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Your office could be checking you out

Companies have started verifying employees’ credentials in the wake of several crimes –  existing employees are included in the checks.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The recent spurt of crimes, both economic offenses or otherwise, is spurring several companies to quietly check out the antecedents of those in their employment. And it’s not just the ones that companies are hoping to employ that are being given the once-over, a lot of companies are conducting background checks on those working for them already.

Details such as education, residence and personal information are being cross-verified to see if employees have given wrong data on any of these counts. Any misinformation is a potential red flag – companies then probe if the person has a past criminal record.

Employee verification is a routine practice among corporations in the West. Our country has only recently woken up to the threat that a ‘wrong’ employee can pose to the company, in the wake of several crimes being committed by supposedly ‘suitable’ individuals.

A recent survey by the Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) found that nearly 52 per cent corporates in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Pune, Dehradun and Hyderabad have been verifying their current and prospective employees at all levels. The verification was conducted by the Human Resource departments of small, medium and large businesses, the survey found. “Companies are fast realising the benefit of doing background checks of prospective employees or risk hurting their brand image in a fraud case. Screening of job candidates at all levels, and even vendors and contract staff is preferred. Previous employment details, academic and professional certificates, identity, criminal records, and credit risk, among other information, are checked thoroughly for authenticity and veracity,” the survey says.

Corporates are certainly becoming more careful and cautious when they are recruiting for the junior, middle and senior level positions, highlights the ASSOCHAM survey. “Many companies hadn’t done any background checks before hiring an employee, mainly at junior levels. The horrendous rape case in Delhi has certainly led to the need for carrying out a comprehensive scrutiny of employees at all levels.”

The survey majorly focused on broad sectors such as BPO, IT/ITes sector, financial and other services, construction, real estate, hospitality, tourism, FMCG and infrastructure, media and advertising, manufacturing and textiles, logistics, transport operators etc. Those companies that cannot conduct checks on their own are outsourcing the work – nearly 25 per cent of the companies surveyed had outsourced the verification work to specialised third party agencies. Under the most intense scanner were jobs that entailed working with children, or in healthcare.

(Picture courtesy www.eharmony.co.uk)

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Summer cheer for yoghurt industry

Frozen yoghurt industry growing rapidly in metros and Tier II cities; is an alternative to ice cream and soft drinks.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

This is sweet news for the Indian frozen and flavoured yoghurt industry – as per a study conducted by premier commerce body Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) and released yesterday, the frozen and flavoured yoghurt industry is tipped to grow by 40 to 45 per cent annually, and may touch Rs 1,200 crore by the end of year 2015, up from the current Rs 750 crore.

The study reveals that Indians are waking up to frozen yoghurt, especially its low-fat and no-fat variants, due to rising health consciousness, rising disposable incomes, quality dependence and more awareness about the product and its supposed benefits. Titled Yoghurt Market in India, the study says that the factors that have fuelled this industry’s growth are the wide availability of raw material (milk), a growing willingness among consumers to experiment and increasing disposable incomes.

While releasing the paper DS Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM said, “In India, yoghurt has positioned itself as a healthy dessert option, so the increasing health and wellness awareness will help it gain popularity with some momentum. The branded yoghurt market in India has huge potential with consumers increasingly demanding greater hygiene and quality. The flavoured yoghurt is rapidly becoming a part of regular grocery purchases for many affluent urban households in tier-II and tier-III cities.”

Consuming yoghurt may compete with flavoured milk drinks and fruit/vegetable juice, whilst fruited spoonable yoghurt may emerge as a competition for ice cream as a dessert, the paper finds. Low/no fat and low/no sugar yoghurts are new trends in the market, added Rawat.

Mango, strawberry and pineapple variants, which are common to all brands, are finding takers. Frozen yogurt (plain and flavoured) has already started to replace ice cream to a certain extent. “Companies are also tying up with corporates to target office employees to increase consumption by making it a quick, convenient and healthy substitute for meals. The demand of frozen yoghurt market will see a growth of 70 to 80 per cent each year over the next three years,” adds Rawat.

(Picture courtesy groupon.co.in)

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Rugby gets massy

Nasser Hussain, captain of the Indian Rugby team, tells us that rugby is slowly gaining acceptance among the city’s schools.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

For most of us, rugby is a game that seems violent, a sport that is played essentially by beefy men. For everyone else, rugby is a game that they’ve only heard of and don’t know much about.

Fortunately for the sport, this state of affairs is slowly changing. Rugby is being played regularly at the school level in Mumbai, and interest is particularly high among the city’s civic-run schools. Of course, like most other sports in the country, it suffers from a lack of awareness and accessibility, apart from a pronounced lack of structure at all levels of the game.

“The sports management for any non-cricket sport in the country today is not structured, except maybe for the IPL (Indian Premier League),” says Nasser Hussain (33, in pic on left) , current captain of the Indian Rugby team. We’re sitting at his office at Marine Lines, where he officiates as General Manager (Rugby India), the Indian Rugby Football Union. He says, “The country is very cricket-driven; there is a lot of focus on the sport, though so much has been done for it already. Everyone’s struggling in other sports. There are many obstacles and challenges, and not enough support and assistance.”

There is not enough sponsorship support for the sport as well, he laments. “We get a sponsor maybe for a year or so, which isn’t beneficial at all. There has to be a long-term partnership. Unfortunately, even the big companies are not willing to back rugby, they’re so focussed on cricket. It’s like they would rather be one in a million (sponsors) in cricket, than be the only one in another sport.”

Star of the sport

Nasser should know what he’s talking about. He started playing rugby at the age of 15, and was the youngest member on the squad that played internationally in 1998. “Hardly anybody played rugby in those days,” he remembers. “The club structure did exist for the sport, but there was absolutely no mass appeal. A little later, I got the opportunity to play for Tynedale RFC and Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, England.”

In the years 2007 to 2009, Nasser worked in sports management for other sports, and a bit later, got the chance to come back to rugby. “I decided to try and manage the sport professionally, create more awareness of the sport, get more school children involved,” he says. “Of course, we’ve had to overcome several hurdles, but it’s been a good journey overall.”

Schools show interest and participation

Today, the Union runs several Under-12, Under-14 and Under-17 programmes in Mumbai’s schools, and is seeing increased participation every year. “The training is imparted at no charge; all the child has to do is show up for practice and matches,” Nasser explains. “Initially, a lot of parents were hesitant about sending their children to play rugby, because they feared how violent the game was. But we introduced non-contact rugby for both boys and girls, and everyone’s happy,” he grins.

Nasser goes on to explain that the right time to take up the sport is at the Under-10 level. “In fact, that’s the right age for any sport. It is easy at that age to pick up basic functional training and movement skills. The sport also develops a child’s fitness and leadership abilities.” The Union introduced the rugby programme in Mumbai’s schools six years ago. “We started with about eight schools. Now there are 50 schools in Mumbai regularly playing rugby,” he says, adding that these schools range from international schools to the BMC ones.

Interestingly, he finds that girls are more receptive to the game than boys. “We started with the boys’ programme first, then introduced the girls’ programme. But girls are more involved in the sport. See, there are not too many team sports that cater to girls. Even the Indian National Women’s team is doing very well,” Nasser explains.

Hearteningly for the sport – though it is still in the nascent stages, with India being ranked 83rd of 95 rugby-playing countries in the world – the sport was recognised in July 2012 by the Schools Games Federation of India. A student carrying certificates for rugby can now get enrollments in college or the police cadre through the sports quota. “There will be increased participation, but we also need more sponsors and funding, because the Union does not charge coaching fees. Though the sport used to be restricted to elite circles in the country, we’ve seen a lot of new players coming from Jharkhand, Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir. Rugby’s gone quite mass in the last few years,” Nasser says.

If you wish to be a sponsor for rugby tournaments and training, contact Nasser Hussain at nasser.hussain@rugbyindia.in or 022-2205 3897.

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What senior citizens want…

Ever wonder why a person past the age of 60 wants to marry again? We get experts to tell us.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Shantanu Banerjee* (71), a Bandra-based businessman, lost his wife to cancer four years ago. “Dealing with her illness was painful, especially the last months, when she was home and there was nothing more I could to help her,” he says. “Then she passed away, and our big house began to torture me by being so empty.”

Last year, Shantanu decided to address his loneliness. “I was living with my sister in Bangalore, and I joined a senior citizens club there. I met a woman who my own age, and like me, she loved watching movies and going for walks,” he remembers. Soon, the walks turned into day-long trips, the movie-watching turned into shopping excursions. “We realised we liked being with each other. She was a widow, had been for 10 years. But her outgoing nature made me come out of my grief. I decided to marry her.”

Shantanu and Gayathri Shetty* were married in a quiet ceremony last year. “We live in Mumbai and she has adjusted well. I love having her around the house,” he beams.

Shantanu and Gayathri are part of a growing tribe of seniors that are opting for a second shot at happiness in their twilight years. Given India’s current demographic – the UN says 32 crore of the country’s population will be over 60 years old in the year 2020, and India will soon be counted amongst the world’s ageing nations (where the geriatric population goes up every year) – we are looking at a situation where there will be several, single senior citizens. And most of them might need to find partners.

“People at that age are not necessarily looking for sex in the marriage. They are looking more for love and companionship. We’ve seen that while men want a companion, women want financial security,” says Sailesh Mishra, founder of the NGO Silver Innings, which works for senior citizens in the country.”And while there are several people whose families do not want them to marry ‘at that age’ because they fear what people will think, and also because they don’t realise that old people also need companions, we are happy to see that some children and relatives are totally supportive of them,” he adds.

A number of marriage bureaux catering to senior citizens have sprung up in recent times. Natubhai Patel (62), who started the first such bureau in Ahmedabad and who has to his credit 75 marriages and 25 live-in relationships among senior citizens across the country, says, “At that age, there is no confusion in the person’s mind about what he or she wants from the partner they seek.

For example, there was a 72-year-old who said that he wanted a wife who could also have sex with him. We found a woman, a widow, for him who was prepared to fulfil this condition. Another woman who came to me said that she got a good pension from her deceased husband’s company, and she didn’t want to give it up by marrying another man, but that she wanted a companion. Today, she lives with a man of her age at his home.”

Natubhai says he has a waiting list of 25,000 people looking for partners, and the numbers are just growing every year. “However, we want more women to come forward and ask for companions. It’s very difficult for women in our country, especially at that age, to even say that they want a man in our lives. However, more women are approaching us, which is a good sign.”

Some common expectations from senior citizens:

– A partner for marriage

– A partner for companionship; may or may not live-in with that person.

– A partner only for friendship; could be same-sex; requires the same for common shared interests.

– A partner for sex

(Picture courtesy daydreamingwordsmith.blogspot.com)

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Kharghar is most-searched home destination

Whether buying or renting homes, Mumbaikars are increasingly zoning in on Navi Mumbai’s Kharghar, says a real estate website survey.

Buying a home in Mumbai or even in its surrounding areas is becoming a prize-worthy feat. Impossible real estate prices, home loans that squeeze the life out of one for years, and houses that tick only some of the boxes for buyers looking for ideal homes, all combine to make the home-buying experience a nightmarish one for Mumbaikars.

Naturally, people are seeking newer avenues. As per a survey released three days ago by website 99acres.com, Kharghar (Navi Mumbai) was the most-searched localities in 2012 in both the buying and renting categories. The survey, titled ‘Real Estate Search Trends of 2012, says, “Increased connectivity, new project launches and affordable rentals could be one of reason for the growing popularity of this area.”

The second most-searched locality by users looking for property purchase in Mumbai, as per the survey data, is Mira Road. Panvel, Borivali (west), Malad (west) are other popularly searched localities in the city. “The real estate market of Mumbai has always been an attractive destination for buyers because it provides high return on investments and even if there is slowdown in the market the purchase transactions in the city has actually moved up in the last four to five months,” the report reads.

Traditionally, rental values have been high in Mumbai due to the overall demand and supply imbalance in dwelling units. “Detailed analysis of the search trends for renting property shows that localities of Navi Mumbai and Andheri to Dahisar area have been most searched for by people looking to stay on rent. While Kharghar takes the first rank in the rental space as well,  Andheri (east), Andheri (west) and Powai have also emerged as popular localities for renting purposes,” the survey says.

(Picture courtesy photos.tarunchandel.com)

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Cool weather expected to hold

It’s going to hover at a pleasing 16 Degrees in the night, even as day temperatures rise to 32 Degrees. But beware of seasonal illnesses.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The weather in Mumbai has been confusing this year, to say the least. We’re now nearing the end of February, and the evenings and nights continue to be cool and nippy.

This, after a horrible four days of soaring temperatures last week, when humidity levels also rose, giving a glimpse of the kind of summer this city can expect this year.

However, minimum temperatures of 16 Degrees or lower have rarely been seen in February in Mumbai. Since the beginning of this week, from Sunday evening, to be precise, minimum temperatures dipped to about four Degrees below normal all over Mumbai. As per the bulletin for Friday and Saturday issued by the Indian Meteorology Department (Mumbai), minimum and maximum temperatures for Mumbai expected to be 17 Degree Celsius and 31 Degree Celsius respectively.

“Another western disturbance is active over Afghanistan. It will take another day or two for the system to reach India. If the wind conditions are right, then Mumbai temperatures may dip once again,” said VK Rajeev, speaking to a city newspaper yesterday.

(Picture courtesy ibnlive.com)

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