A total of 474 candidates have qualified this year after cracking the prestigious civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), it was announced here on Monday.

Mutyalaraju Revu from West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh topped the examination, while Anindita Mitra, ranked eighth, was first among the woman candidates.

They were among some 200,000 applicants who appeared for the tests - a selection rate of a mere 0.237 percent. Of the 474 selected candidates 373 are males and 101 females.

More : indiaedunews.net

The 2007 annual delegate conference of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) opens today (16 May) in Brighton. Over 1,200 delegates will be attending the conference of Britains largest civil service trade union, which runs until Friday 18 May against a backdrop of an ongoing dispute over civil and public service job cuts, privatisation and below inflation pay.

The dispute with the government and civil service management has already seen two successful one day civil service wide strikes this year and the first day of the conference, today, will see delegates debating the next steps of the campaign. Options up for discussion include further industrial action, stepping up political campaigning as well as working closely with other public sector unions.

Commenting ahead of his speech this morning, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary said: This years conference takes place against the backdrop of an ongoing dispute over deteriorating services due to job cuts, continuing privatisation and low pay, which is being driven down by below inflation pay offers. Delegates from across the UK will be discussing the next phase of the dispute and sending a clear message to the government to stop ripping the heart out of public services.

More : politics.co.uk

AP lad Revu Muthyala Raju has topped the 2006 Civil Services examination. Announcing the final results on Monday, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recommended 474 candidates of which 214 are from general category, 144 OBCs, 80 Scheduled Castes and 36 from Scheduled Tribe. About two lakh candidates appeared for the tests.

Raju, born in Chinnagollapalem, a remote island in Krishna district, is a striking example of how a man can reach dizzy heights despite humble beginnings. The 27-year-old will be joining the IAS as an AP cadre officer. An IPS probationer, Raju came to know of the results on Monday evening at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel National Police Academy in Shivarampally. I joined the academy after I appeared for the civil services examination, an ecstatic Raju told TOI on Monday.

He studied at the Zilla Parishad school close to his village after which he joined S M V M Polytechnic college in Tanuku. He did his B.Tech from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, and went on to do his ME from IISc, Bangalore.

More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The General Secretary of PCS says the Government is out of touch and PCS will do stand up for the rights of their membership as axing their jobs would not only hurt the public sector worker but public service delivery as well.

This week, representatives of more than 320,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services union will meet in Brighton for our annual conference. Like all trade unions, democracy is at the heart of everything we do and conference is where our policies are made.

Never has this collective will of our membership been more important; we have reached a crucial stage of our ongoing campaign to protect jobs, and ensure fair pay and conditions for workers in central government departments, agencies and privatised areas of the civil service the governments own workforce.

More : egovmonitor.com

QuEST, a leading provider of engineering services, offering end-to-end product development and engineering solutions, today announced that QuEST has been Ranked No. 2 in the ESO related annual survey conducted by Brown-Wilson Group. Brown-Wilson Group conducted an exhaustive survey and analyzed 872 engineering outsourcing vendors in 63 countries. Its results appeared in the companys Black Book of Outsourcing, a distinguished publication.

Brown-Wilson Group evaluated companies on the following 18 industry/niche specific categories and published a list of the top 25 Engineering Services Outsourcing vendors. .theblackbookofoutsourcing.com/top10engineering.html

QuEST led in several categories, including innovation, client relationships, trust, customisation for the customer and support/ Customer care. It was second in vendor overall preference/ recommendation and brand image. QuESTs mean score was 9.14, based on a scale of 10.

More : prleap.com

Petrowest Energy Services Trust (Petrowest or the Trust) (TSX - PRW.UN) nnounced today that it has entered into agreements to acquire five private road construction, gravel crushing and log hauling businesses in the Grande Prairie and Peace River regions of Alberta and the Ft. St . John region of British Columbia for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $94.2 million. The revenue generated by these companies over their last fiscal year totaled approximately $76.6 million. These
acquisitions will expand the Trusts geographic footprint, client base and
provide increased utilization of assets within the Trust. In addition Petrowest also announced that it has also entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Woodland Cree First Nations (WCFN) that contemplates a major strategic alliance, structured as a joint venture, which will see Petrowest provide a combination of services within the WCFN traditional lands comprising over 3,800 square miles, including a significant portion of the Peace River oil sands. This memorandum of understanding also contemplates that Petrowest will acquire road construction equipment from a subsidiary of the WCFN for a purchase price of $4.0 million.

Taken together, these acquisitions significantly enhance Petrowests existing infrastructure business and provide access to a significant portion of the expansion activities associated with the Peace River Oil Sands development.

The maximum total purchase price for the acquisitions will be approximately $94.2 million, comprised of the payment of $50.4 million in cash, the issuance of approximately 4.3 million trust units of Petro west and the assumption of $10.3 million of debt of the companies (assuming a trust unit price of $7.75). The effective total purchase price is reduced by changes in working capital for the period from January 1, 2007 to closing which accrue to the benefit of Petrowest. In addition, the terms of the agreements require minimum working capital on the acquisitions to be approximately $11.1 million
in the aggregate. It is estimated that actual cash balances acquired on closing will be in excess of $6.0 million.

More : cnw.ca

The District of Easington situated on the North East Coast is a progressive authority, committed to excellence, and determined to make our district a prosperous, safe, attractive and healthy place to live. Classed as being excellent by government inspectors we are continuing to strengthen our services to provide sustainable excellence.

We offer an attractive employment package, up to 29 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), flexible hours policy (up to 12 days leave pa), great training and development opportunities.

Required to manage a varying programme of engineering works in highways, civil engineering, structural design, calculation checks for Building Control purposes, reclamation and remediation of derelict and contaminated land, regeneration, demolition, capital works, coastal engineering and countryside issues. You will be responsible for the performance, motivation and co-ordination of the work of a team of subordinate staff. You will be expected to demonstrate excellent management, organisational and leadership skills, be able to produce concise reports and present these to Councillors and members of the public.

More : jobs.publictechnology.net