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NREG fund allocation hiked by Rs 4,000 cr: Chidambaram

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

The fund allocation for National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme will be hiked by Rs 4,000 crore, taking the total amount set aside for the scheme to Rs 18,000 crore by next year, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Sunday.

The scheme ensures that one member of a family gets a job for at least 100 days in a year, he said at a meeting here.

Stating that Tamil Nadu topped other states in availing education loans, he said the banks would give up to Rs 14 lakh for those willing to go abroad for higher studies. Ten lakh students in the country have availed education loans to the tune of Rs 14,500 crore till September this year.

He said the UPA government also offered agriculture loans at 7.5 per cent interest, against the 10 per cent charged during the BJP-led NDA regime. The Government has allocated Rs 2.30 lakh crore for providing loans for the farm sector.

The quality of life in the country has improved after the UPA government took over reins and the economy grew by 8.5 per cent. “We are next to China and we will keep growing,” he said while addressing block-level Congress workers’ meeting at Sivaganga and Kallal.

The minister had addressed 40 block-level meetings in his constituency in the past few weeks. He wanted Congressmen to organise meetings and tell the people about the various Central Government-sponsored programmes.

 

 

Source - EconomicsTimes 
 

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About 1 in 5 IBM Employees Now in India

Monday, December 17th, 2007

IBM Corp.’s expansion in developing countries shows no sign of relenting. The technology company revealed Friday that it now has 73,000 employees in India, almost a 40 percent leap from last year.

IBM did not provide updated figures for its work force in the U.S., which has held steady around 125,000 people in recent years.

Nor did IBM project its total head count. It had 355,766 employees worldwide at the end of 2006.

If the total has risen by the same rate as in 2006, almost one in five IBM workers now is in India, its second-largest center.

Like many other technology providers, IBM has rushed to take advantage of the lower labor costs India offers even for highly skilled workers. IBM’s base in India numbered only 9,000 people in 2003, but it was about 53,000 last year.

IBM has been stressing not only the lower expense of working in India but the potential of the Indian market. IBM executives told visiting Indian journalists last week that the company expected to see revenue from the Indian market jump to nearly $1 billion this year, from $700 million in 2006.

Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM is also ramping up in other key developing markets. Its chairman and chief executive, Sam Palmisano, recently formed a new organization that will spur IBM’s investment in emerging economies.

The plan is meant to capitalize on the higher growth rates in the so-called ”BRIC” countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China. IBM’s revenue from those countries rose 18 percent in the first three quarters of this year, even after discounting the benefit of currency fluctuations. IBM’s total employee count in those countries now is nearly 100,000, up from 70,000 a year ago.

IBM’s vice president of financial management, Jesse J. Greene Jr., would not forecast how much more hiring the company still might do in emerging markets. However, he said ”we see continuing good stability in the BRIC countries in general and good opportunity for growth in those countries as well.”

Source - Tech2

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