in talks with the
famous
Bollywood producer-director V. Shantaram without a tangible
result.
9. However, for years to come, he would probably be remembered
as the
man who dared to dream.
 10. In 1949, he suffered from a stroke and retired from business in
1950. He
died in 1953 at Siddhapur. However, his legacy remains
important.

Q.3 What is the importance of Nationa Maritime Day?

1. After India became independent, the first Indian ship SS Loyalty
made its
maiden international voyage on 5 April 1919.
2. This day has been declared the National Maritime day to honour
that
voyage .
3. S.S.Loyalty sailed from Mumbai to London.Walchand Hirachand
was
personally present on the ship.
4. This company was called as “The Scindia Steamship Navigation
Co. Ltd.
(Mumbai/Bombay)”,and it had a blue flag with a red swastika
placed on a
white disc in the middle of the flag.

Q.4 How far Scindia Steam Navigation Co supported after

Independence
1. Following Indian independence in 1947, Scindia,was
supported by the
Government,.
2. The Company entered the passenger and cargo trades to USA
and UK,
and later traded to Australia and Singapore.
3. The government continued to support the company with loans
for
expansion plans,
4. In 1958 the National Shipping Board was formed, marking
the
progress made by the Indian shipping industry.
5. In the 1960s scindia carried cargo services went to Germany,
the Pacific
coasts, Poland and Canada, with increasingly large ships.
6. Following the global slump in the 1980s Scindia ceased trading.

Q.3 Brief on the Origin of National Maritime Day celebrated?

1. The National Welfare Board for Seafarers is a Statutory body
constituted
 under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1958,
2. The Chairman is the Union Minister of Transport
3. The Chairman recommended at the Third Meeting held at
Madras on
11th January, 1964:
4. 5th April every year was celebrated as the National Maritime
Day.

Q.4 Why is National Maritime Day celebrated?

1. The National Maritime Day is celebrated to make the public
know
intimately the activities of Indian Shipping industry
2. It is also celebrated to understand the important role it plays in
the
economy of the country.
3. The celebrations brings awareness the need for shipping
industry and
the requirement of seafarers .
4. Shipping is also called as 'Silent Service' ,because there is less
awareness of this career as most of the shipping activity takes
place
away from the land and at the ports .
5. To make the people understand for the yeoman service rendered
by the
Indian Shipping ,in the promotion of the economic well being of
the country

Q.5 What is the benefit of National Maritime Day?

1. With this event, it brings the people closer to the shipping
industry by
making people to participate in the celebrations
2. To know the rapid strides made by the Indian Shipping and
experience its
pride since independence.
3. National Maritime Day celebrations are held at all major ports viz.
Mumbai,
Kolkata, Chennai, Goa, Visakhapatnam and Cochin and certain
other ports
like Kandla, Jamnagar, Paradip, Mangalore, Tuticorin, Karwar, etc.

Q.4 Describe Scindia Shipping Company’s development in the Post

War &
Post Independence period?or the Legacy or Saga of Scindia
Steam Navigation Co.?
1. The Government of India has launched a number of stamps
 commemorating the Scindia Steam Navigation Company.(1969)
or its
ships.
2. The Scindia chronicle by Scindia Steam Navigation Company
Foundation
stone laying ceremony of the Scindia Co's shipyard at Gandhi
gram,
Vizagapatam
3. By Scindia Steam Navigation Company. (Printed at Zenith Print.
Works,
1941)

Q.5 What is done during the Merchant Navy Day every year?
1. It includes laying of wreath at Seamen's Memorials and pay
tributes
homage to seamen who laid down their lives while on high seas
in 1st and
2nd world wars.
2. On Merchant Navy Flag Day at New Delhi 1st Merchant Navy Flag
is
pinned on the wearing apparel of the Prime Minister of India by
the
Minister for Shipping.
3. This practice has been prevalent from 2002 onwards.
4. At the State level on Merchant Navy Flag Day the first Miniature
Merchant
Navy Flag is pinned on the wearing apparel of the Governor of
Maharashtra by the Director General of Shipping in Mumbai.

Q.6 What is the importance of Merchant Navy Day?

1. In honor of the sacrifices made during the two World Wars, Merchant
Navy Day became an official day of remembrance from 3 September
2000.
2. The Merchant Navy lays wreaths of remembrance alongside the
armed forces during the annual Remembrance Day service on 11
November.

Q.7 Give a brief account of the emergence of Scindia Steam

Navigation Company Pvt. Ltd.
1. In 1919, after the end of the First World War, Scindia's founders,
Narottam Morarjee and Walchand Hirachand, with several of
his friends, bought the steam ship SS Loyalty from the Scindias of
Gwalior, a royal family.

2. They formed the new company to take on the entrenched/deep

rooted British interests and create India's own mercantile /
commercial fleet.

3.. His underlying assumption was that the post-war years would also
spell massive growth for the shipping industry just as the war years
had done.

4. However, British companies such as P&O and BI (British India

shipping) were strong in the shipping industry and this combined with
political inertia had caused most of the previous attempts of competing
Indian companies to fail.

5. Walchand named his company The Scindia Steam Navigation

Company Ltd.

5. The first Scindia ship, 'Loyalty', sailed from India to England

via France on 5 April 1919, marking the emergence of a new
Indian shipping industry This occasion was commemorated with the
establishment of a National Maritime Day of India, celebrated for the
first time on 5th April, 1964, and annually thereafter.

6. The company was recognised as the first Swadeshi shipping

company in the true sense of the term and was referred to widely in
Mahatma Gandhi’s columns in Young India and Harijan on the Swadeshi
movement, the boycott of foreign goods and the non co-operation
movement

7. In 1929, Walchand became the Chairman of Scindia Steam and

continued in the same position till 1950 when he resigned on grounds
of ill health. By 1953, the company had secured 21% of Indian coastal
traffic.

8. The reservation of Coastal Shipping for Indian Nationals, though

pressed for since 1928, only came to pass in 1951 when Scindia
became part of the Indian Coastal Conference.

9. The new company started with passenger services but quickly

concentrated on cargo to avoid competition with P&O.
10. The company barely managed to survive after entering into
agreements on routes and fare wars with its foreign competitors.

11. However, Walchand still supported new indigenous shipping

ventures, as he believed that a strong domestic shipping industry was
vital.

12. He also believed that there was a strong need for a shipyard in
India and started work on one in 1940 at Visakhapatnam, named
Scindia Shipyard later renamed the Hindustan Shipyard Limited. Its
first ship, the 8000-ton Jalusha was launched soon after independence
by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1948.

13.. There was a harsh competition with the larger British shipping
concerns like P & O & B.I.

14.. Passenger services were started with subsidiary companies, for

the Burma trade and the Haj trade to Saudi Arabia.

15. The main problem was that the war left a legacy of ships in poor
condition, and a much smaller fleet.

.16. In 1923 the company signed a ten-year agreement with Lord

Inchcape of P&O and British India, which restricted Scindia to coastal
trade only, but still allowed the company to expand steadily

17.. . To able to survive against competition in the shipping market

from British and other foreign businesses, Walchand had developed
supporting businesses such as insurance.
18. Following Indian independence in 1947, Scindia, supported by the
Government, entered the USA and UK passenger and cargo
trades, and later traded to Australia and Singapore.

19. Business was rationalized with many small subsidiaries being

wound up.

20. The government continued to support the company with loans for
expansion plans,

21. In 1958 the National Shipping Board was formed, marking the
progress made by the Indian shipping industry.

22. In the 1960s cargo services went to Germany, the Pacific coasts,
Poland and Canada, with increasingly large ships.

23. Following the global slump in the 1980s Scindia ceased trading.

Q.8 . What are the steps taken by Walchand Hirachand to retain the
Scindia Steam Navigation Company?

1. In 1923 the company signed a ten-year agreement with Lord

Inchcape of P&O and British India, which restricted Scindia to coastal
trade only, but still allowed the company to expand steadily

2. The new company started with passenger services but quickly

concentrated on cargo to avoid competition with P&O. The company
barely managed to survive after entering into agreements on routes
and fare wars with its foreign competitors. However, Walchand still
supported new indigenous shipping ventures, as he believed that a
strong domestic shipping industry was vital.

3. To able to survive against competition in the shipping market from

British and other foreign businesses, Walchand had developed
supporting businesses such as insurance.

4. He also believed that there was a strong need for a shipyard in India
and started work on one in 1940 at Visakhapatnam, named Scindia
Shipyard later renamed the Hindustan Shipyard Limited. Its first ship,
the 8000-ton Jalusha was launched soon after independence by
Jawaharlal Nehru in 1948.

5. The intervening years had been beset by harsh competition with the
larger British shipping concerns. Passenger services were started with
subsidiary companies, for the Burma trade and the Haj trade to Saudi
Arabia. The war left a legacy of ships in poor condition, and a much
smaller fleet.

Flag

House flag of the Scindia Steam Navigation Co LtdThe company's house flag was a
rectangular blue flag with a white disc in the centre bearing a red swastika, an ancient
Hindu emblem of luck.