India Inc offers 40,000 jobs

Even as thousands are losing their jobs worldwide on deteriorating economic condition, India has a reason to cheer in just one week, firms have unveiled plans of hiring 40,000 people in the country, while nearly 30,000 jobs fell on the firing line elsewhere.

Doors open
Private insurer MetLife India is looking to recruit about 2,000 managers and a whopping 30,000 advisors in the coming months.

Further, global management consultancy firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is also looking to hire around 3,500 employees in India.

According to MetLife India's Managing Director Rajesh Relan, MetLife India plans to hire about 2,000 sales managers and 30,000 financial advisors by March, which would nearly double the two workforces.

Companies operating in India are "upbeat" about the economic growth here and the country's job market is totally insulated from the effects of the global financial crisis, industrialists said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum-India Economic Summit in New Delhi.

'No job cuts in India'

"India is a productive market and we are going steady," said British Telecom (BT) Innovate and Group chief technology officer Matt Bross.

It has currently employed over 22,000 people in its business process outsourcing operations in the country. BT announced 10,000 job cuts last week.

More investment

Meanwhile, global IT software provider CA will invest $30 million for an additional facility in Hyderabad, which will house 1,000 people.

As regards the job cuts, CA senior vice-president and general manager (India) Lokesh Jindal said, "We are upbeat about the company's progress and there will not be any job cuts." This investment will be raised from internal accruals, he added.

Soruce: www.mid-day.com

Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India: Pranab

Tawang: Rebuffing China's claim on Arunachal Pradesh, India yesterday asserted that the north eastern state is its integral part and ruled out ceding any of its part.

"China is often making claims on Arunachal Pradesh, but Arunachal Pradesh has a special place in our heart," said External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who visited the 400-year-old Buddhist monastery here.

"People of Arunachal Pradesh regularly elect two representatives to the Lok Sabha and there is an elected state assembly carrying out the responsibility of administration like any of other 27 states. The question of parting company of Arunachal or any of its part does not arise," he said amidst defeaning cheers.

Mukherjee's rejection of the Chinese claim on Arunachal Pradesh follows a recent declaration by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a visit to the state that Arunachal was 'our land of rising sun'.

Soruce: www.mid-day.com

105-yr-old Kalka-Shimla railway gets World Heritage Site status

The 105-year-old railway line that meanders through the hills between Kalka and Shimla, covering 102 tunnels and 800 bridges, was yesterday officially declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Minister of State for Railways R Velu unveiled the inscription plaque of the Kalka-Shimla Railway as a World Heritage Site at the Kalka railway station.

The Kalka-Shimla railway line was built in 1898 during British rule to connect the then summer capital of India, Shimla, with other parts of the country. The two-feet-six-inches narrow gauge railway line that covers a distance of 96 km was officially opened for traffic in 1903.

"This railway line actually deserves this status and everyone here is happy. Besides the fact that it is more than 100 years old, there are many things that reinforced our claim for this status," said Ajay Kochhar, station superintendent at the Kalka railway station.

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