HR Corner: November 2008

India's favourite HR event

19 November, 2008

India's favourite HR event

It's Back! The National HRD Network's National Conference is the biggest HR event in the country. And this year, in its 12th edition, it is in Chennai on November 28 and 29, 2008.

► It's the place to listen to contemporary HR concepts from leading thinkers.
► To grab some insightful HR ideas from pioneering practitioners.
► To meet with the best and brightest HR leaders.
► To be inspired by top notch speakers.
► To catch up with an old classmate

So, block your calendar. And Register now.

For details visit
http://www.nhrdnconference2008.com/

Tips for a Better New Employee Orientation

17 November, 2008

When we orient new hourly (non-exempt) employees, we provide a standard HR couple of hours on policies, procedures, company history, goals, culture, punching in and work rules. We give a company tour and hourly employees then train and cross-train on the job.

Managerial and salaried (exempt) employees participate in an orientation that is custom-designed for them. It includes the above information that is received by all employees. Additionally, their orientation may last one to two weeks and it enables them to meet the whole organization, their direct reports and more. They should leave this orientation with a clear picture of the organization, its challenges, its goals and their opportunity to assist with progress.

It is challenging to make sure salaried employees have the chance to do the orientation while also beginning their new job. Neither can be put on hold. My current new director spent the morning helping to write an RFP for a potential customer rather than attending his scheduled meetings. This is okay, but I don't want his orientation to get off track. It provides fundamental information he needs to succeed in this organization.

From an HR perspective, this may not be ideal for making sure he gets the organization overview, but it is ideal for helping him integrate quickly into the working business of the company - and that's the point. Right?

The best orientation I have ever known was instituted at Edgewood Tool and Manufacturing. Every manager who hired a new employee was required to write a 120 day orientation for the new employee. It involved one action a day. Actions included meeting the Director of Quality, calling on a customer and having lunch with the CEO. You can bet that new employee was thoroughly welcomed and integrated into the organization after 120 different orientation events.

UBS Lay off Job Cut: may fire 1900 employees

First it was the Wall Street which experienced the massive lay offs, and now there were rumors that due to the current financial turmoil, UBS AG, the European bank with the biggest losses from the credit crisis, plans to go for about 1900 job cuts. News

Which divisions of UBS will be affected due to the UBS Job Cut lay off
It is reported that investment banking, equities, and fixed income units will see the lay offs from UBS.

How many people will be fired in UBS Job Cut lay off
Around 1900 employees of UBS will loose their job - which would amount to about 10 percent of the total investment banking staff.

As per the news, UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, is scaling back its investment banking unit, which it plans to separate from wealth and asset management after mounting writedowns prompted rich clients to withdraw funds for the first time in almost eight years. The cuts add to the 7,000 already announced by Zurich- based UBS, and would bring to more than 131,700 the total number of jobs eliminated at banks worldwide since July 2007.

UBS rose 4 percent to 19.19 Swiss francs. The bank has dropped 58 percent so far this year, paring its market value to about 56 billion francs ($50 billion).

Satyam Lay off Job Cut: Satyam Fires 100 Hyderabad employees

It was in September when the news of Satyam layoff first came in, but yesterday, Satyam went ahead and made another round of lay-offs from its base city of Hyderabad. Satyam fired 100 employees citing reasons which are the usual ones like - "behavioural issues", "poor performance" in an performance assessment. Not only that, they went way too ahead and cited reason like - "delay in filling appraisal forms" and even "poor dressing" at work - appears to be a lot weird reasoning.

It is learnt from the news reported that it was a forced resignation - affected employees were given just 2 hours time to decide to resign or services to be terminated.

Probably, people took inspiration from the Jet Airways employees lay off who went berserk after jet airways announced lay offs. Those who were laid off alleged that the company chose to put the blame on them as against owning up for the financial crunch it seems to be facing. They point out that ratings of most employees this year in its "Smart" appraisal exercise (with S as highest rating and T lowest) have dropped with many figuring in the bottom R and T slots.

Though the management at Satyam continues to justify the lay offs mentioning that they are all based on performance and behaviours.

As reported by TOI, sources say the firm is undertaking fresh background checks of all its employees to find "valid" reasons for firing. Besides, project leaders were asked to suggest at least two names from their teams who could be eased out of the firm. But it was the manner in which the news was broken that left many shaken.

"Despite having an impeccable work record I was shown the door. And to do this I was given just two hours," says a senior software engineer.

Another employee of three years with a "S" rating under his belt had to quit under similar circumstances. The techie was first asked to take an assessment test within 30 minutes. He was then told his performance was poor and that he had to leave. "Why would the company insist on a test that my managers in the past had described as only a formality," he asked. His demand to declare the test result went unheeded, he added.

A senior associate who was laid off last week said the pink slip came as a shocker. With six years work experience in known IT firms, he was handling a project in Satyam, two phases of which were already over with his work spilling over to late evenings. One such evening last week he was summoned by HR officials who asked him to meet them
the next day. "I was told, either you leave or we terminateyour service," he says, adding that the reason cited for his removal was his failure in filling the appraisal form on time.

S V Krishnan, Global head of HR, Satyam Computer Services, said, "As part of our appraisal process we identify around 5 to 10 per cent of our associates in the Performance Improvement category and put them through a structured Performance Improvement Program. Our experience reflects that about half of this group exits the system either voluntarily or involuntarily, while the others make credible progress internally. We have concluded our appraisal process a few weeks back, and believe we are witnessing similar trends like in the past."

So where are those individuals who believed that the IT boom is here to stay, or those who believed that there will always be new technology and innovations so IT engineers will never loose the jobs or those who believed that Indian Companies never lay off anyone.
Let's hope that alternative jobs are available to the affected employees of Satyam Lay off.

UTMB Lay off University of Texas Lay off Job Cut: UTMB fires 3800

The news cannot be any further bad for the employees of UTMB University of Texas Medical Branch. It has decided to fire 3800 people from their jobs or go for Job Cuts.
It was already under pressure to recover from the devastations of Hurricane Ike.

What are the primary reasons for the UTMB University of Texas Medical Branch layoffs?

Primarily, the expenses and no money. Also, due to hurricane Ike.
As per the news, The UT Board of Regents said it was forced to make the job cuts because the teaching hospital was running out of money.

Hurricane Ike losses are reported to be to the tune of $710 million to UTMB when it hit the island in September and officials have said that only about $100 million of the damage is covered by insurance.

When will the UTMB University of Texas Medical Branch layoffs actually take place?
The layoffs are expected to happen sometimes in January, meaning that it will not be a good start of the new year for many employees.

Which department employees will be affected by the UTMB University of Texas Medical Branch layoffs?
As per the news, it is not yet decided which employees will be affected by this lay offs.
Dr. Kenneth Shine, interim chancellor of the UT system, expected most of the jobs cut would be from the hospital. Shine was optimistic that most of those laid off would find work at other health care institutions.
A few faculty members may also be laid off.

What is the current strength of the the UTMB University of Texas Medical Branch layoffs?

UTMB currently has around 12,000 employees.

Let's hope that alternative jobs are available to the affected employees of UTMB University of Texas Medical Lay off.

German Government Announces $670 Billion Bailout Package

Germany announced Monday that it has assembled a bailout package worth over $670 billion to shore up the country’s ailing financial system as part of an integrated European financial rescue effort.

The German finance ministry estimated the total figure to be $671 billion. The ministry said the package plans for up to $536 billion, in guarantees for banks, and $134 billion, to recapitalize banks and back up the guarantees.

The aim of the bailout is to create a viable financial instrument that will address Germany’s current liquidity shortages in a timely fashion.

The ministry said that aid would be available to both German financial institutions and German units of foreign banks.

The current economic crisis will hurt the tech sector far more than the dot-com crash did in 2000

Last week Sun Microsystems recently announced that it will layoff 15-18% if its workforce. The move is expected to save the company $700 million to $800 million. Intel announced its sales for the current quarter could drop 19 percent, and the week before, Cisco Systems announced that sales in its current quarter could drop 10 percent. Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy protection. Best Buy and Nokia are struggling too.

"The tech sector finds itself at the mercy of a double-barreled slump in both corporate and consumer spending caused by the housing decline and the economic crisis on Wall Street. Technology companies are also feeling the effect of frozen credit markets as business and government customers struggle to finance computer and software purchases that can run to millions of dollars," writes Ashlee Vance of the New York Times.

Some, like Ashok Kumar, an analyst with Collins Stewart think that this could be worse than when the dot com bubble burst in 2000. “Even during the 2000 bust, the decline was more measured,” he said. “This seems to be going into a free fall

Top Jobs 2008: A Guide to Layoff Survival

The Axe is Falling
Amanda did not see it coming. Her most recent performance review was strong, plus she had a great rapport with her manager, so when the year-end layoff rumors began circulating around the office, she thought she had immunity. She should have known better. She, along with the thousands who were axed, never received an invite to the Christmas party and got the worst gift of all -- a severance package.

Sadly, Amanda isn't alone. As of November 2007, at least 1,408,852 people have lost their jobs due to mass layoffs, a 6% increase from 2006, according to the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. And that figure only reflects those who claimed unemployment insurance from employers who cut 50 or more employees at a time.

To make matters worse, employers don’t seem to be hiring; the unemployment rate went from 4.7 to 5% in the space of a month (from November to December 2007), the largest increase since April 1995. Monster.com’s own employment index, which tracks online recruitment across career sites and job boards in real-time, also posted its first-ever decline in online job ads in November 2007.

While companies downsize for a plethora of business reasons -- to reduce redundancy after a merger or acquisition, to revamp corporate strategy, or to improve the bottom-line -- much of the current job shortage has direct links to the subprime mortgage collapse still reverberating across the country in 2008. Just a few days ago, Citigroup reported record losses ($9.83 billion in the fourth quarter) due to bad mortgage-related investments and loans and will reportedly be slashing 4,700 jobs. With housing prices nosediving and credit becoming ever more difficult to obtain, jobs in manufacturing and construction have been hardest hit, totaling 47% of mass layoffs last year. White-collar jobs are hardly any more secure. Companies that service the housing industry (insurance, mortgage, real estate brokers and banks) were quick to downsize; jobs from media and technology to the usually strong biotechnology/pharmaceuticals also followed suit as a reaction to weak performance in a slowing economy.

Yet some experts believe there's no cause for real alarm. "A 5% unemployment rate is not tragic … not every cylinder is going down," according to John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, who works directly with laid off workers to get back on their feet. "Companies are constantly hiring, growing, changing so there are always openings." On average, his clients have been able to find work within three to four months, even in this gloomy labor market. He still sees strong growth in healthcare, energy, technology and anything with a global
outlook. The unemployed could also consider work in government: in November alone, government agencies were responsible for 30,000 new hires.

You may not be at risk of being laid off but there is definitely anxiety over job security in the workplace. If you follow the news at all, it certainly feels as if everyone and everywhere is downsizing. So how can you avoid being the sacrificial lamb for your company?

According to University of Colorado Denver management professor, Dr. Wayne F. Cascio’s research on the culture of downsizing, there isn’t much individuals can do. Downsizing has simply become the de-facto quick fix to address business woes in the US, so being laid off is an unavoidable aspect of corporate life. "A young adult should expect to be laid off three to four times before he turns 50," he advises.

Others like Challenger, however, believe that personal relationships are heavily instrumental in a company's decision to let someone go. From his experience, those who have had "a relationship breakdown" with their employer are far more likely to be handed a pink slip than "a top performer." In other words, work hard and maintain a positive working relationship with your boss -- you just may avoid the axe.

While there may be optimism in the job market, being laid off can wreak havoc on your psyche, which could play a bigger role in your ability to rebound than you think. No matter how you got the news -- you were denied access to your office via a deactivated security pass or gently let down by your manager -- you’ve lost your livelihood and in many cases, your sense of self. Like a relationship gone bad, losing your job can be incredibly painful and life-changing. But it doesn’t have be tragic. We spoke with everyone from a layoff survivor-turned-entrepreneur-and-author, to experienced career coaches and downsize experts, for some words of wisdom and helpful next steps.

Pulling Yourself Together

Allow yourself to mourn: When you lose your job due to layoffs, you’ll feel as if you’ve been dumped by your employer. You’ll feel betrayed, hurt, dejected and angry, which are common emotions associated with grief. "Mourn the loss of your job so you can regain the strength to find a better one," advises Nick Lore, career coaching maverick and founder of the Rockport Institute. In fact, Challenger encourages his clients to take a few weeks off so they can get some emotional distance.

Be resilient: "You’re bound to encounter rejection in your job search, so you need to be resilient," offers Dr. Andrew Shatté, co-author of The Resilience Factor. He believes you can train yourself to be mentally stronger by knowing your own thinking patterns and counteracting against your natural inclinations. You can uncover your innate resilience factor online (click on "How resilient are you?").

Talk it out: From Lore's experience, women tend to refocus and start their job search faster than men. Why? "Because they’re more comfortable talking about their needs and anxieties to family and friends, and doing so helps them move beyond the shock and anger to start thinking about 'What’s next?'"

It’s not that men have nothing to say -- they just need to find the appropriate support group to open up to. When Test-Drive Your Dream Job author Kurth lost his dotcom job in 2001, he and a few other job seekers would meet every week to share job search experiences over coffee and bagels (a.k.a. "Unemployed Bagels"). He recalls how all the members in the group eventually managed to bounce back and find jobs they love.

Set a budget: You’ll need to put together a budget to reflect your newly unemployed status. "One thing I cannot stress enough is that it is very important you continue to make your [health] insurance [payments], especially when you’ve been laid off," says Kurth . Whether you go through COBRA or finance your own policy -- Kurth remembers financing his health insurance with his own unemployment insurance check -- make every effort to budget for this even if it means cutting your spending elsewhere.

Getting Back in The Game

Set goals: As Kurth was brainstorming on what to do next with his family and friends, he made sure he got his ideas down on paper "so I could stay organized and focused."

Make a list of all the things you loved, hated, and would like to change about your life and ex-job. From here, you can begin brainstorming about your short and long-term goals. What other careers have always intrigued you? Are you an entrepreneur at heart? Would switching fields require additional training? If so, where, and how much would it cost? Above all, share your plans, however preliminary, with your support group so your friends can keep you on your toes.

Network, network, network: In Challenger's opinion, you can learn a lot about being work-ready from politicians: "Be like a presidential candidate. Be upbeat and positive even if you're not feeling that great about yourself." Make a point of getting out of the house and interacting with people. The more people you meet, the better.

Create your own network in addition to attending professional networking events. A good way to ensure you get out there and do meaningful work is to volunteer your time for a charitable cause, according to Challenger. You never know who you will meet and what connections they may bring.

Both Kurth and Challenger recommend that you try to identify people whose work appeal to you in some way and make a point of meeting them. Offer to take them out to coffee or even lunch. You'd be surprised how helpful people can be.

And by all means, get up to speed with all the major social networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook. Get reacquainted with your acquaintances. "Just don’t expect these tools to magically land you a job," cautions Challenger.

Through all your networking efforts, stay organized in order to make best use of your contacts. Kurth, during a year long hiatus after his layoff in 2001, conducted over 200 informational interviews; he organized all the contact information in a simple Excel spreadsheet.

Limit your computer use: Challenger believes you’re wasting your time if you devote all your time responding to online job ads. That is why he recommends that you "use your computer to search for jobs after dinner." You should spend your day meeting and interviewing with people, not in front of your computer.

Take breaks: Whether it's going out for dinner once a week (within your means, of course), going for a run every other day, or both, taking breaks from your job search is essential to your mind-body wellness, which will help you stay energetic and motivated.

There is no denying being downsized is difficult, and bouncing back, harder still. But it is not impossible. Kurth spent a year exploring his options before deciding to start Vocation Vacations, a company that helps clients test drive their dream jobs as vacations. At the time, he had three mortgages to pay off, and both he and his partner got the pink slip on the same day, but they found a way to survive. So can you. "[Being laid off] can be a tragedy or an opportunity," offers Lore. "Turn it into an opportunity of a lifetime. What do you have to lose?"

Circuit City to Close 155 Stores, Lay Off Thousands

Rumors are swirling across the ‘Net that Circuit City plans to shutter at least 155 stores, beginning the process as early as Monday morning (Nov. 3).

According to various sources, the electronics giant is pulling out of at least a dozen major metro areas, and bringing liquadators in to shut down the stores.

Among the first two services to get the axe will be Circuit City’s Firedog service and their car stereo installation shops.

The rest of the store, employees, merchandise, and all, will be out the door by the end of December.

This news should not come as a great shock - it was only a handful of days ago that the Wall Street Journal ran an article about Circuit City planning to downsize, and most recently, the company has said that it has been warned about being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, due to a share price below $1 for over 30 days.

No news on severance packages or benefits for laid off employees has been announced yet.

Yahoo! to Cut 1,500 Jobs

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO: 10.80 -0.18%) announced today that it will hand out at least 1,500 pink slips to workers as it struggles to deal with a crumbling economy that ate away at its third-quarter profit.

The layoffs outlined in the announcement represent about a 10% reduction in Yahoo’s staff of about 15,000 employees. It is the second time in nine months that Yahoo has undertaken mass layoffs.

Business got much worse in the third quarter as Yahoo earned only $54.3 million, or 4 cents per share. That was a crash of nearly 65% from the $151.3 million it was bringing in at the same time last year.

The average earnings estimates from analysts was 9 cents per share.

UK Nationalizes Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS)

The UK government has nationalized the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) late Sunday night, by injecting about $35 billion of taxpayer money into the failing bank.

The Government is also expected to take over HBOS soon as well, as state ownership in the British financial sector becomes the most far-reaching since the World War II. Initially, HBOS was going to have been taken over by Lloyds TSB, but that deal all but collapsed on Saturday.

In addition to the RBS and HBOS purchases, the government will also guarantee interbank lending. The scale of these recent nationalizations eclipses the bailouts of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley earlier this year, and also represents a huge risk for the taxpayer.

Fred Goodwin, CEO of RBS is expected to step down on Monday, and Andy Hornby, CEO of HBOS, will likely resign as well.

Goldman Sachs Cuts 3,200 Jobs

Goldman Sachs (GS: 64.50 -3.34%) announced this morning that it will be laying off about 10% of its work force as the downturn in the credit and lending markets continues.

Goldman plans to hand out about 3,260 pink slips, which will reduce its work force from record high levels at the end of the third quarter.

Goldman Sachs made the change to a bank holding company last month as investors were nervous that a stand-alone investment bank model would no longer be viable.

With the new status of a bank holding company, Goldman Sachs will face increased regulatory scrutiny, which may likely force it to scale back some of its more leveraged and aggressive business entities.

Legg Mason Plans Layoffs

Legg Mason Inc. (LM: 15.77 +0.77%) announced yesterday that it will soon be cutting jobs.

The Baltimore company has not yet provided specifics on positions and numbers yet, but is busy trying to come up with about $120 million in cost savings.

A company spokesperson has been quoted in the press as describing the layoffs as “surgical” in nature, rather than a broad swath of Legg’s employees.

Legg Mason is Baltimore’s third-largest public company, and employed about 1,100 people as of January 2008.

Legg’s performance has come under fire from analysts and investors lately, and the company posted its first loss in 25 years in May. Its second quarterly loss came this past July as the credit crunch took hold, and it lost nearly $104 million in its fiscal second quarter, its third straight quarterly loss.

Goldman Sachs Lays Off Thousands This Week

Goldman Sachs Group (GS: 64.55 -3.27%) notified about 3,200 employees yesterday that they have been laid off, part of previously announced plans to cut about 10% of the firm’s work force amid crashing financial markets.

Goldman has been letting people go left and right all year. The bank handed out hundreds of pink slips to its M&A support staffers and junior bankers back in June due to market conditions on the heels of a round of leveraged lending and mortgage securities layoffs in April.

Early in the year, Goldman also cut over 1,500 people following the results of their 2007 performance reviews.

Citigroup Will Cut 50,000 Jobs

Citigroup (C: 9.48 -0.42%) announced today that it is planning to slash its workforce by more than 50,000 jobs in an effort to cut costs and ride out the credit crisis on Wall Street

In an announcement and investor presentation (link to presentation below) on its Web site, Citi said that it was planning to reduce staff levels to roughly 300,000 employees. Citi currently has about 352,000 workers.

It was not yet clear what parts of the banking giant would sustain the most cuts, but there have been rumors that pink slips will be handed out in the investment banking and wealth management departments.

Citigroup’s CEO Vikram Pandit is expected to hold a “town hall meeting” for employees later today to address the job cuts.

This effort is another example of how Citigroup is attempting to cut costs in the wake of the credit crisis. Over the past year, the bank has already slashed its payroll by over 23,000 workers.

Annual Layoffs Forecast: 2008 Executive Survey Finds Severe Job Cuts to be Made This Year.

Career Protection's[R] Annual Layoffs Forecast predicts a 37% increase in companies planning layoffs and reductions in workforce this year

Career Protection's Annual 2008 Layoffs Forecast paints an ugly picture of cuts in jobs for this upcoming year. Over 1,375 corporate executives nationwide completed the confidential annual survey regarding workforce reduction plans conducted by the employment law and human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. experts of CareerProtection.com this month (Survey conducted January 2-25, 2008).

"This is our worst layoff forecast in the past five years for employees, as corporations appear ready to slash staff and layoff workers," says Kirk Nemer, J.D., SPHRSPHR Senior Professional in Human Resources
SPHR Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights
SPHR Sphere

"The only good news provided by Executives and Senior Vice Presidents in our survey was that companies were planning to provide severance paySeverance Pay

Compensation that an employer gives to someone who is about to lose their job.

Notes:
Severance pay is not always paid to employees. It depends on the situation in which the employee is losing their job and whether legislation requires severance to be paid.

during these difficult and stressful times," Nemer stated. "However, it appears the severance packages will not be as generous in their severance pay as they have been in the recent past." Nemer added that, "Employees should negotiate their severance package offers as they're not a 'take-it-or-leave-it' situation. Companies will still require employees to execute a General Release of Legal Claims in exchange for receiving a severance package, so companies will negotiate its terms to obtain one from employees."

Career Protection has been inundated in·un·date
tr.v. in·un·dat·ed, in·un·dat·ing, in·un·dates
1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters.

2. this month with telephone calls from employees at Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. (NYSE: BSC) is the parent company of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., one of the largest global investment banks and securities trading and brokerage firms in the world. , Chrysler, Citigroup, Covidien Healthcare, Ford, GM, Indy Mac and Sprint Nextel, who have announced plans for reductions-in-force in January.

About Career Protection[R]

The leading national provider of employment negotiations advice, the human resource and legal experts at Career Protection[R] have previously served as Vice Presidents of Human Resources, or Corporate Counsel/Attorneys for many Fortune 500 and Global Corporations. For information on how executives and professionals can receive a severance pay negotiations strategy and free consultation to protect their career and financial future, visit http://www.CareerProtection.com.

Kirk D. Nemer, CEO of HR on your side, Inc./CareerProtection.com, and employment attorney with over 20 years of legal and human resources experience is available for interviews on many workplace issues and law.

Children Education Allowance Clarifications: Sixth Pay Commission

The latest news on from the Sixth Pay Commission. It is regarding the Clarification on Children Education Allowance:
Below, we presnt the text as it appears on the Office Memorandum Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Department of Personnel & Training. Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission Ministry Site

Subsequent to issue of DOP&T OM No. 12011/3/2008-Estt.(Allowance) dated 2nd Sept, 2008 allowing Children Education Allowance 1 Hostel Subsidy ,
clarifications on certain points have been sought by Govt. servants/Ministries/Departments. The doubts raised by various authorities are clarified as under :

(1) What is the definition of ' Year' & 'Hostel Subsidy' as per the OM No. 12011/3/2008-Estt.(Allowance) dt. 2nd Sept, 2008 on the subject Children Education Allowance?

(i) 'Year' means academic year i.e. twelve months of complete academic session.
(ii) Hostel Subsidy means expenses incurred by the Govt. servant if he has to keep his children in the hostel of a residential school away from the station at which he is posted! or is residing. It may include expenses towards boarding, lodging and expenses as detailed in para (e) of the original OM No. 12011/3/2008-Estt.(Allowance)dt. 2nd Sept, 2008

(2) What IS the amount of reimbursement of Children Education Allowance for the year 2008-09 in the OM No. 12011/3/2008- Estt.(AL) dt. 2nd Sept, 2008?
It may be calculated on prorata basis @ maximum of Rs.I0001-per month per child w.e.f. 1st September, 2008.

(3) Whether DOPT OM No. 12011/3/2008-Estt.(Allowance) dated 2nd Sept, 2008 is admissible for reimbursement of Children Education Allowance for pursumg Diploma Course for the initial years in Polytechnic?
In cases where minimum qualifications for admission in the two years Diploma course in Polytechnic is 10th Class and the student joins the polytechnic after passing X class, the reimbursement of tuition fees shall also be allowed for the 1st and 2nd year classes of the above course.

(4) Whether children attending dayboarding, whether attached to schools or not are eligible to draw hostel subsidy?
No. They are not eligible.

(5) Whether the restriction of classes Nursery to class Twelfth as applicable for Children Education Allowance is also applicable for drawing hostel subsidy?
YES.

(6) Whether Children Education allowance is admissible for more than two children in case the number of children exceeds two as a result of multiple birth?
Yes, if the number of children exceeds two as a result of second child birth resulting in twins or multiple births.

(7) Whether Children Education Allowance 1 Hostel Subsidy will be admissible during suspension or leave?
The Children Education Allowance or hostel subsidy shall be admissible to a Govt. servant while he/she is on duty or is under suspension or is on leave (including extra ordinary leave). Provided that during any period which is treated as 'dies non' the Govt. servant shall not be eligible for the Allowance / reimbursement / subsidy for the period.

(8) Whether reimbursement of Children Education Allowance as per OM No. 12011/4/2008- Estt.(AL) dt. 11th Sept, 2008 is admissible for disabled Children of Govt. employees who undergoes non formal Education or Vocational Training or other similar instructions?
Yes. As long as a physically Imentally handicapped child studies in any institution i.e. aided or approved by the Centrall State Govt. or UT Administration or whose fees are approved by any of these authorities, the Children Education Allowance paid by the Govt. servant shall be reimbursed irrespective of whether the institution is 'recognized' or not. In such cases the benefits will be admissible between the age limits 5to 22 years.

Encashment of Earned Leaves: Sixth Pay Commission Pay Hike

The latest news on from the Sixth Pay Commission. It is regarding the Encashment of Earned Leaves:
Below, we presnt the text as it appears on the Office Memorandum Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Department of Personnel & Training. Though utmost care has been taken to replicate teh text as it is, but E&OE. Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission Ministry Site

Subject: Rocommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission - Decisions relating to Enhancement of the ceiling on accumulation and encashment of Earned Leave in respect of Central Government employees.

The undersigned is directed to say that constituent upon the decisions taken by Government on the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission relating to leave, the President is pleased to decide that h'1Q existing provisions of the Central Civil Services a.save) Rules, 1972.may be modified as follows in respect of civilian employees of the Central Govemment:-

(a:) The existing ceiling of 240 days on accumulation of earned leave provided in Rules 26 & 28 ibid shrill be ~nhcmcoo to 300 days:

(b) The existingceiling of 240 days for availing of the benefit of encashment of unutilised earned leave shall be increased to 300 days in respect of the following categorles:

(i) Retirement on attaining the age of super annuation [Rule 39(20]

(ii) cases where the service of a Government servant has been extended in the interest of public Service beyond the date of retirement on superannuation [Rule 39(4)];

(iii) Voluntarty/ pre-mature retirement [Rule39(5)]

(iv) where the services of a Government servant are terminated by notice or by payment of pay & allowances in lieu of notice, or otherwise in accordance with the terms and conditions of his appointrnent [Rule 39(6)(a)(i) ];

(v) in the case of tarrnination of re-empioyrnent after retirement [Rule 39(6) (a) (iil) ];

(vi) in the case of death of a Govemmont Servant while in service, to the Family the deceased [Rule 39A]

(vii) in the case of lec.1e preparatory to retirement [sub-rule (l) of Rule 38];

(viii) in the case oi transfer of a Government servant to an industrial establishment [Rule 6]; and

(ix) on absorption of a Government servant in the Central Public Sector Undertaking/autcmomcus body wholly or substantially owned or controlled by the Centrall State Government [Rule 39D];

(c) A Government servant who resigns or quits service shall be entitled to Cash equivalent in respect of earned leave at credit on the date of cessation service, to the extent of half of such leave at his credit, subject to a maximum of 150days mule 39(6)(a)(ii)).

2. The above orders will be effective from 1 July 1997.

3. The Fifth Pay Commission has also recommended that all employees may be permitted to encash 10 days earned leave at the time of availing of Leave TravelConcession, subject to the conditions that:-

(a) the total leave so encashed during the entire career does not exceed days in the aggregate;

(b) earned leave of atleast an equivalent duration is also availed simultaneously by the employee;

(c) a balance of at least 30 days of earned leave is still available to the of the employee after taking into account the period of encashmen t CIS
as leave; and

(d) the period of leave encashed shall be deducted from the quantum of leave that can be normally encashed by him at the time of superannuation,

This recommendation has also been accepted by the Government and, according encashment of earned leave may be cLllowed by the Ministries/Departments subject to prescribed conditions. 'The total encGshment of Earned Leave allowed to a Government servant alongwith LTC while in service and as per the provisions of the Central Service (Leave) Rules, 1972, should not exceed the maximum limit/ceiling of 300 or 150 days, as the case may be, .

5. The orders as per paragraphs 1 to 4 above shall also apply to Government servants serving in Vacation Departments.

6. Formal amendments to the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, are to be issued separately.

7. In so far as persons uerving in the Indkm Audit and Accounts Department concerned,these orders in consulation with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Hit by demand slump, Dunlop stops production in Sahaganj unit

Citing lack of demand due to the global recession, tyre makers Dunlop Monday stopped production at its Sahaganj unit in West Bengal's Hooghly district.

'Production has been stopped for the time being. The workers have been asked not to come to the factory,' a spokesman of the Pawan Kumar Ruia-owned company told IANS.

The company's decision met with an angry response from its workers, who staged a demonstration at the factory gate.

The spokesman said with automobile companies feeling the heet of economic downturn worldwide, the demand for tyres has gone down sharply.

'The crisis has had a heavy impact on the tyre sector. We have a huge shortage of capital. So we called the union leaders Saturday for a bi-partite and told them since there is almost no demand, the company would be incurring heavy losses if production continued. And they agreed,' he said.

The company would pay a monthly subsistence allowance of Rs.2,000 to each of its 1,202 workers till the time the situation normalised and production resumed.

'This was the best option before us. Otherwise, we may have had to go for lock-out,' he said, assuring there would be no lay-off.

The company would now look for sufficient capital fund, but the spokesman could not give a time-frame for production to restart. 'We may get the funds in 15 days, or it may be three months even. We don't know. But we are hopeful that we will be able to solve the problem fast'.

Asked to quantify the drop in demand, he said: 'Globally, there has been a 74 percent fall in demand for tyres. Our company is on a revival course. We are producing only 45-50 tonnes per day'.

Commercial production at the ailing tyre major's Sahaganj factory had resumed Jan 14 last year, after a five-year closure.

Dunlop was bought over by Kolkata-based businessman Ruia from Manohar Rajaram Chhabria's family in late 2005.

The company has a full capacity of 130 tonnes a day.

BT British Telecom Lay off Job Cut: fires 10000: Will MBT Tech Mahindra get affected?

The financial turmoil is taking a toll on all the sectors of the world. The latest one to add to the list of lay off or Job Cuts is the UK giant, BT British Telecom company, which is reported to have laid off 10,000 employees.

How many employees will be fired from job during the BT British Telecom Lay off Job Cut?
As per the news, BT has already axed some 4000 employees during this financial year and a another 6,000 will be asked to quit.

When will the BT British Telecom Lay off Job Cut happen?
The BT British Telecom Lay off Job Cut will happen over a period of time starting now till March 2009.

Which segments or departments of BT will be affected the most in the BT British Telecom Lay off Job Cut
Consultants, contractors and offshore staff will be the worst hit. This case becomes important for offshore countries like India, where BT British Telecom has a tie up with local companies like MBT or Tech Mahindra or even Infosys. Employees in the Indian centers working on offshore projects of BT British Telecom are now much worried about loosing their jobs due to this BT Lay off Job Cut.
Another thing is that MBT or Tech Mahindra has been the biggest offshore center for BT in India and it has a track record of firing people mercilessly in the past. In 2000-2001, it had fired thousands of employees in their Indian center when they were hit by the crisis during that time. Obviusly, now the employees of MBT or Tech Mahindra will be worried with the kind of news coming in about the BT British Telecom Lay off Job Cut. Though there is no news about
MBT or Tech Mahindra developments in India regarding the BT Lay off.

What is the current employee strength of BT British Telecom Globally?
BT has around 160,000 employees across the globe.

Let's hope that alternative jobs are available to the affected employees of BT British Telecom Lay off Job Cut.

Chairpersons Members of Regulatory Authorities/ Bodies IRDA, SEBI, TRAI, CERC, CCI: Sixth Pay Commission Pay Hike

The latest news on from the Sixth Pay Commission. It is regarding the Clarification on Children Education Allowance:
Below, we presnt the text as it appears on the Office Memorandum Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Department of Personnel & Training. Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission Ministry Site

Subject: Revision of pay of the Chairpersons and Members of the Regulatory Authorities/Bodies consequent to the implementation of the Sixth Central pay Commission Recommendations.

Consequent upon the implementation of the Report of the Sixth Central Pay Commission by the Government, the provisions relating to pay of Chairpersons and Members of Regulatory Authorities/Bodies, laid down in this Department's a.M. No. 3/6/97-Estt. (Pay II) dated 29th January, 1998 read with Corrigendum dated 13th February, 1998, shall be substituted with the following:

1. Pay - The Chairperson would be eligible for pay not exceeding Rs. 80,000/- p.m. (fixed) and Members would be eligible for pay in the Pay Band of Rs. 37400-67000 (PB 4) with a Grade Pay of Rs. 12000/-. The pay will be fixed in accordance with the prevailing orders viz. pay minus pension.

2. The pay and allowances of Chairperson and full-time Members of five specified Regulatory Bodies, viz., Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TRAI, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority IRDA, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission CERC, Securities and Exchange Board of India SEBI and the Competition Commission of India CCI which have been delinked from Government salaries will be governed by the orders issued by the Department of Expenditure.

3. These orders will come into effect from 1.1.2006

Power shortage cripples auto, textile industries in Tamil Nadu

16 November, 2008

Rapid industrialization has led to a surge in demand, triggering a crisis that could end in layoffs, lower output

Chennai/Mumbai: As if a slowing economy, sluggish consumer demand and volatile markets aren’t painful enough, industries in Tamil Nadu are reeling under a power crisis that is causing unscheduled, peak hour outages, bumping up costs and hurting output.

The southern state is home to the country’s largest textile export hub in Tirupur, and hosts factories of overseas companies such as Korean auto maker Hyundai Motor Co., French glass-maker Compagnie de Saint Gobain SA and Finnish mobile-phone manufacturer Nokia Oyj.

So bad is the power scarcity that the 6,000 textile units in Tirupur may have to lay off a combined 20,000 workers, according to the Tirupur Exporters’ Association. The industry, which employs about 350,000 workers, earned Rs9,950 crore from exports in 2007-08.

Foreign companies, drawn to Tamil Nadu by its promise of being a power-surplus state, have shielded themselves from power shortages by entering into pacts with the state government for assured, uninterrupted electricity supply. But they haven’t escaped unscathed because the manufacturing units that supply them raw materials and components have had to scale back output.

Some companies have no choice, but to depend on captive power, although the cost of electricity from captive generation facilities is three times the Rs5 per unit charged by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, or TNEB.

Also See: In the Dark (Graphic)
Rapid industrialization in the past three years led to a surge in electricity demand, triggering the current crisis. Tamil Nadu’s investment pipeline increased to Rs3.49 trillion as of March from about Rs1.73 trillion in June 2006, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a private institution.

Demand for power in the state expanded from 7,228MW in 2004-05 to 9,500MW as of August 2008, but supply increased only to about 6,681.5MW from 5,234.5MW in this period, TNEB data shows.

“Demand can increase rapidly but power projects have long gestation periods, so there is a time lag,” a senior TNEB official said, adding that Tamil Nadu had not seen any significant additions to its power generation capacity in the past 10 years.
Typically, power generation and distribution plants take between two and two-and-a-half-years to start commercial operations, depending on capacity.

All major power projects under construction in Tamil Nadu are expected to be commissioned in the next two-three years, adding 1,245MW of capacity in 2009-10, 867MW in 2010-11 and 2,250MW in 2011-12, according to TNEB data.

This capacity addition may not necessarily ensure additional supply. Tamil Nadu’s total power generation capacity as of 31 March was 10,122MW, but not all of this is utilized.

The central power generating stations in the state, for instance, are supplying 1,000MW less than the 2,825MW they are expected to, the TNEB official said, asking not be named because she’s not authorized to speak with the media.

Penguin bets big on Nilekani’s Imagining India book debut

Nandan Nilekani much anticipated book, Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century, will be launched on 24 November in New Delhi

New Delhi: Nandan Nilekani, normally unflappable, lost his cool when he was asked in an interview why he was becoming an author. What do you have left to prove? Are you playing at being an author?

“What do you mean?” Nilekani, co-founder and co-chairman of software maker Infosys Technologies Ltd, had retorted in the interview he gave for a profile published in the 2 August edition of Lounge. “I have worked hard on this. Every single idea in that book is mine. I am going out on a limb here; opening myself up to criticism; people I don’t know can take potshots at me.”

Nilekani’s much anticipated book, Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century, will be launched on 24 November in New Delhi, and in his hometown Bangalore three days later, followed by other Indian cities, including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The book will also be released in the US and elsewhere in 2009.

Imagining India will also mark the India debut of Penguin Books Ltd’s non-fiction imprint Allen Lane, named after the publisher’s founder. The list of authors published under the label include economists Amartya Sen, Thomas Friedman and Joseph Stiglitz; journalist Malcolm Gladwell, American film-maker Michael Moore and biologist Richard Dawkins.

“It’s a definitive book on India,” says Penguin Books’ India managing editor Udayan Mitra on Nilekani’s debut offering. “It’s the kind of book that has an international appeal. Nilekani has been in the forefront of IT revolution in India and is one of the most recognized faces globally”.

Imagining India is divided into four parts: The first dwells on topics, including globalization, India’s demographic advantage, the changing role of the entrepreneur and technology. The second is about the infrastructural challenges and the third looks at issues such as conflicting political ideologies, labour reform and higher education. The last section deals with democracy and technology, health, pensions and entitlements, the environment and energy.

The first 150-200 pages chart Indian history from the Indus Valley Civilization to British colonial rule to the present day.

“There is a slew of books on India’s future that make Indians feel good; they inculcate an air of self-congratulation,” said historian-author Ramachandra Guha, a longtime friend of Nilekani, who was one of the first to see a draft of the book. “Nandan’s book makes you think and introspect about India’s future.”
“It is a very well-written, carefully argued book,” Guha added. “He has accurately identified the problems and faultlines, and suggested solutions. Of course, anyone reading it won’t agree with it 100%, but will (nevertheless) be stimulated, provoked and informed.”

Guha said he himself doesn’t share Nilekani’s optimism because “by temperament, I am more sceptical” as historians usually tend to be.

Penguin is betting big on Imagining India. Though the publisher isn’t disclosing the precise number of copies it is printing, the book will have the biggest print run this year for a book by the publisher, says Mitra. The last biggest print for Penguin this year has been 25,000 copies, but Mitra declined to name the book.
In the next nine months, the Allen Lane imprint’s line-up in India will include former presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and K.R. Narayanan, Infosys co-founder and chief mentor N.R. Narayana Murthy and author-activist Arundhati Roy.

Other non-fiction imprints available in India include Little, Brown and Co. and Weidenfeld and Nicolson from Hachette, Knopf from Random House and Fourth Estate from HarperCollins Publishers.

“Imprint strategy is a recent thing in India and it’s to be seen how many imprints can be spun out successfully here,” says Thomas Abraham, managing director, Hachette India, part of Paris-based publishing group Hachette Livre SA.

Imprints help publishers focus on a “particular genre and certain kinds of books”, says Yogesh Sharma, general manager for sales and operations at HarperCollins Publishers India Ltd. “But at the end of the day, it is the author which really matters”, Sharma says, adding: “Readers really do not care who publishes (pulp fiction author) Sidney Sheldon.”

Penguin plans to put a major effort into promoting Imagining India over the next several months, including a six-city tour by Nilekani, tie-ups with mobile service providers and a website (www.imaginingindia.com) to engage readers in a discussion on India. It also plans a separate marketing strategy for academic institutions and says it is in talks with a coffee chain for specifically reaching out to young people.

Bharti Airtel launches identity protection solution

The authentication service will help in integrating and streamlining the security networks of organisations

New Delhi: Leading telecom service provider Bharti Airtel today launched a fraud detection solution that help organisations involved in services like online retail, gaming, travel portals protect their customer’s identities.

The authentication service, launched in partnership with internet infrastructure services provider VeriSign, will help in integrating and streamlining the security networks of organisations and will help prevent account takeovers, the company said in a release.

“Through the strategic alliance, Airtel is aiming to build an ecosystem, which will allow more safe and secure web transactions to consumers and provide the much-needed impetus to e-commerce and m-transactions,” President Enterprise Services Bharti Airtel David Nishball said.

The product, available in different types such as credit-card sized form factor or tokens, will help the end customers by providing them one-time password after they have entered their standard user name and password.

Organisations with huge customer base such as telecoms, e-gov initiatives, healthcare, financial services, insurance networks, broker/dealer can deploy the product, the statement said.

India needs $500bn for core sector in next five years: PM

MUSCAT (OMAN): India needs over $500billion in investments over the next five years for infrastructure development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
said on Sunday.

"India is undergoing a major transformation. Our economy is expanding rapidly," Singh said at a gathering of the Indian diaspora in Oman at the Indian embassy.

"We are laying particular focus on the development of our agriculture and the rural areas. Our financing requirements for the building of massive infrastructure in the next five years are estimated at over $500billion," he said.

The Prime Minister said that with new opportunities for youth emerging every day, the government has embarked on the "largest education, social welfare, skill development and employment generation programmes in the history of our country".

Regarding the current global financial crisis, Singh said India's growth rate might come down somewhat in the next five years.

"However, we still hope to achieve a growth rate of seven to seven and a half percent next year. The fundamentals of the Indian economy are very strong," he said.

"Our banking system and financial institutions are well capitalised and their depositors are wholly secure. I have constituted a high-level committee to monitor the evolving global situation and suggest short-term and long-term measure to use this opportunity to further accelerate our growth," he added.

Earlier in the day, speaking at a gathering of Indian and Omani businessmen here, Singh said India's young demographic profile would help its economy.

"Our domestic savings rate is 35 per cent of our GDP and our investment rate is 37 per cent of our GDP," he stressed.

"Our young demographic profile will lead to a further increase in these rates of savings and investment over the coming years," he said.

Courtesy : Times

Asian markets hit by weak corporate news

TOKYO: Asian markets lost ground in early trade on Tuesday after US stocks fell overnight on concerns that the financial crisis is taking a heavy
toll on corporate earnings.

China's massive economic stimulus plan failed to boost Wall Street on Monday amid more bad corporate news, including a 24.5 billion dollar loss at AIG that forced the US government to expand its bailout of the troubled insurer.

The latest bailout plan, in excess of more than $150bn, is the largest in US history.

Tokyo's Nikkei index dropped 3.3% by lunch. Hong Kong share prices opened 2.9% lower while Australian stocks fell 4.3% in morning trade, a day after rising on news of China's fiscal stimulus plan.

Beijing on Sunday announced a $586bn package to help boost growth in Asia's second largest economy, has continued to see slowing growth over the past few months.

"The Chinese stimulus package failed to soothe worries about a global recession," noted NAB Capital economist David de Garis in Sydney. "While we've had some positive news, there is still plenty to worry about."

In a fresh sign that the Chinese economy is cooling, inflation hit a 17-month low of 4.0% in October, down from 4.6% the previous month, official figures showed.

Japan said its current account surplus nearly halved in September from a year earlier amid slack export growth and high energy import costs.

And worries about the financial health of General Motors grew after its shares plunged more than 30% on Monday as an analyst at Deutsche Bank said they could be worthless within 12 months. The Dow Jones fell 0.82%.

GM chief executive Rick Wagoner said the Detroit giant was in such dire financial straits that it needed to line up a federal aid package before president-elect Barack Obama takes office in January.

"This is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently," Wagoner told Automotive News.

Mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae said it lost nearly $29bn in the third quarter and US electronics retailer Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection.

The mood was glum at the world's biggest gathering of central bankers in Sao Paulo.

"We are certainly facing global financial turbulences that are intense and that have intensified," said Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank. "We are not in the same situation."

But Dariusz Kowalczyk, chief investment strategist at CFC Seymour in Hong Kong, said the central bankers did not appear to be taking the threat of deflation seriously enough.

"It seems policy makers are still not fully aware of the depth of the recession the world has entered, which risks making their response inadequate," he warned.

There was also bad news in Europe. German logistics giant Deutsche Post said Monday it would cut 9,600 posts as part of restructuring of the loss-making DHL express mail delivery activities in the United States.

Telecoms giant Telekom Austria, which is 27.37-percent owned by the state, confirmed that it would cut 2,500 jobs out of its 11,400 positions in Austria in the next few years, following a drop in income.

Recession fears meanwhile deepened in Italy with figures showing industrial output slumped 2.1% in September from August, the biggest single-month drop in a decade. Figures also showed industrial production in France falling by 0.5% in a month.

RBI Take More Steps On Liquidity, Credit

Concerned over fast depleting foreign exchange reserves, the Reserve Bank today announced a slew of measures, including permission to housing finance firms to raise funds from overseas markets and raising the interest rate ceiling on foreign currency deposits.

The Reserve Bank has also raised the time-limit for availing low-cost export (pre-shipment) credit from 180 days to 270 days to encourage exports and promised to take more measures if necessary.

In addition, the central bank also permitted Indian banks to offer better interest rates for foreign currency deposits by the non-residents.

Henceforth, the banks can offer rates up to 100 basis points over London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) under Foreign Currency Non-Resident (Banks) scheme and 175 basis over LIBOR on Non-Resident (External) Rupee Accounts deposits.

These changes will encourage the banks to make the non- resident deposit schemes more attractive by raising interest rates.

The measures by the central bank are aimed at shoring up foreign exchange reserves, which according to the latest data, have slipped to about $251 billion from a high of $314 billion in April-May.

RBI had earlier pumped in around Rs 2.70 lakh crore liquidity into the banking system in order to augment domestic and forex liquidity and to enable the banks to continue to lend for productive purposes and maintain growth momentum.

In order to ensure more liquidity for the real estate sector, RBI allowed the registered housing finance companies to raise short-term funds from overseas markets.

Courtesy : BT

Further rate cuts likely: Kamath

With inflation coming down to single-digit level of 8.98 per cent, CII chief K.V. Kamath on Sunday said that key policy rates could be lowered to boost confidence of India Inc. and spur growth.

"Interest rates are still high. Inflation has fallen to a single digit. I think that would give confidence (to RBI) to roll back or signal drop in interest rate," he said while speaking at the India Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and industry body CII.

The biggest challenge before the country, he said, was to keep the confidence level high amid global financial crisis, which has pushed the West into recession.

"I think India is in a distinctly different position. (The) challenge we have is (on) how we keep confidence in this global situation," said Kamath, who also heads ICICI Bank.

India, he said, was different because despite global recession it would continue to grow by around seven per cent in the current fiscal and the growth will not be less than six per cent during 2009-10.

Noting that in the next few weeks the Indian industry would have to work out strategies to meet the global challenges, he said, "What will drive the Indian economy will be the domestic market".

He further said de-leveraging, cost cutting and declining commodity prices would have a benign impact on economic growth.

Economy will rebound in 6 to 9 months, says Chidambaram

The financial meltdown will not spare any sector of the economy, but on the brighter side recovery could be just six to nine months away, Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.

"There will be some slowdown in every sector... But monetary measures, counter-cyclical measures and enlightened measures by the companies themselves can get over this painful period of adjustments and in about 6-9 months we should be back to the growth rate," he told a TV channel in an interview.

India has been growing by 9 per cent and above for four straight years, but various estimates suggest that the impact of the economic crisis could shave off anywhere between 1 to 2 percentage points.

"We are not revising it (GDP forecast) upwards or downwards. It could be anywhere between 7-8 per cent... The only other large country recording such growth will be China," Chidambaram said.

Commenting on the decline in inflation to single digit – 8.98 per cent – after five months, he said, "I don't think we should get too excited about the single digit inflation as it is still close to 9 per cent, much above our tolerance level...

"We would like the inflation to come down. We hope it will happen in the next few weeks, so I think we are jumping the gun when we are talking about a rate cut." As regards the impact of slowdown on India Inc, he said, "Bottom lines in the profit and loss account will indeed be affected but it doesn't mean that something dramatic has happened in the Indian economy."

Stressing that India is still an attractive destination for foreign investors, he said the country's policy stance has attracted significant foreign direct investment as well as portfolio investment in the last four years.

Courtesy : BT

DHL Lay off Job Cut: DHL Fires 9500 employees

Bad news is coming from all sectors of the inductry. Till yesterday, there was the bad news about the General Motors GM Lay off Job Cut and today, the courier and shipping company DHL has declared a huge lay off or job cut of 9500 employees all across the globe. News

As per the news, Struggling shipper DHL declared that it has decided to close its 300-employee West Coast hub in Riverside County. This move will mean 9,500 job cuts throughout the nation and closing most of its DHL Express service centers. DHL has been the preferred partner of many corporates and its shut down of such operations will force these corporates to look for alternative partners.

Why is the DHL lay off or job cut happening?
Market conditions - DHL is said to face tremendous competition form UPS or United Parcel Service and FedEx. Then there were bad financial results and losses due to the ongoing recession in the US economy.

DHL's expertise lies in international shipping and this is what they are banking on for the near future.

What all businesses and units will be closed by DHL?
Due to the losses expected to amount to $1.5 billion for its U.S. operations this year, DHL plans to close 18 U.S. airport hubs and shut all but about 100 of its 412 U.S. service centers. The company projected that daily U.S. package volume would drop to about 100,000 from between 1.2 million and 1.5 million.

"One of the principal reasons for that high unemployment rate has been the collapse of the residential home construction industry," Husing said.

"The whole business of cargo distribution has really slowed down, and when there is less of that, it really affects the express-shipping industry," Husing said.

Laid-off employees will also find it hard to find jobs at DHL's toughest competitors, UPS and FedEx, analysts said.

Let's hope that alternative jobs are available to the affected employees of DHL Lay off.

Sixth Pay Commission: Ministry of Defence Controversy with Armed forces Pay hike

The game that begun with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations is not getting clear any furhter, especially with respect to what the Armed Forces or Defence Forces are trying to ask for. The latest news on Sixth Pay Commission is that there is a fresh controversy erupting between the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces. It may further delay the implementations of the Sixth Pay Commission. Leaders of various political parties have already made it a big agenda to highlight the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission News.

As per the news that had come in earlier, a high-level committee comprising of three Cabinet ministers was looking at the four "core issues" that the armed forces have raised after the Sixth Pay Commission report was released. To add salt to injuries, a new controversy has erupted. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Armed forces are learnt to be at loggerheads with each other once again over salary related issues that have cropped up in the past one week.

There were already many anomalies that were reported to be corrected by the armed forces, but even after the high level committee instructions, the forces have now found some more new anomalies in the special instructions that were not there in the Sixth Pay Commission report approved by the Cabinet and notified by the government. Angered at being "short-changed", the chief of personnel officers committee (COPOC) of the three forces has shot a letter to the MoD asking it to remove seven aberrations that include the dilution of the provisions of the pay commission as approved by the Cabinet and in some cases restore the deleted portions. These are separate from the four core issues being examined by the ministerial committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee.

The adjutant general at present heads the COPOC that also comprises the personnel officers of the Air force and the Navy. Out of the many serious anomalies, the key ones are: the dilution of the definition of the military service pay; the subversion of the definition of rank pay and the fixing of the initial pay scale for Colonels and Brigadiers at a level that is lower than what is due.

The foremost issue is of the rank pay that will result in a lesser hike in waoges of all officers. The adjutant general has pointed out that the Fourth Pay Commission onward the rank pay is counted part of the basic pay. This is the government policy to club the two increases, thus affecting the quantum of house rent allowance, travelling allowance and DA. Under new orders, the MoD has delinked the rank pay from the basic pay. Hence, effectively reducing the HRA, travelling allowances and DA for each officer.

In case of the military service pay (MSP), the Sixth Pay Commission explains it as "compensation for difficulties specific to military life". The MoD in its latest orders to implement the pay commission report refers it to as a type of hardship allowance to "security forces" in forward areas. The personnel officers have questioned as to why the definition of the MSP has not been adopted from the pay commission itself.

Furthermore, on the MSP, the pay commission says that "in case of employees drawing the same grade pay, the priority (for status) should be on the total emoluments, including non-practising allowance for doctors and the MSP for forces".

The personnel chiefs have pointed out that the MoD has said the MSP shall not be linked to status and rank.

The initial pay fixation for Colonels and Brigadiers was to be done as per scale "S-25" of the pay commission. Under the new instructions, the Colonels and Brigadiers have been given scale "S-24" that is applicable to a grade that is lower in the civil ranks. This means the initial pay of a Colonel will be reduced by Rs 1,300 while a Brigadier will lose Rs 3,000.

Volvo Lay off Job Cut: Volvo laid off fires 1000 employees

It was last month in October when there were reports about Volvo lay off & job cuts and the same has continued.
Bad news is coming from all sectors of the inductry. In last few days, there was the bad news about the General Motors GM Lay off Job Cut and then it was the DHL Lay off Job Cut and today, the truck and bus maker Volvo of Sweden has declared a huge lay off or job cut of nearly 1000 employees primarily based in Sweden as well in in the USA.

Where will the Volvo Lay off Job Cut primarily happen?
The primary locations of Volvo Job Cut would be Sweden and partially USA. Around 900 workers in Sweden and 65 in Hagerstown, Md. would loose their jobs. Few consultants in Sweden will also lose their jobs.

How many employees will be laid off in the Volvo Lay off Job Cut
A total of around 1000 emplyees of Volvo would be laid off.

What are the reasons for the Volvo Lay off Job Cut
The same reasons - as quoted by all companies going for lay offs - Global financial turmoil, reduction in demand , etc. etc.

Which business units will be affected by the Volvo Lay off Job Cut
The unit making engines, gear boxes and rear axles for trucks.

Let's hope that alternative jobs are available to the affected employees of Volvo Lay off.

Private Doctors demand Pay hike: Sixth Pay Commission

The latest news on Sixth Pay Commission has now come from the Private Doctors or Doctors of Private Hospitals:

It is reported by TOI that there were a few private hospitals in Delhi and NCR region, where the private hospital resident doctors started demnding the Pay hike from the hospital management, given the fact that their counterparts (doctors) in the government jobs were earning as much as 30% to 40% more salary than these private resident doctors. All this is courtesy to the Sixth Pay Commission Recommendations, where there are cases where the government sector employee salary has gone way up compared that his/her counterpart in the private sector. Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission News

As per the news, The problem at the private hospitals started when one of the hospital management of Max Healthcare hospitals in Saket and one in Patparganj declined to hike the salaries of the doctors. Following that, the private doctors went on strike demanding a hike in salary. The resident doctors in private hospitals are unhappy as their counterparts in government hospitals are getting nearly 30-40% more than them after the sixth Pay Commission. Joining the Max protest were doctors from Batra hospital, who wore black badges as a mark of protest and have given the management two days time to decide.

The story appears to be the same at other leading hospitals as well - Indraprastha Apollo, Batra Hospital are a few of them.

What are the current salaries of doctors?
A senior resident in government hospital gets somewhere between Rs 55,000 to Rs 58,000, but Private hospital doctors get just Rs 38000-Rs 40,000. The junior residents are even more poorly paid.

Las Vegas Sands Lay off Job Cut: Las Vegas Sands fires thousands

The financial turmoil is taking a toll on all the sectors of the world. The latest one to add to the list of lay off or Job Cuts is the Las Vegas Sands company, which is reported to have laid off thousands of workers.

What are the primary reasons of Las Vegas Sands Lay off Job Cut?
The company is said to have suspended the operations and some of its projects in China. No Project, no work, no workers required so go for Las Vegas Sands Lay off Job Cut.

Where would the Las Vegas Sands Lay off Job Cut be made?
The jobs will primarily be lost in the chinese area or in Macau.

Which units or business division will see the Las Vegas Sands Lay off Job Cut
Majority of the job cuts will be in the construction jobs, as many as 11,000. It is reported that new construction work in Portugese territory is put of hold which is worth 12 billion dollars.

What is happening to the stock price after the Las Vegas Sands Lay off Job Cut was announced?
On Tuesday, shares of Sands (LVS:las vegas sands corp company) went down by around 35% after the company said it would halt new construction in Macau to preserve cash while trying to raise money for other projects underway in Singapore and Pennsylvania. It also said it would make a public offering of 182 million shares of stock without shareholder approval.

Let's hope that alternative jobs are available to the affected employees of Las Vegas Sands Lay off Job Cut.

Cessna Aircraft Lay off Job Cut: Cessna Aircraft fires 500

The financial turmoil is taking a toll on all the sectors of the world. The latest one to add to the list of lay off or Job Cuts is the Las Vegas Sands company, which is reported to have laid off 500 workers.

Which location will the Cessna Aircraft Lay off Job Cut take place?
Cessna Aircraft is reported to lay off people at Wichita Citation Columbus plant. The company will also lay off 165 employees at its Bend, Ore., plant. The cuts will come through involuntary and voluntary layoffs.

What will be the process of Cessna Aircraft Lay off Job Cut?
It is learnt that there was an email sent to the employees by the Vice President of the company in which it was mentioned that the lay off would start in next few weeks.

Will the employees be given any notice period for Cessna Aircraft Lay off Job Cut
The employees would be given a 60 day notice period before they are asked to leave.

Which department will be hurt the most due to Cessna Aircraft Lay off Job Cut
Apart from the regular employees at the above mentoned plants and locations, Contract labor could also be cut.

As per the news, Cessna is the second general aviation company in Wichita to announce layoffs this month. Hawker Beechcraft cut 5 percent of its work force on Friday -- about 490 people-- as it lowered production targets for 2009, a result of the credit crunch and a turbulent economy.

Let's hope that alternative jobs are available to the affected employees of Cessna Aircraft Lay off Job Cut.

Real Estate Investment: Property Investment: REIT Investments

In this article, we will discuss the following topics: What is Real Estate Investment or Property Investment?, How can an investor make a Real Estate Investment or Property Investment?, What are the risks involved in the Real Estate Investment or Property Investment? How safe is your Real Estate Investment or Property Investment.

What is Real Estate Investment or Property Investment?
Real Estate Investment or Property Investment is the term used for investments made in the Real Estate or Property areas, where an investor attempts to benefit from the rising prices of the Real Estate or Property. Real Estate is defined as an immovable property like land or something permanently fixed to it, like a building or construction. The Property can be residential or commercial - say for example, it can be a residential building which is coming up in the nearby area or it can be a commercial shopping complex which may be coming up in the business areas of the city.

How can one benefit from Real Estate Investment or Property Investment
There are two aspects which are looked upon by the investor who invests in Real Estate Investment or Property Investment.

First, he/she can make an investment in a property at a lower price today and sell it off later after some time, when the property prices increase significantly or as per the expectations of the investor. For e.g. you may buy a residential apartment for 1 million dollars in a sub-urb in New York when the area is being developed. After 3 years, the price of that apartment may rise significantly as the locality develops and becomes a hot property. Say the price triples in value, and reaches 3 million dollars. Hence, you can sell it and book your profits from Real Estate Investment or Property Investment.

Second option is to RENT out the property to someone and get a continous cash flow in the form of monthly rent. Say you bought a shop in an upcoming shopping mall for half a million dollars and rent it out to a retailer who wishes to open a grocery store. You sign a rent agreement with him and get a continous monthly cash flow in the form of rent. Additionally, you also have the benefit of property price rise.

How is the Real Estate Investment or Property Investment Market growing?
Real Estate Investment or Property Investment has now become a major area or sector of focus in the investments arena. Real estate investment can be attractive if viewed as a business opportunity; it can generate rental income, using it as collateral to secure a loan for a business venture, to offset otherwise taxable income through cash savings on tax-deductible interest rate losses, or simply from the profits garnered from its resale. Notable, in this context is the gains reaped by real estate speculators who trade in real estate futures (by buying and selling purchase options).

What are the benefits of Real Estate Investment or Property Investment
There are plenty of benefits:
- You get REAL assets - like land, building, etc
- You can use the Real Estate or Property as collateral
- You can generate continous stream of money in the form of rent
- You can benefit from favourable price rise in the property prices
- Some countries allow tax benefits on your Real Estate Investment or Property Investment

What are the options available for small investors in Real Estate Investment or Property Investment?
The Real Estate Investment or Property Investment requires a huge value of money if one directly wants to buy the property. Depending upon the location and area, the price may range in millions and billions of dollars, making it unaffordable for many individual investors to buy property as an investment. Say for e.g., you want to buy a house in New York, but you cant afford it. So you can buy shares of the company which is building houses in New York and thereby attempt to indirectly benefit from the price rise of the company.

However, markets have developed with alternative options and there are many available for small investors:
- You can buy shares or stocks of Real Estate Companies
- You can select your real estate companies for share purchase based upon your requirements - for e.g. if you are specifically looking for residential apartment investment, you can select the stocks of companies in residential projects and so on
- You can buy units in Mutual Funds which are focussed on Real Estate Investment or Property Investment
- You have the option of REIT or Real Estate Investment Trust. It is a corporation or body investing in real estate that has the property to reduce or eliminate corporate income taxes. In return, REIT’s are required to distribute 90% of their income among the investors. These incomes are often taxable. REIT’s provide a similar function as does Mutual Funds provide for stocks in the share market. The key statistics to study about the REIT’s are the NAV (Net Asset Value) and AFFO (Adjusted Funds From Operation).

REIT’s provide the opportunity to reap the benefits due to interests in the securitized real estate market. The best benefit that can accrue is the fast and easy liquidation of investments in the real estate market which can be observed in Japan which one of the few economies of Asia along with Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan to have REIT legislation in place. J-REIT securities are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and most of the participants are domestic and foreign conglomerates. The legislation for laying out rules for REITs in UK was enacted by the Finance Act of 2006.they have to distribute 95% of their income and have to be publicly listed on a stock exchange which has been recognized by the FSA (Financial Services Authority). In the USA, the REIT’s are required to pay little or no federal income tax but are subject to legislations put forth by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 whereby they have to distribute 90% of their taxable income in the form of dividends to its shareholders. Increasing demand for REIT stocks will push up the stock prices and entail growth from internal sources which is evidenced by the figures of 2005 where the combined assets of 200 publicly traded REIT companies totaled $500 billion.

What are the risks associated with the Real Estate Investment or Property Investment?
One should never forget the risk part in any investment he/she is making. It all looks good untill the returns are positive and the markets are going up and up. Problem begins when the prices start going down. Real Estate Investment or Property Investment is no different

- One should not forget the Subprime mortgage lending troubles which have hit the world economy
- The reduction in property prices is one of the biggest risk, whether it is residential property or commercial property
- When you make an investment in property, you are betting on the assumption that property prices will rise in that area. There is a risk of unwanted developments in the locality due to which the property prices may fall - for e.g., near a residential complex, opening of a pub or a slum area may lead to price rise. Another case can be due to the development of a polluting & noisy factory nearby.
- Your Real Estate Investment or Property Investment through real estate mutual fund are carrying the risk of performance of your fund manager
- If you are living in a country like India, where legal disputes take decades to be solved, then you bear the risk of conflicts with the builder or other related parties

DSP Merrill Lynch Mutual Fund is Now DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund

After Merrill Lynch was sold out in the US, investors of DSP Merrill Lynch India, which was operating in Indian Mutual Fund Industry were left wondering about what happened to the DSP Merrill Lynch Mutual Funds.

DSP Merrill Lynch yesterday came out with a big advertisement, informing the public about the developments. DSP Merrill Lynch has now changed its name to DSP Blackrock. As readers may be aware, BlackRock is one of the largest Private Equity Investment firm of the world. The new website of DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund.

The following text appeared in the newspapers of the country:

DSP Merrill Lynch Mutual Fund is Now DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund

This is in line with the global realignment of the Merrill Lynch's Asset Management Business in 2006 with BlackRock. Blackrock is one of the largest listed asset management companies in the world managing assets in excess of US$1.2 trillion (approximately Rs. 56,00,000 Crore) and serving clients in over 60 countries worlwide.

The DSP Group, with a track record of over 140 years, is one of the oldest financial services firms in India.

The increasing rate of change and complexity in financial markets creates a distinct advantage for those who can spot opportunity early and react to it instantly. At DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund, our combination of experienced proessionals, powerful technology and global perspective uniquely qualifies us to take advantage of these opportunities and offer investment solutions that differentiated by choice, credibility and expertise.

Opoortunities favours the prepared mind.

Valuations of Rs. 56,00,000 Crore As on Spetember 29, 2008, 1 USD @ Rs. 46.94

Sixth Pay Commission: Ministry of Defence Controversy with Armed forces Pay hike

The game that begun with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations is not getting clear any furhter, especially with respect to what the Armed Forces or Defence Forces are trying to ask for. The latest news on Sixth Pay Commission is that there is a fresh controversy erupting between the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces. It may further delay the implementations of the Sixth Pay Commission. Leaders of various political parties have already made it a big agenda to highlight the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission News.

As per the news that had come in earlier, a high-level committee comprising of three Cabinet ministers was looking at the four "core issues" that the armed forces have raised after the Sixth Pay Commission report was released. To add salt to injuries, a new controversy has erupted. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Armed forces are learnt to be at loggerheads with each other once again over salary related issues that have cropped up in the past one week.

There were already many anomalies that were reported to be corrected by the armed forces, but even after the high level committee instructions, the forces have now found some more new anomalies in the special instructions that were not there in the Sixth Pay Commission report approved by the Cabinet and notified by the government. Angered at being "short-changed", the chief of personnel officers committee (COPOC) of the three forces has shot a letter to the MoD asking it to remove seven aberrations that include the dilution of the provisions of the pay commission as approved by the Cabinet and in some cases restore the deleted portions. These are separate from the four core issues being examined by the ministerial committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee.

The adjutant general at present heads the COPOC that also comprises the personnel officers of the Air force and the Navy. Out of the many serious anomalies, the key ones are: the dilution of the definition of the military service pay; the subversion of the definition of rank pay and the fixing of the initial pay scale for Colonels and Brigadiers at a level that is lower than what is due.

The foremost issue is of the rank pay that will result in a lesser hike in waoges of all officers. The adjutant general has pointed out that the Fourth Pay Commission onward the rank pay is counted part of the basic pay. This is the government policy to club the two increases, thus affecting the quantum of house rent allowance, travelling allowance and DA. Under new orders, the MoD has delinked the rank pay from the basic pay. Hence, effectively reducing the HRA, travelling allowances and DA for each officer.

In case of the military service pay (MSP), the Sixth Pay Commission explains it as "compensation for difficulties specific to military life". The MoD in its latest orders to implement the pay commission report refers it to as a type of hardship allowance to "security forces" in forward areas. The personnel officers have questioned as to why the definition of the MSP has not been adopted from the pay commission itself.

Furthermore, on the MSP, the pay commission says that "in case of employees drawing the same grade pay, the priority (for status) should be on the total emoluments, including non-practising allowance for doctors and the MSP for forces".

The personnel chiefs have pointed out that the MoD has said the MSP shall not be linked to status and rank.

The initial pay fixation for Colonels and Brigadiers was to be done as per scale "S-25" of the pay commission. Under the new instructions, the Colonels and Brigadiers have been given scale "S-24" that is applicable to a grade that is lower in the civil ranks. This means the initial pay of a Colonel will be reduced by Rs 1,300 while a Brigadier will lose Rs 3,000.
The game that begun with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations is not getting clear any furhter, especially with respect to what the Armed Forces or Defence Forces are trying to ask for. The latest news on Sixth Pay Commission is that there is a fresh controversy erupting between the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces. It may further delay the implementations of the Sixth Pay Commission. Leaders of various political parties have already made it a big agenda to highlight the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. Wikipedia on Sixth Pay Commission News.

As per the news that had come in earlier, a high-level committee comprising of three Cabinet ministers was looking at the four "core issues" that the armed forces have raised after the Sixth Pay Commission report was released. To add salt to injuries, a new controversy has erupted. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Armed forces are learnt to be at loggerheads with each other once again over salary related issues that have cropped up in the past one week.

There were already many anomalies that were reported to be corrected by the armed forces, but even after the high level committee instructions, the forces have now found some more new anomalies in the special instructions that were not there in the Sixth Pay Commission report approved by the Cabinet and notified by the government. Angered at being "short-changed", the chief of personnel officers committee (COPOC) of the three forces has shot a letter to the MoD asking it to remove seven aberrations that include the dilution of the provisions of the pay commission as approved by the Cabinet and in some cases restore the deleted portions. These are separate from the four core issues being examined by the ministerial committee headed by Pranab Mukherjee.

The adjutant general at present heads the COPOC that also comprises the personnel officers of the Air force and the Navy. Out of the many serious anomalies, the key ones are: the dilution of the definition of the military service pay; the subversion of the definition of rank pay and the fixing of the initial pay scale for Colonels and Brigadiers at a level that is lower than what is due.

The foremost issue is of the rank pay that will result in a lesser hike in waoges of all officers. The adjutant general has pointed out that the Fourth Pay Commission onward the rank pay is counted part of the basic pay. This is the government policy to club the two increases, thus affecting the quantum of house rent allowance, travelling allowance and DA. Under new orders, the MoD has delinked the rank pay from the basic pay. Hence, effectively reducing the HRA, travelling allowances and DA for each officer.

In case of the military service pay (MSP), the Sixth Pay Commission explains it as "compensation for difficulties specific to military life". The MoD in its latest orders to implement the pay commission report refers it to as a type of hardship allowance to "security forces" in forward areas. The personnel officers have questioned as to why the definition of the MSP has not been adopted from the pay commission itself.

Furthermore, on the MSP, the pay commission says that "in case of employees drawing the same grade pay, the priority (for status) should be on the total emoluments, including non-practising allowance for doctors and the MSP for forces".

The personnel chiefs have pointed out that the MoD has said the MSP shall not be linked to status and rank.

The initial pay fixation for Colonels and Brigadiers was to be done as per scale "S-25" of the pay commission. Under the new instructions, the Colonels and Brigadiers have been given scale "S-24" that is applicable to a grade that is lower in the civil ranks. This means the initial pay of a Colonel will be reduced by Rs 1,300 while a Brigadier will lose Rs 3,000.

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