Press Release Watch

Two day All India IRS convention held in Bangalore

2012-01-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

The All India Convention of the Indian Revenue Service Association was inaugurated by Shri V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State for Personnel, Parliamentary Affairs and PMO on 20th of January 21, 2012 in Bangalore. While inaugurating the convention the Minister lauded the contribution of IRS to State exchequer by noting the more than 65% of the total tax collection is contributed by the IRS. The minister also noted that the direct tax collection will exceed Rs. 5,00,000 crores in the current financial year, inspite of slow down in the economy.
Mr. Narayanasamy Noted that the tax collections have tripled between F.Y. 2005-06 to F.Y. 2011-12; whereas the staff strength of the IT Department has reduced by more than 10% in the corresponding period. The Minister assured the IRS officers that their long pending cadre restructuring proposal would be approved with in a fortnight, providing for a large number of additional sanctioned posts in the Income Tax Department at all levels including HAG, HAG+ and Apex scales. The Minister suggested that the cadre restructuring study should happen at least once in five year in IRS as well as other central cadres. The Minister also announced the cabinet decision to grant a fixed tenure for the Chairman of CBDT
The valedictory address of the convention was given on 21st January by Mr. M.C. Joshi, Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes. The Chairman announced the creation of a total of 24 posts of Income Tax Overseas Units (ITOUs) in important countries of the world. The Chairman also announced filling up of 21,000 vacant posts at lower levels of the IT Department. The Chairman has released a Souvenir on this occasion.
The two day All India Convention was attended by about 200 delegates from all across the country representing IRS Associations of respective regions. The Convention urged upon the Finance Minister to create a separate Direct Tax Department independent of the Department of Revenue, with the Chairman CBDT as the Secretary. The Convention passed few resolutions after due deliberations. It has been decided that the next All India IRS Association Convention will be held in Hyderabad.

Sourced From: Indian Revenue Service Association

VMware Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Results

2012-01-26T20:04:00.000-08:00

VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2011:

· Revenues for the fourth quarter were $1.06 billion, an increase of 27% from the fourth quarter of 2010, and an increase of 26% measured in constant currency.

· Operating income for the fourth quarter was $214 million, an increase of 64% from the fourth quarter of 2010. Non-GAAP operating income for the fourth quarter was $338 million, an increase of 37% from the fourth quarter of 2010.

· Net income for the fourth quarter was $200 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, compared to $120 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2010. Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $266 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, compared to $198 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2010.

· Operating cash flows for the fourth quarter were $561 million, an increase of 38% from the fourth quarter of 2010. Free cash flows for the quarter were $535 million, an increase of 32% from the fourth quarter of 2010.

· Revenues for 2011 were $3.77 billion, an increase of 32% from 2010.

· Operating income for 2011 was $735 million, an increase of 72% from 2010. Non-GAAP operating income for 2011 was $1.17 billion, an increase of 43% from 2010.

· Net income for 2011 was $724 million, or $1.68 per diluted share, compared to $357 million, or $0.84 per diluted share, for 2010. Non-GAAP net income for 2011 was $936 million, or $2.17 per diluted share, compared to $639 million, or $1.51 per diluted share, for 2010.

· Operating cash flows for 2011 were $2.03 billion, an increase of 72% and free cash flows for the year were $1.95 billion, an increase of 62% from 2010.

· Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments were $4.51 billion and unearned revenue was $2.71 billion as of December 31, 2011.

U.S. revenues for 2011 grew 26% to $1.82 billion from 2010. International revenues grew 38% to $1.94 billion from 2010. License revenues for 2011 were $1.84 billion, an increase of 31% from 2010. Service revenues, which include software maintenance and professional services, were $1.93 billion for 2011, an increase of 32% from 2010.

“The quarter’s strong performance further signals that virtualization is the foundation for simplifying and automating IT,” said Paul Maritz, chief executive officer, VMware. “As customers continue to drive significant IT transformation, our task remains in providing solutions that go beyond cost reduction, yielding business and competitive value.”

“We are pleased with our record fourth quarter results,” said Mark Peek, chief financial officer, VMware. “Our investments over the years have clearly paid off and we will continue to take advantage of long-term opportunities ahead. First quarter 2012 revenues are expected to be in the range of $1.015 and $1.040 billion, an increase of 20% to 23% from the first quarter 2011.

Annual 2012 revenues are expected to be in the range of $4.475 and $4.6 billion, an increase of

19% to 22% from 2011, and annual license revenues are expected to grow between 11% and

16%.”

Recent Highlights & Strategic Announcements

· In October 2011, VMware unveiled three product suites designed to simplify and automate IT management. With significant enhancements to VMware® vCenter Operations™ and the introduction of new VMware® vFabric Application Management™ and VMware® IT Business Management suites, VMware will help customers amplify the value of their virtual environments and achieve the agility and economics of cloud computing.

· VMware announced VMware vCenter™ Protect Essentials Plus™, a complete on premise management system designed to meet the needs of the small and midsize businesses (SMBs) and enhancements to its VMware Go Pro™ service, simplifying IT management for SMBs.

· VMware announced VMware® Horizon Mobile, a simple way for IT departments to securely provision, manage and de-provision a corporate mobile workspace to an employee’s Android device over-the-air, while enabling the employee to retain the privacy and control of their personal mobile environments. VMware Horizon Mobile is expected to be available in early 2012.

· In December 2011, VMware announced new VMware View™ Clients for Kindle Fire, Mac and Linux, along with updates to its popular VMware View Clients for Android and iPad.

The new VMware View Clients for Mac and Linux enable IT organizations to empower more agile, productive and connected workforce or school communities by providing an easy-to-access, high-fidelity desktop virtualization experience optimized for the device of their choice. The new VMware View™ Clients for Mac and Linux are expected to be available in early 2012.

VMware plans to host a conference call today to review its fourth quarter and 2011 results and to discuss its financial outlook. The call is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. PT/ 5:00 p.m. ET and can be accessed via the Web at http://ir.vmware.com. The webcast will be available live, and a replay will be available following completion of the live broadcast for approximately 60 days.

About VMware

VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2011 revenues of $3.77 billion, VMware has more than 300,000 customers and 25,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

Sourced From: VOX Public Relations India

HP Appoints Jim Merritt as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Sales in Asia-Pacific

2012-01-26T19:39:00.000-08:00

HP announced the appointment of Jim Merritt as senior vice president and general manager of Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking (ESSN) Sales in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ).

Merritt brings a successful history of revenue and profit growth while building a high-performance sales culture to improve accountability, results and customer focus. He will report to Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager of ESSN and Technology Services.
“With APJ organizations increasingly leading the way to cloud computing and other service-driven IT models, they need an innovative and experienced technology partner to help them drive their businesses forward,” said Donatelli. “James brings an exceptional talent for understanding customers’ needs, particularly as they apply in the dynamic APJ marketplace.”
Merritt has held a number of global and regional senior management posts, most recently at Dell, where he was president of Global Sales with responsibilities for both direct and indirect sales to corporate customers. He spent the last 13 years with Dell in global and regional sales roles, including four years within APJ. Under his leadership, the APJ region achieved strong, double digit revenue and profit growth.

Prior to Dell, Merritt spent more than 15 years with IBM in a variety of leadership roles, including vice president of Worldwide Marketing and Strategy for the server group.

About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

Sourced From: Genesis Burson Marsteller

Young Trisha S Kumar to play alongside pros Anirban Lahiri, Manav Jaini and Abhishek Jha in the Louis Philippe Cup

2012-01-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

It was a long day at the Karnataka Golf Association as more than 200 golfers battled for a place on the Puravankara Bangalore amateur team. Khalin Joshi and Toyota IGU player of the year Syed Saqib Ahmed started off as the favourites on a day when city's upcoming amateur golfer Trisha S Kumar upset all calculations.

The day belonged to young Trisha S Kumar who started at a handicap of ten and played superbly to emerge the winner with 6 under her handicap net score of 66. Khalin Joshi fought hard with a 1 under par score of 71 even as Syed Saqib Ahmed struggled, scoring a 9 over par 81.

Speaking about the newest entrant into the Puravankara Bangalore amateur team Rishi Narain, Founder of Rishi Narain Golf Management, the promoters of the Louis Philippe Cup said "The main aim of the Louis Philippe Cup is to popularize golf across the country and give amateurs a chance to play on the big stage. We are glad that young amateurs are excited by this opportunity and we are happy to unearth new talents like Trisha and provide an opportunity for them to prove their mettle."

Trisha will now join B. K Satish Kumar from Eagleton on the Puravankara Bangalore amateur team and play alongside the likes of 2011 Panasonic Open winner Anirban Lahiri, Delhi golfer Manav Jaini and Abhishek Jaha for the City pro-am title on the 7th and 8h March of the Louis Philippe Cup.

About the Louis Philippe Cup:

The Louis Philippe Cup, with its new IPL-style format, and Rs.1.20 crore purse will be the richest domestic event on the PGTI calendar. All the top ranked golfers on the PGTI circuit including former Asian Tour Player of the Year Jyoti Randhawa, European Tour regular Shiv Kapur, two time European Tour winner SSP Chowrasia, two time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar, 2011 Asian Tour winner Anirban Lahiri, 2011 Singapore Classic winner Himmat Rai and current No.1 in the Rolex-PGTI rankings Chiragh Kumar have confirmed their participation in the extravaganza.

Sourced From:PlayRight PR

Vijaya Bank's Financial Results for the Quarter Ended 31 Dec 2012 (Q3)

2012-01-26T19:12:00.000-08:00

Q3 HIGHLIGHTS

Total business reaches all time high of Rs.137594 crores

up by 28%

Advances up by 28.16%

Deposits up by 28.34%

Yield on advances at 11.82% Vs 10.32%

Capital Adequacy (Basel II) at 12.39%

For the third quarter of the financial year 2001-12, Vijaya Bank posted a Net Profit of Rs.124.27 Crore as against Net Profit of Rs.151.80 Crore for the corresponding quarter of last year. "Given the delinquency and restructuring of certain large borrowal accounts, the numbers posted for the quarter ended December, 2011 are considered reasonable and the Bank has taken strategic steps for ensuring sustained growth " said Shri H S U Kamath, C&MD of the Bank.

Total business of the Bank reached an all time high figure of Rs.137594 crore comprising deposits of Rs.81756 crore and advances of Rs.55838 crore. Interest income on advances of the Bank for the quarter increased by 51.40% and income on investments by 11.21%. Other income also registered a decent growth of 13.72% aided mainly by increase in the trading profit by 27.27%.

Net profit of Rs. 124.27 crore is after making provision of Rs.111 crore towards non-performing assets and Rs.39 crore towards diminution in the value of certain borrowal accounts due to restructuring. Capital to risk weighted assets is comfortable at 12.39% (Basel II) with Tier I ratio at 9.00% and Tier II ratio at 3.39%. In line with the RBI guidelines, net profit for the nine months is not considered for arriving at the Tier I capital.

Yield on advances of the Bank for the 9 months ended 31.12.2011 improved to 11.62% against 10.13% for the corresponding period of the previous year. Total interest income on advances for the nine months ended Dec’11 is at Rs.4403 crore against Rs.3015 crore for the nine months ended Dec’10 registering a growth of 46.04%. Similarly, income on investments for the 9 months ended Dec’11 improved to Rs.1381 crore against Rs.1185 crore for the corresponding previous year period ie, up by 16.54%. For the nine months ended on Dec ’11, the Bank posted a net profit of Rs.400.02 crore

Total business of the Bank as on 31.12.2011 is at Rs.137594 crore comprising deposits of Rs.81756 crore and advances of Rs.55838 crore. Within the overall advances, priority sector advances of the Bank aggregated to Rs.16942 Crore registering a growth of 10.23%. Agricultural loans increased to Rs.6082 Crore, up by 19.38% and loans to MSME sector reached Rs.7784 Crore registering a growth of 19.52%. Loans to women beneficiaries increased by 21.31% and weaker sections by 7%. Educational loan portfolio of the Bank was at Rs. 649 Crore, up by 8%.

MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS / INITIATIVES:

Total number of branches increased to 1252 as on 31.12.2011. Further 13 new branches were opened after 31.12.2011 taking the total number of branches to 1265.
Total number of ATMs reached 669. Number of ATMs opened during nine months is 124 and 107 during December, 2011 quarter.
V-Samrudhi, term deposit scheme launched.
Housing and MSME loan melas at all major centers conducted.
Under Financial inclusion, out of 406 village with above 2000 population allotted to the Bank, 394 villages have already been covered. Smart card enabled accounts numbering 1.55 lac have been opened in these villages. Mobile vans are provided in three more districts viz., Dharwar, Haveri and Udupi for out reach to FI villages.

GUIDANCE MARCH 2012

Bank aims to reach a business level of Rs.1,44,000 crore with a deposit target of Rs. 85000 crore and advance target of Rs. 59000 crore.
Rolling out of new branches and new ATMs.
Steps taken for improving retail and priority sector advances have started yielding results and the Bank is confident of posting improvement under these segments.
Focus on improving the NIM by mobilising more CASA and retail deposits to reduce costs and increasing retail / mid-corporate advances for improving the yields.
Emphasis on increasing the fee based income by focusing on marketing of bancassurance products and other avenues like credit syndication.
Focus on special watch accounts to arrest further slippages and also on recoveries in NPA accounts for upgradation.
Take advantage of the market dynamics and improve yield on investments.

Sourced From: Vijaya Bank

Padma Bhushan Dr Ramdas M Pai conferred with The Golden Peacock Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2011

2012-01-26T18:58:00.000-08:00

Padma Bhushan Dr Ramdas Pai, Chairman - Manipal Education and Medical Group has been awarded the Golden Peacock Lifetime Achievement Award for the Year 2011 by the Institute of Directors, an apex organization of company directors in India. Honourable Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, Union Minister of Corporate Affairs handed over the award to him in the presence of Hon. Justice MN Venkatachalaiah, former Chief Justice of India, Dr. Ola Ullsten, former Prime Minister of Sweden and The Rt. Hon'ble Baroness Sandip Verma, Lords Minister for British Government (UK) at the 22nd World Congress on Total Quality held in Bangalore the last week.

Dr. Ramdas M Pai received this award for his immense contributions in the fields of education and healthcare. Receiving the award, he attributed the success to the efforts of the entire Manipal family.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Ramdas Pai said, “I have received the Award as a representative of the entire Manipal Team, who have together put in their efforts to make the Manipal Group a vibrant Unit in the fields of education and healthcare. This Award will certainly provide the impetus to the Manipal Team to strive for more achievements. I am happy to report that in Manipal district, where our healthcare team is working on the various health indices, we are on par with the developed countries. While I am thrilled at the recognition given to our Team’s contribution to the expansion of education and healthcare facilities, it shall be our mission to continue this humanitarian work with greater zeal in the days to come.”

Dr. Pai has been at the helm of the Manipal Education and Medical Group for over three decades and has played a key role in transforming the Group into a leading player in the Healthcare and Education sector. He is the Chancellor of Manipal University and the Pro Chancellor of the Sikkim Manipal University in Gangtok. He is also a member of the Executive Council of Assam University.

In terms of providing quality medical care, Dr. Pai’s leadership has shaped the Group’s future by expanding from a single Manipal Hospital in Bangalore in 1991 to a multi-location chain of eleven hospitals across seven cities in South India, and rated amongst the best in the country.

Dr. Pai has received several business awards during his distinguished career and has been honoured in recognition of his community service. He was conferred the Padma Bhushan in April 2011 in recognition of his contributions to the education & healthcare sector. A past member of the Core Group constituted by the Govt. of India to report on the new initiatives on higher education, Dr. Pai has held several such prestigious positions at the national level. The last year he was nominated by the Govt of India as a member of the National Integration Council (NIC), then re-constituted by the Honourable Prime Minister of India.

About Manipal Education & Medical Group (MEMG)

Manipal Education & Medical Group (MEMG) is committed to three interwoven purposes: dissipating, applying and creating knowledge. The Group has been an innovator in the field of education, medicine and research. It is a leader in delivering global standards of excellence in education and healthcare.

Manipal in Education:

Manipal Global Education Services is the leading India-headquartered International provider of high-quality higher education services. Its ambit includes a wide range of higher education services to institutions in India, corporate training programmes in partnership with leading enterprises, vocational training across a number of sectors, as well as technology-driven services in areas such as testing and education delivery. It also owns and operates university campuses in Malaysia, Antigua in the Caribbean, Dubai and Nepal. It services and supports over 200,000 students currently, many of them through its award-winning technology platform, EduNxt™.

Manipal Global Education Services believes that industry relevance is the key construct in career-focused education in India. This has led to the development of innovative partnerships, with City & Guilds UK to launch IndiaSkills, and, with leading Indian banks like ICICI Bank and Bank of Baroda to establish academies of banking & finance. Its other strategic investments include MeritTrac, India's leading testing & assessment company, and iRize, a leading creator of the employment ecosystem in India.

Manipal in Healthcare:

One of Asia’s largest healthcare management groups with 11 hospitals, including 8 teaching hospitals, 7 rural maternity and child welfare homes.

Manipal in Research:

Manipal Acunova makes innovations in drug discovery and enabling drug approval. Stempeutics is a Stem Cell Research Centre that focuses on Research, Therapeutics and Therapy in the field of regenerative medicine. Located at Manipal hospital Bangalore, Stempeutics leverages their group’s healthcare infrastructure and accessibility to trained physicians and surgeons in developing a delivery mechanism for stem cell therapies.

Sourced From: Integrated Brand-comm Pvt Ltd,

Accenture Technology Vision 2012 Identifies Context-Based Services as an Emerging Technology Trend That Can Help IT Leaders Increase Revenue for Their Businesses

2012-01-23T19:43:00.000-08:00

Information technology leaders stand to drive new revenue streams for their businesses by leveraging “context-based services,” an emerging technology trend where real world and digital data are aggregated to understand “who you are, where you are, and what you are doing” to give consumers an “extremely rich experience,” according to a new report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN).

Accenture identifies context-based services as one of six key trends in its Technology Vision 2012, an annual outlook of the most important emerging technology trends that are predicted to have a critical impact on businesses. Accenture has been researching and predicting the future of technology trends for more than a decade.

Accenture predicts that a surge in context-based services is imminent, enabled by the convergence of and easy access to many sources of contextual information, including soaring smartphone usage, the expansion of cloud computing, an explosion of social media participation, and the development of powerful tools for aggregating and analyzing multiple forms of data.

“CIOs and other IT leaders who have started to leverage contextual data to build a deeper understanding of consumer preferences and habits are establishing themselves as strategic players within their companies,” said Gavin Michael, Accenture’s chief technology innovation officer who spearheaded the project. “They are teaming more effectively with functions such as sales and marketing and leveraging contextual services to drive new revenue and deliver more value for their businesses.”

As an example, consider one travel company that scans Twitter accounts in search of mentions about upcoming trips. It then alerts hotels located in the communities where the traveler is headed. The traveler benefits because the hotel – via Twitter – might offer discounted rates as an enticement. And the hotel benefits by potentially gaining a new customer. In another example, several mobile phone service providers are experimenting with technology that automatically deactivates phones for motorists, thereby preventing them from violating laws against driving while texting or speaking on the phone.

The big difference is that technology now enables rapid aggregation of data from multiple sources and delivers new insights that can give users a much more immersive and valuable experience, according to the report.

The other trends in the Accenture Technology Vision 2012 include:

Converging Data Architectures: As data becomes a more valuable asset for most organizations, data architectures will need to change and bridge between old and new databases and systems to unlock the value. It is not hard to find predictions about the likely growth in the volume and importance of data. Indeed, one hot topic has been so-called ‘big data’. But ‘big’ misrepresents the issue. It is not just the rising volume of data that will challenge organizations, but rather developing new data architectures for effectively handling both structured and unstructured information. Furthermore, getting the architecture right is a crucial foundation for supporting another data-related trend: the need to share data far more freely and easily, to generate new business value.

The report foresees a rebalancing of the database landscape to manage unstructured data, as data architects embrace the fact that relational databases are no longer the only tool in the toolkit.

Industrialized Data Services: Related to the data architecture trend, the report says the true value of data – from both inside and outside their organizations -- will be realized when it is shared freely. To do that, data is being decoupled from applications and no longer owned by a single business. What’s needed, according to the report, are fresh approaches to data management.

In the next few years, Accenture sees leading organizations mastering the types of data management necessary to strike the right balance between constraint and freedom for their data, based on a clear-eyed view of the real value of the data. They will start to think in terms of industrializing the sharing of data.

Social-Driven IT: The report finds that social media will no longer be just a “bolt on” marketing channel for organizations. They are becoming powerful catalysts that are changing the ways customers, employees and partners use technology to interact with the world around them. Most enterprises have yet to catch up to that reality and almost none take full advantage of it.

PaaS-Enabled Agility: IT leaders that try to select a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) architecture based on what they think will “win” or view ‘as-a-service’ platforms as only cost-saving measures may not be seeing the total picture. Instead the report emphasizes the importance of the agility of the platform in concert with market viability and a focus on the complementary collection of business services also provided by the vendor.

The report predicts that PaaS providers will increasingly offer three additional components: reusable business services, integration capabilities, and extension capabilities. It also notes that every platform will need to offer rich and robust capabilities for management and infrastructure.

Orchestrated Analytical Security: Companies are more “connected” than ever—not only through the Web and mobile devices, but through other non-traditional routes, most notably in the physical world. Think about how connected automobiles and industrial controls are to other systems. Consequently, the risks have increased and how organizations assess the risks is changing. The good news is that taking a data-centric view toward security – and running the equivalent of analytics-driven security – will help combat the risks.

“The Accenture Technology Vision 2012 represents more than a casual peek into the near future,” said Michael. “We believe the trends we have identified hold the potential to profoundly change the face of corporate computing and that IT leaders who embrace these trends stand to gain a strategic advantage.”

For more information on Accenture’s Technology Vision 2012 please visit www.accenture.com/technologyvision.

About the Methodology

Accenture Technology Labs has published its annual technology vision report for the past seven years. For the 2012 report, Accenture researchers and scientists developed hypotheses about information technology developments that will have a significant impact on Accenture’s clients in the next five years. A wide range of sources were used for the report, including the flow of venture capital funding, trends highlighted by IT analysts, key themes at industry conferences, academic literature, and tapping industry and technology experts from Accenture. Also used was Accenture’s original research into the characteristics of high-performing IT departments.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Sourced From:Genesis Burson-Maresteller,

Punjab National Bank Received National Golden Peacock Award in Bangalore

2012-01-23T19:38:00.000-08:00

Punjab National Bank has been awarded with the “Golden Peacock National Training Award” 2011. This is for the second time in succession that the Bank has been conferred upon this honour. On behalf of the Bank, the Award was received by Smt. Sushma Bali, General Manager (HRDD and Training) Punjab National Bank and Shri V. K. Dhawan, Asstt. General Manager, Punjab National Bank, from the august hands of Hon’ble Corporate Affairs Minister, Dr. M. Veerappa Moily on January 20, 2012 in 2nd World Congress on Total Quality organised by Institute of Directors at Bangalore.
The assessment of the performance for the award was made on the basis training initiatives taken by the Bank during the year and innovative methods being applied for updating the skills and knowledge level of the employees.
Among the jury who decided the winners were Dr Ola Ullsten, Former Prime Minster of Sweden, Global Chairman, Lt. Gen Surinder Nath, PVSM, AVSM (retd.) former Vice Chief of Indian Army &
former Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, Justice P N Bhagwati, former Chief Justice Supreme Court of India and Dr. A N Saksena former Financial Advisor Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
With a 117 year long tradition in sound & prudent banking and over 68 million satisfied customers, PNB has also taken care of the aspirations of its employees by evolving a training set up of its own which includes one Central Staff College at apex level, seven Zonal Training Centres, three Regional Staff Colleges, I.T. Centre at Faridabad and an exclusive Information Technology Institute at Lucknow.
Bank has also taken up programme with NUS Business School, Singapore for nurturing leadership and marketing skills and also been emphasizing upon the foreign training to the Senior Management personnel so that Bank may come up to the expectations of the stakeholders in globalised era. At PNB, technology is also being leveraged to impart training to its employees.
The efforts being made by the Bank in training arena have resulted in improving employee productivity.

Sourced From:Punjab National Bank

Karnataka Milk Federation launches Rs 4 milk in Tetra Pak package

2012-01-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation Limited (KMF), the second largest cooperative dairy in India, and a household name in the country’s southern states for pure and fresh milk products, today launched Nandini GoodLife toned milk in 100ml Tetra Pak packages at an affordable price point of Rs 4. The new product will be made available to consumers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Supported by Tetra Pak, the world’s leading food processing and packaging solutions provider, KMF is certain the 100ml Tetra Fino Aseptic (TFA) packages will cater to the increased demand for safe and hygienic milk. The 100ml TFA packages allow KMF to increase affordability by pricing the product at Rs 4, thereby reaching a much wider audience.

“Consumers will now have easier access to best quality milk with the launch of Nandini GoodLife milk in 100ml Tetra Pak packages. Priced at an affordable Rs 4, we are extremely happy to add the 100ml Tetra Fino Aseptic package to our portfolio. The new format will help us reach even the most remote areas of the southern states. Our 12-year long association with Tetra Pak has enabled us to provide our consumers with safe and good quality milk,” said KMF Chairman G Somasekhara Reddy.

“KMF’s strong presence in South India will ensure more consumers have access to safe, hygienic and nutritious milk in Tetra Pak packages. This is in line with our company’s vision to make food safe and available, everywhere. Packaging their toned milk in TFA packages allows KMF to increase the reach of the product with its lower pricing. We are pleased to build on our partnership with KMF and be a part of their growth plan,” said Tetra Pak South Asia Markets Managing Director Kandarp Singh.

KMF is the apex body in Karnataka representing dairy farmers' cooperatives. It is the largest cooperative in terms of procurement as well as sale of milk in South India. KMF has 13 milk unions in Karnataka that procure milk from primary dairy cooperative societies and distribute milk to consumers in various locations across South India. KMF’s growing portfolio in the TFA segment, with 500ml, 200ml and now 100ml packaging formats, has increased affordability for the consumer. The cooperative dairy’s endeavours have allowed for the supply and availability of quality milk in remote areas of the region.

Milk packaged in Tetra Pak packages is Ultra-High Temperature (UHT) treated. In this process, milk is heated to very high temperatures for just a few seconds to remove all microorganisms. Milk so treated has no preservatives and does not need to be boiled, making it ready for consumption straight out of the package. Milk in Tetra Pak packages also has increased shelf-life and does not need to be refrigerated until opened. Tetra Pak packages are also 100% recyclable.

ABOUT KMF

Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (KMF) is the apex body in Karnataka representing dairy farmers' cooperatives. It is the second largest dairy cooperative in the country. It is the largest cooperative for procurement as well as sale of milk in South India. One of the core functions of the Federation is the marketing of milk and milk products. Coordination of activities among unions and the developing market for milk and milk products is the responsibility of KMF. Surplus as well as deficit of liquid milk among member milk unions is monitored by the Federation. All milk and milk products are sold under a common brand name, Nandini.

ABOUT TETRA PAK

Tetra Pak is the world's leading food processing and packaging solutions company. Working closely with our customers and suppliers, we provide safe, innovative and environmentally sound products that each day meet the needs of hundreds of millions of people in more than 170 countries around the world. With almost 22,000 employees based in over 85 countries, we believe in responsible industry leadership and a sustainable approach to business. Our motto, “PROTECTS WHAT’S GOOD™," reflects our vision to make food safe and available, everywhere. More information about Tetra Pak, which was recently accorded Business Superbrands status, is available at www.tetrapak.com

Sourced From:Genesis Burson-Marsteller

Samsung Expanding Transparent Display Market

2012-01-19T06:19:00.000-08:00

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. announced today that it is expanding the transparent display market with production of a 46-inch transparent LCD panel, beginning this month.

Younghwan Park, senior vice president of LCD marketing, Device Solutions, Samsung Electronics, said, “Transparent panels, an exciting application of next-generation display technology, have unlimited potential to change our viewing habits over the next several years. As a strong supporter of the transparent display market, Samsung plans to develop this technology into a new growth engine for our LCD business.”

Samsung’s 46-inch transparent LCD panel features a contrast ratio of 4,500:1 with HD (1,366x768) resolution and 70 percent color gamut.

A 2012 CES Innovations Award honoree, Samsung’s transparent LCD panel is being produced for a wide variety of retail display applications such as product showcases, commercial freezer doors and platform doors of subway stations in North America, Europe and Asia. Also, it will be used in other applications including e-boards, information windows, medical equipment, e-signage and mobile devices.

Samsung’s 22-inch transparent LCD panel, which is now being commercialized, has been well received by customers and potential customers in the mobile devices, jewelry and luxury goods sectors due to its compact size and low power consumption, in addition to its attention-grabbing display qualities.

According to market research firm Display Bank, the transparent display market is expected to grow from US$0.9 billion in 2015 to US$87 billion in 2025.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

Sourced From:Text100 PR,

Momentum India - A Two-Day Forum on Media and Design Concludes

2012-01-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

Momentum India 2012, a Media and Education Design Forum organised by the National Institute of Creative Communication (NICC) and CII, was held in Bangalore on January 15-16, 2012, at the JN Tata Auditorium. The conference provided an interactive platform for industry experts, academicians and the general public to showcase the role of design in the larger perspective, bringing education in line with industry parameters, opening up career prospects for students, and providing a platform to network.

The introductory session began with a talk by Dr Akash Rose, Founder Director of NICC on the importance of design in various fields. This was followed by welcome address by Vinay L Deshpande, former Chairman, CII Karnataka followed by Inaugural addresses by Ms. Marja van Weeren frmly. president of Bureau of European Design Associations, Prof. Theo J.J. Groothuizen, Counsellor for Science and Technology, Embassy of the Kingdom of The Netherlands, India Regional Advisor, ICSID, and Michael Longford, Associate Dean Research, York University, Canada.

The two-day symposium had plenary sessions on ‘India – Media & Design Destination’, ‘Media & Design Education Opportunities’, ‘Media and Design Careers in Industry’, ‘Industry-Education Collaboration’, ‘The Indian Media & Design Entrepreneur’, and ‘Recognise your Child’s Talent’. The Symposium also had 8 different workshops on topics such as Photography, Typography, Toy Design, Digital Game design, Copywriting and User Experience design. Besides, there was an exhibition area with over dozen participants and a visual lounge. Over 375 students attended the Symposium and 200 participated in workshops.

During his keynote address, Dr. Akash Rose said, “Design is everywhere from Products, Buildings, Industrial Design, Advertising Design, Motion Graphics, Print & Electronic Media Design and multiple other professions. There is a need for more than 8000 designers per year whereas the supply is just about 800. There is need for more participation from young minds to the field of design. Momentum India seeks to promote design as a viable and attractive career option and highlight the growing need for Industry-oriented professionals.

Ms. Marja van Weeren informed, “India is a rich source of creative talent and a major potential hub for global design. Just as India’s national GDP growth was fueled by the IT Sector, it is now the time that Indian Design talent provides the second major platform for innovation and growth, and the avenue to the evolution of India as a Design destination of choice for the global community.

After inaugural session, the second half of the first day focused on expectations from the Industry and the biggest takeaway was that a professional degree is just a hygiene factor to enter the corporate world. The need of the hour is to supplement the degree with a sound understanding of the latest trends in other fields including history, geography and sciences in order to come up with intuitive and intelligent solutions to industry problems.

On second day students and parents were interacting with successful entrepreneurship on their experiences Media and Design as Entrepreneurship in the pre-lunch sessions. The second half of the day focused on mechanisms to identify students with creative talents, opportunities in the field and preparing them for entrance exams to higher education in Media & Design.

The speakers were veteran from the field of media and design such as Nick Talbot, Global Design Head, Tata Elxsi, Srinivas Reddy, Director, Glynt Designs, Michael Foley, Founder, FoleyDesigns, Sonia Manchanda, Director, IDIOM, BR Swarup, Creative Director, Stark Communications, Ramesh Ramanathan, Advertising Consultant, Wasim Khan, Fashion Photographer, Amit Deshpande, Head UI Design, ESPN, Abhijeet Sojwal, Creative Head, Myntra and Dilip RS, Mobile Evangelist, InMobi, Sunil Sudhakaran, Director Icarus Design, Dr. Ali Khwaja, Chairman Banjara Academy, to name a few.
About NICC:

NICC, a member-affiliate of The European League of Institutes of the Arts (ELIA) as well as ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design), has been setting benchmarks in Media and Design education since 2005 and enjoys the reputation of being one of the leading academic institutions of its kind in the APAC region, With its specialized, industry-centric and result-driven academic programs, NICC educates and delivers globally qualified, career-ready Media and Design professionals. Via its sister Education Trust, ‘Universal’, its programs incorporate simultaneous UGC-approved qualifications.

For more information please visit: www.momentum-india.in

Sourced From: April Media PR,

World Championship beckons Bangalore Golfers

2012-01-19T05:55:00.000-08:00

The regional qualifiers of one of the most eagerly awaited national corporate golfing events of the season, The TAKE Solutions World Corporate Golf Challenge commences at the Eagleton Golf Resort in Bangalore on 20^th January 2012. Scheduled to be held over two days - 20^th and 21^st January - 2012, the event will see the crème de la crème of Bangalore's corporate world battle it out for a berth in the national finals of the World Corporate Golf Challenge.

With golfing teams from Indian and global companies , including TAKE Solutions, Indian Terrain, Shriram Properties, Shriram Ventures, Ballantine's, Emirates, Tourism Thailand , IBM, Accenture, Goldman Sachs, Cisco, Credit Suisse, Capgemini Consulting; Bangalore's own Infosys, Wipro, Kingfisher Airlines set to tee off, Eagleton Golf Resort will see Bangalore's corporate world converge on the golf course over the weekend. With confirmed participation of over 220corporate golfers , the competition is expected to be tough and exciting.

The TAKE Solutions World Corporate Golf Challenge, held in cities across Indiais the only official qualifying event in India for the prestigious World Corporate Golf Challenge which gives corporate honchos a chance to represent their country on the world stage. The regional qualifiers from various cities will compete in the national qualifiers for a chance to represent India in the World Finals of the World Corporate Golf Challenge.

Sponsored by TAKE Solutions, a leading business technology company with products backed by a strong domain expertise to provide cost-effective comprehensive solutions for businesses, the event is now in its 16^th edition in India and has grown bigger and better over the years. From starting out as a single day event in Delhi, it has expanded to include qualifiers held over two days, across many cities in India.

The tournament kick-started in Chandigarh at the Panchkula Golf Course, and the Mumbai qualifiers were held subsequently at the Oxford Golf Club, Pune between Dec 3^rd and 4^th, 2011. This was followed by Delhi qualifiers at Golden Greens Golf Club between December 10^th and 11^th 2011. Tollygunge Golf Club played host to the Eastern qualifiers on Dec 17^th 2011 and the pre-qualifiers for south were held at Kodaikanal Golf Club on December 29^th 2011, and the top two teams from this round are set to compete in the southern qualifiers, the final regional qualifiers, at Eagleton, Bangalore.

Thailand Tourism, and Lebua Hotels and Resorts have jointly come together to host the National Final of the event at Thailand for the 2^nd consecutive year. Top two teams from each of the day of the regional rounds go on to compete at the national final on April 10^th - 11^th 2012 at Lebua Hotels and Resorts, Thailand to grab the top spot and win themselves an opportunity to represent India at the World Finals of the World Corporate Golf Challenge to be held at South Africa's Cape Garden Route.

The World Finals have been held annually since 1994 at the exclusive La Manga Club in Spain apart from one edition each in Jamaica, Mauritius and Kuala Lumpur. Presenting a break from the usual, this year's World Finals will be held at the much celebrated Cape Garden Route, South Africa.

In the past, corporate teams such as BPCL, Parle Foods, Standard Chartered Bank, Mercedes Benz, Deutsche Bank, Indian Airlines, Hero Motors, GE, Credit Suisse, Golden Peacock & McCann Ericson have represented India at the World Corporate Golf Challenge.

Team India has maintained a great record in the World Corporate Golf Challenge since their debut appearance in 1999. Team Close Up, HUL from Mumbai, which represented India last year, displayed excellent golfing skills to finish 2^nd at the World Finals. In 2010, the Indian Team was tied 1^st at the World Finals, but lost out on the title on count back. In 2008, the Indian Team from Credit Suisse became the first and only Indian team to emerge victorious at the World Finals held at the famed La Manga Club in Spain. In 2007 the team from Mercedes-Benz finished a creditable 5th amongst the 25 participating countries and were also voted the most popular team of the tournament.

Sourced From: PlayRight PR,

Unusual & Royal Jewellery on Auction for the first time!

2012-01-18T21:43:00.000-08:00

Bid & Hammer, the leading fine art auctioneers in India, will conduct their first ever Jewellery auction titled ‘Jewellery & Indian Silver including Furniture & Collectibles’ on 30th January 2012 at ITC Windsor Maner Hotel, Bangalore. The auction will comprise of 138 lots with estimates starting from Rs. 15,000/- (USD 283 approx) and going up to Rs. 75,00,000/- (USD 141,510 approx).

The catalogue has an unusual selection of jewellery such as a 'neck to navel' necklace, a 'Hansali' of very fine workmanship, broaches of European style that had been crafted by Indian craftsman in the 1930's, traditional Rajasthani, Gujarati & south-Indian period jewellery worn by the royalties and other collectors’ items made of precious gem stones and studded with diamonds, emeralds, pearls, rubies and gold. There are works by the famed ‘Faberge Jewellers’ as well. The silver & silver plated section has objects such as Paandaan's, Miniature Toys, Jewellery Boxes and Rose Water Sprinklers, amongst a host of others, that have all been hand crafted in the best traditional depictions of Indian mythological subjects, along with foliate & fauna that are all hand chiseled and engraved with the finest perfection.

The colonial furniture section has utility-based items such as solid rosewood and teakwood hand carved sideboards, front desks, sofa's, tables, cabinets and mirrors.

Date of Auction Preview                        :     27th& 28th Jan 2012

Timings                                                :     10.30 am – 7:00 pm

Address                                                :   Bid & Hammer Auctioneers (P) Ltd
                                                                226, 39th 'C' Cross, 8th Main Road,
                                                                5th Block, Jayanagar,
                                                                Bangalore 560 041
                                                                Tel: 080- 32029681 / 2

Book your appointments for the preview and be the one to own these unique jewellery and collectables!,
For Auction Preview @ 080- 32029681 / 2

Sourced From:Perfect Relations

SuVolta Expands Commitment to Magma's FineSim SPICE

2012-01-18T21:38:00.000-08:00

Magma® Design Automation Inc. (Nasdaq: LAVA), a provider of chip design software, announced today that SuVolta, Inc., a developer of scalable low-power CMOS technologies in Los Gatos, Calif., has expanded its business relationship with Magma by entering into a licensing agreement to use the FineSim™ SPICE multi-CPU circuit simulator.

SuVolta’s PowerShrink™ low-power platform reduces the power consumed by integrated circuits (ICs) by 50 percent or more while maintaining the same performance levels by minimizing the electrical variation of the millions of transistors on a chip. Using FineSim SPICE, SuVolta reduced simulation runtime, enabling the design team to increase test coverage by 4X without sacrificing accuracy.

“Our technology is used by advanced semiconductor companies that require the highest level of accuracy in verification of test chip data,” said Robert Rogenmoser, Ph.D., SuVolta’s senior vice president of Product Development and Engineering. “Magma’s FineSim SPICE provides SuVolta with runtime improvements to ensure our designs are of the highest quality.”

“SuVolta has emerged with game-changing technology that significantly reduces power consumption,” said Anirudh Devgan, general manager of Magma’s Custom Design Business Unit. “Their innovative approach is enhanced by the fast and accurate simulation of FineSim SPICE.”

FineSim SPICE: Fast and Accurate Simulation

FineSim SPICE is a SPICE-level simulation analysis tool that incorporates transistor-level simulation analysis capabilities for mixed-signal and analog designs. FineSim SPICE is a full SPICE simulation engine with distributed processing that enables design teams to simulate large-scale mixed-signal system chips at the transistor level. By providing increased speed and capacity while maintaining full SPICE accuracy, FineSim SPICE enables designers to simulate advanced circuits — such as PLLs, ADCs (analog-to-digital converters), DACs (digital-to-analog converters) and gigahertz SERDES (SERializer/DESerializer) — they would not have attempted to test using slower traditional SPICE simulators.

About SuVolta, Inc.

SuVolta, Inc. develops and licenses scalable semiconductor technologies that enable a significant reduction in IC power consumption while maintaining performance. Based in Silicon Valley, the team includes world-class engineers and scientists with a long history of technology development and innovation to advance the semiconductor industry. The company is backed by leading venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), August Capital, NEA, Bright Capital, Northgate Capital and DAG Ventures. For more information, visit www.suvolta.com.

About Magma

Leading semiconductor companies worldwide use Magma’s electronic design automation (EDA) software to produce chips for a wide variety of vertical markets including tablet computing, mobile devices, electronic games, digital video, networking, military/aerospace and memory. Silicon One, Magma’s technology solutions for emerging silicon, address time to market, product differentiation, cost and performance while making silicon more profitable. Magma products include software for digital design, analog implementation, mixed-signal design, physical verification, circuit simulation, characterization and yield management. The company maintains headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and offices throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Asia and India. Magma’s stock trades on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAVA. Follow Magma on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/MagmaEDA and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/Magma. Visit Magma Design Automation on the Web at www.magma-da.com.

Magma is a registered trademark, and FineSim is a trademark of Magma Design Automation Inc. All other product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Sourced From:PRHUB

Result report on HCL Technologies and TCS: Kotak Securities

2012-01-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

Result Update: HCL Technologies Ltd (HCLT)

¾ HCLT's operating results were marginally above expectations. The 4.9% (5.1% in 1Q) volume growth in Software Services was above expectations.

¾ Management has indicated continuing headwinds for the industry in the form of an uncertain macro which is affecting decision making.

¾ We have tweaked our earnings estimates for FY12. Rupee is expected to average 50 / USD in the remaining part of FY12 (v/s Rs.48 assumed earlier). This is expected to keep margins higher on a YoY basis, despite salary increments. EPS is expected to be Rs.32.3 (Rs.30.8 earlier) post ESOP-related charges. We have tweaked our PT to Rs.499 (Rs.496) as the increase in EPS estimates is largely led by the rupee depreciation.

Result Update: Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS)

¾ TCS' 3Q operating results were in line with our expectations. Volume growth at 3.2% (6.25% in 2Q) was impacted by seasonality.

¾ On the macro side, TCS also conceded that, the uncertainty is likely to persist. Client budgets have been largely finalized with mixed trends. About 1/3rd of the sample clients (120) will have lower budgets in CY12.

¾ We make changes to our earnings estimates. FY12E earnings now stand at Rs.55.8 (Rs.54.7 earlier). FY13 earnings are expected to be Rs.65.4 per share (Rs.62.2 earlier). We tweak our price target to Rs.1241 based on FY13 estimates (Rs.1240 earlier). We have accorded valuations which are almost similar to those of Infosys. TCS' revenue growth in the past few quarters has been better than Infosys and it has been able to restrict impact on margins. We maintain a BUY. A sharp appreciation in the rupee against various currencies and a delay in recovery in major user economies remain the key risks to our call.

Sourced From: Genesis Burson-Marsteller India

YouTube Space Lab Announces 60 Finalists in Competition to Send Students’ Experiments into Space

2012-01-18T21:26:00.000-08:00

YouTube, Lenovo, and Space Adventures in cooperation with space agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), today announced the sixty finalists of YouTube Space Lab (youtube.com/spacelab), the global science competition that challenges 14-18 year-olds to design a science experiment that can be performed in space. YouTube Space Lab received thousands of video submissions from more than 80 countries, a remarkable number given the unique challenge of designing an experiment that could actually be carried out in space - something that has traditionally been the mission of qualified astronauts and scientists. Entrants not only described their science experiment ideas via video, but demonstrated and animated the procedures they were submitting.

The U.S. led with 10 finalists, followed by India with nine. Rounding out the top five countries in terms of total submissions are Poland, Canada, and Spain. U.S. finalists hail from states including California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and Vermont. A complete list of finalists is below.

Starting today through January 24, the YouTube community will be invited to judge these entries alongside a prestigious panel of judges, including renowned scientist, Professor Stephen Hawking, NASA’s Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s Associate Administrator of Education and former Astronaut Leland Melvin, ESA Astronaut Frank De Winne, JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and Cirque du Soleil’s founder Guy Laliberté, to determine the winners. YouTube users and the judging panel will determine 6 regional winners (2 teams from each of the 3 regions) who will travel to Washington, DC, where the global winners (2 teams from each age group) will be announced in March.

"We’re thrilled with the response to YouTube Space Lab,” said Zahaan Bharmal, Google’s Head of Marketing Operations, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and the man behind the idea for Space Lab. “They rose to the challenge - demonstrating great imagination, creativity and passion with their ideas. Our mission was to inspire the next generation and the response shows, we've done just that. Today's Space Lab entrants are tomorrow's space explorers.”

High Interest Across the World

Space Lab invited budding scientists in two age categories, 14-16 years old and 17-18 years old, either alone or in groups of up to three, to submit a YouTube video describing their experiment to YouTube.com/SpaceLab. The Space Lab channel itself, which serves as a launch pad for discovering the best space and science videos on YouTube, has received more than 40 million combined video views worldwide.

The majority of entries, approximately forty percent, came from India, followed by the U.S. with fifteen percent. The remaining top ten countries in terms of submissions include the U.K., Russia, Israel, Canada, Spain, Italy, Poland and Japan. Seventy-eight percent of the entries came from the 14-16 year old teams with twenty-two percent from the 17–18 year old teams. Nearly half of the youth entered the competition on their own, while teams of two and three students comprised slightly more than 50 percent.

“Space Lab brings together the brightest young minds in the world today – and we’re impressed with all of the thought-provoking entries,” said Michael Schmedlen, worldwide director of education, Lenovo. “From a global education standpoint, we’re seeing a strong correlation between the entries received and the results from our Global Student Science and Technology Outlook survey, which reveals students in emerging countries - India, Mexico and Russia – have a greater interest in and prioritize science-related careers over students in other developed countries.”

Six regional winners will be announced in February and will gather in Washington, D.C., in March to experience a ZERO-G flight and receive a Lenovo IdeaPad laptop. From them, two global winners, one from each age group, will be announced and later have their experiments performed 250 miles above Earth aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and live streamed on YouTube from a ThinkPad laptop as part of a global event celebrating science and space. Additionally, the global winners will get to choose a unique space experience as a prize: a trip to Japan to watch their experiment blast off in a rocket bound for the ISS, or once they are 18 years old, a one-of-a-kind astronaut training experience in Star City, Russia, the training center for Russian cosmonauts.

YouTube Space Lab Finalists

14 - 16 year olds

The Americas
Katie Gwozdecky - Canada
Michael De Lazzari, Erik Friedman, and Jenny Zhang - Canada

Valentina Mazzanti and Sebastian Escobar - Columbia

Mark Liang - USA (San Marino, California)
Natalie Ng - USA (Cupertino, California)
Luis Tapia and Ben Miller - USA (Castro Valley, California)
Pranav Singh - USA (Irvine, California)
Sara Ma and Dorothy Chen - USA (Troy, Michigan)
Cheyenne Hua, Erica Lin, and Karina Xie - USA (New York City, NY)

Europe, Middle-East and Africa

Tobias Antensteiner - Austria
Victoria Tarisai - Austria

Simon Kopf - Germany

Ariel Berko and Yoav Levi - Israel

Jaime Costa - Morocco

Maciej Giza - Poland
Michał Styk, Maria Leniarska, and Jakub Jabłoński - Poland
MrMooblo 3 - Poland
Rafał Wesołowski, Marcin Ruchniewicz, and Krzysztof Kallas - Poland

Laura Calvo and María Vilas - Spain
Luis Alvarez Ayuso and Marina Lopez Gonzalez - Spain

Reuben Thomas-Davis - UK
Harry Green and Jack Goodwill - UK

Asia-Pacific

Thomas Gambuti, Francesca Mcgrath, and Ruby Wright - Australia
Wyatt McCoach and Forrest Gerner - Australia

Abhishek Shastry and Animesh Shastry - India
Megha Sharma and Karan Sapolia Sharma - India
Nitya Raju - India

Patrick Zeng and Derek Chan - New Zealand

Ping-Chun Lin & Wei-Ting Hsiao - Taiwan

17 - 18 year olds

The Americas

Habeeb Ahmed and Annas Khan - Canada
Jesse Bettencourt, Alex Kasper, and Mackenzie Richardson - Canada

José Arce Gamboa and Brandon Solórzano - Costa Rica

Claudio Nahmad - Mexico
Mariana Infante - Mexico

Brian Barr, Shawn Albert, and Aditya Ragunathan - USA (Dacula/Snellville/Duluth, GA)
Emerald Bresnahan - USA (Plainville, Massachusetts)
Emily O'Brien, Jillian Stoneburg, and Art Sherman - USA (Barberton/Copley/Akron, Ohio)
Grady Ward, Colin Watts, and Charlie Wu - USA (Essex Junction, Vermont)

Europe, Middle-East and Africa

Amr Mohamed - Egypt

François Tirvaudey - France

Michael Judt - Germany (lives in UK)

Adam Debreceni - Hungary
Peter Egri and Gábor Galgóczi - Hungary

Bartosz Krzowski - Poland
Patrik Kopcinski - Poland

João Pereira and Vasco Ferreira - Portugal

Miguel Ferreira, Guilherme Aresta, and Daniel Carvalho - Portugal

Miguel Moral Sola and Rafael Ferrer Fernandez - Spain
Nicolás Marí Hernández, Olivier van Donselaar, and Pere Balaguer Gimeno - Spain

Asia-Pacific

Luke Ditria and Johnny Udall - Australia

Nasir Uddin and AKM Shoaibul Islam - Bangladesh

Ali Ashraf Mohd Rozaiddin, Muhammad Irsyad Aripin, and Mohd Aizat Mohd Ezmir - Malaysia

Bhoomika Agarwal and Shruthi C - India
Mohit Singhala - India
Nesar M.N. - India
Kavin Sundar Nath - India
Sachin Kukke - India
Shri Shankari - India

Anna Yang and Cindy Chen - Taiwan
Sakomizu Wei-yu and Eileen Hess - Taiwan

About YouTube
YouTube is the world’s largest online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch, and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original-content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC, is based in San Bruno, California, and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.

About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $US21 billion personal technology company serving customers in more than 160 countries, and the world’s second-largest PC vendor. Dedicated to building exceptionally engineered PCs and mobile internet devices, Lenovo’s business is built on product innovation, a highly-efficient global supply chain and strong strategic execution. Formed by Lenovo Group’s acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, the company develops, manufactures and markets reliable, high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services. Its product lines include legendary Think-branded commercial PCs and Idea-branded consumer PCs, as well as servers, workstations, and a family of mobile Internet devices, including tablets and smart phones. Lenovo has major research centers in Yamato, Japan; Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; and Raleigh, North Carolina. For more information see www.lenovo.com.

About Space Adventures
Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world's first private space explorers, is headquartered in Vienna, Va., with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecraft. The company's advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker, and Skylab/Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott. For more information, please visit www.spaceadventures.com.

Sourced From: Perfect Relations

HealthCare Global Enterprises installs TrueBeam and PreScision Artiste Technology

2012-01-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd, The Specialist in Cancer Care, is the first hospital in Asia to introduce the Varian TrueBeam Technology and Siemens PreScision Artiste in cancer treatment.
Dr. B S Ajaikumar, Chairman, HCG, said, “HCG has played a vital role in redefining cancer treatment in India, through expertise and technology. As a leader in oncology it is our endeavor to ensure the most advanced radiation therapy technology in cancer treatment is available in India. For the first time in Asia, we have introduced TrueBeam Technology in Ahmedabad and PreScision Artiste at Bangalore. Both these technologies will help in the faster and effective treatment for patients.”
Dr. Kumar Swamy, Consultant, Radiation Oncologist, HCG, said, “PreScision Artiste and TrueBeam can be used for all cancer types requiring radiotherapy. It is specifically unique in delivering radio therapy for its precision. Integrated imaging allows Respiratory gated treatments which involves tumor tracking of mobile tumors which move with respiration (e.g. lung cancer) thereby reducing acute toxicity and brings out maximal therapeutic gain. It offers more convenience for the patient by shortening treatment time.”
About HCG:
Health Care Global Enterprises Ltd, (HCG), The Specialist in Cancer Care, headquartered in Bangalore with over 23 cancer centers is South Asia’s largest cancer care network. HCG has defined the future of cancer care in India by designing, building and managing cancer care centres with a committed vision. HCG focuses on cancer care treatment, imaging and laboratory services, clinical trials and research services. The vision of HCG is to make high quality cancer care accessible by adopting global innovations to all segments of the society.

TrueBeam and PreScision Artiste:

TrueBeam and PreScision Artiste is a new radiotherapy treatment in cancer treatment. The radiotherapy system uses a completely re-engineered control system with a multitude of technical innovations to dynamically synchronize imaging, patient positioning, motion management, and treatment delivery. Radiotherapy can be used for treatment of all cancer types requiring radiotherapy. The total treatment time can be drastically cut down with new technology and this increases the patient’s compliance to treatment. Due to integration and speed of imaging methods in the process of the treatment delivery with high precision – side effects are reduced with an increase in protection of normal tissue and treatment efficiency on the tumor is increased by modulating intensity. The patients will not feel anything during the treatment and it is safe. These technologies can be performed for all types of age, stage and types of tumor and provides important advantage for patients who are not considered as appropriate for surgery because of advanced age.

Advantages of TrueBeam and PreScision Artiste:
#   It is more precise and performs irradiation hitting treatment focus better.
#   It provides a higher performance treatment process and reduces the number of sessions
#   It is a technology offering radiotherapy and radiosurgery options integrated on the same platform in a more convenient way for the patient.
#   Due to reduced toxicity chemotherapy can be safely given with radiation without breaks thereby enhancing radiation effect where organ preservation is of prime importance
#   New generation fully digital Linac with Rapidarc treatments allow treatment to be faster thereby adding to patient’s comfort.
About HCG:
HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd. (HCG), a leader in oncology care in India, currently manages a network of 20 cancer centres across Asia. HCG focuses on cancer treatment centres, imaging & laboratory services and clinical trials & research services. The vision of HCG is to provide high quality, integrated, comprehensive cancer treatment to all segments of society. Bangalore Institute of Oncology (BIO), the flagship of HCG, set up almost 2 decades back was the first dedicated comprehensive cancer centre to be established in the private sector in India. Under the guidance of Dr. B.S. Ajaikumar, BIO acquired Curie Centre of Oncology in 2000 and re-christened it as HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd. Besides expanding to other geographies nationally, HCG acquired Triesta Sciences in December 2005. Under this banner HCG runs a high end Onco-Reference Laboratory, Biomarker research & validation R&D laboratory and Contracted Research Organization - CRO.
Sourced From: HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd

PosedgeInc. unveils ‘Multifunction Non-Volatile Memory IP Platform’ for SOC designers

2012-01-17T06:39:00.000-08:00

Posedge Inc., a leading supplier of Connectivity and Secure Networking Semiconductor Intellectual Property solutions has announced the availability of its ‘Multifunction Non-Volatile Memory IP Platform’ for SOC designers.

The presence of Non-Volatile memory with NAND, NOR, Serial Flash, MMC, SD, Compact Flash is ubiquitous in most of the current generation SoCs and ASICs. There are many decisions and several tradeoffs to be made between these choices such as cost, type of interface, software, control, and application suitability. Additional factors like pin count, memory capacity, and Error Correction capability also play a role in choosing these various interfaces for a SoC design.

Posedge has developed the ‘Multifunction Non-Volatile Memory IP Platform’ to address these development needs.

The bundled IP Platform’s Development board has the ability to choose any memory solution like Serial Flash, NAND Flash, NOR Flash, SRAM or SD/eMMC host. It has all the required connectors for SD/MMC devices and plug-in sockets for NAND/NOR/SFlash/SRAM ICs. By plugging the board of the IP platform into a standard Linux PC and with the Posedge IP Platform Driver kit, a designer can test and evaluate their complete solution for all NVM interfaces at the application level.

Understanding the performance and functionality of memory controllers in a system is critical to the architecture of SoC design. The IP platform has all the tools to select an IP along with required bit files and software drivers to enable users to run performance analysis specific to their design. Subsequently Posedge will provide the exact matching RTL cores along with the test benches, synthesis scripts and software drivers.

"Posedge’s bundled multifunction Non-Volatile IP platform meets all the requirements of SD 3.01, SDIO, eMMC4.5 Host or Device Controllers, synchronous and asynchronous mode ONFI2.2 and ONFI3.0 flash. It significantly enables faster time to market by ensuring the design team of full functionality and performance in their final SOC design" says, Mr. Chakra Parvathaneni, Vice President Marketing, Posedge Inc.

“The Bundled IP Platform solution allows customer to fully evaluate the superior performance and functionality of Posedge’s Connectivity IPs and eliminates the problem of functionality and quality concerns from third party IP suppliers. Our customers are literally guaranteed ‘Right First Time’ performance for their project by using the IP Platform” says Mr. Richard Timpa, Vice President Sales, Posedge Inc.

About Posedge Inc.

Posedge Inc. provides Complete Connectivity Sub-System Intellectual Property in the areas of Communication, Networking, Memory and I/O. Posedge delivers true Quality and Time to Market, by providing customers with Software and Development platforms along with world-class support. Posedge is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, USA and has offices in, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Taipei.

Posedge also provides high performance, low gate count IPs such as 802.11 a/b/g/n, Network Security IP’s like MACSec, Wire-Speed Switching/Routing, and Memory IPs such as ONFI NAND Flash and SD3.01/SDIO3/eMMC4.5. These IPs along with Posedge’s Software and Hardware Development platforms enable customers the quickest time to market and addresses all the needs for a complete system solution.

Posedge allows customers to achieve superior performance with the lowest gate counts and power in the industry. Posedge’s proven track record of commitment to quality and performance has been recognized and cherished by many Industry Leading Companies.

Sourced From: Posedge Technologies India Pvt Ltd

INDIAN DOERS RISE UP TO LENOVO’S DO NETWORK CHALLENGE

2012-01-17T06:34:00.000-08:00

Lenovo today announced that its recently-launched Do Network is well on its mission to helping Doers here bring to life their ideas for a better community, as it sees over 1,269 entries submitted across Indonesia, India and Russia for its Do Network competition. In India, passionate Indians have submitted 609 entries.

Officially launched on 8 December 2011, the Do Network is an online platform designed to inspire people to share and discuss ideas they are passionate about, to form project teams and develop their ideas into concrete plans and tangible actions. Apart from the platform, Lenovo has also provided the resources and mentors to empower participants with the necessary knowledge and tools.

Apart from users’ active participation in submitting projects, the Do Network has also garnered strong interest in the surrounding community, generating 19,867 registrations on the website across the three countries to date.

Based on the theme of “technology invention”, the challenges proposed by the Do Network in this cycle of the campaign seek to address the problems that exist in local communities. This includes portable education, traffic jams, or products=progress. The fourth, a wildcard challenge, is also provided to allow Doers to pursue their individual ideas that may not fall under the specific challenge categories, but still fit with the technology invention theme.

“We are thrilled at the tremendous interest in the Do Network here and the quality of the projects that have been submitted so far," said Shailendra Katyal, Director, Marketing, Lenovo India. "Voting for the projects has begun and we are very hopeful and excited that some of these ideas may help generate positive outcomes for the local communities. These projects have already garnered 5,309 votes only 10 days after voting began, reflecting the strong support from the local communities. The DO Network mentors, are also looking forward to sharing their insights with the finalists, and we hope to see these winning ideas evolve into real solutions over the course of this campaign. We urge the public to continue voting so that they can see their favorite projects come to life!”

The mentors include Rajan Anandan (MD Google India, India), Rajiv Makhni (Managing Editor, Technology at NDTV, New-Delhi, India), Mahesh Murthy (Managing Partner, Seedfund), Kishore AK(CEO & Co-Founder, Althea system), Arvir C Sud (Retired Scientist G & Lead Auditor, ISO 9000, Aeronautical Development Establishment, Defence Research & Development Organisation), Maxwell Pereira (CEO- Maxwell Pereira Advisors Pvt Ltd. & ex-IPS officer), Prof. Shiva Prasad (Dean- Academics, IIT Bombay) and Shantanu Prakash (Chairman & MD Educomp solutions, Founder and Managing Trustee of the Learning Leadership Foundation (LLF))

“It’s a pleasure to be associated with an initiative like this,” says Rajan Anandan, MD, Google India. “Programs like these provide a platform to youngsters, the support they need to bring their ideas to life and help them succeed with the right mentoring. With the combined expertise of the Mentors, project teams and support from Lenovo, I’m certain that this initiative will see some meaningful projects come to fruition and make a difference in our community.”

The Do Network is an extension of Lenovo's brand promise: to provide the tools to empower people to accomplish their goals. Voting for the top 10 projects has begun on 5 January 2012, and will run until 25 January 2012. The top 10 finalists will be announced on 11 February 2012, where voting will commence again to determine the winning team. For more information about the Do Network, including the official rules, please visit http://donetwork.lenovo.com/.

Sourced From: Text100 India

Symphony Services Selects HP to Automate and Accelerate Software Testing

2012-01-17T06:30:00.000-08:00

HP today announced that R&D services company Symphony Services has selected HP Software solutions to help its customers reduce software development times by up to 30 percent.

To sustain competitive advantage, organisations in India are looking to speed innovation, while driving growth and profitability. High quality business applications that embrace areas like cloud and mobility are key to achieving this.

Symphony Services provides testing services to independent software vendors (ISVs) seeking the latest technology to deliver high quality applications to businesses and government agencies. However, the manual testing processes used by some of Symphony Services’ customers resulted in long development times and failed to ensure consistent quality for new software applications.

To address this, Symphony Services chose HP’s IT Performance Suite software solutions to automate its application testing services. With enhanced testing and quality control components, HP’s IT Performance Suite will help Symphony Services improve the efficiency of its testing processes as well as the effectiveness of identifying application defects. These improvements are expected to increase quality assurance by up to 20 percent.

“Businesses are required to optimize product development cycles to stay ahead of competition and continue to deliver new products with required agility while providing a compelling end-user experience,” said, Sunil Gupta, SVP and Head of Service Lines, Symphony Services. “With HP IT Performance Suite software, we aim to identify and reduce performance bottlenecks, improve resource utilization as well as accelerate the return on investment on new product releases for our clients.”

HP IT Performance Suite software suite includes the HP LoadRunner, HP QuickTest Professional (QTP) and HP Quality Center (QC) solutions. This software suite offers immediate access to testing templates, process models and industry benchmarking reports. This allows Symphony Services to automate processes to improve its testing services and deliver improved quality to its customers.

By improving application quality and development times, HP is helping Symphony Services in the pursuit of becoming an Instant-On Enterprise. In a world of continuous connectivity, the Instant-On Enterprise embeds technology in everything it does to serve customers, employees, partners, and citizens with whatever they need, instantly.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

About Symphony Services

Symphony Services is a software innovation company. We help our clients ideate, develop, deploy and manage innovative software and software-enabled products. Our solutions address traditional and new software product engineering challenges created by faster release cadences, the need for mobile cross-platform user experiences and the shift to a cloud delivery model. Symphony’s unique Outcome Certainty engagement model enables our clients to accelerate their product experiences while tackling a wide range of new development complexity and cost challenges with guaranteed results. Our global client base includes eight of the 10 largest software manufacturers, along with leading healthcare, retail, financial, telecom and clean-tech companies. For more information, please visit http://www.symphonysv.com/.

Sourced From: Genesis Burson-Maresteller

The New Year ushers with a Silver Lining

2012-01-17T06:25:00.000-08:00

With the New Year bringing in a new ray of hope, days of resolutions and motivations are round the corner! So,this New Year whilst you do your last minute gift buying for your loved ones, Zippo is on hand to give you a treat too. With the purchase of every Zippo windproof lighter*, you will get a guaranteed
Zippo collectible.
The Bling Emblem Zippo Windproof Lighter is an ideal souvenir for this special season. Designed with polished chrome and embedded with Swarovski crystals, this lighter will complement a luxurious personality. It is exceedingly enchanting and a much prized possession for one and all.
Party hard, let your hair down, have a blast and hold your Zippo lighter high all along, in all the rocking parties.To see the plethora of trendy designs and stockist information, please visit the website at http://www.zippoindia.com/.

Model No:

20904The lighter is backed by Zippo's lifetime guarantee, complete with the original Zippo packaging and is priced at INR 4,000/-.

*in select outlets

About Zippo

Zippo markets in more than 160 countries and is one of the most recognized brands in the world. Based in Bradford, PA, Zippo has produced over 475 million windproof lighters, each backed by an unparalleled lifetime guarantee. Zippo’s diverse product line includes lighter accessories; butane candle lighters; watches, fragrance, and lifestyle accessories for men; and a robust line of heat and flame products for outdoor enthusiasts. Zippo also owns W.R. Case and Sons Cutlery Company, Bradford, PA, and Zippo Fashion Italia, Vicenza,Italy. Zippo will celebrate its 80th anniversary in 2012. For more information, visit Zippo.com.

For more information about Zippo, please visit http://www.zippoindia.com/

Sourced From: Corporate Voice Weber Shandwick

PGTI Announces Puravankara Bangalore Team for the Louis Philippe Cup

2012-01-16T18:29:00.000-08:00

Unveiling the Puravankara Bangalore team jerseys

As the dates for India's richest domestic golf event draw closer, PGTI and Puravankara today announced the team of professional golfers who will represent the Puravankara Bangalore team in the US $ 250,000 Louis Philippe Cup to be held at the Karnataka Golf Association from 5th to 10th March 2012. The pro team comprising of Anirban Lahiri, Manav Jaini and Abhishek Jha, will be led by team ambassador, the well-known sports commentator and Bangalore resident, Charu Sharma, who brings his wealth of experience gained by working closely with various sports and teams over the years.

Through their support for the Bangalore team in the Louis Philippe Cup, Puravankara Projects Ltd. is looking to take their association with Golf to an all new level, by making deeper connections with the golf enthusiasts all over the city and country, building a special bond with Bangaloreans through the sport.

Jackbastian Nazareth, CEO, Puravankara Projects Ltd., was optimistic about their team's chances in the inaugural edition of the premier golf event, Louis Philippe Cup. Golf has always been associated with class, discipline, patience, strategy, astute thinking, focus, anticipation and last but not the least, reading the elements of nature for overcoming the challenges thrown. Puravankara, as a real estate brand, identifies with all these classic features of this game and believes strongly in shaping the future, not only of the industry, but across disciplines by creating landmarks and engineering growth.

Jackbastian Nazareth articulated, "The Louis Phillipe Cup has been instrumental in bringing so many players in India together in one way or another and is bringing about this paradigm shift in the way this game should be played and taught. We are proud to be associated with PGTI (Professional Golf Tour of India). Puravankara is glad to be represented by golfers of the calibre of Anirban Lahiri, Abhishek Jha and Manav Jaini who have shown their golfing prowess and established their class on the circuit. With the collective expertise of these golfers, guidance from non-playing captain Charu Sharma and support from home crowd, we hope that the Puravankara Bangalore team performs exceptionally well in the Louis Philippe Cup."

Padamjit Sandhu, Director - Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), expressed his vision for the Louis Philippe Cup. "We welcome Team Puravankara to the Louis Philippe Cup, and are excited with the strong support this interesting new format in professional golf is generating. With all the top professional golfers from India ready to tee it up for the event, some very exciting golf will be witnessed in Bangalore, and we are looking forward to the city based competition generating tremendous fan and crowd support. The Louis Philippe Cup looks all set to take the popularity and traction of golf to an all new level", opined Padamjit Sandhu.

Speaking about the composition of the team, Mr. Rishi Narain, Founder, Rishi Narain Golf Management, said, "We have worked closely with the PGTI to ensure that all top 18 golfers on the PGTI order of merit can compete in the inaugural edition of the Louis Philippe Cup, ensuring exciting competition for all golf enthusiasts. We have worked extensively with the golfers and teams to ensure that all teams are evenly balanced which will make for interesting viewing."

Addressing the media, non-playing captain and team ambassador Charu Sharma expressed his delight at working with some of the best golfers from India. "Anirban Lahiri's exploits on the Asian Tour and his win at the Panasonic Open in 2011 has established him as one of the best golfers in the country. Manav Jaini has given a good account of himself on the tour and Abhishek Jha is one of the most promising young golfers in the country and moreover, Bangalore is his home ground. It is a privilege for me to work with such a talented team of golfers and be part of this path-breaking golf event that promises to reach out to the fans and form a deep bond. We hope to build a great camaraderie, working as a team to perform well at the Louis Philippe Cup. I am sure that with the love and support from golf lovers in Bangalore, Puravankara Bangalore team will do well at the Louis Philippe Cup."

Willy Ribbe, COO Royal Orchid Hotels, addressed the media about their role as Hospitality Partners for the Louis Philippe Cup and said, "We are delighted to be associated with a premier event like the Louis Philippe Cup and we are enthusiastic about hosting India's top golfers. We are eagerly looking forward to the commencement of the Louis Philippe Cup for which we have made special arrangements and have a whole range of high-end hospitality services on offer to cater to the demands of such a large scale event."

Heading the challenge for Puravankara Bangalore team in the Louis Philippe Cup is winner of 5 PGTI titles, Anirban Lahiri who notched up his first professional win on the Asian Tour by winning the Panasonic Open in 2011. With consistently good performances on the Tour, he finished 2011 ranked no.5 on the PGTI Order of Merit, which secured and confirmed his entry to the Puravankara Bangalore Team. Winner of the 2011 SRF All India Professional Golf Matchplay Championship, Manav Jaini maintained his form through the year to finish 2011 at no. 16 on the PGTI Order of Merit and earn his selection for the Puravankara Bangalore Team.

After a great run in the amateur circuit, Abhishek Jha turned pro in 2010. He has shown great promise and risen up the rankings ladder to no.32 on the PGTI Order of Merit and has made it to the Puravankara Bangalore team as the sponsor's choice.

While the Puravankara Bangalore pro team for Louis Philippe Cup has been finalized, the amateur team is still awaiting two qualifiers. Amateur golfer B.K Satish has already earned his berth in the Puravankara Bangalore amateur team, beating stiff competition from Bangalore's top amateur golfers in the qualifiers held at the Eagleton Golf Resort in November 2011. The other two qualifiers for Puravankara Bangalore amateur team will be selected through qualifying rounds to be held in Karnataka Golf Association on the 25th and 26th of January, 2012 and at the Bangalore Golf Club on the 4th of February, 2012.

With India's top 18 golfers representing 9 cities: Bangalore, Chennai, West (Mumbai&Pune), Kolkota, Lucknow, Delhi, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, the Louis Philippe Cup has a stronger field than any tournament in 2012 and this will make for more exciting competition and nail-biting finishes.

Sourced From: PlayRight PR

MOMENTUM INDIA 2012

2012-01-14T01:08:00.000-08:00

“Momentum India”, an event organized by National Institute of Creative Communication (NICC) in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to highlight the growing need for Industry-oriented professionals in Media and Design, will take place on January 15- 16 at J N Tata Auditorium, IISc.

Momentum India will bring together educational institutions, industry and public on a single platform to establish free and dynamic interaction on design and media technologies that are cornerstones of industrial and economic growth and central to the National & Global industrial-commercial process, and highlight the growing need for Industry-oriented professionals.

Momentum India will have speakers from around the world, exhibition, workshops, contests and panel discussions aimed to provide information on emerging global trends, industry-centric specialized education and career opportunities. Topics will comprise both traditional and new age media – ranging from Motion Graphics and Animation, Retail and Retail Design, User Interface (UI) design for Web and Mobile, Photo Journalism, Copy Writing, Cinematography, Fashion Design, Product and Packaging Design, and Television and Print Advertising to name a few

Key Speakers include Prof. Theo J.J. Groothuizen, Prof Michael Langford, Nick Talbot, Marja Van Weeren, Aleksandra Rose, Dr. Akash Rose, Pradyuman Maheswari, Vinay Deshpande, Prabhat Shukla, Dr. Bubhudataa Baral, Dr. Amaresh CHakrabarti, Srinivas Reddy, Michael Foley, Kenneth Menziess, Sonia Manchanda, BR Swarup Wasim Khan, Abhijeet Sojwal, Amit Deshpande, Vaibhav Tiwari, Dilip R S to name a few.

VENUE: J N TATA Auditorium, Indian Institute of Science, Malleshwaram,
DATE: January 15 & 16, 2012
TIME: 10 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. both days

For more information please visit www.momentum-india.in

Sourced From: April Media PR

Vodafone celebrates Makar Sankranti in Andhra Pradesh with exciting new offers

2012-01-14T01:02:00.000-08:00

Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecommunication service providers has introduced exciting new offers First Recharge 57 and Recharge 33 for its new and existing prepaid subscribers in Andhra Pradesh; on the auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti.
Customers can now celebrate the festival with their near and dear ones with FRC 57 and RC 33. New prepaid customers will be able to enjoy local calls @ 1 paisa per 2 seconds with FRC 57, which comes with a validity of 90 days and a talk time of Rs 10. With RC 33, existing prepaid subscribers can make all local calls @ 1 paisa per 2 seconds, which is valid for 30 days.
Speaking on this occasion, S Murali, Chief Operating Officer- Andhra Pradesh, Vodafone India said, “Makar Sankranti is a major ‘Harvest Festival’, which is of great significance for the people of Andhra Pradesh. To make this occasion special, we are offering our customers new recharge offers, to enjoy the festival with their friends and families. We wish our customers a very happy and prosperous Sankranti.”
Additionally, Vodafone in association with Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM, is also organizing ‘Sankranthi Sambaralu’, a Kite flying festival in Hyderabad (Shilpa Ramam Vedika) and Vizag (Grajada Kala Khestaram), Pongal cooking competition in Vijaywada (Springs School Grounds) and a Rangoli competition across the three locations on January 14 from 11:30 am. Winners will be given Vodafone Smart and Blue handsets, Net Cruise dongles along with other goodies to celebrate this occasion.

About Vodafone India

Vodafone India is a member of the Vodafone Group and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular license for Mumbai. The company now has operations across the country with over 146 million customers. Vodafone India has been awarded the “Best Mobile Service Provider 2011” at the Aegis Graham Bell Awards 2011.
Also, in a survey conducted by India’s leading financial daily, Vodafone India features in the Top 10 ‘Most Trusted Brands in India’ for 2011. The company has also been awarded ‘Most Respected Company’ in the Telecom Sector for 2010, in a survey conducted by a leading business daily. Vodafone India, in line with its group philosophy has released the Corporate Sustainability Report for India – Footprints 2010-11. To view the online version of the report, please visit www.vodafone.in
Vodafone Business Solutions is a total communications offering that caters to all voice and data, wireless and Fixed-line requirements of an enterprise. With the advantage of global expertise and experience and the knowledge of local markets, the business is run through the following verticals – Vodafone Global Enterprise, SME division, National corporate and key accounts. Since its inception, Vodafone Business Solutions has garnered over 3 million corporate customers in India and currently provides services to over 6000 Global and national accounts equipped with a robust and superior network infrastructure and a 24x7 NOC. Through a dedicated team of Account Managers and Service Managers for each account, Vodafone Business Solutions offers a varied range of products/services such as Machine to Machine (M2M) solutions, Leased Lines (Internet Leased Lines, NPLC and IPLC), MPLS VPN, Office Wireline Voice (EI DID), Toll Free Services, Audio Conferencing, Mobilisation of Enterprise Applications, Email & Connectivity and 3G Solutions for Business to help enterprises (big and small) to enhance their productivity and efficiency.
Vodafone is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies by revenue with over 391 million customers in its controlled and jointly controlled markets as at September 30, 2011. Vodafone currently has equity interests in over 30 countries across five continents and more than 40 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com

Sourced From: Genesis Burson Marsteller

Tech Mahindra inaugurates ‘Performance Engineering Lab’

2012-01-14T00:47:00.000-08:00

Tech Mahindra, a global systems integrator and business transformation consulting services firm exclusively focused on the communications industry, announced the inauguration of its ‘Performance Engineering Lab’ in Pune.

The performance engineering lab amply demonstrates Tech Mahindra’s commitment to innovation and helps the client to reduce the time-to-market and enhances end user experience. This lab will focus on strengthening the culture of co-innovation with Tech Mahindra’s partners and customers and will enable launch of new services in the market. The lab in the mould of innovation/capability factory will help Tech Mahindra to build new capabilities and also serve as a platform to train the associates.

Tech Mahindra has deployed a performance engineering framework for telecom service providers and enterprises which offer proactive and sophisticated way to ensure the application response times, availability and end customer experience are enhanced. It emphasises on deployment of best development practices in the early stages of application development and integration in order to avoid performance bottlenecks. It has four prongs namely performance testing, monitoring, tuning and diagnosis (analytical capabilities) in the area of enterprise and telecom applications.

The dedicated performance engineering competency team at Tech Mahindra works with strategic partners in the space of application monitoring and performance testing. In application performance monitoring Tech Mahindra has partnered with CA to provide best in class services to customers in areas ranging from application, cloud performance monitoring and analysis.

Vineet Nayyar, Vice Chairman, MD and CEO Tech Mahindra said, “This innovation initiative such as application performance engineering lab would focus on building pre-packaged solutions along with the technology partners. The solutions are innovative and new revenue models such as pay-per-use will bring immense value to the customers and partner eco-system.”

L.Ravichandran, President, IT Services, Tech Mahindra, said, “The performance engineering lab is in line with our compelling value propositions and co-innovation culture for the telecom industry. The rich product portfolio of our partners combines well with Tech Mahindra’s deep domain expertise to offer unique value to our customers. Tech Mahindra and CA have partnered in the application monitoring space and this will deliver enhanced benefits to our customers. We will continue our effort to reinforce the relationship by winning together in the marketplace.”

“We are honored that Tech Mahindra is using CA APM in their Performance Engineering Lab to help proactively identify, diagnose and resolve application performance problems before end users are affected and assure service-delivery levels meet business objectives,” said Mike Sargent, General manager, Service Assurance, CA Technologies. “Our solution delivers to Tech Mahindra the vital visibility required to optimize the performance of critical transactions and revenue-generating services, and put customers firmly in control of the end-user experience.”

About Tech Mahindra

Tech Mahindra is a leading provider of solutions and services to the telecommunications industry with a majority stake owned by Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, in partnership with British Telecommunications plc. Tech Mahindra's capabilities spread across a broad spectrum, including Business Support Systems (BSS), Operations Support Systems (OSS), Network Design & Engineering, Next Generation Networks, Mobility Solutions, Security consulting and Testing. The solutions portfolio includes Consulting, Application Development & Management, Network Services, Solution Integration, Product Engineering, Infrastructure Managed Services, Remote Infrastructure Management and BSG (comprises BPO, Services and Consulting). Tech Mahindra serves telecom service providers, equipment manufacturers, software vendors and systems integrators worldwide and their proven delivery models, distinctive IT skills and decades of domain expertise enable clients to maximize returns on their IT investment. Tech Mahindra registered revenue of USD 1,126.6 million in the year ended March 31, 2011 and is ably supported by 43,500 professionals who provide a unique blend of culture, domain expertise and in-depth technology skill-sets.

Tech Mahindra has successfully implemented more than 16 Greenfield Operations globally and has been involved in about 8 transformation programs of incumbent telecom operators.

A SEI-CMMi Level 5 organization, Tech Mahindra's development centers are ISO 9001:2008 and BS7799 certified. Tech Mahindra has principal offices in the UK, United States, Germany, UAE, Egypt, Singapore, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines, Canada and Australia. Tech Mahindra Ltd is part of the US $14.4 billion Mahindra Group, a global industrial federation of companies and one of the top 10 business houses based in India. The Group's interests span automotive products, aviation, components, farm equipment, financial services, hospitality, information technology, logistics, real estate and retail.

For more information please refer to the website: www.techmahindra.com

Sourced From: Tech Mahindra