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Top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc said it will eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in a fresh wave of cuts to cope with an economic downturn that has exacerbated a decline in traditional phone sales.
The cuts come as phone companies struggle with declining land line sales, as more consumers switch to wireless or alternative, cheaper services offered by cable and Internet companies. AT&T cited ...
In reply to:
Job losses....
Posted by :
marketman
Business news channel CNBC, part of General Electric Co`s NBC Universal media division, may cut 80 jobs as early as Thursday, the New York Post said, citing sources.
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Are you telling me that Mayawati needs 350 cops to guard her ?
God bless the common foolish tax payer...
In reply to:
Mumbai Terror - Pay your tributes to ATS Chief Hemant Karkare.
Posted by : subasu
Dear Ashal,
NSG and SPG are two independent set ups created for specific purposes. Please go through wikepedia to learn about their constitution and organisation.
Protecting leaders is as important as protecting citizens. While I do appreciate the general feeling of ire and anger against the protection given to our leaders in the light of recent incidents, we should not forget that if leaders are killed like chicken, the whole society comes to panicky situations.
The NSG deserves expansion with units in each state. And it is equally essential that they are drawn from ALL sections of the populace and are imparted proper training.
Police reforms, their housing, proper compensation are also important. When you have a police force that is worry free on economic facts of sustenance, their devotion to duty will proportionately go up.
Protecting Mayawati is as important as protecting Modi or Jayalalita. Reasons may be different. But the need is there.
I do not subscribe to the theory that all politicians are corrupt. Politicians are only a sample of the population. (May not be a random sample, but sample it is.)
Let us not deceive ourselves into thinking that `aam aadmi` is not corrupt only the `khas aadmi` is corrupt. How many of us can boldly say that we will not pay a rupee as bribe to get our wards admitted to professional schools and colleges or to jump the queue?
Moral and ethical values are imbibed right from childhood. Catch them young - should be the slogan.
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Postscript: In a fit of anger and depression, I sent a message to all the channels, 30 hours through the coverage. After all they have been constantly asking the viewers to message them for anything and everything. My message read: I send this with lots of pain. All channels, including yours, must apologise for not covering the victims of CST massacre, the real mumbaikars and aam aadmis of India. Your obsession with five star elite is disgusting. Learn from the print media please. No channel bothered. Only Srinivasan Jain replied: you are right. We are trying to redress balance today. Well, nothing happened till the time of writing this 66 hours after the terror attack.
...
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For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of government sponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is something he has learnt to live with. The rich of Mumbai and India Inc are facing the pain for the first time and learning about it just as the middle classes of India learnt about violation of human rights only during emergency, a cool 28 years after independence.
And human rights were another favourite issue for the channels to whip at times of terrorism.
Arnab Goswami in an animated voice wondered where were those champions of human rights now, not to be seen applauding the brave and selfless police officers who gave up their life in fighting terrorism. Well, the counter question would be where were you when such officers were violating the human rights of Aam Aadmis. Has there ever been any 24 hour non stop coverage of violence against dalits and adivasis of this country?
This definitely was not the time to manufacture consent for the extra legal and third degree methods of interrogation of police and army but Arnabs don`t miss a single opportunity to serve their class masters, this time the jingoistic patriotism came in handy to whitewash the entire uniformed services.
The sacrifice of the commandos or the police officers who went down dying at the hands of ruthless terrorists is no doubt heart rending but in vain in a situation which needed not just bran but also brain. Israel has a point when it says the operations were misplanned resulting in the death of its nationals here.
Kakares and Salaskars would not be dead if they did not commit the mistake of travelling by the same vehicle. It is a basic lesson in management that the top brass should never travel together in crisis. The terrorists, if only they had watched the channels, would have laughed their hearts out when the Chief of the Marine commandos, an elite force, masking his face so unprofessionally in a see-through cloth, told the media that the commandos had no idea about the structure of the Hotel Taj which they were trying to liberate. But the terrorists knew the place thoroughly, he acknowledged.
Is it so difficult to obtain a ground plan of Hotel Taj and discuss operation strategy thoroughly for at least one hour before entering? This is something even an event manager would first ask for, if he had to fix 25 audio systems and 50 CCtvs for a cultural event in a hotel. Would not Ratan Tata have provided a plan of his ancestral hotel to the commandos within one hour considering the mighty apparatus at his and government`s disposal? Are satellite pictures only available for terrorists and not the government agencies? In an operation known to consume time, one more hour for preparation would have only improved the efficiency of execution.
Sacrifices become doubly tragic in unprofessional circumstances. But the Aam Aadmis always believe that terror-shooters do better planning than terrorists. And the gullible media in a jingoistic mood would not raise any question about any of these issues. They after all have their favourite whipping boy – the politician the eternal entertainer for the non-voting rich classes of India.
Arnabs and Rajdeeps would wax eloquent on Manmohan Singh and Advani visiting Mumbai separately and not together showing solidarity even at this hour of national crisis. What a farce? Why can`t these channels pool together all their camera crew and reporters at this time of national calamity and share the sound and visual bites which could mean a wider and deeper coverage of events with such a huge
human resource to command? Why should Arnab and Rajdeep and Barkha keep harping every five minutes that this piece of information was exclusive to their channel, at the time of such a national crisis? Is this the time to promote the channel? If that is valid, the politician promoting his own political constituency is equally valid. And the duty of the politician is to do politics, his politics. It is for the people to evaluate that politics.
And terrorism is not above politics. It is politics by other means. To come to grips with it and to eventually eliminate it, the practice of politics by proper means needs constant fine tuning and improvement. Decrying all politics and politicians, only helps terrorists and dictators who are the two sides of the same coin. And the rich and powerful always prefer terrorists and dictators to do business with.
Those caught in this crossfire are always the Aam Aadmis whose deaths are not even mourned - the taxi driver who lost the entire family at CST firing, the numerous waiters and stewards who lost their lives working in Taj for a monthly salary that would be one time bill for their masters.
(Part three follows)...
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Hotel Taj: Icon of whose India?
Gnani Sankaran- Tamil writer, Chennai.
Watching at least four English news channels, surfing from one another during the last 60 hours of terror strike made me feel a terror of another kind, the terror of assaulting one`s mind and sensitivity with cameras, sound bites and non-stop blabbers. All these channels have been trying to manufacture my consent for a big lie called - Hotel Taj the icon of India.
Whose India, Whose Icon?
It is a matter of great shame that these channels simply did not bother about the other icon that faced the first attack from terrorists - the Chatrapathi Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station. CST is the true icon of Mumbai. It is through this railway station hundreds of Indians from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Tamilnadu have poured into Mumbai over the years, transforming themselves into Mumbaikars and built the Mumbai of today along with the Marathis and Kolis
But the channels would not recognise this. Nor would they recognise the thirty odd dead bodies strewn all over the platform of CST. No Barkha Dutt went there to tell us who they were. But she was at Taj to show us the damaged furniture and reception lobby braving the guards. And the TV cameras did not go to the government run JJ hospital to find out who those 26 unidentified bodies were. Instead they were again invading the battered Taj to try in vain for a scoop shot of the dead bodies of the page 3 celebrities.
In all probability, the unidentified bodies could be those of workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh migrating to Mumbai, arriving by train at CST without cell phones and pan cards to identify them. Even after 60 hours after the CST massacre, no channel has bothered to cover in detail what transpired there.
The channels conveniently failed to acknowledge that the Aam Aadmis of India surviving in Mumbai were not affected by Taj, Oberoi and Trident closing down for a couple of weeks or months. What mattered to them was the stoppage of BEST buses and suburban trains even for one hour. But the channels were not covering that aspect of the terror attack. Such information at best merited a scroll line, while the cameras have to be dedicated for real time thriller unfolding at Taj or Nariman Bhavan.The so called justification for the hype the channels built around heritage site Taj falling down (CST is also a heritage site), is that Hotel Taj is where the rich and the powerful of India and the globe congregate. It is a symbol or icon of power of money and politics, not India. It is the icon of the financiers and swindlers of India. The Mumbai and India were built by the Aam Aadmis who passed through CST and Taj was the oasis of peace and privacy for those who wielded power over these mass of labouring classes. Leopold club and Taj were the haunts of rich spoilt kids who would drive their vehicles over sleeping Aam Aadmis on the pavement, the Mafiosi of Mumbai forever financing the glitterati of Bollywood (and also the terrorists) , Political brokers and industrialists.
It is precisely because Taj is the icon of power and not people that the terrorists chose to strike.
The terrorists have understood after several efforts that the Aam Aadmi will never break down even if you bomb her markets and trains. He/she was resilient because that is the only way he/she can even survive.
Resilience was another word that annoyed the pundits of news channels and their patrons this time. What resilience, enough is enough, said Pranoy Roy`s channel on the left side of the channel spectrum. Same sentiments were echoed by Arnab Goswami representing the right wing of the broadcast media whose time is now. Can Rajdeep be far behind in this game of one-upmanship over TRPs ? They all attacked resilience this time. They wanted firm action from the government in tackling terror.
The same channels celebrated resilience when bombs went off in trains and markets killing and maiming the Aam Aadmis. The resilience of the ordinary worker suited the rich business class of Mumbai since work or manufacture or film shooting did not stop. When it came to them, the rich shamelessly exhibited their lack of nerves and refused to be resilient themselves. They cry for government intervention now to protect their private spas and swimming pools and bars and restaurants, similar to the way in which Citibank, General Motors and the ilk cry for government money when their coffers are emptied by their own ideologies.
The terrorists have learnt that the ordinary Indian is unperturbed by terror. For one whose daily existence itself is a terror of government sponsored inflation and market sponsored exclusion, pain is something he has learnt to live with. (Part two follows)...
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According to Amar singh and mulayam MAYWATI has a lot of benami properties.. HAAAAAAAAAAA... who wants such filthy rich women in polticis... we want humble people with humble means like Lal bahadur shastri but with the punch of obama and sincerity of purpose like Abdul Kalam...
In reply to:
Mumbai Terror - Pay your tributes to ATS Chief Hemant Karkare.
Posted by : radhika_nandlal
Andy,
Shut up and be gone.. do u know the comments MAYWATI made on Brahmins.. shall i cut copy and paste it for you.
She is worth 100 crores for what should one have such kind of wealth.. She tops the list of taxpayers in the country.
DO NOT VOTE FOR POLITICIANS WHO BECAME MONETARILY RICH WITH THEIR POLITICAL CLOUT.. jago jago people and put the kinds of MAYAWATI into history books for ever.. She is worth 100 croes now... is that humanely possibly if one earned the normal way??
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Andy,
Shut up and be gone.. do u know the comments MAYWATI made on Brahmins.. shall i cut copy and paste it for you.
She is worth 100 crores for what should one have such kind of wealth.. She tops the list of taxpayers in the country.
DO NOT VOTE FOR POLITICIANS WHO BECAME MONETARILY RICH WITH THEIR POLITICAL CLOUT.. jago jago people and put the kinds of MAYAWATI into history books for ever.. She is worth 100 croes now... is that humanely possibly if one earned the normal way??...
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Dear K.N.Pillai16968, Plz. read my post to dear subasu on the same subject.
Yes ur understanding is right there r 2 separate agencies in india each with a differant job to handle on paper.
SPG - Special protection group is designed specifically for security of V IPs, V V IPs, V V V IPs, V V V V IPs, V V V V V IPs..............
NSG - National Security Guards - To counter terrorist attacks & plane Hijacks....
In case of NSG, I put it as POLITICIANS Security Guards (PSG), just to show my anger like all of u but with a humorous note.
Thanks
Ashal...
In reply to:
Mumbai Terror - Pay your tributes to ATS Chief Hemant Karkare.
Posted by : K.N.Pillai16968
I think they are two different security departments on two different lines lines. One is SPG or Specaial Protection Group which takes care of these politicains and their family members and another is National Security Gauards of NSG which are meant for ensuring security of the country under the circumstnces. Probably you were mentioning the first one.Somebody may clarify if this is wrong. Thank you.
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Chemkiron,
If you quote advani you become BJP chief??? what an absurd post.
I think u have a problem with progressive forward thinking action oriented women. If u have such problems in India you will have to suffer alone.. you should perhaps think of settling down in countries were women accept a docile role, then you can establish your supremacy over all u survey easily... no use taking shots at me this way...
In reply to:
Shame shame shame shame on BJP VP
Posted by : chemkiron
The type of quotes you made from Kamsutra, anybody will say that you must a doctor of Kamsutra !! Ha Ha Ha Ha.....................!!
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Dear Mr. Modi,
Please do not entertain comments like these from Chemkiron and Naqvi.. Women in India take a strong objection to such messages.... we have draupadi marrying 5 men, we have Sita refusing to forget and being swallowed by bhuma devi, we have so many exemplary women in Hinduism. If u allow such loose comments henceforth the women will mob you....
In reply to:
Shame shame shame shame on BJP VP
Posted by : chemkiron
Fortunately you are staying in Democratic India. You can wear Saree-blouse, salwar-kameez, chinese dress, japanese dress, western outfit or even burqua if your religion demands that. Be happy that you are born in India. Had you been born in middle-east, pakistan etc...................
Same way being a democratic country, Naqvi is entitled to say what he wants to say provided it is parliamentary language.
Same way you are entitled to protest.
Same way I am entitled to support Naqvi.
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chemkiron,
I only wish men like you and naqvi do not form political parties... you might take a bunch of women willign to surrender to you and tame them if u want....
In reply to:
Shame shame shame shame on BJP VP
Posted by : chemkiron
Fortunately you are staying in Democratic India. You can wear Saree-blouse, salwar-kameez, chinese dress, japanese dress, western outfit or even burqua if your religion demands that. Be happy that you are born in India. Had you been born in middle-east, pakistan etc...................
Same way being a democratic country, Naqvi is entitled to say what he wants to say provided it is parliamentary language.
Same way you are entitled to protest.
Same way I am entitled to support Naqvi.
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U.S. stocks off amid layoffs and dismal retail sales
NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks crossed briefly into positive territory before lapsing into the red again on Thursday as investors digested retail sales results, layoffs from AT&T Inc. and DuPont Co., and watched as auto executives again plead for federal aid.
Friday`s looming employment report for November also helped keep a lid on any moves to the upside by already jumpy investors.
"The market is likely to get a little skittish today ahead of tomorrow`s employment report," said Marc Pado, U.S. equity strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald.
After two straight days of gains, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
offered a tepid rise only to lapse again, recently falling 77.58 points to 8,514.11.
Of the blue-chip index`s 30 components, 20 remained under water, with Alcoa Inc down the most, recently off 5%.
J.P. Morgan Chase and Home Depot Inc proved the Dow`s biggest gainers, with shares of both up more than 5%.
The S&P 500 declined fractionally to 863.55, with energy and information technology lagging the most among the index`s 10 industry groups.
The consumer discretionary sector led gains on the S&P, led by retailers including Nordstrom Inc. up 14.9%, after the retailer`s same-store sales in November fell less than expected.
Office Depot Inc also stood out, its shares recently ahead 15.1%.
Financial shares also picked up steam, with ProLogis gaining 16.9% after the real estate investment trust reportedly said it had closed on a $105.8 million refinancing of its debt with four banks.
CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.rising 15.8%.
The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite fell 11.33 points to 1,491.05.
Chemical giant DuPont Co. slashed its fourth-quarter earnings forecast and said it would dismiss 6,500 employees.
Phone giant AT&T Inc. also said it would cut employees -- 12,000 or 4% of its workforce -- as it adjusts to a weakened economy.
Moble phone maker Nokia Corp. also cut its industry outlook for the second time in less than a month and warned it may lose market share.
And November retail sales missed already-lowered expectations, as jittery consumers held back in the face of an economy already said to be in recession.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc proved the exception, with sales last month up 3.4% at the discount retailer as lower gasoline prices boosted consumers` discretionary spending.
Crude moves
Crude-oil futures fell for a fifth straight session to near four-year lows, with oil for January delivery dropping $.122 to $47.10 a barrel in early action on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Elsewhere on Nymex, gold futures reversed early losses, with the February contract rising from two-week lows and recently up $1.9 to $772.4 an ounce.
Treasury prices were mostly lower, pushing yields off multi-decade lows, with 10-year note yields gaining to 2.661%
And on Capitol Hill, executives from struggling auto giants General Motors Corp,Ford Motor Co and Chrysler will continue making a case for federal aid. Read David Callaway`s commentary.
Equities offered little reaction to data from the Commerce Department showing factory orders fell 5.1% in October, the largest drop since 2000.
Ahead of the opening bell, the Labor Department released data showing initial jobless claims dropped to a one-month low, while a less-volatile average climbed to a 16-year high.
Overseas, European shares fell in the wake of anticipated rate cuts from both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.
In Asia, stocks erased gains to trade mostly lower.
...
In reply to:
Job losses....
Posted by : sambala
Thursday brings 30,000 job cuts.
SPOTLIGHT on jobs, cars, retail.
While CEOs from the automotive industry again make the case for emergency funds, stocks retreat. Jobs and retail data drive the action
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Thursday brings 30,000 job cuts.
SPOTLIGHT on jobs, cars, retail.
While CEOs from the automotive industry again make the case for emergency funds, stocks retreat. Jobs and retail data drive the action
...
In reply to:
Job losses....
Posted by : sambala
Infosys to freeze fresh hiring, opts for economic prudence
New Delhi (IANS): India`s second largest exporter of IT services Infosys Technologies has decided to freeze its annual hiring cycle following the global economic slowdown that is increasingly impacting the Indian outsourcing story.
Infosys had planned to hire 25,000 people earlier this year, and of this the company has till date created jobs for about 16,000-17,000, company chief executive Kris Gopalakrishnana said in New Delhi on Thursday.
"We will honour job commitments to 6,000 people who are currently under training but have currently stalled fresh recruitment," he said at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The company also runs a two-month paid internship summer programme for undergraduate students of various universities worldwide. But whether the programme would be axed is yet to be decided, Gopalakrishnan said.
Gopalakrishnan, who said the slowing growth rate of the outsourcing industry was the primary reason behind the decision to freeze fresh recruitments, however, denied Infosys was looking at downsizing.
"Last year the IT industry grew more than 30 per cent, this year it is looking at somewhere in the region of 15 per cent. We will have to look at controlling our cost, controlling our expenses, and making sure that we run an optimised business," he said.
Gopalakrishnan said his Bangalore-based Infosys spends about $1.7 million annually on training and induction of new staff, which he said would be brought down.
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the IT industry trade body, had earlier this year forecast a 21 per cent growth for the outsourcing industry.
Orders have dwindled because of the slowdown in the U.S., which accounts for more than 60 per cent of Indian software exports, Gopalakrishnan admitted, even while predicting the industry would return to its 30-35 per cent growth trajectory once the situation eased.
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Infosys to freeze fresh hiring, opts for economic prudence
New Delhi (IANS): India`s second largest exporter of IT services Infosys Technologies has decided to freeze its annual hiring cycle following the global economic slowdown that is increasingly impacting the Indian outsourcing story.
Infosys had planned to hire 25,000 people earlier this year, and of this the company has till date created jobs for about 16,000-17,000, company chief executive Kris Gopalakrishnana said in New Delhi on Thursday.
"We will honour job commitments to 6,000 people who are currently under training but have currently stalled fresh recruitment," he said at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
The company also runs a two-month paid internship summer programme for undergraduate students of various universities worldwide. But whether the programme would be axed is yet to be decided, Gopalakrishnan said.
Gopalakrishnan, who said the slowing growth rate of the outsourcing industry was the primary reason behind the decision to freeze fresh recruitments, however, denied Infosys was looking at downsizing.
"Last year the IT industry grew more than 30 per cent, this year it is looking at somewhere in the region of 15 per cent. We will have to look at controlling our cost, controlling our expenses, and making sure that we run an optimised business," he said.
Gopalakrishnan said his Bangalore-based Infosys spends about $1.7 million annually on training and induction of new staff, which he said would be brought down.
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), the IT industry trade body, had earlier this year forecast a 21 per cent growth for the outsourcing industry.
Orders have dwindled because of the slowdown in the U.S., which accounts for more than 60 per cent of Indian software exports, Gopalakrishnan admitted, even while predicting the industry would return to its 30-35 per cent growth trajectory once the situation eased.
...
In reply to:
Job losses....
Posted by : sambala
Depressed? Go & party!
Those late working hours never gave you time to socialise, how about starting it now? Remember: you worked hard. Now is the time to party harder. Look at it from another perspective: the work pressure never permitted you to gather enough courage to ask your boss to ask for that sabbatical. Yes, you got it. This is the time!
With recession hitting all major sectors across the globe, it`s the time for you to market yourself rightly. Parties are a good forum for that. Position yourself and build contacts among people from various spheres of life, and what better place than all those social dos that you otherwise skipped.
You never know who, what, where may be your knight in the shining armour.
Develop secondary, related skills
Thought a job in information technology is your core area of work? You may be wrong. Choices galore. One option could be to look within the sector and identify jobs that are most in requirement. Say demand for programmers or project managers are high. Brush up skills for those profiles and streamline your approach.
Also you may look at peripheral options like IT management or IT trainers. For some tech teaching may be a good future career
option.
Cut costs & increase savings
The time can also be a good time to introspect. Think hard, and dwell on your mistakes and the lessons learnt. In future, be ready with a contingency plan, misfortune can come anytime knocking at the door.
Keep liquidity. It will help you bide over any situation. If investing in stocks or mutual funds don`t jell with your idea of investment, consult a portfolio manager as he may give you a clear market picture. Investing in gold or real estate may be wise options, but again go by the market trends.
Destress yourself
Being laid off is often seen as a stigma many are not able to cope up with. Do not see this as a reflection upon your capabilities. Instead, see it as a silver lining that life has given you to sit back, reflect, and think about alternatives in life that you may have wanted to pursue for a long time.
Remember, sitting and brooding will take you nowhere, definitely not out of your self-formed well of unhappiness! It is time to recognise that you are stressed and take steps that distress you adequately.
Take up things like Yoga, Reiki, Pranayam, wellness courses, or indulge in hobby pursuits such as dancing, reading clubs, sports… Why, you can even start your own blog and express yourself in a manner like no other which is a great stress buster in itself.
Nothing helps like help
What better time to do some social work. Why not join or assist organisations working for social causes like poverty, social upliftment or maybe health care. Identify the causes you feel for the most and extend your time and support to those. You will feel very worthy.
You can also go in for helping your neighbourhood welfare association or maybe indulge in some long overdue community work. Old age homes which also require a lot of volunteers is another option. Volunteering for Polio or AIDs campaigns can also very morally fulfilling and uplifting
Indiatimes Infotech
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Mumbai terror & many blasts in different cities before that has already eroded congress vote-bank. In hour of crisis, congress is discussing who should be next CM in Maharashtra. Whatever little respect congress had from voters, is now eroding very fast....
