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GRAMEEN
BANK FOUNDER WINS NOBEL PEACE PRIZE |
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The
Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006
to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts to create economic
and social development from below. Grameen Bank (GB) has reversed
conventional banking practice by creating a banking system based on
mutual trust.
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DYNSHAW
ITALIA IS FINANCIAL DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR 2006 |
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Dynshaw
Italia, Finance Director & Chief Operating Officer of Cobra Beer,
has been named the Financial Director of the Year2006 (for Growing
Business) at the Accountancy Age Awards. The ceremony, which took
place on 15th November, recognises the success stories of the year
in the financial and accountancy fields.
read more |
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OLDERPRENEURS:
A SAFER BET FOR BUSINESS? |
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Olderpreneur
Showcase is a set of case studies of people who have set up businesses
later in life. It has been prepared to demonstrate the variety and
vibrancy of older entrepreneurship. "Enterprise isn't just about
youth", says Laurie South, PRIME's Chief Executive. "People
of any age can set up in business, but it's particularly useful for
the over 50s as there are not a lot of other options.
read more |
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INDIA
DENIED THE RIGHT TO PRODUCE AFFORDABLE MEDS |
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Leading
charity Oxfam has recently taken on the pharmaceutical giant Novartis
demanding that developing countries are granted the right to produce
affordable medicines. Pharmaceuticals companies are however concerned
about the increase in generics medicines for the export market and
how this will impact their future investment in R&D.
read more |
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CLEVER
BUSINESS HABITS GUIDE |
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Given
that up to 30 per cent of small businesses fail after their first
year in business, getting the essentials right and listening to sound
advice is crucial. With this in mind, Alliance & Leicester has
launched the 'Clever Business Habits Guide', to help businesses in
their quest for success.
read more |
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BUSINESS
BANKING MARKET CROWDED WITH CONFUSION |
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A
new report commissioned by Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank
has found that businesses are being put off switching banks because
it takes three days work to wade through the complicated myriad
of fees and tariff structures. The report has also found that the
complex and non-transparent market prevents businesses saving up to
£41,000 a year each.
read more |
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ASIAN
WOMEN IN CREATIVE INDUSTRIES |
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The
Dynamic Asian Women's Network (DAWN) will be holding its latest creative
event on 24 October 2006 with a panel of guest speakers including
dance choreographer Honey Kalaria, Sumerah Ahmad, founder of a 'Club
Asia' radio and Lopa Patel, founder of South Asian Lifestyle portal
Redhotcurry.com.
read more |
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MORE
WOMEN SET UP THEIR DREAM BUSINESS |
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Women
across the UK are setting up more businesses than last year with 38,100
businesses started in the first six months of this year, up 9% on
the same period last year (34,600), according to research from Barclays.
In some areas, the growth in start ups by women overtook those of
men.
read more |
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TATA
STEEL ACQUIRES CORUS |
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The
boards of Tata Steel and Corus today announced their agreement on
the terms of the acquisition of Corus at a price of 455 pence in cash
for each Corus Share, valuing the company at £4.3 billion. Tata
Steel is Indias largest private sector steel company with 2005/06
revenues of US$5.0 billion. This acquisition will make it the world's
fifth largest steelmaker.
read more |
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EMPLOYERS
NOT DOING ENOUGH FOR MIGRANT WORKERS |
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New
research has revealed the risks faced by migrant workers in the UK
and has suggested that employers are not doing enough to ensure that
these workers have the correct skills. The report found that migrant
workers may be experiencing higher levels of workplace accidents because
they are more likely to work long hours, to work shifts and to have
limited understanding of health and safety.
read more |
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IMPERIAL
COLLEGE TO LAUNCH RAJIV GANDHI CENTRE |
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Meeting
today in advance of the India-UK investment summit, the Rector of
Imperial College London, Sir Richard Sykes, and Mr. R Seshasayee,
President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have signed
a Memorandum of Understanding, linking their two organisations.
read more |
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DRIVE
TO IMPROVE EMPLOYERS' ATTITUDE TO ILLNESS |
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A
new initiative encouraging employers to improve the way they deal
with mental health in the workplace was launched by Health Minister
Rosie Winterton. The three year initiative, called 'Action on Stigma',
urges employers to change their employment practices to ensure that
people with mental health problems are treated fairly and equally
with others.
read more |
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AGE
DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE OUTLAWED |
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New
laws coming into effect today will protect workers of all ages from
discrimination in the work place. The Age Discrimination regulations
give important new rights and responsibilities to every employee and
business in Britain. Trade and Industry Secretary, Alistair Darling
said:"Discrimination against you just because you're older has
no place in a modern society."
read more |
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DISPATCHES
UNVEILS INDIA'S DATA THEFT SCANDAL |
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In
last night's edition of documentary programme 'Dispatches' (5 October
2006), Sue Turton, senior reporter for Channel 4 News, investigated
the Indian call centre security failures which allows personal financial
details to be stolen and illegally traded. In a 12-month undercover
investigation, Turton infiltrated criminal networks which trade British
consumers' bank details and confidential information.
read more |
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BARCLAYS'
ASIAN APPOINTMENTS |
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Barclays
have made three major Asian appointments in the last month; Barclays
Global Retail and Commercial Banking has appointed Ahmed Khizer Khan
as Chief Executive New Markets and Vinit Chandra as Product Director,
Treasury and Investments. Barclays Wealth Management has appointment
Bobby Kapur as a Director in its NRI division.
read more |
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SHITAL
ADATIA JOINS A&L'S BUSINESS BANKING TEAM |
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Alliance
& Leicester Commercial Bank's East Midlands Business Centre today
announced the appointment of Commercial Property Finance specialist,
Shital Adatia to its Business Banking team. Shital started his career
with Nat West in 1996. Over the last ten years he has managed an extensive
portfolio of businesses, helping hundreds of local businesses develop.
read more |
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PARLIAMENT
BACKS KARIM'S EU-INDIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT |
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The
European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a report by Sajjad
Karim MEP, Liberal Democrat International Trade Spokesman, on EU-India
trade and economic relations. The report calls on the EU and India
to demonstrate the political will to build an effective partnership
and the EU to enter into a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with India.
read more |
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ASIAN
WOMEN PAY A HIGH PENALTY IN THE UK WORKPLACE |
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Pakistani
and Bangladeshi girls are ambitious and forging ahead at school
but they're likely to pay a high penalty in the workplace claims the
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). The report paints a worrying
picture of poor prospects for young Asian women who face higher unemployment,
a lower glass ceiling and lower pay. Most also work in a restricted
range of sectors and jobs.
read more |
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ASIAN
BUSINESS GROWTH RATE 3X THAT OF UK ECONOMY |
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The
ability of Asian entrepreneurs to adapt to new business opportunities
has seen the sectors wealth grow at three times the rate of
that produced by the UK economy. A new study reveals that real Asian
wealth increased by 69% compared to the overall UK GDP growth figure
of 22.8% with a shift by business owners towards higher value industrial
sectors such as pharmaceuticals, IT and media.
read more |
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SMALL
INCREASE IN NUMBER OF NEW SME BUSINESSES |
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The
Small Business Service (SBS) today published Small and Medium-sized
Enterprise (SME) Statistics for the UK 2005. There were an estimated
4.3 million business enterprises in the UK at the start of 2005, an
increase of 59,000 (1.4%) on the start of 2004, but 72.8% of SME's
have no employees.
read more |
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'TOP
10' EXCUSES FOR NOT PAYING MINIMUM WAGE |
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HM
Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published a list of the more unusual
excuses given by employers for failing to pay the National Minimum
Wage to their employees. The list proves that sexism, racism, ageism
and ignorance account for the majority of excuses but there are a
few new ones too!
read more |
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BUSINESS
CONFIDENCE AT HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE 1997 |
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A
significant upturn in sales and orders in the first half of the year
has boosted UK firms optimism for future profitability to its
highest level in nine years, according to the Business in Britain
report from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets. The biannual survey of over
2,200 UK companies shows that 24 per cent more firms saw sales rise
rather than fall since January a dramatic jump from just 8%
six months ago.
read more |
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A&L's
BUSINESS BANKING A BIG SUCCESS |
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Figures
released by Alliance & Leicester plc show that the number of businesses
choosing to bank with it has increased considerably year on year.
12,800 new business bank accounts have been opened, an increase of
over 20% compared to the first half of 2005. The banks share
of the business bank account market has more than doubled since 2002
from 1.8%to 3.7% for the first six months of 2006.
read more |
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UK
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS SPEND 60% LONGER AT WORK |
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Owners
of small and medium businesses in the UK work 24 hours longer each
week than the rest of the UK workforce according to research carried
out by Barclays. UK entrepreneurs spent an average of 61.1 hours working
each week in 2005, significantly ahead of the UK average working week
of 37.4 hours.
read more |
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QUARTER
MORE BUSINESSES SET UP BY UK ENTREPRENEURS |
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Barclays
today unveiled new figures showing a substantial rise in the number
of budding entrepreneurs opening their doors for the first time. Estimates
show that 110,300 new businesses started up in the first quarter of
2006, almost one-quarter more than in the same period last year (88,800).
read more |
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UK
ENGAGES INDIAN BUSINESS LEADERS ON CLIMATE CHANGE |
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On
26th June 2006, Barry Gardiner MP, Minister for the Environment and
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) hosted a meeting on climate
change to discuss the role played by the world's fastest growing economy
in driving forward the low-carbon economy of the future.
read more |
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WHERE
IS THE UK'S CAPITAL OF ENTERPRISE? |
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The
West Kilbride Craft & Design Town, the Borough of Knowsley and
the Kent Science Park are just some of the places announced today
as exemplifying the UK's enterprise spirit, with the publication of
the regional winners of the DTI's Enterprising Britain 2006 competition.
The competition is a part of the Government's drive to increase entrepreneurship
and identifies areas of enterprise excellence.
read more |
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SERENDIB06:
TSUNAMI FAMILIES REBUILD TRADE LINKS |
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Members
of six Sri Lankan families whose lives were disrupted by the 2004
tsunami will be in Britain next week to develop new trading links.
They are among 70 businesses exhibiting at Serendib, a three-day showcase
hosted by the Government of Sri Lanka. Apart from displaying their
wares, the visitors will be holding talks with importers and potential
partners.
read more |
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INDIAN
BUSINESS AWARDS, CLOSING DATE 30 JUNE 2006 |
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Key
figures from the Indian business world gathered at the London Stock
Exchange this morning to encourage eligible UK and Indian businesses
to enter the UK Trade & Investment India Business Awards announced
by Prime Minister Tony Blair in India last September. The awards are
the first created by Government to specifically recognise India's
global business influence and success.
read more |
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CSM
LAUNCHES WHOS WHO IN CSR IN INDIA |
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The
Centre for Social Markets (CSM), an India and UK-based non-profit
group, launched the second edition of its flagship publication Whos
Who in CSR in India: A Resource Guide 2006. A practical guide
to the key players and institutions in the emerging field of corporate
social responsibility (CSR) in India, the book was launched by Mr
Saurabh Srivastava, formerly Chairman Xansa India Ltd.
read more |
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'BLACK
FACES IN HIGH PLACES' NEEDED SAYS PATH |
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Path
West Midlands, a leading provider of Positive Action traineeships
for Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) individuals, will be meeting employers
from the West Midlands region to discuss the under representation
of BME individuals in supervisory, technical and management levels
of organisations.
read more |
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ASIAN
BUSINESS AWARDS 2006 |
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Winners of the Asian Business Awards 2006 included 'Newcomer of the
Year' won by Avnish Goyal of Hallmark Healthcare, 'Entrepreneur of
the Year' Award won by Rita Sharma of BestatTravel.co.uk, 'ACAS Award'
won by Euro Car Parts, 'Community Award' given to Lord Paul of Caparo
and the most coveted award, 'Business of the Year' went to Mike Jatania
of Lornamead.
read more |
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REDHOTCURRY.COM
LAUNCHES ONLINE BUSINESS DIRECTORY |
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Redhotcurry.com
has launched a new online Business Directory to help British businesses
reach wealthy Asian Consumers and Asian Businesses to contact other
Asian Businesses. Borne out of feedback from its 40,000 strong user
base, the RedHot Business Directory is an integral part of the site.
read
more |
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WORKPLACE
ATTITUDES AGAINST THE HIJAB |
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The
EOC and the TUC are jointly calling for renewed urgency to deal with
the persistent inequality facing Asian women in the workplace. Early
findings from the EOC's "Moving on Up?" investigation into
ethnic minority women's employment demonstrate significant differences
in the pay, progression and employment status for women.
read more |
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27
UK COMPANIES BACK LONDON'S DIVERSITY CHALLENGE |
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London
Mayor Ken Livingstone's 'Diversity Works for London' programme has
secured the backing of twenty-seven leading UK companies, including
Coca-Cola, Pearsons and KPMG. The announcement is milestone in the
programme which will provide £10m of measures to London-based
businesses to help them benefit from having a diverse workforce.
read more |
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BARCLAYS
LAUNCHES TRADING PLACES AWARDS |
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People
who have triumphed against the odds to set up a small business are
to be recognised in a unique awards scheme launched on 27 March 2006.
The Barclays Trading Places Awards now in their second year
aim to recognise men and women triumphed over adversity in
setting up in business.
read more |
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RISE
IN WOMEN IN WORK & GENDER PAY GAP NARROWS |
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Women's
employment has increased from a rate of 56 per cent in 1971 to 70
per cent in 2005. This equates to 4 million more women in work over
the last 35 or so years. Some of this increase has been driven by
the rise in working mothers. These are among the figures highlighted
in Labour Market Review 2006.
read more |
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FIRST
ENTERPRISE CAPITAL FUNDS GO LIVE |
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Trade
and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson announced the first two Enterprise
Capital Funds created under a multi-million pound government scheme
to boost innovation, jobs and growth for small and medium-sized businesses
(SMEs) in the UK. Enterprise Capital Funds help bridge the equity
gap faced by SMEs.
read more |
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GOVERMENT
TO STREAMLINE BUSINESS SUPPORT |
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The
Department of Trade and Industry is spearheading a government-wide
initiative to streamline business support at a local, regional and
national level to reduce the number of schemes from more than 3,000
to just 100 by 2010. The work will be done in partnership with the
RDAs and government departments.
read more |
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BUDGET
FOCUSES ON INVESTING IN BRITAIN'S FUTURE |
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The
Government's economic objective is to build a strong economy and a
fair society, stated Chancellor Gordon Brown in his Budget Day speech.
Among the initiatives announced were: reducing administrative burdens
for business, changes to Venture Capital Schemes, the launch of Enterprise
Capital Funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts & film tax incentives.
read more |
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BARCLAYS
INVESTS $150M IN EXPANSION IN INDIA |
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Barclays
has invested US$150 million over the past month, doubling its commitment
to US$300 million, to its Indian operations to support the growth
of the investment banking business and develop its commercial &
corporate banking service in the country. The bank will expand its
network and strengthen its team in India.
read more |
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INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR THE UK |
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Gordon
Brown, announced that he has established a new International Business
Advisory Council for the UK comprising some of the world's leading
business people including Indian Ratan Tata. The Council will advise
over the next three years on how to respond to the challenges and
opportunities of globalisation.
read more |
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'ASK
THE EXPERT' SESSIONS WITH DAME ANITA RODDICK |
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Dame
Anita Roddick today announced a series of one-to-one Ask an
Expert sessions to take place in the British Librarys
newly launched Business & IP Centre from 25 April 2006 onwards.
Dame Anitas six-month programme of advice sessions aim to inspire
budding entrepreneurs to pursue their ideas.
read more |
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INTERNATIONAL
NETWORK FOR ASIAN BUSINESS LAUNCHED |
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A
new group called the International Network for Asian Business (INAB)
was launched in London last night with a panel discussion on whether
the second generation of Asian entrepreneurs will have as much impact
on the UK economy as the first. The evening was hosted by Anuj Chande,
Partner at Grant Thornton.
read more |
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ENDING
AGE DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE |
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The
final measures to outlaw age discrimination in the workplace were
published by Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson today. Age
discrimination is the most frequently cited form of discrimination
by employees. The regulations will provide important new rights for
every employee in Britain.
read more |
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RADICAL
PROGRAMME TO END PAY UNFAIRNESS |
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Wide-ranging
action to tackle the culture in schools and workplaces that create
job segregation and leave woman lagging behind men in the pay stakes
is proposed in a report published today. Schemes to give girls a better
understanding of the pay and prospects in the careers they choose
are among the recommendations.
read more |
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MITTAL'S
STEEL BID SPURNED BY RACISM? |
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Lakshmi Mittal initial $22 billion bid for Arcelor Steel of Luxembourg
has been spurned and Mr Mittal firmly believes that racism has had
a part to play. He's even called upon Indian Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh to intervene.
read more |
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ARE
YOU A £APITAL WOMAN? |
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Women
in the capital earn only 75 percent of the salaries of their male
counterparts. Despite having the most dynamic and productive economy
in the UK, womens position in London is far worse than that
of women in the rest of the Britain. Capitalwoman, will discuss findings
from the report.
read more |
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ENTERPRISING
BRITAIN 2006 |
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The
search is on to find the UK place that exemplifies the enterprise
spirit, with the launch of the DTI's Enterprising Britain 2006 competition.
The competition identifies areas of enterprise excellence: those places
that have created jobs, brought communities together, and made a real
difference to local businesses and people.
read more |
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WOMEN
NEED BETTER CAREERS ADVICE |
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Research
for the Mayor of London has found that young women in London are being
let down by the careers advice they are receiving. This often means
that women have not studied the subjects, which make them eligible
to be even considered for a wide range of jobs. By 2016, 558,000 new
jobs will be created in London.
read more |
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ASIAN
BUSINESS NETWORKS - ARE THEY ANY GOOD? |
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'Young,
unattached start-up seeks like-minded spirit for mutually profitable
relationship'. Does this sound a like your business
approach? If so, you'll undoubtedly have been networking. The mantra
for the masses, networking has now replaced other methods as the principal
source for new customers and business contacts.
read more |
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THE
SECRETS OF A SERIAL NETWORKER |
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How
do you become a good networker? Is it an art you have to be born with,
or a skill you can acquire and hone? Serial networkers - the ones
we seem to bump into at all sorts of events - can certainly teach
us a thing or two. They seem to possess that technique for making
us feel included in their world.
read more |
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