Filed under: Common Issues in India | Tags: 24/7 Customer, Accenture, Convergys, Daksh, Genpact, HTMT, IGate Global, Infosys BPO, IT-BPO in India, MphasiS, Suman Das India, Transworks, Wipro
A study — conducted jointly by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) and global management consulting firm A T Kearney — has identified 10 cities in India that are good for the IT-BPO industry. The study took into account the following key parameters to arrive at its inference: Knowledge pool and skill-set availability; infrastructure; social and living environment; enabling business environment; government support; and operating cost. So here are India’s best cities for IT-BPO centres.
Rank 10: Nagpur
Nagpur, the second capital of Maharashtra, has for long suffered due to lack of strong leadership and political will. Thus the manufacturing boom that many other Indian cities embraced with elan bypassed Nagpur. However, as if to compensate for this ‘loss,’ the city has turned into a major trading hub.
Rank 9: Jaipur
The capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur is a major IT-BPO centre. The city has seen large investments by Genpact, Infosys, etc in the IT BPO sector, making it a vibrant destination for such companies. The boom in the IT sector in Jaipur has also led to a mushrooming of shopping malls, large retail outlets, entertainment facilities, etc. The boom has also attracted big funds into the city’s real estate sector too.
Rank 8: Mohali / Chandigarh
Mohali sits cheek by jowl to Chandigarh. The Punjab and Haryana governments’ incentives and friendly policies have seen many an IT-BPO firm set up base in the two cities. A vibrant IT talent pool, apart from impressive infrastructure attracts IT-BPO companies to these cities.
Rank 7: Kolkata
Often termed fondly as the cultural headquarters of India, Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal has a population of 5 million. The city has seen a surge of investments in the housing infrastructure sector.
Several new projects have come up in recent times. Kolkata has been ranked as the one of the most attractive destinations for investment, especially in the IT-BPO sector. The city has good infrastructure, great manpower and talent pool that make it an attractive base for many an IT-BPO firm.
Rank 6: Mumbai
Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, is one of the world’s top ten trade centres. The city contributes 25 per cent of industrial output and 70 per cent of capital transactions to India’s economy.
Rank 5: Pune
Pune, in Maharashtra, has emerged as not just a major automobile and manufacturing base, but also as a powerful software industry hub. Already IT giants Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, Infosys and Tech Mahindra have their base here. The booming information technology industry has seen Pune come forth as a force to reckon with. The city has good infrastructure, great talent pool, an enabling business environment, government support, etc have boosted the city’s image as one of the best to set up IT-BPO centres in India.
Rank 4: Hyderabad
Hyderabad, the financial capital of Andhra Pradesh, is also known as ‘Cyberabad’ because of the rapid progress it has made in the field of IT. As per 2006 statistics, the per capita income of Andhra Pradesh was at Rs 25,625 (less than Rs 200 of national average). The city, that used to be a service city, is now the seat of many businesses, including trade, transport, commerce, storage, communications, and most importantly IT. Like Bengaluru, Hyderabad too has witnessed a real estate boom in recent times, mainly because of the growth of IT and retail business in the city.
Rank 3: Chennai
Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu, has emerged as a major exporter of software, IT, ITeS services in India.
Rank 2: Bengaluru
Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, is also called the Silicon Valley of India due to its towering stature in the field of information technology. For long considered one of the best places to do business in the wired world, Bengaluru’s creaking infrastructure is taking some gloss off its image. Yet, IT and BPO firms keep making a beeline for the city, because of the availability of talent and a great business environment. Bengaluru is home to India’s best known IT firms like Infosys and Wipro.
Rank 1: Gurgaon
Gurgaon is the best city for setting up a software or a business process outsourcing centre in India. The Haryana city is home to dozens of top BPO firms, earning it the sobriquet: India’s outsourcing hub.
Great physical and supporting infrastructure, availability of ample talent, impressive real estate boom, affordable cost of living, good governmental support, etc make Gurgaon the ideal choice for an IT-BPO centre. Beside this, workforce and proximity to the airport are some other crucial factors that are heavily considered by most investors before starting a BPO in Gurgaon. However, Gurgaon on its own might not bag the honours: other areas like Delhi, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, put together make this region a powerhouse when it comes to BPOs. Some of the BPO companies that are housed in Gurgaon include Wipro, HCL Technologies, HTMT, 24/7 Customer, Inc, Infosys BPO, Convergys, Accenture, MphasiS, Daksh, IGate Global, Transworks, Genpact, and WNS.
Filed under: Common Issues in India | Tags: effect of a grandparent on a child, family, generation gap, life, London Institute of Education, love, love you grandpa, Oxford University, parental separation, Parenting a child, relationships, Society, Suman Das
The first national survey led by Oxford University, in collaboration with the Institute of Education, London, about the relationships that adolescents have with their grandparents shows that grandparents who are involved in the upbringing of their grandchildren can contribute to a child’s well-being.
The research surveyed questionnaires from 1,596 children, aged between 11-16 from across England and Wales, and researchers conducted in-depth interviews with 40 children from a range of backgrounds. Another key finding of the research was that almost a third of maternal grandmothers provided regular care-taking for their grandchildren, with 40% providing occasional help with childcare. The survey reveals that grandparents often have more time than working parents to support young people in activities and are well placed to talk to their grandchildren about any problems the young people may be experiencing. They were also found to be involved in helping to solve the young people’s problems, as well as talking with them about plans for their future.
Principal investigator Professor Ann Buchanan, Director of the Centre for Research into Parenting and Children in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at Oxford University, will launch the research findings at the annual meeting of the Grandparents’ Association in London on June 4. Professor Buchanan says: ‘We were surprised by the huge amount of informal caring that the grandparents were doing and how in some cases they were filling the parenting gap for hard working parents. Most adolescents really welcomed this relationship. What was especially interesting was the links we found between ‘involved grandparents’ and adolescent well-being.
Closeness was not enough: only grandparents who got stuck in and did things with their grandchildren had this positive impact on their grandchildren.’ It was found that close relationships between grandparents and grandchildren buffered the effects of adverse life events, such as parental separation, because it calmed the children down.
This suggests future investigations should pay more attention to the role of grandparents in developing resilience in young people. A range of factors predicted the involvement of the grandparents in the upbringing of their grandchildren including: living in a less deprived area, frequent contact, and the good health of the grandparent.
The young people surveyed did not view physical proximity as being necessarily important as they used modern technology to communicate. They said they felt grandparents became closer when they undertook some traditional parenting tasks. This study also shows that at times of family breakdown and separation, many grandparents played an important role in bringing stability to their grandchildren. Grandparents were also found to be important in times of family adversity and appeared to help the whole family buffer the difficulties. The researchers conclude that given the grandparents’ role is almost invisible in family policy in the UK, the government needs to rethink the policy implications of this largely positive role and provide more support for the important intergenerational relationships.
Source: Survey Reports from The Oxford University
