News For The Teachers Who Got Appointment Orders

Candidates who have received selection orders for appointment as secondary grade teachers in elementary and middle schools in Coimbatore should visit Perks Higher Secondary School, Trichy Road, Coimbatore, with the following documents on July 15:

Appointment order, employment exchange registration card, testimonials, medical fitness certificate and work register. Those who have received selection orders for schools in the Nilgiris District should go to Sathguru High School in Conoor on July 15. According to a release, 82 women and 45 men participated in the counselling in the Nilgiris District.

Placement Drive At CIMT

The Department of Extension and Career Guidance at Bharathiar University will organise a placement drive at Coimbatore Institute of Management and Technology on March 28. According to a release from the university, commerce and management graduates (except MBA) can attend. Tata Consultancy Services, Chennai, will recruit candidates. Those interested can register at http://www.careervarsity.com/. Model aptitude questions are available on http://www.aptitudecoach.com/.

Ex-servicemen & Retired Police Personnel Wanted

Ex-servicemen and retired police personnel are required for security and other duties related to elections on May 13. According to a release from District Collector V. Palanikumar and Superintendent of Police N. Kannan, such personnel who are interested may send in applications. Ex-servicemen, who wish to be involved in election duties, may send in an application to the Ex-servicemen Welfare, Coimbatore. They should apply along with their age proof and identity card number.

In addition to this, applications will be collected in the following places on the specified dates – in the Tahsildar office, in Mettupalayam (on April 2). Similarly, interested retired police personnel may submit their applications.

Child Worker Rescued

A child worker rescued during a drive against child labour by the Kovai Child Labour Abolition Support Society in Coimbatore on Thursday. The Kovai Child Labour Abolition Support Society (Kovai CLASS) rescued 16 child workers, including a girl, during raids conducted in different parts of the city on Thursday. Project Director of Kovai CLASS, D. Vijayakumar, told that raids were conducted in hotels, goldsmith worksheds and grocery outlets at Edayar Street, Gandhipark, Sowripalayam, Udayampalayam, Puliyakulam, Lakshmi Mills, Pappanaickenpalayam and Ramanujam Nagar.

Officials from the Kovai CLASS, Labour and Health Departments, students and the police conducted the raids jointly. The rescued children were from the Southern Districts of the State and West Bengal. Legal action would be taken against the employers. The Kovai CLASS also organised counselling for the parents of the rescued children so that these children could go back to school, Mr. Vijayakumar said.

Robert Bosch Will Hire 700-800 People

Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions India will increase the number of associates at its centres in the country by 700-800 in the current year, a top company official said. Nearly 90% of the increase would take place at its Coimbatore centre, where it currently employs 1,500 people. The company has development centres in Bangalore and Coimbatore. “There is no indication that we will not grow. I am confident about 2009,” F Pickhard, MD and CEO, Robert Bosch Engineering India, said.

Army Recruitment Rally

An Army recruitment rally for Soldier Technical category (on trial basis) will be conducted by the Army Recruiting Office, Coimbatore, from March 5 to 7. According to an official release, the rally will be to enrol candidates from the districts of Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Salem, Madurai, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Erode, Namakkal, Theni and Dindigul. Candidates must be between 17 and a half to 23 years of age. They must have passed Plus-Two with physics, mathematics, chemistry and English as subjects. Married candidates below the age of 21 are not eligible to apply.

Selection for candidates from Coimbatore, Theni, Dharmapuri and Salem will be held on March 5. Those from Madurai, the Nilgiris and Erode should attend on March 6 and those from Krishnagiri, Dindigul and Namakkal should attend on March 7. Interested candidates should report to the Army Recruiting Office at 6 a.m. Written test for selected candidates will be held at the Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore, on March 29 at 5 a.m. Physical fitness test for successful candidates will be held at the Police Recruiting School, Coimbatore, from April 8 to 10.

Entrance Exam For Agriculture Science Is On April 19

All India Entrance Examination for admissions to UG programmes in Agriculture and Allied science subjects, other than veterinary science for filling 15 per cent of total number of seats in State Agricultural Universities, Central Agricultural University would be held on April 19. The candidates, between the age group of 17 and 23 years, must have passed plus two or equivalent security not less than 50 per cent total marks for general, OBC and UPS categories and 40 per cent of the marks for SC/ST categories in the subjects physics, chemistry and biology, Maths, agriculture, home science can take up the exam, Dr K Vanangamudi, Dean, Agriculture, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, said in a release today.

The candidates seeking admission in other State Agricultural Universities could take up this exam and those who pass through are given a National Talent scholarship of Rs 1000 per month, it said. Selected student should study in any of the Agricultural University for four years, with agriculture, Horticulture, forestry, fishery, home science, sericulture, agricultural engineering, dairy tecnology, food science and technology, agriultural marketing, banking and cooperation, biotechnology and Comercial Agricultural and business managemment, as subjects. Applications can be obtained on cash payment from Syndicate Bank branches and also from Exam Cell, Education division, Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Delhi, by post, it said.

Workshop Of 'Short Term Course Of Research Guides'

Many young software engineers were applying for posts in ISRO after the success of Chandrayaan-1, a top official in the Department Of Science and Tecnology (DoST), said today. These engineers have stated during interviews that they lacked professional satisfaction in IT companies and their jobs and wanted to work in space related programmes, by which they could at least be proud and part of a great mission, Dr G J Samathanam, Advisor, DoST, said today.

Speaking at a workshop of 'short term course of Research Guides,' at UGC-Academic Staff College here, Samathanam said the success of Chandrayaan-1 has put India in the elite lunar club comprising of Russia, US, Japan, China and European Space Agency. Stating that by 2025 India would land on the moon, he said considering the potential in science and technology, Rs 1.25 lakh crore have been allocated in the 11th five year plan.

However, the concern today was that how this huge allocation would become functional and mission oriented investment, he said, adding multidisciplinary approach or hybridisation of thoughts should be the need of the hour in India. Samathanam said that as against the 25 per cent going for higher education in developed countries, only 10 per cent of the eligible students were continuing their studies in India.

Job Fair

Joynus.in will organise a job fair at the Hindusthan College of Arts and Science, Nava India, on January 25. Students of arts, science, engineering, polytechnic and ITI can attend the fair. Fresh graduates and candidates who have experience in operating machines, accounts, marketing or as managers can participate.

Experienced candidates at the fair will be allowed a fast-track entry for attending the interviews. A special pavilion will be set up for BPO/ITES, insurance firms apart from software, software engineering, financing, banking, retail, telecom, HR and textile companies. For information, contact info@joynus.in or joyn_us@yahoo.com.

TN Govt Sanctioned 10 Posts Of Full Time Secretaries

Tamil Nadu government issued orders sanctioning ten posts of full time Secretaries to the District Legal Services Authorities (DLSA) in the cadre of Civil Judge (Senior Division).Out of them, six DLSA were for the Municipal Corporations of Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchirappali and Tirunelveli while four Secretaries were for other remaining Districts, clubbing them into four Regions with Headquarters at Thoothukudi, Dindigul, Vellore and Thanjavur.The DLSA Secretaries would attend various activities of the Tamil Nadu Legal Services Authority (TNSLSA).Madras High Court today appointed Judicial Magistrates K Guruviah, R Gurumoorthi, Ms J Sridevi, Ms S D Parimala, G Narayanan, A Manimozhi, N Thirunavukkarasu, M Selvam for Thoothukudi, Dindigul, Chennai, Vellore, Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruchirappali and Tirunelveli, respectively.

Contract Workers Demands Regularisation

The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board Workers’ Union has demanded regularisation of contract workers and steps to fill vacancies. In a release here, general secretary of the Coimbatore-Nilgiris unit of the union C. Ayyappan pointed out that the board had appointed a number of contract workers from 1998 to maintain many schemes that supplied protected water to the people. The union expressed resentment over the board appointing contract workers instead of permanent ones to maintain the schemes.

The contract workers were paid only a measly sum as wage even though they put in 12 hours to 16 hours of work every day. The union wanted these workers to be regularised with effect from their date of joining on contract basis. The State Government had issued an order for the filling up of 2,037 vacancies in order to have enough workers to maintain drinking water schemes such as the Siruvani and Pilloor schemes.

3% Wages Hike For Textiles Workers

Textile units in Tirupur, the town in Tamil Nadu known as the industry’s export hub, have raised employee wages by 3% effective 1 January even as they battle slowing demand in key markets. A garment stitching factory in Tirupur. The export hub has about 350,000 workers in some 6,000 units. The textile industry’s troubles have been aggravated by a power crisis that has pushed up costs. The raise is part of an agreement signed in December 2006 between industry lobby Tirupur Exporters’ Association, or TEA, and five trade unions.

“We are honouring our commitment,” said A. Sakthivel, president of TEA. “It is a four-year agreement; in the first year, there was a hike of 10%, second year, 4%, for the third and fourth years, 3% each.” Tirupur has about 350,000 workers in some 6,000 units engaged in knitting, dyeing, garment making, printing, embroidery and other related work. Exports fell to Rs9,950 crore in 2007-08 from Rs11,000 crore in the previous year, and are expected to be hit by recession in key Western markets this fiscal.

According to Sakthivel, export orders may shrink by 20% from January-end onwards. The industry’s troubles have been aggravated by a power crisis that has pushed up costs and reduced productivity. “We have to give the hike since we have agreed to it earlier. It is not that only the textile industry has been hurt; all the industries have been affected. New orders may be slightly lesser but the wage hike will not affect the margins that much,” said S. Duraisamy, promoter and chief executive of Prem Group of Companies, which is engaged in making cotton-knitted garments. The wage increase will apply to the entire textile industry workforce of Tirupur.

Workers at textile units that have no union may not be paid the increased wage unless the workers demand a hike, said K. Ramakrishnan, a leader of the Labour Progressive Force, one of the unions. “If we are requested to step in, we will help them get their hikes,” he said. Workers engaged in cutting, tailoring, ironing and packing get paid the highest in the textile industry, and their basic salary after the hike would be Rs113.96 per shift of 8 hours, while their overall wage, including allowances, would work out to Rs175.24.

A Tirupur-based non-governmental organization called Social Awareness and Voluntary Education, which is studying the impact of the global economic slowdown and the power crisis situation on the Tirupur industry, says the increase doesn’t cover the cost of living. “The wage hike is very meagre compared to the increase in living expenses in the area. We have been critical of this agreement since it was signed,” said A. Aloyisus, director of the group.

Coimbatoreian Is The New DC Of Dakshina Kannada district

Ponnuraj, who till recently functioned as the deputy commissioner of Udupi district, took charge as the new DC of Dakshina Kannada district at around 12 noon today from the outgoing deputy commissioner Maheshwar Rao. Ponnuraj was working in the secretariat of personnel and administrative reforms, Bangalore, is transferred here due to transfer of Maheswara Rao to Mandya district. Maheswara Rao handed over charge to Ponnuraj and wished the new incumbent all the best. Head Quarters Assistant Prabhakara sharma was present at the moment. Ponnuraj is known for his upright decisions and bold drive against the illegal constructions in Udupi.

Basically he is from Coimbatore in Tamilnadu, who is an IAS officer of the 2000 batch. Earlier he functioned in Karwar as the assistant commissioner, chief executive officer in Bagalakot zilla panchayat, deputy commissioner in Udupi and Ramanagar districts. His wife Hemalatha is presently the deputy commissioner of Udupi district .The couple have a five and half year old son named Adithya . `I will work on people's demand' Ponnuraj told the media persons who were present at the DC office to witness the occasion that he would work for the people of the district and try to meet their aspirations and stand up to their expectations. He added, ` I will study about the district first and see what the people of th district want me to do'.

Slowdown In Campus Hiring

Engineering institutions in and around Coimbatore admit to a slowdown in campus hiring. There is a slowdown, but we cannot say placements are bad,” a placement officer of one of the colleges, preferring anonymity, said. Sources say there has been at least a 15 to 20 per cent drop in the number of IT companies that visited the various campuses for hiring this year compared to the last.

While around 60 per cent of the eligible students of the 2009 batch have just about managed an offer from some company or the other, the fate of the students who are expected to pass out in May 2010 ‘remains uncertain’, say college sources. The worst in the IT job Market, it appears, is yet to come. Placement officers, meanwhile, are working overtime to get IT companies to visit their campus, invite core engineering companies to hire students, search the headhunt columns and identify new companies that look to hire technical talent. “It is not easy,” they say.

Job fairs, which used to attract thousands of job seekers from in and around the region, are now in the past. The fervour appears to have gone, with companies drastically cutting down the hiring numbers. The number of combined recruitment initiatives have also fallen from 15 to 20 two years ago to less than six at present. Such initiatives used to happen in a big way earlier. Now, select companies, it is learnt, inform the institutions about their hiring intentions and request the concerned institution to identify potential candidates for the combined recruitment drive.


The concern is not just about the slowdown on the recruitment front. Placement officers say that a good number of the 2008 batch students are still waiting for a call letter from their prospective employers. “They are releasing the letter in batches, but the delay is turning out to be an anxious wait for the student, parents and the institution,” the source said. About 10,000-15,000 freshers (from this region) are picked off to campus every year by various IT companies. In view of the slowdown in the IT job market, a good number of them would probably look for jobs in the specific area in which they pursued their studies.

DEE Prepared Seniority List

The District Employment Exchange has prepared a list of seniority of registered candidates seeking employment as teachers. The list will be recommended for the vacancy of 7,000 teachers recently announced by the Education Department. The following is the classification for candidates in the preparation of the seniority list: for teachers with Tamil as the medium of instruction - candidates from the Scheduled Tribes community who had registered till March 12, 2007, those from the Scheduled Caste community registered till October 11, 2004, and those hailing from Most Backward Classes and other communities registered till April 5, 2004.

Candidates belonging to priority categories such as destitute women, and candidates who had married out of community, legal heirs of freedom fighters and people with disabilities who had registered till November 25, 2008 will also be considered. Those belonging to the above categories and having Urdu, Kannada, Malayalam or Telugu as medium of instruction are requested to check the list with the Assistant Director of Employment Exchange on or before January 23, a release said.

Jumbo Job Fair Turns Failure

Final year engineering students at the Jumbo Job Fair organised on Saturday at Government Arts College, Coimbatore, demanding refund of registration fee as many multinational companies did not turn up for the recruitment drive. Thanks to the timely intervention of the police and the immediate response of the organisers, the Jumbo Job Fair at Government Arts College was saved from a situation that could have gone out of control.

More than 5,000 final year engineering students had registered to attend the job fair through the Infoport Online Community, which opened for registration nearly three months ago. The community – run by engineering students – had tied up with an online job portal to organise the recruiters. According to the co-ordinator of the community, the portal had promised that a minimum of 15 multi-national companies would participate in the recruitment drive. Reportedly, the community had paid a substantial amount to the portal for the same. Meanwhile, the community had collected Rs. 120 from each registered member, either online, or in cash (for which a hall ticket was issued).

The names of the participating companies were intimated to the registered students through the website of the community. The organisers, seeing the overwhelming response from all over the State, fixed the Government Arts College as the venue to cater to the large number. Two days ago the portal informed the organisers that “due to recession most of the large companies had withdrawn from the job fair”. The organisers claim that they had uploaded this information on their website immediately. Most of the job aspirants maintain that they have not seen the latest intimation.

A student from KLN College of Engineering, Madurai, said more than 50 of his classmates had come to attend the fair. Similarly, candidates from Chennai, Kanyakumari, Thanjavur, Madurai, and various other parts of the State were also present. Though some of them were already placed, the lure of big names brought them to the fair. Some, who had seen the intimation and still made it to the fair because they were not placed, said they did so because they wanted to try their luck in the lesser known companies.

But, to their shock they were told that the local companies (mostly Business Process Outsourcing companies) were interested in recruiting only arts and science graduates (and not engineering students). Some candidates left the venue vexed. Most demanded to know why the companies that had promised to participate did not do so; and those participating were not interested in the final year students. They also sought a refund of the registration fee. The portal representatives were not willing to respond to the candidates. They were directed to ask the community, as they were the organisers.

Some students said that they were told that they could use the same hall ticket for job fairs that would be organised at a later time with big names. The police, on hearing about the issue, and in order to avert a volatile situation, had talks with the organisers and the representative from the portal. With no positive outcome from the portal personnel, the organisers offered to pay those who were left behind with hall ticket. Once a complaint was preferred by the students, further action would be initiated, the police said.

Modernised Textile Mill Opend At Central Prison

A modernised textile mill at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh for providing employment to the convict prisoners of Coimbatore Central Prison was inaugurated by the Director-General of Police (Prison), R. Nataraj on Wednesday. The textile mill that was earlier producing 1,200 metres a month now has the capacity to produce 8,500 metres. Mr. Nataraj said that the cloth manufactured by the prisoners would take care of the uniform requirements of the personnel from the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services and Prison department.

Efforts are on to talk to private security agencies for supplying uniform materials to them as well so as to market the entire production. The cloth manufactured by the textile unit at Coimbatore Central Prison has already been certified for its quality by the cloth testing centre at Taramani. The objective of opening industrial units at central prisons was for imparting skills and to provide them with employment. The skills acquired therein would help them make a living for themselves on their discharge from the prison.

Special prisons for women at Vellore and Tiruchirapalli were manufacturing handicrafts while the Vellore Central Prison was manufacturing furniture through its carpentry unit. Opening up of such employment generation units would be given higher impetus in the future plans and added that with 25 per cent State funding and 75 per cent Central funding prisons across the State would be modernised and expanded at an approximate outlay of Rs.400 crore. Mr. Nataraj also inaugurated a computer centre and library for the family members of the prison security staff.

Addressing the prison inmates, Mr. Nataraj said senior citizens and differently-abled prisoners were being given exclusive attention in terms of serving their needs. Mr. Nataraj also handed over colour television set and a carrom board to the prison inmates. He said prisons are not punishment centres but places for reformation. One should realise one’s mistake and reform. He assured that good conduct will be rewarded in terms of remission of sentence. The Deputy Inspector-General of Prisons, Coimbatore range, R. Durairaj, and Superintendent of Prisons, Coimbatore, P. Govindarajan took part in the function.

Karpagam University-Industry Partnership Meet

Chancellor of Karpagam University R. Vasanthakumar speaking at the Karpagam University-Industry Partnership Meet in Coimbatore recently. Karpagam University plans to have regular meetings and demonstration sessions in areas such as welding technology, hardware and software sectors, as part of its partnership programme with the industry.

Speaking at an Industry Partnership programme organised by the university here on Monday, its Chancellor R. Vasanthakumar said the University had introduced training programmes for the faculty, soft skill training for students and formed a curriculum improvement cell to improve the communication skills of students and update the syllabi.

Biotech students should be encouraged to become entrepreneurs. In this regard, the university planned to have regular interaction programmes with the industry and introduce the required programmes. Vice-Chancellor of the University Anandhavalli Mahadevan said the University’s aim was to promote innovation. It had eight institutions under its umbrella and in less than two decades had built the student strength to over 10,000 now. The aim of the meeting was to create and evolve a functional structure for collaborative programmes and cooperation with industries. This was identified as a need since, in the future, we might have a strong economy but a weak foundation in terms of research.

Through such interactive programmes with the industry it would be possible to transform information to production, conversion of theoretical knowledge to application and match the technological needs of industry. The University would have practical and application zones and develop educational programmes to match needs. The joint programmes would have potential for innovation, consultancy, collaborative research, testing products, skilled manpower and human resource training.

Indian Air Force Recruitment Rally

Indian Air Force will organise a recruitment rally for unmarried male candidates to work in the Group X (technical) trades. The selection will be held at Air Force Station, Sulur, on January 23, 2009. According to an official release, candidates from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, born between January 1, 1988 and March 29, 1992 and passed intermediate or Plus Two with pass marks in mathematics and physics with a minimum 50 per cent in the aggregate, are eligible to attend.

Otherwise, he should have passed a three-year diploma course in engineering (mechanical / electrical / electronics / automobile / computer science / instrumentation technology / information technology) with at least 50 per cent marks from a Government polytechnic institute. Candidates should carry original certificates, seven copies of passport size photographs and sports gear. They have to report at 6 a.m. at the venue. For details, contact Commanding Officer, 8 Airmen Selection Centre, Air Force, Tambaram, Chennai – 600046; or call 044-22791853 / 22395553 (3359).

Job Fair At Karpagam University

Karpagam University will organise a job fair at its premises on December 20 and 21. According to a release, all undergraduate and post-graduate students who have completed a degree course from 2006 to 2009 are eligible to attend. Techruit, a placement services company, has arranged for nearly 15 companies to participate in the job fair. Interested candidates can pre-register on http://www.techruit.org/ and take assessment tests either online or at the venue. For details, contact 044-39143901 / 98849-25295 / 98415-73015. Companies can contact 99416-03201.