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Doon ideal destination for BPOs
‘Nigerian 419’ scam haunts Internet users
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Distant Learning
Centre sends 28 doctors
Baseball competes for identity in state, courtesy lack of tourneys
Sports can develop positive attitude in youth, says Chhabra
U’khand police win
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Doon ideal destination for BPOs
Dehradun, January 18 Cities like Dehradun, Bhopal, Indore, Mysore, Siliguri, Aurangabad, Jamshedpur, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Mohali are among those stations which are considered by the industry as natural BPO products. “In the coming years, 50 per cent of BPOs will have their operations in Dehradun,” said Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sapanco Parveen Kumar, which has about seven BPOs in different countries, including the UK, Singapore and Qatar (Doha). Spanco, that started its operations in September in Dehradun, formally inaugurated its BPO unit here today. Spanco has the capacity of over 3,000 production seats and can offer jobs to over 7,500 persons. This BPO unit has started with 250 seats in the state capital and expects to grow to about 1,000 within the next 12 months. The CEO said the cost of getting place, manpower and the cost of power had brought their BPO like others to Dehradun. He added that he was of the view of getting BPOs to people and not people to BPOs. “In Delhi, Gurgaon and Mumbai, the cost of power is very high and youngsters there wouldn’t even give much importance to Rs 10,000-12,000 salary, while here even lesser salary would be considered as ‘wow’. People in these big cities come from far-off states, then why not have BPOs where they are with several benefits?”
Parveen said. Shedding light on the attrition rate in BPOs, which was very high in the metropolitan cities, he added: “If there are 1,000 executives, then 10-12 per cent attrition rate is bound to be witnessed and this puts an organisation in a bad shape, as the training cost is quite high. Attrition doesn’t stand as a problem in cities
like Dehradun”. Parveen hailed Dehradun as one of the ideal cities for BPO culture. Besides the serene city being the hub of educated youth, it has several other advantages, including there is lesser transportation cost here than that in big cities
like Delhi. “First, a city like Delhi is very big and it takes hours to reach the office unlike Dehradun where an executive can come within a few minutes due to lesser traffic here,” said Parveen. “This is happening the world over. Like in the UK, the BPOs got closed down in London and got shifted to Glasgow due to the cost factor. Similarly, in the US, BPOs shifted operations from Chicago to Phoenix”. He said likewise in India, giants like Converges, IBM, HTMT and Tech Mahindra have taken up the domestic processes and also gradually coming up to small cities. Dehradun has several small domestic call centres and handful of international as well. “We have started our operations with domestic processes and would later come up with the international processes as well,” said the
CEO.
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‘Nigerian 419’ scam haunts Internet users
Dehradun, January 18 An official of the cyber crime cell with the Special Task Force (STF) in Uttarakhand says most of the online frauds are done by the Nigerians who are operating as a gang. “The Nigerians in India, mainly in metropolitan cities, are mere porters while the masterminds, who send fraudulent e-mails and do other online scams, operate from Nigeria,” said Sub Inspector Ved Prakash Thapliyal, a cyber crime cell expert with the STF in the state capital. He informed that during his investigation he found that most of the cases involved Nigerian natives and the language of the callers, who are into these scams, also gave enough clues that they hailed from that country. Even those who were arrested by the Delhi police in the cyber crime case turned out to be citizens of the same country. Two Nigerians were also arrested by the Narender Nagar police station with the help of cyber crime experts in Tehri in a lottery scam case in 2008. The two are in a jail and a case is undergoing against them. However, the cyber crime cell official also highlights that though the online scammers were highly advanced and clever, this wasn’t tough to trace them. Even though some of the scammers were traced by the cyber crime experts, the latter couldn’t do anything owing to the limitations of country’s boundaries as the persons involved were in Nigeria. A lot of things matter in this regard, particularly the treaty with the country and other aspects, as per the cyber crime cell officials. The cyber crime cell experts say that precaution and awareness among people are some of the measures that can keep our finances safe. People shouldn’t give their personal information, including even their name and date of birth to anyone online and should be beware from “phishing” and “wishing”. Meanwhile, at the cyber crime cell that had five to six cases last year, the officials claimed to have met with success in three of these cases, including the one in which Managing Director (MD) of Uttarakhand Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited received fake e-mail from the office of the Chief Minister that asked confidential information about hydro-electric projects. The MD on suspicion rechecked from the CM office about the e-mail and he found out that no such e-mail was sent to him. The case was later transferred to the cyber crime cell and the accused was arrested with the help of the cell. “The case was given top priority since it involved the CM. Still it took about one month and some days to solve it. It is not difficult to solve cyber crime cases, but it’s just that the process takes long time,” said Thapliyal.
While the other two cases in which the cell officials got success include the case in which three Israelis had been booked for allegedly taking photographs of a local woman. However, they got saved after the cyber crime cell officials found in their investigation that the allegation made against them was false. In yet another incident, the cyber crime team had also found that a criminal, who was arrested by the Cantt police under various sections of the law, was involved in making fake credit cards. Due to this expose, the criminal couldn’t come out of the jail till today and several such dimensions of prevalent fraud in this regard came to light. Though the cyber crime has tasted success in the aforesaid cases, it is yet to make any breakthrough in the cases involving syphoning off the amount from banks or ATMs. The state cyber crime cell is headed by two SIs and a few other associates. “We don’t investigate a case directly. Instead we help the police station official concerned in solving the case so that they can also be educated by this mean,” Thapliyal added. STF’s Additional Senior Superintendent of Police Mukesh Chauhan said the department had its cyber crime officials in districts as well and if there was some big case, the experts from the STF assist them.
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Tiger Count
Dehradun, January 18 Naxalites’ presence in seven out of 38 tiger reserves of the country is confirmed and conducting census in these critical tiger habitats will not be easy. The last tiger census report prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), which was also first-ever authentic tiger census report in the country, admitted strong Naxalite presence in certain forest areas and the fact could be a reason behind the decline in the number of tigers in some of the reserves. Karnataka has protected areas like the Kudremukh National Park, which have been infested by Naxalites. Nearly four districts in the state are considered Naxal-prone and these could only see the census being carried out under extra police vigil. The WII scientists, who have been participating in earlier census exercises, admit that conducting the census exercise in insurgency-hit areas is definitely a challenging task. Even local forest officials keep a safe distance when it comes to on-the-ground count in the red corridor. “It is usually an informal one in insurgency-hit areas and definitely the true tiger figures are missed on the count,” scientists of the WII said. A WII scientist said certain pockets in the Naxal-infested forest areas had been left out in the last census. Sunderbans, known for its Royal Bengal Tiger, was left out in the last census for the very same reason. While inhospitable terrain of mangroves stood as impediments, the insurgency along the India-Bangladesh border made things certainly difficult for them, forcing the WII to abandon the exercise in this important tiger habitat of the country. Meanwhile, as an impetus to the second tiger census, the WII has hired as many as 40 researchers and will induct 20 more for an effective conduct of the tiger census in the country. Tiger conservationist Hem Singh Gehlot says the tiger count in insurgency-hit areas can only be achieved by taking locals into confidence. “Generally it was observed in the last census that the villagers even resorted to breaking of camera traps as they thought that it had something to do with recording their activity,” said Gehlot. He suggested awareness drives should be carried out at the villages in the vicinity of these forest areas in order to make them understand the significance of the tiger count. On the other hand, the second census comes at a time when many states have progressed far ahead in the implementation of the Forest Rights Act. Thus, influence of forest dewellers have now increased in the forest areas that certainly could be a bane of tigers, despite claims that critical habitats have been kept out of the purview of the Act. The Forest Minister’s recent admission that the Tribal Act was a tricky affair and assertion that it would least affect wildlife was not correct. Local villagers could be made the part of the counting process. It could be in the form of providing incentives for collection of tiger droppings from these areas thus facilitating the larger interest of the count. Anyhow there is no denial to the fact that the count this time will be closer to truth on ground and would reveal a better tiger scenario in the country.
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Distant Learning
Nainital, January 18 These were some of the key recommendations that came up after a two-day national workshop on “Development of a Road Map for ODL”, which was held at the Administrative Training Institute here. The event was organised by Uttarakhand Open University. During the course of a brain-storming session, it was pointed out that emphasis should be laid not merely on accessibility, but also the usability of the contents available in the virtual mode. It was suggested that the services of experienced citizens like the ex-servicemen could be utilised in making the distant learning a success. The participants felt that there was a lot of scope for the radio to be used as a mode for dissemination of information to students. It was unanimously felt that the content of modules in the ODL should be of such a level that the students could become employable at the international level. It was suggested that application-oriented courses should be integrated with the gradation-level programmes and the curriculum devised should be better than that of the conventional universities. Dr Manjulika Srivastava of the Distant Education Council said in a state like Uttarakhand where conventional universities did not have much to offer, the open university had a vast field, which it could utilise to the optimum. “It can use the cutting-edge technologies to awaken people to the 21st century. People should be exposed to a mix of technologies as along with the unemployed lot you are also addressing the employed segment,” she suggested, while stressing the need to develop English skills as it is the language of the Internet. She was also of the opinion that everything that was planned should be research based. Education entrepreneur Rajeev Tandon differed with her on the last point and said research came out of experiences in life and making mistakes was itself a learning process. The Vice-Chancellor of Uttarakhand Open University, Dr Vinay Pathak, said the purpose of such an exercise was to make use of collective wisdom and group participation. He said even the existing courses of the university would be repackaged and made globally oriented. Eminent historian and activist Shekhar Pathak pointed out that a special module must be prepared for the women of the state as they were not being able to make the full use of the reservation granted to them on account of their high dropout rate. The Vice-Chancellor of Kumaon University, Dr VS Arora, while wrapping up the session asserted while there should be modules aimed at providing employment to students, there should also be modules aimed at educating the masses. He suggested the course content should be in a language that was user friendly.
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Protester does a Veeru again
Dehradun, January 18 Puran Singh Rana, president of the Shiksha Acharya/Anudeshak/Swayum Sewak Sangathan, Uttrakhand, mounted up the 60-metre tower in protest against the non-fulfilment of their demands today. “As soon as we heard about this trespassing, 10 constables and I went to the spot to look over the ruckus created by him. In spite of no ladder on the tower till the 20 feet from the ground and barbed wires fenced around its base, Rana succeeded in making an encroachment to the tower,” said Nathilal Uniyal, Senior Inspector posted at the Haridwar bypass police station. Rana, who had climbed up the tower in November, 2009, alos, is already booked under Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code. He was on bail. He had also staged a protest in front of the Vidhan Sabha to press for the association’s demands. The offender took blankets, dry fruits, a mobile phone and three batteries of the mobile phone with himself at the tower post. Rana, who was connected to the media through the mobile phone, said: “We have been on a dharna for 718 days in front of the Vidhan Sabha, but today, out of frustration, I was compelled to take this action”. He also accused the state government of being partial. “Women ad hoc teachers were designated as shiksha mitra while their men counterparts were terminated from the service. After repeated meetings with Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, all officials assured us to work soon in our favour but nothing happened yet.” “A number of memorandums and notifications had been submitted to the officials concerned in but it seems that nobody is paying heed to our demands. We are jobless, without definite source of income that is hampering our family life adversely. Now, I would only come down after the association receives the order from government otherwise end up myself at the tower post,” he added. Meanwhile, members of the association took out rally in favour of Rana from the Vidhan Sabha to the site raising slogans against the state government. Senior officials at the district level and the District Education Officer also visited the spot to convince Rana and get him down, but failed to prevail over him. Rana is determined to only get down the tower after receiving the government orders in favour of the suspended teachers of the state. His demands mainly comprise converting the shiksha acharyas (ad hoc teachers) into shiksha mitra.
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Kumbh area sniffer dogs, a breed apart
Presently these dogs are putting up at the Police Lines area of Mayapur, Haridwar. “For the purpose of security, around 20 dogs have been deployed on duty at the prime entrances of the mela so that devotees who are coming from distant locations can have a peaceful time amid hustle and bustle,” informed Sub Inspector Harihar Prasad. While five dogs are from the Srinagar Frontier, three are from the Punjab Frontier, eight from the Rajasthan Frontier and the remaining four from the Gujarat Frontier. While 14 are of Labrador breed, six are of Alsatian family. These dogs have been in the field since long and have brilliantly showcased their daring skills in the hour of need. Shedding light on the importance and role of these dogs, Prasad added, “These dogs are sniffer dogs and so they are expert at catching and detecting any sort of explosives or hazardous material. Raj and Jack, while on duty at the Jharkhand elections, helped us catch a man who was carrying explosives worth 28 kg. Seema, another intelligent dog, helped the BSF team in J&K to catch culprits and find areas where explosives were hidden”. Sharing a close bond with the soldiers of the BSF, these dogs are treated
with care. For better performance, dogs are also taught to stay in discipline
and honour. However, a demo performance by these dogs, which was presented in front of DIG Alok Verma at the Kumbh Mela, captivated the attention of all. Furthermore, to provide them quality food and facilities, each dog is being trained and supervised under the instructions of professional trainers. “As these dogs are sensible and faithful, they understand and obey our command and are definitely a boon in the hour of distress,” said DK Garg, one of the trainers.
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Centre sends 28 doctors
Dehradun, January 18 “Our top priority is to conduct the Kumbh mela successfully. Our efforts have been boosted by the Central government’s help in providing doctors, who are resident medical officers working at Ram Manohar Hospital and Lady Hardinge,” said DG (Health) Dr CP Arya. Lall Pathology Laboratory has been deputed as a collection centre for H1N1. It may be mentioned that only two laboratories with the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories had applied during the tender procedure. The collection centre is to be set exclusively for the Kumbh so that the samples could be sent for testing to the laboratories and later results could be sent through fax thereby calling for an independent arrangement that did not put pressure on the existing state nodal facilities.
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Develop sports at gram panchayat level, says CM
Dehradun, January 18 Dr Nishank also directed to complete the process of constitution of Yuvak and Mahila Mangal Dals in all gram panchayats by this year. He said they should participate in welfare and environmental conservation in addition to sports and cultural programmes. Conducting a review meeting of Panchayat Yuva Kreeda aur Khel Abhiyan Yojana, PYKKA, the CM stressed on the need of making a clear-cut policy for developing sports at the gram panchayat level. He also directed to give priority to Atal Adarsh Grams in the scheme. The CM also directed to issue the sports calendar for 2010-11 in co-ordination with the Education and Sports departments in the month of April. He directed to take every care while selecting Kreeda Shree. It was also decided that a Junior Engineer (JE) and a Data Entry Operator might get appointed at district level on out-sourcing under the PYKKA scheme. Until the posting of the JE, the RES is directed to look after the work of the PYKKA. He also directed to do the fencing of sports fields that are under construction. The representatives of the Sports Federations of the ten games selected under the PYKKA, ie athletics, badminton, judo, kabaddi, kho-kho, volleyball, hockey, football, handball, and boxing would be nominated as members as per the roster. The representatives of kabaddi, kho-kho, and volleyball federations would be nominated in the first stage. The CM directed to hold review works carried out by the Youth Welfare Officers at district and block levels on a regular basis. He also said the Youth Welfare Officers, who encouraged more and more youths and the women to participate in the schemes pertaining to welfare and development, should be awarded. Director of PRD PS Gusain informed that sports fields in 750 gram panchayats and 10 kshetra panchayats would be prepared in the first stage for which a provision of Rs 10 crore has been made. He further informed that selection of Kreeda Shree in 529 gram panchayats and 9 shetra panchayats have already been made. Principal Secretary Shatrughan Singh, Secretaries Utpal Kumar Singh, Om Prakash, ML Pant, Manisha Panwar, Director NK Jha, Director ICDS L Fanai along with other officers were present in the meeting.
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Baseball competes for identity in state, courtesy lack of tourneys
Dehradun, January 18 Baseball as a game was introduced in Uttarakhand after its formation, but it had struggled hard to gain its ground. Despite the fact that the game is being played in four districts, there is lack of tournaments in the sport and this is
affecting it adversely. Baseball coach Rajender Pal Singh revealed that last year the association tried to organise a district league, but it failed in its efforts. The association failed to find a vacant ground for organising the league. School examinations posed a problem for the association latter and the whole idea was dumped. Singh accepted the fact that lack of tournaments was proving to be a great hindrance in popularising the game. The tournament organised by the District Sports Office was the only tourney that held year. “Although there is lesser competition for preparing children for bigger tournaments, in spite of this state teams have done well at the national level. The sub-junior team had lifted the u-13 national baseballs trophy, whereas the senior team is rated among the best teams at the national level,” said Ravinder. The game is also facing the negligent attitude of the state government. This year, the state team was not given tracksuits by the state government, which is bound to demoralising the team members. Singh who is aiming to begin baseball camps at Tehri was worried over the attitude of the government.
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Sports can develop positive attitude in youth, says Chhabra
This is the first time that a person from the country has been selected as an adviser to the Commonwealth Secretariat. Chhabra, who was in the capital, was optimistic about his selection, saying that it would go a long way to improve sports standards in India in the near future. “It was a great honour to me that I have got this opportunity to serve the society through sports. And I have a huge responsibility to
fulfil,” added Chhabra. Giving an example of the positive side of sports on society, he said according to a survey done on African countries recently, after introducing football in these countries drug cases were reported to have drastically
gone down. Therefore, one could make greater contribution to society through sports. “Apart from working for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, the secretariat will lay out proper plans for the community development programmes and so on. The special areas include holding sports programmes in tribal areas and other places to bring forth the hidden talents,” said Chhabra. He said India had to work a lot on developing their sports infrastructure in
the country. It was far behind foreign countries in the matter of sports infrastructure. “Sports facilities in countries like China, Holland, Cuba and other places are far ahead of India in matter of concerning infrastructure. Country like Holland has eighty Astro Turf fields, whereas we have few of them. Therefore, India still has to work a lot on its infrastructure,” asserted Chhabra.
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U’khand police win
Dehradun, January 18 The Police team lost its first wicket when its score was one run. The second wicket fell soonat the score of 11 runs. It was Navnish who scored 23 runs. Vijay made 27 runs. After them Ravinder and Narender established a good partnership and scored 32 and 21 runs respectively. For the Bindas Eleven team Ankit and Shivender took three wickets each. Anand took two wickets. In reply, Bindas Eleven batsmen failed to do much and the team was all out for 87 runs. Sagar made 27 runs off 42 balls. From Uttarakhand Police, Dhanraj did the maximum damage to the Bindas Eleven team. whereas Narender took two wickets.
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Dehradun, January 18
Dehradun, January 18