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Updated 14/01/2015 -Disclaimer: I'm sharing this information, on the basis of experience, my father had in his 32 years of illustrative career with the IAF as a pilot and friends who are military aviators today. I'm not a pilot.Daily Life:1. Fighter Pilot: A typical day starts from zooming to the Squadron (airbase) early morning and attending the morning briefing (mission plans). Post briefings - A fighter pilot has to prepare for the flying, wear G-Suite, Oxygen Masks etc. In hot Indian summers, these suites make life miserable.Unlike cars, air conditioning takes time once inside the cockpit. Once airborne, pilots fly on instruments mostly. So, no window views here visibility is dependent on the aircraft role and canopy designs. The aircraft is taken through given mission objectives, most which involves routine flying in sectors. An average fighter aircraft can fly about an hour without in flight refuelling. Flying involves Skills, Physics and Mathematics. It's a tough office to be in.For Transports most of it remains similar, however, there is one huge difference - the flying time which you can go beyond 10 hours of non-stop flying. Unlike commercial airlines, military aircraft have minimal luxuries. In bigger aircrafts like IL-76s there are facilities for sleeping and warming food as well. Flying planning also differs according to mission objectives. In most case, aircrafts run on APUs for long time even before the final startup, so a lot more man hours goes in even before take off. Work space is more and so are the crew members. There are mostly 2 pilots, 1 Navigator and 1 Engineer in a flight.2. In the second half of the day -Young Pilots return to Officer's Mess for their lunch, before returning back to their Squadrons. Evenings generally follow up with a game of Squash followed by parties on Weekends. Yes we have lot of parties; get-to-gathers and all officers of the Squadron are expected to attend with their families.Being a Pilot:3. To become a Pilot it's tough but to remain one is tougher. A Pilot has to go every six monthly medical examination. Even an injured toenail can make you "Grounded" and hence Medical Services are part of military establishment. Unlike what’s assumed, after passing out from the Air Force Academy, only the best gets to the Mig-21s.4. Pilots are rated categorically. The ace pilot gets “A” Master Green. A skill assessment is done annually to award the category.5. Cockpits are cramped place to be and controls are hard to operate. Unlike a Joystick in PC the actual control stick takes sheer strength to move. Barring aircrafts like Su-30MKI, visibility is minimal due to the design of fighters. Remember military aircrafts are not meant for crew comfort and hence everything “luxury” is kept at minimal. In one’s career a Pilot will fly many different aircrafts and undertake a variety of missions in both day and night. Eventually the career progressives, he / she will be the Flight Commander, then the Commanding Officer in any of the Squadrons of IAF.6. In all probability, pilots and their families generally stay very close to the air base, inside a campus known as the Air Force Station. This campus remain self sufficient, and houses living accommodation (for airmen, officers and non-combatants), Messes (for bachelor accommodation, food and official parties), Institutes (for parties :)), Medical Centres, Schools, Shopping Complexes etc. In many cases both Husband and Wife are pilots.7. Wives of Air Force Officers forms the AFWWA - Air Force Wives Welfare Association. Wives of the officers are expected to be voluntarily member of this association whuch undertakes various welfare projects. In short its an CSR wing of the Air Force.Pay and Perks:8. You get a basic salary with many allowances including Flying Pay. An average pilot starting his life in the Air Force earns more than half a lakh every month as a Fg Offr as of 2014.9. Free Medical for Self, Family and dependents. CSD Facilities, very cheap rent for the accommodation provided. (Like 1000 Rs/month). Free ration and cheap alcohol :)10. World Class facilities for sports and adventure sports (for the whole family). From Olympic class swimming pools to para gliding.11. Post a service period of 20 years - life long pension.12. Air Force gives you the opportunity to be yourself. You will be find yourself, DJing for the squadron parties or planning treks - your interests besides your primary duties!The Risk Factor:13. Flying is inherently risky. But it's not that Pilots keep on dying every day, as the posts below me tend to suggest. In fact life is satisfying and makes you feel accomplished.14. Aircraft are machines and they fail. However, in peace time IAF does a lot of flying and hence few incidents / accidents are inevitable. As opposed to what people perceive, IAF has now the lowest attrition rate in years. Our majority of fleet comprises of Soviet aircrafts, which are robust but high on maintenance. They have become old and are over-due for replacements.15. I have also seen many fatal crashes in my life. It’s part and parcel of being in the fauj! But I would rather choose to die fighting for my country then in a road accident – which are way common.16. My Father bailed out (manually exiting from aircraft) from a Harvard T-6 and ejected from an Hawker Hunter aircraft, without a scratch. Flew a variety of aircrafts and after an illustrious career spanning 32 years with the IAF he still flies for commercial operators. He still maintains a strict regime of his daily walks which runs into Kms!

“What companies can provide insurance for my fresh vegetables sea containers being sent from Guatemala to the port of Rotterdam in Holland?”My first thought after reading your question was Lloyd’s of London., and I was right, they do insure cargo. https://www.lloyds.com/tools-and-systems/risk-locator/class-of-business-guidance/marine#Marine%20cargoAnd this is a list I found at List of International Shipping Insurance Companies. They even list a company that is based in the Netherlands which I highlighted in bold to make it easier to find.Shipsurance USA - Shipping insurance company offering coverage for shipments sent via the major shipping carriers worldwide. Shippers of all sizes can save up to 90% on shipping insurance and parcel insurance. Instant, one-time trip transit certificates can be purchased securely online.Parcel Insurance Plan PIP USA - PIP is a provider of third party shipping insurance. PIP insures packages via USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL and more.U-PIC USA - Has been offering 3rd party shipping insurance worldwide for 20 years. Ship with the carrier and insure with U-PIC at a fraction of the cost. Whether you ship thousands of packages a day or want to insure a single package, U-PIC has a program to meet your needs.ACE Commercial Marine USA - Worldwide Marine Cargo Insurance. An industry leader in providing innovative cargo insurance solutions for international and domestic trade. The worldwide marine cargo insurance policy protects against loss from the time cargo leaves the point of origin until it reaches a final destination around the globe.Cargo Insurance Center USA - Your Complete Source for Cargo Insurance! Whether you're an individual looking to insure a single shipment/move or a commercial shipper, freight forwarder or logistics provider needing to cover multiple shipments, Cargo Insurance Center can provide you with the proper cargo insurance.The Travelers Indemnity Company USA - Ocean cargo insurance solutions for importers, exporters, manufacturers, commodities traders and freight forwarders.Chubb USA, Canada, UK, Netherlands, Australia, China - Leader in the ocean cargo insurance arena. Chubb provides ocean cargo insurance even in diffficult or unique situations. We have insured such diverse cargoes as widgets (a scraper for removing paint from windows), zoo animals and more.Alpha Commerce International Canada - Offers insurance coverage in Canada for your import/export shipments. Your insurance claim is prepared and filed by the company, sparing you from the complexities and headaches of dealing with various carriers and underwriters. And it is paid to you in Canada, not in another country.AIG Canada - AIG cargo insurance programs are designed to provide comprehensive coverage for goods in transit for manufacturers, importers and exporters, commodity traders, logistics companies and more. We can also provide numerous extensions to coverage such as pure domestic transit movements, warehouse, storage, exhibition, and processing or consolidation risks.CargoCover® USA - CargoCover® has been the leading provider of Cargo Insurance and Freight Insurance to thousands of freight forwarders and shippers worldwide. Whether the need is for Freight Insurance or Moving Insurance, CargoCover® provides a simple and effective means to generate insurance rate quotes, book freight insurance, deliver electronic cargo insurance certificates and handle insurance claims. CargoCover® is brokered by Marsh, the world's leading risk and insurance services firm.Coast Underwriters Canada - Provider of marine insurance products and claims service in Canada. Solid expertise in ocean, air and inland cargo insurance.RaetsMarine Nederlands - A specialist P&I and Marine Liabilities insurance provider with a strong focus on client relation, risk management and claims services. We have a global client base with head office in Rotterdam and subsidiaries in Paris, London and Singapore.Catlin UK - Provides Marine Cargo insurance for a broad range of risks including large complex cargo risks through to smaller companies and we can cover single shipments or offer annual policies.Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty UK - A leading specialist in cargo and logistics insurance with a dedicated team focusing on servicing the needs of clients and brokers in the UK.Zurich Insurance plc Ireland - Marine Cargo insurance covers the movement of goods or commodities traded internationally and/or domestically.Bellwood Prestbury UK - Bellwood Prestbury can help you to arrange international cargo insurance to protect your valuable cargo literally anywhere in the world, including Afghanistan, Iraq and other high-risk areas.

A lot is happening in Dubai… I’m fascinated by this city and could never understand it, despite coming here for over 15 years.RentalsLet us start with the most obvious: Rents.Rents are falling… so that is a sign of a retreating economy, one that is shrinking. I’ve spoken to various property dealers who are licensed and are operating in UAE for more than a decade, barring the 2008 financial crisis this is the first time they have seen so many properties on the market, and a decline in apartment rental. A lot of people are not renewing their lease, instead, shopping around for more economical options, of which there are plenty.Residential rents have fallen significantly. It depends whom you talk to. Some say as much as 30% others cite numbers as high as 60% for certain locales.Supply clearly outperforms demand nearly 50% more.Commercial rentals have also fallen, but because most of them are tied to specific commercial loans, the impact in price downfall for many properties has not been too much, but suffice to say, plenty of offices to rent, and no tenants. A classic example is to walk around the builds near the Dusit Thani intersection/junction.Commercial and residential real-estate prices are in some cases 1/4th of what they used to be in the hey days.Dubai was recently voted as one of the most expensive places to live in (despite the falling rents). Cost of living is just too high and not enough to sustain. A lot many families and migrant workers move to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, only to discover that they sustain their lifestyles after a couple fo years and opt to return back. As always, someone is always waiting to take their place, a formula that has worked extremely well for UAE - selling the utopian dream).Commercial Credit:This is the disturbing one. Commercial credit is shrinking fast. Established credit lines are being closed, or shrunk. I’ve personally spoken to bankers in UAE who are responsible for credit, risk, etc. and they cite they have never seen this before. Client with exceptional credit worthiness, zero default rate, timely payments, are now negotiating with the bank to close down lines, recover as much as they can to the dollar amount loaned off.It is that serious.Many buildings have taken a slow down approach. Two of the largest construction companies have added buffer days to existing payments and also introduced buffer days to project completion.From a commercial point of view, this is highly disturbing.If one goes into the malls, etc. the hoards of people are ever present, but when I asked the taxi drivers or the general mall staff, they tell another story. Less and less shoppers, more and more people just wanting to get out of the house, come and eat here, spend a few hours and go home.Taxi queues with shopping carts has significantly fallen (another small measure indicator of whats happening).Checks bouncing are still at an all time high. Stimulus packages from Abu Dhabi are hoping to jump start the economy and give it the much needed boost: Abu Dhabi Plans $13.6 Billion Stimulus Program for EconomyElsewhere, rabbits foot and prayer beads are hard at work to make the UAE economy bounce-back. The UAE economy is set for rebound from this year.Bonuced cheques are up, up and up!!! UAE Records Bounced Cheques Worth $7.1 Billion In Early 2018Emirates AirlinesA lot of people have been laid off in Emirates. The flagship airline of the UAE. A lot many planes are now parked (pilot shortage? seasonal adjustment? who knows): Emirates Could Store 45 Planes In Coming Weeks Due To Pilot Shortage - One Mile at a TimePeople (read: friends) who work at Emirates say every day is tense. You never know when you will be given the pink slip.The Political Feud and Its ConsequencesWith the one-year old political feud with Qatar, a lot has happened on the political front.Qataris have left en masse. That means they have slowly taken their money and their wealth away. The quarrel (to put it mildly) with UAE is not going to end soon.Iran - which is seen as a regional threat by the Emiratis and Saudis, have slowly started pulling their money out. By some estimates, 40% of Iranian trade was with UAE, how that will shape later on - we will see.Saudi Arabia, whilst bosom buddies with UAE, are pursuing their own liberal path. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (affectionately known as MBS) recent measures of liberating Saudi Arabia from its conservative clutches and also launching a new city project called Neom, is going to divert funds from UAE to Saudi Arabia.A lot of Saudis invested their money in UAE, and have earned a handsome payback on it. Now the returns are not to attractive. Neom can change all that. With approximately US$ 500 Billion needed to fund the city over the next 20 years, you will see a healthy repatriation of Saudi owned funds from UAE back into the Saudi economy.Saudi Arabia Just Announced Plans to Build a Mega City That Will Cost $500 BillionAlong with this, expect Emiratis to follow suit. A lot of Emirati money will also have an outflow effect.This is serious amount of money. Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, etc. are all planning to invest in the new city. If MBS survives the Kingdom hold for a couple of many years, Dubai and Abu Dhabi could see a commercial money crunch.As Iran and Turkey came to Qatar’s aid, a lot of Iranian investment is slowly being pulled out and head to Qatar and Turkey. Even Turkish citizens are investing in Qatar and not UAE.China’s One-Belt-One-Road initiative has made a lot of countries optimistic about their homeland. How it will eventually unfold, remains to be seen, but take Pakistan for example, where the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) initiative has got a lot of people excited about investment opportunity in Pakistan. Not to mention, there is a tax amnesty scheme offered by the federal government on bringing back money (undeclared money) and pay between 2% to 5% tax on it and obtain legal status of the money, i.e. whiten the money. This will lead to a small but noticeable reversal of money from UAE back into Pakistan.Airline SectorWith the air blockade that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait have on Qatar, Qatar Airways has to take longer routes to serve its markets and not to mention, they lost out on all local GCC flights.The counterpunch if you will? Qatar has decided to offer amazingly low prices on its flights, now essentially stealing customers away from Emirates.So much so, that in the recent months, Doha Airport and Qatar Airways have taken the spotlight and Emirates and Dubai Airport are nowhere to be seen.If you look at Etihad Airways, the airlines for Abu Dhabi, that is in dire condition, it just posted a US$ 1.5 Billion loss (Read: Will Etihad Airlines Financial Problems Help Kill The Airbus A380?). Service levels are deplorable, loss making sectors, so clearly, that’s not working well either. Due to the alleged pilot shortage at Emirates airlines, pilots from Etihad are being loaned to Emirates. Truth of the matter is, Etihad is game over, however, pride might prevent that from happening. Etihad Announces Details Of Their Radical Restructuring - One Mile at a Time.So, air travel is down, Saudi money is on its way out. So is Iranian, Qatari and Turkish money, commercial credit is shrinking, rentals are down, jobs are scarce, what is working for UAE?Expo2020?Whilst that may be the logical answer, I highly doubt it. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who is also the Vice President, Prime Minister of UAE as well as Ruler of Dubai, would not bet the future of the City (country?) on a single expo.He is super smart and plays his cards extremely well.Honestly, when was the last time, you really wanted to hop on a plane and attend an Expo? Me neither. I can’t recall.The Playbook that No One Knows About.The Rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi have some aces up their sleeves, but it is anyone’s guess as to what it is. Whatever it is, it is what will propel their respective economies forward in this day and age of lowering oil prices and regional downturn.DownsizingDownsizing is a word that just doesn’t gel well in the middle-east. It is somehow associated with pride and let’s just face it - downsizing or speaking of downsizing, hurts pride.UAE is not immune to downsizing. Economic conditions mandate that downsizing must take place and refusal to do so, will hurt the economy even more.Workers VisasHowever, there have been some extremely positive steps taken recently by the UAE government.For starters, 10 years Visa for investors and talented students. Eliminating the 3,000 Dirhams fees (mandatory deposit) for each worker and it is now replaced by 60 Dirham insurance. Yes, 60 Dirhams only per annum.Workers insurance now includes Work Injuries clam, remuneration for extra working hours, a plane ticket back home, vacation allowance, and end of service benefits.48-Hours tourist visa can be obtain free of charge (this is a major plus). This visa can be extended up to 96 Hours on a nominal fees of 50 Dirhams.However, one of the biggest plus has to be the 6-months extension on the existing visa after one loses employment to seek another job, without having to exit the country immediately.War in YemenThe war in Yemen is also going to be a costly affair for UAE. Not from a war point of view, but from a human rights point of view. There is a lot of clampdown that is happening in UAE, and this will not be snuffed out easily. It will end up costing the government of UAE in some manner. Human Rights abuse claims are bone shattering and if it proves to be true, UAE will have to deal with more than just an economic recession, but an image depression as well.The Guardian did a harrowing report on the issue (it is my understanding that this is article is blocked/censored in UAE: Sexual abuse rife at UAE-run jails in Yemen, prisoners claim)Alternative Investment OptionsUAE, especially Dubai had the unique privileged of being the best investment option in the middle east.Not any more.UAE’s economy hinges on trade and being the magnet for regional money. It has always been the sink for money all around it. India, Pakistan, Iran, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Jordan, GCC countries, etc.The game has clearly changed.When you have more than one sink for money, then money flows divert. I personally thing the two new sinks are: Saudi Arabia and Qatar. With three possible options for money to flow, UAE is in a pretty pickle.How it will eventually play out - is the ultimate question to which their are a varying degree of answers. I for one think they will weather it - there will be a price to pay, but weather it, they will. But things are not rosy for the country.