Friday, February 6, 2009

IIM Shillong’s Maiden Batch Gets 100% Winter Internship

S hillong, Feb 6 : IIM Shillong’s 64-strong maiden batch has witnessed 100% placements for its winter internships, with some 35 companies across sectors making a total of 79 offers to students. Top contenders to pick up students from IIM Shillong included Deloitte, E&Y, KPMG, and PwC. A number of students also opted for media and advertising firms which included the likes of Ogilvy & Mather, Viacom, Warner Brothers and Euro RSCG, among others. On the marketing front, recruiters included AC Nielsen, Cadbury and ITC. The students will be undergoing a two-month internship in January-February. IIM Shillong however, declined to comment on the stipends offered.While students showed a reluctance to join traditional i-banking biggies, core banking and asset management companies including Citigroup, HDFC, Standard Chartered, Axis Bank, Tata AIG, SBI Cap, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SREI-BNP Paribas were among those who turned up for the process. Other leading companies at the institute included Barclays, Deutsche Bank, HUL, TATA Capital, Eicher Motors, and GE India. Technology consulting drew keen interest as well, with Siemens, Bosch, and Headstrong participating. Manufacturing and supply chain companies like Ford, Honda, Lafarge, Hero Group, Cargo Partners made their presence felt on campus as well. PSUs included ONGC, NTPC, and Power Finance Corporation. Economic Times

Myanmar Not to Allow Its Soil to be Used by NE Insurgents

New Delhi, Feb 6 : Myanmar on Thursday (February 5) pledged that it would not allow its territory to be used by northeastern insurgents to target India as the neighbouring countries signed two pacts in industry and education sectors injecting a substantive economic content to their relations. India raised the security issue stemming from the insurgents taking shelter in Myanmar which shares border with northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland as visiting Vice President Hamid Ansari held talks with Gen Maung Aye, the number two in this country’s ruling military junta, sources said. At the delegation-level talks between the two sides, which followed a brief one-to-one meeting between Ansari and Gen Aye, the Myanmarese side acknowledged India’s security concerns but conveyed that the insurgents would not be permitted to use its territory to target India, they said. Myanmar’s assurance assumed significance as India, which had kept the military junta at arms length for a long time after the 1988 crackdown on pro-democracy protests, changed track when it found its security interests in northeastern states were in jeopardy. Since India began engaging the Myanmarese military junta, there has been cooperation between security forces of the two countries in flushing out the northeastern insurgents. Security issue apart, the two countries inked a Memorandum of Understanding under which India will provide technical and financial assistance to set up an industrial training centre at Pakkoku in Myanmar to churn out skilled labour force, including electronic technicians, electricians, mechanists, welders and sheet metal workers. The MoU was signed by the Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju and Myanmar Industry Minister Sowe Thein. The two countries signed a separate MoU under which India will set up an English Language Training Centre in Myanmar to equip civil servants, students, professionals and businessmen with communication skills.

Key Tamil Tiger sea base 'falls'

The Sri Lankan army says it has captured the last major naval base of Tamil Tiger rebels in the north-east of the island.It says that about 15 rebel fighters - including three senior commanders - were killed in the fighting at Chalai.There has been no independent confirmation of the report, and no comment from the rebels.Earlier, the government said there would be no ceasefire with the rebels, despite international calls for talks.Military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said that with the capture of Chalai, the army had now brought almost all the rebel naval bases on the eastern coast under its control.He said the deputy leader of the rebel Sea Tigers unit was among the senior commanders killed in the fighting. The spokesman further added that troops were now trying to subdue remaining rebel resistance in the area.The military has already made it clear it is in charge of the seas, following the last major clash between the two sides last month in which the navy said four rebel boats had been sunk.The rebels are boxed in by troops in a shrinking piece of territory in the north-east. The military says they control just a few miles of coastline.Meanwhile aid agencies have continued to express concern over the plight of civilians caught up in the conflict. The government says more than 1,500 people have crossed from rebel-held areas to government-controlled territory in the past four days.Earlier, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa ruled out any chance of the Tamil Tigers negotiating a surrender."There is no question of negotiations on surrender. The rebels should surrender unconditionally. They should lay down their arms first."He rejected any amnesty for top rebel leaders, but said that "lower level cadres" would be "given amnesty, retrained, given vocational training and integrated into mainstream society".Civilian fearsMr Rajapaksa also dismissed US-led calls for a ceasefire, saying that the rebels had used ceasefire time "only to regroup and attack security forces". His comments came days after donors called on the rebels to consider laying down arms in order to end the bloodshed.The Tigers say they will not lay down their arms until they have a "guarantee of living with freedom and dignity and sovereignty".There are fears for about 250,000 civilians who may be trapped by the fighting.On Thursday pro-rebel websites again accused the army of shelling a hospital following similar claims throughout the week.On Wednesday, the United Nations said that 52 civilians had been killed in 24 hours of fighting.

Pakistan nuclear scientist 'free'

Acourt in Pakistan has freed disgraced nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan from house arrest, his lawyer says.Mr Khan, who has been under tight restrictions since 2004, can now leave home and receive visitors but must still report to the government.He must give 48 hours' notice if he wants to leave Islamabad.Mr Khan admitted transferring nuclear secrets to other countries in 2004 but was later pardoned by former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.Nuclear 'father'"The high court has declared him a free citizen," lawyer Iqbal Jaffry told local television.The Pakistani government says the restrictions that remain are for his own security.In January, the US imposed sanctions on people and companies linked to Mr Khan, the former head of Pakistan's nuclear programme.Last July, Mr Khan told the media that Pakistan had transported uranium enrichment equipment to North Korea in 2000 with the full knowledge of the country's army, then headed by Gen Musharraf.The former leader has repeatedly stated that no-one apart from Mr Khan had any knowledge of the transportation of nuclear technology.Mr Khan is seen as the father of Pakistan's nuclear industry and is still regarded a hero by many in the country.