Wockhardt Announces COVID-19 Vaccine Partnership with UK Government

Wockhardt, the global pharmaceutical and biotechnology major today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the UK Government to fill finish COVID-19 vaccines. The manufacturing will be undertaken at CP Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Wockhardt based in Wrexham, North Wales.

As per the terms of the agreement the company has reserved manufacturing capacity to allow for the supply of multiple vaccines to the UK Government in its fight against COVID-19, including AZD1222, the vaccine co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech and licensed by AstraZeneca.

Dr Habil Khorakiwala, Founder Chairman of Wockhardt emphasised, “The pandemic of COVID-19 is a challenge for all and needs a concerted effort to overcome. We are proud to be collaborating with the UK Government to make vaccines available and the arrangement brings in a huge sense of purpose and pride, it upholds our ongoing commitment to fight against such a pandemic of global human importance. As a global organisation, we are focussed and committed to assist in mitigating the worldwide impact of COVID-19.”

Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Government of U.K said, “Ensuring the UK has the capability to research, develop and manufacture a safe and effective vaccine is critical in our fight against coronavirus.

“Today we have secured additional capacity to manufacture millions of doses of multiple Covid-19 candidates, guaranteeing the supply of vaccines we need to protect people across the UK rapidly and in large numbers.”

Speaking about the contract Ravi Limaye, Managing Director Wockhardt UK said, “We are immensely proud to have been selected to partner with the UK Government on this project. In doing so we are taking a lead role in the nation’s fight against pandemic of COVID-19”.

“We have a sophisticated sterile manufacturing facility and a highly skilled workforce. We expect to start delivering the first doses of the vaccine later this year.” He added.

The government has reserved one fill and finish production line for its exclusive use for the next 18 months in order to guarantee the supply of vaccines required to fight COVID-19 in the UK.

Dr Murtaza Khorakiwala, Managing Director and Global CEO of Wockhardt adds, “The arrangement with the UK Government for manufacturing vaccines for COVID-19 showcases our global strength in world class sterile injectable facilities and capacity. With four decades of expertise and experience behind us we are able to quickly scale to manufacture and assist in mitigating the worldwide impact of COVID-19.”

Kate Bingham, Chair of U.K. Vaccines Task Force said, “Never before have we needed to find and manufacture a vaccine at this speed and scale in order to protect the UK population. We have made significant progress in securing a diverse portfolio of potential vaccines and treatments for Covid-19, adding a fourth vaccine candidate from GSK and Sanofi last week. However, discovering a successful vaccine is only part of the solution, we also need to be able to manufacture it. Fill Finish is a critical step in the process to get the vaccine in a form to be given to patients. The agreement with Wockhardt will boost our capability to ensure that from the moment a successful vaccine is identified we will be able to produce the quantities of vaccine required, as quickly as possible, for the people who need it.”

Wockhardt is a global pharmaceutical and biotech organisation that brings affordable, high quality medicines to market. In the UK, Wockhardt is one of the largest suppliers into the NHS for over 20 years, has had a presence in Wrexham for over two decades and employs over 400 people at its 612,000 square feet high-tech manufacturing facility.

About Wockhardt:

Wockhardt is a research based global pharmaceutical and Biotech Company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Wockhardt’s New Drug Discovery programme has focussed on the unmet need of making anti-bacterial drugs effective in mitigating untreatable superbugs. Wockhardt is the only company in the world that has received QIDP Status (Qualified Infectious Diseases Programme) from the US FDA for six anti-bacterial discovery programmes – three of them are Gram Negative and three Gram Positive and are effective against untreatable “Superbugs”. Wockhardt has a dedicated and experienced Drug Discovery team as part of its clinical research organisation.

Wockhardt employs over 7,000 people across 27 nationalities with a presence in the USA, UK, Ireland, Switzerland, France, Mexico, Russia and many other countries. It has manufacturing and research facilities in India, the USA and UK and a manufacturing facility in Ireland. Wockhardt has a significant presence in the USA, Europe and India, with around 73% of its global revenue coming from international business.

Wockhardt UK specialises in the supply of generic and speciality medicines and is one of the leading suppliers to the NHS. They have a portfolio of over 250 product lines which are available in a wide range of preparations, including tablets, capsules, injections and liquid medicines.

The UK manufacturing site based in Wrexham, North Wales manufactures a number of sterile injectable products covering a wide range of therapy areas including diabetes, anticoagulation and pain management. The products are available in many forms such as vials, cartridges and ampoules including lyophilised (dry powder) products. In addition to their own Wockhardt branded products, they also provide contract manufacturing services for companies all around the world.

TradeIndia Announces India’s First Virtual B2B Event "COVID 19 Essentials Expo India 2020

B2B Event

* The pioneering virtual tradeshow will be held during August 5-7, 2020

* The event is set to boost trade and commerce between different brands across the country by showcasing their products

As several small and medium industries have been adversely impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 contagion in the country, the business community is roping in all efforts to stabilize the situation and rejuvenate the ailing economy. While government-sponsored relief, and financial relaxations are helping industries regain lost ground, inch by inch, there is also a new lease of hope dawning upon the market that every hurdle that is crossed is a step closer to the victory lap.

In a bid to transform the black swan Covid-19 pandemic into a lucrative business opportunity, TradeIndia, India’s largest B2B marketplace offering global buyers and sellers a reliable platform to identify trustworthily business partners shall be organizing the country’s first virtual tradeshow titled, “COVID-19 Essentials Expo India between August 5-7,2020. The trade expo that is targeted will be in the same lines as of a traditional the exhibition, but due to the pandemic concerns will be conducted via the virtual medium.  

The event will be targeted towards reviving the various SMEs and MSMEs of the country whose operations have been affected due to the dire effect of the corona virus crisis and helping them maintain business continuity in such turbulent times. As the pandemic has vehemently increased the demand for essential products, the market is amuck with a plethora of companies selling all kinds of essential wares, but only those companies will triumph who couple their essential product offerings with innovation. Besides revealing and brainstorming on the various innovative guidelines that companies can instill in their product development, the expo will also aim to discover alternate channels of revenue for companies that are suitable for the current market dynamics.

The trade expo will feature a multitude of brands, their products through a virtual exhibition solution that enables exhibitors to showcase their products at a very low cost but with high scalability. The tradeshow will also feature 3D stalls or immersive virtual spaces that enable attendees to sift through the various product lineups, access business catalogues while interacting with exhibitors via chat or video conference.

Featuring more than 60 booths and with an experience spanning over 20 years in online marketing space and event promotion, TradeIndia enjoys the largest industry database in the country that holds countless prospective visitors and investor’s for one’s brand. the essential range products that will be the central to the trade show are Surgical dressing and Disposable; Personal safety equipment; Personal care products; Common medicines and drugs; Temperature instruments; Medical, diagnostic & hospital supplies; Home cleaning appliances, etc.

Commenting on this highly enterprising initiative, the spokesperson for Trade India said, ”While the pandemic has wreaked havoc upon industries and the resultant economy, it has also opened up hitherto unlocked vistas of promising opportunities, As businesses across the world are united in their transition from the offline mode to the online mode of presuming their operations, We, at TradeIndia, endearingly strive to tap into the exuberant potential of the digital business model and also extend a much-needed lift-up to the struggling factions of SMEs and MSMEs and help them shift to the online medium of  commencing business through this first of its kind landmark virtual tradeshow. We welcome everyone to participate and grace this novel event as together we can adapt and thrive in this new normal, no matter how great the challenge.”  

About TradeIndia:

TradeIndia.com is an online Business to Business (B2B) portal for small businesses based in India and around the globe. The portal was started in 1996 by Bikky Khosla and is maintained and promoted under the flagship company, Infocom Network Ltd. The company is headquartered in New Delhi, India, and has branch offices in more than 42 cities across India.

Force Motors Commissioned 1000 New Traveller Ambulances to Fight Against Covid in India

In view of the surge in cases anticipated with the easing of the lockdown, state governments and local administrations are going all out to strengthen Healthcare Infrastructure in their jurisdiction. Force Motors the Pune based auto major is one of the few companies that has developed in house capability to manufacture and supply full range of ambulances that are ready to use from day one and also comply with all the provisions of the recently introduced National Ambulance Code.

Type B Ambulance is a basic ambulance that is meant primarily  for transport of patients who do not require any treatment while in transit to the hospital whereas Type C or Basic Life Support Ambulance is meant for transporting patients who require basic monitoring while in transit and may require non invasive airway management. And the Type D Ambulance or Advanced Life Support Ambulance is equipped to treat critical patients requiring intensive monitoring and invasive airway management. The Advanced Life Support ambulances have in built provision to mount life saving equipment like defibrillator, transport ventilator, BP Apparatus, scoop stretcher, spine board etc., required to treat critically ill patients while on the move.

In addition, Force Motors also has capability to supply mobile medical units that can function as primary health centres in the remote locatons providing consultation and treatment.

In order to fight this pandemic the state governments and local administration are planning to have a mix of all types of ambulances so that they can be deployed as the situation warrants.

Force Motors supplied to the Govt of Andhra Pradesh over one thousand ambulances including 130 advanced life support ambulances, 282 basic life support ambulances and over 656 mobile medical units that will significantly upgrade the healthcare infrastructure, improve reach and reduce response time. The Mobile Medical units delivered to Govt of Andhra Pradesh are also equipped with COVID screening facilities and can be accessed by the citizens by dialling 104.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Prasan Firodia, Managing Director, Force Motors said, “The ongoing pandemic has suddenly highlighted the inadequacies in our healthcare system. It is very heartening to see that local administrations and state governments are responding quickly by upgrading their public health delivery systems. We are very happy that the Govt. of AP reposed their trust in the proven and reliable range of Force Traveller Ambulances and look forward to support such initiatives in other states”.

As a responsible corporate, Dr Abhay Firodia Group has also been actively participating against the fight against this pandemic. It has earmarked Rs 25 Crores to support various COVID-19 relief activities by supporting upgradation of health care infrastructure and facilitating mobile clinic/testing capabilities that have treated over 10 lakh patients during the lockdown period.

The Traveller range of fully factory built ambulances are preferred by the health departments, hospitals and service provider on account of its unmatched performance, best in class reliability and durability.

AgriBazaar Hosts Global Webinar on Landmark Reforms in Indian Agriculture to Discuss Watershed Changes

AgriBazaar, India’s largest Online Agri-Trading Marketplace, held a global webinar titled ‘Landmark Reforms in Indian Agriculture’. The government of India recently promulgated two ordinances: augmenting ease of trade by giving farmers a new and simpler alternative to sell their produce and building a farm-gate infrastructure to ensure that farmers get the desired price for every unit sold. The combination of these two ordinances is envisaged to bring large-scale benefits to the Indian farmer community by addressing their long-standing issues and therefore significantly boost the country’s agriculture.

The webinar was hosted to highlight these watershed reforms and how they can bring a positive change to Indian agriculture. A wide array of opportunities was identified during the webinar such as crop advisory, crop marketing, smart irrigation, leasing of equipment, and new avenues of financing, among others. New ideas and innovations such as digital agri stack, gene editing, plant-based meat, etc, were also discussed. The webinar highlighted the evolution of Indian farmers who are quickly learning the new agri-tech tools by attending various workshops hosted by agri-tech companies during the lockdown.

Speaking on the webinar Regarding level playing field for private e-marketplaces Mr. Sanjay Agarwal, IAS, Secretary (Agriculture) said, “they will be treated at par with the State-sponsored eNAM (National Agriculture Market). “eNAM is a platform that works in mandis. The trade ordinances that the government came out with do not touch mandis. No special place is kept for eNAM in the ordinance. Both the government and private platforms will have equal footing,” he said.

There is no registration or regulation required, except for the fact that they have to declare their fair trade modalities, payment modalities and logistic modalities. And they have to follow these modalities. The government has kept a provision for framing norms for this ecosystem at a later point, if required to use, he added.

Amith Agarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, AgriBazaar said, “It gives me immense pleasure to host this webinar. I saw some of the most brilliant ideas and innovations discussed by the domain leaders and top government officials during the event. The recent reforms undertaken by the Indian Government in the Agri-sector will spur the much-needed investment in the sector and unleash agritech opportunities.”

With a focus on government’s ‘One India, One Agriculture Market’ reforms, the webinar saw participation from senior leaders from the government, industry thought leaders from the private sector, investors and senior industry professionals from the Food and Agriculture Industry across the globe (mainly from Europe, the US, and Asia). Mr Sanjay Agarwal, IAS, Secretary (Agriculture), Dr Rajeev Ranjan, IAS, Secretary (Fisheries), Mr Atul Chaturvedi, IAS, Secretary (Animal Husbandry), and Ms Pushpa Subrahmanyam, IAS, Secretary (Food Processing Industries), Government of India attended the event. The private sector and global investors were represented by Mr Anuj Maheshwari, Managing Director, Agribusiness, Temasek International, Mr Srini Nagarajan, Managing Director and Head of Asia, CDC Group, Mr S. Sivakumar, Group Head – Agri & IT Businesses, ITC Limited, and Mr Balram Yadav, Managing Director, Godrej Agrovet.

About AgriBazaar

AgriBazaar is an online marketplace that is an intelligent and intuitive system delivering future-ready solutions to the Indian agrarian sector. The Indian agri-business is fragmented, and AgriBazaar with its cutting-edge technology and tools is acting as a tech enabler. With capabilities of warehousing, collateral financing and value-added services, AgriBazaar spans across geographies and enhances the efficiencies of the entire ecosystem.

Manipal Health Enterprises Collaborates with Government of Karnataka to Combat COVID Crisis in the State

Collaboration

* Manipal Hospitals Malleshwaram to be converted into a dedicated COVID facility

* Partnership with Hospitality players in Bengaluru to set up COVID care centres for mild and asymptomatic patients

* Receives statutory approvals by the regulatory authorities to perform COVID 19 Test at Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road Bangalore and Hospital, Manipal

In an endeavour to intensify the fight against the pandemic, Manipal Health Enterprises part of Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) collaborates with the Government of Karnataka and converts its 100 bed fully equipped facility at Malleshwaram as a dedicated COVID unit. The facility is equipped with a 14-bed respiratory ICU and state of the art equipment to ensure seamless and efficient treatment to COVID patients. The facility also has back up imaging and a full-fledged laboratory to ensure the highest level of care to COVID 19 patients. The Group has also been approved by the regulatory authorities to perform COVID 19 Testing at its Hospital on Old Airport, Bangalore and Udupi.

The group has been working closely with the Government of Karnataka since March when the pandemic started to breakout in the State. The Chairman of Manipal Hospitals, Dr. Sudarshan Ballal was a key member of the Task Force formed by the Govt to help combat the spread of the virus. Over the last 3 months, a specialist team comprising of a Physician/Geriatrician, Intensivist, Pulmonologists, Anaesthesiologist and Nephrologist have been monitoring critically ill COVID – 19 patients across 7 districts of Karnataka via the E-Rounds initiative. The dedicated team of specialists were part of the war room to provide video consultations to critically ill patients twice a day. In the month of April, Dr TMA Hospital, a 150 bed facility in Udupi was converted to a dedicated COVID centre and became the only private Hospital in Karnataka to be designated as a COVID – 19 Hospital and has treated over 150 patients. 

Dr. Ranjan Pai, Chairman, Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) said, “These are unprecedented times not only for the country but for the whole of humanity. Manipal Group as a responsible entity is committed to serving the country and will extend every possible support to the Government. In order to build a robust healthcare response and to be able to combat COVID, it is imperative to work as a combined force. We are also exploring possibilities of collaborating with Hospitality players to set up dedicated a COVID care center for mild or asymptotic patients to further ease the burden on the healthcare system. We have successfully engaged in a similar relationship with the ITC Group for their Hotel in Dwarka through our network hospital in New Delhi.”

Sharing his thoughts Mr. Dilip Jose, MD and CEO of Manipal Health Enterprises said, “Our team of experts have been working closely with various sub committees, task forces and working groups of the Government of Karnataka and have been providing immense support to tackle the pandemic. The dedicated unit at Manipal Malleshwaram will provide the highest quality of care for COVID patients. All our regular patients requiring urgent, elective tertiary and quaternary care, will be directed to our other network hospitals on Old Airport Road and at Jayanagar and Whitefield. This will ensure safety and significantly reduce the risk for non- COVID patients visiting our Hospitals”.

About Manipal Hospitals:

As a pioneer in healthcare, Manipal Hospitals is one among the top 5 established healthcare players in India serving over 3 million patients annually. Its focus is to develop an affordable healthcare framework through its multispecialty and tertiary care delivery spectrum and further extend it to homecare. With its flagship quaternary care facility located in Bangalore (India), 9 tertiary care and 5 secondary care spread across India and abroad, Manipal Hospitals today successfully operates and manages over 5,900 beds across 15 hospitals. Manipal Hospitals provides comprehensive curative and preventive care for a multitude of patients from around the globe. Manipal Hospitals is NABH, AAHRPP accredited and most of the hospitals in its network are NABL, ER, Blood Bank accredited and recognized for Nursing Excellence. Manipal Hospitals has also been the most respected and patient recommended hospital in India through various consumer surveys.

Media Statement from NPCI During June 2020 on Digital Payments

“We have come across some quotes on social media which suggest that transferring money through Google Pay is not protected by the law, since the app is unauthorised. RBI has authorised NPCI as a Payment System Operator (PSO) of UPI and NPCI in its capacity as PSO authorises all UPI participants.

We would like to clarify that Google Pay is classified as Third Party App Provider (TPAP) that also provides UPI payment services like many others, working through banking partners and operating under the UPI framework of NPCI. All authorised TPAPs are listed on the NPCI Website. 

Enclosed:

Annexure 1 – List of UPI Live Members and Annexure 2 – List of 3rd Party Apps) All transactions made using any of the authorized TPAPs are fully protected by the redressal processes laid out by applicable guidelines of NPCI/RBI and customers already have full access to the same. Further, we would also like to clarify that all authorised TPAP’s are already bound by full compliance to all the regulations and applicable laws in India. UPI ecosystem is fully safe and secure, and we appeal to the citizens not to fall prey to such malicious news. We also request UPI customers not to share their OTP (one time password) and UPI Pin with anybody”.

MSME Day, 27th June 2020: 5 Companies Empowering Indian MSMEs

India’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is the second largest in the world and are considered as the backbone of the Indian economy.The pandemic hit the economy and caused  liquidity crunch in the market.  MSME sector faced the most challenging time due to lack of funds and labour as a result of which a lot of MSMEs had to pause or discontinue their business. The government has been taking necessary  decisions and is addressing these  solvency issues, which will help the MSMEs to  stay afloat. Apart from this, there are companies that are also lending a helping hand to support the MSMEs and bridging the market gaps.

Crediwatch

Crediwatch is a ‘Data Insights-as-a-service’ company that provides lenders, businesses with actionable credit intelligence on private entities they need to improve trust and increase their lending and trading activity. Crediwatch does this with no human intervention by deploying the latest practical AI and technology tools that provide the most reliable comprehensive real-time inputs.A bank only looks up 200 of data points while considering decision for a loan. On the other hand, Crediwatch  picks up data from 25,000 different points which is the highest in the industry from already existing information in the regulatory framework. The intelligence can further be deployed for risk management and analysis, due diligence and in future can be used for providing “TrustScore” for MSMEs who are new to credit.

Udaan

Udaan is a Business-to-Business (B2B) ecommerce platform, designed to solve core trade problems for small, medium and large businesses across India. It is the largest such national distribution platform of its kind enabling retailers and businesses to source merchandise from manufacturers, brands, white labels, importers etc. on a single platform. udaan brings to users the power of technology to grow their business.The easy-to-use app gives them the power to BUY & SELL on their terms with secure payments and hassle-free logistics,GROW their network through access to new regions and customers for brands,manufacturers and marketing & sales support for retailers and businesses,DISCOVER customers, suppliers and products across multiple categories,CONNECT directly with sellers and interested buyers to discuss trade

Tradeindia

Tradeindia is India’s largest online B2B marketplace, connecting buyers and suppliers. Their mission is to help SMEs and MSMEs to go Digital. Now more than ever, company is committed to provide SMEs with the resources they need to take their businesses online. As the shift from offline to online accelerates, during these times companies are being asked to do more with less. Tradeindia client Relations team helps SMEs with tools to digitize their business operations and make your business future-ready. 

 Signzy 

Signzy offers a digital on-boarding solution for banks, NBFCs and other financial  institutions. Most banking services are going digital but one key process that is still offline and hampers consumer experience is regulatory compliance. There is a pressure to dilute digital KYC however digital has higher risk. We at Signzy believe that through a combination of Artificial Intelligence and blockchain we can ensure that digital compliance is convenient but yet secure. 

LENDINGKART 

LENDINGKART Technologies Private Limited is a fin-tech startup in the working capital space. The Company has developed technology tools based on big data analysis which facilitates lenders to evaluate borrower’s credit worthiness and provides other related services.LENDINGKART Finance Limited (formerly Aadri Infin Limited), is a non-deposit taking NBFC, providing SME lending in India. The Company aims to transform small business lending by making it convenient for SMEs to access credit easily. The Company uses technology and analytics tools, analyzing thousands of data points from various data sources to assess the creditworthiness of small businesses rapidly and accurately.

Vedanta’s Nand Ghar Project Rolls Out Digital e-Learning Modules for Children in Villages of UP, Rajasthan and Odisha

Vedanta Limited’s, flagship project “Nand Ghar” has rolled out e-learning modules for home-schooling through WhatsApp groups across villages of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha.

The e-learning modules consists of stories, games, rhymes, home based activities, moral science lessons and more for children below six years of age. ICDS, Government of Rajasthan issued an order to roll out Nand Ghar e-content along with UNICEF e-content for children of all 60,000+ Anganwadi centres reaching out to more than 12 lac children in the state.

Complimenting Vedanta on this initiative, Dr. K. K. Pathak, Secretary, Women and Child Development Department, Govt. of Rajasthan, said, “Amidst the pandemic, with curtailed  classroom education, e-learning has come to the forefront across the world. I'm delighted that WCD, ICDS Rajasthan has been successfully imparting education across 60,000+ anganwadis through e-learning. This has been possible with the joint efforts of Vedanta and UNICEF who have provided the much needed support. From creation of e-learning content to on ground delivery, Vedanta's contribution in this initiative is highly appreciable.”

At a juncture of a changing era, this initiative has proved to be a game changer.  It has opened a window of possibility, where-in Education is being made available and accessible to every child of around thousands of villages in India.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman - Vedanta Resources, said, “The spread of Covid-19 pandemic leading to closure of schools and colleges has affected billions of children and youth worldwide. The higher income families have access to technology and internet, however it is the lower income families that are bearing the brunt of the unprecedented pandemic. With the Anganwadi centres closed at this point, the need for uninterrupted education of children remains our priority. Thus, with an objective that no child is bereft of education, Nand Ghar has launched its e-learning modules through mobile phones reaching all Nand Ghar villages. This is a step on our part to bridge the gap and make sure that digital self-learning becomes an unlimited resource to all”

Vedanta project Nand Ghar has already constructed more than 1300 Nand Ghars across 7 states in India. The Nand Ghars are equipped with televisions for e-learning, solar panels for reliable power, safe drinking water, clean toilets and have emerged as an ideal model for replication in other parts of the country. The project aims to transform lives of 8.5 crore children through 14 lakh anganwadis across the country.

The core services provided at Nand Ghars are pre-school education to children (3-6 years) through e-learning, BaLA designs and smart kits, nutrition through pre-packed hot cooked meals to children, pregnant and lactating women, healthcare through Mobile Health Van and support to Community Health Centre, women empowerment through skill, credit linkage and entrepreneurship development.

IDC says India's domestic BPO market to touch $6.82 bn

After establishing itself as a major player in the international BPO market, India is now set to shift focus on the domestic market, which is projected to grow at over 30% annually.

According to a report by IT research firm IDC India, the country's domestic BPO market, with nearly 500 players, will grow at a CAGR of 33.3% to touch revenues of $6.82 billion by 2013, up from $1.62 billion in 2008.

The report said the domestic BPO industry would evolve from just running isolated processes for customers to engaging more deeply in identifying and transforming core business processes.

"Positive market indicators of an economic recovery, unbundling of mega outsourcing deals and large unaddressed white spaces such as regional language services support the current optimism," the report said.

Currently, the BFSI vertical contributes the lion's share of 37% to the domestic sector's revenues, while telecom contributes about one-fourth to it.

Other verticals like utilities and services, energy, food and hospitality, aerospace and automotives, consumer durables and government contribute 17%, while the travel segment contributes 8% to the revenue.

Agencies

Jobless Americans climb to 551,000 in September 2009

The count of Americans seeking unemployment benefits for the first time climbed unexpectedly by 17,000 to 551,000 for the week ended September 26, indicating that labour market remains strained despite easing economic conditions.

The figures come a day after official data showed that the US economy contracted less than expected at 0.7 per cent i the June quarter.

According to the US Labor Department, the number of initial claims for jobless benefits rose 17,000 to 551,000 for the week ended September 26.

In the previous week, the figure stood at 534,000. As per the data, the four-week moving average was 548,000.

However, the count of those receiving unemployment benefits dropped as much as 70,000 to 6,090,000 for the week ended September 19.

"The 4-week moving average was 6,154,500, a decrease of 39,250 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,193,750," the Labor Department said in a statement today.

Yesterday, payroll-processing firm ADP in its National Employment Report said that 254,000 jobs evaporated in the American private sector in September.

However, the report noted that the decrease was the smallest since July 2008.

Agencies

Is Xerox set to acquire ACS for $6.4 in 2009?

Xerox, the global copier and imaging giant, will pay $6.4 billion to acquire the outsourcing company Affiliated Computer Services, expanding its foothold in a growing industry, the companies said.

Xerox, based in Norwalk, Conn, is paying $63.11 a share in cash and stock for ACS, which posted revenue growth of 6% and new business signings of $1 billion in annual recurring revenue during its fiscal 2009.

“We’re creating a new class of solution provider,” Xerox’s chief executive, Ursula M Burns, said in a statement, adding that the deal was “a gamechanger for Xerox.” She estimated the company’s revenue from services would triple to $10 billion next year from $3.5 billion in 2008. Lynn R Blodgett, ACS’s chief executive, said in the statement that the deal was necessary “to expand globally and differentiate our offerings through technology.” ACS will continue to operate as an independent organization. Blodgett will remain as chief executive, reporting to Burns.
It was the first major deal for Burns, who took over Xerox in July with the retirement of Anne M Mulcahy.

Owners of ACS stock will receive $18.60 a share in cash and 4.935 Xerox shares for each ACS share. Xerox will assume $2 billion in ACS debt and issue $300 million of convertible preferred stock to ACS’s Class B shareholders. ACS had a market value Friday at the close of trading of $4.6 billion. Xerox said the transaction would add to profit in the first year on an adjusted-earnings basis.

ACS, based in Dallas, specializes in outsourcing processes for industries including telecommunications, retail and financial services and health care, and describes itself as the largest provider of managed services to government entities in the United States. The companies estimated the market for so-called business process outsourcing at $150 billion, growing at a rate of 5% a year.

JP Morgan Chase and Blackstone Advisory Partners acted as financial adviser to Xerox, while Citigroup Global Markets served as financial adviser to ACS

Agencies

Rs 700 crore govt business is Wipro's target

Wipro is eyeing about Rs.700 crore from government projects in the current fiscal. It intends to nearly triple this in three years. The move comes at a time when the Centre is clearing the decks for a slew of projects under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), reports a media.

"The targets for this year represent a 100-per cent growth over the previous fiscal," said Ranbir Singh, Head, Government, Wipro. The export-oriented Indian IT industry has been facing headwinds in its traditional strongholds such as the US and Europe, and though things seem to be looking up, Nasscom's annual projections have pegged software exports growth at 4-7 percent for FY10.

In contrast, the domestic market is expected to grow at 15-18 percent during the year. Projects such as MCA-21, e-passport and eBiz - which were handed out in the past, have whet the appetite of IT firms that are now looking to leverage opportunities closer home. The Unique Identification (UID) project has created quite a stir among vendors and every IT player; Indian and MNC are hoping to participate in the ambitious effort; the other large projects waiting to take off include eDistrict, eCourt, eOffice, Income-Tax and Central Excise.

"While the opportunity is large, it is also important to remember that the lead and the closing timelines tend to be longer for Government contracts. But, clearly, this is a space that every company wants to play in," an industry observer pointed out. Naturally, no one wants to be left behind in the race. Wipro's Joint CEO, Suresh Vaswani, told Business Line recently that the company was 'revisiting' its strategy and game-plan on government business. The company has already clinched a Rs.1,200 crore multiple-year contract floated by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

The project relates to computerisation of the ESIC and to provide smart cards to around 1.5 crore industrial workers across the country. The contract brought its own share of controversies when rival firm TCS wrote to the Labour Ministry against the procedures adopted in awarding the contract.

Agencies

Can indigenous systems address IISc's security?

To improve the internal security, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore is set to tap indigenous technology and advanced surveillance systems. "We have about 15 proposals from people and organizations across the country," N. Balakrishnan, Associate Director, IISc, Bangalore told Mint.

Balakrishnan also said that the project would cover four broad areas: Materials detection, information security, video analytics and large-scale data mining. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) tasked the Indian Institute of Science to identify specific technologies and coordinating organizations for the security project. This security project would basically involve with collecting a wide range of data such as travel history, educational qualifications, biometrics from a large number of people and preparing risk profiles of them.

Although the Centre has earmarked Rs. 35 crore for the project, Balakrishnan emphasizes that funds will to be a problem. "This is a large project, where civil and defence agencies are closely going to work with each other. T. Ramasami (the incumbent DST Secretary) will even provide Rs. 3,500 crore if needed," he said.

According to Balakrishnan, this specific project would contribute to fundamental change in the next five years, in the way technology is harnessed to boost up the internal security. "After Mumbai, there's a much greater level of seriousness across the government that will pull this project a long distance," he said.

Mint

Can TCS earn $1 bn revenue from domestic market?

Country's top software exporter Tata Consultancy Services said that it aims to double its revenues from the Indian market to $1 billion in the next 3-4 years.

"India has been one of the important markets. We are looking at whether in next 3-4 years we can double our revenue to billion dollars in the Indian market," TCS CEO S Ramadorai said.

At present, the domestic market contributes 10 per cent to the total revenue.

"Every mission mode project (government) that would come on the radar, we will certainly bid for them. TCS is in talks for 3-4 such mission mode projects as of now," Ramadorai said.

"When we look at the domestic market we look at three pillars -- large enterprises, governments - both the central and state governments -- and the third is the small and medium businesses which are part of our overall growth," he added.

Of the three, he expects the large enterprises to contribute more than the other two, followed by the government and the SMB sector.

Agencies

Microsoft to hire Yahoo staff for the online search business

Microsoft Corp will hire at least 400 workers from Yahoo Inc if government regulators approve the companies' proposed Internet search partnership, and Yahoo will receive $150 million to cover any unexpected costs during the switch to new technology.

The details emerged in a regulatory filing that elaborated on an agreement announced last week. Sunnyvale-based Yahoo said then that an unspecified number of its 13,000 employees would be offered jobs at Microsoft after the Redmond, Washington-based software maker assumes control of the search results and search advertising on Yahoo's Web site.

The transition is supposed to begin early next year, assuming the alliance is approved by antitrust regulators in the United States and Europe.

Microsoft will pay $50 million annually during the first three years of the 10-year contract to supplement the revenue that Yahoo will receive from the ads appearing alongside its search results. The $150 million in guaranteed payments weren't mentioned last week.

The filing said Yahoo can use the $150 million to pay for unforeseen transition costs. Yahoo's stock has fallen by about 15 per cent since it unveiled the Microsoft deal, largely because announced terms didn't include a large upfront payment.

The disclosure probably won't ease the disappointment much, given analysts had anticipated Microsoft paying $1 billion to $2 billion for access to Yahoo's search engine.

Most of the revenue from the Microsoft deal will flow from ad commissions. Yahoo will receive 88 percent of the search ad revenue during the first five years of the contract. After that, Yahoo's commission will range from 83 percent to 93 percent, depending on whether it still handles some of the ad sales in the partnership.

The main reason Yahoo decided to turn over its search engine to Microsoft was to save money. If Yahoo wants to save even more on technology, it
has the option of adopting Microsoft's online mapping service replace of its own, according to the filing.

Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz has already made it known she isn't impressed with Yahoo's online maps. As it is, transferring 400 workers to Microsoft would prune Yahoo's current payroll by about 3 per cent.

Yahoo will lay off some workers if the Microsoft deal goes through, Bartz said last week. Tuesday's filing didn't provide any layoff projections. Although it also has been jettisoning workers because of the recession, Microsoft finished its latest fiscal year end in June with 93,000 employees -- an increase of about 2,000 people from the previous year.

Microsoft is counting on the Yahoo partnership to help it reverse years of losses in its online operations and siphon some traffic -- and ad sales -- from Internet search leader Google Inc.

Yahoo's search engine is the second largest, making it the quickest way for Microsoft to gain ground on Google. Even so, Microsoft and Yahoo combined have less than 30 percent of the US search market compared to 65 percent for Google, according to comScore Inc.

To keep Yahoo happy, Microsoft will have to produce ad revenue per search that is within a certain percentage of Google's industry-leading rate. If Microsoft doesn't hit the target, Yahoo can abandon the partnership before the contract expires.

The filing didn't specify how close Microsoft has to come to Google's revenue per search. Microsoft estimates that Google gets 7 cents in ad revenue for every search, while Yahoo gets 4.3 cents and Microsoft gets 3.9 cents, according to a PowerPoint slide Microsoft mistakenly posted online.

Agencies

11.9 m new Indian subscribers added in June

India's telecom industry continued its robust growth story in June by adding 11.91 million new subscribers to take the total subscription base to 464.82 million, said a government statement.

The number of total subscribers in the country as on June 30, 2008 was 325.78 million.

The wireless (GSM and CDMA) segment added 12 million new subscribers, while the wireline segment witnessed a dip of 134,000 connections, the statement said.

The overall tele-density reached 39.86 percent in June 2009 as compared to 28.33 percent in the like period last year.

Broadband connections reached 6.4 million at the end of May and the total number of licences issued for Internet service providers (ISPs) is 375, the statement added.

Under the Bharat Nirman programme, public telephones were provided to 264 villages in May.

Agencies

Would Air India need government bail out package to pay salaries?

For the first time since the losses hit the national carrier Air India, the payment of salaries for the current month of about 30,000 employees will be delayed by a fortnight.

Confirming this, an Air India spokesperson said, "The salaries of June will be paid on July 15 due to the resource crunch that the company is facing."

The payment of productivity-linked incentive (PLI) has also been delayed by 15 days, according to a circular issued by Air India management.

Air India's losses for the last financial year are estimated at around Rs 4,000 crore, up from Rs 2,226 crore in the previous fiscal.

Reports say the national carrier was planning to seek Rs 5,000 crore as additional equity, Rs 7,000 crore as a soft loan payable after five years at a five per cent interest rate, and a grant of Rs 2,000 crore.

However, top Air India officials have denied the figures, but said they are working on similar lines.

Maintaining that the financial crisis was foreseen last year, industry sources said the acute situation could have been avoided had Air India delayed the ongoing deliveries of aircraft, like its competitors Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines did.

They said there is no capacity since air traffic had gone down substantially due to the financial meltdown, and so the induction of additional aircraft could have waited.

Air India has placed orders for 111 new planes worth over Rs 45,000 crore and it currently has a paid-up capital of Rs 145 crore and authorized capital of Rs 1,500 crore package would not match Air India's expectations.

Agencies

Has software piracy in India gone up to $2.7 billion?

Global software makers lost an estimated $2.76 billion to illegal software trade in India, a study.

According to a BSA-IDC Global Software Piracy Study, even as piracy in the country has seen a one point drop to 68 per cent in 2008, it has resulted in loss of billions of dollars for software majors like Adobe, Autodesk and Microsoft globally.

"With the various initiatives taken by the government and the firms, piracy has gone down to 68 per cent and in the coming year also, we expect this to continue as people become more informed about licenced software," BSA Vice-President and Regional Director (Asia-Pacific) Jeffrey J Hardee told reporters afetr releasing the study.

The dollar-rupee fluctuation resulted in the increase in value terms.

Hardee also said the rapidly growing user base for assembled PC units and easy availability of pirated software on the Internet, is a major concern.

However "with software firms offering services to the SMBs and more portable PCs being shipped, piracy should come down," he added.

The study noted a rise in piracy levels globally. While it has gone up to 41 per cent globally from 38 per cent last year, piracy also remains high in the Central and Eastern Europe (66 per cent), Latin America (65 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (61 per cent).
Agencies

US companies, cut, jobs, layoffs, US, tightens, H-1B visa, rules, Indians,professionals, aspiring, Washington, stricter screening,misuse,IT companies, India,technology, TCS, Infosys, Wipro,

Agencies

Will Common service centres generate 400,000 jobs in India?

The government's common service centre (CSS) initiative will generate around 400,000 direct employment opportunities and as many as indirect jobs in rural India, a top government official said here on Thursday.

"The scheme was likely to generate over 400,000 direct jobs opportunities as well as indirect employment avenues of a like number in rural India," Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar told reporters after inaugurating a conference on 'Common Service Centres: The Change Agents'.

The CSC is a government-run one-stop shop that offers web-enabled e-governance services in rural areas, including various application forms, certificates, and utility payments such as electricity, telephone and water bills.

"The scheme was structured to promote rural entrepreneurship. By creating appropriate support structures that enable demand-driven services as well as capacity building and training, entrepreneurs can be empowered as change agents for rapid socio-economic change in rural India," he said.

Earlier, while inaugurating the conference, Chandrasekhar said inclusive growth and rural empowerment were the major goals of the CSC initiative.

He added that the government would set up 100,000 CSCs across the country under the public-private partnership model by year-end.

Last month, Communications and IT Minister A. Raja had said that the government would invest Rs.57.42 billion (Rs.5,742 crore) for setting up CSCs.

Agencies

Software to reduce non-compliance risks

Hewlett Packard (HP) plans to unveil a new document and records management software - TRIM - aimed at reducing an organization's risk of non-compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements over the next few months in India.

Talking to CXOtoday Kris Brown, TRIM marketing manager, HP APAC, said, "We are likely to roll out the software in the coming months and will start with the manpower for sales force and also the training. The software was originally developed in Australia and later acquired by HP."

Globally, there are more than 20,000 regulations that businesses need to comply with, including the significant legislations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and BASEL-II. In India, specific regulations mandate on how companies manage and store their information, including the IT Act, Indian Evidence Act and SEBI Clause 49, but most of them are not enforced yet by the Indian government, said Brown.

Meeting these guidelines also increases the return on investments for any organization, Brown said.

HP TRIM software is a best-practice document and records management system (DRMS) that reduces your risk of non-compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements while increasing security, data integrity, productivity and accountability.

In India, HP is targeting Central and state government departments, public-sector undertakings (PSUs), organizations and banking and financial institutions.

HP's Bangalore lab, which has been doing software development for the information management and achieving, will also handle the customization of the TRIM software as well.

CXOtoday.com