by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
K.J. Alphons
Kochi : The Narendra Modi government-led central government’s policy is to have very good Centre-state relations, newly sworn-in Minister of State (Independent) for Tourism, IT and Electronics K.J. Alphons said here on Sunday.
The 64-year-old forme bureaucrat and former Left supported legislator (2006-11) is just the second Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader from Kerala to get a berth in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. O. Rajagopal was the first in 1999, in the A.B. Vajpayee-led government.
Meanwhile, in a statement on Sunday, former Chief Minister and veteran CPI-M leader V.S. Achuthanandan came down heavily on Alphons for his change of political affiliation.
“This change of position should have never happened to a fellow traveller of the Left. A fellow traveller of the Left should have never become a tool in the hands of fascists. The love of the country should have stood first and not a post. This should be a lesson when the Left selects candidates,” said Achuthanandan.
Incidentally, it was during the tenure of Achuthanandan as Chief Minister (2006-11) that Alphons became a state legislator supported by the Left grouping.
“The policy of the Modi government is to have excellent Centre-state relations and I am confident that I will be able to do it as I have an excellent relation with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan,” said Alphons at Kochi airport, on his first visit to the state, a week after being sworn-in.
Alphons was received at the Kochi airport by BJP’s Kerala unit President Kummanem Rajasekheran and two former state chiefs and other leaders.
Last Sunday, the day Alphons was sworn-in as a central minister, the state BJP headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram wore a deserted look.
The only celebration in the state was seen at his home, where local BJP workers watched the swearing-in ceremony with his mother.
Alphons, however, brushed aside questions of the Kerala BJP not celebrating his elevation. “The day I was sworn-in, people here were busy with Onam celebrations,” said Alphons.
Another significant absentee at the airport was Tushar Vellapally, chief of Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BJDS), the second biggest ally of the BJP-led NDA.
The BDJS, formed in 2015 by the Hindu Ezhava strongman Vellapally Natesan, father of Tushar, had secured 3.9 per cent of the votes at the 2016 assembly polls, He was hoping the national BJP leadership would give the party some significant posts in the central cabinet.
But so far, it has not got any and like the Kerala BJP leadership, the BDJS also has been cut up over the rather unexpected elevation of the former bureaucrat, who joined the BJP in 2011 and given an independent charge as the MoS.
Starting Sunday, the Kerala BJP leadership is organising a series of receptions for the new minister,the first one later in the day at Moovattupuzha. From there, when Alphons reaches his home town in Kanjirapally in Kottayam, nine road shows are planned.
On Monday, there would be a reception at Kannur when Alphons arrives for a private visit.
The next day, he will take part in a temple function at Kottayam. On September 15, a civic reception at his home town has been planned, followed by a meeting with various bishops.
On September 16, there will also be a reception in the state capital and he is scheduled to leave for Delhi later in the day.
Dismissing speculations that Alphons was given the post as he was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, Kanjirapally diocesan bishop Mar Mathew Arackal told the media on Sunday that Alphons got the post on account of his merit and need not be seen as a policy of the BJP to attract the minority communities.
“Our Church does not have any untouchability to any party and the Church always had good relations with the NDA government in the past also,” said the bishop, who is based at Alphons’ home town Kanjirapally.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Economy, Markets, News
Mumbai : Key Indian equity indices — the NSE Nifty50 and the BSE Sensex — opened on a higher note during the early morning trade session on Monday with healthy buying witnessed in IT and banking stocks.
Around 9.19 a.m., the wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded at 9,905.35 points — up 48.30 points or 0.49 per cent.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,756.87 points, traded at 31,747.10 points — up 151.04 points or 0.48 per cent from Thursday’s close at 31,596.06 points.
The Sensex has so far touched a high of 31,775.06 points and a low of 31,734.64 points during the intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bullish with 843 advances and 293 declines.
On Thursday, the benchmark indices closed on a flat-to-positive note as short covering in healthcare stocks, coupled with positive European markets and a strong rupee, kept investors’ sentiments afloat.
The Nifty closed fractionally higher by 4.55 points or 0.05 per cent at 9,857.05 points, while the Sensex closed at 31,596.06 points — up 28.05 points or 0.09 per cent.
The Indian equity markets were closed on Friday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Markets, Technology, World
San Francisco : Tech giant Apple on Saturday announced that its “App Development with Swift” curriculum will be offered in over 30 community colleges across the United States in 2017-2018 school year.
The course will enable the students with no programming experience to build their own fully-functional apps.
“We believe passionately that the opportunity should be extended to everyone and community colleges have a powerful reach into communities where education becomes the great equaliser,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement.
The company is aiming to prepare the students to build careers in software development and Information Technology.
Several community colleges like Austin Community College District, Northeast Mississippi Community College, Northwest Kansas Technical College and campuses in the Alabama Community College System have added the curriculum for the session.
“Apple is going to be a force multiplier in the community’s ongoing efforts to lift 10,000 people out of poverty and into good jobs over the next five years,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler.
Apple’s app economy supports 1.5 million jobs in the US. In 2016, software developers in the US earned $5 billion through the App Store, a 40 per cent increase over 2015.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate Jobs, Employment, Markets, Private Jobs, Technology
New Delhi : After having witnessed a spell of layoffs in the previous quarter, hiring in the IT and software industry has witnessed a surge of 9 per cent year-on-year (yoy) during July 2017, a Naukri.com survey said here on Thursday.
According to the survey, the Naukri JobSpeak index rose by 2 per cent in July 2017 indicating signs of recovery in the job market.
Data collected by the job site showed that key industries like banking or financial services saw a growth of seven per cent, followed by insurance of 17 per cent and automobiles of 5 per cent in July 2017 compared with the corresponding month of 2016.
However, it noted that business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) jobs dipped by 17 per cent during the period under review.
“Looks like the job market is showing signs of recovery. The Jobspeak index for July has shown a yoy growth of 2 per cent, primarily driven by a 9 per cent growth in the IT sector,” V. Suresh, Chief Sales Officer, Naukri.com, said in a statement.
“Having said that, the market is still volatile and we can expect this to continue for a few more months before it heads north,” he added.
The survey said nine cities — out of 13 tracked — recorded an increase in hiring activities in July 2017 in comparison with July 2016.
“The index for Delhi/NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru grew by 12 per cent, 17 per cent and 12 per cent respectively,” the survey said.
“While Chennai saw a dip of 10 per cent in hiring activity, Hyderabad recorded a 19 per cent increase during the same period.”
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Buzz
Bengaluru,(IANS) IT major SAP India on Monday announced emerging as the seventh best place to work in India in the Great Place to Work Institute’s 2016 survey.
“We take great pride in our human resource policies, and the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation we have enabled,” said SAP Labs India Managing Director Dilipkumar Khandelwal in a statement.
Great Place to Work Institute has surveyed 791 organisations across 16 industries, quizzing over 1,55,119 employees along with a leading business daily to adjudge the best Indian work places.
In special categories, SAP ranked number two in the IT industry in India according to the survey.
People-centric policies, fostering innovation, inspiring leadership and atmosphere of inclusivity enabled SAP India to shine in the survey, the statement said.
Every year, Great Place to Work Institute releases a list of best work places in India.
