Let us know what’s up

www.letzknow.com, the brainchild of a group of students, offers a host of services related to the academic and non-academic events in colleges.

 

A workshop on latest advancements in geology, a tech-fest that an aspiring electrical engineer just cannot afford to miss, an end-semester project that one is sure someone has done before… where does an info-hungry college student go for all this?

While these thoughts might have crossed the minds of hundreds of students in the country, some of them decided to try and find their own solution for what they saw as an information gap between students and student-related events happening in educational institutions across the country.

The result was www.letzknow.com, an education web service that offers users quick takes on the latest academic and non-academic events in colleges, including tech fests, symposia, social initiatives, international contests, scholarships and so on. What is more, all services offered by ‘letzknow’ are totally free (so far.)

“The idea of such a website evolved from our own experiences in our college life. We were mavericks and were always looking out for information about new opportunities and events in which we could participate. And we have seen many of our friends learning about a wonderful opportunity only when it’s too late. In this modern era, timely information is wealth. And we decided to help students acquire that wealth in abundance,” says H.K. Manikandan, a B.Tech. student at Amritha Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, and co-founder of the web service.

In an interaction with The Hindu EducationPlus, Manikantan pointed out that the time spent in a college is the right time to “explore one’s interests and develop talents.” For this, each student must be aware of the avenues and opportunities available to him or her. And that is what the ‘letzknow’ team has attempted to do in their ‘whatz up’ section.

Online database

A growing online database of students and members of faculty in various categories of colleges is another feature of this student initiative. The ‘campus desk’ section of the site allows students and teachers to announce themselves to the world and thereby generate the opportunity for what the site calls ‘social networking’.

But perhaps the feature that many students would find interesting straight away on ‘letzknow’ is the digital database of projects and assignments done by students in colleges across the country. Suppose, reasons Manikantan, a student of Cochin University of Science and Technology, wishes to write a project for his engineering course. Now, he or she can rely only on seniors, peers or on whatever web resources that can be identified within the given time. But what if he or she can tap into a database of papers, reports and assignments that have already been done by hundreds of other students? It is very likely that a similar paper on a similar project has already been done and has already been posted on ‘letzknow’.

Students can also get their doubts cleared in a particular subject by getting in touch with their teachers. The drive to digitise such works of students is an ongoing project of ‘letzknow’.

Campus placements R.I.P.

Recession has hit the job market and fresh graduates are worried

Being a fresher in any industry, at any point of time is no duck soup. An ailing economy and a sluggish job market coupled with recession will only add to the woes of the young job seeker. With experts predicting that a significant part of 2009 will be mired in recession, the average soon-to-be-graduate has little to look forward to.

Analysts confirm that job markets across sectors are in a trough, and will continue to remain so for a while. While top-notch campuses in the country — be it engineering colleges or B-schools — registered sound placement trends, tier-II and tier-III campuses across education sectors did abysmally. Placement cells in most colleges had a tough time getting corporates to even visit their campus, let alone conduct recruitment.

In the technology sector, several companies picked up scores of bright young graduates-to-be in the hope that the recession would undo itself by the end of 2009. However, considering that several students of the 2008 batch have still not been given joining dates, even those who are “placed” are not entirely optimistic.

Raghav Kirit, a 2008 batch graduate of Electronics and Communication Engineering, had got a campus placement offer from Wipro Technologies.

The company sent him and his batchmates an offer to join the BPO services wing of the company.

Disappointment

“Why will I agree to work in a BPO when I am qualified to do much more than that? Similarly, many mid-size companies have not even given joining dates to our batch. When we have not been absorbed, how are they making offers at all these other colleges?” he asks.

The story rings a similar tone, across industries. The Hindu EducationPlusspoke to experts, colleges, academics and students across sectors to find out how the recession or the economic downturn will affect their careers.

From core industries such as manufacturing and engineering to media and retail, in the absence of growth, the job market is a tough place to be. According to a survey conducted by Naukri.com titled “Job Speak,” the overall job index fell from 1000 in July to 781 in October, which is a 21.9 per cent decline. Over the last three months of 2008, key sectors such as real estate, banking, finance, IT and retailing — all of which were pumping jobs into the market for fresh young graduates — showed a decline; while telecom, pharma and hospitality emerged as attractive options. While this report is not reflective on the overall state of any industry, it speaks primarily about recruitments. All the metros, which provide for a large chunk of jobs, saw a dip in the supply of new jobs to the tune of 16 per cent. Across most functional areas, the job portal’s report records a 15 to 20 per cent decline.

Sampath Shetty, vice-president, permanent staffing business unit at TeamLease, said the worst hit sectors, job-wise, in 2008 were realty, construction, broking, and investment banking. He points out that for freshers, the job market is likely to remain grim across sectors. “There will be some hiring in sectors involving telecommunication, FMCG, insurance and the pharmaceutical sector – these are doing well.”

Core engineering

“The good thing about the recession is that more students are opting for core courses. Last year, half the electrical engineering students went for IT jobs for the humongous pay packets. Now, the trend is reversed with almost everybody sticking to their trade,” says Roshni S., a student of BMS College of Engineering.

Several colleges showed positive placement trends in terms of manufacturing jobs, both in number of offers made and pay packets. However, tier-II and tier-III colleges fared badly. Unlike their IT counterparts, the manufacturing sector may not have declared a “recruitment freeze” but jobs will not be very easy to come by either.

According to a survey conducted by global consultancy firm KPMG, the BRIC region (Brazil, Russia, India, China) is showing signs of “buoyant levels of confidence regarding the prospects of business activities during 2008.”

However, with funding for projects on a low, several projects will be slowed down, which in turn will cut the demand for any kind of fresh recruitment. Architects and civil engineers will see a minor trough, but it is not expected to last long, Sarayu Krishnan, analyst at an HR hiring firm, says.

The Naukri.com survey quoted above records a 25 per cent dip in software. The hardware sector saw a dip in new jobs, while construction and engineering went down by 22 per cent since July, 2008.

“Public infrastructure projects and big manufacturing companies such as Larsen and Toubro will continue to recruit. However, these numbers have always been marginal,” Mr. Shetty explains. The telecommunication sector has been doing well, and will continue to recruit in the technical profiles too.

IT sector

This “sunshine sector” will see a more profound slump in 2009. Though IT majors posted good numbers on campus hiring, only time will tell how many will be absorbed. Last year’s track record with several mid-size companies not delivering on offers made, other majors such as IBM cutting flab at the eleventh hour with a “surprise test” and Wipro Technologies’ googly offer to join its BPO, has left freshers suspicious of any offer made.

While tier-I colleges in cities joined the IITs and IIMs in securing good jobs for their students, tier-II colleges fared badly. PESIT CEO Jawahar D. said that below-average students would have a tough time this year. “There is a 25 per cent drop in recruitments in almost all top companies. Even good colleges will find themselves on the borderline,” he said in a recent interview.

Mr. Shetty says: “Given that there have been retrenchments, there are plenty of ‘experienced’ candidates and 2008 freshers in the market. Employers will be spoilt for choice and the average fresher will have a tough time.”

Career counsellors recommend using the time to pursue higher education or acquiring additional skills in time for the market’s rise period.

MBA graduates

Have management jobs lost their sheen? Not yet, experts say. The most coveted profiles such as investment banking and the financial sector in general will not recruit in large numbers, but that will simply force the graduate to diversify into tertiary sectors, where there is a demand for talent. Needless to say, the impact will vary depending on how much value your MBA commands in the market.

“For students from tier-III colleges, the next six to eight months will be difficult because companies are uncertain where they are headed. Students will have to wait or make do with less-paying jobs,” says Ramesh Venkateswaran, Director, SDM-IMD, a B-school in Mysore. He says that companies have limited their intake and the college this year has invited 60 to 70 companies, compared to 38 companies last year.

Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren loses Tamar by-poll

Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren has lost the by-elections for the Tamar Assembly constituency by over 9,200 votes.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Soren lost to Jharkhand Party candidate Gopal Krishna Patar.

Counting of votes for Tamar Assembly constituency began on Thursday at 0800 hrs IST amid tight security.

Soren was seeking to enter the Assembly within the stipulated six months after assuming office on August 27.

The seat fell vacant after JD(U) legislature party leader Ramesh Singh Munda was gunned down on July 9 last year by suspected Maoists.

Cyber safe: Why you shouldn't help a friend in need

 If you are always quick to help a friend in need over the Internet, you may want to think twice, as cyber criminals might be sending emails from your friend's account, asking for money.

Take for example the case of Maxwell Pereira — who was once the Capital's most dreaded traffic cop. His online address book contacts were surprised when they got an email from saying he had found a rare painting but did not have the money to buy it. The email asked for money to be wired to an account in Nigeria.

The catch was that Pereira never sent that email.

“The scamster found and changed my password so he could operate under my name. He had access to 2000 people from my address book,” Pereira says.

Girdhar Rathi, a retired journalist, is another victim of cyber fraud. He spends all his free time at Delhi home. But an email sent from his account claimed he was stuck in Spain and begged for money to travel back home.

“A few days before that I had got an email that had a Yahoo logo. It asked for my user name and password. I didn't think and gave it to them,” Rathi says.

Luckily no one sent Mr Pereira or Professor Rathi any money as they had warned all their friends about the scam. But if your friends get such an email and respond — they’d be sending a lot of money to a smart hacker abroad.

So here's what you can do to stay safe: Ignore or carefully check any email that asks for your personal details. Always use separate IDs and password for official and personal mails and change them often.

Never respond to suspicious mails, like those that promise lottery prizes and don't reveal your personal details on social networking sites as they're prime hunting ground for hackers.

Remember Internet security can only be as strong as the weakest link in it and that weakest link is you. Exploiting your trust is easy. So be careful and don't fall for these cons.

FBI to let India prosecute Mumbai attackers

Offering an unprecedented level of cooperation to Indian authorities probing the Mumbai terror case, the FBI has said it will not seek custody of the perpetrators of the ghastly attacks, that also killed six Americans, and will let India prosecute them.

Under federal laws, FBI, the primary investigative arm of the US Government, needs to investigate, chargesheet and bring the perpetrators to justice whenever an American citizen is killed overseas.

"This is the major tragedy in India, so it is fully appropriate that Indian authorities handle the investigation and prosecution," a FBI spokesperson said.

"If at some point many many years down the road, there is an opportunity for the United States to prosecute them for the killing of Americans, our prosecutors would take a look at that point," he said.

"There is no stature limitation on murders, so it does not matter when that time would be but absolutely the priority here is let India to handle the investigation and prosecution," he said.

At this point of time FBI is not registering a separate case against those responsible for the killing of US citizens in the November 26 Mumbai attacks. Instead, it is extending all help to India in investigating the case.

"The FBI will work with the Indian authorities as well as our partners to cover all leads, wherever they may take us," the spokesperson said.

Class action lawsuit filed in US against Satyam

A lawsuit has been filed in a United States court on behalf of American investors of Satyam Computer Services.

Reports say that law firms in the US have begun filing class-action suits against Satyam and its beleaguered executives for fraud. Two such class action lawsuits -- one by a US law firm Izard Nobel LLP and the other by an investor in Satyam ADS -- have been filed in a district court in New York.

The lawsuits charge the Indian software major, its promoters and top executives with fooling investors, infringing upon securities laws and for manipulating books of accounts.

The lawsuits, say reports, have been filed on behalf of all buyers of Satyam ADS between January 6, 2004 and January 6, 2009.

On Wednesday, Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju confessed to cooking the company's books, showing inflated profits for years, and misleading the public and the investors leading to the company's stock sinking by almost 80 per cent, from Rs 179 levels to Rs 39 levels on the Indian stock markets.

The US regulator - the SEC -- had halted trading in the Satyam ADS on the New York Stock Exchange before the US markets opened on Wednesday.

Maytas Infra chairman Sinha quits

Meanwhile, PTI reported that R C Sinha, chairman of the Raju family-promoted Mayats Infrastructure, has resigned. Details awaited.