Kullu, Oct 6 (ANI): Authorities in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district are popularising polyhouse cultivation among the farmers to promote off-season farming.

Experts observe that polyhouse cultivation in the lower hills of the state can bring an end to the cultivation woes of the farmers in the region where crop cultivation drops drastically during the winter season.

Farmers claim that this method of farming has increased the productivity and said that they are reaping benefits almost six times more than what they reap through conventional farming.

They also observe that growing crops in greenhouses produces better quality crops that fetch them more money.

"When we grow flowers in the green houses the quality is good when compared with the ones grown outdoors. There is an improvement in the quality and the size of the produce. We are benefiting from its cultivation," said Pooja, a woman farmer from Mohal in Kullu.

When polyhouse farming was first introduced in 2003-04, farmers were skeptical and reluctant to take to this farming technique.

Later while some farmers took it through advertisements in newspapers thers saw polyhouses in some other states.

"I got the idea of polyhouse when I visited the Bilaspur district in Chhattisgarh where I saw theses polyhouses. After that I though that the little land that I have I should utilize it fully by erecting a polyhouse and do some cultivation," said Kedar Nath, a farmer from Shamshi village in Kullu.

The farmers have been growing exotic vegetables as well as flowers in poly houses. The State Government has planned to install 20,000 more such poly houses.

"As they were earning good income through apple farming, earlier farmers had very little interest in polyhouse cultivation. In the last few years, a decline in apple production has prompted the farmers to take interest in polyhouse farming, apple and flower cultivation, and unseasonable farming. They have been earning good income through that. Our department plans to cover an area of 25000 sq ft this year. All these will be high technology polyhouses," said Y.P. Mehta, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, Himachal Pradesh.

Himachal Pradesh earns more than Rs 2500 crores from cultivation of fruits and vegetables.

The cultivation of exotic vegetables and flowers in polyhouses will only add to the business and economy of the state.

Similar initiatives are being taken in Haryana also. The crops that would be cultivated include tomato, capsicum, cabbage and brinjal. By Prem Thakur (ANI)

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Oct 6 (ANI): With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) saying that the United States is likely to suffer a slowdown, IT professionals in Kerala dread a ripple down effect that could hurt their careers.

Earlier, media across the globe had reported the IMF saying that the US would likely suffer a sharp economic downturn, or even recession, judging by the impact of similar banking crisis around the globe over the past 30 years.

The IMF has in its latest report said the risk of recession is higher when financial turmoil is preceded by rising house prices and rapid expansion of credit, which was the case in the United States.

The IT professionals in India said that since it is a global village that we are living in now, no country can escape any kind of a global trend.

But the fact that the Information Technology and software firms across the globe are more integrated than any other industry, its effect would be more on them, they added.

"We are living in a global economy, so, obviously, any positive things happening globally will have positive impact on our industry. Anything that is negative ought to have a negative impact on our economy also. IT industry being integrated with global industry, I am sure there will be some ripple effect happening in IT industry in India," said Radhakrishnan Nair, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Technopark.

After several years of a housing boom, the U.S. economy has been shaken by a banking crisis that began with a spike in defaults among the riskiest mortgages and spread to Wall Street, marking the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

And with experts saying that slowdowns or recessions preceded by bank-related stress tend to last longer than the normal, salaried employees are now left wondering how they would cope with the rising interest rates and the lack of liquidity in the market.

"The main impact is how much our interest rates are going up as far as house mortgages are concerned, the more the interest rate and with the freeze in the salary. We will not be able to pay our monthly Equal Monthly Installments and that could have a direct impact on having defaulted on payment and when there are too many defaulters in the market, it would indirectly effect the banks," saidanjit Darwin, an IT professional.

Industry sources say that India has set a software export target of around 60 billion dollars by 2010 and their ability to insulate themselves from the global crisis would affect the future growth of the IT industry. By K. Ashiq (ANI)

Cincinnati (US)/New Delhi, Oct 6 (ANI/Business Wire India): Convergys Corporation, a global leader in relationship management, announced today that it plans to significantly increase the number of contact center agents it employs in India based on client needs for an additional 2,500 people by the end of the year.

"Convergys agents continue to provide our clients and their customers with an outstanding customer experience, excellent performance, and unmatched quality that consistently meets and exceeds their expectations," said Sukant Srivastava, Managing Director and Country Manager for Convergys' Customer Management business in India.

"Their dedication and hard work has paid off in continued growth and expanded job opportunities for our current and prospective employees in India," he added.

Convergys offers employees comprehensive training, competitive wages, fast track growth, and a warm, engaging work culture that is conducive to professional and personal growth. In addition, new employees can take advantage of transportation to and from work, tuition reimbursement, and a competitive benefits package that includes medical Insurance.

Convergys employees benefit from the distinct opportunity to service customers of the leading global brands across the telecommunications, financial, and automotive sectors, and thus gain an unparalleled breadth of experience as they build their careers in the booming BPO sector. Potential candidates are encouraged to submit their resumes to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Convergys currently operates from major facilities in cities across India including New Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore. Employees working in these locations provide technical help desk services along with customer support for Fortune 1000 companies in financial services, communications, consumer products, and other industries. Convergys has more than 13,000 employees in India.

Convergys Corporation is a global leader in relationship management. We provide solutions that drive more value from the relationships our clients have with their customers and employees. Convergys turns these everyday interactions into a source of profit and strategic advantage for our clients.

For 25 years, our unique combination of domain expertise, operational excellence, and innovative technologies has delivered process improvement and actionable business insight to clients that now span more than 70 countries and 35 languages. (ANI)

Washington, Oct.4 (ANI): The economy continues to remain the number one issue on the presidential campaign trail, with both John McCain and Barack Obama saying that the race will be won or lost based on who carries the most clout on that issue. "I'm glad to see that we've finally got this dealt with," Barack Obama told reporters Friday after the bill passed, adding: "The final thing is understanding that even if this rescue package works exactly as it should, it's only the beginning. ... The fundamentals of the economy aren't sound, and we're gonna have to do a lot of work moving forward."

Obama criticized John McCain and McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, earlier in the day for promoting policies that are "killing jobs in America every single day," after the latest jobs report showed employers cut 159,000 jobs last month.

"It's all about jobs, our economic future. It's all about jobs," McCain said at a Colorado town hall meeting in reference to the jobs report.

As for the bailout, he called it a "tourniquet ... not a cure."

For McCain, the passage of the bill relieves a major headache for his campaign.

Voters generally see Obama as more attuned to economic concerns, and as the bailout bill festered, McCain continued to lag Obama in the polls.

"I think what McCain needs to do is focus like a laser beam on the economy," former President Bush staff member Brad Blakeman told FOX News after the rescue plan passed.

"I'd show an economic team to the American people to give confidence that not only does he have the ideas for America, but he also has the personnel to carry it out."

Democratic leaders did not hold back in praising Obama. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi publicly commended the Democratic nominee for his efforts, and several freshman Democrats claimed Obama helped persuade them to change their votes from "no" to "yes," according to The Hill newspaper.

Obama later told reporters he did speak with freshman Democrats about the bill. (ANI)