Tamil Nadu's engineering graduates are least employable.

  Tamil Nadu's engineering graduates are least employable.This is one of the shocking findings of the National Employability Report (NER) 2011, compiled by the employability assessment company Aspiring Minds.

Our country produces the largest number of brilliant engineers and yet, only about a minor percentage of them are employable.

Bad education system because of too much competition, the focus on performance and marks only and the lack of hands-on skills, communication and creativity.

The widening skill gap between the quality of graduates passing out of engineering institutions and the industry's expectations continues to be a cause for concern for Indian IT companies. Critical thinking and the ability to apply concepts learnt in the context of a problem continue to be among the major gaps that need to be bridged.

The Hindu : Life & Style / Nxg : When the system lets you down...

Indian Major pharma companies focus back on the Local market.

Indian Major pharma companies focus back on the Local  market. Prescription medicines cannot be advertised in mass media unlike other consumer products. So, the field force of a drug company, also known as medical representatives, is the critical link to spur sales by pushing a company's brands through doctors and hospitals. Reddy Labs , Mankind , Cipla , Ranbaxy , Lupin , Alkem, GSK , Sanofi, Pfizer are all ramping up their field force or right sizing.

Dr Reddy's, Mankind Pharma to add workforce next fiscal

8 Mar, 2012, 04.51AM IST, Khomba SinghKhomba Singh,ET Bureau  

Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's is India's second largest pharma company by global sales, but it has been lagging at the 17th position in the domestic market, due to its focus on its overseas business. However, in the last two years, the company has ramped up its domestic field force to expand business primarily in the northern and eastern parts of the country. "The management's focus is back on the local market," a company official said.

For Delhi-based Mankind Pharma, the focus is to push its new products, particularly in segments such as dermatology and cardiology, and gain market share to become the number one company in the Indian market by 2015, said CEO Ramesh Juneja. Incidentally, both Dr Reddy's and Mankind Pharma added similar numbers to their workforce in the ongoing fiscal.

Two other Indian companies, Alkem and Lupin, also plan to add about 300 and 400 personnel each to their workforce next fiscal. "It could be higher as we enter new therapy segments such as dermatology and consolidate in diabetes, gynaecology and anti-asthma," Lupin, Group President (India Region Formulations & CIS), Shakti Chakraborty, said.

However, most other drugmajors are looking at consolidation. Cipla's whole-time director S Radhakrishan said the company will "optimise" its 7,000 sales force while GSK and Pfizer will consolidate its existing teams and conduct only a few "selective" or replacement hiring. Sanofi Aventis is also "right sizing" its team, following the addition of about 700 people through the acquisition of Universal Medicare last year.

The 60,000-crore Indian domestic drug market is growing consistently at over 15% and projected to maintain the momentum over the next few years, making it one of the world's most lucrative markets. Developed markets such as the US, Japan and some countries in Europe are growing at low single digits largely due to patent expiry of best selling drugs.

Prescription medicines cannot be advertised in mass media unlike other consumer products. So, the field force of a drug company, also known as medical representatives, is the critical link to spur sales by pushing a company's brands through doctors and hospitals.

"Most drugmakers have increased their workforce in the last few years. Now many of them are consolidating," a senior official from a domestic pharma company said. Pfizer India, for instance, had launched two new divisions last year and hired about 400 people, is now looking at consolidation.

Similarly, GSK also added about 650-700 people last year, while Ranbaxy Laboratories increased its sales and marketing team by 50% or 1,500 personnel in 2010. Though Abbot Laboratories added about 4,000 sales and marketing people through its acquisition of Piramal Healthcare's domestic formulation business 2010, a company spokesman said it will also hire, without specifying any numbers.

’People keep falling sick’: How poor Indians are recruited for clinical drug trials

’People keep falling sick’: How poor Indians are recruited for clinical drug trials

The Indian government reports that across the country more than 1,500 people have died in clinical trials since 2008, many participating in studies for Western pharmaceutical companies. Because official documentation of the deaths is frequently incomplete or non-existent, it is unclear how many people died from the same illnesses that initially qualified them for certain drug studies.

Whether the studies are for birth control, diabetes, migraines or high blood pressure, money often draws volunteers into Indian drug trials. Such drug trials raises questions about lax regulatory oversight in these studies, the integrity of some of the companies contracted to run them and the reliability of the data they produce.

The financial incentives can lead to study volunteers enrolling in more than one study at a time. That not only puts their lives in danger, but it also can skew the accuracy of test results that drug companies and regulators rely on to judge a drug’s safety.

Indian employees to get 11.9% salary hike in 2012'

As per the survey conducted by global human resources consulting and outsourcing firm Aon Hewitt,

India would see the highest salary increase in the Asia Pacific region, followed by China 9.5%  and the Philippines 6.9% salary hikes. Among other Asia Pacific nations, Australia is likely to see a modest 4.6% hike, Hong Kong 5%, Japan 2.8%, Malaysia 6.2% and Singapore 4.8% respectively, in 2012.

In India, the general/entry level staff are likely to get 11.8% salary hike, while junior manager level will see 12.3%, middle management 12% and senior management 11.1% increase this year.

In terms of sectors, pharmaceutical space is likely to witness a 13.3% salary hike for 2012, followed by engineering design/services projects at 13%,Infrastructure with 12.9% and heavy engineering and FMCG sectors with 12.4% hike , Information Technology (IT) and outsourcing sectors would see salary hikes of 11.9% and 11.8%, respectively, despite the continuing concerns over the impact of a weak global economy.

Telecom and Financial Institutions are projected to see lowest salary increases for 2012 at 11% and 10%, respectively, plagued by various regulatory hurdles, policy issues and the slowdown in the global economy.

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http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Indian-employees-to-get-11-9-salary-hike-in-2012/Article1-814711.aspx 

JobsCareerLife@Global: CSS NAM Bal Gurukul Hyderabad for Underpriviliged Children

JobsCareerLife@Global: CSS NAM Bal Gurukul Hyderabad for Underpriviliged Children