At Infosys, even senior-level lateral hiring will involve tests now

Infosys, India's No 2 software services provider, is working on expanding the scope of technical tests in lateral recruitment to include candidates across the experience spectrum.

While technical tests have always been part of the selection process, not all lateral recruits currently require technical tests. The company is rolling out a plan to make sure all lateral positions require a corresponding technical test, Infosys said, in response to a query from ET.

This would mean even senior level lateral hiring will involve tests, which currently form part of various interview rounds that candidates face, depending on the level at which they are being considered. Infosys is doing this to ensure it hires top quality talent but there are concerns that this will also make hiring at senior levels more difficult, two persons within the company with knowledge of the discussions said.

The persons didn't want to be named as the discussions were internal, but added that founder NR Narayana Murthy was keen to go ahead on the plan despite the concerns.

"Murthy wants to improve the quality of lateral hires," said one of the persons. "However, there is a worry that senior talent might resist taking such tests and Infosys will lose out on good talent." In a statement, Infosys said: "As the technology landscape has changed, we have also modified the technical assessments to ensure we bring the best and relevant talent into the company. At this time, technical assessments are administered as part of the interviews conducted by our panel of experts with potential lateral hires as applicable."

India's $118-billion IT outsourcing industry has some 3 million employees, and recruiting experienced staff is an enormous exercise that has been made more complicated with potential recruits being on social media. Competition is fierce for talented people, and everypercentage point improvement in the selection ratio represents significant cost savings.

In the three months ended December 31, Infosys's attrition, or staff churn, went down in absolute terms, but the company has a much higher attrition rate compared with larger rival Tata Consultancy Services. TCS's 10-11% attrition is the best among the top five Indian providers.

"The first-level supervisors, project leads, tech leads, team leads, there is quite a bit of demand across the IT services industry," said Aditya Narayan Misra, staffing director at the Indian unit of Dutch staffing firm Randstad. "That's the first line which can create an impact with the customers and business directly."

 

Murthy's mulling tests could also be an indication of the type of work clients are expecting of Infosys that has always prided itself on its superior execution ability. As Infosys seeks to automate more processes, work that needs to be done by humans would arguably require leaders with greater technical competency as well self assurance in handling teams under stressful deadlines and in dynamic situations when things go wrong.

There are two things that companies look for in a lateral hire: technical competency and soft skills related to managing people. Large IT services companies typically don't conduct tests for the first level lateral recruits, with 4-5 years experience, unless a particular project or assignment they are recruiting for calls for such a test, Misra said.

With interviews, the most common tool used to assess a potential recruit, however, "the success rate is not very good ... we have seen many cases where companies are distressed, after calling in many people for interviews and then not finding anyone suitable."

Companies used to shy away from these technical testing, but today technology has developed to the level where these tests can be cost effectively administered. Video interview based tests are increasing, and companies such as Interview Exchange with targeted tools and tests help employers expedite their recruitment plans, he added. Misra added, "in the last couple of years, the incidence of using some of these tests as an elimination tool has increased".

WhatsApp's first new feature under Facebook: Voice calls

The world's biggest messaging service WhatsApp, which Facebook has just bought for $19 billion, will add voice calls to its product in the second quarter of this year, its chief executive Jan Koum said on Monday.

With 450 million users worldwide, WhatsApp and its competitors South Korea's KakaoTalk and China's WeChat have punched a hole in telecom operators' revenue in recent years by offering a free alternative to text messaging.

The news that the most powerful of them was adding voice calls to its service will likely be seen as worrying for telecom operators globally, which got about $120 billion from text messaging last year, according to market researcher Ovum.

"We are driven by the mission that people should be able to stay in touch anywhere and affordably. Our goal is to be on every mobile phone in the world," Koum said on Monday, speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Koum said WhatsApp's acquisition by Facebook would not alter his roadmap to develop the product to reach the next 1 billion users. No advertising will added to the service, he said.

Facebook's Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg was also slated to speak at 5pm GMT.

WhatsApp's Koum also sought to cast himself as a partner to telecom operators and not simply a competitor. He announced a partnership with KPN's E-Plus under which it will launch a WhatsApp branded mobile service in Germany.

"We are working with carriers in established markets to bring value to end users," he said.

12 websites for music lovers

The internet has changed the way we acquire our music. You don't even have to visit your neighbourhood record store any more. Simply sign-up for an account, pay by card, and download the tunes you want. But did you know there's more on offer for music lovers on the web? Here are some amazing sites that every aficionado should know and bookmark...

Free downloads

Super resources that introduce you to new artists and offer you downloads at absolutely no cost.

Myspoonful

This site is backed by a team of curators that sift through a bunch of fresh artists every week to recommend the best of what's new.

Each post includes a bio of the band, a link to stream the music, and another to download the track for free. To help you out, MS also lists the genre of music and names of established artists that are similar to the new band. Subscribers to a newsletter stand to get all of this right in their inboxes.

myspoonful.com

Rolling Stone

If you love music, you might have at least heard of Rolling Stone magazine. But did you know that its website has a 'Daily Download' section? Okay, so you don't get a song a day, every day, but RS regularly updates this section with tunes every couple of days. Each track is accompanied by a little bit of text where the artist or band talks about the song itself, giving you an insight into the music from the people who've created it.

www.rollingstone.com/music/daily-download

Insound

Insound is an online store that sells CDs, vinyl records, and caters to fans of the indie music scene. But it also has a section where people can download songs from new artists every week. Better still, you can also subscribe to its newsletter where you can opt for a free MP3 in your inbox every Wednesday, and also 'The Vinyl Newsletter' every Thursday that's accompanied by a downloadable mixtape.

www.insound.com/mp3-of-the-week

1 Classical

This resource is an aggregator of classical music. You can browse its tunes by composers such as Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Handel, Mozart, and Wagner - or you can choose to download compositions based on the instrument it was written for. All the downloads listed on the site are in the 'public domain', which means they are free to be used and distributed without permission or payment. So, whether you're a connoisseur of such music, or even someone who wants to give it a listen, this is the place to start.

www.1classical.com

Streamers

Sites that let you create a playlist as if you were your own radio jockey...

Gaana

If you're looking for tunes closer to home, you might want to consider Gaana. It boasts of a huge collection of songs in practically every regional language - from Hindi to Kannada and Marathi to Bengali. A free account lets you create your own playlists, and you can even 'like', comment on, and share songs with friends through Twitter and Facebook.

To discover new music, simply check out the playlists of other members, or tune in to Gaana's myriad radio channels that sort songs based on singers; actors they've been picturized on - and even by theme or mood. And yes, it also has apps for Android, BB10, iOS and Windows Phone.

www.gaana.com

Everyone's mix tape

The mix tapes we compiled in the pre-digital age were our customized playlists: one for when we're driving, one for mellow evenings, yet another for when we were feeling groovy.

Create an account on this service, and you are prompted to create your own mix tapes or add to existing compilations. Enter the name of a song, and EMT searches for it on YouTube and SoundCloud, so you can add the track to your compilation.

When you're done, you can share your virtual tape with everyone else on the site. And if you want a ready mix to suit your mood, simply browse through the "tapes" created by others.

everyonesmixtape.com

Never Ending Playlist or JiggyApe

In the old days, if you wanted to listen to a song, you needed to own the vinyl, cassette, CD, or request the track on the radio. Now, simply head to Never Ending Playlist or JiggyApe, enter the name of the artist you want to hear, and hit enter.

The site trawls through YouTube and automatically creates a playlist for you. You can choose to watch the accompanying videos, or just let the songs play in the background. Both sites let you listen to your favourite artists for free.

neverendingplaylist.com and www.jiggyape.com

Music by mood

All love songs seem like they've been written for you when you've just met someone special; and how sad songs sound so much more meaningful when you're suffering from heartbreak. Well, these sites work with your mood to play songs that fit in with how you're feeling...

Stereomood

Right at the top of the main page on Stereomood, you will find a text box that asks you to describe your mood. And you can type practically anything: angry, aggressive, loved, beautiful, sad, sleepy...

Stereomood accordingly creates a playlist for you.

While you listen to songs you can add tags to the track, view similar artists, and even a list of signedin users who are in the same mood as you.

Besides, you can share what you're listening to on your social networks, and even download its app for your Android or iOS device.

www.stereomood.com

Musicovery

Each song listed on Musicovery has been curated and categorized using 40 parameters. The site's algorithm then plots the song - in the form of coloured dots - on a 'mood map'.

The 'moods' on the y-axis range from calm to energetic, while the x-axis has values for dark to positive. Simply click on any dot, and the site will start streaming that song. To make music discovery easier, the dots are colour coded to indicate over 15 genres. When a song is being streamed, Musicovery lists other similar tracks, and you can also browse artists by name, or discover songs by the decade they were released in.

Users can also download its app onto their Android and iOS handsets.

musicovery.com

How to get a job at Google

 Last June, in an interview with Adam Bryant of The New York Times, Laszlo Bock, the senior vice president of people operations for Google — i.e, the guy in charge of hiring for one of the world's most successful companies — noted that Google had determined that "GPAs are worthless as a criteria for hiring, and test scores are worthless. ... We found that they don't predict anything."

He also noted that the "proportion of people without any college education at Google has increased over time" — now as high as 14% on some teams. At a time when many people are asking, "How's my kid gonna get a job?" I thought it would be useful to visit Google and hear how Bock would answer.

Don't get him wrong, Bock begins, "Good grades certainly don't hurt." Many jobs at Google require math, computing and coding skills, so if your good grades truly reflect skills in those areas that you can apply, it would be an advantage. But Google has its eyes on much more.

"There are five hiring attributes we have across the company," explained Bock. "If it's a technical role, we assess your coding ability, and half the roles in the company are technical roles. For every job, though, the No. 1 thing we look for is general cognitive ability, and it's not IQ. It's learning ability. It's the ability to process on the fly. It's the ability to pull together disparate bits of information. We assess that using structured behavioral interviews that we validate to make sure they're predictive."

The second, he added, "is leadership — in particular emergent leadership as opposed to traditional leadership. Traditional leadership is, were you president of the chess club? Were you vice president of sales? How quickly did you get there? We don't care. What we care about is, when faced with a problem and you're a member of a team, do you, at the appropriate time, step in and lead. And just as critically, do you step back and stop leading, do you let someone else? Because what's critical to be an effective leader in this environment is you have to be willing to relinquish power."

What else? Humility and ownership.

"It's feeling the sense of responsibility, the sense of ownership, to step in," he said, to try to solve any problem — and the humility to step back and embrace the better ideas of others. "Your end goal," explained Bock, "is what can we do together to problem-solve. I've contributed my piece, and then I step back."

And it is not just humility in creating space for others to contribute, says Bock, it's "intellectual humility. Without humility, you are unable to learn." It is why research shows that many graduates from hotshot business schools plateau. "Successful bright people rarely experience failure, and so they don't learn how to learn from that failure," Bock said.

"They, instead, commit the fundamental attribution error, which is if something good happens, it's because I'm a genius. If something bad happens, it's because someone's an idiot or I didn't get the resources or the market moved. ... What we've seen is that the people who are the most successful here, who we want to hire, will have a fierce position. They'll argue like hell. They'll be zealots about their point of view. But then you say, 'here's a new fact,' and they'll go, 'Oh, well, that changes things; you're right.'" You need a big ego and small ego in the same person at the same time.

The least important attribute they look for is "expertise." Said Bock: "If you take somebody who has high cognitive ability, is innately curious, willing to learn and has emergent leadership skills, and you hire them as an HR person or finance person, and they have no content knowledge, and you compare them with someone who's been doing just one thing and is a world expert, the expert will go: 'I've seen this 100 times before; here's what you do.'" Most of the time the non-expert will come up with the same answer, added Bock, "because most of the time it's not that hard." Sure, once in a while they will mess it up, he said, but once in a while they'll also come up with an answer that is totally new. And there is huge value in that.

To sum up Bock's approach to hiring: Talent can come in so many different forms and be built in so many nontraditional ways today, hiring officers have to be alive to every one - besides brand-name colleges. Because "when you look at people who don't go to school and make their way in the world, those are exceptional human beings. And we should do everything we can to find those people." Too many colleges, he added, "don't deliver on what they promise. You generate a ton of debt, you don't learn the most useful things for your life. It's [just] an extended adolescence."

Google attracts so much talent it can afford to look beyond traditional metrics, like GPA. For most young people, though, going to college and doing well is still the best way to master the tools needed for many careers. But Bock is saying something important to them, too: Beware. Your degree is not a proxy for your ability to do any job. The world only cares about — and pays off on — what you can do with what you know (and it doesn't care how you learned it). And in an age when innovation is increasingly a group endeavor, it also cares about a lot of soft skills — leadership, humility, collaboration, adaptability and loving to learn and re-learn. This will be true no matter where you go to work.

Samsung launches Tizen-powered smartwatches

Samsung has launched its next-generation smartwatch, the Gear 2 just ahead of its Unpacked event at the Mobile World Congress where it is expected to announce its flagship phone, the Galaxy S5.

The Gear 2 will be available in two variants, namely the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo, with the latter being an economy version. Samsung has dropped the Galaxy branding as the new smartwatch does not run Android. Instead, it is powered by Tizen, the Linux based operating system developed under the leadership of Samsung and Intel. The Gear 2 is one of the first commercially available Tizen devices.

Just like the Galaxy Gear, the Gear 2 also sports a 1.63-inch Super AMOLED display(320 X 320p), and is powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor and 512MB RAM. It has 4GB internal storage and features Accelerometer, Gyroscope and heart rate sensors. The Galaxy Gear did not have a heart rate sensor. It also features an IrLED port allowing it to be used as a universal remote control.

The Gear 2 sports a 2MP camera which is mounted on the front unlike the Galaxy Gear's camera which was placed on the strap. The Gear 2 Neo does not come with a camera. The Gear 2 Neo is made of plastic while the Gear 2 has a metal face.

Both of the variants of the Gear 2 are IP67 certified water and dust resistant.

While the user interface of the Gear 2 looks similar to the Galaxy Gear in the press shots, it is not known if the Galaxy Gear apps will be compatible with the Gear 2. The watch has the ability to store and play music without being connected to a smartphone.

Samsung says the Gear 2 and Gear 2 Neo are compatible with more than "dozens of Samsung Galaxy smartphones at launch," suggesting wider compatibility compared to the Galaxy Gear which was compatible with a handful of high-end Samsung smartphones.

The Gear 2 will be available in Charcoal Black, Gold Brown and Wild Orange colours while the Gear 2 Neo will be available in Charcoal Black, Mocha Grey and Wild Orange colours. It will be available around the world starting April though Samsung has not revealed pricing information.

iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5c: What to Buy?

iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5c: What to Buy? is a post by Josh Smith from Gotta Be Mobile.
The iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c are two new iPhones sold by Apple that many shoppers compare when they walk into the store to buy a new iPhone in 2014.
At first glance the two iPhones appear similar enough, but the $100 price difference between the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5s should tell consumers that there are a number of differences worth comparing.
The iPhone 5c is a plastic phone that Apple sells in five colors for $99 on a two-year contract, but discounts push the iPhone 5c price below $50 on a fairly regular basis. The iPhone 5s offers a flagship experience complete with a metal body and new features as well as a higher price tag that starts at $199 on contract, but drops by $50 or so on a regular basis.

Figuring out how the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c compare is tough for many shoppers because descriptions often say the iPhone 5c is an iPhone 5 in a plastic shell. This is true, but it doesn’t fully explain the iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5c comparison that savvy shoppers will make before buying a new iPhone in 2014.

If you need a new iPhone, here is a look at the iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5c.

There are enough iPhone 5s features that are not available on the iPhone 5c to warrant spending the extra money on the iPhone 5s for many shoppers. But, if you need to save money and are looking at buying the iPhone 5c, this guide will explain what is missing from the iPhone 5c that allows Apple to sell the iPhone 5c that much cheaper.
Of course it is also worth considering the iPhone 6 release is likely coming later in 2014 and could offer a bigger screen and other features, so it may be worth waiting for that iPhone before buying. If you can’t wait for an unannounced iPhone, here’s what you need to know about the iPhone 5c vs iPhone 5s to get the iPhone that is best for you.

Design

The iPhone 5s is made of aluminum while the iPhone 5c is made of plastic. This simple statement is the biggest difference in terms of design, but there is more to consider.

The iPhone 5c design is plastic and it comes in many colors.

iPhone 5c owners can enjoy a greater range of colors without using a case and some people prefer the feel of plastic as it feels less like something that can scratch. The iPhone 5 scratched very easily, but the iPhone 5s is much more resilient with few scratches showing even when used without a case for months.
The iPhone 5s is thinner and lighter than the iPhone 5c by about 1mm and half an ounce. This is not a difference that should sway most shoppers, but it is worth mentioning.

The iPhone 5s is available in three colors with an aluminum body.

Shoppers that want a white, yellow, blue, green or pink iPhone can only choose the iPhone 5c, unless they want to buy a case for the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 5s is available in silver, Space Gray and Gold. There is no premium charge for any colors.

Screen

The screen on the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c is exactly the same, It is a 4-inch Retina Display with a 1136 x 640 resolution and 326 pixels per inch.

The screens on the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c are the same.

This is good news as it is one less thing to consider when buying an iPhone 5c or iPhone 5s. Despite the $100 price difference both phones offer a very nice looking display.
The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c displays are smaller and lower resolution than the Galaxy S4 and HTC One that shoppers may see in the store. Rumors suggest an iPhone 6 will deliver a larger, higher resolution display in 2014.

Camera

The biggest difference between the iPhone 5c and the iPhone 5s is the camera. Both of the phones use an 8MP iSight camera, but the iPhone 5s is a clear winner in features.
In everyday photography both cameras deliver good-looking photos with a fast shutter than can capture a quick smile on your kid or the goofy grin on a pet before it becomes a blur of action.

The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c cameras are not equal.

The iPhone 5s does a better job of capturing true to life colors than the iPhone 5c, but users can correct some of this with an editing app. When taking photos in your house in dim light without a flash the iPhone 5s will produce a better photo than the iPhone 5c 9 times out of 10 with less noise or the grainy look some cameras deliver.
If you enjoy taking panorama photos the iPhone 5s is highly recommended as it does a better job of not blowing out parts of the sky or water, creating a more even exposure and look across the entire photo.

Flash

Apple includes a new True Tone dual LED flash on the iPhone 5s that along with the Apple A7 processor is able to flash with a tone that matches the environment for a better looking photo. The iPhone 5c uses a single LED flash like the iPhone 5. If you need to use the flash in many of your photos indoors or at night the iPhone 5s does a better job and is again worth the higher price.

The iPhone 5s camera includes a dual-LED flash.

Slow Motion and Burst Mode

The iPhone 5s is capable of recording slow motion videos at 120 frames per second that can showcase motion or action in fun ways. This feature is not available on the iPhone 5c.

The iPhone 5s can also take 10 photos per second when holding the shutter button and identify the best looking photos as well. The iPhone 5c cannot do this, taking a burst photos at a much slower rate.

iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5c Features

There are several additional features that separate the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. With the major features listed above and these smaller items picking between the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s should be much easier.

Touch ID

The iPhone 5s ships with Touch ID, a fingerprint sensor built-in to the iPhone 5s’ home button. Users can register five fingers with this to unlock the iPhone without entering a pass code. This is not available on the iPhone 5c in any fashion. Owners can also use this in place of an iTunes password to buy apps, though they will still need to enter a password occasionally.

Unlock the iPhone 5s with a fingerprint.

Storage

The iPhone 5c is available with 16GB or 32GB of storage which is adequate for many users, but if you need a lot of storage the iPhone 5s is the only option. The iPhone 5s comes in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models. There is no easy way to add more storage, though there are some options for adding storage for movies or large files. If you need more storage but don’t have a lot of money, a 32GB iPhone 5c may be a better value than the 16GB iPhone 5s.

Motion CoProcessor

The iPhone 5s includes not only a faster 64-bit Apple A7 processor, but also a Motion Coprocessor called the M7 processor. This chip allows the iPhone to track motion and movement similar to how a fitness band would and pass it on to a Nike app or to many other M7 enabled apps for enhanced fitness tracking.

Long Term Support

The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c arrived in the same year which is a good sign for long-term support, but the iPhone 5c is essentially an iPhone 5, which means it may not see iOS updates and new features for as long as the iPhone 5c which uses a more advanced processor. If you plan to keep the iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c for more than two years the iPhone 5s is a better choice as it will certainly perform better at three years out than the iPhone 5c will.

The iPhone 5c is cheaper, but the iPhone 5s may be worth the price for many users.

Price

Ultimately the price of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c may be the biggest deciding factor for users, but it is a good idea to buy based on features and if need be save up for an extra month or two before upgrading. The growing number of iPhone deals and monthly payment plans also help negate the price difference. Here are the prices for the iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5c on contract and off.

• iPhone 5c 16GB – $99 ($549)
• iPhone 5c 32GB - $199 ($649)
• iPhone 5s 16GB – $199 ($649)
• iPhone 5s 32GB – $299 ($749)
• iPhone 5s 64GB – $399 ($849)

Users can normally find a plethora of deals on the 16GB iPhone 5c and 16GB iPhone 5s that drop the price by $50 to $75 or include some sort of gift card that drops the price. These deals arrive at least once a month and sometimes T-Mobile even offers discounts that help bring down the monthly payments for the iPhones.

Should I Buy the iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c?

There is no one perfect iPhone for every user, but the iPhone 5s is a better device with enough features to justify the higher price for most users. If you take photos primarily with your iPhone and plan to keep it for longer than two years spend the extra money to get the iPhone 5s.
If you don’t need the best camera, want a more colorful iPhone and plan to upgrade again in two years the iPhone 5c is a very capable phone that delivers an iPhone experience in a more affordable package.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Rajasthan can generate 22 lakh additional jobs: Assocham

 

Rajasthan can generate an additional 22 lakh employment opportunities in both organised and unorganised sector if the state's economy is able to sustain over eight per cent growth rate during next five years, industry body Assocham said today. 

"Rajasthan is has registered significant growth economic growth rate and can generate around 20 lakh jobs in organised and unorganised sectors, as well as 2 lakh direct and indirect job opportunities through oil refinery," chamber's Secretary General D S Rawat told PTI. 

He said that Assocham suggested a seven point detailed 'Action-Agenda for New Government of Rajasthan' to chief minister Vasundhara Raje recently and the projection was based upon the simple regression model according to which the assumption of employment generation is largely dependent on economic growth which has immediate effect on job creation. 

The boyd has also proposed to partner the state government to implement and achieve the objective of its vision document for Rajasthan. 

"Rajasthan has registered robust economic growth rate of 8.2 per cent slightly higher than the national average of 8 per cent during 2004-05 and 2012-13," says a study prepared by the Assocham Economic Research Bureau (AERB). 

There has been a significant decline of almost six per cent in the contribution of agriculture sector to the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of Rajasthan which fell from 25 per cent in 2004-05 to 19 per cent in 2012-13, it said. 

"Frequent droughts, rapidly depleting groundwater level, lack of investments and absence of modernisation in agriculture practices are certain key issues hindering the growth of agriculture in Rajasthan." 

The apex industry body suggested that the new state government should promote the agriculture sector and maximize farm income by a co-ordinated approach focusing on best utilisation of available water with higher productivity, crop diversification, value addition together with strong emphasis on livestock development. 

Rajasthan has recorded a surge in the share of industrial sector in the GSDP which increased from 30.5 per cent in 2004-05 to 31.3 per cent in 2012-13 thereby indicating the strong pace of industrialisation in the state. 

In its vision document, Assocham has suggested the state government to ensure sustainable development of marginal, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to further increase the industrial growth, create more jobs and improve industries' share in the GSDP. 

To further perk up the industrial sector in Rajasthan, Assocham has recommended the government to prepare a state- level master plan for industrial promotion, separate master plan to develop areas coming under the purview of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC); encourage women entrepreneurs in micro and cottage industry; lure industries to invest in backward areas by offering incentives among others. 

Considering that Rajasthan is blessed with rich mineral reserves, ASSOCHAM has suggested the state to lure investments from mineral based industries as that would create jobs in the rural areas and the government should also keep a check on unauthorised mining. 

Besides, Rajasthan government should also promote non-farm industries like handicrafts and cottage industries and set up industrial complexes for auto ancillary, ceramics, textiles and others to generate more employment, the Assocham note added. 

There is a need to further encourage private sector participation to boost infrastructure development across Rajasthan especially in construction of roads and highways, building houses for people from all categories and promotion of renewable energy sources, it said. 

Integrated tourism infrastructure development across Rajasthan on PPP basis, holding tourism fairs and widespread marketing activities in foreign countries to attract more foreign tourists, providing effective road-rail-air connectivity with all tourist hotspots, preservation of monuments and heritage buildings are key to growth of tourism sector in the state, it added. 

 

Promoting broadband connectivity and its use in education, healthcare, public safety and government operations, providing internet content in local language, provide support for developing information technology (IT) parks are imperative for growth and development of IT sector in the state. 

To further perk up the industrial sector in Rajasthan, Assocham has recommended the government to prepare a state- level master plan for industrial promotion, separate master plan to develop areas coming under the purview of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC); encourage women entrepreneurs in micro and cottage industry; lure industries to invest in backward areas by offering incentives among others. 

Considering that Rajasthan is blessed with rich mineral reserves, ASSOCHAM has suggested the state to lure investments from mineral based industries as that would create jobs in the rural areas and the government should also keep a check on unauthorised mining. 

Besides, Rajasthan government should also promote non-farm industries like handicrafts and cottage industries and set up industrial complexes for auto ancillary, ceramics, textiles and others to generate more employment, the Assocham note added. 

There is a need to further encourage private sector participation to boost infrastructure development across Rajasthan especially in construction of roads and highways, building houses for people from all categories and promotion of renewable energy sources, it said. 

Integrated tourism infrastructure development across Rajasthan on PPP basis, holding tourism fairs and widespread marketing activities in foreign countries to attract more foreign tourists, providing effective road-rail-air connectivity with all tourist hotspots, preservation of monuments and heritage buildings are key to growth of tourism sector in the state, it added. 

Promoting broadband connectivity and its use in education, healthcare, public safety and government operations, providing internet content in local language, provide support for developing information technology (IT) parks are imperative for growth and development of IT sector in the state.