Want to see what lies ahead in the world of operating systems? Head to the Web. That's where you'll find some workable examples of operating systems that move everything- applications, files, and communications- from the confines of your desktop to the more widely accessible Internet.
And mind you, Web-based operating systems are more than just a collection of applications that run within a browser. They're self-contained environments in which you can create and store documents, copy files from one folder or drive to another, and conduct communications.
In short, almost everything you can do from Windows or the Mac OS should be able to be accomplished within a Web OS. All you need is a Web browser to get there. Here's looking into some options.
Google Chrome
While the major players in the software industry are not yet among those with Web-based operating system (OS) prototypes, it's clear that the big names are paying attention- and making plans.
Google's Chrome, with its Spartan interface- largely devoid of visible menus, button bars, and status panels, easily reminds one of the basis of an operating system when it's expanded to full screen.
And Microsoft, although deriving a large portion of its revenue from the lucrative desktop applications business, has just announced that it will create Web-based versions of its Microsoft Office applications- and make them available for free.
eyeOS
A good place to start in your discovery of Web-based operating systems is eyeOS (http://eyeos.org), which is free, open source, and very easy to sign up for. There's no need to install anything to use eyeOS.
Simply sign up with a user name and password to create an account, and from that point forward, you have an operating system on the Web, accessible from any browser. eyeOS creates space on its servers to store your operating system settings and any files you create.
eyeOS resembles contemporary desktop-bound operating systems.
There's a workspace area- or desktop- along with icons on the left that represent shortcuts to applications, including a word processor, calendar, contact manager, RSS feed, and a trash bin.
Fire up the eyeOS word processor and you'll find yourself in a serviceable document creation tool, replete with toolbar buttons for most of the formatting tasks that users require today.
Documents you save are stored on eyeOS's servers by default, so there's no local storage involved. You can, if you choose, download the files you create to your own PC and upload files to your eyeOS environment.
The beauty of a Web-based environment, however, is that you can shut down your browser -- and thus your eyeOS operating system -- on one machine, launch a browser on another machine in another location, and then launch your eyeOS desktop again.
eyeOS even remembers all of the applications and documents you were last working on, so the workspace you see is exactly the one you left off with.
A green eyeOS button at the bottom middle of the screen is analogous to the Windows Vista Start button.
It contains shortcuts to system settings, applications, and a few other commands, including Close Session. Enter System Preferences, and you'll see some impressive customisation options, including the ability to change the theme, or look, of eyeOS to resemble Vista, Ubuntu, Gnome, or other operating systems. The one glaring omission from eyeOS is an e-mail client. Apparently you're expected to bring your own e-mail.
G.ho.st
G.ho.st (http://g.ho.st/) is in some ways even more full-featured and certainly more colourful- than eyeOS. After you sign up, for free, G.ho.st carves out an impressive 5 gigabytes of file storage on its servers for you, and it creates your very own G.ho.st Mail e-mail account, with 3 gigabytes of storage.
Like eyeOS, there's nothing to install. Once you sign up, you'll receive a confirmation e-mail message. Click the activation link inside, and you're ready to go.
The first time you launch G.ho.st, your browser will switch to full-screen mode so that you can see all there is that G.ho.st has to offer. There's a full-featured word processor, spreadsheet, e-mail, your personal G.ho.st drive for file storage, instant messaging, and even a few games.
There's also plenty of hand-holding in G.ho.st, as well, with icons that offer to take you on a tour of G.ho.st, help you set up your e-mail, create and edit documents, and upload files from your desktop computer to your G.ho.st environment.
A Go button in the lower left-hand corner of the G.ho.st screen mimics Vista's Start button; it provides handy access to all of the operating system's features and programs.
G.ho.st is full of glitz and color, and it is consequently more demanding of your hardware and somewhat more sluggish than eyeOS, which is streamlined by comparison. Still, many will likely find that G.ho.st's friendliness will make any performance hit worthwhile.
Desktop Two
Desktop Two (http://desktoptwo.com) is a java-based Web operating system that's the quickest of all to set up and get going.
After a brief sign-up routine, the desktop loads, and you're ready to start exploring.
Desktop Two offers more applications that allow users to create their own presence on the Web than the other major Web operating systems. Along with a word processor and e-mail program, Desktop Two provides a Web site editor and a blogging programme.
The blogging application, in particular, is impressive, providing a two-click entry into the world of setting up and maintaining your own blog.
Once you create your first blog entry, the programme provides you with the Web address that you can distribute to the world so that others can visit your blog on the Internet.
Desktop Two's conventional applications are less impressive, however, in part because the operating system was not always able to save documents to Desktop Two's online storage system.
Why Web-based OS
One could argue that a Web-based operating system is redundant, since one needs a computer, operating system, and Web browser to access an online operating system.
While that's true, the point of an online operating system is complete environment portability.
That means being able to log on to any computer that has an Internet connection and, in the time it takes to launch your Web OS, having all of your applications and documents ready for you to resume work.
Although you could cobble together many of the elements of a Web OS by using, say, Google Docs, Yahoo Mail, and other online applications, doing so would require you to make several stops around the Internet.
There's no doubt that today's Web-based operating systems are far from feature-laden, and they probably will not tempt many to abandon their current routine that combines desktop and Web-based software.
But given the push that the major players in the industry are making toward a completely Web-based future, there's also little doubt that Web-based operating systems, or some form thereof, are in our collective future.
Source: Agencies
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Caretel Infotech hires 600 people for BPO operations
Dalmia group company Caretel Infotech is upbeat about the opportunities in the BPO space and has hired about 600 people, even while others are handing out pink slips to employees amid the current slowdown.
"In last 30 days, we have recruited 619 employees for our various projects from metros and even small towns like Chindwara at Rajasthan for our Kisaan Call Centre Project. For our various assignments, we will be recruiting more and more people from all over India and train them for the future," Caretel Infotech Chief Executive Officer Amit Roy said in a statement.
The company also said it is looking at the downturn as as an opportunity to bag more deals, both in the country and overseas.
"We are looking at this slowdown as an opportunity and have started international outsourcing process for some part of the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand to manage the slowdown impact. We have also increased our national clientele as we have bagged assignments from reputed brands like DDA ... and soon will close a DTH service provider in India," Roy said.
Caretel has 13 business centres in India and employs over 6,000 people. It is now expanding its operations overseas and is targeting a significant growth from its global clients.
For our international clients, we will be hiring 200 or more people in near future, he added.
Source: Agencies
"In last 30 days, we have recruited 619 employees for our various projects from metros and even small towns like Chindwara at Rajasthan for our Kisaan Call Centre Project. For our various assignments, we will be recruiting more and more people from all over India and train them for the future," Caretel Infotech Chief Executive Officer Amit Roy said in a statement.
The company also said it is looking at the downturn as as an opportunity to bag more deals, both in the country and overseas.
"We are looking at this slowdown as an opportunity and have started international outsourcing process for some part of the US, Europe, Australia and New Zealand to manage the slowdown impact. We have also increased our national clientele as we have bagged assignments from reputed brands like DDA ... and soon will close a DTH service provider in India," Roy said.
Caretel has 13 business centres in India and employs over 6,000 people. It is now expanding its operations overseas and is targeting a significant growth from its global clients.
For our international clients, we will be hiring 200 or more people in near future, he added.
Source: Agencies
Friday, December 26, 2008
Techies bidding farewell in 2008
It's time to bid adieu to the year 2008, the year which witnessed the farewells of some of the biggest names in the technology world -- some of the marking the end of an era.
While most of these were ceremonious exits with some moving to take up their passions or philanthropy, others in pursuit of greener pastures. There were also some unceremonious exits, where some CEOs were made to resign penalising them for falling revenues and constant battering of their company's stocks at the bourses.
Here's looking into some of the most high-profile exits of 2008:
Arun Sarin, Vodafone
One of the most successful CEOs of British telecom giant Vodafone, Arun Sarin, quit the company in the July 2008 to don a new challenge.
During his five year tenure at the world's largest mobile firm, Sarin is credited for acquiring a controlling stake in one of India's biggest mobile phone companies, Hutchison Essar. Under him Vodafone posted group revenue of 35.5 billion pounds for the year ending March 31, an increase of 14.1 per cent, and organic growth of 4.2 per cent. This came in marginally higher than market consensus, provided by the company, of 35.2 billion to 35.4 billion pounds.
Under Sarin, Vodafone expanded aggressively into emerging markets, including Romania, the Czech Republic and Turkey. Sarin visited India before his exit along with his successor to participate in Vodafone-Essar board meeting, triggering speculation that he may join Tatas, but officials of the Indian conglomerate debunked any such report.
Post-exit Sarin planned a trekking trip to Himalayas before settling in California. Recently, Sarin, 53, who quit Vodafone at the pinnacle of his career, was speculated to be the most sought-after contender for the position of Yahoo CEO, after the Jerry Yang's exit.
Sarin, however, said he was not keen on the position. Sarin is looking at alternative roles at other US public companies as well as at a private equity firm, the Financial Times wrote recently.
The India-born US citizen is an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and has an MBA degree from University of California, Berkley.
Bill Gates, Microsoft
This was surely the biggest farewell of 2008. The exit of Bill Gates marked an end of era. Gates retired from Microsoft, the company he co-founded with college-friend Paul Allen in 1975.
In June, Gates quit as full-time chairman and software architect of the world's largest software company to work full-time at his charitable organisation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates will remain the company's non-executive chairman.
A Harvard College drop out, Gates has been a permanent fixture in the Forbes Richest people list, holding the numero uno slot for 15 years in a row between 1993 and 2007. In 2008, Gates was topped by investor Warren Buffett and Mexico's telecom tycoon Carlos Slim in the world's wealthiest list.
Bill Gates' key creation is Microsoft, a company with sales of $51 billion as of June 2007 with 78,000 employees across 105 countries. Almost 90 per cent of the estimated 1 billion computers (desktop and laptop) in the world run on Microsoft's Windows and Office. The company has products across the layers network, operating system, database, middleware, application software.
Gates departure comes at a time when Microsoft is engaged in an escalating rivalry with Google and other competitors who are using the internet to chip away at its software dominance.
During his recent visit to India, Gates launched a major initiative for India’s public healthcare with a special focus on eradicating polio.
Jerry Yang, Yahoo
After a rocky tenure at Yahoo, co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down as chief executive this November.
Among the Silicon Valley dotcom billionaires, Yang was named CEO in June 2007 after Terry Semel exit. As CEO, Yang struggled to turn around the company's dwindling fortunes. The rejection of Microsoft offer and a failed advertising deal with Google marred his brief tenure.
Earlier this year, Yang rejected a $33 per share offer by Microsoft for Yahoo worth a total of more than $47 billion. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer later withdrew the offer after Yang sought $37 per share. The negotiating breakdown triggered a shareholder revolt led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who called for Yang's ouster in July. Since then Yahoo has been trading at between $10-12 a share.
With a fortune estimated at $2.23 billion, some shareholders accused Yang of putting his personal affection for the company he created over the interests of its shareholders. After squandering the opportunity to sell to Microsoft, Yang tried to boost Yahoo's profit by forging an advertising partnership with Google. But this backup plan too fell when Google walked away from the deal to avoid a court battle with the US Justice Department, which concluded that the partnership may throttle competition in the online advertising market.
Sanjay Jha, Qualcomm
Indian engineering whizkid Sanjay Jha left Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) group as COO and president this year to join beleaguered US telecom major Motorola as CEO of Mobile Devices.
At Motorola, Jha holds a key task to pull the American cellphone pioneer which slipped to the fourth position in global handset sales and the downslide has been quite sharp.
What top's Jha's priorities is reversing the fortunes of the company’s loss-making handset business -- comprising over one third of Motorola’s total business worth $36.6 billion.
Forty five-year-old Jha started as a senior engineer at Qualcomm VLSI (very large scale integration) group in 1994 and was promoted as senior vice-president of engineering in 1998.
He was elevated as the president of QCT in 2003 when the chipset and software division was started at Qualcomm. For the past five years, this division of Qualcomm has been ranked among the world's largest fabless semiconductor producers, and was rated as being ahead of the leader Texas Instruments last year. Qualcomm had sold its own CDMA cell phone business to Kyocera in February 2000.
Neelam Dhawan, Microsoft
Ending her three-and-a-half years stint as MD Microsoft India, Neelam Dhawan joined Hewlett-Packard India as its managing director in June.
At HP, 48-year-old Neelam holds key tasks of driving overall strategy, revenues and profitability for HP India. Currently she reports to Balu Doraisamy, MD, HP Asia Pacific & Japan.
During her tenure at Microsoft, she looked into the strategic focus and improved company's operating efficiency and execution, as well as its financial performance and customer focus.
Prior to Microsoft, Neelam worked with Compaq as head (Enterprise Sales) and HP as vice president (Customer Solutions Group). Under her leadership the Rs 16,000-crore Hewlett-Packard recently won a multi-million dollar Godrej outsourcing deal.
An economics graduate from St Stephen’s College Delhi, Neelam holds a masters in Business Administration from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.
Lee Kun-hee, Samsung
In one of the most sensational and controversial exits of the year, Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, resigned following an indictment on tax evasion charges after a counsel investigation.
Known to be the most powerful Korean tycoon, Lee was charged with $133m tax evasion and breach of trust during his 20-year tenure at Samsung. Lee was also charged with damaging the interest of other shareholders. He was accused of forcing Samsung subsidiaries to sell shares to his son at unfairly low prices.
However, the company was cleared of the most serious allegation that it raised money to bribe influential citizens and ministers in its native South Korea.
Joining Lee in stepping down were Vice Chairman Lee Hak-soo and Lee Jae-yong, the chairman's son and heir apparent to the Samsung throne. Nine other senior executives also left Samsung following the charges.
Sixty six-year old Lee is credited of having built $160-billion Samsung Group which is Korea Inc's pride, accounting for roughly 21 per cent of the country's total exports.
Ben Verwaayen, British Telecom
British Telecom Group, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Europe, saw the departure of its CEO Ben Verwaayen in the month of April.
Having served BT for almost six years, Verwaayen headed back to the US to take up a position with a venture capital firm. Verwaayen joined BT in January 2002 after quitting his job from US equipment vendor Lucent.
During his tenure at BT, Verwaayen initiated a complete broadband overhaul of BT's aging infrastructure. He mended fences with Ofcom, the UK's version of the FCC.
Fifty-six year old Dutch national was also awarded an honorary knighthood for services to the communications industry. Verwaayen helped BT buy a slew of US-based companies including Infonet, Radianz, Counterpane and INS pushing the telecom giant into a number of emerging markets.
Ian Livingston, who was chief executive of BT Retail, succeeded Verwaayen.
Farewell in the wings: Steve Jobs?
Apple recently announced that its Chief Executive Steve Jobs will not deliver the keynote address at the Macworld trade show next month. The announcement once again revived investors' concerns about the state of his health and sent the company's shares down.
Apple spokesman, however, denied that Jobs was missing the show due to health issues. Instead of Jobs, Philip Schiller, the senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, will deliver the keynote.
However, Samuel Wilson, an analyst at JMP Securities, said Jobs' absence at the event was important. "It's like the first time in a long time he hasn't spoken in Macworld. Why is he not speaking this year would be the question."
Investors have been concerned Jobs health after he was diagnosed with cancer some years back. In 2004, Jobs, 53, said he had undergone successful surgery to remove a rare type of pancreatic cancer. In September, Jobs, who is often perceived as irreplaceable as Apple's leader, appeared thin but jaunty as he introduced new iPod digital music players.
Macworld is a cultural event that draws thousands of Apple fans and technology aficionados to San Francisco, where they have been treated to major announcements from Jobs in past years, including the launch of the iPhone in 2007.
Source: Indiatimes Infotech
While most of these were ceremonious exits with some moving to take up their passions or philanthropy, others in pursuit of greener pastures. There were also some unceremonious exits, where some CEOs were made to resign penalising them for falling revenues and constant battering of their company's stocks at the bourses.
Here's looking into some of the most high-profile exits of 2008:
Arun Sarin, Vodafone
One of the most successful CEOs of British telecom giant Vodafone, Arun Sarin, quit the company in the July 2008 to don a new challenge.
During his five year tenure at the world's largest mobile firm, Sarin is credited for acquiring a controlling stake in one of India's biggest mobile phone companies, Hutchison Essar. Under him Vodafone posted group revenue of 35.5 billion pounds for the year ending March 31, an increase of 14.1 per cent, and organic growth of 4.2 per cent. This came in marginally higher than market consensus, provided by the company, of 35.2 billion to 35.4 billion pounds.
Under Sarin, Vodafone expanded aggressively into emerging markets, including Romania, the Czech Republic and Turkey. Sarin visited India before his exit along with his successor to participate in Vodafone-Essar board meeting, triggering speculation that he may join Tatas, but officials of the Indian conglomerate debunked any such report.
Post-exit Sarin planned a trekking trip to Himalayas before settling in California. Recently, Sarin, 53, who quit Vodafone at the pinnacle of his career, was speculated to be the most sought-after contender for the position of Yahoo CEO, after the Jerry Yang's exit.
Sarin, however, said he was not keen on the position. Sarin is looking at alternative roles at other US public companies as well as at a private equity firm, the Financial Times wrote recently.
The India-born US citizen is an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and has an MBA degree from University of California, Berkley.
Bill Gates, Microsoft
This was surely the biggest farewell of 2008. The exit of Bill Gates marked an end of era. Gates retired from Microsoft, the company he co-founded with college-friend Paul Allen in 1975.
In June, Gates quit as full-time chairman and software architect of the world's largest software company to work full-time at his charitable organisation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates will remain the company's non-executive chairman.
A Harvard College drop out, Gates has been a permanent fixture in the Forbes Richest people list, holding the numero uno slot for 15 years in a row between 1993 and 2007. In 2008, Gates was topped by investor Warren Buffett and Mexico's telecom tycoon Carlos Slim in the world's wealthiest list.
Bill Gates' key creation is Microsoft, a company with sales of $51 billion as of June 2007 with 78,000 employees across 105 countries. Almost 90 per cent of the estimated 1 billion computers (desktop and laptop) in the world run on Microsoft's Windows and Office. The company has products across the layers network, operating system, database, middleware, application software.
Gates departure comes at a time when Microsoft is engaged in an escalating rivalry with Google and other competitors who are using the internet to chip away at its software dominance.
During his recent visit to India, Gates launched a major initiative for India’s public healthcare with a special focus on eradicating polio.
Jerry Yang, Yahoo
After a rocky tenure at Yahoo, co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down as chief executive this November.
Among the Silicon Valley dotcom billionaires, Yang was named CEO in June 2007 after Terry Semel exit. As CEO, Yang struggled to turn around the company's dwindling fortunes. The rejection of Microsoft offer and a failed advertising deal with Google marred his brief tenure.
Earlier this year, Yang rejected a $33 per share offer by Microsoft for Yahoo worth a total of more than $47 billion. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer later withdrew the offer after Yang sought $37 per share. The negotiating breakdown triggered a shareholder revolt led by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who called for Yang's ouster in July. Since then Yahoo has been trading at between $10-12 a share.
With a fortune estimated at $2.23 billion, some shareholders accused Yang of putting his personal affection for the company he created over the interests of its shareholders. After squandering the opportunity to sell to Microsoft, Yang tried to boost Yahoo's profit by forging an advertising partnership with Google. But this backup plan too fell when Google walked away from the deal to avoid a court battle with the US Justice Department, which concluded that the partnership may throttle competition in the online advertising market.
Sanjay Jha, Qualcomm
Indian engineering whizkid Sanjay Jha left Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) group as COO and president this year to join beleaguered US telecom major Motorola as CEO of Mobile Devices.
At Motorola, Jha holds a key task to pull the American cellphone pioneer which slipped to the fourth position in global handset sales and the downslide has been quite sharp.
What top's Jha's priorities is reversing the fortunes of the company’s loss-making handset business -- comprising over one third of Motorola’s total business worth $36.6 billion.
Forty five-year-old Jha started as a senior engineer at Qualcomm VLSI (very large scale integration) group in 1994 and was promoted as senior vice-president of engineering in 1998.
He was elevated as the president of QCT in 2003 when the chipset and software division was started at Qualcomm. For the past five years, this division of Qualcomm has been ranked among the world's largest fabless semiconductor producers, and was rated as being ahead of the leader Texas Instruments last year. Qualcomm had sold its own CDMA cell phone business to Kyocera in February 2000.
Neelam Dhawan, Microsoft
Ending her three-and-a-half years stint as MD Microsoft India, Neelam Dhawan joined Hewlett-Packard India as its managing director in June.
At HP, 48-year-old Neelam holds key tasks of driving overall strategy, revenues and profitability for HP India. Currently she reports to Balu Doraisamy, MD, HP Asia Pacific & Japan.
During her tenure at Microsoft, she looked into the strategic focus and improved company's operating efficiency and execution, as well as its financial performance and customer focus.
Prior to Microsoft, Neelam worked with Compaq as head (Enterprise Sales) and HP as vice president (Customer Solutions Group). Under her leadership the Rs 16,000-crore Hewlett-Packard recently won a multi-million dollar Godrej outsourcing deal.
An economics graduate from St Stephen’s College Delhi, Neelam holds a masters in Business Administration from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University.
Lee Kun-hee, Samsung
In one of the most sensational and controversial exits of the year, Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, resigned following an indictment on tax evasion charges after a counsel investigation.
Known to be the most powerful Korean tycoon, Lee was charged with $133m tax evasion and breach of trust during his 20-year tenure at Samsung. Lee was also charged with damaging the interest of other shareholders. He was accused of forcing Samsung subsidiaries to sell shares to his son at unfairly low prices.
However, the company was cleared of the most serious allegation that it raised money to bribe influential citizens and ministers in its native South Korea.
Joining Lee in stepping down were Vice Chairman Lee Hak-soo and Lee Jae-yong, the chairman's son and heir apparent to the Samsung throne. Nine other senior executives also left Samsung following the charges.
Sixty six-year old Lee is credited of having built $160-billion Samsung Group which is Korea Inc's pride, accounting for roughly 21 per cent of the country's total exports.
Ben Verwaayen, British Telecom
British Telecom Group, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Europe, saw the departure of its CEO Ben Verwaayen in the month of April.
Having served BT for almost six years, Verwaayen headed back to the US to take up a position with a venture capital firm. Verwaayen joined BT in January 2002 after quitting his job from US equipment vendor Lucent.
During his tenure at BT, Verwaayen initiated a complete broadband overhaul of BT's aging infrastructure. He mended fences with Ofcom, the UK's version of the FCC.
Fifty-six year old Dutch national was also awarded an honorary knighthood for services to the communications industry. Verwaayen helped BT buy a slew of US-based companies including Infonet, Radianz, Counterpane and INS pushing the telecom giant into a number of emerging markets.
Ian Livingston, who was chief executive of BT Retail, succeeded Verwaayen.
Farewell in the wings: Steve Jobs?
Apple recently announced that its Chief Executive Steve Jobs will not deliver the keynote address at the Macworld trade show next month. The announcement once again revived investors' concerns about the state of his health and sent the company's shares down.
Apple spokesman, however, denied that Jobs was missing the show due to health issues. Instead of Jobs, Philip Schiller, the senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, will deliver the keynote.
However, Samuel Wilson, an analyst at JMP Securities, said Jobs' absence at the event was important. "It's like the first time in a long time he hasn't spoken in Macworld. Why is he not speaking this year would be the question."
Investors have been concerned Jobs health after he was diagnosed with cancer some years back. In 2004, Jobs, 53, said he had undergone successful surgery to remove a rare type of pancreatic cancer. In September, Jobs, who is often perceived as irreplaceable as Apple's leader, appeared thin but jaunty as he introduced new iPod digital music players.
Macworld is a cultural event that draws thousands of Apple fans and technology aficionados to San Francisco, where they have been treated to major announcements from Jobs in past years, including the launch of the iPhone in 2007.
Source: Indiatimes Infotech
50,000 Indian IT jobs may go, says UNITES
Over 50,000 IT professionals in the country may lose their jobs over the next six months as the situation in the sector is expected to worsen due to the impact of global economic meltdown on the export-driven industry, a forecast by a union of IT Enabled Services warned.
"...there would be 50,000 job losses (IT and BPO put together) over the next six months," Karthik Shekhar, general secretary of UNITES India, a politically neutral union of ITES professionals told the media.
The job loss in the IT and BPO sector in the country topped 10,000 in the September-December period, Shekar said.
While employees of medium-sized companies bore the brunt of job losses in the September-December period, it's going to be their counterparts in the big and small firms who would increasingly face the axe in the coming six months, he said.
UNITES India, affiliated to the global union United Network International, suggested that the companies in trouble could resort to salary and incentive cuts without trying to "squeeze" the staff, rather than adopting the "layoff path".
Employees are willing to take such cuts for 12-16 months till the demand picks up again, when such benefits should be restored to them.
Shekhar said senior officials of the industry had concurred with the figure of 10,000 job loses in September-December, stating that it accounted for "bottom five per cent of the performers".
Consultations with the union's counterparts in the US and UK suggested that slowdown would continue to hit the offshore sourcing space, he said.
He said factors like continued slowdown, likely "tax application" to companies outsourcing jobs under the new US regime and tightening in regard to H1-B visas were among the key reasons cited for the acceleration in issue of pink slips.
Source: Agencies
"...there would be 50,000 job losses (IT and BPO put together) over the next six months," Karthik Shekhar, general secretary of UNITES India, a politically neutral union of ITES professionals told the media.
The job loss in the IT and BPO sector in the country topped 10,000 in the September-December period, Shekar said.
While employees of medium-sized companies bore the brunt of job losses in the September-December period, it's going to be their counterparts in the big and small firms who would increasingly face the axe in the coming six months, he said.
UNITES India, affiliated to the global union United Network International, suggested that the companies in trouble could resort to salary and incentive cuts without trying to "squeeze" the staff, rather than adopting the "layoff path".
Employees are willing to take such cuts for 12-16 months till the demand picks up again, when such benefits should be restored to them.
Shekhar said senior officials of the industry had concurred with the figure of 10,000 job loses in September-December, stating that it accounted for "bottom five per cent of the performers".
Consultations with the union's counterparts in the US and UK suggested that slowdown would continue to hit the offshore sourcing space, he said.
He said factors like continued slowdown, likely "tax application" to companies outsourcing jobs under the new US regime and tightening in regard to H1-B visas were among the key reasons cited for the acceleration in issue of pink slips.
Source: Agencies
Will Japanese production plunge amid global slump?
Japanese production fell at the fastest rate on record in November as firms closed factories and cut jobs due to slumping demand brought on by the global economic crisis, according to data out Friday.
Industrial output in the world's second largest economy plunged a record 8.1 percent in November from the previous month, the ministry of economy, trade and industry said.
It was the biggest drop since the ministry began releasing output statistics in 1953 and was much worse than market forecasts of a 6.7% fall.
Production is likely to continue falling, with the ministry expecting an 8.0% drop in December and another 2.1% decline in January, as the auto industry feels the pinch.
"Overall, production is rapidly falling," the ministry said.
Unemployment meanwhile rose to 3.9% in November, worsening 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, the internal affairs ministry said.
The figure was slightly below average market forecasts of 4.0%.
The number of people out of work increased by 100,000 from a year earlier to a total of 2.56 million.
The data came as brand-name Japanese manufacturers, including Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp. and Canon Inc., lower production and eliminate jobs to adjust to the slump in overseas demand for their exports.
The job cuts have targeted mainly people on limited-term contracts or those who were dispatched from temp agencies.
The labour ministry said that a total of 85,012 temporary or dispatch workers have already lost their jobs or know they will be laid off by March.
The figure doubled in a month, reflecting the rapid deterioration of the employment environment for people without permanent contracts, a health ministry official said.
In other data, Japan said that core consumer prices rose 1.0 percent in November from a year earlier although they eased by 0.8 percent from the previous month.
Core consumer prices have been rising for more than a year, albeit at a slower pace than before as global energy prices come down.
Japan for a decade battled deflation, or falling prices, which sapped growth from the economy.
Source: Agencies
Industrial output in the world's second largest economy plunged a record 8.1 percent in November from the previous month, the ministry of economy, trade and industry said.
It was the biggest drop since the ministry began releasing output statistics in 1953 and was much worse than market forecasts of a 6.7% fall.
Production is likely to continue falling, with the ministry expecting an 8.0% drop in December and another 2.1% decline in January, as the auto industry feels the pinch.
"Overall, production is rapidly falling," the ministry said.
Unemployment meanwhile rose to 3.9% in November, worsening 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, the internal affairs ministry said.
The figure was slightly below average market forecasts of 4.0%.
The number of people out of work increased by 100,000 from a year earlier to a total of 2.56 million.
The data came as brand-name Japanese manufacturers, including Toyota Motor Corp., Sony Corp. and Canon Inc., lower production and eliminate jobs to adjust to the slump in overseas demand for their exports.
The job cuts have targeted mainly people on limited-term contracts or those who were dispatched from temp agencies.
The labour ministry said that a total of 85,012 temporary or dispatch workers have already lost their jobs or know they will be laid off by March.
The figure doubled in a month, reflecting the rapid deterioration of the employment environment for people without permanent contracts, a health ministry official said.
In other data, Japan said that core consumer prices rose 1.0 percent in November from a year earlier although they eased by 0.8 percent from the previous month.
Core consumer prices have been rising for more than a year, albeit at a slower pace than before as global energy prices come down.
Japan for a decade battled deflation, or falling prices, which sapped growth from the economy.
Source: Agencies
Will oil prices rebound in post-Christmas trade?
World oil prices rebounded in Asian trade on Friday after tumbling to four-year lows before the Christmas break, with economic gloom weighing on the market, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, rose 93 cents to 36.28 dollars a barrel after closing down 3.63 dollars at 35.35 in US trade on Wednesday.
Brent North Sea crude for February delivery rose 1.04 dollars to 37.65 dollars. In London the contract settled on Wednesday 3.75 dollars lower at 36.61 dollars, its lowest since July 2004.
After taking a one-day trading break for Christmas, oil reopened higher on Friday partly because of technical factors, said Ken Hasegawa, manager of the energy desk at Newedge Japan brokerage.
"After a sharp drop in sentiment on Wednesday, before the holidays, today (there is) a slight technical rebound," he said from Tokyo.
Another factor boosting prices was the US government's latest weekly report on crude stockpiles in the world's largest energy consumer, Hasegawa said.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, released Wednesday, showed US crude inventories sank 3.1 million barrels in the week ending December 19. The drop was far heavier than market expectations.
The EIA added that crude reserves were 9.1 percent higher than at the same stage last year.
Analysts said that recent US data showing that the world's biggest economy remains in a recession were likely to keep crude oil prices under pressure in the immediate term.
A sharp global economic downturn that has slashed the world's demand for energy has led the price of crude oil to collapse by about 75 percent since hitting record highs above 147 dollars per barrel in July.
Oil markets are pricing in a continued decline in economic activity despite efforts by governments around the world to stimulate activity, MF Global energy analyst John Kilduff said.
"The energy markets appear as unappreciative of the stimulus efforts as any of the other markets and the pricing in of doom and gloom are producing price levels that transcends reality," he said.
"Obviously we haven't reached the ultimate end point yet."
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces about 40 percent of the world's crude, agreed last week to cut output by 2.2 million barrels per day to shore up the market.
Prices have continued to slide despite OPEC's announcement.
Source: Agencies
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, rose 93 cents to 36.28 dollars a barrel after closing down 3.63 dollars at 35.35 in US trade on Wednesday.
Brent North Sea crude for February delivery rose 1.04 dollars to 37.65 dollars. In London the contract settled on Wednesday 3.75 dollars lower at 36.61 dollars, its lowest since July 2004.
After taking a one-day trading break for Christmas, oil reopened higher on Friday partly because of technical factors, said Ken Hasegawa, manager of the energy desk at Newedge Japan brokerage.
"After a sharp drop in sentiment on Wednesday, before the holidays, today (there is) a slight technical rebound," he said from Tokyo.
Another factor boosting prices was the US government's latest weekly report on crude stockpiles in the world's largest energy consumer, Hasegawa said.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) report, released Wednesday, showed US crude inventories sank 3.1 million barrels in the week ending December 19. The drop was far heavier than market expectations.
The EIA added that crude reserves were 9.1 percent higher than at the same stage last year.
Analysts said that recent US data showing that the world's biggest economy remains in a recession were likely to keep crude oil prices under pressure in the immediate term.
A sharp global economic downturn that has slashed the world's demand for energy has led the price of crude oil to collapse by about 75 percent since hitting record highs above 147 dollars per barrel in July.
Oil markets are pricing in a continued decline in economic activity despite efforts by governments around the world to stimulate activity, MF Global energy analyst John Kilduff said.
"The energy markets appear as unappreciative of the stimulus efforts as any of the other markets and the pricing in of doom and gloom are producing price levels that transcends reality," he said.
"Obviously we haven't reached the ultimate end point yet."
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which produces about 40 percent of the world's crude, agreed last week to cut output by 2.2 million barrels per day to shore up the market.
Prices have continued to slide despite OPEC's announcement.
Source: Agencies
Thursday, December 25, 2008
World Bank rejects Satyam's demand for an apology
The World Bank has rejected Satyam Computer Service’s demand to withdraw a statement by which the organisation imposed an eight-year ban on any business with the IT major.
Satyam Computers had earlier asked the international lender for an apology for its statement on the IT major's failure to give proper documentation on fees charged for sub-contractors, and asked the Bank to withdraw the statement.
"The Bank stands by its statement issued on its Indian website on December 23," the India spokesperson of the World Bank Sudip Mazumder said.
The World Bank had said on December 23 said that "Satyam was declared ineligible for contracts for providing improper benefits to Bank staff and for failing to maintain documentation to support fees charges for its sub- contractors."
Asked if the Bank would apologies as demanded by Satyam, he said any comment if at all had to come from the headquarters in Washington, but the Bank stands by its statement.
He said "It will be in appropriate to comment on Satyam's statement since I have not received it or read it."
It is important to note that these developments are based out of our headquarters in Washington and are not related to Bank's India Programme," Mazumder said.
Within two days of the Bank's announcement, Satyam had formally requested the World Bank to immediately withdraw those statements and asked it to "issue a new statement apologising to Satyam for the harm done to the company due to the Bank's actions."
Satyam, which is already reeling under a crisis over aborted acquisition of two firms promoted by family of Chairman Ramalinga Raju, advised the Bank that the IT firm would evaluate all options in view of both the Bank's "inappropriate" public statements and its response to Satyam's requests.
"Satyam usually does not comment publicly on matters involving our customer relationships. However, the inaccuracy and inappropriateness of the World Bank's public statements regarding Satyam has forced us to issue this brief statement in order to set the record straight," it added.
The issue will now come up for discussion at the December 29 Board meeting of the company, against which the Bank has imposed an eight-year ban.
Source: Agencies
Satyam Computers had earlier asked the international lender for an apology for its statement on the IT major's failure to give proper documentation on fees charged for sub-contractors, and asked the Bank to withdraw the statement.
"The Bank stands by its statement issued on its Indian website on December 23," the India spokesperson of the World Bank Sudip Mazumder said.
The World Bank had said on December 23 said that "Satyam was declared ineligible for contracts for providing improper benefits to Bank staff and for failing to maintain documentation to support fees charges for its sub- contractors."
Asked if the Bank would apologies as demanded by Satyam, he said any comment if at all had to come from the headquarters in Washington, but the Bank stands by its statement.
He said "It will be in appropriate to comment on Satyam's statement since I have not received it or read it."
It is important to note that these developments are based out of our headquarters in Washington and are not related to Bank's India Programme," Mazumder said.
Within two days of the Bank's announcement, Satyam had formally requested the World Bank to immediately withdraw those statements and asked it to "issue a new statement apologising to Satyam for the harm done to the company due to the Bank's actions."
Satyam, which is already reeling under a crisis over aborted acquisition of two firms promoted by family of Chairman Ramalinga Raju, advised the Bank that the IT firm would evaluate all options in view of both the Bank's "inappropriate" public statements and its response to Satyam's requests.
"Satyam usually does not comment publicly on matters involving our customer relationships. However, the inaccuracy and inappropriateness of the World Bank's public statements regarding Satyam has forced us to issue this brief statement in order to set the record straight," it added.
The issue will now come up for discussion at the December 29 Board meeting of the company, against which the Bank has imposed an eight-year ban.
Source: Agencies
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