RedEgg InfoExpert Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Squadra Eventi - December 2011 - Poets, Actors and Artists Shine!

2011-12-20T11:15:00.000+05:30

The December 2011 set of Squadra events was held on 3 December 2011. The events for the day were Collage, Poetry writing in Tamil and English, Skit and Tableau. The off-stage competitions started mid-morning, when participants for the Collage contest started working on their creations. Soon after, the poetry contestants were given their topics for English and Tamil poetry. By afternoon, the off-stage events were done and RedEggers settled down to enjoy the on-stage events. Beginning with a reading of the poetry entries, the day then led into the tableau competition, where contestants had to display a scene revolving around a theme. The catch is that they have to stand still in the display for 1 minute. Following this, the skit competition took place, where squadras put on humorous and thought-provoking skits which spoke about everything from young love to drug abuse to politics!

Finally the results were announced, and here they are:

1. Collage Competition: I prize - La Squadra Terra

II prize - La Squadra Aqua

2. Poetry Writing (Tamil): I prize - La Squadra Terra - Jerin

II prize - La Squadra Aqua - Kumaresan

3. Poetry Writing (English): I prize - La Squadra Aqua - Saju

II prize - La Squadra Terra - Sherin

4. Tableau: I prize - La Squadra Aqua

II prize - La Squadra Incendio

5. Skit competition: I prize - La Squadra Incendio

II prize - La Squadra Aqua

Here are pictures from the day:

La Squadra Terra contestants - I prize winners of the Collage contest

The I prize winning entry by La Squadra Terra

La Squadra Aqua poses with its entry that won the second prize in Collage

La Squadra Aqua's winning entry

MC of the day - Ezhila Johnilet - PL @ RedEgg

Karthik - PL @ RedEgg - hosts the Poetry Writing event

Saju from La Squadra Aqua - I prize winner of Poetry Writing in English

Sherin from La Squadra Terra won the second prize in Poetry Writing in English

Jerin - La Squadra Terra - I prize in Poetry Writing in Tamil

Kumaresan from La Squadra Aqua recites his Tamil poem which won the second prize

Abel Premnath - PL @ RedEgg - hosting the Tableau competition

La Squadra Aqua took home the I prize for their tableau display on India's struggle to become a Developed Country

La Squadra Incendio does a representation of the Indian political climate, to win the second prize in Tableau

Sivathanu - Process Trainer @ RedEgg - hosts the skit competition

La Squadra Incendio won the first prize for their story on young love

La Squadra Aqua bagged the second prize for their skit on 'Secular India'

The beautiful stage decor for the day

With that, we look forward to the Squadra Eventi Grand Finale to be held in January 2012, where we will find out which squadra takes home the rolling trophy for 'Squadra of the Year 2011'! Till then, stay tuned for more....

'Food Stalls for Charity' - Updates

2011-11-08T16:58:00.000+05:30

You may remember the Food Stalls for Charity event that was held on 7 August 2011, as part of the Founders' Day Celebrations. Here is an excerpt from the article on the event:

"...close to 30 stalls opened up service for RedEggers who thronged the tables to get a taste of all the goodies on sale! The specialty of the food stall was that each and every dish sold was homemade lovingly by our employees!! We were amazed at how many skilled cooks there were among us! The proceeds of the sales at the food stalls will be donated to a local charitable organization."

RedEggers earned up to Rs.17,000 from their stalls on that day, and the contributions were donated in kind to the Dorkal Children's Home run by the Dorkal Sister's Serving Trust. Our Country Head and Senior Vice President Kannan Muthupandian, along with RedEgg's Managing Director Edward Smith, presented a washing machine to Miss. N. Christal on 13 October 2011. Also present for the happy occasion were the children of the home.


from left: Kannan Muthupandian, Edward Smith, the children of Dorkal Children's Home and Miss. N. Christal

An article about our company, along with our CSR efforts, appeared in The Hindu newspaper, on 20 October 2011. Take a look at a scanned copy of the article here.

Let's join together as RedEggers to do more of such services to our community!

Squadra Eventi - October 2011

2011-10-20T16:01:00.000+05:30

The fourth set of events in Squadra Eventi 2011, was held on 1 October 2011. The events of the day were Cooking competition, 'Art from Waste', Solo Singing and Group Singing.

The day started at 11:00am, when the participants of the cooking and 'Art from Waste' competition assembled to start their events. They were given 2 hours to create and execute their work.

The four squadra brought all their culinary and handicraft skills to the table to create delicious food, and ingenious structures from waste materials. Judging of the entries was done at 1:00pm. Ernest and Kabeer were the judges of the cooking and 'Art from Waste' events, respectively.

At 2:00pm, the on-stage events began, with the Solo singing event starting off the evening. This was followed by the Group Singing event at 3:00pm. Both the singing events were a treat for the ears and the eyes, with singers dressed in their best, performing karaoke-style and with instruments! The judges for the singing competitions were Dosslin Benhur and Jane Hamilton.

The following is a list of winners of the various events:

Art from Waste: I Prize - La Squadra Aqua

                          II Prize - La Squadra Terra

Cooking Competition: I Prize - La Squadra Terra

                                   II Prize - La Squadra Aqua

Singing (Solo): I Prize - La Squadra Incendio

                        II Prize - La Squadra Aqua

Singing (Group): I Prize - La Squadra Terra

                        II Prize - La Squadra Aqua

Here are some pictures from the day:

Winners of the first prize in 'Art from Waste', La Squadra Aqua, proudly display their creation


"India in 2020" - where India would rely on renewable energy sources and preserve the environment

Members of La Squadra Terra, winners of the second prize in 'Art From Waste', pose with their creation

"Silicon Valley" - every component in this model is made with used computer parts

Winners of first prize in Cooking Competition - La Squadra Terra

La Squadra Terra's beautiful spread!

La Squadra Aqua - second prize winners of the cooking competition

La Squadra Aqua's yummy dishes!

Prejushya Mohan - first prize winner in solo singing - sang "Poongatrilay" from "Uyire"

Sahadevan won the second prize in solo singing for the song "O Oh Sanam" from "Thasaavadhaaram"

Edwin and Biju Dotson - winners of first prize in group singing - sang "Ennodu Peysum"

La Squadra Aqua - (from left) - Divya, Vandana, Asha and Kavitha - sang "Pulvelli Pulvelli" from "Aasai"

Congratulations winners!

See you all at the next Squadra Eventi!

Fifth Founders' Day Celebrations - A Day to Commemorate the RedEgg Community

2011-09-13T19:07:00.000+05:30

REDEGG InfoExpert turned five on 7 August 2011, and celebrated the day in a grand way on 6 August. The fact that the company has grown from just 5 members to close to 300 within the short span of 5 years, was truly a fact worth celebrating with all the grandiose that we could bring. The day truly portrayed all that RedEgg stood for, productivity, success, work-life balance, competetiveness, serving the society, developing friendship and a sense of community, and having fun no matter what we're doing!

As usual, all events were held at InfoPark, where the day began very early, with the RedEgg Badminton League holding matches between various team. Employees eagerly participated in these matches throughout the morning.

The Food Stalls for Charity (a new endeavour started this year) was inaugurated at 10:00am by Madavi Oliver (wife of Gaugarin Oliver). Following this, close to 30 stalls opened up service for RedEggers who thronged the tables to get a taste of all the goodies on sale! The specialty of the food stall was that each and every dish sold was homemade lovingly by our employees!! We were amazed at how many skilled cooks there were among us! The proceeds of the sales at the food stalls will be donated to a local charitable organization.

Here are some of the sumptious food up for sale during the Food Stalls for Charity event:

Our guests of honor for the day were Gaugarin Oliver (CEO, RedEgg Solutions Inc.) and his family, and Kannan Muthupandian (Country Head and Seior Vice President, REDEGG InfoExpert) and his family.

Gaugarin and family on the left, and Kannan and family on the right.

RedEggers tucked into the food with great gusto, making sure that they contributed their excitement as well as their funds towards the charity!

Laying out the tables in preparation for Food Stalls for Charity:

And then the stalls were open for service!

"How much for this one here?"

"Come to our stall!"

"The proof of the pudding is in the crowd!"

"This is the best in KK district!"

Closely following the food stalls, several Squadra events were held. First of them was the Rangoli competition.

This Rangoli on 'Environmental Preservation' by La Squadra Aqua won the first prize

La Squadra Terra won the second prize for this Rangoli on 'Eye Donation'

Judges Kavitha Kannan (far left) and Madavi Oliver (second from left) discussing an entry with the participants

Once the food stall and Rangoli competition was done, people walked indoors for another significant part of the day - Lunch! What's so special about lunch? Well, this was the company lunch, provided for the whole company, in celebration of Founders' Day.

Good food, good friends and good conversation... what more could anyone want?!

You would think that a great meal would mark the end of the day, but RedEgg had more events lined up! We moved on to the most important part of the day, that is the commemoration of RedEgg's Fifth Founders' Day. After everyone had assembled in the hall, we began the proceedings with a speech by our CEO Gaugarin Oliver.

He reminisced about RedEgg's initial days, back in 2006, and also called upon the 5 first employees who started the journey with the company.

They are:

Mr.Edward Smith (MD, REDEGG InfoExpert)

Kabeer Ahamed (Project Manager, Software Support)

Shaiju Aiyappan (Project Manager, IT Support, Infrastructure, and MyEdcals)

Veeralakshmi (Project Lead, MMI Research)

Thiraviyam (Chief Security Officer)

Then, Gaugarin talked about the growth of the company so far, the improvements in policies and procedures that we have implemented over the days, and how they actually benefit the employees.

He introduced two insurance policies that benefit employees at various levels:

Employees' State Insurance Plan

RedEgg's Group Health Insurance Plan in tie-up with ICICI Lombard

We heard from two employees who did a comparison of RedEgg and life in other companies in different districts. They talked about the advantages of having a well-paid job in their hometown, and how they have received more venues to grow here.

John Roger from the Call Research team

Satheesh from the IT Support team

The day was not done yet! After the speeches by our employees, some more Squadra events were held. Starting with the display of the photos and documentaries taken during the Photography and Documentary competition that had started that morning.

The theme of the Photography contest was 'Freedom', and the photographers captured various scenes that depicted freedom, from their point of view.

Entry no.1 from La Squadra Aqua - winner of the first prize

Entry no. 2 from La Squadra Aqua - winner of the first prize

Entry no.1 from La Squadra Terra - winner of the second prize

Entry no.2 from La Squadra Terra - winner of the second prize

The theme for the Documentary Competition was "Inspiring People in Kanyakumari District".

La Squadra Cielo's documentary won the first prize

La Squadra Cielo's documentary won the second prize

Next was the Antakshari competition.

La Squadra Incendio (far right and second from right) won the first prize. La Squadra Cielo (left) tied for the second prize.

La Squadra Aqua (far left and second from left) shared the second prize with Cielo

With that we came to the end of the squadra events. Next, a beautiful cake (in the shape of the number '5') was laid out and our CEO and Senior Vice President cut it to celebrate our Fifth Founders' Day.

Then it was time for the release of Volume 5 of Red-E Newsletter. Our Senior Vice President presented the newsletter to our CEO, who released it.

Next, our best performers, always the back bone of RedEgg, were given their awards for excellence in performance.

Best Performance in MMI - Virgin

Best Performance in MMI - Abel

Best Performance in MMI - Thillai

Best Performance in QA - Sumathi

Best Performance in Internal QA - Jinitha

Best Team of the Quarter - Sky Shooters (seen here receiving their award with their PL Veera)

Best Performance in PS - Babin

Best Performance in PS - Sam Thampi

Best Performance in PS -Anto Varghese

Best Performance in Profiles -Preethi

Best Performance in Edcals - Subhashini

Best Performance in Software Support - Manoj Krishna (His PL Kavin receives the award for him)

Our Senior Vice President addressed the gathering, to congratulate the winners of the best performance awards, and also to encourage more employees to aim for the same excellence.

Finally, the day ended with 'sweet melodies' when we enjoyed a performance by our very own Red Wolves, and received sweet boxes giveaways with a 'Thank You' note from the management.

Here's looking forward to several more such celebrations and commemoration of all the wonderful things that RedEgg stands for.

Red Wolves - RedEgg Band's Dashing Debut!

2011-07-27T13:22:00.000+05:30

After many contemplations and dreams and jamming sessions, it is finally here! RedEgg's very own music band, the oh-so-trendy Red Wolves!! With Danie at the helm, this shiny new band debuted on 9 July 2011, at the Squadra events. Regene Morris and Edwin Moses on the guitars, Biju Jemax and Danie as their lead singers, and Sam Thampi on the drums, made this band a wholesome performance that was a veritable musical feast.

The Red Wolves

This is a shout-out to all RedEggers who are musically inclined! If you have a fabulous voice (or even if you can carry a tune quite well), or you can play any instrument, and if you have a rock star inside of you that is waiting to get out, well the Red Wolves is your chance to rockstardom!!! Come join the Red Wolves and showcase your talent at RedEgg.

Please contact Danie or Sam Thampi for enrolling in the band. All are welcome to participate.

We hope we get to hear many more AR Rahman's, Lata Mageshkar's and Ricky Martin's hidden inside RedEgg!

Squadra Eventi July 2011 - On-screen and Off-screen Opulence!

2011-07-18T13:10:00.001+05:30

The second set of squadra events took place on 9 July 2011 at REDEGG InfoPark. It was a grand day, with brains and beauty, creativity and charm vying with each other for the spotlight! The day started 'sportily' with the Karrombola competition. Employees thronged to have a go at the carom board and the event set the pace for the day. Soon after Karrombola, participants of Sudoku sat down to wrack their brains to solve these number puzzles. Simultaneously, we had the Web Designing and Poster Designing events in full swing. Employees combined their designing, software and aesthetic skills to create the most beautiful posters and websites we have ever seen!

Finally, everyone moved to the stage area to witness some more grandeur. Our judges for the day - Mr.Gaugarin Oliver (CEO, RedEgg Solutions Inc.) and Mr.Kannan Muthupandian (Senior Vice President and Country Head, REDEGG InfoExpert ) - took up the difficult task of wading through the tough competition to pick out the winners!

The 'On-Stage' part of the day began with the display of all the posters and web pages that contestants designed. The color and creativity was truly breathtaking! Even more amazing was the way the themes were interpreted, especially in the Poster Designing Competition. "India's Future" was shown in through the youth, the economy, the environment, and the religions. True diversity indeed! The web designers displayed crisp, colorful, and user-friendly websites for the common theme "Mobile Phones", which impressed the judges.

Next came the Debate, with the topic in discussion being "Should Obama have been Captured or Killed?" The four squadras grouped themselves into two sides arguing for 'Captured' and 'Killed' respectively. Sparks flew as debaters defended their argument, and gave cutting responses to the points made by their opponents. Mr. Kannan as moderator and judge summed up the debate with a thought-provoking discourse.

Right after this, the crowd hushed down for the main attraction of the day - The Creative Fashion Parade! Our four squadras wowed the crowd with magnificent costumes, awesome music, and ingenious themes! With two teams portraying different aspects of media, one team portraying industry, and the fourth taking the extreme theme of necromancy, there was not one dull moment during the entire show! The audience cheered , howled and applauded in the loudest decibels, while the participants alternately blushed, glared, strutted, and sashayed!

The day came to a pleasant end with RedEgg's new band, the Red Wolves, debuting for the first time on stage. Their songs were received with much appreciation. At the very end, the results were announced, and ....

Winners of Squadra events July 2011

1. Karrombola - Men - Winner: Cielo (Ananth jobin)
                                     Runner-up: Aqua (Kumaresan)

                         Women - Winner: Cielo (Sreemathy)
                                         Runner-up: Incendio (K. Saranya)

2. Sudoku - I prize: Terra - G.Surya
                   II prize: Incendio - Annie Rose

3. Poster Designing - I prize: Aqua (Vignesh and Cedric)
                        (Tie) II prize: Cielo (Thanuja and Starlin Bino)
                                             Terra (Amala and Mersalin)

4. Web Designing - I prize: Aqua (Jenslin Vino and Manikanda Perumal)
                      (Tie) II prize:Terra (George Viju and Anand Bens)
                      Incendio (Ramani and Kavitha)

5. Debate - I prize: Terra (Anbu and S.G.Berly)
                         & Incendio (john rogedr and Bala Subramaniam)

              (Tie) Best Debater: Aqua: Biju Jemax AND Cielo: Kripa Hari

6. Creative Fashion Parade - I prize: Incendio. Theme - "Necromancy"
                                            II prize:Aqua       Theme - "Corporate Work Force Diversity"


Here are some pictures from the event:

The stage...

...glows in the dark!

Our Judges: (from right) Mr. Kannan Muthupandian and Mr. Gaugarin Oliver

Karrombola

Hosts of Karrombola - Devamalar (second from left) and Eben Monic (second from right)

Ananth Jobin (Cielo) - Winner - Karrombola (Men's Tournament)

Kumaresan (Aqua) - Runner-up - Karrombola (Men's Tournament)

Sreemathy (Cielo) - Winner - Karrombola (Women's Tournament)

K. Saranya (Incendio) - Runner-up - Karrombol (Women's Tournament)

Sudoku

from right: G.Surya (Terra) - winner of Sudoku; Annie Rose (Incendio) - runner-up of Sudoku

Poster Designing

Kabeer hosting the Poster and Web designing competition

Poster Designing - First prize (Le Squadra Aqua)

La Squadra Aqua introducing their entry

Poster Designing - Second Prize (La Squadra Cielo)

Poster Designing - Second Prize (La Squadra Terra)

Web Designing

Web Designing - First prize (La Squadra Aqua)

La Squadra Aqua introducing their entry

Web Designing - Second Prize (La Squadra Terra)

Web Designing - Tie for Second Prize (La Squadra Incendio)

Debate

S.G Berly (Terra) puts forth her argument. She was part of the winning side of the debate.

Also seen in the above picture are the Moderator and Judge, Mr. Kannan Muthupandian, and the members of the opposing team: from left: Nandhini, Kripa, Biju, and Raim.

Mr.Kannan summarizes and gives the verdict, while members of the winning team look on. from left: Anbu, John, Bala, and Berly

Fashion Parade

Vidya hosting the Creative Fashion Parade

La Squadra Incendio depicts the theme "Necromancy", bagging the first prize in Creative Fashion Parade

La Squadra Aqua won second prize with their theme "Corporate Workforce Diversity"

Here's looking forward to the next Squadra Eventi, with more color, more new faces, and more winners!

Squadra Eventi - Badminton Tournament - April 2011

2011-05-05T12:12:00.001+05:30

As you may have read earlier, this year's Squadra Eventi is a brand new version with many innovative changes incorporated with the earlier events. One of the changes done this year is that the sports events have been added to Squadra Eventi. This means more competition and team spirit!

To start off the Squadra Eventi sports events of 2011, we had the Badminton Tournament on 30 April 2011. It was a bright and sunny Saturday, and events began unfolding as early as 7:00am. RedEggers donned in sportswear and wielding badminton rackets, made their way to the new badminton court laid out in REDEGG InfoPark for all the badminton enthusiasts among us.

The toss at the beginning of a game

Doubles were held for both men and women, where the four squadras sent forth their best players to compete. A fifth team, consisting of members from the management (including upper management, project leaders and project managers) competed, just to spice things up!

Finally, two pairs of winners emerged from both the men's and women's doubles, and two pairs of runners-up followed. Here they are:

Results of Badminton Women's Doubles:

Winners of the women's doubles event: Jennifer and Sajitha - La Squadra Cielo

Runners-up - Sangeetha and Sreemathi - La Squadra Cielo

Results of Badminton Men's Doubles:

from left: Winners of men's doubles: Jenslin and Manikanda Perumal - La Squadra Aqua; Runners-up: Sahadevan and Raim Stalin - La Squadra Aqua.

Some more pictures from the event:

Lets strive for an active life style!!

REDEGG Medical Camp - 2011: 'Health First' at REDEGG

2011-04-12T12:49:00.001+05:30

The physical well-being of our employees is one of the priorities at REDEGG InfoExpert Technologies. Every year we ensure that employees get to attend a free medical camp where various specialists from local hospitals visit the company premises and employees consult them for a free check-up or medical advice on their ailments.

This year, the REDEGG Medical Camp was held on 9 April 2011 at REDEGG InfoPark. All employees attended the medical camp, where they were given an opportunity to meet various specialists. The specialists on hand that day were a general health physician, an opthalmologist, a gastrologist, a gynecologist, an orthopedist, and an orthodontist. The medical camp started at 10am and lasted well into the afternoon.

Here are some pictures from the event:

Eye check-up in progress

Other specialists at work...

Squadra Eventi 2011 - Starting with a Bang!

2011-03-30T15:35:00.000+05:30

Following the huge success of Squadra Eventi 2010, RedEggers are back with a new year of Squadra Eventi. This year, we decided to liven up things a bit by adding new events that we did not have last year. Some of them are Face Painting, Web Designing, Photography contest, Rangoli and lots more! To build a bit of suspense, Squada Eventi will be held once in 2 months, and we will have 4 or more events together!

The first Squadra Eventi was held on 26 March 2011. The events scheduled for the day were Face Painting, Painting, Quiz and Dumb Charades.

The winners of these events are as follows:

Face Painting
1st: La Squadra Terra - Alice Jane & Sanooja Nasrin
2nd: La Squadra Incendio - Indhulekha & Priya Sherin

Painting
1st: La Squadra Incendio - Prejushya
2nd: La Squadra Terra - Renu

Quiz
1st: La Squadra Terra - Surya & Anbu Packiaraj
2nd: La Squadra Incendio - Venugopal & Sudharsanam

Dumb Charades
1st: La Squadra Aqua - Sahadevan, Anto Varghese, & Manikanda Perumal
2nd: La Squadra Cielo - Faizal, Mahesh, & Rajesh Narayanan

Here are some pictures from the events:

Painting Competition

The winning entry

Face Painting Competition

The winning entry

Quiz Competition

far left: La Squadra Terra were the winners of the quiz competition

Dumb Charades

The winning team - La Squadra Aqua - seen here in action

Employee Contribution: "The Current Inflation – Tip of an Iceberg"

2011-02-25T16:35:00.000+05:30

Introduction

For quite some time now, every new day does not pass without a single news about the rising prices of various commodities ranging from food items to petroleum products. This news really concerns us as the rise in general price level inflicts a big hole in our wallets and erodes the value of our money. The country has come across several occasions when the prices of various commodities had sky-rocketed. However, the present situation is quite different since the increase in general price level has been the case of the past more than one year. At this juncture, one really wonders if the trend of rising general price level is a seasonal one or it is going to remain forever by being a structural one.

What is inflation?

In order to understand the gravity of the issue, we first need to understand ‘What is inflation?’ Inflation is a situation where there is a rise in the general price level of goods and services over a period of time. Inflation reduces the amount of goods and services one can buy with a particular amount of money. In other words, it brings down the purchasing power of your money. Putting it simply, with inflation your hundred rupees will buy lesser than what it could buy before the price increase.

Inflation is measured by two methods, namely (a) Consumer Price Index (CPI), and (b) Wholesale Price Index (WPI). In India, the official method used is WPI, though CPI is said to capture the real impact of the inflation on the general consumers.
Inflation – primarily food inflation

Though, presently, prices of almost all goods have increased (including the petroleum products), the rise in the prices of food items has impacted the people greatly. The data for the week ended January 22 showed that the inflation rate for food items stood at 17.05 percent, while it was 11.6 percent for fuel items for the same week. When compared to the last year, the onion prices increased by 130.41 per cent in the third week of January, and fruits and milk rose by 15.47 percent and 11.41 percent respectively. Overall, vegetable prices went up by 77.05 percent (Business Standard, February 4, 2011). All these indicate that the current inflation is primarily food inflation despite the increase in the prices of other commodities.

Factors behind the inflation
Having said that the inflation is primarily food inflation, it is imperative now to understand the factors behind the inflation. While there are several factors at play, the root cause of the current food inflation is the acute crisis in the agriculture sector. Economists like Prabhat Patnaik, C.P. Chandrasekhar, and Jayati Gosh argue that agrarian crisis is the main reason behind the current inflationary pressure, though speculation through forward trading in agricultural commodities has played a considerable role. The crisis in the agriculture sector has led to supply – demand mismatch in the case of food items. This is reflected in the words of Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. He said, “The primary answer to food price inflation lies in improved agricultural production” (The Hindu, Feb. 5, 2011).

Agricultural crisis – the root cause of inflation
The Indian farmers have been defeated on every front. Being squeezed between rising input prices and falling output prices, the farmers finally end up with huge indebtedness. One of the reasons for the rising input prices is sharp reduction or reversal of government subsidies to agriculture inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, electricity etc.

Credit is very important in agriculture. However, data show that only 27 percent of all cultivator households receive institutional credit (from public sector banks), and the rest are forced to rely on private money lenders who charge exorbitant interest rates. These rising input prices and falling output prices made the farming a non-remunerative activity and trapped farmers in indebtedness. This non-profitability of agriculture was revealed by a 2005 NSSO survey which brought out shocking news that 40 percent of Indian farmers wanted to quit farming.

Moreover, since 1990s agriculture sector has been witnessing net outflow of cultivable land for the non- agricultural purposes such as real estate, setting up of special economic zones (SEZs), IT parks and other industrial project. The outflow of land, especially, is high in states with higher urbanization such as Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and Maharastra.

All these factors mark the acute crisis that prevails in the agriculture sector. The crisis, in fact, has led a large number of Indian farmers to commit suicides. While around 1, 50,000 farmers have committed suicides in the last decade, the statistic for the year 2009 stood at 17,000. Most of these suicides have taken place in Maharastra, Andhra Predesh, and Karnataka. Even Kerala is not spared by farmer suicides.

Falling food grain production
The agricultural crisis is reflected by a falling agricultural production, and the consequent rising prices of food items. In the case of Tamil Nadu, the growth rate of food grain production is far below than the growth rate of the state’s population, indicating that the state is not producing enough food grains to feed its own people. Indeed, Tamil Nadu’s case is just an example of the entire Indian picture.

Table 1 compares the growth rate of food grains production with the state’s population growth rate. It is clear from the data that the growth rate of food grains production became negative during the period between 1994 -95 to 2004 – 05, and it is far below than the state’s population growth rate which is already low. Though in other periods the food grain production was almost stagnant and the gap between the two was wider, it is in the recent period that the gap was too large and the growth rate in production became negative.

Conclusion
To sum up, the agricultural crisis is the root cause of the prevailing food inflation in the economy, and no temporary measure, be it monetary or food grain import, is going to resolve the inflation which plague the common man and make millions of poor to starve. The need of the hour is that agriculture must be revived by making it a profitable occupation through a range of very determined policy measures which support the farmers. Another important trend that needs to be stopped is the outflow of cultivable land to non-agricultural activities. These actions will contain inflation and make India starvation-free.

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References:

1. Patnaik, Prabhat. (2011) “Neoliberal illogic”, Frontline, 11th February, 2011.
2. Majumdar, Rajarshi and Ghosh, Subhadip. (2011) “(Un)Common Suffering: Distributional Impact of recent Inflation in India”, Macroscan, 6th January, 2011 [available on http://www.macroscan.org/fet/jan11/fet060111Inflation.htm]
3.    Goswami, Rahul. (2011) “Food Inflation and Agricultural Swaraj”, Macroscan, 3rd January, 2011 [available on http://www.macroscan.org/cur/jan11/cur030111Food_Inflation.htm]
4.    Gosh, Jayati. (2011) “Of margins and the marginalized”, Frontline, 11th February, 2011.
5.    Chandrasekhar, C.P. (2011) “Policy Paralysis and Inflation”, Frontline, 11th February, 2011.
6.    Chandrasekhar, C.P. (2010) “Engineered Inflation”, Macroscan, 2nd August, 2010 [available on http://www.macroscan.org/cur/aug10/print/prnt020810Inflation.htm]
7.    “Indian farmer suicides rise to 17,000 a year”, available at http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110117/wl_sthasia_afp/indiafarmingsuicideroadaccident_20110117120832
8.    “Costlier vegetables push food inflation to 17.05%”, Business Standard, February 4, 2011.
9.    “40% Farmers want to quit Farming-NCAP Study”, available at http://www.indianfarmers.org/news_singlepage/40_Farmers_news.html
10.    “WHY FARMERS END THEIR LIVES?”, available at http://www.boddunan.com/miscellaneous/51-general-reference/10152-why-farmers-end-their-lives.html

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Anbu Packiaraj is a Research Analyst in the Professional Services team. He is currently also pursuing a PhD in Economics.

Squadra Eventi Grand Finale - Colors, Culture and Creativity

2011-02-10T17:16:00.000+05:30

Squadra Eventi for the year 2010 came to an end in January 2011, with a splendid Grand Finale that was filled with lots of good-natured but down-right serious competition, amazing creativity, and breathtaking talent! The four teams - La Squadra Cielo, La Squadra Incendio, La Squadra Aqua, and La Squadra Terra - competed in a series of contests from January to December of 2010. The various contests were:

Painting Competition
Quiz Competition
Dumb Charades
Fashion Parade
Turn Coat
Singing Competition
Poetry-writing Competition

Finally, on 22 January 2011, REDEGG hosted the Grand Finale, the last chance for squadras to prove that they were the best. With our guests from RedEgg Solutions Inc. donning the heavy responsibility of judging the competitions, the four squadras competed in 8 more events to fight for the first ever Squadra Eventi trophy in the history of REDEGG!

Teams assembled as early as 6 a.m. on 22nd, to get their offices 'dolled-up' for the Office Decoration competition! From 1 p.m. onwards, teams participated in a wide range of contests like:
Cake Decoration,
AdZap (advertising a given product in the most entertaining and innovative way possible),
Flower Arrangement,
Picture Perfect (putting together a jigsaw puzzle in the shortest time possible),
Eating Competition,
"Make & Break" (where participants have to make and break as many balloons as possible),and
"Sit or Quit" (musical chairs in a different name)

The highlight of the day was the 'Signor and Signorita REDEGG' contest, where 4 contestants fight for the title of the best guy and gal in REDEGG. These 4 people emerged successful after an audition round, a Group Discussion round, and a written exam!! After having proved that they have the intelligence and the knowledge to get ahead, they were finally put on stage to answer questions posed by our judges.

Here is a list of the winners of each event:
Cake Decoration
1st: Cielo - Gowri & Gibsy
2nd: Terra - Shoba & Shalini

Flower Arrangment
1st: Cielo - Thanuja & Kavitha
2nd: Aqua - Indhulekha & Bala

Picture Perfect
1st: Incendio - Jeema & Sreemathy
2nd: Cielo - Ramani & Jay Sankar

AdZap
1st: Aqua - Kalidhason, Karthik, Manoj & Baiju
2nd: Terra - Sivathanu, Ferdine, Sathish, Shoba, & Sugarla

Eating Competition
1st: Aqua - Abel
2nd: Aqua - Mithun Ganesh

Make & Break
1st: Terra - Terrence
2nd: Incendio - Rakesh

Sit or Quit
1st: Terra - Anand Bens Joy
2nd: Terra - Biju Dotson

Signor REDEGG
Terra - Regene Morris

Signorita REDEGG
Cielo - Jot Rachel

Office Decoration
1st: Terra and Cielo
2nd: Incendio and Aqua

Here are some snapshots from that fabulous day:

REDEGG Student Development Program - 2

2011-02-07T14:31:00.001+05:30

The second stage of the REDEGG Student Development Program was held on 20 January 2011 at ST Hindu College Auditorium. Students who had turned up for the first program came back with equal enthusiasm for the second leg of the program. Starting off with new registrations at 1:30pm (where around 200 students from various colleges registered for the first time), the first session of the day commenced at 2:00pm.

The stage is set for RSDP Stage 2

With Donald Danie (Project Manager, REDEGG) as MOC, the day started with the welcome address by Mr. Meenakshi Sundararajan (Principal, ST Hindu College), followed by a presentation on the founding and growth of REDEGG InfoExpert, by Eric Hill (President, RedEgg Solutions Inc. USA). Next, Gaugarin Oliver (CEO, RedEgg Solutions Inc.) spoke on Corporate Readiness and Interview Etiquette. The floor was then thrown open for the Panel Discussion. Hosted by Mr.G.J.Hamilton (Project Manager, REDEGG), colleagues from RedEgg Solutions Inc. USA, namely Ryan Arnett, Leslie Rutledge, Jennifer Burkhardt, and Jennifer Forsythe, answered questions from students. One volunteer even came directly on stage to ask his question!

Following this, REDEGGers put up a mock interview to show students what an interview with REDEGG would be like. Cedric Sanders (a REDEGGer) played the interviewee, and he was interviewed by four of our Project Managers - Dosslin Benhur, Ernest Vijay, Donald Danie, and Hamilton. Cedric was selected in that interview (!). Then the stage was open to brave volunteers willing to participate in this impromptu interview. The first 5 volunteers would be eligible for a surprise reward - a chance to go directly for an interview with REDEGG, without having to attend the third stage in RSDP!! And, sure enough, we got 5 volunteers (and more) who came forward to do the interviews!

The event drew to a close with the Vote of Thanks proposed by Jagatheesh Raghulan (Project Leader, REDEGG), who is himself an alumni of ST Hindu College, where the event was held.

The event saw around 500 students in attendance, and ended successfully with students eagerly looking forward to Stage 3, where the actual recruitment will take place.

Some pictures from the event:

Registration in full swing

Around 200 registrations!

Dignitaries on the dais: (from left) Eric Hill - President, RedEgg Solutions Inc., Gaugarin Oliver - CEO, RedEgg Solutions Inc., Mr. Meenakshi Sundararajan - Principal, ST Hindu College

The principal of ST Hindu College at the podium

Students listen in rapt attention. REDEGGers in the forefront.

Eric Hill talks about REDEGG and its origins

Gaugarin Oliver presents a session on Corporate readiness

The Open Forum in progress. (from left) G.J.Hamilton, Leslie Rutledge, Ryan Arnett, Jennifer Forsythe, and Jennifer Burkhardt

Jennifer Forsythe shares a light moment with the audience

A volunteer comes forward with a question to the panel

Mock Interview: (from left) Cedric Sanders, Dosslin Benhur, Ernest Vijay, and Hamilton

One of the student volunteers being interviewed by the panel. Interviewers: (from left) Ernest, Dosslin, and Donald Danie

Jagatheesh Raghulan delivers the Vote of Thanks

REDEGG Volunteers, Presenters, and Guests

Inauguration of REDEGG InfoPark

2011-01-31T17:19:00.002+05:30

RedEgg opened a new branch in Ozhuganasery on 17 January 2011. Our colleagues from RedEgg Solutions Inc. visited the same week, and were able to join us for the opening ceremony. The new office, which will house the entire MMI wing of REDEGG InfoExpert, is a welcome sign of growth, considering that the company has been progressing in leaps and bounds, as far as number of employees is concerned. Around 100 employees have been shifted to this newly furnished building. With all employees, the guests from US, and other friends of the company in attendance, Mrs.Selvabai Oliver (Gaugarin's mother) cut the ribbon to inaugurate the new building.

Here are some pictures from the ceremony:

The gateway to REDEGG InfoPark

The building

Main entrance to the building

The office

Conference Room

Kannan Muthupandian (Senior Vice President) talks to the employees gathered for the ceremony

The Reception Committee

Eric Hill (President, RedEgg Solutions Inc.) was one of the guests welcomes in the traditional Indian way

An employee invites Mrs.Selvabai Oliver to cut the ribbon

Our guests from USA

The prayer to invoke God's blessings

The ribbon is cut...

... and the CEO and President enter REDEGG InfoPark for the very first time!

Mr.Edward Smith (MD, REDEGG InfoExpert) lights the holy lamp

The Inauguration Ceremony was followed by a small meeting, where the CEO addressed the employees, and many awards for best performers of the year, were distributed.

Gaugarin makes a presentation

Kannan gave away mementoes to all our special guests. Here Jennifer Forsythe receives her memento


It's official! The brand new names for both offices!


Betcy was one of the winners of the 'Name the Building' Contest

Rafeek - one of the winners of 'Name the Building' contest

Sunil - one of the winners of the 'Name the Building' contest

Aravind - one of the winners of the 'Name the Building' contest

Eric addresses the employees

Surya was one of more than 20 employees who received 'Best Performer' awards.

Regene received a 'Best Performer' awards from the US team

Sinduja was one of the many employees who received a promotion

Devamalar was among a few employees who were promoted to the post of 'Project Lead'

Danie is one of our two new Project Managers

Kabeer is our other new Project Manager

Congratulations to all those who won awards and received promotions for their excellent performances this year. We wish our employees a great year ahead, and hope that more of you will take home such awards and promotions in the coming years!

2011-01-03T10:42:00.000+05:30

Warm New Year's Wishes from REDEGG InfoExpert Technologies to all its employees, friends, and well wishers!! Hope this year will be an exciting trip towards progress and success, just as 2010 was! We look forward to your contribution and companionship on this journey!

REDEGG Student Development Program - Stage 1

2010-12-28T12:41:00.003+05:30

REDEGG goes to the very grassroots of the resource pool, this time, approaching the Arts and Science colleges in and around the Kanyakumari district, to train and hire the best students they have. As a culmination of the ideas and requests placed before us by the principals and senior professors who attended the REDEGG Round Table Conference with non-engineering colleges in the district, REDEGG launched the REDEGG Student Development Program 2010-2011. This is a series of training programs and interactive sessions that will make students ready for the corporate world, and prime them for being hired by REDEGG.

We invited all final year UG, PG, MPhil, and PhD students to be a part of the 2010 Student Development Program which aims at:
1.Improving the employability of non-engineering students in the knowledge industry;
2.Training and equipping students to attend and get through all on-campus recruitment conducted by REDEGG.
3.Identifying and recruiting students who perform well during the development program

The plan is to hold the program in 3 stages over 3 months, namely December 2010, and January and February 2011:

Stage 1 – Registration-cum-Introduction – Students will be introduced to the company, the industry, and products.
Stage 2 – Seminars on Corporate Readiness – Sessions on ‘Preparing for a Corporate Interview’ & ‘Important Skills for a Successful Corporate Career’ -
Stage 3 – Tests and Interviews

Stage 1 was successfully conducted on 10 December 2010, at the Scott Christian College Auditorium, where around 500 students from various Arts and Science colleges registered to the program, and attended the sessions.

At one of the 10 registration counters

Students from some of the most prominent colleges in the district attended the program. Colleges included Scott Christian College, Women's Christian College, ST Hindu College, Holy Cross College for Women, Noorul Islam College of Arts and Science, St.Xavier's Palayamkottai, St.Jude's, Sree Ayappa College, Lakshmipuram College of Arts and Science, Muslim Arts College, Nesamony Memorial Christian College Marthandam, VTM College, Pioneer Kumaraswamy College, and more. We also had alumni and recent graduates registering to the program.

The program was hosted entirely by REDEGGers.

Presenters for the day

With Donald Danie (Project Leader) doing the MOC for the event, the Welcome address was delivered by Ernest Vijay (Project Manager).

Donald Danie

Ernest Vijay

This was followed by a presentation on REDEGG InfoExpert, by Kannan Muthupandian (Country Head and Vice President, REDEGG)

Kannan Muthupandian

Following this, GJ Hamilton (Project Manager) spoke on Media and its significance

GJ Hamilton

The final session, presented again by Kannan Muthupandian, was on the importance of improving communication skills and getting ready for the corporate world

The sessions were well received by the students, who responded to questions, and listened intently.
Here are some more pictures from the day...

students filling out registration forms

Full House!

responding to a question

cheering for their college!

the entrance of the college, with the RSDP 2010-2011 banner

The REDEGG team

Note: Stage 2 of the REDEGG Student Development Program will be held on 20 January 2011, at the ST Hindu College Auditorium. The program will start at 1:30pm. All those who attended Stage 1, and other interested students, are invited to this stage.

We look forward to more enthusiastic participants!

REDEGG Chess Competition 2010

2010-11-17T17:40:00.001+05:30

"Chess is the greatest game ever invented, because it only looks like a game." - Scott Kerns

True. Going under the guise of an innocent board game, chess is actually a test of intelligence, foresight and shrewdness. RedEggers set out to test these skills at the REDEGG Chess Competition held on 13 November 2010.

Participants gathered together eagerly to have a go at chess boards on that Saturday, bringing in almost equal number of enthusiasts for both the Men's and Women's divisions.

The Women's division in progress


The Men's division

There was intense concentration...

... fierce competition...

... and good camaraderie...

The victorious winners, emerging undefeated after several rounds, were:

Men's Division

Winner: Benil Mebsam Runner-up: Prabhu Rajan

Women's Division

Winner: Ramani Krishnaraj Runner: Alice Jane

Congrats Winners!

NSF/REDEGG Scholarships 2010 - Highest Number of Recipients!

2010-11-16T12:53:00.009+05:30

The NSF/REDEGG Scholarship has been going strong for 3 years now, and, thanks to support from the community and educational institutions, and the unmatchable contributions of REDEGG employees, the Nagercoil chapter of NSF scholarships has seen enormous success in reaching out to deserving and hardworking students.

Read about NSF Recipients and Ceremonies in the previous years:

Shall We Make a Difference?

Glad Tidings of Great Joy!! NSF/RedEgg Scholarships 2009

En Route to Success

NSF Scholarship Awarded to Four Candidates!

This year, the awards ceremony was held on 4 November 2010. With Gaugarin Oliver visiting from USA, it was a happy occasion when the scholarship recipients came to the REDEGG premises to receive their checks. We are proud to place on record the fact that, this year, 7 students have received the scholarship - the highest number of recipients we've had so far! Kudos to the team!

With Shobha Yesudhas as MOC, the evening began with a presentation on the NSF scholarship and REDEGG's role in the past year. Ernest Vijay, the coordinator of the Nagercoil chapter (and the youngest coordinator in the program!), elaborated on how the recipients were selected.

The fortunate recipients of this year's NSF scholarships are G.J.Suganya with 96.5% in her HSC exams, R.Sabarish (93.75%), Subbulakshmi S. (92.3%), Indu T.U (90.75%), L.Alangara Maria Jagatha (89%), B.V.Santhiya (88%), and V.B Jeya Bal (84.75%).

Following this, our CEO, Mr.Gaugarin Oliver addressed the audience and, in particular, congratulated the recipients on the scholarship.

Recipients received their scholarship checks from Gaugarin:

Some of the recipients also expressed their gratitude towards the NSF organization for providing the scholarships and to REDEGG for bringing it to deserving students in the Kanyakumari district.

4th Founders Day - Saying Thanks...

2010-08-17T15:34:00.002+05:30

RedEgg's Founders Day is celebrated on 7th August every year. Every year, Founders Day brings with it some significant milestone or achievement. We have had new floors inaugurated, debut issues of newsletters released, visits from our colleagues in the US office and so on...

This year was a little different. The overall thought for this year's celebration was 'Saying Thank you'.

On this day, RedEggers looked back with gratitude at the awe-inspiring history of RedEgg. The RedEgg management team chose this day to say 'thank you' to the 170+ employees who have boarded the RedEgg bus, and have decided to make their career with us. How better to say thanks, than with a sweet 'thank you' note and a box of sweets!

A box of delicious sweets and the 'thank you' note...

...and this is what it said!

Kabeer (RedEgg's very first employee!) said thanks in his own way, with a presentation on his early days at RedEgg, and the growth that he and his team have seen in the past 4 years...

Kabeer thanks RedEgg's leaders

Our VP, Kannan Muthupandian, and Gaugarin Oliver, our CEO, cut the cake that RedEgg presented to thank them for their leadership!

Here's to the 4 years...

...and more

Gaugarin thanked RedEggers for being the best at what they do. Pointing out that RedEgg has created an entirely new economic and career growth in this district, he noted that many people were extremely grateful for the opportunities offered by a successful IT company like RedEgg. He also thanked everyone for the warmth and friendship that he and his family received from RedEggers in Nagercoil! Finally, he added that he looked forward to more successful years with more people joining in this journey.

Gaugarin says, 'Thank You'.

Gaugarin Oliver, our beloved CEO, has been with us for the past 1 year, and will return to USA this month. We will miss him a lot, but we are also thankful for his hands-on guidance and mentoring that we basked in during the past year!

Finally, RedEgg thanked its first employees - wonderful, hardworking and goal-oriented people who have stuck with us through thick and thin for the past 4 years. These people are the pillars of strength that RedEgg stands on...

As G.K Chesterton rightly said, "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."

Happy Founders Day RedEggers!

Entrepreneurship and RedEgg's View

2010-08-13T14:51:00.003+05:30

The year 2010 has been one where the academic society of Kanyakumari district has gradually formed close and long-lasting relations with the RedEgg community. Through the NSF/RedEgg Scholarships instituted in 2008, campus recruitment ventures, talent search events for academic institutions, and discussions with academicians on graduating highly employable students, RedEgg has rapidly grown to be the ultimate career goal for most graduates in the Kanyakumari district.

Taking this relationship one step further was the Entrepreneurship Awareness Camp held at St.Xavier's Catholic College of Engineering, on 5th August 2010. The camp, conducted by the Entrepreneurship Development Cell of the college, was sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Where does RedEgg fit into all this?

Well, it is a matter of pride to note that our CEO, Mr.Gaugarin Oliver, was invited as the chief guest of the inaugural function of the camp, to deliver the inaugural address.

Mr.Oliver's presentation, well received by all, concentrated on the entrepreneurial aspect of the growth of RedEgg InfoExpert. He spoke about the 3 main traits that would pave the path of success for any budding entrepreneur - Introspection, Investigation, Implementation. He went on to explain these traits in detail, and finished with showing the rapt audience how RedEgg had used these good practices to reach the heights it enjoys now.

Some pictures from the event...

Gaugarin Oliver joins Dr. S. Joseph Sekhar (Principal of St.Xaviers) and another special guest on the dais

Gaugarin Oliver tells the crowd, "Yes You Can be a Successful Entrepreneur"!!

RedEgg Sports Is Serious Play!

2010-07-05T15:01:00.002+05:30

The RedEgg Cricket Team

"Success isn't something that just happens - success is learned, success is practiced and then it is shared".Sparky Anderson

RedEgg is not about all work and no play! Just as we sharpen our minds with quiz contests, seminars, and other mind honing activities, we also enjoy hard physical activity! RedEgg's sports activities make sure that people stay healthy, and have a good time too!

Enter, the RedEgg Cricket Team! We started playing as a team during last year, and won our first match in February of 2010. Once our team had a taste of victory, there was no stopping them. Our team plays every Sunday, and under the able captainship of Kannan Sir, has beat many strong local teams like 'Eleven Star Cricket Club' (ESCC), and 'Black Killers Cricket Team' (BKCT) among others.

Keep up the great work boys! We are all cheering for you!

RedEgg's cricket equipments relax after a tiring match...It's quite hard to keep up with our team!!

RedEgg also has many indoor games like chess, carom board, table tennis, and badminton. On 19 June 2010, we had "Karrombola 2010", our annual carom board tournament. After one evening of nail-biting suspense and breathtaking skill, four employees took the winners stand.

Abel Premnath emerged the winner of the Men's tournament, and Jegan was the first runner-up. In the Women's tournament, Jenifer Renjini was the winner, and was closely followed by Ayshwarya, who was the first runner-up. Congrats guys!

Carom board game in progress

RedEgg has planned more of such sports events in the future, so watch this space for more updates!

RedEgg Talent Search 2010 Awards Ceremony

2010-06-17T15:27:00.021+05:30

RedEgg took an innovative approach to mass recruitment in March 2010. We planned a major meet-up with RedEggers and Engineering graduates in the local colleges, and we called it "Rendezvous with RedEgg". Our management team made presentations on RedEgg's growth, and the objective behind this venture. The main event, though, was 'RedEgg Talent Search 2010'.

This was an essay competition, where more than 500 students competed with each other to write the best essay. At stake was a lot of cool prizes and an opportunity to interview at RedEgg as soon as they graduate!The event was a grand success, and the winners were chosen after many levels of evaluation. Finally, the first three winners, and 20 finalists of the competition were invited to the awards ceremony that was held on 11 June 2010.

The Chief Guests of the occasion were Dr.S.Joseph Sekhar M.E, Ph.D, the principal of St.Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering; and Dr.J. Mohamed Jahabar, the principal of PET Engineering College.

The stage was set for the grand occasion...
... the audience was seated...

... the dignitaries took the dais...

... and the ceremony began...

Master of Ceremonies - Kannan Muthupandian, Vice President, RedEgg InfoExpert

The evening started with a prayer...

Prayer - Pastor Rajkumar

RedEgg gave its guests, winners, and audience members a very warm welcome...

(Welcome Address - Vidya David, Project Lead, Professional Services)

Gaugarin and Eric welcome Dr.S.Joseph Sekhar with a memento

Gaugarin and Eric extend their welcome to Dr.J. Mohamed Jahabar with a memento

The CEO spoke on the significance of the awards ceremony, the events that led up to it, and how it was fitting that his good friend and mentor Dr.S.Joseph Sekhar should be the Chief Guest at this event.

Gaugarin Oliver, CEO of RedEgg Solutions Inc. - Presentation on RedEgg Talent Search 2010

He also spoke about the importance of the 'Plastics Free Kanyakumari' movement, and how it was slowly changing the very outlook of people in the district, towards the environment.

A call to support the 'Plastics free Kanyakumari movement'

The Chief Guest of the evening, Dr.S.Joseph Sekhar, the principal of St.Xavier’s Catholic College of Engineering, spoke to us about how RedEgg has changed the face of Nagercoil, and expressed his appreciation for the innovation and courage in setting up an organization of this nature in a small town like Nagercoil.

(Keynote Address by Dr.S.Joseph Sekhar)

Eric Hill, President of RedEgg Solutions, expressed his amazement at the caliber of talent in the Kanyakumari district, and insisted that the company's success in the past four years is directly related to the limitless skill and talent of the employees, all of whom originate from this district.

(President's Speech on Talent in Kanyakumari District - Eric Hill, President, REDEGG Solutions)

The time had finally come for the winners to be announced...

The Winner of the Talent Search received a gift voucher worth Rs.2000 from a local boutique, a trophy, and an interview letter.

Benetha V.B., St.Xavier's Catholic College of Engineering, receives her award from Dr.J. Mohamed Jahabar

The I Runner-up received a gift voucher worth Rs.1500 from a local boutique, a trophy, and an interview letter.

Jenefer Renjini, CSI Institute of Technology, receives her award from Dr.S.Joseph Sekhar

The II Runner-up received a gift voucher worth Rs.1000 from a local boutique, a trophy, and an interview letter.

Goldvin Sugirtha Dhas B., St.Xavier's Catholic College of Engineering, receives his award from Eric Hill

The 20 Finalists were also awarded interview letters, and mementos.

Scot Wheeler, Vice President of Professional Services, RedEgg Solutions, hands over a gift and certificate to a finalist

Bonnie McNeal, Manager of Professional Services, RedEgg Solutions, hands over a gift and certificate to a finalist

(Scot Wheeler and Bonnie McNeal, colleagues from RedEgg Solutions, joined us for the ceremony, and the week preceding the event. Read about Scot's experiences here.

Dosslin Benhur, Project Manager of HR and Admin, RedEgg InfoExpert, hands over a gift and certificate to a finalist

Ernest Vijay, Project Manager of MyMediaInfo Research, RedEgg InfoExpert, hands over a gift and certificate to a finalist

The evening came to a close with RedEgg expressing its heartfelt thanks to the dignitaries from USA, the chief guests of the evening and all who had worked hard at making the event a beautiful and memorable reality.

G.J.Hamilton, Project Manager of Professional Services, RedEgg InfoExpert - Vote of Thanks

RedEgg InfoExpert's Talent Search 2010 Awards Ceremony ended, but not without looking forward to another talent search next year, and more exciting winners and additions to the RedEgg family!

The REDEGG Round Table Conference - New In-Roads to Industry-Academic Collaboration

2010-06-17T12:51:00.006+05:30

A lot of the success of an organization depends on the success of its employees. Hiring the best is half the battle won. RedEgg is always looking to hire the best candidates in the district - young people with the capacity to face challenges, innovate, and grow along with the company. With this end in mind, RedEgg decided to go to the very source,the greenhouse of fresh minds, and the guardians of these minds - the Arts and Science colleges and their principals!

11 June 2010 was an important day in the history of RedEgg. We took giant steps towards strengthening the relationship between the academic world and our industry. RedEgg met up with principals and decision-makers from various non-engineering colleges in the Kanyakumari district, and discussed “Development towards Employability of Non-Technical Graduates from the Southern Districts”.

The conference was attended by Principals, and senior professors of more than 20 colleges in the Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli district. Eric Hill, President of RedEgg Solutions Inc., spoke about the history of RedEgg, and the objective of setting up the company in Nagercoil. This was followed by a presentation on the present trends in hiring in industries, and the issues related with hiring the best. This presentation was done by Gaugarin Oliver, CEO of RedEgg Solutions, Inc.

Kannan Muthupandian, Vice President of RedEgg InfoExpert, summed up the management's talk with a presentation on the proposed plans for the development and hiring of non-engineering students.

Relationships were formed, and significant issues discussed. Plans were made to develop students through training programs, and various other inputs on a regular basis, with the ultimate objective of hiring the high-achievers into the RedEgg task force.


Gaugarin Oliver hands over a memento to the principal of ST Hindu College

Eric Hill greets representatives from various colleges

Kannan Muthupandian in conversation with the principal of St.Xavier's College, Palayamkottai

At the end of the conference, the firm handshakes were enough to show the strength of the ties that we could look forward to in the coming days!

Squadra Eventi - Competition, Camarederie, and Celebration!

2010-04-19T15:41:00.017+05:30

Squadra Eventi (noun) - competitive events. Origin: Italian. And boy, are they competitive or what! We are talking about the interesting competitions held for employees every month, at RedEgg! Employees are put into four teams (picked by lots; no sorting hat involved here!), viz., La Squadra Cielo (The Team Wind), La Squadra Incendio (The Team Fire), La Squadra Terra (The Team Earth), and La Squadra Aqua (The Team Water).

Competitions are held once every month, and winners get a gold star, while first runners-up get a silver star. At the end of the year, the over-all winners of all the competitions get a grand prize or a trophy!So far, we have had the Quiz competition, and the Dumb Charades event. La Squadra Cielo has won both events, while Incendio and Terra were runners-up for the events respectively.
However, the most fun event so far was the Creative Fashion Parade that was held on 16 April 2010. And 'creative' is putting it lightly!!

The stage was set for the models to walk the ramp.

With Mr.Kannan MC-ing for the event, the evening commenced with lots of lights and music.

Our judges took their places...

...and the crowd went into a silence of anticipation...

Teams walked in, one by one, showcasing the most creative themes for their parades, and their costumes were something that any fashion designer would envy!

The winners of the event were La Squadra Aqua, with their theme 'Leaders through the Ages'.
You can see the South Indian Village Leader, the CEO of a Big Corporation, The Robot (apparently they will rule the future!), the 'King of the Jungle" (!), and the Nawab.

This 'King' had the audience guffawing - when asked what questions he would ask at an interview to hire an assistant, he spoke thus, wisely, "AAA, baaa,waaa,goo"... his words exactly! However, we did not have the privilege of understanding his wise words, because we did not speak his Junglese language!!

Anyway, we had equally interesting and inspiring themes by the other squadra:

They stand for 'Ban On Plastic'

These guys walked the ramp for 'Peace'

These models were all for 'Recycling'.

The day ended with the excitement of winning, and the eager anticipation for many more such events this year!

RedEgg Recruits!

2010-03-24T12:30:00.010+05:30

RedEgg has been pretty busy trying to find more talented people out there who are willing to join the company. We are growing in leaps and bounds, and we need more hands on deck!

We now have two floors that are fully used - one for the Professional Services team, and the other for the MyMediaInfo team! And, there's more... A bunch of people will be joining us within the next few months, fresh out of college, and ready to take on the challenge of working at RedEgg!

RedEgg went straight to the source to get these fresh minds! A series of campus interviews and recruitment processes were conducted in the past few months.
We started with Cape Institute of Technology, Tirune lveli on 5 December 2009, where we met upto a hundred Engineering students. in 2010, we visited Nesamony Memorial Christian College in the month of February, were we interviewed around 40 MBA students. Our latest trip was to St.Xavier's Catholic College of Engineering. This trip was unique, in that it was a talent search-cum-campus connect. We invited over 300 Engineering students from various colleges in and around Nagercoil to participate in career guidance seminars, and an Essay contest. The students also got an opportunity to interact with successful professionals at RedEgg.

Here are some pictures from the events:

At the end of this great effort at recruitment, we narrowed down on the brightest candidates with flawless communication, a great academic track record, and the drive to excel. These bright 'uns will be joining us soon, this year.

RedEgg looks forward to more people on board this ship to success.

If you are a reader of this blog but are not a RedEgger yet, and you are interested in applying to RedEgg, go ahead and send us your resume at careers@redegginfoexpert.com. Check out our job opportunities, and take your first step to a successful IT career right here in Nagercoil.

Not sure how to apply? Your questions are answered here.

When Santa Claus Came to Town! Christmas Celebrations 2009

2009-12-23T10:46:00.004+05:30

Christmas came to RedEgg with lots of sparkles, Christmas lights, creativity, and fun & frolic!! It was a successful year, with more hands on deck and more achievements under the belt, and now we simply Had to Paarttteeeyyy!

19 December was when it all came down, or 'went up' rather! The day began bright and early, literally, with people coming in as early as 5:00am to put up sparkling paper, streamers and balloons to decorate their bays. You see, there was this important contest, called the Bay Decoration Contest, and every bay simply had to look magical! Balloons, mangers, stars, snowmen (made of cotton but wish we had snow!), reindeer, and our Big Ol' Santa were all up and glowing a few hours later. Someone turned their bay into Hawaii, someone else's bay had a beautiful waterfall (we have no idea how they pulled that one off...but it was breathtaking!), one bay dazzled the minds out of onlookers, and another bay morphed into North Pole, complete with melting snow (!). Global warming, people? Hulloo-ow!! And, as if that wasn't enough, someone's bay became HEAVEN, no less!!! Of course, at the end, Hawaii took the prize!Their recycled Santa in an egg shell and pretty newspaper Christmas trees proved irresistible to the judges!
More pretty-ness was added to the bays with the paintings from the Painting contest, yummylicious cakes from the Cake Decoration contest, and fragrant flowers from the Flower Decoration contest. After this, the stage was thrown open to more contests (yeah, we had a great time!). AdZap, the contest with all the surreal yet humorous advertisements (oh you know, simple stuff like giant babies wearing glow-in-the-dark shades toting gun-shaped TV remote controls!) ; the Eating contest (NomNom!); the Musical Chairs (resulted in a lot of toppled chairs and stomped-on feet!), the Balloon Blowing contest (Huff and Puff); which provided us with balloons for the Balloon-Stomping contest for the little kids of employees (resulted in some serious crying when balloons suddenly disappeared!); 'Who Am I?' (where even President Obama and Santa Claus went unrecognized!!); and all kinds of fun stuff.

There was disbelief and fascination written on every face when Sempai Murugan (a Black Belt in Karate and one of our employees) smashed through 10 slabs of marble with his bare hands! Hey Jackie Chan, you got some serious competition right here!
The crowd went crazy when two little beauties - Keerthana (age 5) and Mittu (age 4.5) took the stage by storm, dancing to fast numbers. Their impeccable dance moves mixed with their innocent childish smiles of glee was endearing and amazing all at the same time!

Prizes were distributed to the winners of the various contests, and the clapping, cheering and whistling that ensued were heard all around the neighborhood!The evening came to a mellow and sweet finish with people crooning Christmas carols and beautiful film songs. Everyone sang a Christmas wish, received plum cakes and had a wonderful Christmas dinner. People went home with the happiness of good times spent with friends and colleagues, taking with them memories that will linger for years to come!

Glad Tidings of Great Joy!! NSF/RedEgg Scholarships 2009

2009-12-16T09:22:00.002+05:30

December is the month of goodwill, happiness and joy to all. When the whole world was celebrating the season of giving, RedEgg was doing its own share of spreading goodwill and happiness.

2009 brought with it a new search for recipients of the NSF/RedEgg Scholarship. We identified 5 recipients this year, one more than last year. We are proud to announce the recipients of the 2009 NSF/RedEgg Scholarships from the Nagercoil chapter:

C.Ruth with an aggregate of 92.3% in her HSc exams, T.Sivakumar with 91.6%, I.Suyambulingesh with 91.5%, S.Sumithra - 89.16%, and Murugan - 89.66%.
RedEgg expresses hearty congratulations and wishes for a successful future to all the recipients!

The recipients were honored at a special event where the scholarship checks were also distributed. This was one of the highlights of the month of December, with all the employees, the management, new recipients and their families, and the recipients of the 2008 scholarships (with families) all coming together to honor the 2009 recipients.

The event was held on 12 December 2009, and it was our pleasure to meet Dr. Ratnam Chitturi who also presided over the meeting. Dr. Chitturi is the Founder of North South Foundation and had flown in all the way from Chicago to meet the 2009 recipients and the volunteers at RedEgg.

Gaugarin Oliver (CEO) spoke about the beginnings of NSF and the contribution of American-Indian children in particular. The highlight of the evening was the screening of a video documentary on the experiences of the founders, participants and various other contributors to the foundation. It was heartening to actually see the excited faces of the children who are the sole driving force behind the success of the scholarships. It was especially touching to hear the children say that they were eager to see their peers in India receive the blessing of a good education that they already enjoyed.

This was followed by Dr. Chitturi's address, where he challenged us to think, "What are you doing to make this world better? Are we conserving our natural resources; are we mindful of our environment; do we do our part to save the earth? How much do we value the blessing of life, health, and comfort that we have today? Will we leave behind a healthy earth for our children and their children?" These were the unsettling yet necessary questions he left us with at the end of the day.

The thought-provoking speech made way for the main event, which was the distribution of the scholarships. Mrs. Madhavi Oliver and Dr. Chitturi distributed the scholarships to the recipients, who then expressed their gratitude to the foundation and RedEgg for giving them the gift of education. They vowed that they would excel in their fields and give others the advantage that they had received that day. The scholarships were renewed for the recipients of last year, who in turn spoke about how this opportunity had changed their life in the past year.The evening drew to a close with hopes lingering the hearts of the volunteers that soon we will meet the NSF/RedEgg scholarship recipients of 2010!

Working Well With Others

2009-10-22T17:07:00.006+05:30

"Working well with others" is a challenging task for any one in a work place. Being humans it is not feasible to be compatible all the time. But, how do we go to work and do our jobs without conflict when all our opinions and beliefs differ from person to person. Here are few suggestions put forth by Ms.Sumathi to work well with others.

Click here to view the presentation.

Moon Landing - Fake

2009-10-22T16:20:00.003+05:30

The moon also called as the 'terrestrial planet' is the only celestial body on which human beings have made a manned landing. On July 20, 1969, the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, the Eagle, landed on the moon to fulfill the promise of president John F. Kennedy that the U.S. would land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. And, of course Neil Armstrong became the first to set his foot on the moon. It is said that the cold-war inspired space race between the Soviet Union and the United States of America accelerated with a focus on the moon. The worst fact is that, the thought we believe that man has landed on the moon, have been proved by many scholars as falsifications staged by NASA and members of other involved organizations. Click here to view the presentation on "Moon Landing - fake" by Mr. Sreejith Sathish.

What Makes GE Great?

2009-10-16T12:43:00.005+05:30

General Electric, GE, the most admired company in America - and the world - may not look that distinguished. It is not the biggest or the most profitable company and it is not the fastest growing company. Its stock has been inert for years but what is there in it to admire? Why fortune magazine has quoted it as the most admired company in the United States? Why the Financial Times and Barron's say that it is the best? Why does the world love this company so much? Click here to view the answers for these questions in Ms. Anita's presentation on "What Makes GE Great?"

Business Networking

2009-10-13T16:27:00.005+05:30

A recent statistical study reveals that the chances of sealing a deal are 79% higher when business networking is involved. Networking has been identified as a great way of generating awareness and sales for any business since it provides the opportunity to expand the contact list. Networking proves to be a great way to exchange ideas as well as referrals, acquire specialized information and open new markets as well as to create and maintain strong business relationships. Business networking is found to be a cost-effective method of generating new business than advertising or public relations efforts.

Click here to view Ms. Rajeswari's presentation on "Business Networking."

Time Management & Multitasking

2009-10-13T11:04:00.004+05:30

Many Individuals struggle with time management and multitasking skills in the workplace. There are numerous strategies for increasing these two very important characteristics. This presentation on "Time Management & Multitasking given by Kabeer will help us to practice how to multitask to save time and find more time to do the things we love.

Click here to view the presentation.

Employee's Employable Skills

2009-10-07T11:50:00.007+05:30

Every individual on the globe possess a unique set of skills. Employers are looking for these skills and attributes in the graduates they recruit. These are In addition to the technical and theoretical knowledge acquired during degree classes. But, why do the employers look for other skills when an individual possess a degree? It is because when taking into account an employee's skills and strong points, it becomes easier for a superior to get the job done and also has the beneficial consequence of involving the level of pride and commitment he/she has in connecting with the work performed. Here are few tips put forth by Mr. Faizal on "Employees Employable skills" to develop the skills of an employee and it also helps one to identify how these skills relate to what employers look for in their employees.

Click here to view the presentation.

India and Cosmetics

2009-10-07T11:34:00.003+05:30

In the recent times we can see the markets flood with various cosmetic products not only for women but also for men. But, why do the cosmetic companies target India as their Market? A report submitted by Merill Lynch and Capgemini reveals that the number of high net worth individuals in India has increased by 19.5% in the year 2005 which included a tremendous contribution from the High-earning women who were aged between 25-45.

It was identified that they were the women who looked for better products and were willing to pay a premium for international quality products with a recognized brand. This boom in the Indian fashion Industry has also increased the awareness of Indian people about their appearances and consequently contributed to an increase in the demand for cosmetic products. The best part is that many International companies are now outsourcing cosmetics to India and the Industry of cosmetic products in India is growing at an average rate of 20% annually making sure that the Indian cosmetic Industry has an even greater potential for growth than it is presently experiencing.

This presentation on "India and Cosmetics" by Ms. D. Ezhila Johnilet will provide us with adequate information about the Cosmetic Industry in India.

Click here to view the presentation.

Team Player and to be a Winner

2009-10-06T16:30:00.006+05:30

Working successfully as a team is not as easy as it may seem. It takes a great deal of hard work and compromise. There are a number of factors that must be in place to cohere together as a team and work seamlessly. Ms.Devamalar's presentation on "Team Player and to be a Winner" equips the readers with various tips on how to be an effective team player.

Click here to view the presentation.

How to lead a happy life

2009-10-06T15:59:00.006+05:30

Happiness is what all of us want. It is a universal goal, but, the road to happiness is the road less traveled by all of us. It is our nature as human beings to crave happiness, peace, joy, passion, a sense of belonging, meaning and contribution, but, it takes a great deal of optimism and patience to be happy. Here are few basics put forth by Mr. Bharath about "How to lead a happy life."

Click here to view the presentation.

The Power of Positive Thinking

2009-10-06T15:36:00.006+05:30

Have you ever felt really stressed about something, only to see the stress vanish when you talk the situation through with a friend?

Quite often, our experience of stress comes from our perception of a situation. Often, that perception is right, but sometimes it isn't. Sometimes we are unreasonably harsh with ourselves, or jump to wron conclusions about people's motives, and this can send us into a downward spiral of negative thinking.

Thought Awareness, Rational Thinking and Positive Thinking are simple tools that help you to change this negative way of thinking. This presentation by Mr. Balasubramaniam on "The Power of Positive Thinking" teaches you how to use them.

Click here to view the presentation.

Red-E Newsletter - Premier Issue, August 2009

2009-09-09T09:28:00.004+05:30

Okay, folks, it's been a long time coming...but here it is finally! The premier issue of the Red-E newsletter was released on August 2009, on the third anniversary of RedEgg. We're posting a little link to the newsletter right here. Take a Look!

The newsletter is predominantly about the RedEgg community, our activities, achievements, interests, skills, and the talents we want to showcase. Oh! and we also have some really interesting pictures (!) to show you how much fun we have!

A small word of thanks to everyone who made this project a success, right from the word Go. The idea for a newsletter came from our employees, and this is pure democracy through and through. Our newsletter is 'of the employees, by the employees, and for the employees'!

Ideas and suggestions for the newsletter came in a constant flow through our Yammer network, with people coming up with slogans, designs, and names for the newsletter. After a lot of discussion, we settled on 'Red-E Newsletter' for the name (suggested by Anish), 'Voice of a Vibrant Community' for the slogan (combined ideas of Anish, Kannan Sir and a few others), and this as our logo: (Shaiju's creativity!)
Special thanks to Anand (who did the printing and distribution), Shaiju, Raghu, G.R. Vidya, Jegan, Premlin, Rajee, Joshua, Carol Xavier, Aravind, Beauty, Sunil, Gowri, Anita, Anns Felindex, and Hamilton for keeping those creative juices flowing. Also, kudos to our Sub-Editors who did the tough job of creating an employee-contributions pool of wonderful write-ups, from which we could choose the articles that finally found place in the premier issue. A big thanks also to all our employees who have been supportive, and with us every step of the way.

Oh, and by the way, this is a proper full-blown newsletter, with an editorial board and everything! Meet the Board:

Publisher: RedEgg InfoExpert

Editor-in-Chief: Kannan Muthupandian

Associate Editors: Anish Premson & Jane Hamilton

Sub-Editors for the Premier Issue: Bharath, Premlin, Glory, Jenila, Jean, Anita, Jegan, RajaLakshmi, Pearl, Daniel, and Subeetha.

Photo Editor: Joshua

Layout & Design: Anish Premson

Thanking one and all, again, for all the little and big ways in which you contributed towards the successful launch of Red-E Newsletter, we look forward to many more such issues that throw light on RedEgg and its culture.

Soft Skills that will make Your IT Career Soar!

2009-09-03T17:22:00.006+05:30

You are an IT professional with the best set of software or technical skills that an engineering degree and IT experience can give. You work fast and smart, trouble shooting is your middle name, and you are almost always successful. If you thought that would take you to great heights in the IT industry, think again. Take a closer look at that IT professional who has climbed the corporate ladder faster than anyone else. What does he or she have that you should have too? It is the soft skills that added that extra gleam, or cutting edge if you will, to their portfolio. So, what are these soft skills that could take your IT career to the next level, and why do you need them?

Why do you need Soft Skills for an IT Career?

The industry is ever-evolving one, where roles frequently stretch further than nomenclature and designations. An IT professional, much like any other professional in this modern age, is forced to wear different hats. IT pros frequently play the role of trainer, public speaker, sales person, and manager. The IT pro is forced to realize the importance of soft skills more if he or she happens to be the only person that the customer interacts with on a regular basis. Improving your soft skills helps you to bypass the gap between a non-technical person and yourself, and will increase your productivity, at the same time making the interaction pleasant for the other person.

6 Soft Skills for the IT Professional

Interpersonal Skills – How approachable are you? Do you approach someone easily? Are you receptive to ideas or differences of opinion? Do you mingle with others in your work environment?

Team Spirit – Are you a team player, or do you love to go solo? Are you impatient when your team mate is less efficient than you? Do you spell out team objectives with everyone in your team, or would you rather withhold information?

Social Grace – Are you at a loss for conversation in a non-work environment? Do you frequently say the wrong things in a meeting or social gathering? Do you retreat into the background at an office party, or worse, get bored and leave early?

Business Etiquette – Do you know the etiquettes of email writing and the other online etiquettes? Is your business communication effective? Do you know how to handle a difficult customer complaint without causing a gaffe?

Negotiation Skills – Are you good at solving a problem that threatens to blow up? Can you talk a person into seeing your point of view, without hurting their feelings?

Behavioral traits like attitude, motivation and time management – Are you always on time? Do you meet all your deadlines? Do you easily lose motivation when things are not going right? Do you have a positive attitude that can even lift your team's spirits?

If you feel you do not have one or all of these skills, here's what you should do to develop them:

Actively Listen: If you haven't developed your listening and observation skills, chances are you will not succeed in any field. Listen to the other person's words, read their body language carefully, look for messages that they are struggling to convey to you. Finally, let them know what you have understood, and receive confirmation.
Take the Lead: play the leader when no one else will volunteer. The ability to lead others, even if only on small initiatives, is a key strength. Do this in anticipation of future leadership positions you hope to achieve.
Step out of the box, physically and mentally: step out of your cubicle once in a while, meet a colleague, sign up to help during an office activity, put yourself in a situation where you have to interact with many of your colleagues. Think out of the box in any situation. Consider innovative solutions that could be more efficient.
Be a Problem Solver: Instead of dwelling on the problem, move on. Look at options, solutions, and people who could help. Do it quick and do it consistently. Train yourself to look beyond the present.
Be a Multi-tasker: a human workplace is more complex than an ant colony where roles are rigidly set and played out till death! A professional who can do a variety of separate tasks is more in demand than a professional who can do one thing well. When a new task is offered, accept regardless of your knowledge in it. Learn on the job, and excel in it.
Live Consciously: Be self-aware. Constantly analyze your actions or reactions in a particular situation and think about how you could have handled it better. Analyze your failures and learn from them (but do not dwell on them and make yourself miserable!). Decide to do it better next time.
Be Open to Criticism: Make yourself open to and receptive towards criticism, because you can be sure that you will get a large share when you are successful! Filter out those that are malicious, but take the ones that are given with the best intentions. Develop the ability to differentiate between the two.

Work on these tips, one at a time, and note down how you behaved differently in a recent situation. See how you evolve into a more efficient, mature, and skilled IT professional! Watch your career soar to greater heights!

RedEgg's 3 years...and Counting!

2009-08-18T14:16:00.021+05:30

"Winners take time to relish their work, knowing that scaling the mountain is what makes the view from the top so exhilarating" - Denis Waitley
After 3 years of successful climbing, RedEgg paused a bit to relish the view from the top on 17 August 2009. And when we say 'view from the top' we mean it as much literally as metaphorically! Yesterday we commemorated two significant aspects of our growth - the opening of a new office floor and RedEgg's third anniversary since its birth in 2006.

RedEgg's Growth in 3 Years
RedEgg InfoExpert was founded in 2006, where the first employees and members of the management worked from a small apartment in Nagercoil. Armed with a couple of PCs to start off, the team carried out the initial research for the first product. The first employees, young and energetic people who believed in the future of RedEgg, are Ahamed Kabeer, Shaiju Aiyappan, Veera Lakshmi, Edward Smith, and Mr. Dhiraiviyam our Security in-charge.From 4 employees, we have grown to more than a hundred people, within 3 years! Since 2006, we have successfully launched and sold many subscriptions to three different products. We have also made our mark in HR and Professional Services. More people and more ventures meant we needed more infrastructure. From a small apartment in 2006, we have quickly moved to bigger offices.
Within the short period of three years, we have successfully launched and sold three different products in the US market.

And now, we celebrate 3 successful years at RedEgg!

Happy Independance Day!

2009-08-15T09:00:00.002+05:30

RedEgg InfoExpert Technologies wishes everyone a Happy 62nd Independence Day!

KPO and Its Future

2009-08-14T11:34:00.003+05:30

What is KPO?

KPO is an acronym for 'Knowledge Process Outsourcing'. Wikipedia defines knowledge process outsourcing as "a form of outsourcing in which knowledge-related and information-related work is carried out by workers in a different company or by a subsidiary of the same organization, which may be in the same country or in an offshore location to save cost." KPO is different from outsourcing of manufacturing because the knowledge requirement of the professionals is higher, and typically involves high-value work.

KPO requires the application of specialized domain knowledge of a high level. Some of the industries that require KPO services are:
Research and Development
Financial Consultancy and Services
Advanced Web Applications
Business and Technical Analysis
Learning Solutions
Animation & Design
Business & Market Research
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
Medical Services
Writing & Content Development
Legal Services
Intellectual Property (IP) Research
Data Analytics
Network Management
Training & Consultancy

Why KPO?

There are many reasons why more and more countries are turning to KPO for the smooth flow of their research-based processes.
1. Shortage of skilled professionals in these developed or first-world countries.
2. The resulting increased costs of hiring the few skilled professionals available.
3. Increased costs of maintaining such knowledge and research-based services in the host country.
4. The realization that similar expertise of skilled professionals is available in offshore locations like India and China.
5. The realization that the maintenance of such services in offshore locations comes at a subsidized cost.

What are the benefits of KPO?

Developing countries are quickly realizing that standardized technical education is widely available in almost all the developing countries. It is therefore not impossible to gain access to skilled and trained professionals. The main benefits that attract KPO opportunities to a country like India are:
1. Valuable cost savings that can be utilized for other investments
2. Trained professionals at work.
3. Standard operational efficiency.
4. Increase in profits.
5. Savings in time and management energy for maintaining in-house services.
6. Option to recruit a larger work force without raising costs.

What does a KPO like RedEgg InfoExpert deliver?
1. Good quality work.
2. Lower Costs.
3. On time delivery of services.
4. Uninterrupted services.
5. Adaptability to changes in required quality.

Over the years, the KPO services have become more refined in the following areas:
1. Data Processing
2. Basic Data Entry
3. Department outsourcing.
4. Providing Technical Support.
5. Providing Email Support to customers.

What is the scope and future of KPO?

According to a report of National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the Indian chamber of commerce that serves as an interface to the Indian Software Industry, KPO is expected to reach USD 17 billion by 2010, of which USD 12 billiob would be outsourced to India. Another report predicts that India will capture more than 70% of the KPO sector by 2010. Apart from India, countries such as Russia, China, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Israel are also expected to join the KPO industry.

graph courtesy http://www.outsource2india.com

Red-E Newsletter Sneak Preview!

2009-08-11T11:57:00.012+05:30

The debut of Red-E Newsletter is scheduled for 17 August 2009 and the newsletter team is working at full speed to have the newsletter ready. Here is a sneak peek at what's coming...

No, we're not going to show you anymore!! You'll have to wait for the big picture to come out on August 17. Till, then...

Happy Birthday RedEgg!!

2009-08-07T10:56:00.005+05:30

RedEgg is 3 years old today!! There is a sense of achievement and a look of joy on every face this morning. Looking back to three years ago, RedEgg started in a small apartment in a remote part of Nagercoil town. With 5 people on board, RedEgg took its first baby steps. But, goodness, how we've grown!

Starting with the launch of MyEdcals in 2006, the first client for HR Services the following year, the first sale of MyMediaInfo in 2008, all the way to the growth of Professional Services and MyNewsBrief into full-fledged products and services, it has been an upward growth all the way for RedEgg.

An added pleasure this year is to have our CEO Gaugarin Oliver working closely with us. He and his family are in India now, and we RedEggers have had the pleasure of meeting Madhavi (G's wife), and Iris and Ethan (G's kids). To top it, our new Vice President, Kannan Muthupandian joined us this year. Having G and Kannan Sir with us has added more fuel to the RedEgg machine!

This year has already been busy, and its only August!! People have started coming up with new and innovative ideas on just about everything - from new product features, new in-house communication methods like Yammer, company publications (Red-E Newsletter), and even special dress codes for Mondays and Fridays (!). We have consistently achieved targets way ahead of schedule through out this year. The RedEgg Training Manual was published this year. And we are moving up, literally. The 4th floor of the office building is being furnished and we are moving up to make space for more people who are joining the RedEgg family almost everyday!

The highlight of the year was the awarding of scholarship checks to the first recipients of the NSF/RedEgg scholarships. We now look forward to the inauguration of the 4th floor and the release of Red-E Newsletter in a few days.

Altogether, this year has been thoroughly exciting, thanks to the efforts of every member of the RedEgg community. And we look forward to Many More Happy Returns of Today!

Outsourcing in India – 5 Trends to Watch!

2009-07-29T16:32:00.003+05:30

Outsourcing is the process of subcontracting a process, such as manufacturing, creation of software, or product design to a third-party company. Outsourcing has been on the rise in many countries, with India becoming one of the leaders in the field. With the rise of KPOs and Asian countries adopting revolutionary trends in expansion and spread of service providers in small cities, the face of outsourcing as the world knows it is slowly evolving.

Here are 5 trends one should look out for this year in the Indian outsourcing scenario:

1. Professionals in demand: There is a boom in the knowledge process outsourcing industry. Various studies forecast a growth of 40 to 50 percent in the following years for this industry. This necessarily translates as a ten-fold increase in demand for workforce engaged in providing KPO services. Doctors, lawyers, software engineers and other professionals will be more in demand than ever in 2010.

2. Small Towns as New Outsourcing Hubs: India's major cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai are leaders in housing outsourcing companies. This no longer needs to be rule of thumb. Rising wage costs and attrition in large cities, along with attractive benefits being offered by state governments are pushing outsourcing companies to lesser known towns. RedEgg InfoExpert in Nagercoil is one such example of small towns taking a pioneering step into outsourcing. Keeping step with it are Coimbatore and Madurai in Tamil Nadu. There is no dearth of trained professionals in such small towns. Other states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh etc are rapidly moving into the outsourcing realm.

3. Person-to-person offshoring: Companies like Evalueserve are offering person-to-person offshoring or PPO services, wherein processes or tasks are outsourced to individuals. All you need is a personal computer and a reliable Internet connection. The industry is fast increasing in value and is also attracting enthusiastic practitioners from developed countries.

4. Green Sourcing: The pressure to demonstrate green credentials is influencing business outsourcing decisions more and more of late. Rising energy prices, environmental hazards, and green-unfriendly companies are factors that companies looking to outsource are eager to avoid.

5. Crowd-Sourcing: A significant trends that has slowly crept up on the outsourcing industry and fast taking over the world, is the process of 'crowdsourcing' a task. This means, taking a task and unleashing it to the world; letting individuals all over the world compete with each other to pitch in innovative ideas and creations. Companies watch the progress and take the best of the pick to spur their product to success. Wikipedia, Threadless.com, Amazon's Mechanical Turk, and Google's Image Tagging are good examples of crowdsourcing.

RedEgg InfoExpert - From Baby Steps to Giant Leaps!

2009-07-29T13:50:00.011+05:30

Demosthenes once said, "Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprise". Some of the most ingenious ideas and inventions in this world stemmed from a small thought, a tiny opportunity that caught the eye of a sharp mind. From small beginnings such as these, came great things.

RedEgg InfoExpert came to existence from just such a small opportunity, a tiny idea that struck Gaugarin and Eric on a long ride. The story of RedEgg's birth is an inspiring story of great vision, resourcefulness, and hard work. Oh! but we are not going to reveal the story now! You will have to wait for Founders Day to discover the origin of RedEgg!

Speaking of Founders Day, RedEgg celebrates its third Founders Day on 7 August 2009. It is also RedEgg's 3rd Birthday. A Founders Day celebration-cum-Birthday bash is coming up soon! There is much excitement in the air, as people look forward to commemorating three successful years. The success of MyMediaInfo, the growth of Professional Services, along with the thrill of innovation has RedEgg humming with activity and bursting with exhilaration!

Also making a debut this year is Red-E The RedEgg InfoExpert Newsletter, another source of excitement! The newsletter has started taking shape very quickly in the creative hands of RedEgg employees who are making sure that the editors are swamped with contributions on a daily basis! The RedEgg community participated with gusto in the logo and slogan contests, and sent in ideas and suggestions for the success of the newsletter from Day 1. Red-E Newsletter is to be released on Founders Day this year. We will have more news about the newsletter (!) in the following days.

And so, this Founders Day promises to be an unforgettable event, and we at RedEgg wait with bated breath and anticipation for the dawn of that wonderful day!

TenTips to retain your Job

2009-03-26T15:41:00.002+05:30

Over the past few months, lay offs have become the norm of the day. Every day we hear stories of employees being handed the pink slip. While all of us put in our best, during such trying times it becomes essential to go that extra mile to ensure that your name doesn’t appear in the dreaded list of fired employees.

Here’s a list of things you could consider to track your way to the ‘safe’ zone:"10 Tips to retain your Job," - presented by Mr. Sivathanu on 13th March 2009 @ 6.30.pm. IST. Click here to view the presentation.

RedEgg Corporate Wellness Program

2009-03-06T13:17:00.003+05:30

The RedEgg Infoexpert team has come out with a bright idea of educating and entertaining the employees on various thought provoking topics. This program will equip the employees with the Corporate Culture that will help them face the corporate world effectively. The programs are conducted at the organization’s premise. The training methods are strongly based on the industry needs with emphasis on quality and professionalism. The role of training is to ensure that the workforce is tuned into the organization’s goals. Another important role is to help the workforce to adapt to technological change, policy change, change in Job responsibilities, external factors like new laws and regulations and to clear all bottlenecks that affect smooth transitions to new systems and changes. Moreover these training programs help the workforce to bring out their leadership skills and also it serves as a time of unity which brings both the Day & Night shift together.

Communication Skills

Ms. Jane Hamilton, Technical Support Executive – presentation on the significance of good communication skills in the work place and ways to avoid poor communication skills. The presentation elaborated on the role of good communication skills in creating a work environment that is conducive to success , on 23^rd January 2009. Click here to view the presentation.

2. Six Sigma

“Quality and Quantity are the two sides of a same coin; one can complement the other but should not compromise each other”. Why? The session was handled by Ms. Uma Mathavan, Senior Research Analyst, on 6th February 2009 @ 6pm IST. Click here to view the presentation.

3. Performance Appraisal

Wanna Rock in your office? Perform Better. But, how is your performance appraised? The answer for this question was given by Ms. Shayona Joseph in her presentation ‘Performance Appraisal’ on 13^th February 2009 @ 6pm IST. Click here to view the presentation.

4. Surviving and Thriving – Work Place Tips.

The presentation on Surviving and Thriving – Work Place Tips was handled by Miss. Syed Subeetha, Research Analyst on 20th February at 6pm IST. This presentation includes humorous video clips, which made everyone laugh and receive ideas to get relief from stress. Click here to view the presentation.

5. 10 ways to Be Happy at the Work Place

The Session started with a funny story of Peter & Minnie and ended up with a wonderful medicine for stress - 10 ways to Be Happy at the Work Place was handled by Mr. Anish Premson, Call Researcher on 27^th February @ 6pm IST. Click here to view the presentation.

En Route to Success

2009-02-25T14:27:00.001+05:30

“This is the happiest day of my life…. I am so grateful for this opportunity given to me to realize my dreams … I never imagined it would be possible…” These are the words of I.Usha, speaking at the NSF/RedEgg Scholarships Felicitation held on 30 January, 2009.

India is home to some of the sharpest minds on earth, but is also sadly the burial grounds of millions of such minds, which, starved by poverty and lack of opportunities, die away undiscovered. RedEgg Infoexpert Technologies perceived the problem and decided to do its part to ensure that more and more young minds receive the opportunities that they deserve. Joining hands with the North South Foundation, Redegg Infoexpert ventured to distribute scholarships to students who showed great potential for higher studies and professional careers, but could not afford higher education. This joint venture, initiated in May of 2008, has helped RedEgg reach out to students from the farthest corners of Kanyakumari district and bring to them hopes of a successful future that they never thought possible. I.Usha is one of these students.

Usha, along with three other students, was the happy recipient of the NSF/RedEgg Scholarships in the Nagercoil chapter this year. They have the honor of being the first to receive the scholarship. The process that led to the selection of these students was a long and thorough one. The management and employees of the company enthusiastically dispatched hundreds of invitations and applications to various schools around the district. They then received applications, and sorted through them, picking the six most deserving students. These students were then interviewed by the NSF board and four students were selected to be the first recipients of the NSF/RedEgg Scholarship in the Nagercoil Chapter. Joining I.Usha are G.Vivin, M.Vignesh, and P.Subramania Pillai. These young people, all having an average of 90% in their HSc Examinations, have all been given the finance that will ensure that they finish their Undergraduate degrees in professional courses of their choice. Their joy, and the untold happiness of their parents, brought delight and satisfaction to the RedEgg family as they met with them on the night of the felicitation. Beaming for press photos, the parents had tears of joy brimming in their eyes as they told of how the scholarship has stepped in to save their children’s futures in their hour of need. All four students are currently pursuing Engineering courses in various local colleges.

The felicitation became more brilliant when Mr.Gaugarin Oliver (Chief Executive Officer, RedEgg Solutions, Inc.) spoke on the wonderful work done by the NSF in the USA, and the zeal shown by young American-Indian children in helping their peers in India. Added to this were the observations of Mr.Kannan Muthupandian (Vice President of Operations, RedEgg Infoexpert Technologies) on the immense sense of satisfaction and inner peace that he and other members of the RedEgg family found in doing such acts of kindness.

At the end of the day, the words of M.Vignesh made it all more meaningful, “I am grateful to God and these generous organizations for their help. I promise to become a successful professional and help other young people the way you did for me, and guide them towards realizing their dreams”.

NSF Scholarship Awarded to Four Candidates!

2008-12-11T13:47:00.000+05:30

10th December 2008 turned out to be a memorable day for many people associated with RedEgg Infoexpert. After a lengthy and thorough process of accepting applications and interviewing candidates, RedEgg Infoexpert - hosting the Nagercoil chapter of the NSF Scholarships - settled on four recipients for the scholarships.

The Scholarships were given away at a small get-together arranged at the RedEgg offices at Nagercoil on the evening of the 10th. RedEgg employees and the families of the recipients gathered around for a short prayer by a local pastor, followed by the distribution of the scholarships.

The Project Managers and Project Leads handed the cheques over to the overjoyed parents of the students.

The students and their families left with renewed hopes that their dreams of a higher education and a successful career will come true. RedEgg wished them well, with a sense of having played an important part in the realization of those very dreams.

RedEgg Infoexpert Receives Chief Executive Officer, President of RedEgg Solutions Inc.

2008-11-10T11:39:00.000+05:30

This morning at RedEgg Infoexpert Technologies, the air was packed with excitement as the company awaited the annual visit of Gaugarin Oliver, Chief Executive Officer, and Eric Hill, President, of RedEgg Solutions Inc., Boston. The company heads arrived at the RedEgg Infoexpert Technologies, Nagercoil office at around 10:00 am. They had a pleasant surprise when they received a traditional South Indian welcome, complete with a 6 foot garland and a band playing in the background! RedEgg employees gathered around in the conference hall to welcome them.

This visit is of great significance to both employees and heads as this is their first face-to-face meeting since the launch of MyMediaInfo, the latest product of RedEgg Solutions Inc. It should be noted at this juncture that the product has been very successful in the North American market, with a record rise in the number of customers in the last 6 months. The product was also well received at the Point of Connection PRSA Conference in Detroit held in October, 2008.

New employees were introduced briefly to Mr. Hill and Mr. Oliver, following which there was a brief meeting where a few volunteers among the employees were asked by the Country Manager to speak for a few minutes on their most unforgettable moment in RedEgg Infoexpert. They also spoke about their contributions to the company's achievement of goals and reaching of milestones.

The Chief Executive Officer, and President, along with the Country Manager, plan to meet Project Managers and Project Leads throughout the day for presentations on the work being done at RedEgg Infoexpert and the progress the products have seen in the last year.

This is the second annual visit to the company for these gentlemen, since its formation in 2006.

Watch out for pictures and updates in the following posts.

MyMediaInfo Launched!

2008-10-21T17:36:00.000+05:30

Redegg Solutions Inc. successfully launched its new product MyMediaInfo in September 2008. A customer-friendly product made exclusively for the benefit of the user, MyMediaInfo (A Complete North American Media Directory) is a media database covering newspapers, magazines and broadcast in North America. Easy to Use Software as a Service (SaaS) and the ability to quickly identify journalists or editors and distribute press releases within the application are the features that set MyMediaInfo apart from its competitors.

In 2007, 1.5 years after the development of MyEdcals, the product saw a rise in popularity with subscribers of over 1,000. MyMediaInfo, Redegg Solutions’ latest product, was inspired by the request of these very subscribers for a “media contact database with the same high quality and simple software”. Eric Hill, President and Chief Strategy Officer at Redegg Solutions says, “The Solution needs to be at a price point that works within [the subscribers’] budgets. All of these factors led us to build MyMediaInfo, the most comprehensive and accurate media database for North American journalists”.

The facts about MyMediaInfo:
-Contact information, Beats and Deep Profiles
-Top Blog Coverage and Thousands of Freelance Journalists
-Headlines & Links to articles
-Top 200 plus Analyst Firms
-400,000 story opportunities from editorial calendars
-Hundreds of Award opportunities
-Email and Fax Distribution
-Migration services
-Mac supported

At Redegg Solutions, our objective is to offer the most accurate media database, in an easy to use platform and customer friendly support and services. Our customer base includes 9 of the top 10 PR agencies, 25 of the Fortune 100 companies, and hundreds of small and medium agencies and companies and hundreds of solo practitioners. Information is researched and maintained by expert research resource, one of the largest in the industry. The research team, with the Indian delivery center at Redegg Infoexpert Technologies, uses cutting edge industry which enables MyMediaInfo to deliver the highest quality data in the industry.

We also offer a variety of research services both on-demand as well as based on long term relationships. We can:

-build and maintain media lists

-create and manage news alerts

-perform on-demand research/administrative tasks.

At Redegg Solutions, zero tolerance for defects, super responsive communications and customer satisfaction are the prime driving forces.

For more info contact:

RedEgg Solutions, Inc.
Eric Hill
781 466-9802
ehill@mymediainfo.com
www.mymediainfo.com

Press Release at PR.com

The Redegg/NSF Scholarship - Best Six Found!

2008-10-21T15:21:00.000+05:30

You may remember that Redegg and NSF have joined hands in a social wellness endeavor to provide the Redegg/NSF scholarship to students who have potential for academic excellence but are financially challenged. The Nagercoil chapter took off at a rapid start in April of this year and has been going strong ever since.

After an extensive campaign, the response to the NSF/Redegg Scholarship has been nothing less than encouraging.

Ernest and other employees at Redegg Infoexpert have taken the lead in promoting, processing and dispatching, receiving, and filtering applicants who are worthy of receiving this scholarship. Word of mouth promotion resulted in optimum visibility for the scholarship.

And the result …? The applications have flooded in!

The most recent development looks something like this:

-The best 6 applicants had been chosen for the initial round of interviews with an expert jury.

-The jury has interviewed these 6 students extensively

-Redegg and the students await the results with bated breath…

Who are the fortunate students who will be the first ever Nagercoil Chapter recipients of the Redegg/NSF Scholarship for the year 2008?

Wait and Watch! We will bring you the latest updates on the winners soon, in right this space.

Just our Cup of Tea!

2008-05-29T12:37:00.000+05:30

Our guys at RedEgg Infoexpert have been working so hard that the management had to step in to pace things a bit for them!

Coffee breaks, from now on, have to be taken in the lounge! Yes, every employee now has to compulsorily leave the desk, walk up the steps to the floor above and enjoy a hot cup of coffee, tea or milk. Then they should try their hand at either table tennis or any of the other indoor games available. If not games, they should at least have a chat with the other employees; take in a bit of fresh air through the large windows on the fourth floor and relax their tense muscles!

If games and chatting are not really their fancy, then they can always sit down and read the array of popular magazines that have been made available. We've got The Rolling Stones, Elle, Femina, India Today, Times and many more!

At RedEgg we are all about balanced and healthy living. We want our employees to be successful high flyers. Even more importantly, we want them to be happy, healthy and content, because happy employees make happy customers, and, as a result, happy employers!

And we know we are doing the right thing because the atmosphere at RedEgg Infoexpert is suddenly fresher and more charged. People have made more friends and have managed to channel this rapport into efficient work and quality output.

With this renewed energy RedEgg looks forward to the successful launch of MyMediaContacts and MyMediaInfo.

There's an Innovation Storm brewing at RedEgg...

2008-05-23T13:02:00.000+05:30

RedEgg Infoexpert Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is a busy place nowadays. The usually undistractable employees are glued to their computer screens more than ever. Mails are blasted to and fro all day and guys from one section suddenly rush into another section, startle someone already staring wide-eyed at the screen, clear a doubt and step back into their section without breaking stride.

Sudden meetings and brainstorming sessions take you unawares and you better have something to contribute to them!

Coffee breaks come and go unnoticed. Lunch breaks disappear at the speed of light.

Some guys never go home, others have to be pried away from their computer screens by their friends!!

What's happening?

Well, RedEgg is getting a new product name, web site and a new look!

Work on the new web site is happening 24x7. The lights never go off and the sun never sets in RedEgg nowadays, literally!

Our captain, Gaugarin Oliver, takes the lead with the planning and strategizing the whole thing. Kabeer came up with all the fascinatingly complicated software and web site layouts. Gaugarin and Jane are busy generating content for the web site. Add to this, the ideas and suggestions of all the daringly innovative people back here and, well, we truly have an innovation storm brewing here! Thunder(ing applause) and heavy showers (of appreciation) is what the weather forecast says.

There's change coming to RedEgg Solutions and it's called MyMediaInfo - suffice to say that it is an advanced combination of MyEdcals and the soon to be launched MyMediaContacts (more on MyMediaContacts in later posts).

Absolutely user friendly and more comprehensive, MyMediaInfo - the product and the web page - is going to revolutionize media and PR databases.

Watch this space for more info on MyMediaInfo!

NSF/RedEgg Scholarship - Update

2008-05-22T12:11:00.000+05:30

So here's the latest on the scholarship. Just in from Ernest, about eight candidates have applied for the scholarship and many more have shown interest in applying for it.

This is a very good number since the HSc. examination results were published only a couple of days ago and already people have started applying!

Letters introducing the scholarship have already gone out to the local school headmasters and we are hoping that they are getting in touch with their students right now.

RedEgg Infoexpert is confident that this project is going to take to the skies brilliantly!

So we look forward to more activity on that front and promise to keep you posted.

PS: Just spied some awesome magazines and cool sports stuff making their way into the RedEgg office! Will get you the scoop on that one soon.