| Court order clouds appointment of IIT directors |
| CHARU |
| Human resource development ministry documents accessed by The Telegraph reveal that the government never issued public notices inviting applications for the posts of directors, barring in IIT Bombay, to the institutes when they last fell vacant. Article 16 of the Constitution states that “there shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the state”. Article 14 refers to equal opportunities to all citizens. The high court cited these articles yesterday while declaring illegal the appointment of Ananth for a second term in 2007. “It is rather shocking that no public notice was given, no advertisement was given in newspapers for the post of director, thus violating Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution,” the court had said. HRD ministry officials today confirmed that the government planned to challenge the high court order against Ananth’s re-appointment. “We are still going through the judgment, but we have no option but to challenge this order as it affects all other directors as well,” an official said. The court, officials complained, failed to give the government adequate opportunity to contest the allegations based on which the IIT director’s appointment was set aside. The ministry may appeal either in Madras High Court, or — more likely — approach the Supreme Court, the sources said. If the high court verdict is upheld in any appeal, it will cast a cloud of uncertainty over the appointment of other directors, too. Section 17 of the IIT Act, 1961, states that “the director of each institute shall be appointed by the council with the prior approval of the Visitor (the President of India).” The council referred to is the IIT council, the highest decision-making body of the IITs, chaired by HRD minister Arjun Singh. But ministry documents establish that for at least three director appointments apart from Ananth’s re-appointment, no meeting of the council was called. The IIT council never met to deliberate on the appointment of the current IIT Kharagpur director. It also did not meet to decide the re-appointment of the current directors of IIT Guwahati and As reported by The Telegraph yesterday, the IIT council has not met for over two years. It is not clear whether the judge, Justice K. Chandru, expressly ruled against re-appointment of IIT directors in general, as the appellant E. Muralidharan had sought. “In any event, when once the term of office is specified under statute, the same cannot be extended beyond that period,” the judge had said. All directors are members of the IIT council, which under law is required to make fresh appointments to the post of director. Allowing reappointments will imply institutionalising conflict of interest, the appellant argued, as a candidate will be sitting on the panel deciding on his candidature. |
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Court order clouds appointment of IIT directors
Monday, December 22, 2008
Several engineers are UNEMPLOYABLE
Several engineers are UNEMPLOYABLE
Many engineering graduates just don’t have the right skills
Rajagopal Sreenivasan
There may be several reasons for this such as parental pressure, and so on. But the the Indian education system is one of the prime culprits.
A bit of investigation reveals the following facts: The teacher invests about two hours per subject to cram in the facts, figures, and derivations concerning it. But very little is being done to introduce the subject in a holistic sense. The relevance of the subject in the real world is hardly being emphasized.
2. You can’t just blame the teachers. Assuming that the student does take pains to understand the subject on her own, more often than not, she meets a dead-end called exams, which reinforce the adage: curiosity killed the cat. Does more curiosity fetch more marks in a university exam? The answer is obvious.
The approaches to a possible solution are: 1.Reduce the number of hours. Perhaps about one and half hours must be devoted to dwell on details concerning subject, and spend half an hour explaining its larger purpose and motivate them to study it.
2. Exams must be made as unpredictable as possible. Standard question patterns in exams is a deterrent to learning. In reality, it’s ignorance that kills the cat but curiosity gets framed. Grades must bank on project work, interviews, interaction with peers and professors and, most importantly, on classroom discussions.
Prof. S Sadagopan, director, Indian Institute of Information Technology,
(The writer is a first year
MTech student of IIIT-B)
Cabbie ends life
Cabbie ends life
Harassment By Firm Alleged
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore:
Drivers employed by Easy Cab and other cab operators protested in front of the Bengaluru International Airport, alleging that one of its drivers committed suicide because of harassment by the company.
Prakash of Madhugiri, Tumkur district, consumed poison on November 30 and was admitted to
Drivers’ Association representative Allah Baksh alleged that harassment by owners of the company pushed Prakash to suicide. It collected Rs 25,000 as advance, before handing over the car, but failed to fulfil the promise made to the driver on maintenance and repairs.
The company also allegedly harassed Prakash to pay daily rentals, he said, demanding Rs 10 lakh as compensation for the driver’s family.
Easy Cab manager Unnikrishnan denied that the company harassed Prakash and made promises on repairs and maintenance. The company cannot pay any compensation, he said.
Divorce rate up 30% in 3 yrs
Divorce rate up 30% in 3 yrs
Half The Cases In City Are From IT/BPO Industries
Dipannita Das | TNN
While economic independence at the top end of the social strata is seen as motivator for women to opt out of bad marriages, at the lower end, it is the increased awareness of their rights, especially when confronted by abusive husbands. Increased societal acceptance of divorce, better access to courts and redressal mechanism are equally strong influencers.
Advocates who deal in divorces say that more than 50% of cases filed are from the IT/BPO sector. While financial security is one factor, erratic working hours, work pressures, stress, all contribute to marital discord. Many professionals in IT/BPO sector find it difficult to strike work-life balance which impacts marriages negatively.
Lawyers say that as the couple has the financial ability to cope with a split, there’s little effort made to make a difficult marriage work. This is borne out by the fact that in 30-40% of the cases, couples opt for divorce with mutual consent. Advocate B Srikumara of a legal firm says a majority of the tech couples heading towards splitsville are in their 20s and early 30s. Many married for a mere year or two. Women married to men a couple of years younger also seem to prefer divorce in noticeable numbers.
Sparring couples seek counsellors’ help
Couples do seek help from counsellors/psychiatrists to mend their relationship. Consultant psychiatrist Thomas MJ says the problem arises with long hours of work, night shifts, spending more time with colleagues, etc.
2 different scenarios, 1 result
Sudha and Amit,IT professionals, married for love. A year down the line it turned bitter. Her in-laws wanted her to do household chores when she returned from work. Finding it difficult to adjust, she filed for divorce.
In another case, for Manjunath, an IT professional, the two years of married life did not work out. He could not spend quality time with his family. Working late at office he failed to pay attention to his wife or be a part in family decisions. Marital discord led to the couple separating by mutual consent.
toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com
Might is right for most
More than a quarter of all US teenagers think violent behaviour is at least sometimes acceptable, and one in five say they behaved violently toward another person in the past year, according to a new poll.
Most said self-defence (87%) or helping a friend (73%) were acceptable justifications for violence. But 34% said revenge was a sufficient motivation.
The poll was conducted by Opinion Research for the school-support organization Junior Achievement and the tax and consulting firm Deloitte, LLC.
More than three-fourths of the respondents who said violence is acceptable also consider themselves ethically prepared to
enter the work force, according to a report on LiveScience.com. That sticks in the craw of David W Miller, who is the director of the Princeton University Faith & Work Initiative and a professor of business ethics at the
In an analysis released with the poll, Miller suggests the survey results bode ill for the future workforce. It’s not clear that’s the case, however. In fact, teens are known to think differently than adults because their brains have not matured. Scans reveal that teens’ ethics change dramatically as they grow into adulthood. Or do they?
The survey of 750 young people (half boys, half girls) age 12 to 17 was conducted between October 9 and October 12. The results were released this week.
“It is highly troubling that so many teenagers have a self-image of ethical readiness and the confidence in their ability to make good decisions later in life, yet at the same time freely admit to current behaviour that is highly unethical,” Miller said in a statement accompanying the poll results. “Employers will have their hands full if a quarter of teens grow up still willing to resort to violence and other unethical behavior when it comes to making decisions about how to settle differences, protect their interests or get ahead,” said Miller in a statement. AGENCIES
YOUNG ’N’ RESTLESS: More than a quarter of all
Harassment', long hours of work driving KSRTC crew to suicide?
Harassment’, long hours of work driving KSRTC crew to suicide?
S. Rajendran
| ‘Working conditions have deteriorated after KSRTC was split’ |
Gaikwad
The family of Vijaykumar (48), a senior driver of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), is in dire straits after he committed suicide on the premises of the Mangalore depot of the corporation in July. He had put in 18 years of service in the KSRTC.
“He was a bachelor and the sole breadwinner of the family. After his death, I and my two sisters have been left in the lurch. Even his Provident Fund and gratuity have not been settled since he had nominated his mother for the benefits. She too passed away soon after his death,” his brother Ganesh told The Hindu.
The KSRTC has refused to give any of the family members a job on compassionate grounds. The family lives in a small house at Kaniyoor in Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada. No action has been taken against the divisional security inspector and a traffic inspector who had reportedly harassed and assaulted Vijaykumar on several occasions.
Conductor Chandrakantha of Shimoga was working in Gulbarga Division.
He drank poison while on duty and died unable to bear the alleged harassment by a traffic inspector. Gaikwad, senior driver of the Bijapur depot, committed suicide in the depot on February 16 by hanging.
In a suicide note, he stated that he was harassed by the depot manager. The authorities have not even questioned the manager concerned or any other officer.
Harishchandra, a caretaker at NWKRTC, committed suicide at the divisional workshop in Bijapur for similar reasons.
Several others, who had attempted suicide, have escaped death, thanks to medical intervention. On October 12, driver Athaulla attempted suicide in Kolar after he was “chased” by members of a checking squad of the KSRTC.
Driver Jagannatha of Kolar Division also attempted suicide in August. On October 23, M. Chandrappa, conductor, drank poison in the chamber of the Shimoga Depot manager and was rushed to hospital. Conductor Pavitra drank poison while on duty because of alleged harassment. She survived after medical intervention and is now facing a case of attempt to suicide.
Six drivers and conductors committed suicide in the past six years and 15 more attempted suicide. “It is a sad story of a government-run agency harassing its employees with an eye on making profit,” the KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation told The Hindu.
General Secretary of the federation H.V. Ananthasubba Rao said that working conditions had deteriorated after KSRTC was split.
“The strength of staff to bus ratio is one of the least in the KSRTC and the other three corporations. While it is 4.8 personnel for every government bus in the State, the ratio in Tamil Nadu is 6.5; it is 6.5 in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi Transport Corporation has 11, while BEST, Mumbai, has nine. Added to all this, there is no grievance settlement mechanism in such a mammoth corporation,” he said.
Managing Director of the KSRTC Gaurav Gupta said: “The government bus corporations maintain 40 per cent additional crew than really required to meet exigencies, including leave and weekly offs of employees. Suicides could always be for various reasons and will be looked into. We have an active labour welfare wing which is in touch with bus crew and conduct home visits and counselling wherever required. The bus-staff ratio here is reasonable.”
U.S. exporting recession to the world, says Stiglitz
U.S. exporting recession to the world, says Stiglitz
Special Correspondent
Every successful economy is a market economy
There is need to design a new global system
— Photo: V.V. Krishnan
Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz at the 10th D.T. Lakdawala memorial lecture on ‘Crises Today and the Future of Capitalism,’ in
Describing the developed world’s decision to consult the G-20 as a positive outcome of the global meltdown, he was of the view that the two countries should also speak for the 152 countries which were not invited to the meeting.
Delivering the 10th D. T. Lakdawala memorial lecture on ‘Crises Today and the Future of Capitalism,’ the noted economist said the problem – essentially a
Arguing that every successful economy is a market economy, Professor Stiglitz pointed out that the problem lay in the way it evolved in the
Globalisation, according to the economist, had failed primarily because it was based on a flawed economic ideology.
Making out a case for a global regulatory authority, he said there was a need to design a new global system to develop immunity or at least limit the consequences of failure. Failure was contagious in the present brand of globalisation as a result of which the
While there was recognition of the importance of a coordinated global fiscal and monetary response, he said the required reforms went deeper, and included creating a new global reserve system and a new global financial regulatory authority. And he underlined that globalisation had to ensure the maximum good for the maximum numbers and not just the privileged few who got richer under the existing regime.
Holding forth for nearly two hours, the former chief economist of the World Bank carried the audience along right through; punctuating his lecture – organised by Institute of Social Sciences – with digs galore at the U.S., particularly the Bush administration and its response to the crisis. The International Monetary Fund, too, came in for criticism for going around the world lobbying for deregulation like the
About bailout packages, he likened it to giving mass blood transfusion to a patient who was haemorrhaging internally. Worse, he added, there was still no change in the mindset. As for American banks’ refrain on self-regulation, Professor Stiglitz said: “Self-regulation is an oxymoron. Banks said they knew how to manage risk and needed no regulation. What they knew was how to create risk. There is so much of blame to go around that they can all lay claim to it.”
Sunday, November 30, 2008
'Guide would not have had to be shot twice, if produced now'
| 'Guide would not have had to be shot twice, if produced now' | |||||
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Panaji, Nov 30 (PTI) Veteran actor Dev Anand has said he would not have had to shoot his film 'Guide' twice deleting certain content, if it was produced in the current days.
"Guide was made in two versions. One was American, based on the Novel by R K Narayan. Indian version was not the book one and had to change as there was little adultery content which was not considered as ethical during those times," Dev Anand told PTI.
Anand was felicitated at International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2008 on Saturday here in presence of Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, Actor Jackie Shroff and festival director S M Khan.
"Certain part of the American version dealt with adultery so we had to shoot the film once again," Anand said.
The 1965 movie starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman was directed by Vijay Anand, who had also contributed in the screenplay. A 120-minute
"Now the country is ready for such subject matter and things are already being discussed on television and films," the veteran actor said.
These changes in outlook may be because of globalisation, he said.
Talking about his forthcoming film, 'Chargesheet', Dev Anand refused to talk much as according to him he would like to keep "suspense" over the film.
"It's a suspense thriller," he said, refusing to divulge the star-cast in it. "There are some new faces and old ones too," he added. PTI
Ironic, we eased just before being hit by terror: Ratan Tata
| Ironic, we eased just before being hit by terror: Ratan Tata | |||||
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"It's ironic that we did have such a warning, and we did have some measures (for the additional security)," Tata told
The over 100-years-old iconic hotel stands mutilated in the financial capital of India after about 60-hour long siege by terrorists who indulged in arson and explosion before being gunned down by NSG guards yesterday morning.
Post attack, Tata rued that crisis infrastructure was "woefully poor" and the attacks revealed deficiencies in the law enforcement, especially in areas of crisis response and management.
"We are indignant but not scared," he quipped.
Although he did not elaborate on the additional security measures, Tata felt even these steps could not have prevented the terrorists from entering the hotel.
Speaking to CNN's Fareed Zakaria, he said that "people could not park their cars in the portico, where you had to go through a metal detector" due to the additional security.
".... If I look at what (measures) we had (enacted)... It could not have stopped what took place," Tata said, adding that the attackers did not come through the front door, where additional security measures had been temporarily enacted.
"They did not come through that entrance.. They came from somewhere in the back... They knew what they were doing and they did not go through the front. All of our arrangements were in the front. PTI
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Sacked worker kills Indian-American CEO in US
An Indian-American CEO of a semiconductor company was shot dead along with two other persons by a laid-off employee of the firm in northern
Sid Agrawal, the chief executive officer of SiPort Inc, the company's vice president of operations Brian Pugh and an unidentified woman was killed when several rounds were fired on the premises of the firm in
Police said investigators are searching for Jing Hua Wu, 47, in connection with the shooting.
Jing worked as a lead product test engineer for the four-year-old firm, media reports here said. Police said he had recently been laid off from the company and investigators are exploring that as a possible motive in the shooting.
It is believed that a handgun was used in the shooting, a police official told reporters.
Police released a description of the vehicle in which Jiang is believed to have fled and launched a manhunt for him.
According to his biography in the company's website, Agrawal had more than 25 years of experience at startup and established high-technology companies, including at Adobe, Intel and Bell Labs.
He held a degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT-Kanpur, an MS degree from Southern Illinois University and an MBA from the
'No thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers': Obama
| 'No thriving Wall Street while | |||||
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"If this financial crisis has taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers -- in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people," Obama said in his second radio address after his historic election to America's top office on November 4, indicating his resolve to clean-up the current mess in the US financial sector.
In his message coinciding with G-20 summit, Obama noted the leaders of the world's largest economies were seeking solutions to the "ongoing turmoil in our financial markets." In his pre-poll speeches, Obama has said he sees an overhaul of Wall Street regulations as crucial to restoring trust in US markets.
The housing-market meltdown and credit crisis that have pushed the
Backing incumbent President George W Bush for initiating the meeting, the 47-year-old Democrat senator said the global economic crisis required a coordinated global response.
"Make no mistake: this is the greatest economic challenge of our time. And while the road ahead will be long, and the work will be hard, I know that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis -- because here in
"I am more hopeful than ever before that
Chidambaram asks US, Europe to 'set their house in order'
| Chidambaram asks US, | |||||
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"If they (US and
The Minister further said, "What
Asked about the ways to encourage capital flow back to developing countries, Chidambaram said, "We do not have to do anything more. What we have had in place was enough to attract capital in the last three years. What is happening now is because of what is happening in their countries." PTI
PM@ G20->failure of regulatory and supervisory mechanism
| Sharp focus on financial meltdown at G20 meet | ||
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| PM seeks fiscal package | ||
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| Washington, PTI: | ||
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| Warning that the financial meltdown has exploded into a systemic crisis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked the world leaders to work on a coordinated fiscal package to tackle recession that is hitting | ||
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Singh, an eminent economist himself, prescribed a slew of measures, including short-term swap arrangements, special incentives to counter shrinkage of capital inflows and activating a process of replenishing IMF resources. What’s on | | |
Asian banks' employees come together to protect jobs
| Asian banks' employees come together to protect jobs | ||
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| In the midst of the global financial crisis taking its toll on banks in the | ||
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To begin with, the association will have representation of 20 unions from countries including Venkatachalam said the association has twin objectives of ensuring job safety and resisting forces that may attempt to hinder the socio-economic growth of It is now an established fact that the current global financial sector crisis is the result of the fallacy and failure of the policies of liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation, he said.
"The myth of free market stands totally exposed all over the world," he said. Therefore, like-minded people in Asian countries have decided to form an association to safeguard the interests of employees and customers, he said. The secretariat will function from Chennai, he said, adding other office-bearers are from | | |
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Global slowdown turns the heat on six lakh garment workers
Global slowdown turns the heat on six lakh garment workers
Bageshree S. and Sharath S. Srivatsa
| Orders come down by 10 per cent; units resort to lay-offs |
Factories are facing problems with deferred purchase
Many are giving extended Deepavali break to workers
— Photo: K. Murali Kumar
Workers entering their factory in
The orders for factories, which are dependent on exports, mainly to the
Industry insiders say that the situation might become worse in the next quarter if the global situation does not improve by then.
Reduced spending
Rising unemployment and reduced spending by the Americans have forced some of the leading brands in the
Sandeep Walia, Chief Executive Officer of Arwind Apparels, told The Hindu that the industry was in “recessionary mode,” and industries were looking at “building in efficiency” and “cutting out all the fat” by cutting down on expenses, such as avoidable air travel, and “increasing plant efficiency”.
While some of the smaller units have closed shop, many are giving extended Deepavali break to workers with a rider that they will make up for this when the orders start pouring in.
The fact that people in Europe and the
“Many of these brands which have businesses in
Acknowledging that there is an “anticipation of slowdown” by December if the present trend continues, Jagdish N. Hinduja of Gokuldas Images, said that orders were “reasonably good” at present.
Feeling the heat
Meanwhile, the downward trend has turned the heat on about six lakh garment workers in the city.
The industries are resorting to reducing the shift size and giving offs to the employees.
Kumari, a worker in a factory at Gowdanapalya near Uttarahalli, said that production targets were so strict now that workers found it difficult to take a break even to drink water.
She had no work between October 2 and 13 and is yet to know if she will be paid for this period.
Holidays
A company on
“They have been paid for this period and told that they should compensate for it when work picks up again,” said K.R. Jayaram of Garment and Textile Workers Union.
Vishalakshi, who worked as a tailor at MD Apparels at Madanayakanahalli, lost her job when the unit closed down. She joined another factory in the same locality, but was paid only Rs. 120 a day as against Rs. 147 paid earlier.
“The market is down and they said I could quit if I was not happy with the pay,” she says. Ms. Vishalakshi is now looking for her third job within six months.
A manager of a unit near Nelamanagala said he had instructions to cut about 10 per cent of the employee strength after strict performance appraisals. Overtime wages had been stopped, he added.
Obama harps on 'change'; McCain calls him 'redistributionist'
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Monday, October 27, 2008
Woman delivers baby in auto-rickshaw, court gives compensation
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