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Infosys opens North Carolina hub, hires 4,700 in the US
Global software major Infosys has inaugurated its fourth technology and innovation hub in Raleigh, North Carolina, saying that it has now hired more than 4,700 Americans since spring 2017, including nearly 500 in North Carolina.
AI pays allowance to pilots after union threatens to halt operations
National passenger carrier Air India has paid the allowance to its pilots for the month of June, after their union threatened to abstain from flying duties.
UK university introduces menopause policy to remove taboo
A leading UK university has launched a campaign to fight the stigma attached to menopause by encouraging its staff to talk about the middle-aged phenomena openly. The drive, launched earlier this month at the University of Leicester, aim to create a model to destigmatize menopause at workplace. We are taking steps to remove the taboo at Leicester by having more open conversations about menopause, Dr Andrea Davies, from the University of Leicester School of Business, said. As part of the initiative, Davies recently launched monthly Menopause Cafes, where male and female colleagues are encouraged to come together and talk about the taboo subject. Facts about menopause are not well known. Sharing information and creating awareness is the first key step for having confident conversations around menopause for everyone. We have also found that men are keen to know more to support their family and female colleagues, she said. The catalyst for the initiative has been a UK ...
Maruti Suzuki workers to financially help kin of jailed ex-staffers
Maruti Suzuki's Gurugram plant workers will on Thursday hand over a total Rs 45.5 lakh to the families of 13 former company workers who have been jailed for the 2012 violence at the company's Manesar plant, a union leader said on Wednesday.
OSRTC staff on strike, 400 buses remain off roads
Over 400 buses remained off the roads across the state as a section of employees of the Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) today launched a three-day agitation to press for their demands. As part of the strike, the agitating employees of the state-owned transport corporation are holding demonstrations at different places throughout Odisha. The demands include regularisation of contractual service, reinstating employees disengaged by the corporation, same wage for same work and upgradation in salary as per the 7th Pay Commission. "We will intensify the strike if the state government do not fulfil our demands," a member of the agitating All Odisha State Road Transport Corporation Association said. The association, however, is not recognised by the OSRTC. As most OSRTC buses ply in remote areas, road communication has taken a hit in Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Gajapati, Nabarangpur and other districts. Around 60 buses remained stranded at Badambadi bus ...
Child-labour rescue case: AAP MLA asked to respond to plea against his discharge
A Delhi court today granted a month's time to AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan to respond to a plea challenging his discharge in a 2010 case in which he was accused of threatening and obstructing labour department officers from rescuing child labourers from weaving units in south Delhi. Special Judge Arvind Kumar directed Khan, who appeared before the court in pursuance to notice issued to him on the plea, to file his written response by September 28, the next date of hearing. The court was hearing a plea filed by senior advocate H S Phoolka, on behalf of Rakesh Senger, a former National Secretary of NGO Bachpan Bachao Aandolan, alleging that the magisterial court, while discharging Khan and one Saifiullah Siddiqui, "ignored the evidence and material on record which was contrary to the facts and also against the well settled law". The case relates to the rescue of 15 child labourers by the police and and the NGO from 'zari units' in Batla House, Jamia Nagar here. "The trial court has ...
UK group warns hospitals could run out of drugs post Brexit
A group that represents UK hospitals has warned that its members may run out of drugs if Britain leaves the European Union without an agreement on future relations. NHS Providers says a lack of "visible and appropriate communication" from the government is hampering preparations for a so-called no-deal Brexit. In a letter to National Health Service bosses that was leaked to the Times of London today, the group's chief executive says it would be more efficient to develop contingency plans nationally rather than "have to reinvent the wheel 229 times". Chris Hopson says "the entire supply chain of pharmaceuticals" could be affected by the failure to reach a deal, adding that it could also "jeopardize" the EU workforce "on which the NHS relies".
Central Railway staff to contribute part of salary to Kerala relief fund
A day after parliamentarians were called upon to give their one day's salary to help the relief and rehabilitation efforts in Kerala, employees of the Central Railway have decided to contribute parts of their salary for the same cause, according to details released by the ministry here today. Both the officers and staff of the central railway zone with headquarters in Mumbai will contribute to the Kerala Chief Minister's Relief Fund according to their pay grade, it said. While those in the pay grade of Rs 1,800-2,000 will pay Rs 500 to the fund, those between Rs 2,400-2,800 will contribute Rs 700, those in the pay grade 4,200-4,600 will give Rs 1,000 each, those between Rs 4,800-6,600 will pay Rs 1,500, those earning Rs 7,600 pay grade to pay Rs 2,000, and those in the category of Rs 8,700-10,000 to donate Rs 2,500. All those in the grade of Rs 10,000 and more will pay Rs 3,000 each. This contribution will be made by the employees from the salary for the month of August 2018. ...
Rs 1,000 crore earmarked for MSME sector in NE: Official
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government has earmarked around Rs 1,000 crore for implementation of various schemes for Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) in the Northeast region during the current financial year, said an official on Monday.
Centre earmarks Rs 1,000 cr for MSMEs in North East: Official
The Centre has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore for implementation of various schemes for micro small and medium enterprises of the North East region in the 2018-19 fiscal, an official said today. The schemes are Central sector schemes in which a specific percentage of the budgetary allocation are allocated for SC, ST and the North East, said M Sreenivasulu, Director of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises-Development Institute, Guwahati. He, however, said there is lack of awareness about these programmes at the grass-root level, as a result of which their benefits have not reached the exact target group. Sreenivasulu said that his institute, established in 1958, is primarily engaged in the implementation of schemes of the Ministry of MSME towards encouragement of self-employment among the unemployed youth, as well as promotion and development of the sector in the region. He made particular mention of the Credit Guarantee Fund Scheme (CGFS) and Prime Minister's Employment ...
India needs to improve its wage policies for inclusive growth: ILO
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Monday said that India needs to improve its wage policies to promote "inclusive growth" even as low pay, gender wage gap and informality remain pervasive.
Maritime bodies pledge support to flood-ravaged Kerala
Leading maritime bodies -- MASSA, MUI and NUSI -- have pledged to donate Rs 30 lakh to flood-ravaged Kerala for relief operations. Besides, Anglo Eastern Shipping Group (AESG), Hong Kong said it would provide about USD 50,000 (about Rs 35 lakh) to the state. The Maritime Association of Ship owners Ship managers and Agents (MASSA), The Maritime Union of India (MUI) and National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) will each donate Rs 10 lakh to CMDRF, the three organisations said in a joint statement. "India's leading maritime bodies have pledged to donate Rs 30 lakh to Kerala Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF)," the statement said. MASSA Chairman Prashant Rangnekar said, "In the current situation, MASSA is committed to help the maritime state of Kerala which has contributed immensely to the growth of India's maritime sector. Many MASSA members too have declared to donate huge sum to CMDRF." AESG country head (India) Vinay Singh said: "During the flood in 2013, we provided ...
ILO for stronger implementation of wage law in India; cites low pay, inequality
International Labour Organisation has called for stronger implementation of wage law in India amid persistent low pay and inequality, especially in case of women. ILO's India Wage Report said that the country's economy in the past two decades has seen an annual average GDP rate of 7 per cent but low pay and inequality persist. India's economic growth, it said, has resulted in fall in poverty, moderate change in employment patterns with a growing proportion of workers in services and industry. However, a substantial proportion of workers (47%), continue to be employed in the agricultural sector, it said. The economy still faces informality and segmentation, the report said. More than 51 per cent of the people employed in India, as per 2011-12 data, were self-employed and as many as 62 per cent of wage earners are employed as casual workers, it said. It added that while the organised sector has seen a rise in employment, many jobs in this sector too have been of casual or informal ...
Puducherry govt staff donate one day salary for Kerala relief
The government employees in Puducherry have decided to contribute their one day salary to the Kerala flood relief fund. A joint delegation of different associations of government employees met Chief Minister V Narayanasamy and conveyed their decision to contribute one day salary by each of the around 30,000 work force to the fund. Talking to reporters, Narayanasamy thanked the employees of the government, cooperative institutions and public sector undertakings, who together account for around 40,000, for their gesture and said it would lead to mobilisation of around Rs 7 crore. He also said Puducherry government had already announced Rs one crore to Kerala and was now considering enhancing it.
Pak's national carrier sacks its chief operations officer
Pakistan's national carrier has sacked its chief operations officer, saying he failed to achieve objectives for which he had been hired, a media report said today. Zia Qadir Qureshi, the Pakistan International Airlines chief operations officer, was sacked on Friday because he could not perform his duties according to work standards of the airline, Dawn reported, citing sources. They said Qureshi had also failed to achieve objectives for which he had been hired. PIA spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar confirmed that Qureshi's contract had been terminated, the paper said. The Auditor General's office termed Qureshi's appointment an "undue favour" and called for the immediate termination of his services and an action against those who had hired him, it added. Citing sources, the paper said Qureshi was hired on a contract at Rs 15 lakh per month on June 5, 2017. In the termination letter, issued by PIA's Chief Human Resources Officer Asma Bajwa who herself is a contractual employee, told Qureshi
May her tribe increase: Auto cos hire more women for shop floor roles
She is gradually stepping into an area which has been his fiefdom for ages, as more and more automobile companies in India encourage women to take up positions in manufacturing operations. Not just in scooter or car manufacturing, today women are making their presence felt on shop floors in making tractors and trucks too with companies like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto seeking to accelerate the drive of gender diversity. Four years ago, Tata Motors started with a batch of just five women with an aim of "creating a brigade of 'Women in Blue' by enrolling, educating and skilling girls, especially from economically deprived areas". Today, the company boasts of 1,812 women employees working on its shop floors, which is about 4 per cent of the total shop floor workforce (as on July 31, 2018), across its different plants. Not too far behind, rival M&M's automotive division began with 23 in 2016 and today it has over 380 ...
Vahan announces AI-driven assistant on WhatsApp to automate recruitment
Vahan, a Bengaluru-based company, has built an AI-driven virtual assistant integrated with WhatsApp that helps businesses automate various aspects of workforce engagement. To apply for a job, a candidate simply needs to send a "hi" message to Vahan's phone number on WhatsApp following which the bot qualifies them, answers their questions and even schedules an interview.The start-up has created the virtual assistant in English and local languages and has tied up with clients such as Dunzo, Club Mahindra, Cure.Fit, Ecom Express and Flipkart.As per Madhav Krishna, CEO, Vahan, "There are 200k delivery jobs in the country that grew by 20 percent last year.Recruitment for frontline roles such as delivery boys is done largely manually and is therefore hard to scale. Not to forget, the high attrition in this space (over 75 percent per year) means that there is a constant need for hiring."Recruitment is one of the toughest challenges for organisations. Sourcing the right talent and at the ...
Benjamin Smith new CEO of Air France-KLM, unions concerned
Unions at Air France-KLM voiced concern after the company appointed Benjamin Smith as the new CEO with the support of the French state. The company said yesterday that Smith, who is 46 and was previously Air Canada's chief operating officer, will fill the role by September 30. Vincent Salles, unionist at CGT-Air France union, said on France Info radio that unions fear Smith's mission is to implement plans that would "deteriorate working conditions and wages". The previous CEO, Jean-Marc Janaillac, resigned in May after Air France employees held 13 days of strike over pay and rejected the company's wage proposal, considered too low. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire welcomed an "opportunity" for Air France-KLM and expressed his confidence in Smith's ability to "re-establish social dialogue".
Google employees sign protest letter over China search engine: NYT
Hundreds of Google employees have signed a protest letter over the company's reported work on a censor-friendly search engine to get back into China, The New York Times said. The employees are demanding more transparency so they can understand the moral implications of their work, said the Times, which obtained a copy of the letter. It has been signed by 1,400 employees and is circulating on the company's internal communications system, the newspaper said, quoting three people who are familiar with the document. The letter argues that the search engine project and Google's apparent willingness to accept China's censorship requirements "raise urgent moral and ethical issues". "Currently we do not have the information required to make ethically-informed decisions about our work, our projects, and our employment," they say in the letter, according to the Times. Employee anger flared with a report earlier this month in The Intercept that Google is secretly building a search engine that ...
South Korea creates just 5,000 new jobs in July, smallest since financial crisis
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea added a mere 5,000 new jobs in July, slowing sharply from 106,000 a month earlier, official data showed on Friday, the smallest increase since January 2010 in the depths of the global financial crisis.