Dhaka: Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman who favours strong ties with India, scripted a landslide victory on Tuesday, trouncing rival Khaleda Zia’s BNP in the country’s first general election in seven years, restoring democracy in the impoverished nation after two years of military- led rule.
6 lakh may lose jobs in UK in 2009
London: More than half-a-million could lose their jobs in Britain next year due to the credit crunch and this number could rise to 1 million before the worst is over. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which is a network of 133,000 professionals, reve-aled in its annual report that Britain will face worst job losses since 1991 as at least 600,000 people are likely the axe over the whole year. In October, there were 1.86 million people out of work in the UK.
The institute, which also surveyed 2,600 employees, revealed that even those who escape redundancies would face pay freezes. More than half of those polled in the survey also expected to have their pay cut, frozen or increased at a lesser rate. Unemployment in Britain will not cross the three million mark, the institute said. “This time in 2007 the CIPD warned that 2008 would be the UK’s worst for jobs in a decade. It was, but in retrospect it will be seen as the prelude to what will be the worst year for jobs in almost two decades. Assuming the economy bottoms out in the second half of 2009, job losses are likely to continue into 2010,” chief economist John Philpott said.
Air India announces fare cut up to 82%
NEW DELHI: A day after Jet Airways reduced fares on domestic routes, state-owned operator Air India on Tuesday announced fare cut up to 82 per cent in at least 20 sectors, mostly on metro routes, a senior airline official said.
“The new fare cut comes into effect today (Tuesday). We have cut fares on 20 sectors by up to 82 per cent. This will largely benefit passengers on metro routes,” an airline spokesperson said.
India’s leading private air carrier Jet Airways Monday reduced fares on its domestic routes by up to 40 per cent with immediate effect.
Londoners are ‘highest earners’
Earning an average of £46,462 (approximate Rs. 33,00,000) a year.
London: Londoners are on top of the salary league in Britain, earning an average of £46,462 (approximate Rs. 33,00,000) a year, according to new research.
The average annual salary for full time workers in Britain is £31,323 (approximate Rs.22,24,0000), and the London average is 148 per cent of the UK average pay league.
In Britain, there are 50 areas where average salary is above the UK average. The City of London tops the chart at £82,084 (approximate Rs.58,20,000), which is 262 per cent of UK average.
The study by the GMB union also revealed the earnings disparity in Britain: The average salary in northeast England and Northern Ireland is the lowest in the UK at £25,551 and £25,550 respectively in 2008, placing them at the bottom of the UK regional pay league. The least salary of £21,550 is given in the Blaenau Gwent, which is 69 per cent of UK average.
“This GMB analysis of pay for April 2008 shows the regions and areas that did go some way to replace the skilled manufacturing jobs that were lost in the recessions in the 1980s and 1990s and those regions and areas still to do so,” GMB general-secretary Paul Kenny said.
Bangalore leads in IT space race
For all those who thought Chennai and Hyderabad were eating into Bangalore’s status as the IT capital of India, here are some facts.
The annual year-end report by global real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield shows that Bangalore witnessed the highest commercial space absorption in the country of 10.4 million sqft – the highest in the country for the fifth consecutive year. Of that, IT and ITeS companies absorbed 88%, followed by automotive, telecommunications and other sectors.
Chennai absorbed only 4.1 million sqft of commercial space of the 9.8 million sqft of supply this year, as against its absorption of 6.5 million sqft of space in 2007.
Hyderabad witnessed a whopping 67% drop in commercial space absorption — from last year’s figure of 4 million sqft to only 1.3 million sqft this year. The total supply in the city amounted to nearly 3.8 million sqft.
Mumbai and the National Capital Region (NCR) absorbed 8.5 million sqft and 8.6 million sqft of commercial space in 2008 respectively.
“Bangalore & Mumbai were the only two cities that showed an increase in absorption from last year,” reads the C&W report.
Tata to start Nano bookings from March-April next year
HALDWANI(Uttarakhand): Tata Motors has sent prototypes of its Rs one-lakh Nano car from its Pantnagar plant to three cities in the state for test run, a company official said on Tuesday.
Head of Tata Motors’ engineering department, Nagbhushan, said three prototypes of Nano have been sent to Dehra Dun, Almora and Ranikhet where its test run would be conducted in a day or two.
The company would start booking for Nano from March or April next year, he said.
Dubai Cancels New Year Celebrations
DUBAI – In his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, has ordered the cancellation of all forms of celebrations marking the New Year in Dubai emirate.
According to the order, Dubai will mark the New Year on a sombre note as a token of solidarity with the Palestinian people in general and Gaza in particular which is under a barrage of fire from the Israeli military.
Internet, telephone disruption to continue in Middle East
Paris: Internet and telephone traffic between the Middle East and Europe will continue to be disrupted into January after a repaired undersea cable in the Mediterranean Sea suffered further damage, France Telecom SA said.
The Australian government should apologise
to the “innocent” Mohammed Haneef
Melbourne: The Australian government should “take responsibility” and apologise to the “innocent” Indian doctor Mohammed Haneef, whose detention in connection with a failed UK terror plot was declared wrongful by an independent inquiry, the head of Queensland state said on Monday.