What Ails the BPO Industry in Pakistan?

Re: # 239 Arjun2
``So 4 Indian Americans are among the 40 finalists in the Intel STS..Indians are 2% of the population and 10 % of the finalists...Pakis are <2% of the population and a large % of jihadis being tried in the US... ``

If i am a paki i would go kill myself! oh wait..thats what they been doing...

#229 Good for her she isn`t playing the victim card. If you are offended by what you see as racism then hold up your own placards of protest. Don`t expect her to act on your behalf.

So 4 Indian Americans are among the 40 finalists in the Intel STS..Indians are 2% of the population and 10 % of the finalists...Pakis are <2% of the population and a large % of jihadis being tried in the US...

nuff said...

#237 by soysauce on February 2, 2007 10:37am PT

Pakis would burn down KFC, blow themselves up in the subway.

and the end result: they`d still be pakis, have no honor and still be poor...

#230 Yeah and she should have burned down a few KFCs in the process. You`re so damned predictable.

I hope zeemax is not reflecting paki establishment thinking. A poor country waiting for the right opportunity and wanting to pick and choose is unrealistic and is like waiting for ocean tides to stop before getting into the water.
I don`t understand the delineating between service sector and manufacturing sector jobs. In terms of acquiring intellectual property, service sector is probably the best way to go in the short term. That said, innovation will thrive in any sector under the right conditions. The US has farmed out manufacturing and increasing service sector jobs but it remains unquestionably the most innovative nation in technology.
Manufacturing offers certain spill over advantages. If you have a factory producing a certain component, a simple retooling would get you into a slightly different market segment. Besides, there`s always a huge internal market that you can cater to. Service sector jobs tend to be less universal in this way.
The asian tigers showed that the existing model was not the only way to improve the national economy. The lesson if anything is that there isn`t a set way to move up. If the west innovated first and manufactured next, the asian tigers and especially Korea showed that you could do it backwards with equal felicity.
Poor countries should grab whatever opportunity is presented to them.

#230 by zeemax on February 1, 2007 10:36pm PT

Peemax...that was a photo of a dead jihadi...It was posted with the original caption...now you may chose to believe that was a dead Indian and Kashmir is soon going to banega Pakiland...no one can keep a paki away from his delusions...

jeemax, one thing the asian tigers (including malaysia) had going for them was educated (well, like highschool) women in work-force. most asian factories on assembly lines are like 80% women. they were always a prefered workforce because they were more reliable, less tardy or under the influence of alchohol and less prone to unionization. ergo, if you want massive industrializatoin, women (which form some 48% of population) be empowered to go get schooled and work, without honor bothering them. one reason tamilnad is a popular destination in india for assembly-line type factories (cell-phones, TV, cars and components) is availabilit of such labor.

Ref GT #221

[`Skill premium`?....my foot.

What about India? Is it similar?]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6289521.stm


Here is the US news from Bangalore
By Steve Schifferes
Economics reporter, BBC News, Bangalore

In a windowless office in central Bangalore, dozens of employees are arriving to work on the night shift.

They are journalists employed by the world`s biggest news agency, Reuters.

Their job is to cover US financial news.

And they are working overnight so that they can report company news live as it happens on the New York Stock Exchange - from India.

Cost savings

But why in the world is Reuters covering Wall Street from Bangalore?

In a word: salaries.

These Indian financial journalists can be employed by Reuters for a fraction of the cost of employing a journalist at their New York office.

Reuters Editor-in-Chief, David Schlesinger, says that the move meant that they could broaden their coverage of US companies without incurring crippling costs.

He was able to hire 100 new journalists in Bangalore without in any way reducing the size of his New York office.

``Now we can send our New York journalists out to do more interesting stories. This is good for our business and good for journalism,`` he told the BBC.

And some other wire services are now following Reuters` lead and beating a path to Bangalore, according to local journalists.

But Mr Schlesinger insists that this is not outsourcing.

``Bangalore is a Reuters bureau like any other in the world. And Reuters journalists there work to the standards as Reuters journalists anywhere.``

Internet journalism

Such a system has only recently become feasible - as a result of the internet.

Most US companies now put out their press releases on the internet, and they all use financial PR firms to release their profit figures just as the stock market opens.

So Reuters journalists in Bangalore can access the same basic information - in the same time frame - as their colleagues in New York.

And the reduced cost of telecommunications links means that the news written in Bangalore can be sent around the world as quickly as the news written in New York - of key importance for a wire service, which depends on speed for its competitive advantage.

Reuters already knew about the data transmission capability of India.

In 2002, it moved its IT database operations to Bangalore.

It now employs 1,500 people to make sure that its clients receive the millions of bits of financial data it transmits every day.

But, nevertheless, Reuters was taking a big gamble in trying to source its company news from India, as Abi Sekimitsu, the Reuters editor assigned to run the Bangalore office, explains.

``The Reuters brand is a strong one. There is no shortage of talented journalists here, but we need to train them up carefully to make sure they understand our values,`` she says.

But she stresses the journalists she employs are now eager to expand the range of stories they do, and have already moved from just doing headlines and summaries to writing more complex stories.

The Reuters journalists working in Bangalore do find some aspects of the job intimidating.

For Ankur Relia, covering the New York financial markets has taken some getting used to.

He writes up to 20 brief stories a day reporting briefly on US company results.

But he is happy to defer to the New York office if a more complicated story involving a major US company passes his way.

To maintain their exacting standards, Reuters has recently created a new post in the Bangalore office - training editor.

And they have hired a former Bloomberg employee and CNBC TV presenter, Kavita Chandran, on a two-year contract.

Kavita, an Indian national, had been working for Bloomberg in New York.

She says it has been hard to adjust to coming back to Bangalore - but it is a very exciting time.

``We have a bright, enthusiastic young staff, who are eager to learn about US markets.

``I encourage them to read the NY Times and Wall St Journal online every day.``

But she finds there are some cultural differences between work styles in the US and India that need tackling.

``Indian culture is much more laid-back and the work ethic is different. We need to install a sense of urgency, especially for breaking news, and ensure crisp and accurate copy.``

``My role is really to clear up the cultural misunderstandings,`` she says.

``Being Indian, but having worked for more than 10 years in New York, I can spot the difficulties in communication and language between the two offices.``

Turnover problems

However, the biggest problem that Reuters is facing in Bangalore is something they did not expect - turnover.

Despite paying double the going rate for journalists, almost half the staff has left in the past year.

``I am a Reuters lifer,`` Ms Sekimitsu told the BBC. ``When I joined Reuters in Hong Kong, I planned to make my career in the firm. But some of the young journalists I am employing seem to think that a year is a long time to work for one company.``

It`s not just competition from rivals that have caused the problem.

India`s economic boom - and the deregulation of television - has led to an explosion in financial journalism, with six financial news channels on cable TV.

And salaries of financial journalists on newspapers are rising as well.

With many financial journalists attracted to working in Mumbai, India`s financial capital, Reuters is finding it increasingly difficult to retain its staff.

Newspaper outsourcing

Reuters` Bangalore operation is only one example of a broader trend in outsourcing by media organisations.

Many American newspapers, facing severe cost pressures, are looking to outsource many of their key functions to India.

Recent moves have included:

* Columbus Dispatch: Ohio newspaper outsourced 90 jobs in advertising design to Affinity Express in Pune, India

* Dallas Morning News: IT computer support outsourced to India

* Knight Ridder Group: Considered outsourcing its copy editing to India in 2006, before being taken over by McClatchy

According to the World Association of Newspapers, the trend is gathering strength.

In a report published last year, the organisation said that ``whatever the risks and benefits, outsourcing is here to stay``.

``The newspaper industry has only taken tentative steps into outsourcing what was once considered core competencies such as editorial, advertising, and circulation. But the trend is gaining momentum,`` it added.

And the BBC too

And it is not just newspapers that are taking advantage of the cost savings of outsourcing to India.

The BBC recently announced that it would save £20m by outsourcing its payroll and expenses services to Xansa, based in Madras, India, although customer support would still be based in the UK.

Savings will go towards the BBC`s target of releasing £355m of savings to invest in programmes and services.

``The BBC is taking advantage of the significant savings of globalisation while maintaining the benefits of more local customer support,`` the corporation said.

Re: # 213

A Honda City (second to fully loaded model) costs about 8.5 lakh rupees on the road in India. There are some variations depending on the city it`s sold in.

#229 by nb

I agree. If she had any self-respect, she should have refused the prize as not being worth the humiliation and insults publicly inflicted upon her. She would have made a point and become an icon in the fight against racism. Instead, she chose to pocket the $ million and say that everything was hunky dory.

#220 by dhotilal_googlemal,

You paraded me naked because I couldn`t find the link to the forum where it was posted?

So you posted a wounded injun`s photo from some chatter`s forum and tried to pass it off as a Kashmiri without even the caption? Actually, you couldn`t `find` the forum because your bluff was called. I know what the forum would have said about that photo.

Re Abizaid/Abdullah Abdullah, you`ve been pestering me about it constantly. Ok so I accept your point that Abdullah was not fired at Pakistan`s behest. Then why was he fired? If you do not accept my reason for his firing immediately after Abizaid`s visit, then surely you would know the real reason.

C`mon. Out with it, or stop chattering about it.

Re: # 226
She can pretend it wasn`t, but the fact is that it was. I doubt she`s gone through all the footage as yet.

Jang/Manto,

A Honda City costs around Rs. 6-7 lakhs in India. A teacher with post graduate qualification (MA/MSc+ BEd) starts with a salary of around Rs. 15,000 p.m. in most schools in Delhi.

Regards

#226 Typical bania behavior. Where`s her honor? :)

This is why India produces Laxmi Mittals while the perpetual victim pakis produce Omar Saeed Sheikh and the subway bombers..


Shilpa refuses to play race activist

LONDON: Shilpa Shetty has commended the fight against racism by those who are victims of it but refused, yet again, in her first television interview since the Big Brother win, to describe herself as a martyr to British racism.

Shetty firmly said on Thursday that she was not prepared to serve as spokesperson for the rights of Indians and other coloured people in Britain and beyond.

She said she was prepared to accept the anger of Indians at home and here for refusing to describe herself as racially victimized.

And in an adroit piece of constituency-building, described by many as ``masterly politics and superb brand-building``, Shetty would only say to Sky News that Jade Goody, her alleged chief racial tormentor, was ``aggressive, obnoxious and mannerless``.

Shetty`s refusal to brand Goody and much of Britain as racist is seen to put her in a good position to reap the commercial benefits of her public magnanimity with the UK desperate to shower the actress with lucrative deals and offers in exchange for her endorsement of its tolerance.

From an imposing country pile, currently her green and leafy home in the south-east of England, Shetty spoke nearly 100 hours after she won Celebrity Big Brother and started on the path of becoming Britain`s most commercially -fanciable ``sweetheart``.

Shetty insisted, with what many here described as the overweening arrogance of ``India`s educated middle-class`` that Big Brother contestants such as Goody behaved as they did because of ``a lack of education``.

Almost exactly echoing the words of Big Brother`s embattled broadcaster Channel 4, she said racism was a very complex issue. She said her coven of female tormentors in the Big Brother house were driven by ``jealousy``. And with almost breathtaking arrogance, Shetty insisted Goody ``never thought before she spoke`` and pop star Jo O`Meara had ``personality issues``.

Shetty`s extraordinary television interview was conducted with the actress resplendent in a nude chiffon sari and a a bustier-choli. Observers said the actress appeared deeply conscious that her Big Brother win had turned her into a totemic symbol of Britain`s victory over racism.

On Tuesday, the UK`s largest-selling tabloid launching an unprecedented campaign to hail the actor`s triumph as a ``turning point`` in multi-cultural tolerance. Just days ago, The Sun , Britain`s best-selling, if big-mouthed tabloid, featured an extraordinary front-page splash consisting of 11 differently-coloured and distinctly-garbed children holding up placards that bore racially-offensive insults such as ``Paki``, ``towelhead``, ``chinky``, ``nigger``, ``chavscum``, ``half-breed`` and ``terrorist``.

The strapline for the front-page splash shrieked, alongside a flattering photo of Shetty: ``As Shilpa wins Big Brother for us all, 11 kids ask what do we have in common?``

Shetty`s Thursday television interview to Rupert Murdoch`s satellite broadcaster is seen to put the finishing touches to a public persona carefully fashioned by the actress to suggest ``class and compassion``.

Britain`s tabloid press has been hailing Shetty in the days since she won the reality TV show as the embodiment of poise, grace and dignity, quoting ``social commentators`` to say her victory ``proved we are a tolerant nation despite the vile scenes which caused outrage.``

Shetty has already received the unofficial commendation of Trevor Phillips, Chair of the Commission For Equality And Human Rights, who has urged Britain to ``congratulate Shilpa. It has taken a woman from a former colony, thousands of miles away to remind us of what we most value about being British.``