In UK, 85 percent of IT professionals are Indian
by Mike Lockey

   London: It has recently been announced that IT professionals from India accounted for an astonishing 85 percent of all work permits issued to foreign IT workers in Britain. American IT experts came a very distant second with a paltry five percent. That 85 percent works translates into no less than 18,248 people from India taking up IT jobs in the UK in the past twelve months. The figures were announced by the Association of Technology Staffing Companies - ATSCo - and the Association's chief executive, Ann Swain, gave her reasons for the high number of Indian workers travelling to Britain: "Skills shortages continue to be a major pull factor in bringing foreign IT workers to Britain, but the concern is that some organisations may be taking advantage of the visa system to import cheap labour from abroad". Ms. Swain also said that ATSCo's findings are the first evidence that multinationals are recruiting workers in low-cost economies and transferring them to high-cost economies, something that, in the USA, is known as "onshore offshoring". In fact, the numbers of IT people arriving in Britain on work permits has increased tenfold over the past decade; in the main this is due to the great number of highly complicated and large scale IT projects in the country, many of them in the public sector.

    Overrall, according to the Home Office, some 22,000 foreign IT workers came to the UK in 2005, as opposed to a mere 1,827 back in 1995 and, now, IT is the second favourite profession for work permit allocations after nursing. The kind of projects that the IT experts from India are working on include the more than six billion pounds upgrade of the National Health Service IT system and the four billion pounds upgrade of the Ministry of Defence computer network and, as Ann Swain said: "The transfer of jobs between Britain and India is now very much two-way traffic: while low-skilled IT jobs continue to be shipped to India, highly trained Indian IT professionals are coming to Britain in managerial roles". Given the relative education and poverty levels of the two countries, there is a certain level of irony in that conclusion, as well as there being a certain amount of danger in companies becoming too reliant on recruiting from overseas.

Dracula leaves Christopher Lee womanless (Go To Top)

    Washington: Veteran British actor Christopher Lee has revealed that his on screen portrayal of Count Dracula has haunted him off screen too, by warding off women. The 83-year-old actor, who first appeared as the infamous vampire in 1958 and went on to star in a string of horror movies such as Horror Express and The Wicker Man, claims that women could never separate him from his sinister onscreen persona. "Women have always been quite scared of me. Although they realised I was acting, something in me made them uneasy, " he was quoted by Contactmusic,as saying. "They've never made passes at me in the past - and they're not likely to now at my age - because I've never got the girl in the picture," he added.

AR Rehman to perform in US music festival (Go To Top)

     New York: Bollywood's AR Rahman and Pakistan's leading musician of 'Junoon' fame Salman Ahmad would perform at the Stanford University's second annual Pan Asian music festival, which begins on Friday in California. The four-day festival will also have a night of traditional Sufi music (Qawwali) by a Pakistani Qawwal group, reported the Dawn. A special event devoted to legendary Qawwal Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan will kick off the event, which would include performances by scores of classical singers and Qawwals from the sub-continent.

Calvin's million pound underwear deal with Becks (Go To Top)

    London: England soccer captain David Beckham is set to sign a 1.1 million pound deal with Calvin Klein. A source from the fashion house told Britain's The People newspaper that the deal was almost through, and all that was left to be done , was to tie up the loose ends. "We have made a bid. He wants to do a photo shoot and now it's just finding the time to tie up loose ends. "We have heard they want him but we have not received a firm offer as yet," FemaleFirst quoted a source as saying to the People's newspaper. The news comes after recent news reports of him spending a staggering #1,000 a month on CK underwear, which he wears once before throwing away. The Real Madrid star reportedly picks up 30 pairs of Calvin Klein underwear at Spain's swanky El Cortes Ingles department store every time he visits. Beckham already has multimillion-pound sponsorship deals with Adidas, Gillette, Pepsi and Police sunglasses, and has his own perfume Instinct.

Madonna house hunting in Manhattan  (Go To Top)

    Washington: Despite downplaying reports of a rift in her marriage with Guy Ritchie, and her self-professed love for her hubby's country, the Queen of Pop, Madonna has set rumour- mongers' tongues wagging once again by reportedly instructing her brother Tom Ciccone to find a Manhattan base for her and her kids. "She's thinking it might be time to come home. It's not too far from Manhattan, but far enough to be a haven of peace for her and her and her son Rocco and daughter Lourdes" Contactmusic quoted a friend as telling the Mail. And according to the friend, the reason behind her wanting to return to her native America, was because she was homesick. "Madonna has told family members she's homesick" the friend was quoted by the paper, as saying. Madonna has for quite some time been trying to become very British and merge into the local way of life, and also has her own manor in Britain where she is currently taking riding lessons from an ex Olympic champion.

Paris Hiltons body double is on the prowl (Go To Top)

    New York: Socialite Paris Hilton better watch out for theres an impersonator on the loose whos been fooling the paparazzi, and getting prime seats during fashion week, by pretending to be the hotel heiress. Natalie Reid, a 21-year-old model who works for Screaming Queens Entertainment, is apparently so convincing that she managed to fool reps for Nicole Miller, who spotted her in Bryant Park and gave her a front row seat next to David Lee Roth during a recent showing of Millers collection. "I just put on something really cute and put on some makeup. It's so easy. I dont study her at all. I just feed off other peoples vibes," the New York Post quoted her, as telling the AP. As for the real Hilton, it seems that she thinks having her own fake is rather 'hot'. "She was right in front of me with her new boyfriend. She turned around, and she giggled, and she was like, Oh, you look so much like me. Thats so hot," she said.

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