India Press Release

Leonidas, the premium Belgium chocolate brand expands into Retail outlets

Aarohan Communications — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:28:36 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Leonidas the premium chocolates brand has made its presence in Indian market. It is the only premium chocolate brand to date having its own exclusive store. In a response to customer needs, Leonidas is expanding its retail operation in India.

As part of the plan, the company has launched special range for the retail. Leonidas is offering customers the opportunity to buy the brand in pre-packed boxes from upmarket retail outlets. Leonidas has launched a special collection for the retail stores.

Indians are travelling the world and looking for international brands back home, their exposure to gourmet chocolates, dark chocolates and demand for vegetarian chocolates has meant an increasing demand for Leonidas in India.

Speaking on the development. Director Ms Vrinda Rambhia, Premium Pralines Pvt Ltd which markets Leonidas in India explains, said, "Distribution is not just about a physical network, the brand has to be available where it is convenient for our customers to purchase. We have decided on retail stores based on customer feedback. We plan to select more retail outlets, which have the infrastructure and customer base to be able to market Leonidas. “

The new retail range consists of the ORIGIN COLLECTION, WHITE CHOCOLATE & FRUIT, PERLES PURES, CHOCOLATE BARS, CHOCOLATE CIGARS, and NAPOLITANS. Pricing will reflect the brand’s strategy of offering consumers a surprisingly affordable luxury.

Leonidas retail range will be available at PREMSONS (Breach Candy), RAKHANGI GENERAL STORES (Worli Seaface), ALFA STORES (Irla), CHEDDA DRYFRUITS (Walkeshwar), J.W. MARRIOT (Juhu) and SATYAM COLLECTION (Churchgate).

Leonidas is globally distributed via more than 1600 retail outlets spread over 40 countries.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Leonidas

Leonidas is a premium chocolate brand selling over 100 different kinds of Belgian chocolate through 1,600 outlets. Majority of the Leonidas chocolates are vegetarian. The brand offers Tradition and quality in a modern setting. Leonidas is well known for innovative new products and flavours. Leonidas is renowned for its guarantee of freshness and quality of its chocolates. Its chocolates contain 100% pure cocoa butter, natural ingredients like fresh butter, fresh cream. In addition, delicacies such as hazelnuts from Turkey, Morello cherries from the Périgord, almonds from Italy and walnuts from Grenoble. Latest technology is used to guarantee that freshness, quality and safety of the chocolates. Leonidas has introduced the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system.

In India, Leonidas is marketed by Premium Pralines Pvt Ltd. The exclusive Leonidas store is at Kemps Corner, Mumbai. Retail range is available at PREMSONS (Breach Candy), RAKHANGI GENERAL STORES (Worli Seaface), ALFA STORES (Irla), CHEDDA DRYFRUITS (Walkeshwar), J.W. MARRIOT (Juhu) and SATYAM COLLECTION (Churchgate).

Apavou Hotel-Resorts & Spa appoints Connexons Tourism Services as their Representative Office in India

Mileage Communications (India) Pvt. Ltd. — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:21:09 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Mr Jean Luc Helary, CEO Apavou Hotels-Resorts & Spa Mauritius, today announced the appointment of Connexons Tourism Services, led by Mr. Sunil Puri, as their Sales Representatives in India. Connexons Tourism Services has its head office in New Delhi and branch offices in Mumbai & Chennai.

Apavou Hotels-Resorts & Spa operates a portfolio of eight hotels in Mauritius and Reunion namely, in Mauritius, Indian Resort & Spa, 4* luxe with 265 rooms; La Plantation Resort & Spa, 4* luxe with 271 room; Ambre Resort & Spa, 4* sup with 298 rooms; Mornea, 4* with 144 rooms; Bougainville, 3* with 50 rooms; Les Cocotiers, 2* with 48 rooms; in Reunion, Hotel le St Denis, 3* with 124 rooms; and Le Royal Cap Resort & Spa, 5* opening in 2010.

Reinforcing the sales force on the Indian market will assist in increasing awareness and business opportunities for Apavou Hotels-Resorts & Spa. Connexons has tight connections with the Indian travel trade, and will work on educating the Indian customers on the unique value proposition and special features offered by the Apavou Hotels.

According to Mr. Jean Luc Helary, India is an exciting and dynamic market and a key business priority for Apavou Hotels. Connexons will assist in re-establishing the hotels in India and target both FIT and MICE travel. For Sunil Puri, the representation will widen Connexons’ reach in this rapidly growing outbound market. Three sales managers will be appointed in the coming weeks, based in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Apavou Hotels-Resorts & Spa is a leading hotel group in the Indian Ocean with 1076 rooms in Mauritius and 124 rooms in Reunion Island. The hotels are strategically located on the islands and offer a range of activities and facilities for honeymooners, families on holidays, business purposes, corporate groups and MICE.

Miller Heiman Expands to India through Local Partnership

Sales Principles — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:02:12 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Miller Heiman announced continued global expansion to the Indian subcontinent through a partnership with Sales Principles to distribute its portfolio of sales performance solutions. This expands Miller Heiman's delivery capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region and provides discerning companies the opportunity to avail of these services through local expertise and using Indian currency.

As Miller Heiman's licensed distributor for the Indian subcontinent, Sales Principles is equipped to deliver and manage the entire Miller Heiman range of sales practice and process training products. "We are a consulting company with the core focus of injecting strategy and precision into the art of selling," says Priya Sachdev, director of sales and marketing for Sales Principles. "Sales Principles believes in long-term, holistic relationships with clients and is committed to facilitating sales success through the use of Miller Heiman products and services."

"Our strategy for global expansion includes partnering with companies who have strong practical expertise in sales management and a thorough appreciation for the needs of local business leaders," said Damon Jones, president and managing director of international at Miller Heiman. "We look forward to working with Sales Principles to extend Miller Heiman's offerings to clients in India."

Miller Heiman - The Sales Performance Company

Miller Heiman is the global leader in sales performance solutions with more than 30 years of documented results. The company works with leading organizations to improve sales effectiveness through issue-based consulting and training. Headquartered in Reno, Nevada, Miller Heiman has additional corporate offices in the United Kingdom and Australia and offers programs worldwide in 15 languages. For more information, contact 877.506.2973 or visit Miller Heiman's website: www.millerheiman.com.

Sales Principles - Performance and Results

Sales Principles is a licensed distributor for Miller Heiman - The Sales Performance Company in the Indian subcontinent and is accredited to deliver and manage the Miller Heiman range of sales practice and process training as well as development products. The Miller Heiman processes are simple, yet able to bring about tremendous changes to the sales culture of organizations and thereby increase revenue. The Sales Principles directors and core facilitators are certified Miller Heiman sales practitioners and have many years of sales, sales management, account management and sales training experience to draw from. Facilitators are from across industries, giving clients the option of choosing the best fit for specific needs. Headquartered in New Delhi, Sales Principles has offices in Mumbai and Bangalore as well as support available across India.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Sales Principles is a consulting company with the core focus of injecting strategy and precision in to the art of selling. Sales are the bedrock of organizational growth and we believe that well researched and validated processes are the key to consistent success. In today's turbulent scenario, we propose to partner with you to help your organization achieve more sales, better sales.

Sales Principles is the licensed distributor forMiller HeimanInc.-The Sales Performance Companyin the Indian subcontinent and is accredited to deliver and manage the Miller Heiman range of sales practice and process training as well as development products. The Miller Heiman processes are simple, yet able to bring about tremendous changes to the sales culture of organizations and thereby increase revenue.

MICA-EDC announces admissions to PGP CME 2009-10

Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:00:00 +0600

/India PRwire/ - MICA's Entrepreneurship Development Centre has announced admissions to the 3rd batch of the PG Programme in Communications Management & Entrepreneurship(PGPCME). PGPCME highlights the innovative framework of entrepreneurial training facilitated through various useful and unconventional pedagogies, change processes, behavioural experimentations, cultural conditioning and innovative art processes. It offers three distinct experiences:

Education in Communications, Management and Entrepreneurship leading to Post Graduate level Diploma

Industry experience in the communications domain spread across the academic year, wherein the Participant works in an organisation and produces strategic business plan for diversification and creation of a new business vertical there

International Immersion in countries like US, UK and Singapore, giving the participant a global perspective

Launch and management of one’s own innovative venture, using Com-cubator systems consisting of industry mentorship, well-designed office and communications technology support facilities like an Idea lab, Media Research lab, Film Studio, IMac lab, opportunities of VC funding, legal and HR support etc. Thus the students will be able to start their own ventures right from the time they join the programme and at the same time avail necessary education.

Ideal Participants

PGPCME targets participants who are aware, with strong communications and interpersonal skills and motivated to pursue entrepreneurship in the communications domain. The institute encourages a diverse mix of educational, professional and other background amongst participants to enhance the learning experience.

The programme is largely beneficial to working professionals, with some work experience after graduation, wishing to set up a new venture or upgrade their qualifications for an entrepreneurial career.

The programme would also be of immense benefit to participants from a family business background, who wish to be groomed for leadership positions or want to diversify to start a new venture within communications domain.

Admission Process

Selections for the programme would be done through an Idea presentation, wherein the applicant would share his/her idea or concept that can add new values to communications as an industry or profession.This would be followed by a Programme Absorption Test. Last date of Submission of completed Application forms: 30th July, 2009.

Interested candidates should write to pgpcme@mica.ac.in for details.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About MICA-EDC

MICA's Entrepreneurship Development Centre (MICA-EDC) is an initiative of MICA, set up with the support of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, with the purpose of fostering entrepreneurship in the communications driven initiatives as well as promoting corporate entrepreneurship in the communications industry.

MICA-EDC is a centre of excellence of MICA, which conducts post graduate programmes in the area of communications management, offers business support services including skill assessment, market research and profiling studies and publications specific to entrepreneurship in the communications sector. MICA-EDC has recently set up a first of its kind Comcubator, an Incubation centre specifically for communications sector to commercialize and nurture ideas and innovations. (http://mica-edc.org)

Russell Global Index Adds 50 Stocks in India

India PRwire Pvt. Ltd. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:37:38 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Russell Investments has added 50 stocks in India to the Russell Global Index as part of an annual process to maintain the most accurate equity benchmarks. The Russell India Index now comprises 405 stocks that represent USD$937 billion in market capitalization. While India experienced a market capitalization decrease of 18.6% from this time last year, it was significantly better than the overall 34.7% decline for the global index. As a result, India ranks as the 10th largest market in the Russell Global Index.

The complete list of stocks in the Russell Global Index, including the names of those based in India, is available at http://www.russell.com/Indexes/membership/default.asp.

"India's domestic economic growth rate continues to be among the best in the world, providing support to the local equity market," said Matt Beardsley, associate portfolio manager for Russell. "Foreign investors also continue to see opportunity in the Information Technology and Financials sectors that benefit from ongoing outsourcing and increased lending opportunities to Indian consumers respectively."

Other key points related to the Russell India Index stemming from the annual update process:

Financial Services (20.8%) and Energy (20.4%) represent the largest sectors.
Materials & Processing saw the largest decrease in sector weight, declining from 27.9% to 10%.
The Russell India Index reflected a year-to-date gain of 56.5% through June 26, while the U.S. broad-market Russell 3000 Index showed a gain of 4.2% for the same period.

The Russell Global Index includes approximately 10,000 securities in 70 countries and covers 98% of the investable global market. Membership is determined by objective rules. All securities in the Russell Global Index are classified according to size, region, country, and sector, and as a result the index can be segmented into more than 300 distinct benchmarks.

Russell's annual index update process is followed closely by many investors because USD$4 trillion in assets are benchmarked against them. Russell Indexes also account for an industry-leading 63.3% of institutional benchmarked products. Accurate benchmarks are an integral part of Russell's ongoing process to monitor more than 8,000 investment manager products worldwide for its $136 billion active investment management business.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Contact:
Steve Claiborne
253-439-1858
newsroom@russell.com

Unitech Wireless Selects Telcordia Prepaid Mobile Services Platform for Pan-India GSM Network to Serve Millions of Subscribers

India PRwire Pvt. Ltd. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:30:21 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Telcordia (www.telcordia.com), a global leader in the development of IP, wireline, and mobile telecommunications software and services, today announced that it has been selected by Delhi-based Unitech Wireless as part of its build-out of a pan-India GSM network to serve millions of subscribers. The Telcordia® Real-Time Charging solution will enable Unitech Wireless to reduce time-to-market in offering sophisticated and innovative services for advanced wireless voice and data, in all 22 circles across India.

The Telcordia Real-Time Charging solution offers Unitech Wireless a flexible, affordable convergent charging solution that can handle the demands of prepaid-postpaid, voice-data-content, and circuit-packet convergence. While reducing time-to-market for new advanced services, the solution will also help Unitech Wireless reap major cost savings and drive revenue by consolidating charging on a convergent platform while increasing customer loyalty, usage and retention.

"India continues to experience exceptional rates of subscriber growth and communication service providers (CSPs) will look to attract new subscribers and increase service use to boost revenue by differentiating their service offerings," said Anuj Kapur, Country Head -- India, Service Delivery Solutions, Telcordia. "This marks the fourth CSP in India to select Telcordia for real-time charging and is indicative of the value and much needed service differentiation that Telcordia brings CSPs in a highly competitive market by enabling value-added, personalized and interactive services."

"The order placed with Telcordia is one of the major orders for equipment and solutions placed by Unitech Wireless this year. Leveraging existing competencies in the infrastructure and services space will be central to our strategy to reduce time-to-market and ensure a swift and cost-efficient rollout of our services in the Indian market," said Rohit Chandra, Chief Operating Officer at Unitech Wireless.

Independent of network equipment suppliers, Telcordia provides CSPs, such as Unitech Wireless, with solutions that enable rapid scalability of large networks as well as reduce integration costs and complexity with an open, flexible convergent charging platform.

Telcordia Real-Time Charging makes it easy to create and deploy customer-specific rules for rating, discounting, promotions, and settlements, and enables CSPs to differentiate their service offerings and personalize the mobile experience for its customers.

Building off its ongoing relationship with IBM, Telcordia built its comprehensive solution on the IBM BladeCenter and engages IBM to provide local support. The Telcordia solution also uses Telesoft Technologies OKEFORD media platform technology.

For more information about Telcordia please visit www.telcordia.com. For more information about Telcordia's presence in India visit www.telcordia.com/news_events/presskit/india-snapshot.html.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Telcordia

Telcordia, a global leader in the development of fixed, mobile and broadband communications software and services, enables Communications Service Providers (CSPs), enterprises, suppliers and government entities to successfully deploy innovative and advanced services that help our clients realize operational efficiencies, drive revenue, and maintain a competitive edge in the new era of services-dominated communications. Telcordia has globally trusted expertise in software and services to meet the needs of customers and partners, including, consulting, next-generation OSS, network and application interconnection, service delivery and charging solutions, industry research and new technology development. Telcordia is headquartered in Piscataway, N.J., with offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Central and Latin America. (www.telcordia.com)

Subscribe to Telcordia RSS press release feed at: http://feeds.telcordia.com/TelcordiaPressReleases.

Contact:
Sharon Oddy
Telcordia Technologies, Inc.
+1 732-699-4203
oddys@telcordia.com

WNS Announces First Scheduled Repayment and Second Voluntary Prepayment on Term Loan

India PRwire Pvt. Ltd. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:27:40 +0600

/India PRwire/ - WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE: WNS), a leading provider of global business process outsourcing (BPO) services, today announced that it will make its first scheduled term loan repayment of $20 million on its existing $195 million term loan facility. In addition, WNS will make its second voluntary prepayment of $5 million; its first voluntary prepayment was made in April 2009. Both payments will be made on July 10, 2009, as per the terms of the loan agreement.

The loan, which matures in January 2013, was used to finance the July 2008 acquisition of Aviva Global Services, the captive BPO operations of Aviva, one of the world's largest insurance groups. The next scheduled $20 million repayment on the facility is due in January 2010, pursuant to the terms of the loan agreement.

"By making an additional prepayment on this facility with our available cash, we are once again demonstrating the strength of our balance sheet and confidence in our ongoing free cash flows, which, this year, continue to average about $5 million per month," said Alok Misra, WNS's Group CFO. "Our relationship with Aviva Global Services continues to progress well and add to the financial health of our company as demonstrated in our last quarter's results. Depending on market conditions, we will consider making additional prepayments on this loan in the future, in order to further reduce our interest expense," he added.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About WNS

WNS is a leading global business process outsourcing company. Deep industry and business process knowledge, a partnership approach, comprehensive service offering and a proven track record enable WNS to deliver business value to some of the leading companies in the world. WNS is passionate about building a market-leading company valued by our clients, employees, business partners, investors and communities. For more information, visit www.wns.com

Safe Harbor Statement under the provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This news release contains forward-looking statements, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding our pending prepayment and scheduled payment on our loan facility as well as potential prepayment on the loan facility in the future. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that may be projected by these forward looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to technological innovation; telecommunications or technology disruptions; future regulatory actions and conditions in our operating areas; our dependence on a limited number of clients in a limited number of industries; our ability to attract and retain clients; our ability to expand our business or effectively manage growth; our ability to hire and retain enough sufficiently trained employees to support our operations; negative public reaction in the US or the UK to offshore outsourcing; regulatory, legislative and judicial developments; increasing competition in the business process outsourcing industry; political or economic instability in India, Sri Lanka and Jersey; worldwide economic and business conditions, including a slowdown in the US and Indian economies and in the sectors in which our clients are based and a slowdown in the BPO and IT sectors world-wide; our ability to successfully grow our revenues, expand our service offerings and market share and achieve accretive benefits from our acquisition of Aviva Global Services Singapore Private Limited and our master services agreement with Aviva Global Services (Management Services) Private Limited; our ability to successfully consummate strategic acquisitions, as well as other risks detailed in our reports filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect management's current analysis of future events. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT:
Investors:
Alan Katz
VP - Investor Relations
WNS (Holdings) Limited
+1 212 599-6960 ext. 241
ir@wnsgs.com

Media:
Josh Passman
CJP Communications
+1 212 279-3115 ext. 203
jpassman@cjpcom.com

Hashtech Launches Nano Series of Kiosks

HashKiosk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:35:16 +0600

/India PRwire/ -

Hashtech launches new Nano series of Kiosks. New models incorporate latest technologies including thin client and Atom processors.

“If our models don’t knock you down, the prices sure will,” said Harish Sukhwal at the launch of the four new models of Kiosks under the Nano series. Specifically designed for the Indian environment, these machines are rugged to withstand extreme operation conditions and come at prices that are “atleast 50-60 percent lower than what is available in the market. We have been able to achieve these prices by taking advantage of new technologies like thin clients and the Atom series of processors. Apart from the low cost of acquisition, the new kiosks also have low overall cost of operation due to their frugality in consuming power.”

The four machines launched today include:

HSK Nano DW 0901: Based on a Devon IT thin client, this machine needs a LAN environment to run. The wall mount display makes it ideal for use in almost every location where space is at a premium. Ideally suited for restaurants, libraries, bank information terminals, hospitals and educational institutes. Can work with a wide variety of system software including Linux and Windows. Click here for system details.

MRP: Rs 38,999/-.

HSK Nano DF 0911: Based on a Devon IT thin client, this machine needs a LAN environment to run. The floor standing model (that comes with frosted acrylic sheets and back lighting) is ideally suited for environments where the kiosk body will be used for publicity. Typical locations would include high traffic areas like malls, restaurants, libraries, bank information terminals, hospitals and educational institutes. Can work with a wide variety of system software including Linux and Windows. Click here for system details.

MRP: Rs 44,999/-

HSK Nano ZW 0921: Based on Intel’s Atom processor this wall mount is a monster performer that sips power. Ideally suited for locations where space is a premium. Can be used to run a wide variety of media from movies, to flash presentations and all types of kiosk software. Typical locations would be airports, rail and bus stations, malls, hospitals, movie theaters, exhibitions and educational institutes. These sleek models are very portable and serve as a great movable informational display. Click here for system details.

MRP: Rs 42,999/-

HSK Nano ZF 0931: Based on Intel’s Atom processor this wall mount is a monster performer that sips power. The floor standing model (that comes with frosted acrylic sheets and back lighting) is ideally suited for environments where the kiosk body will be used for publicity. Can be used in both indoor and outdoor locations. Click here for system details.

MRP: Rs 48,999/-

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Kiosk:

HASHKIOSK.COM is an interactive software company, which offers one-stop shop for all your kiosk hardware and software needs. With its unique infrastructure, it is able to offer quality solutions for all kiosk requirements. It strives to provide the best service possible, developing strong and continuous commercial relations with our customers.

Avoiding pitfalls of yoga and meditation

Buoyant PR — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:44:01 +0600

/India PRwire/ - In this fast paced ever-stressful life and progressively decreasing childhood, we often look to Yoga and meditation for keeping us fit and healthy. Yoga and Meditation are appealing, soulful and useful as it not just helps us keep fresh and fit but fights dreaded diseases and has often come to save many lives.

Results across the globe has shown that Science of Yoga has helped us fight common diseases like constipation, cramping, diarrhea, constipation, osteoporosis, back-pain, high-blood pressure, and even terminal illness like blood cancer.

But, did you know that if specific type of steps can help fight many a disease, then blind imitation and wrong posturing can be life threatening and risky?

Researchers have warned against overdose and abuse of yoga which can be life threatening and the common man often faces the risk of falling on the wrong side of Yogic treatment due to lack of proper knowledge.

Delhi based renowned Integrated Yoga therapist Bijoylaxmi Hota says, “The common mistake people make is to follow a fixed set of asanas and pranaaymas. Such a routine is bound to help some and harm some”

“For example if a person with a weak back practices forward bending asanas, the condition can aggravate. A lady with a weak back who did halasana, got slip disc in that posture and could not come back to the normal position. And a gentleman with high blood pressure ended up in ICU after doing a vigorous pranayama.”

The adverse effects of meditation are widely documented in Western clinical research, which reveals that it can lead to social detachment, despondency, depression, anxiety, confusion, psychosis and withdrawal into the self.Bijoylaxmi Hota says, “But such symptoms are attributed to 'The difficulties of following a spiritual path supposedly warned by the Eastern School of Thought’, rather than deviation from the rules of Meditation, which is most unfair and unfortunate”.

Hota further adds, “Meditation is a great practice and our only shield against stress, the root cause of all our problems-physical, mental, personal, social, and professional.”

So next time you think of Yogic meditation, go to a therapist before you begin.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Bijoylaxmi Hota, renowned integrated Yoga therapist and best -selling author will hold a ‘Meditation Festival’, at The Ashok, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi, on 25th July 2009. The participants will be taught seven different forms of Meditation to experience their effect and will be guided to choose the right ones for themselves for better physical, mental, psychological and emotional health.

Hewlett-Packard's manufacturing facility rolls out their 1 millionth product

Genesis Burson-Marsteller — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:38:27 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Hewlett-Packard, the leading PC brand in India, proudly rolled out the one millionth unit from its manufacturing facility in Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. Setup with an initial investment of Rs. 100 crore, the plant commenced operations in March 2007 and has an installed capacity of5.7 mn units per year for manufacturing desktops, workstations and notebooks. It took the team at HP factory merely 25 months from its start to reach this milestone of manufacturing the one millionth unit. The team took about 14 months to complete the production of its first 500,000 units and 11 months for the next 500,000 units. This has been made possible with HP’s state of art facility at Pantnagar which employs over 500 people who go through world class training periodically.

Being the market leader, Hewlett-Packard was the first MNC in India to have established a manufacturing facility in the country to cater to the growing demand for HP products across the nation while reducing the product delivery time. HP has the widest portfolio of technology products spanning consumers and commercial segments and has been ranked no. 1 in the Indian PC market across all product categories quarter on quarter by IDC. During 1Q 2009, HP India retained the top spot in the overall India Client PC (Notebooks and Desktops combined) market with a market share of 18.2% by unit shipment.

Congratulating the team on achieving this milestone, Shalyn Lee, Vice President, Supply Chain, Personal Systems Group, HP Asia Pacific and Japan, said, “Today India represents a strategic market for HP and our facility in the country reiterates our commitment to serve our customers in the region. The world class HP facility at Pantnagar is a progression to the next level of hardware manufacturing for HP India.”

Ravi Swaminathan, President, Personal Systems Group, HP India, further added, “With strong infrastructure and favorable government policies, we see Uttarakhand emerging as a key manufacturing hub for the IT sector.”

Being the technology leader in the industry, the HP facility is designed for excellence and optimizes use of technology as a key differentiator at each step of the manufacturing process. Process control, quality control, IT application, and packaging excellence are brilliantly built into the entire system. This results in a manufacturing process that lends a geometrical precision to the technological competence of its products. The technology at the facility adopts the latest best practices using real time onsite upgrades of operating system software and other crucial internal and external benchmarks. Meticulous audits are undertaken to streamline and optimize the manufacturing process; internal and external process controls lead to zero tolerance for manufacturing defects. Thus it comes as no surprise that HP’s manufacturing facility has been recognized by the industry through various certifications such as the ISO 9001 certification since July 2007.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About HP

HP, the world’s largest technology company, simplifies the technology experience for consumers and businesses with a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

© 2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

DRS Education launches DRS Para Education, a first of its kind concept in India

Solus Media — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:26:14 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Life is a challenge.Life is the toughest exam.There is no other way out.And there are no quick fix solutions.You just have to go ahead and face it.And there is no single course that prepares you for that toughest exam called — LIFE.We need to give final touches to your persona beyond your education to prepare us for the real world challenges.Take anything, it is incomplete without the final touch.

This is what Parallel education is all about. The intrinsic approach.

Our educational systems are ill equipped to cope with the larger issues of handling life. Academic excellence is only one of the smaller weapons needed to tackle life. No education is complete unless it is targeted towards the requirement of the corporate world. The biggest challenge Indian educational system faces today, is employability. We have the largest pool of educated youth, well educated yet unfortunately unemployable, said Mr Ramesh Batavia, course director.

It is beyond employment. It is creating a balance between success and happiness. While our youth need to be competent in all fields they also need to have a strong character and uncompromising value system. Only then our country will grow on both economical and ethical grounds.

People are like diamonds. Their basic value multiplies a hundred fold when they are polished. Today’s youth needs to be groomed for challenges of real life world. DRS Para Education, a part of DRS educations seeks to fill this vacuum, he added.

Mr Batavia stressed the need for such an endeavor. We live in a global village, he claimed. We need to shape up to global benchmarks and equate ourselves with enlightened people all over the world. Today’s world calls for partnerships and alliances, a move from self-centered existence to coexistence, from confrontation to interaction. We must live together in mutual empowerment.

DRS Education is part of the Hyderabad-based Rs 500 crore diversified DRS Group with has interests in logistics, relocation, pharma and education. We are the only group to take this novel concept all over India, declared Mr. A K Agarwal, Director of the DRS Group, addressing a press conference in city, today. Soon we will have our presence in various towns in cities such as Nagpur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Chennai and Bangalore, he said. To us, leadership and people are a prime concern. The world’s largest democracy, India, could grow by leaps and bounds if systematic leadership qualities were inculcated in its youth. We will design special products to cater to the needs of rural youth and various other sections of society, he added.

Ms. Kavitha Jain, Dean of DRS Para Education, announced the launch of Hyderabad’s first residential finishing school exclusively for girls, along with two other products:

1. DRS Finishing School, a four week residential course aimed for girls between 16-26 years of age to impart skills to face the challenges of multifaceted roles in their lives. The Finishing School for girls will concentrate on Life Skills, Home Management, Professional Skills, Essential Know-How, personal grooming, social etiquette and is guaranteed to turn a girl into a women of substance.

2. Life Academy, a two week residential training program for boys between 16-24 years to equip them to handle real life responsibilitiesand challenges. The Life Academy for boys will train them in Image Management, Business Skills, Personal Skills, Social Skills, Family Management, Essential Know-How, Manners & Etiquette, Life Values and Sports.

3. Gruhini, a week long residential training program for married women to address the challenges that they face today. Gruhini for married women will provide an opportunity to women to discover themselves said Ms. Kavitha Jain, Dean of Parallel Education. The roles of married women are very complex. With changing times it is the home maker who is often left behind due to lack of exposure. As the mothers of today play a big role in moulding the future of India through their children, it is essential that they are equipped with all the skills and knowledge to do so effectively. They have to be confident to build self esteem in their children. The broad outline modules taught in Gruhini include Home Management, Health & Beauty, Life Skills, Essential Know-How, Hobbies, etc. she added.

Ms. Kavitha Jain added that all the programs are completely interactive and practical based. The 70 plus faculty members who would be handling the sessions are industry leaders in their own right and have been chosen from across the country.

All the program are residential. And will be conducted at the DRS International School at the outskirts of the city. The school has state of the art training facilities and all classrooms are temperature controlled.

The admission to all these programmes is limited to 30, 40 and 20 respectively and is through an interview, which tests the basic understanding abilities. The admissions are open to people across India.

Finishing School program will be held from 10th September to 10th October, Life Academy from 24th September to 10th October and Gruhini from 20th to 27th September.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

For more details, please contact: DRS Education, Phone: 040 - 23792123-26, Email: finishingschool@drseducation.com.You can also log on to www.drsfinishingschool.com or www.drslifeacademy.com.

Rabo India Finance Limited announces the appointment of Mr. Surojit Shome as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer

Rabo India Finance Limited — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:19:22 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Effective today, Surojit Shome joins Rabo India Finance Limited, the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of Rabobank International, as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.

A seasoned banker, Surojit comes with over two decades of experience in Banking encompassing Corporate Banking, Capital Markets and Investment Banking. Surojit has worked with Citibank, Lehman Brothers and Nomura prior to joining Rabo India.

In his 19 year stint with Citigroup, he held various business management, origination and risk management roles with assignments in India and overseas. Before he moved to Lehman Brothers, in late 2006, he was Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking for the Indian sub-continent, overseeing corporate and financial institution coverage teams for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

In his role as Managing Director & Head of the Investment Banking Division at Lehman Brothers in India, he was responsible for building the investment banking platform for Lehman Brothers with capabilities across capital markets, M&A advisory and private equity origination. Post the acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ Asian & European businesses by Nomura Holdings in October 2008, he spent the last few months helping in the integration of the legacy Lehman Brothers’ Investment Banking business into the existing Nomura India businesses.

Surojit will report to Rob van Zadelhoff, Head of Asia for Rabobank International. “I am very pleased to have Surojit join our team in India. I am confident that he will be successful in building and growing Rabobank’s business in India given his leadership and management skills,” said Rob van Zadelhoff.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Rabo India Finance and Rabobank

Established in 1998, Rabo India Finance Limited (RIF) is a 100% subsidiary of Rabobank International. Through a wide spectrum of fund and fee based products and services, RIF offers sector specific knowledge-based customized solutions in the following core competencies: Food and Agribusiness, Renewable Energy and Carbon Credits, Corporate Finance, Private Equity, Capital Markets, Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Advisory, Trade and Commodity Finance and Micro Finance. RIF is backed by a local pool of intellectual and monetary resources as well as Rabobank’s global network. RIF is committed to partnering with clients in creating and providing innovative solutions to their business needs.

Rabobank Group is a full-range financial services provider founded on co-operative principles and awarded a Triple A credit rating from both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s since 1981. Headquartered in Utrecht, The Netherlands, the Group employs more than 60,000 staff in 43 countries, servicing the needs of more than nine million clients worldwide. Rabobank Group’s operations include retail banking, wholesale banking, asset management, leasing and real estate. Food & Agribusiness is the international prime focus of the Rabobank Group.

Rabobank International (“Rabobank”) is the Group’s wholesale bank and international retail bank, providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness.

From our century-old roots as a finance cooperative founded in 1898 by Dutch farmers, Rabobank Group has grown today into the 26th largest bank worldwide in terms of total assets by The Banker Top 1000 World Banks 2008, with total assets of EURO 612 billion and a net profit of EURO 2.8 billion in 2008. In terms of Tier 1 capital (the core measure of a bank’s financial strength from a regulator’s point of view), Rabobank Group is among the world’s 20th largest financial institution by The Banker Top 1000 World Banks 2008. Furthermore, our solidity and stability are evidenced by

being ranked 5th in the World’s 50 Safest Banks 2009 list by Global Finance magazine, and the 147th largest corporation in the world as per the Fortune Global 500 ranking on global companies in 2008. We are also one of the 99 companies in the 2009 World’s Most Ethical Companies ranking by Ethisphere.

More information about the Rabobank Group and Rabo India Finance can be obtained from our websites: www.rabobank.com and www.rabobank.com/india respectively.

Hinduja Hospital receives NABH Accreditation

Adfactors PR — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:11:16 +0600

/India PRwire/ - P.D. Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Center, one of the oldest multi specialty tertiary care hospital in Mumbai received NABH accreditation (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers) today. The Accreditation benefits all stakeholders especially patients. It ensures high quality of care and patient safety with patients receiving medical services from credential medical staff. Patient’s rights are safeguarded by regular evaluation of patient satisfaction. The Accreditation will help Hinduja Hospital to benchmark with International quality providing world-class quality services to its patients.

“The process of accreditation though voluntary, is considered an important benchmark of quality and safety for insurers and patients for any healthcare organization Accreditation follows a rigorous process stretching over six months during which almost 513 measurable elements related to the care of patients, management of the hospital, training and education of staff and the continuum of care are tracked and optimized. It involves training, audits (both internal and external) and process optimization. The accreditation is valid for three years.” said Mr. Pramod Lele, CEO, P.D Hinduja Hospital commenting on the efforts put in by the hospital to receive this significant accreditation. He further added, “We will now compete with global benchmarks. Accreditation to the hospital translates in continuous improvement and this will help us demonstrate our commitment to quality care.”

International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua) has accredited ‘Standard for Hospitals’ developed by NABH which authenticates that NABH standards are in consonance with global benchmarks set by ISQua. NABH Accreditation lays approximately 500-plus objectives in patient interest which the hospital has to comply with. Hinduja Hospital is an extremely process-driven hospital where patient benefit is given utmost importance. With many firsts to its credit in terms of medical field, it is proactive in adapting latest technology making the hospital a very doctor and patient friendly hospital.

Following closely the IMC Ramakrishna Bajaj Award and the CAP (College of American Pathologists) accreditation for quality, Hinduja Hospital has achieved another milestone in its endeavour to provide “Quality Healthcare for All”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About P D Hinduja Hospital:

Hinduja Hospital is an ultramodern multi specialty tertiary care hospital with a Medical Research Centre. The hospital has an inpatient capacity of 351 beds inclusive of 53 critical care beds in different specialties. As a tertiary care hospital, the services offered are comprehensive covering investigation & diagnosis to therapy, surgery & post - operative care. The inpatient services are complemented with a day centre, out-patient facilities and an exclusive centre for health check for executives. With over 70 hospital based Consultants; which is a unique feature of the hospital, there is always an experienced specialist available to initiate treatment without delay.

About NABH Accreditation:

National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) is a constituent board of Quality Council of India, set up to establish and operate accreditation programme for healthcare organizations. The board is structured to cater to much desired needs of the consumers and to set benchmarks for progress of health industry. The board while being supported by all stakeholders including industry, consumers, government, has full functional autonomy in its operation.

ENCONDITIONING now at Airports and in the Indian Navy Ships and Navy Hospitals

Great White Technologies — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:57:44 +0600

/India PRwire/ -

Great White Technologies’ AiroCide ENCONDITIONER©™ will now enable people to breath clean and healthy air at airports in India and ships of the Indian Naval Fleet and Naval hospitals. AiroCide ENCONDITIONER©™, a Photocatalytic Air Purifying System, based on NASA-developed space technology, completely destroys airborne bacteria, mold, fungi, viruses, volatile organic compounds (VOC's) & odors and keeps the air 99.9998% pure, making it an indispensable asset wherever indoor air quality is of prime concern.

With health and hygiene being a high priority for the Indian Navy India’s most prestigious and legendary ship, the INS Viraat, the first aircraft carrier of Indian Navy and has installed AiroCide ENCONDITIONER©™. AiroCide has also been installed in INS Brahmaputra & in the process of being installed in INS Mumbai and INS Mysore. Great White Technologies is in talks with the Indian Navy to have its entire fleet fitted with this technology

In enclosed spaces like airports, airborne pathogens increase the likelihood of passengers and staff contracting illnesses from the environment by cross contamination. The Mumbai airport (international) will be the first airport in the country to install the AiroCide ENCONDITIONER©™. The technology will help protect passengers and crew from airborne diseases like Swine flu and prevent the spread of any contamination being brought in by people using the space.

Says Dharmessh Keswani, Director of Great White Technologies, “Airocide has its benefit across sectors. From hospitals to restaurants, from hotels to warehouses. By putting eco-friendly technologies at work, we strive to make a valuable difference to human life. With the concept of ENCONDITIONING©™ gaining recognition across industries like healthcare and hospitality, commercial and public spaces are set to become a lot safer for all of us to use.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Great White Technologies

Great White Technologies is a pioneering enterprise with innovative products at the core of its function. By putting eco-friendly technologies at work, we strive to make a valuable difference to human life.

At Great White, we understand that technology when used to its advantage can change the way things are. Which is why, before our technologies are made available, they undergo intensive testing for efficacy, safety and durability. We ensure that these technologies have been accredited by recognized government and scientific organizations.

With an initiative to open doors to revolutionary technologies in India – Great White has introduced AiroCide – a Photocatalytic Enconditioning System – based on the NASA-developed space technology. AiroCide kills all airborne micro-organisms and keeps the air 99.9998% pure, making it an indispensable asset wherever Indoor Air Quality is of prime concern.

The AiroCide technology has redefined the concept of clean air in a variety of industries. It provides pure air in floral industries to make cut flowers last 15 days longer. In medicine and healthcare industry, AiroCide plays a crucial role by sterilizing the air and eliminating life-threatening, disease-causing bacteria and germs.

By effectively removing ethylene gas, it extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetable and other perishables.

This is a boon to countries like India where 72% of fruit and vegetable production goes waste due to decomposition during storage. By eliminating losses due to decay, AiroCide can play a crucial role in improving the agricultural output and eventually the GDP of the country.

Malishka gets Bajaaoed!! - Wah F(S)hahid!

Red FM 93.5 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:51:47 +0600

/India PRwire/ -

Guess who Bajaaoed Malishka? None other than Shahid Kapoor! Shahid Kapoor made his first appearance at Red FM studios on the morning show today and accompanying him was filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj promoting their upcoming movie Kaminey. It all started with some friendly leg pulling with RJ Malishka calling Shahid, Fhahid imitating his accent in Kaminey where he plays a double role. Shahid shot right back and called her MaliFhka and the leg pulling continued with Shahid having a complete blast on air!

While stories of Shahid’s link ups might be doing the rounds, that didn’t deter the ladies who turned up in droves to meet their favorite star at the Red FM studios. Listeners from all over Mumbai were treated to a hilarious interaction between Shahid and Malishka where Shahid revealed some behind the scene gossip about his upcoming film and also shared a glimpse into his life at Versova. Red FM also threw open its phone lines for fans to call and speak to their favourite star directly!

Stay Tuned to Red FM for the entire interview with Shahid and more details on his movie - Kaminey!

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About RED FM

Launched in 2002, RED FM first started round the clock operations in Mumbai, followed by Delhi and & Kolkata in 2003. Owned by a consortium of Malaysian conglomerate Astro Malaysia, NDTV India and software company Value Labs, Red FM is known for its attitude of providing a Station for Expression to the common man and playing only Superhit Music. Bajaate Raho! As Red FM likes to shout, is already part of common parlance, and truly represents Red FM’s attitude. Widely appreciated by the Trade as well as the Listeners, as proven by the 62 awards to its credit and the tremendous growth over the last year, Red FM is fast consolidating its leadership position in the industry.

Superhit Music, Superhit RJs, Superhit Movies and Superhit Cricket - that’s what Red FM stands for. Bajaate Raho!

Dekhiye Shekhar Suman ke naye andaaz sirf SAB ke saath

ZZebra Communication — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:49:21 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Here’s a comedy show that promises loads of tongue-in-cheek humour with an ensemble star cast of just two people! Yes, the very talented Shekhar Suman and television’s funny man, Gurpal Singh are all set to crack up the screen with their satirical comedy in ‘Tedhi Baat Shekhar ke Saath’ on SAB, India’s leading family comedy entertainment channel. The show premiers on Monday, 6th July and will be telecast Monday to Thursday at 10.30 pm.

Tedhi Baat Shekhar ke Saath is India’s first seriously funny talk show where Gurpal Singh is interviewing Shekhar Suman in a new avatar every time. Shekhar promises to light up the screen as he dons different avatars in a mark of his true versatility. Audiences will witness Shekhar in many unique roles ….. a fashion designer from London, a cab driver from Jalandhar, a popular cricketer, a regular mythology actor, an electrician, a man with no particular talent, a beggar, a corporate bigwig … the famous and the not-so-famous.

Commenting on this Anooj Kapoor, Business Head, SAB stated: “SAB is ready with a new genre of comedy which has never been tried in India so far. We have always believed in giving the viewers something new every time.

After the horror comedy and the gangster comedy, here comes TEDHI BAAT Shekhar ke Saath. In this show both the guest and the host remain serious, while the audience will have a hearty laugh. That is the uniqueness of this seriously funny talk show. With a big star like Shekhar on the channel we except the channel to attract newer audiences. Our strategy of family comedy shows have so far given us an exponential growth and we are happy that people are liking the break that this channel gives them from the regular me too soaps.”
Proud to be presenting himself in a manner never seen before, and donning the producer’s hat, says an excited Shekhar Suman, “I’ve formed a new bond with the SAB family. Tedhi Baat has been produced by my own company, Windmill Entertainment, and is very close to my heart. Playing so many different characters for this show has been challenging no doubt, but just as exciting. I’m sure the audiences will enjoy watching this just as much as Gurpal and I enjoyed doing it!”

Catch the excitement on “Tedhi Baat Shekhar ke Saat” and get set for some serious fun!

Starting Monday, 6th July, Monday to Thursday at 10:30 pm only on SAB

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Diebold named among industry list of 10 Best Outsourcing Services Companies

Percept Profile (A Division of Percept Limited) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:39:35 +0600

/India PRwire/ - As evidence of thecompany’s success in delivering world-class services for financialinstitutions’ non-core operations, Diebold, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD) was listedamong the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) 10best outsourcing providers within the services industry in the recentlyreleased 2009 Global Outsourcing 100™rankings.

In addition to “Best 10 Leaders by IndustryFocus: Services,” Diebold improved its overall position from the 2008 rankingsin its third consecutive year on the list.The Global Outsourcing 100 includes the world’s top outsourcing serviceproviders and consulting companies in a range of industries.

Industry analysts are acknowledging themany benefits of strategic outsourcing for financial institutions. According to “ATM Fleet Refresh in the Shadowof the Financial Crisis,” a recently published opinion piece by Jaroslaw Knapik,analyst – financial services technology, of independent market analyst,Datamonitor, “ATM management outsourcing is a growing area and is beingconsidered by many banking executives these days, especially by those whostruggle to get capital for their investments but still have to compete for newclients, improve service levels and tackle their aging technology assets.” Further, Knapik wrote, “banks need tocarefully analyze the total cost of ownership that is associated with theoverall fleet management of ATMs, and benchmark it against vendors' rates foroutsourcing services.”

A North American survey of 80 IT decision makers within retail banks conducted by Datamonitor in the fourthquarter of 2008 found that business process outsourcing is high on CIOs’ agendas as one of the majorstrategic goals for 2009.

“ATM management outsourcing, in the currentsevere economic environment, is growing beyond optimizing a financialinstitution’s self-service network,” Knapik said. “The most successful providers areincreasingly viewed by FIs as strategic and trusted advisors that serve assingle points of contact for everything from managing uptime to remote networkmonitoring to currency management. Ultimately,the most innovative vendors will drive the creation of newer, more efficientways of doing business and help FIs to remain competitive by differentiatingthemselves from less progressive competitors.”

Diebold’s typicaloutsourcing customer is anything but typical, ranging from the largest financialinstitutions with a global footprint to smaller credit unions. These customers’ needs range from full IToutsourcing requirements – including the self-service channel and security – toselect pieces of the infrastructure, such as currency management or monitoring. Last year alone, Diebold personally met withmore than 1,000 banking executives representing more than 500 financialinstitutions around the world who were exploring various forms of outsourcing.

“Having a single point of contact for all mattersrelated to our ATM fleet, especially when it’s the manufacturer of the product,makes our business easier to manage. It streamlines our processes and it givesus the ability to upgrade our offerings as new services are released and we’reable to grow into them,” said Marlon Mayfield, executive vice president anddirector of information systems, Community Bankshares. Community Bankshares,Inc., a bank holding company with community banks in Georgiaand Alabama,entered into an outsourcing engagement with Diebold in 2007.

Globally, Diebold employs thousands ofservice and support professionals, all working to provide financialinstitutions with standard-setting advancements that lead to customer retentionand increased revenues, including debit card processing, deposit and tellerautomation technologies, automated teller machine (ATM) marketing andintegrated security programs through a professionally managed implementationstrategy.

“As evidenced by this businesssegment’s 30 percent growth in 2008 and double-digit growth within the lastfour years, Diebold’s Integrated Services® outsourcing solution isbecoming a critical strategy for financial institutions,” said Charles E.Ducey, Jr., senior vice president, global development and services,Diebold. “Outsourcing with Dieboldenables financial institutions to easily upgrade to cutting-edge technologiesbacked by expert service and support without a large capital commitment, whichfrees them to focus on delivering the quality customer service that boosts sales.”

Diebold was named to eight additional IAOPsublist honors, including Best 10 Leaders in No. ofCenters Worldwide; Best 10 Most Company Presence; Best 20 Companies by IndustryFocus: Services; Best 20 Leaders by Service Offered: Customer RelationshipManagement; Best 20 Leaders by Service Offered: Transaction ProcessingServices; Best Five Leaders by Region Served: South America; Best 20 Leaders byRegion Served: India; and Top 10 List Climbers.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About IAOP

The InternationalAssociation of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP), with 40,000 corporate,professional and associate members worldwide, is leading the effort totransform the world of business through outsourcing. Its client-side members are, on average,responsible for $60 million per year of outsourcing spending. For more information, visit www.outsourcingprofessional.org.

About Diebold India

Diebold India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Diebold, Incorporatedand is headquartered in Mumbai, India, with aninfrastructure supporting more than 780 locations across the country. A leader in managed services for ATMs in India,Diebold provides services 24 hours a day, seven days a week to more than 11,000ATMs in the country

About Diebold

Diebold,Incorporated is a global leader in providing integrated self-service deliveryand security systems and services.Diebold employs more than 17,000 associates with representation innearly 90 countries worldwide and is headquartered in Canton, Ohio, USA. Diebold is publicly traded on the New YorkStock Exchange under the symbol ‘DBD.’

Proto.in Pune Edition - Must attend for everyone in the Start-Up Ecosystem

The Knowledge Foundation — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:12:18 +0600

/India PRwire/ -

After its resounding successes in its past five editions across three different cities, Proto.in is back on 25th July at Dewang Mehta Auditorium, Persistent Systems, Pune to continue to strengthen and promote the start up ecosystem, as India’s biggest and most awaited start-up event. Proto.in has built an unmatched reputation of being the one event the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem looks forward to, across the length and breadth of India.

What's Special This Proto.in?

This edition of Proto.in intends to take a solid leap and focus on policies that support Start-ups both in IT and non IT sectors. The start-up community at Proto.in will analyze and understand how best to leverage the existing policies and in what ways it can get involved with key stakeholders such as the government in strengthening the policies further.

Ganesh Natarajan (CEO – Zensar Technologies, Chairman - IT & ITES CII and Member - Chairmen's Council NASSCOM) will deliver the keynote address to the community during this edition.

And further for the first time, the audience will get an in-depth analysis on Intellectual property rights and how it affects start ups, by renowned experts and we will see focus move beyond dot com to non internet ventures and how to be a part of this space.

The Proto.in Story So Far

Over the last five editions, Proto.in has showcased close to 100 start ups- of whom many have leveraged the platform to close funding, develop new business opportunities, create media traction and even connect with potential hires. Some of the Proto success stories –

· NextBiT Computing has closed several major deals post their proto.in showcase

· IXiGO.com was funded by BAF Spectrum in 2008

· Lucid Software was funded by Mercatus Capital in 2009

· Lifeblob was funded by seedfund during 2008

· Yahoo acquired a stake in Tyroo during 2007

· Desi Crew received over 7 awards, including the woman entrepreneur of the year and has been angel funded.

And as iXiGO.com entrepreneur Aloke Bajpai, one of the Proto success stories says "Showcasing at Proto.in built good credibility for iXiGO.com in the start-up ecosystem in general and investors in particular. Proto.in kick started a lot of good things for us."

Be a Part of Proto.in Pune. Register Now!

Entrepreneurs, Experts, VCs, Students, Start ups will all converge at one place this monsoon and as Kunal kashikar, part of the Proto.in volunteering team at Pune puts it, "You don't want to miss Proto.in as it is one mega day of entrepreneurial activities unleashed!"

The seats are fast filling up and to register for the event, log on to http://www.proto.in/the-event/registrations/

For sponsorship opportunities, email sponsor@proto.in

For getting updates on all the action happening around Proto.in join the community mailing list at http://www.proto.in/reach/proto-talk/

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

The Knowledge Foundation is a not-for-profit organization engendered by passionate individuals who are technologists or strategists or entrepreneurs or professionals or artisans or even all of these! These are individuals who are dedicated to promoting knowledge in all forms possible and organize world class conferences, seminars and workshops to aid the same. The foundation already has several big events to their credit includingProto.in,BarCampChennai, BlogCamp,Buzz140, SearchCamp and WikiCamp.

LANXESS's Pigments for Eiffel Tower Makeover

LANXESS India Private Limited — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:10:06 +0600

/India PRwire/ - The Eiffel Tower is getting a new look for its 120th birthday. Bayferrox pigments from the specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG provide the color for the Paris trademark’s high-grade anticorrosion coating. The iron oxides offer maximum light and weather stability, high tinting strength and chemical resistance in addition to outstanding coverage.

The understated shade, which harmonizes with the rooftops and monuments of Paris, is a blend of three different brown grades from the LANXESS’s Bayferrox range of iron oxides. “The tower has been the same color since 1968,” says Jean-Bernard Bros, President of SETE (Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel), the company that operates the tower, “and artists, photographers and all those who love the Eiffel Tower agree that it is the tower’s best color.”

The premium pigments from LANXESS can be easily intermixed with processed with nearly no dust formation. In addition, the products, distinguished by their high quality, are easy and environmentally friendly to process.

According to Dr. Volker Schneider, Head of Competence Center Paint in the Business Unit Inorganic Pigments at LANXESS, “The decisive advantages of our high-performance products are the tight tolerances with respect to shade and tinting strength. This makes color reproduction when formulating paints and coatings faster, easier and more reliable; in many cases there is no need for shading work.”

As ordered by builder Gustave Eiffel, the French emblem is repainted every seven years. For this purpose, 60 tons of corrosion inhibitor are applied by 25 painters using 1,500 brushes and rollers during the renovation period of 18 months. The new coat for a total of 250,000 square meters of steel costs around four million Euros. Painting is to be completed by the fall of 2010.

Regular painting is required because weathering and environmental effects are constantly eroding the paint. Of the 60 tons currently being applied to the steel structure, only around ten tons will remain after seven years. The Eiffel Tower already has 18 layers of paint. Colors range from the first coating in “Venetian Red” through shades of yellow to today’s “Eiffel Tower Brown”.

The painters working for Stelma, the Greek company that won the contract for the project, are applying the anticorrosion system based
on urethanized alkyd resin in two coats. Just like seven years ago, the Sandefjord, Norway-based coatings formulator Jotun is supplying the Mammut RQ system, which comprises a primer and a topcoat. “We are honored that our coating materials have been selected to protect this unique feat of engineering,” said Jean-Francois Ferrer, General Manager of Jotun France SAS.

Detailed information about the use of LANXESS pigments in paints and coatings is available on the website www.bayferrox.de.

The Inorganic Pigments business unit belongs to the LANXESS Performance Chemicals segment, which achieved total sales in fiscal 2008 of EUR 1,930 million.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

LANXESS is a leading specialty chemicals company with sales of EUR 6.58 billion in 2008 and currently around 14,800 employees in 21 countries. The company is represented at 44 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacturing and marketing of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.

CDC Software Honored as 2009 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards Winner in Information Worker Solutions, Office Solutions Development

PRHUB — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:01:54 +0600

/India PRwire/ -

CDC Software, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CDC Corporation (NASDAQ: CHINA) and a provider of industry-specific enterprise software applications and business services, announced it has been selected as a 2009 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference Awards winner in Information Worker Solutions, Office Solutions Development. CDC Software was chosen from an international field of top Microsoft partners for delivering market-leading customer solutions built on Microsoft technology.

“It is a privilege to be honored by Microsoft with such a prestigious recognition,” said Tom Fallucco, Global director of Strategic Alliances, CDC Software. “This award is a testament to the strength of both companies’ commitment to collaboration on delivering powerful and easy-to-use solutions designed for today’s mid-market and enterprise organizations. With the launch of Pivotal CRM 6.0, CDC Software and Microsoft have leveraged Microsoft technology and help accelerate the speed-to-market of easy-to-use applications with user-friendly Microsoft Office user interfaces.”

“What makes me more proud about this award is that most part of Pivotal 6.0 was developed in our Bangalore center. A great testament to the cutting edge technology work that we do in India" said Nagaraja Prakasam, Managing Director – India, CDC Software.

According to Microsoft, the Information Worker Solutions, Office Solutions Development Partner of the Year award recognizes partners who have excelled in offering innovative Microsoft Office system solutions. The winning partner’s technology and marketing offerings have increased its customers’ employee productivity and assisted them in connecting with their business partners and customers.

“CDC Software has created solutions that have empowered customers to extend the value of their Microsoft investments and lower their total cost of ownership,” said Alexandre Pombo, Senior Director, Microsoft Corporation. “Microsoft is proud to recognize CDC Software Corporation as the Information Worker Solutions and Office Solutions Development Partner of the Year. Their Pivotal CRM 6.0 solution has provided customers with increased efficiency by enabling their users to complete the majority of their daily tasks in a single application and allowing them to more easily complete end-to-end business processes.”

Pivotal CRM 6.0 is a newly designed customer relationship management platform based on Microsoft.NET Framework 3.5, Windows Vista, Windows Server, and Microsoft’s SQL Server. It provides task-based navigation, embedded Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Office System 2007 applications, easy customization, a smart client user interface, high-user adoption and a low total cost of ownership (TCO).

The tight integration with Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 (including calendaring, task and e-mail capabilities) within the platform allows users to complete much of their daily work without having to leave their CRM system. Pivotal 6.0’s newest features also provide easier customization, enhanced searching and reporting capabilities, the flexibility to conform to an organization’s way of doing business and ease of use, all of which helps to increase user adoption and lead to overall higher worker productivity

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About CDC Software

CDC Software, The Customer-Driven Company™ is a provider of enterprise software applications designed to help organizations deliver a superior customer experience while increasing efficiencies and profitability. CDC Software's product suite includes: CDC Factory (manufacturing operations management), Ross ERP (enterprise resource planning) and SCM (supply chain management), CDC Supply Chain (supply chain management , warehouse management and order management), Pivotal CRM and Saratoga CRM (customer relationship management), Respond (customer complaint and feedback management), c360 CRM add-on products, industry solutions and development tools for the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform, Platinum HRM (human resources) and business analytics solutions.

These industry-specific solutions are used by more than 6,000 customers worldwide within the manufacturing, financial services, health care, home building, real estate, wholesale and retail distribution industries. The company completes its offerings with a full continuum of services that span the life cycle of technology and software applications, including implementation, project consulting, outsourced business services, application management.

D-Link unveils power-saving 8-port Switch to further Green Technology Initiative

D-LInk India Ltd. — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:00:43 +0600

/India PRwire/ - D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumer and business, and the first company to introduce green technology to computer networking, today expanded its leadership role in the development of energy-saving products and initiatives. It is introducing the second generation D-Link® 8-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch DGS-1008D, which provides up to 84% reduced power consumption* without sacrificing network performance.

Shipping now, the DGS-1008D is one of four environmentally friendly small office/home office (SOHO) unmanaged gigabit switches that will ship this year with newly enhanced power-saving features, including a power supply that is ENERGY STAR-compliant. Already available is the next-generation D-Link 5-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch DGS-1005D.

This second generation release of the D-Link Green™ switches is part of an award-winning company-wide D-Link Green technology computing initiative that includes manufacturing environmentally-responsible products, eco-friendly packaging, optimizing devices for ENERGY STAR compliance, and providing consumer education and recycling programs.

"Our goal is to maintain industry leadership as a pioneer of green networking technology by building in even more energy-saving features into our products without sacrificing performance," said Jayesh Kotak, VP – Product Management, D-Link India Ltd. "We plan to continue the momentum of success we've realized with our first generation green products as we seek new avenues that protect the environment and help our customers save money in the process."

About D-Link Green Technology

D-Link Green technology conserves energy by recognizing when a port is active or inactive then adjusts its power accordingly, benefiting home/SOHO users who may not need perpetual use of their computers or the use of all the ports on their switches. It is also capable of altering power usage in relation to the length of its cable, conserving energy use for both the user and the environment without any loss of performance.

Power conserved when links are idle

Even when a computer is shut down, switches often remain on and continue to consume considerable amounts of power. Through D-Link Green technology, the new switches can detect when a computer is turned off and will respond accordingly by powering down into standby mode and reduce power used for that port.

Optimized power usage based on dynamic detection of cable length

Normally, switches send full power to cables regardless of the actual length. Through D-Link Green technology, the switches are able to analyze the cable's length and adjust the power accordingly. Since the cable length used by home/SOHO users is usually less than 20m, power consumption can be significantly reduced.

The incorporation of D-Link Green technology into these second generation switches re-emphasizes D-Link's strong commitment to protecting the environment, leading the development of eco-friendly products that comply with RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directives. The RoHS directive restricts the use of specific hazardous materials during the manufacture of electrical and electronic goods while WEEE applies standards for proper disposal and recycling of products.

D-Link's commitment to making its products more energy efficient is being appreciated by leading industry-watchers, such as PC Magazine and Laptop Magazine, which recently named the D-Link Green initiative the most innovative of 2008. D-Link has also been named a finalist in the 2009 Consumer Electronics Association's (CEA®) annual Mark of Excellence Awards competition for its D-Link Green technology policies.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About D-Link (India) Ltd.

D-Link (India) Ltd. ranks among India’s premier networking firms. Globally, D-Link Corporation features among the top five networking companies. D-Link is India’s most preferred networking* and channel choice** company. D-Link is also the 2nd largest networking company in India***. D-Link is recognized as Best Networking Vendor in recent VarIndia Star Nite Award 2008.

D-Link India Ltd has a 24X7 toll free support helpdesk & 18 highly advanced service centers dotted across India to address the customer needs locally.

* CRN Channel Champion award 2008

** DQ Channel Choice Gold Award for Wired and Wireless Networking

*** IDC 2007 data

**** VARIndia Star Nite Awards – 2008

D-Link and the D-Link logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of D-Link Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other third party marks mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2009. D-Link. All Rights Reserved.

BBC World News launches One Giant Leap season to commemorate moon landings

Genesis-BM — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:44:04 +0600

/India PRwire/ - This July, a special season of programming will broadcast on BBC World News to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the extraordinary 1969 moon landings. The programmes will explore the history and geology of the moon, how those initial steps have impacted on our lives today and the future of space tourism.

Programme line-up

The Sky at Night – Special Edition

This special edition of The Sky at Night features an exclusive interview with Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon. Sir Patrick Moore and guests take a nostalgic look at the achievements and impact of the Apollo missions and using a sample of genuine moon dust, discuss what has been learnt about our moon.

The Sky at Night broadcast times (IST) 18 July at 1500 and 2300 IST, 19 July at 0700 and 2000 IST

The Moon

Our ancient ancestors were fascinated by the moon and used its changing phases as a way of telling the time, before calendars or the written word. The Moon revisits ancient societies, whosaw the moon as its pantheon, looks back at themonumental moonlandings in the 1960's and investigates the concept of space tourism in the modern day.

The Moon broadcast times (IST): 11 July at 1440 and 2240 IST, 12 July at 0640, 1940 IST

fast:track – Special Edition

BBC World News’ flagship travel programme fast:track heads to New Mexico to look at the reality of space tourism. The fast:track team begin their journey at the planned site for the world's first commercial spaceport with a flypast by Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo aircraft. Karen Bowerman speaks to the designer of a lunar landscape in the US, where NASA created a replica of the 1960’s moon landing site. Plus, Carmen Roberts reports from New South Wales on why many experts consider Australia to be the best place in the world to view the stars.

fast:track broadcast times (IST): 12 July at 1000, 14 July at 0100, 15 July at 2100

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

BBC World News, the BBC's commercially funded international 24-hour news and informationchannel, is owned and operated by BBC World News Ltd, a member of the BBC’s commercial group of companies. BBC World Newsattracts 74 million viewers a week, is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and reaches 292million households and more than 1.7 million hotel rooms.The channel's content isalso availableon 80 cruise ships, 42 airlines, 36mobile phone networks and a number of major online platforms including bbc.com/news. For further information on how to receive BBC World News, download schedules or find out more about the channel, visit bbcworldnews.com

Set Your Sights on Blazing Benchmarks with the ROG Crosshair III Formula

ASUS — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:56:38 +0600

/India PRwire/ -

ASUS, the world’s leading producer of motherboards, today put world record-breaking power into the hands of AMD Phenom II users with the launch of the ROG (Republic of Gamers) Crosshair III Formula. Based on the AMD Socket AM3 platform, the Crosshair III Formula harnesses its full arsenal of ROG-exclusive features and technologies to unleash the full overclocking potential of Phenom II processors—enabling budget-conscious enthusiasts and gamers to enjoy extreme levels of performance at an affordable mid-price point.

“The Crosshair III Formula motherboard will help users utilize the full potential of the AMD Phenom II processor. The motherboard is loaded with unique features like CPU Level Up to allow real-time overclocking and is a great board for enthusiasts looking for a mid range solution that is high on features and performance.” Commented Mr. Vinay Shetty – Country Head – Component Products ASUS (India).

Poised for Chart-topping Overclocking Performance

AMD’s Phenom II processors have proven capable of being pushed to incredible frequencies when backed by the right hardware—such as the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe—setting several 3DMark06 and CPU-Z world records in recent times. The Crosshair III Formula, with its comprehensive array of industry-leading ROG features, is set to take Phenom II overclocking a big step further—both in terms of benchmarks and simplicity. ASUS’ exclusive CPU Level Up feature, for example, delivers the best of both worlds, enabling gamers without much overclocking knowledge to ‘upgrade’ their existing processor’s performance to that of a better, more expensive processor with just a click or two.

MemOK! The World’s Only One-click Memory Rescue Tool

Memory compatibility issues are often the bane of system upgraders and ASUS is the only motherboard manufacturer in the world that has devised an ingenious tool solely to tackle memory-related problems. Called MemOK!, ASUS’ exclusive innovation takes the guesswork and anxiety out of memory upgrading, restoring user confidence and peace of mind. In the event of a boot failure after installing new RAM, all the user has to do is press an easily accessible button on the motherboard and MemOK! will automatically load the failsafe settings needed to ensure a successful system boot. MemOK! is able to rapidly detect and resolve memory issues—even if bad or unstable memory is used!

Supreme In-game Audio with SupremeFX X-Fi and Seamless OC Station Compatibility

The Crosshair III Formula is bundled with a SupremeFX X-Fi sound card that delivers crisp audio and incredibly realistic EAX in-game sound effects. X-Fi CMSS3D’s groundbreaking positional audio gives gamers a distinct in-game advantage, while Crystalizer enhances overall audio quality dramatically.

The Crosshair III Formula is also fully compatible with the new ROG OC Station, a pure hardware-based, bay-mounted device with a large 3-inch display that takes overclocking to a whole new level of ease, accuracy and sophistication. When used in conjunction with the Crosshair III Formula, the futuristic-looking OC Station grants users on-the-fly access to overclocking parameters, fan speeds, system information and the Crosshair III Formula’s ROG-exclusive features.

Specifications

Model

ROG Crosshair III Formula

CPU

AMD socket AM3 Phenom™ II / Athlon™ X4 / Athlon™ X3 / Athlon™ X2 processors

Chipset

AMD® 790FX Chipset

System Bus

Up to 5200 MT/s HyperTransport™ 3.0

Memory

4 x DIMM, Dual Channel, up to 16GB

DDR3 1600(O.C.)/1333/1066 MHz

Expansion slot

2 x PCIe2.0 x16 slot

3 x PCIe2.0 x1( the PCIEx1_1 (black) is compatible with audio slot)

1 x PCI 2.2

Multi-GPU

ATI CrossFireX™

Storage

5 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s

1 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s

1 x UltraDMA 133

LAN

Gigabit LAN

Audio

SupremeFX X-Fi 8-Ch. Audio with EAX4.0 support

Other I/O ports

1*PS/2, 1*eSATA, 1*IEEE1394a, 1*Clr CMOS, 1*LAN, 6*USB

USB / IEEE1394a

12 x USB2.0 / 2 x 1394a ports

Fan connector

8 (1 x CPU / 1 x PWR / 3 x Chassis / 3 x Optional)

Software (Full version)

Kaspersky anti-virus, Futuremark® 3DMark™06 Advanced Edition

Features

MemOK!, SupremeFX X-Fi, CPU Level Up, Keyboard-TweakIt, Extreme Tweaker, iROG, Loadline Calibration, LCD Poster, Voltiminder LED

Form Factor

ATX, 12”x 9.6” (30.5cm x 24.4cm)

Note: Specifications are subject to change without prior notice. Please visit www.asus.com for more details.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

ASUS is a leading company in the new digital era. With a global staff of more than ten thousand and a world-class R&D design team, the company’s revenue for 2008 was 8.1 billion U.S. dollars. ASUS ranks among the top 10 IT companies in BusinessWeek’s “InfoTech 100” andhas been on the listing for 11 consecutive years. ASUS was also selected by the Wall Street Journal Asia as No.1 in Quality and ServicesinTaiwan. Its product portfolio includes notebooks, motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, LCD monitors, information appliances, desktop PCs & PC components, servers, wireless solutions, mobile phones, handhelds, digital home solutions, broadband communication products and networking devices.

IDEA's new campaign to get People 'Walking' & 'Talking' What an idea, Sirji!

Adfactors PR,Delhi — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:16:03 +0600

/India PRwire/ - IDEA has planned a range of on-ground and digital activities around the theme of Walk & Talk, to mobilize people across different walks of life, age-groups and societies and get them to walk for fitness. IDEA plans to initiate a countrywide movement on Walking & Talking, and expects that ‘Ek Idea pe chal padega India’!

IDEA has recently released its new TVC which shows its Brand Ambassador Abhishek Bachchan playing a Doctor this time, who discovers how people can get fit by simply ‘Walking while Talking’ and advocates this idea to the general public. While responding to a journalist’s query on whether technology was making people lazy and unfit; the Doctor responds by saying that people can be fit by just ‘Walking & Talking’. Soon, this message sweeps the country through TV, making it a mass movement.

According to Mr. Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, IDEA Cellular “IDEA brand campaigns have always celebrated Champion Ideas which have the power to change the society and the way we live. This time, the Champion Idea is around ‘Walking & Talking’ for staying fit. The communication has been designed to appeal to the masses and classes, on a critical subject such as Health & Fitness. We expect the new theme campaign to initiate a wave of awareness on fitness, across the country.”

IDEA’s new campaign suggests that if ‘Talktime’ equals ‘Walktime’ for mobile users, their fitness scores can go up. IDEA has planned a range of innovative Outdoor and Digital initiatives as well, on this campaign.

IDEA campaigns have been fresh and imaginative and carry a touch of social relevance while exploring the power of category. ‘Walk when you Talk’ is fifth in the series of IDEA’s brand campaigns with its Brand Ambassador, Abhishek Bachchan. The preceding campaigns around ‘Participative Governance’; ‘Education for All’; ‘Championing a world in which no one suffers from the disability to communicate’; and ‘Championing a world without Caste’ have been huge hits amongst the audiences, making its tagline ‘What an Idea, Sirji!’ a popular metaphor.

The new campaign has been developed by IDEA’s creative agency, Lowe.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About IDEA Cellular Ltd.:

IDEA Cellular Ltd. is a leading GSM mobile services operator with over 45 million subscribers, under brand IDEA. It has licenses and spectrum to operate in all 22 service areas of India, with commercial operations in 17 service areas, currently. IDEA is listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India.

IDEA Cellular is an Aditya Birla Group Company, India’s first truly multinational corporation. The group operates in 25 countries, and is anchored by over 125,000 employees belonging to 25 nationalities. More information on the company is available at: www.ideacellular.com and on the group at: www.adityabirla.com

National Instruments PXI Express 2.53 GHz Dual-Core Controller Provides High-Performance Computing for Automated Test, Measurement and Control Systems

National Instruments India — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:15:58 +0600

/India PRwire/ - National Instruments recently introduced the NI PXIe-8108 high-performance embedded controller, which features an Intel(R) CoreTM2 Duo T9400 processor and is designed to significantly reduce test times for PXI Express- and CompactPCI Express-based automated test systems. Engineers can use this 3U embedded controller in any PXI Express chassis to create a compact, high-performance PC-based platform for many test, measurement and control applications. With its 2.53 GHz dual-core processor, 800 MHz DDR2 memory and 1 GB/s total system bandwidth, the NI PXIe-8108 is ideal for advanced RF and wireless test applications, high-throughput data acquisition systems and other applications that require intensive analysis, signal or image processing.

The NI PXIe-8108 optimizes RF and wireless test applications because measurement speed is related to the computational performance of the test system’s controller. The advanced operation of the NI PXIe-8108 controller helps engineers maximize their controller investments by delivering up to a 25 percent performance improvement over similar systems based on previous-generation NI embedded controllers. This results in significantly reduced RF and wireless test times including wireless local area network (WLAN) tests. For example, an NI WLAN Test System that incorporates the NI PXIe-8108 can deliver measurement times up to 10X faster than traditional WLAN instruments in WLAN protocol testing. Using the NI PXIe-8108, NI also has achieved similar test time reductions with other RF and wireless protocols including WiMAX, GPS, ZigBee and RFID.

NI LabVIEW graphical system design software, a development environment that inherently supports multithreaded applications, can maximize the use of the Intel Core2 Duo T9400 processor’s dual cores in the NI PXIe-8108 to separate tasks into individual threads and simultaneously execute those threads. This functionality helps engineers take advantage of the processor’s computational ability to optimize processing load and reduce test times.

Building on standard PXI industry specifications, a PXI Express system incorporating an NI PXIe-8108 embedded controller provides additional timing and synchronization features including a 100 MHz differential system clock, differential signaling and differential star triggers. By using differential clocking and synchronization, PXI Express systems benefit from increased noise immunity for instrumentation clocks and the ability to transmit at higher frequency rates. With these features, PXI embedded controllers from National Instruments deliver advanced performance, longevity, reliability and fast system recovery.

Engineers already using PXI-based test systems easily can upgrade their embedded controllers to take advantage of the higher-performance NI PXIe-8108. Engineers using non-PXI systems can experience greater performance improvements by transitioning to a PXI solution based on the NI PXIe-8108 embedded controller.

To view detailed information on the NI PXIe-8108 embedded controller, readers can visit www.ni.com/pxie8108.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

National Instruments (www.ni.com) is transforming the way engineers and scientists design, prototype and deploy systems for measurement, automation and embedded applications. NI empowers customers with off-the-shelf software such as NI LabVIEW and modular cost-effective hardware, and sells to a broad base of more than 25,000 different companies worldwide, with no one customer representing more than 3 percent of revenue and no one industry representing more than 10 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 4,800 employees and direct operations in nearly 40 countries. For the past nine years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Manipal Institute of Technology Inaugurates LabVIEW Academy to Improve the Quality of Engineering Education

National Instruments India — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:05:18 +0600

/India PRwire/ - In a unique effort to improve the quality of engineering education in India, Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) today inaugurated their LabVIEW Academy – an experiential learning environment for engineering faculty & students, in partnership with National Instruments. On this occasion National Instruments additionally provided MIT with access to their flagship software LabVIEW. Now every computer at MIT will be enabled with this award winning graphical programming environment for test, control and embedded design, and all its toolkits.

The LabVIEW Academy was inaugurated by Dr. (Brig.) SS Pabla, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Manipal, University & Director, MIT Manipal. Also present were Jayaram Pillai, Managing Director for India, Russia & Arabia, National Instruments and Dr. Manohar Pai, Associate Director, Innovation Centre, MIT. Now other engineering colleges in the vicinity can also take advantage of MIT’s pioneering initiative and enhance their own teaching and learning environments by accessing this LabVIEW Academy.

The LabVIEW Academy program by National Instruments is an initiative under their Planet NI (Nurturing Innovation) framework which strives to increase the employability of Indian engineering graduates by creating Centers of Excellence in engineering colleges & universities which will provide cost-effective access to the latest technology for classroom teaching-learning. To make better engineers the LabVIEW Academy follows the concept of Experiential Education to Graphical System design. Jayaram Pillai said, “Experiential Education is integral to today’s engineering education as it encourages hands-on learning of engineering concepts using industry standard tools. This approach bridges the gap between academic learning and industry requirements and makes engineering education complete.”

With a mission to educate students and to discover and disseminate knowledge through research, MIT is leading the way towards producing world class engineers tuned to the demands of a fast changing global village. With a strong focus on the emphasis on fundamentals in education, MIT is in alignment with the Planet NI philosophy of experiential education. The LabVIEW Academy, with its hardware and software tools, empowers the Institute to implement this belief and work on algorithm engineering.

Together in an initiative to achieve excellence, Manipal Institute of Technology and National Instruments are committed towards developing quality engineers who can take our country to new levels of achievement.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Visit ni.com/india for information on latest updates, news, events, case studies and resources for India

About MIT

Started in 1957 as Manipal Engineering College, MIT was the first self-financed engineering college in India. Initiated with only civil engineering, today MIT offers graduate studies in 14 disciplines and postgraduate courses in 16 areas. The Institute has well qualified, committed and motivated faculty. The institute has gained prominent position in the field of technical education within as well as outside the country. It has affiliations with professional bodies like the Institution of Engineers (India), American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE), Illumination Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), among others.

MiD DAY Celebrates 30th Anniversary Delights readers with power packed issue

CRIESSE COMMUNICATIONS — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:33:25 +0600

/India PRwire/ - India’s leading afternooner, MiD DAY celebrates its 30th anniversary with a power packed issue across Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai & Pune that is sure to delight its audience of Young Urban Mobile Professionals in India (YUMPI).

Focusing on MiD DAY’s strength in being the best source for city news, the issue has a section called “Vodafone presents India 9 to 5: Our Cities. At Work”, where the newspaper has commissioned 10 of the country’s most exciting photographers to shoot a series of photographs that capture the essence of a day in 10 cities – Cochin, Pune, Chanigarh, Hydrabad, Ahemdabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi & Mumbai. Each photographer was assigned to one city and took 9 images in that city – one each hour from 9am to 5 pm and one additional favourite image to make a total of 10 stunning photographs.

This issue will be a sneak preview of the outstanding body of work that has resulted, and a broader selection will shortly see the light of the day in form of an exhibition across these 4 cities. The photographs will also be part of a micro-site on www.mid-day.com starting tomorrow and will also don a coffee table book shortly.

The anniversary issue also has a section called “30 Other Lives” which includes stories of a burly all-rounder who thwacks the ball to all corners of a cricket ground but quakes at the prospect of his daughters homework, to an entrepreneur gets in touch with his inner being through meditation. A former top cop has a thing for books. A champion boxer reveals he is an unabashed worshipper at the temple of consumerism as he talks about his love for shopping. A UK Businessman pursues a passion that is quite removed from curry but brings the same spice to his life. Celebrities show another, unknown side to their famous lives as they reveal their wild and wacky, intriguing and off-beat, not-so-trivial pursuits. A top choreographer believes in the power of prayer. A champion tennis player gets his high from another game, while an entrepreneur believes art is the way to her heart even as she rues any attempt to stifle artistic expression. Sport is a thrilling pursuit in one businessman’s life. A doctor perks up at the thought of Sufi music and an actor finds her route in the ancient martial art of Kalaripayuttu. A cricket would most like to be at a music concert when not on the field. Hip and hot performers and salt-n-pepper – haired celebrities talk about the lives you never know about, the one lived outside their work ambit and come-up with some amusing, eyebrow-raising revelations.

Building on the newspaper’s strength in entertainment and sports reporting the issue includes celebrities such as Amitabh Bachchan, G R Gopinath, Shilpa Shetty, Pandit Jasraj, Andrew Flintoff, Kiran Bedi, Harsha Bhogle, Manish Arora, Vijendra Singh, John Abraham, Anoushka Shankar, Subhash Chandra, Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes, Akshay Kumar, Bipasha Basu, Ruskin Bond, Mallika Sarabhai, Shah Rukh Khan.

In keeping with its high spice quotient, the Mumbai edition also has a sizzling section on “Bare Bollywood”, where readers can enjoy looking at at 30 sizzling Bollywood Divas. These Divas came, they seduced & they concurred. A Helen or a Mumtaz could create intimate bedroom connectivity with the audience with sizzle and a pout. That preening pout has given way to today’s worked-out pin-up gals who ooze a taut, hot sensuality, thanks to several hours in the gym. Bipasha is proud of her biceps and kareena’s size zero makes for college canteen conversation. From the ubiquitous white garment under a waterfall, to the bold mini that had dad frowning in disapproval and the chiffon sari that revealed more than it hid, Bollywood babes have donned them all. Whether it is slick sophistication, raw magnetic appeal or coquettish charm, these women have what it takes to put the sex into celluloid.

This sizzling issue will be placed in a bag and will also contain a complimentary Knorr Pack ( Not in Delhi ) .

Says Manajit Ghoshal, CEO MiD DAY Infomedia Limited “MiD DAY is India's leading afternooner. Withinnovative marketing and informative, entertaining editorial, MiD DAY has over its 30 years consolidated its position as urban India's favourite afternoon break amplifying its mission of Making Work Fun amongst the YUMPI. The anniversary issue is another effort from the group to delight readers and addvalue to advertisers alike."

Adds Abhijit Majumder, Executive Editor, MiD DAY Infomedia Limited “The anniversary issue amplifies all of MiD DAY’s strengths, bringing the best in Bollywood, and sports, to the most happening news, places, deals in the city. It’s the perfect entertaining break for our readers and we hope they enjoy reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together.”

All the above Sections will also be available on www.mid-day.com . And of course the Anniversary Special will be loaded with Local News and the Regular MiD DAY features and a 16 pager broadsheet Real Estate Section, MiD DAY Hot Property in Mumbai.

30th Anniversary Issue Truly LOADED !

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About MiD DAY:

MiD DAY is the flagship brand of MiD DAY Multimedia Ltd., a company listed on the stock exchange. India’s No.1 afternooner and the only one of its kind, MiD DAY has been the quintessential mid-work break the YUMPI* takes in the middle of the day.

Over the last year, the newspaper has been on a mission to up its engagement quotient with the YUMPI. Whether it is local news, career guidance, dream homes, a look at what’s on in the city or tips on style at work, MiD DAY’s sections have it all, alongside staple news and amusers like comics and crosswords, all presented in a YUMPI friendly way to include a colour coded navigation system, lots of visuals, and an entertaining tone in reporting. To add to the dynamic product delivery through content, MiD DAY has also been creating a unique experience for its readers and clients through globally awarded marketing initiatives such as Impact Covers and promotional activities like Media Nights. The company also has an established presence in the multimedia space, with its web version, www.mid-day.com that ensures the YUMPI has access to the MiD DAY experience at anytime during the day and at anyplace as well.

MiD DAY is available in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune

*YUMPI – Young Urban Mobile Professionals across India

LANXESS and Hankook Tire Sign Long-Term Butyl Rubber Supply Agreement

LANXESS India Private Limited — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:11:39 +0600

/India PRwire/ - German specialty chemicals company LANXESS AG and South Korean tire manufacturer Hankook Tire have further strengthened their collaboration by signing a five-year supply agreement whereby LANXESS will supply large volumes of butyl rubber to Hankook Tire from 2010 to 2014.

The contract was signed in Granges-Paccot, Switzerland at the LANXESS Butyl Rubber business global headquarters on 25 June 2009 by Mr. Jeong Ho Park, Vice President of Global Purchasing for Hankook Tire, and Dr. Ron Commander, Global Head of the LANXESS Butyl Rubber business unit.

"We are pleased to sign this long-term contract with Hankook Tire,” says Commander. “This new agreement will further strengthen the already successful cooperation between Hankook Tire and the LANXESS Butyl Rubber business unit."

This is the second long-term supply agreement signed between LANXESS and Hankook Tire. In 2007, both companies entered into a five-year contract for the supply of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber. According to the latest agreement, Ho Park says: “We have secured a stable, long-term supply of butyl rubber and expect the business to grow in the future for both parties."

Hankook Tire is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing tire manufacturers for radial tires for passenger cars, light trucks (SUVs, RVs etc.), trucks and buses. Hankook Tire is the 7th largest tire company in the world with global sales revenues of around EUR 2.5 billion, with more than 14,000 employees in four regional headquarters, with over 20 overseas subsidiaries and with five R&D centers around the world.

The LANXESS Butyl Rubber business unit is one of the leading producers of synthetic rubber and is part of the Performance Polymers segment. This segment recorded sales of EUR 3.28 billion in 2008.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

GACL achieves highest ever net sales; recommends dividend of Rs. 3 per share

ONE advertising — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:55:35 +0600

/India PRwire/ - Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra, IAS, Managing Director of the Company informed that inspite of worldwide recession and slowdown of Indian economy, the Company has achieved Highest ever Net External Sales (excluding Excise Duty) of Rs.1,386.82 crore i.e. increase by 22.33% for the year ended 31st March 2009 as against Rs.1,133.63 crore in the previous year.

The Board of Directors in the meeting held at Gandhinagar on 29th June, 2009 has approved the Audited Financial Results for the year ended on 31st March, 2009.

Shri Guruprasad Mohapatra, IAS, Managing Director of the Company informed that inspite of worldwide recession and slowdown of Indian economy, the Company has achieved Highest ever Net External Sales (excluding Excise Duty) of Rs.1,386.82 crore i.e. increase by 22.33% for the year ended 31st March 2009 as against Rs.1,133.63 crore in the previous year. The net sales has increased mainly due to better sales realization and maintained volume to 9,06,601 MT.For the quarter ended 31.03.2009, the net sales increased by 10.82% to Rs.338.99 crore as against Rs.305.90 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous year. He further informed that the Board has recommended a Dividend of 30% on equity Shares of Rs.10/- each. i.e. Rs. 3 per share.

Shri Mohapatra stated that the Company has maintained the total production of 14,03,635 MT during the year. The capacity utilization of all the plants at Baroda and Dahej remained near to 100% or more during the year. Second half of the year faced industry slowdown with global negative correction giving rise to many adversities and barriers to growth.

During the year, the Company could control the rising operating costs through cost control measures and pricing review consistently. These measures enabled Company to achieve the Gross Profit of Rs.401.91 crore for the year before Interest, depreciation, tax and exceptional items as compared to Gross Profit of Rs. 398.85 crore in the previous year.

Shri Mohapatra added that the Company has generated Cash Profit of Rs.377.32 crore for the year as against Rs.373.52 crore in the previous year.

Profit Before Tax for the year is of Rs.261.30 crore as compared to Rs.275.51 crore in the previous year.

The Profit After Tax for the year is Rs.192.27 crore as compared to Rs.224.08 crore in the previous year.

The Profit After Tax for the quarter ended on 31.03.2009 increased by 17.60% to Rs.21.58 crore from Rs.18.35 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous year.

The Interest and Financial Charges for the year have reduced to Rs.24.59 crore from Rs.25.33 crore i.e. by 2.92% in the previous year. This is due to efficient management of Company’s financial resources and debt swaps supported by improved sales collection in the hardening financial market conditions.

As on 31.03.2009, the Debt : Equity Ratio stands at 0.21 : 1 as against 0.16 : 1. The Interest Coverage Ratio has also improved to 16.34 times as against 15.75 times and the Debt Service Coverage Ratio has also improved to 3.16 times from 1.66 times as compared to previous year.

Shri Mohapatra stated that during the F. Y. 2008-09 the Company has commissioned 39 MW Wind Mill Project at Sinoi in Kutch district of Gujarat and Sulphate Removal System at Dahej the benefits of which may follow in future years.

Shri Mohapatra further informed that during the next Financial Year 2009-10 the Company plans to commission additional 100TPD Flaker Unit, additional 50 TPD Caustic Soda by debottlenecking, so as to further improve upon the top line and bottom line of the Company.

Shri Mohapatra, also informed that the Company has already got three Projects registered with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Projects and has taken action for few more projects including Wind Mill projects to be registered during the Financial Year 2009-10. It has already monetized the first lot of CERs at a value of Rs.16.57 crore and has got approval for another 85,000 CERs to be monetized at a later date.

GACL has registered a joint Venture Company with Dow Europe GmbH to set up a 2,00,000 TPA Chloromethanes plant at Dahej at an estimated project cost of Rs.600 crore with 50-50 equity partnership. The engineering activities of this project are going on at full steam.

The Company has also joined as a partner in Rs.10,000 crore mega joint venture project with GSFC and GNFC for manufacturing Phenol, Bisphenol, Poly Carbonate, EDC, PVC and other rubber chain products. The 400 acres of land for the project is being acquired near Dahej from GIDC.

Besides the above, the Company has identified new products like MCA, Calcium Chloride, Bleaching Powder and Toluene based chemicals to be added to improve its top line by out -sourcing through contract manufacturing.

The Company’s announced projects viz., 90 MW captive power project, 600 TPD Chlor-Alkali project, Hydrazine project, Hydrogen Peroxide, Polyols and Phenol projects involving an investment of about Rs.2,600 crore are progressing as scheduled and are expected to go on stream by FY 2012.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

KARVY Reorganizes Private Wealth Management Business; Acquires Park Financial Advisors

Hanmer MS&L — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:19:44 +0600

/India PRwire/ - KARVY today announced the regrouping of its advisory services primarily to address the special needs of High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs) in India. KARVY has merged two existing units of private client group and the financial planning group to form KARVY Private Wealth which would focus on advising and managing wealth of HNIs. KARVY's current wide-spread network will enable kick starting the Private Wealth offering in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Goa.

KARVY also announced their acquisition of PARK Financial Advisors, a boutique financial advisory firm, started by four young entrepreneurs from IIM Ahmedabad. PARK has operations in Mumbai and Bangalore.

To build the Private Wealth initiative, KARVY has appointed Mr. Hrishikesh Parandekar, an expatriate Indian, as a CEO of this venture. Mr. Parandekar has rich experience of working with McKinsey Consulting and later on with Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management where he looked after their Latin American and international retail businesses. Originally from Mumbai, he was a top ranker from IIMA.

Commenting on the initiative, Mr. C. Parthasarathy, Chairman, KARVY Group said, “The HNI Investor in India is sophisticated as his global counterparts in terms of understanding various investment options. We strongly believe that there is lack of high quality advice in this segment. After having worked hard and taken risk to create wealth, the Indian HNI investor is correct in expecting a minimum return at acceptable risk levels irrespective of market conditions. Over the years, KARVY has graduated from pure product selling to concept and advice based selling. We acknowledge that offering advice to HNI customers requires deep understanding of the nuances of the financial markets in India as well as dynamics of global markets. To adequately position us and compete with the best in this segment, we have hired talented people who we believe will offer quality wealth management advice and help KARVY as a group to emerge stronger in the Wealth Management space”.

Commenting on his new assignment and also on KARVY’s efforts to reorganize its Wealth Management services, Mr. Parandekar, CEO, mentioned that, “KARVY’s Private Wealth initiative will obviously leverage extensively on the 25 year old relationships created by the group. We will also ride on the physical reach of KARVY retail, to rapidly roll out our wealth management services. Being positioned as a third party independent wealth advisor and not being tied to any mutual fund, insurance or bank, clearly positions KARVY Private Wealth as a neutral player and brings in an unparalleled level of honesty and trust into the relationship with all our clients. We are putting together a high quality team to help us achieve scale at a rapid pace Our acquisition of PARK Financial Advisors has provided us with a senior leadership team with quality relevant experience and will also help us accelerate the time to market”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About KARVY

KARVY, a leading financial services provider, and ranked among the top five in the country in all its business segments, services over 60 million individual investors in various capacities, and provides investor services to over 400 corporates, comprising the who’s who of Corporate India. KARVY covers the entire spectrum of financial services such as share broking, distribution of financial products like mutual funds, merchant banking, insurance, data management, placement of equity, IPOs, among others. Karvy.com, the online personal finance portal of KARVY provides retail investors the entire gamut of financial services under one platform. Karvy.com allows investors to customize their information needs according to their investment requirements.