The consequence? Retaining employees is becoming a huge problem in the city's hospitality market. Throwing light on the issue, Mr. Saurabh Shroff, Head marketing of myJobsinPune.com says, “The staff requirement for various hotels ranges between 1 to 3 persons per room, depending on the hotel category. This is regardless of the fact that technology is replacing manpower in operations, since hospitality is a service-oriented industry. The challenge for upcoming hotels in Pune, especially the upper end ones, is to find enough skilled professionals to maintain the level of service standards that regular international travelers are used to.”

The domestic hospitality industry is undergoing rapid transformation, with several hotel groups investing in new properties across India and the globe. Additionally, real estate players are entering the industry through management contracts with established hotel chains. This expansion in the hospitality business is taking place on account of the massive growth that India is likely to witness in the coming years.

To name a few, J W Marriott is also coming up with Courtyards, their budget segment in Pune by the end of 2008. Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels Ltd, owners of The Park Hotels, will be setting up a five star boutique hotel in Pune. The company has already acquired 90, 000 sq ft at Shivaji Nagar in Wakewadi near Pune. The new property with restaurants and entertainment facilities will be ready by 2010. The project cost is estimated at Rs 300 crore. The city-based Sayaji Hotels Limited (SHL) has chalked out an ambitious plan of opening up of a three star hotel in Pune, Maharashtra and setting up of 100 'barbecue nations' across the country. It has invested Rs 135 crore for opening up of 50 rooms three star hotel in Pune which is almost ready and it will be opened by December this year.

Many others have undertaken hotel project in Pune, which is humming up with industrial activities.

Quote from Mr. Avijit Chaturvedi, V.P. Operations, The ‘O’ Hotel, “Hospitality industry, specially the high end Hotel segment derives value from the quality of service that can be provided consistently. Well-trained staff with the right attitude thus becomes the most important resource, as the vehicle, that would deliver the desired quality service. With the number of Hotels growing by leaps and bounds and other service industries like telecom, retail and BPOs looking at the Hospitality graduates for their recruitment, finding and retaining quality staff has become a big challenge.”

“In short term the growth in number of vacancies will outstrip the growth in trained manpower by a wide margin. The fight will be to get a bigger slice of “the pie” to ensure optimum trained staff for the hotel. The Hotels/chains that create the right ‘employer branding’ would attract the best talent and a bigger slice of the human resource pie. The O Hotel with its strong training and motivation practices definitely hopes to be among the more sought after employers in the years to come” states Mr. Chaturvedi.

In June this year, S.P. Jain Foundation Trust in collaboration with The Pride Group of Hotels has set-up Pride Institute of Hospitality & Business Management (PIHM) in Pune, with a mission to offer quality education to students who wish to choose hospitality as a serious career option.

According to CRISIL Research, each year around 10,500 graduates come out of the 25 Institutes of Hotel Management (IHMs) and 150 private institutions in the country. Apart from the 5-star category, the 3-star and 4-star categories also compete for this pool of graduates. The research firm projects that by 2011-12 when at least 30,000 rooms are added to the current stock, around 54,000 employees would be required in the premium segment alone.

The demand from a rapidly expanding hospitality industry in India and abroad, a limited pool of qualified and well-trained staff to choose from, not to speak of the demand generated by the mushrooming of Indian restaurants abroad, has resulted in a severe shortage of expert hands, whether chefs, F&B managers, house-keeping personnel and HR staff. Manpower shortage is the most serious issue facing the Indian hotel industry currently.

From the database analyzed at Pune’s leading job portal, www.myJobsinpune.com, the shortage of skilled workers would impact the overall service levels across hotels in India. The steady rise in salaries also meant that India did not necessarily have the advantage of low labour costs that it had a few years ago. In this background, the compensation earned by hotel staff has also grown by around 20 per cent in the past two years.

Mr. Shroff of myJobsinPune.com adds, “Many of the upcoming hotels in Pune will be sourcing for talent across the country if they don’t find the talent locally. We are planning on targeted campaigns to help various players in the industry, find as many skilled professionals locally as possible.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

For details contact:
Sunder Iyer – 09823029582 (Innovators PR), innovatorspr@gmail.com
Nida Paloba – 09821017561 (Escher Communications), nida@escherpr.com

When probed further on how these social networks can help BPO ITES in career and resolving their issues he said “These sites give them enough resources (like forums, blogs etc.) to create their own identity and impression. Many people have landed up with great opportunities through their expert comments or interesting blogs. Also many use it to voice out their concern and give their opinion a momentum by floating their concerns through various discussion forums, blogs etc and sometimes the management do look into it.”

Ankush Wadhwa (Co-Founder and Head -Business Development, BPOVoice.com) also had the same opinion. He said “Idea of forming a union is passé and do not simulate brains of today’s well educated and well informed generation. Also Working conditions and accessibility to the higher management has improved a lot.“

He also stressed on the fact that there are many professions including Medicine, IT and manufacturing etc, where working conditions may not be as better as compared to any BPO around.

On asked about their opinion on the current layoffs done by a few major BPOs Mr. Saxena said “These days there is nothing like job security no matter which industry you belong to. The sooner we understand this the better it is. Corporate are for profits and not for charities, tomorrow if any one of you starts a business of your own even you will have the same ideology. A job loss is certainly a big setback however; it should be dealt with courage and some quick decisions. The best way to over come a job loss is to start finding a new one ASAP. There are still plenty of jobs available in the market one just needs to be quick on their toes and move on. ”

When asked if they feel a need for a union which may take up their cause. Ankush said “In the west when a company does some layoffs because of off-shore projects then how much is their union able to help them even though they are more aggressive. Also most of us come from middle to upper middle families into BPO with the sole intention to make a career or to get settled in life and not to become a glorified agitator”

Amit Saxena agreed that these are tough times and further added “An industry which roughly employees 800,000 people and is worth more than $ 10 billion should be taken a bit more seriously by those who work in it and by those who write about it “

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

As well as taking over the marketing and advertising duties at Bacharach, Bass will also oversee the customer service and repair departments. This comes after the company’s recent acquisition by PNC Equity Partners, a Pittsburgh based buyout and growth equity fund.

Bacharach, a pillar of product superiority and technical innovation since 1909, is committed to continuing its leadership position in the HVAC/R industry and is focused on growth through new product development and outstanding customer service.

Bacharach’s newest executive management team member recognizes the significance of the company’s strong foundation, as well as its opportunity for future success. “I am very excited to be a member of the Bacharach team and have an opportunity to carry on the past 100 years of success,” he said. “As oil prices continue to increase and there is a greater importance for protecting the environment, it is critical that Bacharach leverage innovation and our expertise to provide the highest quality products possible for our customers. We are positioned extremely well to exceed the market’s expectations and truly deliver a measurable difference. “

Bass had been a strategic marketing and management leader for the FedEx Corporation for over 10 years; he brings a strong understanding of distribution, product management, and marketing optimization. He holds an MBA in Management from Robert Morris College and a B.S. in Business Administration and Marketing from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

For more information on Bacharach Inc., its products and services, or any new developments please visit their website at www.bacharach-inc.com or contact customer service at 724-334-5000.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

'Sonal Chauhan is an Indian fashion model and actress. She was crowned as the Miss World Tourism 2005 at Miri, Sarawak state of Malaysia. Sonal had also been a noteworthy former Miss India contestant. Bold and beautiful Sonal Chauhan is the first ever Indian to have claimed Miss World Tourism title. She has been a popular model of Delhi and has appeared in a number of advertisement campaigns in print and electronic media.

JANNAT will be a test of Sonal’s acting, but with blend of beauty, simple charm and natural skills she is all set to win this one. Almost all the models and pageant winners dream to head towards Bollywood. But acting is a tougher job than modeling and only those who understand this criteria, stand a chance in this field. Sonal has been very popular as a model and her beauty has already cast a spell. Her co-star Emraan Hashmi described her as hard working and talented girl.

Originally hailing from U.P, JANNAT would be Sonal’s first stint on the big screen though she has earlier been a part of modeling and advertisement world as well.

After launching Kangana Ranaut, and Mrinalini Sharma, successfully, Sonal Chauhan is the latest launch from the Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt banner Vishesh Films with JANNAT. Sonal is very keen on her debut with JANNAT and seems in a mood of thanks to the duo.

Sonal loves being in front of camera, no matter whether still or a moving one. She bears an introvert natured personality. She is playing Zoya in JANNAT, who is an independent call centre employee. “I play a strong headed girl in the film who is modern and totally gainst crime act.” She added.

Sonal has already impressed Bhatts so much with her acting skills that she has been signed for a three movie deal with Vishesh Films, including “Raaz 2”.

Being a model for two years, having an experience of various ramp shows and print campaigns for big brands like L.G, Reliance CDMA, Hero Honda Passion, Nokia , Hindustan Times, Delhi Times and many more, Sonal is all set to win hearts and praises with her latest venture JANNAT in Bollywood

Bhatts have given Sonal a heavenly debut with JANNAT, which is being released by Percept Picture Company in India

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

“Canada welcomes skilled migration from overseas and values the diversity its multicultural society brings,” says Colin Romberger from www.globalvisas.ca. He adds that Canada is a popular destination for migration, particularly because of its economic stability and low crime rate.

There are currently over 900 000 people waiting to migrate. These people are often skilled migrants and are sought after within Canadian society. Up to 700 000 people waiting to migrate are skilled.

However, processing times of immigration applications to Canada has risen by 20% since 2004; it is because of this that the Canadian government has proposed a new system where those with particular skills are pushed to the front of the immigration queue. This new process aims to reduce the waiting and improve the service.

It is the desire of the government to cut down the immigration process to just six to twelve months from application. At the moment, for example, a doctor will wait about five years in order to enter Canada.

This new law would enable the government to help solve the shortage in the healthcare sector, which is a priority, by speeding up the immigration process for applicants in the medical profession.

“Our economy depends on immigration, and always has,” says John Winter, president and CEO of the BC Chamber of commerce. It is for this reason that Canada continuously attempts to attract foreign professionals.

Chinese immigrants are the most common in Canada, making up 13% of new residents, followed by Indians at 12%. www.globalvisa.ca offers work permits and skilled migration routes for those looking to live and work in Canada, and also offers business visas route for entrepreneurs and investors.

The Canadian government has also begun favouring foreign students coming to Canada and ultimately perusing a career therein. Good salaries and benefits aim to persuade foreign students to stay and work in Canada after graduation. The mere fact that these migrants don’t have to undergo conversion exams is an initiative to promote studying in Canada. There are currently 170 000 foreigners on student visas in Canada.

For more information on migration to Canada visit www.globalvisas.ca and take the online assessment now.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

www.globalvisas.co.in is the Indian arm of www.globalvisas.com the worlds leading authority in Immigration and visa laws across the globe. Our company spans the world with specialist solicitors dealing with Immigration laws in country including. USA, UK, Canada, China, India, Philippines, Australia, South Africa andIreland.

Our clients range from the fortune 100 companies to world "A" list celebrities.

The site boasts of a whopping Rs. 65 Crores of reward money that is on the block for people who successfully refer their friends to jobs. “The trend of networking for career opportunities is increasingly gaining centre stage and Yellojobs.com is virtually an extension of the highly credible employee referral programmes managed by many organisations.” said Vikramjit Singh Sahaye who heads the portal in India. The new Community section on Yellojobs.com has Blogging space, forums, polls and many discussion tools for both jobseekers & employers to actively contribute & draw value. Jobseekers can now easily build their network on the site and make use of their contacts by earning money through referrals, building online credibility through ratings, exchanging recommendations and comments. Seamless navigation, crisp content, user defined FAQ’s and modern designs are an outcome of months of research on user behaviour that adds a new dimension to jobs on the internet.

Yellojobs.com has clientele from varied industries offering jobs with Oracle, Wipro, NDTV, ITC, Fortis, Outlook, HCL, CSC, Dell, Aricent, Accenture and more. An increasing number of employers are getting attracted to the novel idea of posting job vacancies for free by simply pledging a minimum reward amount of Rs. 5000 to get high-quality passive jobseekers by way of referrals. The added advantage for employers is that they pay only after the candidate joins and Yellojobs.com also safeguards them against any early attrition.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Yellojobs.com is the pioneer in introducing the revolutionary concept of YelloRewards that combines job referrals & social networking. Yellojobs.com India Private Limited is a joint venture of Singapore based Yellojobs.com Pte Limited and Recruit Online. Yellojobs.com currently operates in India & Thailand and is also about to foray in USA very soon.

Log on to http://in.yellojobs.com for more details

Write to Aditya Kumar, Yellojobs.com, at aditya.kumar@yellomedia.com or call +91 9311552444, +91 9311134444

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Neil Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer, Team Mohali, said, “We had been looking for agencies that could help promote Team Mohali with strategic communications support and deliver truly integrated campaigns across India. We were glad that both agencies – Avian Media and Wizcraft demonstrated such an in-depth understanding of the sport and also shared our passion equally. We are confident that both agencies will prove to be valuable partners during this initial phase of brand building the Team.”

Avian Media will provide the team with strategic public relations counsel as well as media relations. The agency will work towards building brand awareness for Team Mohali both before and during the matches. It will also help facilitate industry comment from senior spokespeople together with market analysis and statistics.

Wizcraft with its years of experience in activation will be the backbone of Team Mohali’s on - ground efforts. The agency is also looking at generating sales, building excitement through match day entertainment, driving fan base registration and following, developing & managing the team website.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Team Mohali

Team Mohali is part of the eight competing teams promoted by The Indian Premier League. It is held and promoted by a consortium which includes leading actor -Preity Zinta & Industrialists Ness Wadia, Karan Paul and Mohit Burman. The team will be led by Yuvraj Singh, who is also the icon player & captain. At the helm is Coach Tom Moody. The team is a heady mix of leading national and international players like Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan, Sree Santh, Piyush Chawla, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardane, Romesh Powar, James Hopes, V R V Singh, Kyle Mills, Luke Pomersvach, Uday Kaul, Yash Gandhi, Tanmay Srivastava, Karan Goel, Ajitesh Argal, Simon Katach, Sunny Sohal, Pankaj Dharmani, Sahil Kukreja, and Wilken Mota.

According to TIS’s President, Simulations, Manoj Kutty: “Learning Manager creates a simulated environment where users can make learning decisions and see the benefits and/or repercussions in real time. Participants can map their strategy to the key challenges faced by their organisation, develop a business plan for learning and use decision-making and cost-benefit analysis tools to maximise the impact of learning.”

This day-long Learning Manager workshop, conducted by Dave Vance, is intended mainly for CLOs, training directors, and senior learning professionals. It also helps consultants and HR managers who want to provide better guidance to learning professionals.

Vance said: “The partnership has created a highly engaging simulation. The participants were enthusiastic about refining their business plan to achieve the greatest impact on their organisation and did not want the simulation to end.

“It is a unique simulation which gives professionals an opportunity to practise the key concepts of strategic alignment, programme selection and prioritisation. It even allows cost-benefit analysis.

“The key benefit of instruction combined with simulation is the immediate practise of new skills, providingboth the knowledge and the confidence toapply these concepts back in the office.”

“I have received extremely positive feedback from the participants,” Vance added. “Some of them even commented that this was the most intuitive and easy-to-comprehend simulation they had ever played.”

TIS’s Kutty commented, “Managing a corporate university budget is often a challenging assignment and, in today’s difficult business environment with limited resources, it can be even more demanding. We built our simulation to enable training function managers to test out different strategies in a risk free environment to understand and maximise the return on investment of their training budget.

“The multi-player, game-based approach within the simulation will keep the audience engaged. Our partner and facilitator, Dave Vance, is an industry veteran who has run one of the largest corporate universities in the USA with distinction.”

TIS’ business acumen simulations are highly acclaimed and proven solutions for management challenges. These simulations have delivered tangible results at leading organisations and educational institutions around the globe.

TIS’s simulations have improved financial results and return on investment (ROI) by teaching participants to make better investment decisions and then to apply that knowledge in relevant situations. The workshops offer an enhanced understanding of the enterprise-wide consequences of business and learning decisions.

Dave Vance also took part in the Tata Interactive Learning Forum (TLF) towards the end of 2007. At that event, Vance shared his knowledge on making the right training decisions in organisations and conducted the Learning Manager workshop for the attendees.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About TOPSIM®

Tata Interactive Systems designs and develops a range of management simulations.

TOPSIM® is a top-ranked simulation product used by more than 150 leading global corporations. TOPSIM® has been successfully implemented in business education and professional training for more than twenty years. TOPSIM® Simulations are modular programs usually deployed in instructor-led workshops.

For geographically dispersed participants, TOPSIM® can also be played over the web as an online workshop. Furthermore, TOPSIM® Simulations are available as off-the-shelf products and in customised formats.

About Dave Vance

Dave is founding and former President of Caterpillar University (2001-2006). He also served as the Chief Economist and Manager of the Business Intelligence Group at Caterpillar (1995-2000). Dave has been honoured with a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Notre Dame, a Masters degree in Business from Indiana University, a Bachelors in Political Science from MIT and also been acknowledged as 2006 CLO of the Year. He just finished a three year term on the ASTD Board of Directors, two as Treasurer.

Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), a global leader in e-learning, is a part of the $22bn Tata Group. Truly international, TIS has a presence across the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Japan, India, and mainland Europe. TIS offers corporations, universities, schools, publishers, and government institutions a diversified and innovative bouquet of learning and training solutions including Simulation-based Learning Objects (SimBLs™), Story-based Learning Objects (StoBLs™), courseware and curriculum design, special-needs education, assessments, electronic performance support systems (EPSS), mobile learning, along with other corporate training and consultancy services. Our multi-disciplinary expertise and 16 years’ experience across domains helps us design e-learning programmes that are unique to clients’ requirements and specifically crafted to boost knowledge retention and application.

Apart from holding ISO 9001 certification, TIS is the only e-learning organisation in the world to be assessed at Level 5 in both the SEI-CMM and P-CMM frameworks. TIS’s quest for excellence is reflected in numerous prestigious industry awards, including a Silver Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Award 2005 and 2004, APEX Award of Excellence in 2005 and 2006, BETT Awards in 2004 and 2006, and two Business World–NID Design Excellence awards.

For more information log on to www.tatainteractive.com

http://NewZealand.recruit.net

Launched in 2006, Recruit.net is the leading search engine for jobs in Asia Pacific, with over 3 million job listings from across the region, including Singapore, Malaysia Japan, India, Australia, China and now New Zealand.

Applauding the announcement on the expansion into the New Zealand market, leading search consultant and HR blogger Mr Steven Kempton stated, “I believe Recruit.net adds a real difference to the NZ job board marketplace. The ability to truly search from one site provides several valuable tools for candidates. “It’s a real winner for candidates but it’s also very positive for employers who can now be confident that it doesn’t matter which board they advertise on it’s possible for candidates to find that job through Recruit.net. You’ll automatically have more coverage for your job without doing a thing or paying a cent.”

Recruit.net uses proprietary technology to provide the most comprehensive, relevant and fresh job search site in New Zealand that includes job listings from numerous websites, newspapers, recruitment agencies, associations, and companies directly.

In contrast to traditional job sites that only display jobs from their paying clients, Recruit.net puts job seekers first by allowing them to search jobs from hundreds of websites simultaneously. With thousands of new jobs every week, New Zealand.recruit.net gives people a brand new way to search for jobs in New Zealand. Job postings include full time, part-time and all levels of pay from waiters up to CEO’s

New Zealanders total employed, as at September 2007 quarter was 2,150,000, New Zealand enjoys a low unemployment rate of only 3.5%. Recruit.net allows for active and passive employment seekers to stay up to date on the job market potential. Through the Recruit.net service registered members can create an email alert where they can select roles that they might be interested in. Users then receive an email alert to their private email box when their selections are matched. Users then follow the link to the original posting and can choose to follow up from there.

“We believe that people just want one place from where they can quickly and easily search and track all the jobs that match their interest, and this is basically the core of our service. New Zealand is key growth country for our further international expansion and we are very excited to be rolling out our service here.” Said Maneck Mohan Founder of Recruit.net

Whilst the sites listings are primarily free, Recruit.net has a revenue model for employers or businesses that want to stand out. These organizations can submit to recruit.net sponsored jobs or utilize the adnet® pay-per click service which is based on keywords.

More on recruit.net can be found on APLINK

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Recruit.net

Recruit.net (www.recruit.net) is a Hong Kong based company that operates an international network of trilingual job search engines. Utilizing proprietary search technology Recruit.net enables job seekers to instantly search millions of jobs from thousands of companies across the world. Recruit.net provides a range of features to its users including, online salary checks, job trends, the ability to upload resumes and receive job alerts via email or RSS feeds.

Recruit.net also operates a Pay-Per-Click advertising network called adnet that provides advertisers with the ability to deliver measurable, cost-effective online advertising across a growing international network of partner sites and affiliates.
For more information, please visit http://www.recruit.net

Media Contact at Recruit.net:
Andrew Peters,
Recruit.net
andrew.peters@recruit.net

That's according to Limerick County Council, which today described the move as potentially the biggest threat to the future development of the West of Ireland, and in particular Limerick with its significant base of multinational companies.

The Local Authority has also warned that the move would be contrary to all regional development policies and would seriously undermine the effectiveness of major infrastructure projects in Limerick.

Cllr. Kevin Sheahan, Chairperson of Limerick County Council commented, "The loss of the Shannon-Heathrow service would result in County Limerick becoming a less competitive and attractive location for existing and potential investors and would have a detrimental impact on tourism in the region."

As Limerick is a major centre of education, Cllr. Sheahan also warned that the local education sector, in particular the University of Limerick, which not only provides highly educated graduates but also supports research and development for many multi-national companies, would suffer if the service was not retained.

He explained, "The achievements to date in providing a highly skilled workforce through the presence of the University of Limerick in County Limerick, which adds value to the strong multinational sector, will be greatly undermined by cutting off direct access to the main transport hub in Western Europe."

According to Gerry Behan, Deputy County Manager, "The removal of direct access from the West of Ireland to an international hub such as Heathrow would seriously undermine the effectiveness of major infrastructure projects in Limerick such as the Southern Ring Road in Limerick City, the Shannon Tunnel and the N-7 Nenagh to Limerick high quality dual carriageway."

"The removal of this link would also be contrary to the National Spatial Strategy and other regional policies, which aim to achieve to a better balance of social, economic and physical development across Ireland and a strong competitive economy", concluded Mr. Behan.

Meanwhile, Councillor Kevin Sheahan confirmed that Limerick County Council intends to hold a briefing session for all Members on this significant issue and will also be attending a number of organised meetings with business, local government and tourism interests in the mid-west region over the coming days.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

“Enhancing reputations–Increasing exposure–Increasing understanding”

Founded in 2006, Dunphy Public Relations is a communications group led by Mark Dunphy from County Clare. Mr. Dunphy previously held the position of ‘Head of News and Current Affairs’ in Clare FM Radio.

Dunphy Public Relations has secured extensive local, national and international media coverage for clients including Clare County Council; Supply Network Shannon; The Atlantis Holiday Group; Shannon Town Council; Cliffs of Moher New Visitor Experience; Clare Museum; Digino Marketing; Renewable Energy Skillsnet; Magico.ie; Kilrush Town Council; Clonlara Wholesale; Minister for Labour Affairs, Tony Killeen; Clare County Library; and Ennis Town Council.

The day long celebrations would start with the morning Breakfast Show BIG Chumuk hosted by BIG Koushik and would feature Monomoy Bhattacharya. There will be a special episode of Tirishe Maat inviting listeners to showcase their singing or musical skills in 30 seconds, the lucky winner would get an exclusive music training course courtesy BIG 92.7 FM.

The station which has a clearly defined music strategy, and is known to play the best loved music will have special customised programming around the day ,special capsules celebrating the occasion and playing listeners favourite music all day long. There would be Interesting trivia on music, contests on musical preferences of the city.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Bodhayan Roychoudhury, Station Head Kolkata BIG 92.7 FM said that “The day has been planned like an ode to music, and we will celebrate music and music lovers through various programmes on air and on ground.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

BIG 92.7 FM is part of Adlabs Films. Ltd. The Station is poised to create history with it’s pan India presence, spanning across 45 cities, 1000 towns and 50,000 villages to reach 200 million Indians across the length and breadth of the country. The company plans to take FM radio as a medium of entertainment not only to the key metros, but also to virgin markets that have never before experienced this medium of entertainment. The Station promises not only to entertain but to inform and empower the listener with utilities that one may take for granted. In addition to the utilities, the Station has a stunning array of RJ’s who will be the voice and personality of the channel. The RJ’s have been selected after a careful and selective nationwide hunt. With an investment of Rs. 400 crore dedicated to Transmission Equipment, Infrastructure and licensing, the proposed network will be the largest ever. BIG 92.7 FM will bring to you 24x7 unique entertainment from a highly advanced and state-of-the-art radio broadcast technology via transmitters with web based remote management capability, hot swappable power supply and power amplifier with controller card redundancy. BIG 92.7 FM is the next BIG thing on Radio. Big is beautiful! BIG is better! And now its here!! BIG 92.7 FM. Suno Sunao, Life Banao!

Impetus has been on an aggressive Campus Recruitment drive across the country since April ’07. The company has visited 18 prominent campuses including Delhi University, Jammu University; Dehradoon University, Amity Delhi, MLSU Udaipur, Himachal University, LD College & Rollwala Ahemdabad, DDIT Nadiad, MBM Jodhpur, MNIT Bhopal, SVIM Indore, MIT Ujjain; etc. till date. The company has already selected close to 125 engineering graduates with specialization in Computer Sciences and Information Technology. Impetus is offering a very attractive compensation package and interesting training opportunities to these graduates.

The campus joinees undergo a rigorous and comprehensive Induction and Training program in order to prepare them to handle the demands of their professional life. They get a chance to work on live client projects very soon, and the fast paced work gives them an opportunity to learn and grow much ahead of their counterparts. Impetus also gives a chance to many of its deserving employees to visit the client offices onsire, fairly early in their career.

Ambrish Kanungo, Sr. Manager HR, Impetus says, “We are overwhelmed with the response that we are getting from Institutes and students alike. The youth today is very composed and professional and willing to embrace the opportunities and challenges with immense zeal and fervor. The 250 campus graduates we hired last year are already proving themselves to be indispensable to the organization. We have even way higher expectations from this year’s recruits.”

Impetus is planning to hire close to 300 students this year also and is scheduled to visit leading engineering institutes such as SGSITS Indore, IIT Chennai, IIT Roorkee, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, BHU Varanasi , BITS Pilani, BITS Ranchi, Nirma University Ahmedabad, Banasthali Vidyapeeth Rajasthan, MNIT Raipur etc in the coming days. The organization announced a growth of over 70% in 2006-07 and credits the same to its talented employees who are passionate techies, always willing to innovate and learn.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Headquartered in Cupertino (CA), Impetus Technologies provides outsourced software product design, R&D and related services to leading global software product companies. Impetus has been involved with over 40 product launches over its decade-long association with clients ranging from innovative product start ups to reputed enterprise level product companies.

Impetus works on cutting-edge technologies to develop a variety of next-generation products for a range of vertical domains. From enterprise applications that optimize supply chains and credit portfolios, to solutions for the emerging rich media and digital content verticals; and from products for wireless networks and mobile handsets to software for network forensics and communication monitoring, Impetus’ emphasis on continuous innovation adds significant value to its clients’ technology initiatives.

For more information, visits www.impetus.com or write to info@impetus.com

The international health and care company BUPA, which has bases on three continents and 8m customers, operates 300 Care Homes spread throughout the UK. Each of these homes has managers and administrators – and each of them must be trained on the Care Homes Financial System, known as CHEERs, before they are allowed to use the system ‘live’.

Traditionally, training for these two groups of BUPA employees took the form of a five-day, instructor-led, residential course. However, explained Tracy Fell-Smith, IT and Finance Trainer at BUPA Care Services, this strategy had a number of drawbacks from both a training delivery and cost perspective, including:

• New administrators had to wait until one of these courses was being run and, consequently, were usually not able to carry out their full job duties as soon as they took up their new post.
• There was a wide range of knowledge about CHEERs, IT skills, work-based experience and confidence levels among the trainees on each course.
• Trainees were lost to their jobs for at least five days (sometimes more when they were travelling to the course from the more remote parts of the UK). This not only had staffing but also cost (travel and subsistence) implications.
• The trainees were not happy at being away from their families and friends for five days or more.
• The costs of delivering the five day course were high.
• There were long waiting lists to attend these courses.

So, BUPA decided to include e-learning materials to produce a blended approach to the training and chose TIS to develop the e-learning materials.

Subsequently, the overall costs of providing CHEERs training have fallen by 40 per cent per delegate since the e-learning materials were introduced in May 2006. Moreover, the number of courses that has been delivered in this period has increased by a factor of 300 per cent.

There is now a more timely delivery of training, since the e-learning materials are available at each desktop – and can also act as an aid memoir once the training has been completed. Moreover, BUPA can offer its Care Homes staff a range of tailored delivery options on the CHEERs system to suit their individual needs and competencies.

The blended learning approach involves all trainees completing the e-learning materials and then achieving at least 80 per cent in an online assessment generated at the end of the e-learning programme. Successful trainees then attend a three day training course.

“This is proving popular,” Tracy said. “Administrators and managers can now learn in their own time – and only need to be away for a three day course.

“From the trainers’ point of view, this is a more efficient arrangement because, previously, we could only schedule one five day course per month. Now, we can run more than one three day course in a month – and so reduce waiting lists appreciably.

“Moreover, new administrators can get access to the CHEERs system once they have satisfactorily completed the e-learning materials – rather than having to wait a month or more to go on a five day course.

“And, when the trainees attend the three day course, the trainers know that they all have a similar, basic knowledge of the CHEERs system – so the range of trainees’ knowledge and experience is smaller and, thus, the trainers’ job is made easier. In addition, knowing that they all have the same basic level of knowledge, helps the trainees to be more confident when they attend the training course – especially in terms of their IT skills, since they will have already completed some e-learning,” said Tracy.

The first CHEERs e-learning module was delivered in April 2006 and the first blended learning programme was delivered a month later. By the end of 2006, some 30 people have completed the e-learning programme and a further 67 people have completed the complete blended learning programme.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About BUPA

BUPA is the UK market leader in health and care with a strong international presence. It has 8 million customers in 180 countries and 44,000 employees. Its main interests are health insurance, hospitals, care homes for older people and young disabled, health assessments, workplace health and childcare services. Sanitas in Spain, HBA in Australia, IHI in Denmark and Amedex in the US are all part of the BUPA Group. BUPA is a provident association which reinvests all its surpluses back into the business. The BUPA Foundation is an independent charity which funds medical research.

About Tata Interactive Systems (TIS)

Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), a global leader in e-learning, is a part of the $22bn Tata Group. Truly international, TIS has a presence across the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Japan, India, and mainland Europe. TIS offers corporations, universities, schools, publishers, and government institutions a diversified and innovative bouquet of learning and training solutions including Simulation-based Learning Objects (SimBLs™), Story-based Learning Objects (StoBLs™), courseware and curriculum design, special-needs education, assessments, electronic performance support systems (EPSS), mobile learning, along with other corporate training and consultancy services. Our multi-disciplinary expertise and 16 years’ experience across domains helps us design e-learning programmes that are unique to clients’ requirements and specifically crafted to boost knowledge retention and application.

Apart from holding ISO 9001 certification, TIS is the only e-learning organisation in the world to be assessed at Level 5 in both the SEI-CMM and P-CMM frameworks. TIS’s quest for excellence is reflected in numerous prestigious industry awards, including a Silver Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Award 2005 and 2004, APEX Award of Excellence in 2005 and 2006, BETT Awards in 2004 and 2006, and two Business World–NID Design Excellence awards.

For more information log on to www.tatainteractive.com

Key HR and training professionals from the UK’s top organisations, including customers of Open Mind, the specialist distributor of learning resources, will tour the Cabinet War Rooms and receive a briefing on the first six weeks of the new age discrimination legislation. Organised by learning materials producer, Skill Boosters, and the Employers Forum on Age (EFA), the evening is being hosted by Rob Bonnet, the face of BBC Sports News for over a decade.

Delegates will hear from EFA director, Sam Mercer, while staff from Skill Boosters will be on hand to answer questions about the learning materials that are available – and appropriate – for keeping staff up-to-date with the latest policies and procedures relating to such things as age discrimination legislation and diversity training.

“Not only is it important for organisations and their staff to know the current law on topics including age and diversity but it is vital that they can show that they are complying with the law’s requirements – especially in terms of having undergone relevant learning,” commented Open Mind’s Alun Harvey.

“This event, in the Cabinet War Rooms, will provide the information about these topics that HR and training managers need in order to make decisions about the most appropriate training materials available for their organisations’ staff. They will also be able to see some highly professional training materials on these subjects from Skill Boosters, in partnership with the EFA.”

Places are limited but anyone interested in attending can call Open Mind on 01491 411061.

Open Mind’s free Preview Centre in Henley-on-Thames has over 2,000 resources on display, from books and games to DVDs and e-learning. For further details of all the learning resources available via Open Mind, contact Alun Harvey at Open Mind on 01491 411061 or alun@openmind-learning.co.uk or visit www.openmind-learning.co.uk

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Formed in 1991, Open Mind distributes and develops resources to help organisations to develop their people. As such, it provides customers with broad access to over 10,000 learning resources in all forms of delivery media and is frequently referred to by customers as the ‘Trainers’ Toyshop’.

These resources include:

• Videos
• CD-ROMs & DVDs
• Online learning
• Audio tapes & CDs
• Books
• Workbooks
• Games & activities

Topics covered include:

• Management
• Sales
• Finance
• Commerce
• Information technology
• Languages

Open Mind also offers:

• Free independent advice on
  • Selecting from over 10,000 titles from 100 publishers - in all media – on any business topic
  • Selecting appropriate resources to fit clients’ budgets
  • A free Preview Centre facility

• Practical help with establishing – or re-launching - managing and marketing a Learning Resource Centre (LRC)
• The STAR intranet-based Learning Centre Management System to manage LRCs

• An online directory of resources, allowing users to search and view on-screen details of over 5,500 titles on 200 topics from more than 100 publishers – and purchase securely online

Carsten is a German National. He brings with him many years of experience in the Food & Beverage field. Having started his career with an apprentice at the Munich City Hilton back in 1991, he occupied many food and beverage positions at International hotels on his way to his current posting which include assignments at the Langham Hilton in London from 1995 to 1998 where his last position was Food & Beverage Controller.

Carsten moved to Dubai in 1998 joining the opening team of the JW Marriott Dubai in the same position and was promoted to become Assistant Director of Food & Beverage.

Prior to this appointment, he was one of the pre-opening team of the Courtyard Marriott Dubai holding a position of Director of Food & Beverage.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Taps Tier 2 cities in Tamil Nadu, non - graduates and housewives for talent

Special options for housewives

Chennai, May 18, 2006: Scope International Private Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank engaged in providing support services to the parent company, today announced its recruitment strategy for the Chennai centre. The company has recruited 350 so far in 2006.

Mr. Sreeram Iyer, CEO, Scope International, and CIO Standard Chartered Bank, India said, "Scope International is constantly pursuing opportunities across Standard Chartered's global operations for migrating new processes and higher end work. Our recruitment strategy has therefore widened its scope."

Ramp up @ Scope International

Recruiting about 1100 in 2006

Tapping talent pool in Tier 2 cities in Tamil Nadu

Recruiting Non - graduates with 'study while you work' option

Hiring housewives for part time employment

Hiring for HR, IT, Finance and Banking operations

The company follows a talent and strength based recruitment strategy and is now venturing into 3 new options for recruitment.

First, Scope International, apart from recruiting from the metros, will be tapping the talent pool in Tier 2 cities in Tamil Nadu . The company has already completed one round of recruitment in Coimbatore and will soon be organizing recruitment drives in other cities. The next drive is scheduled for May 20, 2006, in Trichy followed soon by Pondicherry, Cuddalore and Salem.

On the company's plan to recruit from Tier 2 cities, Mr. Iyer said, "We have successfully recruited from Coimbatore already and find the talent to be competent and dedicated; they fit well with our requirements. We would now like to extend these opportunities to other cities starting with Trichy and help broaden the horizons of the local talent".

The second strategy that Scope International is working on is hiring non - graduates to work on simple processing and supporting their education through correspondence . The diversity of services that we offer enables us to hire these non-graduates for non- complex jobs. The recruitment will be based on certain basic parameters like communication skills, analytical skills and attitude.

The third strategy is to hire housewives who are talented, but do not want to take up a full time job. "We are in the process of designing flexi times for specific job roles which are suitable for women who want to work part-time for gaining experience, contributing to the organisation's growth and adding to their family income", added Mr. Iyer.

About Scope International

Scope International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, UK, is an integral part of the Bank's strategy to consolidate and rationalise operations into Shared Services Centres. Today, Scope International services all 56 countries of the Standard Chartered Group processing over 80 million transactions a year.

Scope International handles a range of services from banking operations to supporting global HR processes, finance and accounting services, software development and maintenance, support for global market operations and providing IT helpdesk support.

Media contact:

Shashi Ravichandran

Head - Corporate Affairs

Scope International

Shashi.ravichandran@in.standardchartered.com

044 - 2821 9497

98410 55502

R Sriganesh/Vinitha Ramani

20:20 MEDIA

28260145/55519908

9840368048

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Submitted by Karthikeyan D S - Account Executive- 20:20 MEDIA, Chennai

Talking on the occasion Mr. Kris Lakshmikanth, the Honorary Secretary - ERA and the CEO, The Head Hunters India Ltd said that, "In the present case, ERA shall be in touch with WIPRO, to ascertain if any of the existing members of ERA, are in the list of those recruiting consultants, who have been found to have indulged in unethical practices, in such case ERA shall take appropriate and stringent action, based on the facts of the case".

"Every industry has a small lot of - not so right people and the recruiting industry is no exception. ERA has been striving hard to set right this malady. A little ground has been covered. A lot more needs to be covered said Mr. B.S. Murthy ERA convener for the Bangalore chapter and the CEO, Human Capital Consulting Pvt Ltd ".

In response to a situation like this ERA will strive hard to promote high standards of professionalism among executive recruitment consultants. In furtherance of this aim, ERA also will ensure that its Code of Ethics, and the set of Professional Practice Guidelines will be complied by all its members, and it also requests the companies to go through the services of the registered, well known recruitment agencies who are ethical in their practices rather than opting for services from little known agencies/people wherein monitoring quality service from them will be very difficult

About ERA:-

The Executive Recruiters Association (ERA) is registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act 1960 as a non-profit Chamber of Commerce representing Indian Executive Recruitment Consulting firms.

The Executive Recruiters Association (ERA) strives to enhance the professionalism of its members. Accordingly, "ERA" has developed the a set of Professional Practice Guidelines to assist ERA member firms in their business relationships with clients, candidates and the public.

The code of ethics that govern ERA and its members are:-

• Professionalism: Conduct their activities in a manner that reflects favorably on the profession.

• Integrity: Conduct their business activities with integrity and avoid conduct that is deceptive or misleading.

• Competence : Perform all recruitment assignments competently, and with an appropriate degree of knowledge, thoroughness and urgency.

• Objectivity: Exercise objective and impartial judgment in each recruitment assignment, giving due consideration to all relevant facts.

• Accuracy: Strive to be accurate in all communications with clients and candidates and encourage them to exchange relevant and accurate information.

ERA with its 84 members - most of them being large recruiting firms in the organised sector, from across the country have partnered for a cause that is to create an "Industry Platform", to improve "Ethics & Standards", to become an "Important Voice", to be heard at the right quarters, to remove the hurdles & foster the growth of this industry.

ERA and its members promises to provide outstanding professional service that rests on the quality, ethics and integrity of relationships with clients, candidates, employees and the public.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Executive Recruiters Association - Association of the Indian Recruitment Industry.

The Executive Recruiters Association (ERA) is registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act 1960 as a non-profit Chamber of Commerce representing Indian Executive Recruitment Consulting firms.

Executive recruitment consulting is a specialized profession that helps client organizations identify, evaluate, and recruit executives at various levels. Executive Recruitment consultants work only on behalf of organizations on a retained or contingency basis and never on behalf of individuals seeking employment. Opportunities on a global scale open up very many doors. In a race to encash this, players many a time trip on each other's toes - sometimes cutting corners and making compromises at certain other times.

This is the defining moment, when the industry as a whole, should raise the bar of ethics, uphold standards and instill a self - correcting mechanism. The Indian Recruiting Fraternity has understood the criticality of this scenario, manifesting in the creation of ERA.

ERA shall work tirelessly towards these avowed goals to put the Indian Recruiters in its rightful place of pre - eminence, on the global map