Giving some hope to crisis-ridden Satyam, the World Bank has said it could review the eight-year ban imposed on the company provided the software exporter takes "corrective action".
A World Bank official said Satyam has to show it has again become a responsible vendor to do business with, when asked whether the multilateral lending agency would relax the ban on the software exporter.
"The vendor would have to demonstrate (that) corrective action had been taken to address the original causes of the ... ineligibility," a World Bank official from Washington said in an emailed statement.
The official further said action should substantiate that Satyam is "again a responsible vendor with whom the Bank can do business".
The World Bank banned Satyam Computer Services for eight years in 2008 for providing "improper benefits" to Bank staff and for failing to maintain records relating to fees charged for sub-contractors.
Satyam has a strong case for a review of the ban since its old board and management have been changed after its disgraced founder Chairman B Ramalinga Raju admitted to fudging accounts to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore.
Agencies
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Oil companies cut ATF prices in India
Public sector oil companies on Sunday slashed jet fuel or ATF prices by 3.7 per cent, the tenth reduction since September.
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in Delhi were slashed to Rs 29,158 per kilolitre, effective midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said.
The fuel used by airlines till Sunday was priced at Rs 30,288 per kilolitre. After Sunday's Rs 1,130 a kilolitre reduction, jet fuel is priced at early 2005 levels.
For the 3.3 per cent increase in rates on January 16, jet fuel prices have been reduced for the tenth time on Sunday since September 1, 2008, when international crude oil prices started to decline.
In Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, ATF rates were down by Rs 1,191 per kl to Rs 29,985 per kl on Sunday.
ATF prices had peaked to Rs 71,028.26 per kl (in Delhi) in August on international crude prices touching historic high of USD 147 a barrel. But they have since been slashed every month till October and twice in November.
State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum revise ATF rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average international jet fuel rates in the preceding fortnight.
Agencies
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices in Delhi were slashed to Rs 29,158 per kilolitre, effective midnight tonight, an official of Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, said.
The fuel used by airlines till Sunday was priced at Rs 30,288 per kilolitre. After Sunday's Rs 1,130 a kilolitre reduction, jet fuel is priced at early 2005 levels.
For the 3.3 per cent increase in rates on January 16, jet fuel prices have been reduced for the tenth time on Sunday since September 1, 2008, when international crude oil prices started to decline.
In Mumbai, home to the nation's busiest airport, ATF rates were down by Rs 1,191 per kl to Rs 29,985 per kl on Sunday.
ATF prices had peaked to Rs 71,028.26 per kl (in Delhi) in August on international crude prices touching historic high of USD 147 a barrel. But they have since been slashed every month till October and twice in November.
State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum revise ATF rates on the 1st and 16th of every month based on the average international jet fuel rates in the preceding fortnight.
Agencies
Did Satyam turn small software cos into bn dollar industry?
Though blamed for tainting the image of the Indian IT sector now, Satyam Computer Services was indeed the first IT firm in the country to use communication technologies to turn pygmy software companies into a billion-dollar industry.
In his latest book 'Transcending Boundaries', author Deepak Chopra said that Satyam was one of the pioneers in using satellite-based data communication, which enabled the Indian software industry to take a quantum jump in the 1990s.
Satyam, which came under the scanner after its founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to cooking the company's account books for years, was the first Indian software company to use dedicated satellite links in 1992.
In the 1990s, IT firms suffered due to lack of high-speed data links.
"A Hyderabad-based startup, Satyam Computer Services, which had signed up its first major offshore customer in June 1991, applied to VSNL for a dedicated satellite link in August that year," the book said.
Using this link, Satyam wanted to execute a re- engineering contract, worth one million dollars, for John Deere Corporation by remotely working on Deere's IBM mainframes located in Chicago.
Following this, many other IT firms started using the dedicated satellite links.
Agencies
In his latest book 'Transcending Boundaries', author Deepak Chopra said that Satyam was one of the pioneers in using satellite-based data communication, which enabled the Indian software industry to take a quantum jump in the 1990s.
Satyam, which came under the scanner after its founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to cooking the company's account books for years, was the first Indian software company to use dedicated satellite links in 1992.
In the 1990s, IT firms suffered due to lack of high-speed data links.
"A Hyderabad-based startup, Satyam Computer Services, which had signed up its first major offshore customer in June 1991, applied to VSNL for a dedicated satellite link in August that year," the book said.
Using this link, Satyam wanted to execute a re- engineering contract, worth one million dollars, for John Deere Corporation by remotely working on Deere's IBM mainframes located in Chicago.
Following this, many other IT firms started using the dedicated satellite links.
Agencies
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Satyam top executive resigns
IT major Satyam Computer's head of automotives division, Subbu D Subramanian, has quit, a company spokesperson said.
Subramanian, who was serving as the Vice-President of the Hyderabad-based company, has put in his papers to seek career opportunities abroad, the spokesperson told media here.
He would be succeeded by another Satyam senior official, Keshab Panda, who was in the charge of the firm's energy and utilities vertical.
Agencies
Subramanian, who was serving as the Vice-President of the Hyderabad-based company, has put in his papers to seek career opportunities abroad, the spokesperson told media here.
He would be succeeded by another Satyam senior official, Keshab Panda, who was in the charge of the firm's energy and utilities vertical.
Agencies
Is Ad spend moving into internet from TV, radio?
Global economic slowdown has led to cut in media advertisement spending for sure, but internet company Yahoo is seeing a silver-lining.
And in some sense, recession in advance markets may be a blessing in disguise for such companies as advertisers shift ad spend from television and radio to internet.
Yahoo's Co-Founder and Chief David Filo confirmed the trend. "Advertising. while there may be slow-down....it's not going away", he told reporters on the sidelines of Yahoo India R & D-organised second Open Hack Day in India here.
There are other factors, he said. "People consume increasingly more and more internet", as opposed to television and radio, he argued. "People are moving that attention (from television and radio) to internet; that shift is going to increase (further)".
Particularly in times of economic slowdown, advertisers are shifting their ad spend to internet, Filo said. Internet advertising is "measurable" and, so, advertisers are "much more amenable" (to put more dollars into internet advertising)".
CEO of Yahoo India R & D, Sharad Sharma, said broadband access in India needs to improve, while PC penetration needs to be much faster. "Internet growth is modest (in India)", he said.
Agencies
And in some sense, recession in advance markets may be a blessing in disguise for such companies as advertisers shift ad spend from television and radio to internet.
Yahoo's Co-Founder and Chief David Filo confirmed the trend. "Advertising. while there may be slow-down....it's not going away", he told reporters on the sidelines of Yahoo India R & D-organised second Open Hack Day in India here.
There are other factors, he said. "People consume increasingly more and more internet", as opposed to television and radio, he argued. "People are moving that attention (from television and radio) to internet; that shift is going to increase (further)".
Particularly in times of economic slowdown, advertisers are shifting their ad spend to internet, Filo said. Internet advertising is "measurable" and, so, advertisers are "much more amenable" (to put more dollars into internet advertising)".
CEO of Yahoo India R & D, Sharad Sharma, said broadband access in India needs to improve, while PC penetration needs to be much faster. "Internet growth is modest (in India)", he said.
Agencies
Sapient lays off 300 employees in India
Software firm Sapient has laid off 300 employees at its offices in Bangalore, Noida and Gurgaon as a result of the global economic downturn, which has impacted several IT firms.
"In order to adjust to this changing demand environment, Sapient has exited about 8 per cent of its people. Sapient employs approximately 6,400 globally and as a result of this rationalisation, 300 people in India have been impacted," the company spokesperson said.
He said the exited employees have received severance packages and full outplacement services, and would be considered for rehiring on a fast track basis if the company finds that it again needs their skills and experience.
"These people were laid off to right size the company. They were at different levels of the management," he said, adding that Sapient has two-third of its workforce in India.
Businesses worldwide are feeling the impact of the economic downturn, and as a result, are reducing budgets and delaying projects. Despite the short-term softness in demand, Sapient remains well-positioned in two large markets - IT services and interactive marketing.
The company would continue to make strategic investments and targeted hires in several areas that are expected to drive success in 2009, including trading and risk management, marketing and government services, he said.
Agencies
"In order to adjust to this changing demand environment, Sapient has exited about 8 per cent of its people. Sapient employs approximately 6,400 globally and as a result of this rationalisation, 300 people in India have been impacted," the company spokesperson said.
He said the exited employees have received severance packages and full outplacement services, and would be considered for rehiring on a fast track basis if the company finds that it again needs their skills and experience.
"These people were laid off to right size the company. They were at different levels of the management," he said, adding that Sapient has two-third of its workforce in India.
Businesses worldwide are feeling the impact of the economic downturn, and as a result, are reducing budgets and delaying projects. Despite the short-term softness in demand, Sapient remains well-positioned in two large markets - IT services and interactive marketing.
The company would continue to make strategic investments and targeted hires in several areas that are expected to drive success in 2009, including trading and risk management, marketing and government services, he said.
Agencies
Friday, February 13, 2009
Will Google, Yahoo and Microsoft collaborate to clean up web?
In a rare instance of collaboration among otherwise fierce rivals, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft said they would support a new web standard that will allow millions of publishers to remove duplicate pages from their websites. As a result, search engines would be able to make their search results more comprehensive.
"There is a lot of clutter on the web and with this, publishers will be able to clean up a lot of junk," said Matt Cutts, an engineer who heads Google's spam fighting efforts, the New York Times reported.
"I think it is going to gain traction pretty quickly," said Cutts.
The problem is the following: Many web publishers, especially those that have voluminous sites, like e-commerce companies, have multiple URLs that all point to the same page. This confuses search engines, sometimes causing them to index the same page multiple times. As much as 20 percent of URLs on the web may be duplicates, according to some estimates.
Engineers at Google came up with a simple way for web publishers to indicate when a URL is a duplicate, and if so, which is the principal, or "canonical," URL that search engines should be indexing. Yahoo and Microsoft, the no. 2 and no. 3 search engines, have agreed to support the same standard.
"We are happy that everyone is going to support the same implementation," said Nathan Buggia, a lead programme manager at Microsoft. "This is a clear benefit for publishers as it gives them an opportunity to get more exposure through search engines."
All search engines have developed technologies to detect duplicates that are more or less effective. The so-called Canonical Link Tag, as the standard is known, should make it easier for both publishers and search engines to address the problem, NYT reported Thursday.
"It is an important step because all the search engines are coming out with it," said Priyank Garg, director of product management for web search at Yahoo.
Agencies
"There is a lot of clutter on the web and with this, publishers will be able to clean up a lot of junk," said Matt Cutts, an engineer who heads Google's spam fighting efforts, the New York Times reported.
"I think it is going to gain traction pretty quickly," said Cutts.
The problem is the following: Many web publishers, especially those that have voluminous sites, like e-commerce companies, have multiple URLs that all point to the same page. This confuses search engines, sometimes causing them to index the same page multiple times. As much as 20 percent of URLs on the web may be duplicates, according to some estimates.
Engineers at Google came up with a simple way for web publishers to indicate when a URL is a duplicate, and if so, which is the principal, or "canonical," URL that search engines should be indexing. Yahoo and Microsoft, the no. 2 and no. 3 search engines, have agreed to support the same standard.
"We are happy that everyone is going to support the same implementation," said Nathan Buggia, a lead programme manager at Microsoft. "This is a clear benefit for publishers as it gives them an opportunity to get more exposure through search engines."
All search engines have developed technologies to detect duplicates that are more or less effective. The so-called Canonical Link Tag, as the standard is known, should make it easier for both publishers and search engines to address the problem, NYT reported Thursday.
"It is an important step because all the search engines are coming out with it," said Priyank Garg, director of product management for web search at Yahoo.
Agencies
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