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C#.NET, ASP.NET 2.0, XML & SQL Server 2005 openings in Technopark

The largest software company in kerala, UST Global is looking for professionals with 4- 5 years experience in Microsoft and other technologies including C#.NET, ASP.NET 2.0, XML, XSL. Experience in using / developing on SharePoint is required.

Experience in SQL Server 2005 and hands on experience in Autonomy is required.

Strong communication and programming skills are necessary while experience in interacting with clients will be an added advantage

Rush your resumes to technoparklive@gmail.com

Technopark bags national award for best technology incubator

Technology Business Incubator (TBI) at Technopark here has bagged the prestigious national award for the best technology business incubator in the country for 2007.The award, instituted by the department of science and technology of the central government, was for encouraging and recognizing the business incubation activity, which plays a key role in promoting the entrepreneurial culture in the country.

Former Hon.president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presented the award at a ceremony held in New Delhi Sunday last as part of the Technology Day 2008 celebrations.

Technology business incubation aims to identify potential entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and nurture them through different phases of growth until the business takes off to a maturity level where it becomes a financially sustainable venture. in that respect Technopark is doing a good job.At this moment technoparkLive! feel proud to be part of this great technopark, and wishing all the best for the future endeavors of Technopark!

More About Technopark's T-BIC

The Technopark Business Incubation Centre (T-BIC) was established in 2002. Following the success of this initiative, Technopark started the Technopark-Technology Business Incubator (T-TBI) in 2006 with funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DST). TBI was aimed at providing budding entrepreneurs in the “knowledge driven” industry all facilities and support to tide over their teething problems and establish their company in a short time.

T-BIC shall provide ready to move in, plug and play facilities at Technopark. The following modules are available at T-BIC.

8 Seat Modules
4 Seat Modules

Essential operational support services such as security, reception service, telephone operator service, photo-copying, etc. shall be provided by Technopark as part of the package, with nominal charges being levied extra in some cases while the rest being included in the package.

In addition, essential business support services including business consulting and advisory services applicable right from the stage of company formation shall be provided. Again, a service charge may be levied as appropriate for different services. Technopark's endeavour in any case shall be to minimize costs for the incubated company

A partial list of companies incubated from T-TBI

Acco Bizware Pvt Ltd
Adion Road Links Pvt Ltd
Auto India.com
Bigpond Technologies India Pvt Ltd
Cepios
Cell Technologies Pvt Ltd
Digitera
Digitella
Dundas Software
eZe Care Systems Pvt Ltd
Geotrans Technologies Pvt Ltd
Hages B Solutions Pvt Ltd
I- Manager Learning Solutions Pvt Ltd
Intergrated Dynamic Solutions Pvt Ltd
Itraitz IT Solutions Pvt Ltd
Kerala Next.com
Kreara Solutions Pvt Ltd
MDI Datanet India Pvt Ltd
Morning Paper Web Service Pvt Ltd
Optibiz Software Technologies Pvt Ltd
Optiwise Solutions Pvt Ltd
Paragon Biomedical India Pvt Ltd
Pivot Systems Pvt Ltd
RNC BPOI
RWDI Consulting Engineers & Scientists India Pvt Ltd
Saturn Systemwares Pvt Ltd
Spazio Tech
Speridian Technologies Pvt Ltd
SRC Software Pvt Limited
Standout IT Solutions Pvt Ltd
Synthite Technologies
Travancore Software Solutions Pvt Ltd
Vinirma Consultancy
Wins Infotek Pvt Ltd
YSC Engineering Services Pvt Ltd

To participate in Technopark's incubator program, and for more details,
contact: incubator@technopark.org

Shashi Tharoor's professional training academy opened at technopark

Former UN under-secretary general Shashi Tharoor's professional training academy opened at the Technopark campus,for bettering the business communication and technical skills of professionals, including fresh recruits, working in the knowledge and service industries.

Quoting heads of Technopark-based firms with whom he had interacted recently, Mr. Tharoor said most young employees had a “book knowledge of English.” They could write a paper, but could not speak their ideas confidently in English. Hence, such employees, even though highly talented, could not be presented before foreign clients.

He said his academy had hired the services of eminent U.S.-based speech language pathologist Tina L. Parson as executive director (training). She had designed a course which used the latest computer-based interactive voice recognition software for training students. Mr. Tharoor said the idea was not to make Malayalis sound like Americans but to help them communicate clearly.

The academy will offer a limited number of scholarships for trainees from poor families. The two-month course will cost a student approximately Rs.30,000. A batch will consist of 20 students. Application forms can be downloaded from the academy’s website http://www.aabc.in


One more training accademy also will be launched by the CMC Limited, an IT solutions provider, will open the second such facility, a technical school for improving the soft skills of young graduates freshly-recruited by global businesses, in September this year. Mr. Nair said Technopark would sign an agreement with CMC Limited this week concerning this. The government will invest Rs.2 crore in the technical school

IT professionals in Kerala, Land mafia's primary prey. - A shocking report

Strange as it may seem, IT professionals are building up the "land mafia" in Kerala. What's more, they are converting their tax-payed white money into black money - and they don't even seem to know it.Unlike most states, Keralites don't invest in businesses is Kerala.

While the land is flush with NRI money, most of it is directed into palatial houses and real estate. Lack of investments in business has meant that a good number of youth has gone into lucrative but illegal activities, promoted by the so-called mafias - land mafia, spirit mafia, quarry mafia, sand-ming mafia etc. (In the strict sense of the word, none of this has achieved the level of "mafia", which is actually a parallel government. At least, not yet!)


Of these, the one that has raised eyebrows of the central investigating agencies (DRI, ED, CBI, IB) is the sudden growth of "land-mafia". Kerala is a small state with a high density of population, and naturally, land prices are on the higher side. Inward remittances from the Gulf already existed, but the growth in IT sector has meant that a lot more young people have a high disposable income in their hands. Unlike in the past when investment was limited to bank deposits or land, many more investment avenues exist now, like a well-controlled equity market and mutual funds (India has one of the most transparent mutual fund industry in the world). However, either due to ignorance or risk-awareness, those in IT still invest a good deal of their money in real estate. Most financial planners agree that the value of one's real estate investment should not be more than 25% of one's entire asset, but for IT professionals in Kerala, it is much higher, sometimes more than 100% (which means they are in debt due to loans). Buying flats to give out on rent is even worse - as any qualified advisor will tell you: the yield from them is less than bank FDs, even after including tax rebates. The current trend is based more on emotion and "also-ran", rather than reason and facts. Banks have no problems in disbursing such loans to IT professionals though, due to their high income earning capacity.

Many middlemen have used these sunshine days to buy huge tracts of land from ordinary folks who reside in and around urban areas. What is alarming, however, is the arrival of "container money". Last year, fake Indian currencies worth crores (thought to be printed at government security presses of neighbouring countries) have been seized from ships and containers at Kochi. DRI (Directorate of Revenue Intelligence) officials believe what has been caught is only the tip of the iceberg. Larger amounts have already passed into our economy. The only area where such huge amounts of money could change hands is the real estate sector, since other areas are now pretty well regulated by the Central Government. Since only 20-30% of the actual sale value is shown in the land records, and the rest changes hands as solid cash, a good amount of it is thought to be fake currency..

One significant point is the history of the real estate developers. Only a very few have been around for years. Most others have arrived, under the pretense of "Gulf" money. Coincidently, the above-mentioned containers too have arrived from the Persian Gulf. There is probably only one developer, Sobha Developers, who release their audited figures to the public. Others are private limited companies and apparently find no reason to release their figures, even after all the charges against the real estate developers. Building rules are nonchalantly violated by many newly constructed flats. For example, the building codes specify that there should be enough space around the apartment so that a standard fire engine can reach anywhere around the building. Look around in the city. At some flats, even a Maruti Zen would find that difficult!

IT professionals, by scorning other investment avenues, seems to be promoting the cause of the fraudulent real estate industry. Their readiness to buy land or flats at abysmally high rates enable the unscrupulous builders and their agents continue to thrive. (Amazingly, a flat at Kazhakootam anywhere near Technopark in Trivandrum costs as much as one at Hyderabad HiTech City? The internal finish of the ones at Trivandrum, however, are hopelessly pedestrian). The IT professionals buy the land or flat in the hope that land prices fetch highest returns. True, land prices do escalate faster than most other avenues (except probably stocks), but when they try to sell the land, they will be surprised to find that no one would be willing to buy it in "white". In essence, if they do sell, they have actually converted their white money (when they had bought the land) into unaccountable black money. Bonus: Risk of the gotten black money being counterfeit is extra!

What a pity will it be when the IT professionals, who has sacrificed a lot for the economic spurt of this state, are themselves responsible for destabilising it. Whether they would continue to invest in land and flats or invest in much more productive and legitimate avenues, would determine whether this land would fall to the mafia -this time, in all sense of the word.