IIM-Ahmedabad hikes fees by Rs 1 lakh

Indian Institute of Management -Ahmedabad (IIM-A), country's top B-School has hiked the fees for its flagship programme, Post-graduate Programme in Management (PGPM) on Sunday.

The IIM-A hike the fees for the second consecutive year. The hike in the fees by IIM-A would have impact on other top business schools in India.

The fees of the two-year course have now been raised to Rs 12.5 lakh, a rise of Rs 1 lakh that will be applicable for the incoming batch of 2009-11.There is impact of the global financial crisis on the top business schools placement session.

Despite the IIM-A hiked the fees for the programme. Now the students need to pay extra fees to get into IIM-A PGPM programme.

Career Launcher plans new university by 2010

Career Launcher India Limited plans to set up the Indus World University by 2010, according to media reports. Career Launcher is Asia’s leading education service provider with presence in over 130 locations across India, Middle East and the United States.

The institute have been providing test-preparation education to enable school and college students gain admission to professional courses like Master of Business Administration.

The founder and Chairman of Career Launcher, Satya R Narayanan told media that the proposed university would focus on the various sectors with a special emphasis on entrepreneurship and leadership.

The institute has committed funds worth Rs 150 crore for three years to launch the university and has come up with a campus in Greater Noida with a facility to house 2,000 students.

CESC to set up 1000 MW power unit in Dhenkanal by 2013

CESC Limited, the flagship company of the Kolkata-based RPG Group would set up 1,000 MW coal based power plant at Neulapoi in Dhenkanal district of the state.

In 2006, the company had signed an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Orissa government over the proposed power plant. The company sources say that the land acquision for the proposed plant would be completed by June this year.

The company to make the plant operational by 2013. The CESC needed 4.53 million tonnes of coal per annum for its 1,000 MW power project. The company has been in process of making coal inkage by the end of 2009.

Career option - Diploma in Engineering after matriculation

Students after matriculation will look for various career options. Diploma in engineering would be one of the best options for the matriculation passed students in Orissa. In addition to the degree courses in Engineering, 3-year Diploma courses are also offered by various colleges in Orissa.

Diploma Colleges and ITI institutes in the state have been offering various courses for the matriculation passed students. The selection into the colleges depends on marks they obtained in the academic examinations. While some other colleges have been conducting entrance examination for the selection.

The duration of the such courses depends on the colleges and the administration. Basically the duration would be three years. It is recommended for students and parents to know the module and courses offered by various colleges before joining into any stream.

Information over the courses would be available at the college. Students those have passed the matriculation or waiting for results, they can track information for diploma colleges in Orissa. They need to plan before the admission season starts.

Here are the list of Diploma Colleges in Orissa:

• Balasore School of Engineering, Balasore
• Barapada School of Engineering And Technology, Bhadrak
• Bhubanand Orissa School of Engineering, Cuttack
• Black Diamond School of Engineering, Jharsuguda
• Central Institute of Plastic Engg. And Tech.,Bhubaneshwar
• Central Tool Room And Training Centre, Bhubaneshwar
• Indian School of Engineering, Sundargarh
• Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang
• Institute of Engineering And Management, Gourhari Vihar
• Institute of Textile Technology,Choudwar, Cuttack
• Jharsuguda Engineering School, Jharsuguda
• Kalinga Institute of Mining Engineering And Technology, Chhendipada
• Kalinga Polytechnic, Bhubaneshwar
• Mayurbhanj School of Engineering, Baripada
• Nilachal Polytechnic, Bhubaneshwar
• Orissa School of Mining Engineering, Keonjhargarh
• Padamsree K. Acharya Inst. of Engg. And Tech, Bargarh
• Rourkela Institute of Technology Kalunga, Kalunga
• S.K.D.A.V. Polytechnic for Women, Rourkela
• Sanjay Memorial Institute of Technology, Ankushpur
• Sushree Institute of Technical Education (SITE), Sadaipali
• Umacharan Patnaik Engineeringschool, Berhampur
• Utkal Gourav Madhusudan Institute of Technology, Koraput
• Utkalmani Gopabandhu Institute of Engineering, Rourkela
• Women's Polytechnic Berhampur, Berhampur
• Women's Polytechnic, Dhenkanal
• Women's Polytechnic,Unit-8 Bhubaneshwar

Yashoda Cancer Institute to set up hospital in Orissa

Yashoda Cancer Institute, Hyderabad based institute is interested to set up a hospital in Orissa. The hospital would be useful for the patients those have been going to other states for treatment.

The institute would introduce cancer screening units in Orissa. The CEO of Yashoda Hopsitals' Group and Dr P P Mohanty a senior radiation oncologists briefed media in Bhubaneswar the other day over their proposal of setting up hospital in Orissa.

They informed that their bus carried all the facilities would round up all the villages in Orissa in May to detect cancer patients with early stage. They aim to educate people of rural areas over the symptoms of cancers.

Central University of Orissa to commence classes from June 2009

The newly-created Central University of Orissa (CUO)to start it classes from June this year. According to media reports, the Human Resource Development Ministry has asked all the newly-created Central Universities to commence classes from June this year.

The Vice-chancellor of the Central University of Orissa, Surabhi Banerjee has called on the state higher education secretary Madhusudan Padhi. It is expected the CUO will start its classes in Bhubaneswar and the campus will be in Koraput district.

The CUO will start classes on temporary basis in the capital. However, most of the newly-created universities are yet to get recognition from the government as well as from University Grants Commission.

BSNL launches 3G telecom services in Bhubaneswar and Puri

The telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has launched 3G services in the state from Thursday. In the first phase the 3G services would be provided in the cities Bhubaneswar and Puri.

The Chief General Manager of Orissa Circle A N Rai has unveiled the BSNL 3G in a function organised in the capital on Thursday. BSNL 3G services would not only offer high speed mobile broadband but also support multimedia services, high-resolution colour display, video call, TV on mobile, streaming options as well as Internet besides a host of download facilities.

BSNL has been investing around Rs 75 crore for setting up the infrastructure and up gradation of 2G towers to provide 3G services in the state. BSNL plans to expand the 3G services across the state phase wise.

25 per cent rise in Civil Services aspirants

Indian youth are now giving more importance to the Indian Administrative Services (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), the Indian Police Service (IPS) and other government services. There is rise of 25 per cent civil services aspirants in India comparing to the previous year figures.

It may be the impact of the global financial crisis on Indian job market and uncertainty of private sector job market. The swing towards to IAS would made the competition more tougher.

According to media reports, there are 4.09 lakh applicants for the first leg of the three-stage civil services examination, conducted by the Union Public Services Commission, to select officers for the IAS, IFS, IPS and other government jobs.

The rise in civil services aspirants was seen after three years, as in 2006 there were 3.83 lakh applications filed. In 2007 the number was dropped to 3.33 and in 2008 it further down to 2.25 lakh.

Indian Institute of Welding (IIW) starts branch in Bhubaneswar

Kolkata-based Indian Institute of Welding (IIW) has launched its Orissa Chapter in Bhubaneswar. IIW started its branch with support from the Centurion Group of Institutes (CGI).

IIW institute is one of ther renowned institutes in India and the institute was started in the year 1966 in India. Since the beginning, IIW has been promoting education - science of welding and technology.

At present the IIW institute has eleven branches across the country. The Centurion Group comprises Jagannath Institute for Technology and Management (JITM) and the Centurion School of Rural Enterprise Management (CSREM), Parlakhemundi.

IIW is the only national body authorised by the International Institute Of Welding for promotion of professional qualifications of international standard in welding in India.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Exams - 2009-10

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) will be conducting various exams every year for the recruitment. Students those are interested in the pursuing career in government services can apply to those jobs within prescribed dates.

This year the Civil Services (Prel) Exam, 2009 will be held on 17 May 2009, while the main exam will be held on 23 October 2009. The UPSC has already made notification for some examinations and will issue for some other exams. Here is the list of forthcoming exams to be conducted by USPS in 2009.

The Engineering Services Exam 2009 will be held on 6 Jun 2009, IFS Exam, 2009 on 11 July 2009. The SCRA Exam 2009 will be held on 26 July and the last date of filing application is 30 March 2009.

The NDA & NA Exam (II), 2009 will be conducted on 30 Aug 2009 and the last date for filing application will be 13 April 2009. The last date for filing CDS Exam (II) 2009 is 18 May 2009 and the exam will be held on 13 Sept. The CDS (I) Exam 2009 was held on 15 February 2009.

The examination for Central Police Forces (AC) Exam 2009 will be held on 11 Oct 2009 and the last date for filing application is 18 June 2009.

The date of exam and filing application for IES/ISS Exam, 2009 will be 21 Nov 2009 and 6 July 2009 respectively. And the Geologists' Exam, 2009 and SO/Steno (Gd B/Gd-I) Ltd Deptt Competitive Exam, will be held on 05 Dec 2009 and 26 Dec 2009 respectively. For more details please visit the website of the UPSC.

Career in BPO companies and impact of global slowdown

BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) has been a rapidly growing industries in India, no doubt in that. The job market hit due to the global slowdown and there is impact on India BPO companies.

The people those are associated with BPO companies knows how the global slowdown has brought sea change in their tasks. BPO companies in India were leading in providing the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES).

The BPO companies in India have been providing services like -customer support services, telemarketing services, technical support services, employee IT help-desk services, insurance services, data entry services, data conversion services, scanning OCR with editing & indexing services, online research and form processing services.

The outsourcing issue with US and global financial crisis are the major hurdles for the growth to BPO companies in India and across the globe. It is tough time for the employees associated with BPO companies, as they have been coming across daily over reports of lay-off and cost cut measures in media.

On going projects in BPO companies will continue. It can be said that there is no impact on the short term projects or ongoing projects even though companies do adopt cost cut measures. The time will change and BPO companies would become one of leading service providers and see the boom again in India.

Some of the leading BPO companies in India are - NS Group, Convergys, Zenta, Wipro Spectramind, EXL, ICICI Onesource, Daksh e-Service, Tracmail, HCL Technologies, MphasiS, GTL Ltd, Sutherland Technologies, and 24/7 Customer.

No hike in power tariff: Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission

The Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) has decided not hike the power tariff and kept the electricity tariff for 2009-10 unchanged. The assembly elections and the Lok Sabha elections are round the corner.

The OERC kept the tariff unchanged for 12th consecutive year. The OERC announced about the no change in tariff on Sunday. As per the OERC tariff, the domestic consumers will pay Rs 1.40 per unit for the first 100 units which will go up to Rs 2.30 for the next 100 units. Consumption above 200 units will cost Rs 3.10 per unit.

The energy charge for agriculture purpose has also remained at Rs 1.10 per unit, there is no change. Even there tariff will remain same for the electricity used for general purposes like street lighting.

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar 18th convocation ceremony held

The 18th Convocation ceremony of the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) was held in the capital on Sunday. Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar is one of the leading business schools in India.

The Union telecommunication secretary Siddhartha Behura ws the chief guest and other dignitaries those attended ther convocation were Rajive Kaul, chairman of XIMB; Fr PT Joseph SJ, director; Prof WS William, dean (academics); and Fr Tony Uvary SJ, dean (administration).

In the convocation, CM Kandoi Gold Medals, which have been instituted by Aditya Steel Industries, were awarded to Lalitha Charanya Ganesh for securing the first rank and Shikha Agarwal for securing the second rank in the order of merit. Srikant Panigrahy graduated from the Fellow Programme in Management, the dctoral programme of XIMB.

Around 235 students are graduated from XIMB. The institute has been offering various management programmes for in-regular as well as part time programmes.

Some of the faculties of the institute are Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Management (PGDM), PGDM (Rural Management) programme and Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), the doctoral programme of XIMB .

NTPC approves Rs 50.29 cr investment for its Talcher power station

The board of state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has approved an investment of Rs 50.29 crore in Talcher Super Thermal Power station, which is located at Kaniha in the state.

NTPC approved the investment to purchase additional rolling stocks for the plant. The rolling stock includes two locomotives and 55 wagons which would be used to transport coal for the 3000 megawatt thermal power project.

R S Sharma the Chairman informed to media that in order to produce three thousand MW more in the next fiscal the NTPC would increase its coal imports from Indonesia and Australia.

Now, B-school with American education at one-third cost

This would a bless for India students if they could get a degree from well recognized US university. Due to to cost factor many students drop their ideas of getting degree from foreign universities.

The Dean of National Management School (NMS), Prof Sankaran P Raghunathan said that Indian students can now get MBA degree from a US university without going abroad, according to media reports. He added that the cost incurred by students would be almost one-third, as the most of the faculty members would compromise those studies from US universities.

According to Raghunathan, the higher education sector is growing, especial for MBA course since 2001. The higher education sector is grown by 30 per cent. While the number of Indian students would increase in future.

GMR to set up thermal power unit in Dhenkanal

The leading infrastructure development company, GMR group will set up a 1050 MW thermal power unit in Dhenkanal district. The company will set up the plant through its SPV GMR Kamalanga Energy Limited.

GMR group has been owing and operating airports, roads and power plants in the country. The project is one of the initial 13 IPPs and has made a tremendous progress un-parallel to the others in the state.

Accroding to media reports, the project would bring socio-economic development in that region. Moreover, the project was accorded consent by the OSPCB and the environmental clearance by the ministry of environment and forests.

Bank of Baroda opens SME loan factory in Bhubaneswar

The public sector, Bank of Baroda(BoB) has opened a SME Loan factory for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on Wednesday in Bhubaneswar.

The aim of BoB over setting up SME Loan factory is to help the SMEs in the state and avail them loan to check the impact of the global slowdown. The BoB has already opened 33 centers across India and the centre in Bhubaneswar as the first in the state.

It will provide customised products and services to the SME customers through simplified processes in the minimum possible time. S P Agarwal, general manager (SME and wealth management), BoB said to media that the bank had an exposure of Rs 14,000 crore in the SME loan segment at present and would intended to achieve an exposure of Rs 15,000 crore by the end March 2009.

Tata Steel to sponsor tech training programme for ST candidates of the state

Tata Steel in collaboration with Orissa Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Development Finance Cooperative Corporation will sponsor a two-year Multi-Skill Technical Certificate Programme for Scheduled Tribe candidates in Orissa.

The course will be offered by Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) at the JN Tata Technical Education Centre in Gopalpur.

The total fees for the course would be Rs 92,600 for each student. Tata Steel would pay Rs 62,000, the Employment Mission would pay Rs, 20,000 and each student need to pay Rs 10,000 course fees. NTTF will conduct written test on April 5 to for the selection of students for the course.

Nabard steps up for better agriculture marketing in Orissa

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has stepped up efforts to promote the Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure, Grading and Standardisation scheme of Centre in Orissa.

Under the scheme NABARD will invest fund in order to shape the agriculture marketing in the state. The scheme would also help people in reducing the post-harvest losses.

Due to lack of proper marketing knowledge and resources the producers of agriculture product suffering loss. The scheme will help them in checking their loss and would effective in supplying the surplus products across the state.

The scheme facilitates financing of infrastructure such as collection and assembling, drying, cleaning, grading, standardisation, quality certification, and development of market user common facilities and amenities in market yards.

Matriculation Examinations begins in Orissa

The State Matriculation examination- High School Certificate (HSC) Examinations begins on Wednesday across the state. The HSC examinations are started on March 18 and would end on March 26 in the state.

The HSC 2009 examination will be conducted at 7343 examination centres and 4,02,559 high school students will appear in the examination. In order to check malpractices in the matriculation exams seven flying squad are being prepared by Board of Secondary Education, Cuttack. The timing of the examinations will be 7:30 am to 10 am.

The matricualtion exam for ex-regular students would commence from 27 March and the timing will 7:30 am to 10 am. Last year, 3, 45,645 high school students were appeared the HSC examination at 1762 examination centres across the state.

No 'green' light for Vedanta plan

Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) plant expansion faces delay over environmental issues, according to media reports. VAL plans for plant expansion at Jharsuguda with investment of Rs 11,500.

It is reported that the plant expansion was getting delayed due to the environmental issues. The company put up its expansion proposal before the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd two months ago.

VAL proposed to increase the Jharsuguda smelter’s capacity to 1.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) from the current 0.5 million tonnes.

BSNL to expand WLL service in south Orissa

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has already started its WLL (wirless in local loop) services in Behrmapur of Ganjam district. BSNL will now aim to extend the WLL services in five places of Ganjam and Gajapati districts.

BSNL will expand its WLL services at Kainpur, Khajuripada, Ramagiri and Golanthara in the two districts. People of these district would get internet facilities through the WLL services of BSNL.

Apart from the expansion, the BSNL has also proposed to introduce Wi-Max (Wireless Broadband) stations in 14 locations in these two districts.

The telecom service provider has 54,785 landline connections and 9959 WLL connections in the Berhampur Telecom District.

Vedanta to spend Rs 125 crore on Corporate Social Responsibility

Despite the global economic slowdown, the Vedanta Resources would invest Rs125 crore for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in India next fiscal, according to media reports.

Anil Agarwal, the chairman of Vedanta Resources Group said that “We think most of our wealth should go back to the society.” He says that capital expenditure in CSR is a part of company's business plan to give back to the society.

Under its CSR the company would invest over the education, health, women empowerment and nutrition in the states - Orissa, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Goa. The company has already spend Rs 186.5 crore on various CSR activities in these states over last four years.

IGNOU to set up training centre in Kandhamal

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will set up an institute 'IGNOU Institute of Vocational and Educational Training' in Kandhamal district.

The vocational education and training centre by IGNOU aims to train talented students for gainful employment in the district. The institute will be located in Malgundi village of Phulwani town of Kandhamal district.

IGNOU has also decided to join hands with the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) to launch the first Sign Language B.A. programme. The BA in Applied Sign Language Studies (BAASLS) is the first-of-its-kind venture by any institute in the world.

BAASLS will help deaf and speech-impaired students in learning fast and would made them independent in handling their tasks. The course also aims to make them empowered.

ICAI to conduct CA exams from June 1

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has decided to conduct the next Chartered Accountants (CA) Professional Education-II (PE), Professional Competence Course (PCE) and Final (Old and New course), IRM, MAC (Part I), TMC (Part I), CMC (Part I), ITL & WTO Examinations from June 1 to June 15, 2009.

ICAI will conduct the examinations at 110 centres in India and three overseas centres in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Kathmandu. ICAI took the decision following the declaration of the polling dates for General Election and Assembly Elections in India by the Election Commission of India.

Further information over the schedule dates of the examination and notification can be obtained from the ICAI website.

IIM-C sees 23% drop in domestic package

The Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C) has completed its placement process for this year in ten days. The impact of the global slowdown is seen on the placements too.

There is decline of 23 per cent in the average domestic salaries against the packages offered last year. Even the job offers this year have been down by around 10-20 per cent, according to media reports.

The international job market is also under the clutches of the global slowdown. This year IIM-C students have received 29 international offers against 39 last year. The highest domestic package offered was Rs 60 lakh annually while the average domestic salary was Rs 12.7 lakh annually.

Need to boost cashew business units in Orissa

Orissa is the third largest cashew producing and processing state in India besides Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu at the top. The state officials figures indicate that the yield rate of cashew in Orissa is around 550 kg per hectare, compared to the national average of 650 to 700 kg per hectare.

There is wide scope for cashew export from Orissa says Rajendra Sabat, the president of Orissa Cashew Processors' Association. There are about 240 cashew processing units in the state and produce over 80 thousand tonnes of cashew annually.

Southern Orissa districts have most cashew producing and process units. Ganjam is at top with 80 units, while Gajapati and Koraput have 58 and 48 units respectively.

PhD and MTech (Research) Programmes at NIT, Rourkela

National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela invites application for admission into PhD and MTech (Research) Programmes. NIT has been offering PhD and MTech degrees in various subjects and students can enroll across the year.

Interested candidates can apply for the admission into PhD and MTech programmes throughout the year. They need to submit complete application with all relevant educational qualification certificates as directed by the institute.

For more information over the PhD, MTech programmes and other programmes please visit the Institute website www.nitrkl.ac.in. Application with all required certificates can be sent to Assistant Registrar(AC), National Institute of Technology, Rourkela – 769008.

Orissa Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) 2009 exam on 24 May 2009

The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for the year 2009 -2010, Orissa to be held on Sunday, May 24, 2009. Student have been trying hard to crack the exam to get into many colleges for degree courses.

The test would be conducted at many centres. Successful candidates will get admission to first year degree courses in Engineering, Technology, MBBS/BDS, Pharamacy, MCA and MBA in various Engineering and Pharmacy institutes.

The sale of application from began on February 20, 2009 and last date of application sale is March 20, 2009. Students can file their appolication till March 23, 2009 and Orissa JEE exam to be held on May 24, 2009.

For more information over the Orissa JEE 2009 examination and procedure, students may contact - Chairman, JEE -2009, Orissa; JEE Complex, Gandamunda, PO : Khandagiri, Bhubaneswar - 751030.

MBA institutes in Orissa

MBA is among one of the fascinating careers. MBA degree is useful in order to mark success in the career and service. It helps you to lead a responsible position in the organization with handsome package.

MBA aspirants need to have sound leadership quality, communication skills, inter personal skills, and ability to analyze. In order to join MBA program in any reputed institute, they need to crack entrance exams – CAT, MAT, XAT, JEE, MBACET etc with good score.

Companies and corporate world hire MBA professional for the better functioning and strategic management. MBA programs are run throughout the world, because their relevance is across industries, business sectors and economies.

There are many reputed institutes in Orissa offering MBA programme. Even some institutes are offering part-time and flexi learning MBA courses for working professionals. Apart from those, some institutes have been offering Executive Programmes duration of the course fall between 1 year to 18 months.

Despite the global slowdown, the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) has able to achieve 100% placement for the students of its Rural Management Programme.

Bhubaneswar the capital of Orissa is one of favorite destinations for MBA aspirants. There are many top notch institutes offering MBA programs. Apart from these institutes, there are many coaching institutes those helps aspirants to crack the entrance exams.

Here are the Top MBA institutes in Orissa:

• Biju Patnaik University Of Technology (BPUT), Bhubaneswar
• The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), Bhubaneswar
  
• Gandhi Institute of Engineering And Technology (GIET), Gunupur
• Bhubaneswar Institute of Management and IT (Bimit), Bhubaneswar
• Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar
• Academy Of Business Administration, Balasore
• Regional College Of Management, Bhubaneswar
• ICFAI Business School, Bhubaneswar
• Institute of Management & Information Science, Bhubaneswar
• Institute of Business Administration & Training (IBAT), Bhubaneswar
• Institute Of Professional Studies & Research, Cuttak
• Institute Of Co-Operative Management, Bhubaneswar
• Institute Of Management Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar
• Rourkela Institute of Management Studies, Rourkela

POSCO appoints Choon-Kuhn Kwon as new head for Indian unit

POSCO, the South Korean steelmaker has appointed Choon-Kuhn Kwon as the new chairman and managing director of its Indian arm, according to media reports.

Avinash Tiwari, the POSCO-India spokesman told to media that Choon-Kuhn Kwon was scheduled to visit India next week. Kwon will replace Soung Sik Cho, who left last month after three years in the job.

The world's fourth largest steel producer, POSCO had singed MoU with the state government in 2005 for setting up a steel plant with an investment of $12 billion near Paradeep port in Jagatsinghpur district.

The project has been opposed by the farmers of the area over the land allotment to the steel giant. The agriculture is the major source of income for two-third population there.

Orissa Sponge to convert 30 lakh warrants into shares

The board of directors of Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel Ltd has passed a resolution to covert 30 lakh warrants allotted to the promoter group, TRFI Investment Pvt Ltd, into equity shares on Thursday.

The company in a statement to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) informed that the decision was taken on meeting of board of directors held on 4 March. The declaration from the company over the conversion of warrants into shares, had put positive impact on its shares.

On Thursday the shares of Orissa Sponge Iron & Steel Ltd were up 4.99 per cent. The price of shares reached to Rs 377.90 on the BSE. The offer will open on April 24 and close on May 13, according to the statement to the BSE.

IBEUL to set up 20 MW biomass power plant in Sambalpur district

Ind-Barath Energy Utkal Limited (IBEUL) is planning to set up a 20 MW biomass power plant at Chiplima in Sambalpur district. The company would invest around Rs 80 crore to set the power plant that to be set up on areas of 40 acres.

IBEUL is setting up 700 MW coal-based power plant at Shajbahal in Jarsuguda distrcit. The biomas power plant by IBEUL would generate direct employment to 150 people besides providing indirect employment to 300 others.

After the allotment of land by the state government, the plant in Sambalpur is expected to be completed with in 18 months.

Recession hits IIM placements

The global recession hits Indian Institute of Management (IIM) placements. Students at the IIM-Ahmedabad are facing the heat of recession as two dozen students have failed to find takers in this week's job placement process.

IIM-A is considered as one of the top 25 business schools in the world. The financial giants - Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lunch were the biggest recruiters from the IIMs - Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta. These banks were affected due to the recession and global slowdown. Last year, IIM Bangalore had received around 20 job offers from the banks.

This year, the scene is dramatically changed even big recruiters from IIM are giving back step for fresh recruitment. Private companies and government enterprises battle for the best brains in business in the month of March every year.

The recession would have impact on the placements in India. The recession hits Indian job market, as companies have been adopting cost-cut measures and even ready for cut in perks.