Four more bodies recovered in search for AirAsia flight QZ8501

Four more bodies recovered in search for AirAsia flight QZ8501

The search and rescue efforts led by The National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) Republic of Indonesia continued this morning as weather conditions marginally improved with waves of 1.5 - 2 meters.   Entering the eighth day of the mission, the search operation area was expanded to the east part of the Java Sea following the underwater current forecast.   In addition, more than 80 deep sea divers have been deployed in order to get a visual confirmation on two large objects – suspected to be part of the aircraft’s fuselage – captured by the sonar device yesterday as well as the aircraft’s blackbox. 

BASARNAS recovered four more remains today as well as debris such as the emergency exit window, luggage, passenger seats and survival kits, which are believed to be from the aircraft. The remains will be transported to Surabaya tonight for identification.   Meanwhile in Surabaya, The Disaster Victim Identification Police Department of Republic of Indonesia (DVI POLRI) today identified three remains of QZ 8501 guests as Wismoyo Ari Prambudi (male), Jie Stevie Gunawan (female), and Juanita Limantara (female). Sunu Widyatmoko, Chief Executive Officer AirAsia Indonesia handed over the three remains to the respective families this afternoon.   To date, BASARNAS confirmed to have recovered 34 remains, of which nine remains have been identified by the Disaster Victim Identification Police Department of Republic of Indonesia (DVI POLRI) with 25 remains awaiting identification. As many as seven DVI experts from Singapore have also arrived today to support the identification process. A number of DVI experts from South Korea and Australia will also support DVI POLRI to identify the victims tomorrow.   SAR efforts will continue tomorrow with waves forecasted to be at 2 - 2.5 meters. The priority of the search is now on deep sea diving in the area where the aircraft body is said to be located. BASARNAS also confirms that the mission will be be supported by China that will be focusing on the blackbox search.   AirAsia would like to take this opportunity to urge the public seeking progress on the search and evacuation and identification process of QZ 8501 passengers to refer solely to official information from BASARNAS and DVI Polri.   Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and friends of our passengers and colleagues on board QZ 8501.

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Unknown 02:17  No comment

Bupa Insurance to raise stake in Max Bupa to 49%

Bupa Insurance to raise stake in Max Bupa to 49%

New Delhi: UK's Bupa Insurance on Monday said it will raise stake in its Indian health insurance venture, Max Bupa, to 49 percent from the current 26 percent, becoming the first foreign company to announce a hike in shareholding following amendments to the insurance laws.

Through an Ordinance, the government has permitted foreign investment of up to 49 percent in the insurance sector, from a limit of 26 percent previously.

"Following the Insurance Laws Amendment Ordinance 2014 receiving legislative assent in the 2015 Budget Session of Parliament, Bupa, the international healthcare group, proposes to increase its stake in Max Bupa from 26 percent to 49 percent," the private insurer said in a statement.

Bupa will submit formal applications to the relevant authorities for the regulatory approvals required in order to increase its stake, it said.

Max Bupa, standalone private health insurer, is a joint venture between Max India (with 74 percent stake) and UK-based global healthcare group Bupa (26 percent).

Launched in 2010, the company has a customer base of two million across India.

Commenting on the decision to increase Bupa's stake in Max Bupa, David Fletcher, Managing Director of International Development Markets at Bupa said: This decision underlines Bupa's commitment to the Indian health insurance market and represents a major milestone in the development of Max Bupa.

"With our partners Max India, we are committed to supporting Max Bupa's growth and helping Indian consumers live healthier and more successful lives," he said.

Max India Managing Director Rahul Khosla said Bupa's intention to increase its stake is testimony to the huge opportunity for health insurance in India and Max India's reputation in successfully managing joint ventures.

While Max Bupa is the first insurer to make a concrete announcement of increase in foreign holding to 49 percent, Reliance Capital recently said it is also exploring bringing in a foreign partner with up to 49 percent stake in its health insurance venture. 

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Unknown 02:11  No comment

End of IT Golden Age or Just Business as Usual? "TCS Layoffs"

End of IT Golden Age or Just Business as Usual? "TCS Layoffs"

Tata Consultancy Services has had to spend the first few days of 2015 firefighting rumours about mass layoffs at the company. A senior TCS official told NDTV that "non-performers" have been asked to go, but denied reports that the company is firing 25,000 employees.

"Workforce optimisation is a continuous process and this leads to some amount of involuntary attrition...there is nothing out of the ordinary. Only 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent of employees will be impacted," the official said.

Which means that 3,000 to 5,000 employees may have been asked to leave by the company; TCS - India's biggest outsourcer - employed 3.10 lakh people as of September 30, 2014.

Concerned over reports of mass layoffs, some former IT employees have created a Facebook page called "Forum for I.T. Employees", which has already received nearly 9,000 likes so far.

On the page, some of the employees have allegedly posted termination letters, and the headline says, "We are against TCS layoffs."

P Parimala, one of the founders of the forum and an ex-Cognizant staffer, told NDTV that most employees allegedly sacked by TCS belong to the mid-management. Some employees were recalled from offshore projects and handed termination letters, she said.

"Employees who have contacted us complained about lack of communication and transparency... We are planning to approach the government for action," She added.

Asked for a comment, the TCS official said some people want to "leverage the situation" and termed the allegations as "malicious".

Pramod Kumar Srivastava, a Bangalore-based business consultant, says layoffs at TCS have attracted a lot of attention because the number of people reported to be sacked are too high.

"Besides, labelling people as non-performers is not good... People thrown out of a company don't like to be labelled as they have to go and look for a job," he added.

Analysts say trimming mid-level employees is a common practice in the IT industry, where the employee pyramid has got skewed. 

The quest for higher margins and increasing automation in the IT sector is also taking its toll on hirings. According to Crisil, hirings in the IT sector are likely to drop by 50 per cent over the next four years. 

For employees, such reports signal the end of a golden era for India's over $100 billion outsourcing sector, which employs over 30 lakh people - nearly one quarter of total private sector jobs in the organised sector.

The layoff controversy comes at a time when IT companies are gearing up to report their December quarter earnings. Q3 results for most IT firms are likely to be weaker because of cross-currency hits and also because the December quarter is considered to be seasonally weak as it has fewer number of working days.

Shares in TCS traded 1.15 per cent lower at Rs 2,549.80 as of 2.18 p.m. and underperformed the broader IT sub-index on the BSE, which traded 0.7 per cent lower.

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Unknown 02:09  No comment