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India
faces shortfall of IT professionals
Singapore: According to a report by management
consultants McKinsey and Nasscom, the Indian information
technology industry faces a shortfall of 500,000 professionals
by 2010, threatening its dominance of global offshore
IT services.
This
comes as multi-nationals like Microsoft and J P Morgan
have increased their presence in the world's largest offshore
services industry, adding to labour market pressures caused
by a widening mismatch between the supply and demand for
technology talent, the report said.
Despite
the recent expansion, the report says that only a 10th
of an estimated 'addressable' market of $300 billion for
global offshoring is currently being tapped, the report
said.
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India
signs pact with Sweden on science and technology
New
Delhi: India and Sweden have signed an agreement for
cooperation in the fields of science and technology and
boost areas of mutual strength, including Information
Technology, biotechnology and environment-related technologies.
Minister
of state for science and technology and ocean development
Kapil Sibal and Swedish minister for education and culture
Leif Pagtrotsky in Stockholm signed an MoU to this effect.
Sibal, who is visiting Stockholm from December 9 to 12
as a special invitee of the Swedish government for the
Nobel Prize distribution ceremonies, has also been invited
to participate in a summit on 'present and future challenges
in science' along with ministerial representatives from
select countries including Japan, the US, France and Korea.
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Bangalore
to have film city by 2006 end
Bangalore: Bangalore's innovative film city
to come up by end 2006, is a Rs150-crore project housing
six mega studios, a film institute, a production house,
an IT park, a wax museum, a retail street and a residential
complex.
Other
entertainment offerings include a go-carting zone, a golf
course, restaurants and theatres. To give Bangaloreans
world-class entertainment experience, Innovative has tied
up with Ripley's Believe It Or Not to display some of
the world's most unbelievable facts here.
Built
on a 50-acre area on the Bangalore-Mysore highway near
Bidadi, Innovative Film City expects to have six million
visitors every year. It will also have provisions for
an exclusive helipad.
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Indo
American Chamber wants FBT withdrawn
New Delhi: The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce
(IACC) has asked for the withdrawal of the fringe benefit
tax (FBT), saying that the tax has adversely impacted
the competitiveness and the globalisation efforts of Indian
companies.
The
Chamber said the government at the outset should prove
whether FBT is an income tax or an expenditure tax. The
chamber is of the view that FBT does not have the characteristics
of the income tax since the incidence of the tax is not
on income but expenditure.
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Haryana
unable to fund east-west expressway
New
Delhi: The east-west peripheral expressway project
to be funded by the governments of Delhi, Haryana and
Uttar Pradesh, and awaiting implementation five years
after it was conceived, is likely to get delayed again
as the Haryana government has made clear its inability
to fund the project.
The
Rs3,600 crore project is divided into two parts, east
and west. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)
is funding the eastern corridor and the three state governments
the western corridor. Of the Rs1,745 crore, which is the
total cost of the western corridor, Delhi is supposed
to spend Rs422 crore, of which it has already given Rs147
crore. UP and Haryana are to divide the rest of the amount
among themselves. The viability gap is to be funded by
the ministry of roads, highways and shipping.
However, the Haryana government wrote a letter to the
highways ministry last week saying that the land acquisition
cost has gone up from Rs160 crore to Rs640 crore over
the last five years and ,therefore, it would not be able
to fund the project. It has also asked the centre to urge
the Delhi government to shell out more funds.
Sources
said the Delhi government may not be too enthusiastic
about the idea of doling out more funds. Sources also
did not rule out the possibility of Delhi government writing
to the centre reiterating its stand it will not pay any
extra money than its earmarked share.
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Coal
output to be hiked
New
Delhi: In view of the unprecedented crunch in coal
supply, the government has initiated an emergency plan
to step up output of coal.
The
public investment board has cleared 16 proposals of Coal
India and its arms, entailing an investment of over Rs5,000
crore during the last few days.
The
projects cleared by PIB include doubling the capacity
of Bhubaneshwari open cast mine to 20mt, addition of 10mt
to the
25mt Gevra project and a fresh 12mt project at Magadh.
Additional capacities of 9mt at Bharatpur mine, 7mt at
Khadia,
7.5mt at Ashok, 6.5mt at Kaniah and 5mt at Kusmunda sites
have also been approved by the board.
Senior
government officials said the new projects would add another
100-million tonne to the coal capacity in the country.
At present, the total coal output is around 400mt, which
includes CIL's 290mt and about 100mt produced by various
industries for captive use. Private mining of coal for
commercial purpose is not allowed.
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