EMPLOYMENT WATCH

RECRUITERS TREAT 2012 GRADUATES AT TOP B-SCHOOLS WITH HEFTY JOINING BONUSES

Vying for the best talent, recruiters at top B-schools are compensating 2012 grads with hefty joining bonuses in a year of moderate hikes.

The creme de la creme of Class of 2012 at premier B-schools like Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade ( IIFT), XLRI and Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi, have received bonuses ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh this year.

The Class of 2011 had to settle for joining bonuses ranging between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,000 and on rare occasions, a lakh or so. 

NOW, YOU NEED TO EARN AT LEAST £35,000 TO SETTLE IN UK

The UK government has just announced a further tightening of immigration rules for skilled workers. Under the new rules, skilled workers under the Tier 2 visa, will no longer be able to settle in the UK based on the amount of time they have spent there.

UK's immigration minister, Damian Green, announced on that a new minimum pay threshold will apply for those workers who plan to settle down in the UK as permanent residents. 

While exceptionally talented people, investors and entrepreneurs will continue to have the option to stay in the UK, skilled temporary workers who want to apply for settlement will have to earn at least £35,000, or the going rate for their job, whichever is higher.

EARNING UP TO RS 5-L SALARY? NO NEED TO FILE RETURNS

Individuals with annual income up to Rs 5 lakh are now exempted from filing personal income tax return for the current financial year. This relief was proposed in the Union Budget last year. However, a circular from the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) last week indicates that this relief has been extended for this financial year.

An individual can now file tax returns for this financial year by July 31, 2012. However, the exemption comes with some terms and conditions, which determine the eligibility of an individual to seek the exemption from filing returns.

ERICSSON LAYS OFF 22 EXECUTIVES IN INDIA, TO TRANSFER ANOTHER 100 TO SISTER UNITS TO BOOST EFFICIENCIES

The Indian arm of the world's largest telecoms gear maker, Ericsson, is trimming and redeploying staff as it faces lukewarm operator spends in a fiercely competitive market.

Nearly 22 executives across categories have been fired on performance grounds and another 100 are likely to be transferred to sister organizations like Ericsson India Global Services, Ericsson Supply Site Jaipur, R&D centers and the regional technical centers (RTCs) to boost efficiencies, a top company executive aware of the development told ET.

The Swedish vendor, which nearly doubled its India workforce last year to 12,000, is also undertaking a major "people competence" mapping exercise in the country to weed out non-performers.

NINE INDIAN WOMEN FEATURE IN FORBES  POWER BUSINESSWOMEN LIST

ICICI Bank CEO and MD Chanda Kochchar, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and film producer Ekta Kapoor are among the nine Indian women named in Forbes magazine's inaugural 'Asia Power Businesswomen list'.

The list names 50 "pathbreakers" whose extraordinary business success is driving the region's remarkable economic rise, Forbes said

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ECONOMY UPDATE!!

THERE MAY NOT BE BIG FALL IN INFLATION TILL MARCH

There may not be any further significant fall in inflation this fiscal, according to Chairman of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister C Rangarajan.

Inflation remained above nine per cent for eight consecutive months from April to Nov 2011 with the break coming in December 2011 when it fell to 7.5 per cent and further to 6.5 per cent in January this year.

Inflation in food articles eased from 10.7 per cent in April 2011 to -0.52 per cent in January, while non-food manufacturing inflation even in January this year remained high at 6.7 per cent

GDP GROWTH SLOWS TO 6.1% IN DECEMBER QUARTER, WEAKEST IN ALMOST THREE YEARS

Country's economic growth slowed to its weakest annual pace in almost three years in the three months to December, as high interest rates and rising input costs constrained investment and manufacturing.

Gross domestic product rose 6.1 per cent in October to December compared with a year earlier, a lower than expected increase, figures from government data showed.

That marked a sharp pullback from 6.9 per cent growth in July to September and was the seventh successive quarterly slowdown, providing a gloomy backdrop for a central bank policy meeting and federal budget, both due in just over two weeks. 

INDIA WILL BE WORLD'S THIRD LARGEST ECONOMY BY 2030

 India will be  world's third largest economy by 2030 but its energy demand will slow down to 4.5 per cent, according to global energy giant BP plc

By 2030 China and India will be the world's largest and third largest economies and energy consumers, jointly accounting for about 35 per cent of global population, GDP and energy demand.

EXPORTS GROW 10.1% IN JAN TO $25.34 BILLION

India's exports grew by 10.1 per cent year-on-year in January to $25.34 billion despite weak demand in the Western markets, reversing a declining trend shown since the peak of July 2011.

However, the exports growth rate was a marginal increase over December 2011. The shipments had grown by 6.7 per cent year-on-year in December 2011.

Imports grew at a faster rate of 20.25 per cent to $40.1 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $14.76 billion, according to the commerce ministry data released in New Delhi.

INDIA'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS TO 6.6%

Unemployment rate in the country has declined from 8.3 per cent in 2004-05 to 6.6 per cent in 2009-10 despite global slowdown because of the success of the employment policies.

"Despite global slowdown, India not only maintained its employment standards but also succeeded in reducing unemployment from 8.3 per cent in 2004-05 to 6.6 per cent in 2009-10",according to  Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge .

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT DOWN 33% IN DECEMBER TO $1.35 BILLION

 Foreign direct investment in India declined about 33 per cent to USD 1.35 billion (Rs 7,124 crore) in December 2011, over the same month in the previous year, an official said.

FDI inflows in December 2010 totaled USD 2.01 billion (Rs 9,094 crore). 

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News Update -I.T/ ITES/ BFSI Sector

March 2, 2012: HCL INFOSYSTEMS WINS AADHAAR CONTRACT OF RS 2,200 CRORE FROM UIDAI

The Aadhaar number repository and its IT infrastructure will be run by HCL Infosystems, which has beaten TCS to win a 2,200-crore contract from the Unique ID Authority of India.

According to government sources, TCS bid about 6,500 Crore for the contract while Mahindra Satyam backed out from bidding in the final round.

UIDAI's biometrics service provider Accenture, which handles the current Aadhaar de-duplication mandate, was technically disqualified along with Wipro. 

March 1, 2012: INFOSYS BPO LEADS THE WAY IN NON-LINEAR TRACK; SET TO DOUBLE REVENUE FROM 5 YEARS AGO

This financial year, the business process outsourcing arm of Infosys will take a big lead on the non-linear growth track, an asp rational growth model for most information technology and BPO firms.

By March 31, Infosys BPO would have doubled its revenue from five years ago to almost $500 million (2,500 Crore) while its employee base has grown only by around 20%. 

In comparison, pure-play BPOs like Genpact and EXL or the BPO arm of Wipro have all grown headcount at the same pace or even faster than their revenue growth. The only exception is WNS, which grew headcount by 20% to grow revenues by 34%.

February 29,2012: BANKS SEEK CLARITY IN CLASSIFICATION OF RESTRUCTURED LOANS

Top bankers sought more clarity from the Reserve Bank about classification of stressed accounts and demanded that they be allowed to mark a restructured account as standard one if it adheres to the revised payment schedule for a year. 

"Today, there is a lot of mystery about what is a restructured asset. Everything restructured is seen as equivalent to NPA (non-performing asset)...the restructuring definition should have a timeline," State Bank Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri told reporters outside the RBI headquarters after a two-hour-long meeting with the RBI officials. 

February 28,2012:STATE BANK OF INDIA DROPS EDUCATIONAL LOAN RATES

 State Bank of India (SBI) has lowered interest rates on education loans by 25-100 basis points, a move aimed at attracting students to bank with the country's largest lender at an early age. 

Following the rate cut, SBI's interest rate on big-ticket education loans - above Rs 4 lakh - will be the cheapest among its peers. 

February 27,2012:IT INDUSTRY SHOULD BE BULLISH ABOUT GROWTH: PARTHA IYENGAR, GARTNER'S TOP ANALYST

Technology analyst firm Gartner's top researcher in India sees strong demand for IT services from the country in 2012, but warned that less than bullish comments from service providers, brokerages and Nasscom could contribute to the overall sentimental weakness and eventually prove counter-productive for growth. 

Gartner's top analyst in the country, Partha Iyengar, said the gap between what it expects and what the industry is projecting has only widened with Nasscom's lower growth estimates for software exports in the coming fiscal.

As compared to a 16% plus growth software exports are likely to clock in FY12, Nasscom, India's apex software industry body, has projected only 11%-14% growth in FY13. Iyengar said he was puzzled by the widening gap between the two. 

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BUDGET 2012-13 EXPECTATIONS

In times of uncertain Global macroeconomic conditions and highly complicated economic scenarios the UPA GOVERNMENT is set to deliver it’s the UNION BUDGET ON 16th March2012. This budget could be a final showdown or a much needed face saver for the government.

The main orientation of the budget is expected to be to strike a balance between spending and maintaining the sustainable growth.

Recently industry body CII asked Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to retain the current rates of excise and service tax in the Union Budget 2012 to boost investments. 

Others like Mr  N Chandrasekaran, MD & CEO of Tata Consultancy Services has acknowledged  that the  taxation issues on onshore tax exist and that the IT industry needs a simplified tax structure in this Budget. "We want a simplified structure and clarity," he said. 

Thus the move towards implementation of the GST and DTC - Revision of tax slabs, rates also need to be strengthened.

FOLLOWING ARE A COMPILATION OF SECTORAL BUDGET EXPECTATIONS AND EXPERT VIEWS 

IT/ITES SECTOR

1.      MAT (Minimum Alternate Tax) rate should be kept stable.

2.      Special incentives for Small & Medium Businesses.

3.      Revival of tax benefits under the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme.

4.      Increased IT adoption by Government. 

5.      Measures to boost STPs/SEZs projects in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

6. Further strengthening of legal framework for protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and data security.

7. Inadequate infrastructure facilities in terms of transportation, connectivity, power and communication facilities have increased the cost of doing business in India. 

     This is forcing IT firms in India to explore other low cost destinations such as Philippines. Thus, in order to sustain the long-term growth of the IT/ITes industry, it is imperative for the Government to take measures to increase the infrastructure investments.  

BFSI SECTOR

1.      Removal of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT) on equity trades for the upcoming Union Budget is priority. Abolition of STT will revive intra-day trading, reduce transaction cost, promote equity culture and retail participation and engender healthy speculative activity required for the functioning of the market and revival of sentiments.

2.      Lock-in period for fixed deposits of up to Rs 1 lakh that are eligible for tax deductions under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act is to be brought down to three years from the current five years to bring it on par with a similar deduction available for equity linked savings products where lock-in is only three years.

3.      Microfinance bill to be proposed in budget session.

4.      Emphasis on the financial strengthening of Public Sector Banks (PSBs). PSBs like SBI likely to get capital infusion which is expected to bring more stability.

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