Infosys gets CISF cover

Bangalore: Infosys Technologies Ltd. on Friday became the first private company to get protection from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

The force protects public sector undertakings and government-owned industrial establishments.

101 personnel

The company’s headquarters here will be guarded by 101 CISF personnel.

R. K. Mishra, Inspector General, CISF, said: “This is the first time since its creation in 1969 that the CISF will be providing security cover to a corporate organisation in India.” The agency is “pleased and proud to be entrusted with the responsibility of security at Infosys.”

The company would have to pay the CISF a daily fee of Rs. 1 lakh.

Key handed over

Its Chief Mentor, N. R. Narayana Murthy handed over the “security key” to the CISF at a ceremony marking the deployment of the CISF on the campus on Friday.

The force will be in addition to Infosys’ 300-strong security team. It will now work with the CISF. However, the force will not be involved in daily frisking or gate checks. It would be in charge of surveillance and overall security strategy. The company’s “security command centre” was handed over to it.

T.V. Mohandas Pai, Infosys director said the CISF cover would be extended to the company’s facility in Mysore and if need be, elsewhere too. “We are confident that the protection offered by the CISF will enhance security on our campuses,” he added.

Ref : The Hindu, 01/08/2009

Wipro reports positive quarterly results

India's third-largest software maker, Wipro, has posted higher-than-expected first quarter earnings, with profit up 11.7 per cent despite the tough global environment.

Consolidated net profit grew 31 per cent to 10.7bn rupees (£135m) in the three months ended 30 June, up from 8.14bn rupees in the same period a year ago. Sales also increased by six per cent.

"We are starting to see the first signs of stability in the business as ramp downs start to taper off and volumes start to stabilise," said Wipro chairman Azim Premji in a statement.

The company said it signed 26 new deals during the first three months of its fiscal year, despite a negative trend in IT spending worldwide.

In the UK, Wipro clients include consumer goods distributor Warburtons and supermarket chain Morrisons,which is currently undergoing an IT transformation.

Earlier this month Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also outstripped expectations with positive results. TCS announced an 18.8 per cent profit increase, while Infosys had a 17.2 per cent rise in first-quarter consolidated net profit.

Friendship Day

Friendship Day celebrations take place on the first Sunday of August every year. The tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends began in US in 1935. Gradually the festival gained popularity and today Friendship Day is celebrated in large number of countries including India. On this day people spend time with their friends and express love for them. Exchange of Friendship Day Gifts like flowers, cards and wrist bands is a popular tradition of this occasion.

There is not much literature on Friendship Day history as we celebrate today. However, there are numerous folktales and several instance in mythological legends that shows that friends and friendship have been valued since the beginning of civilized world. As an intrinsically social creature, men love to make friends to further this process of socialization.

History of Friendship Day in US

Considering the valuable role friends play in our life it was deemed to fit to have a day dedicated to friends and friendship. The United States Congress, in 1935, proclaimed first Sunday of August as the National Friendship Day. Since then, celebration of National Friendship Day became an annual event. The noble idea of honoring the beautiful relationship of friendship caught on with the people and soon Friendship Day became a hugely popular festival

Following the popularity and success of Friendship Day in US, several other countries adopted the tradition of dedicating a day to friends. Today, Friendship Day is enthusiastically celebrated by several countries across the world including India.

In 1997, the United Nations named Winnie - the Pooh as the world's Ambassador of Friendship.

Importance of Friendship in Bible
The Bible, the primary text of the western civilization, reflects upon friendship as the bond that forms the foundation to human faith, trust and companionship. Following verses from the bible aptly portray the importance of friends:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7

“Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:13-15

Besides, there are several tales from the Old Testament and the New Testament about the value of friendship and how true friendship is a treasure to unearth. A noticeable point is that, both the versions make a difference between the two broad meanings of friendship- one is a mere acquaintance, the other is a more affectionate relation.

In the Old Testament, Abraham is called the “friend of God” because of the intimacy of his relations. God speaks to Moses face to face “as a man…unto his friend” (Ex 33:11). The romantic friendship of Ruth and Naomi, the devotion of the subordinate Hushai for David, or the mutual relation between David and Jonathan - the Old Testament is replete with these interesting tales of friends and friendship.

In the New Testament, the relationship between Jesus and his disciples clearly depicts how human friendship can constantly grow. From being teacher and disciple, to lord and servant their relationship finally grew to an unparalleled friendship.

Importance of Friendship in Mahabharata
In the famous Hindu epic ‘Mahabharata’, Lord Krishna demonstrates the many colors of friendship - affection, romance, brotherhood, protection, guidance, intimacy and even teasing. Friendship is all about these and much more.

Satyam: big question over renewal of contracts

HYDERABAD: A big question mark is staring at the battered Satyam Computer Services over the renewal of contracts by the existing prestigious clients across the globe.

Though company sources claim that there is no problem from the customers as of now, whether the clients will wield the stick will be known when the financial year ends in March. While Satyam completed its third quarter on Wednesday, the first quarter of the financial year began for its global customers on Thursday.

The controversies triggered by the now-aborted deal of acquiring Maytas companies, the World Bank’s eight-year ban and the fresh case seeking to restrain the company from taking up further transactions by Upaid mobile telecom company, are already finding the embattled IT giant in a tight spot.

Meanwhile, Forrester Research, a global IT analyst company, warned the customers to watch Satyam before renewing the contracts or awarding fresh ones.

Ref :- THE HINDU,02-01-09

Software Fraud: Satyam banned by World Bank

Software Giant Satyam Computer Services has reportedly been banned from doing any off-shore work with the World Bank. According to a Fox News report, forensic experts and bank investigators discovered that the sensitive data from their computers were logged to unknown destination over internet. As per reports, key logger software was found on workstations inside the bank’s Washington headquarters, allegedly by one or more contractors from Satyam Computer Services.
Update: Satyam speaks up - Satyam denies report on offshore ban with World Bank. Satyam further added that reports are riddled with error and are out of context. More Details awaited!
Investigators say that the software, which operates through a method known as keystroke logging, enabled every character typed on a keyboard to be transmitted to a still-unknown location via the Internet. Upon its discovery, bank officials shut off the data link between Washington and Chennai, where Satyam has long operated the bank’s sole offshore computer center responsible for all of the bank’s financial and human resources information.
“I want them off the premises now,” World Bank President Robert Zoellick reportedly told his deputies.
Satyam is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange and boasts having two billion dollars in sales and more than 150 Fortune 500 companies as clients.
In 2003, Satyam won a lucrative five-year “sole source” contract to design, write and maintain all of the World Bank’s information systems. The contract, which began at $10 million, had grown to over $100 million by 2007. This year, the contract was not renewed. Satyam has declined to comment.
It is still not known how much information was stolen. But sources inside the bank confirm that servers in the institution’s highly restricted treasury unit were deeply penetrated with spy software last April. Invaders also had full access to the rest of the bank’s network for nearly a month in June and July.
One World Bank director told FOX News that as many as 40 servers have been penetrated, including one that held contract-procurement data. It took ten days for bank officials to detect that they’d been invaded. Once they did, they shut down all external servers, except for e-mail, which it turns out the invaders were already using as their entrance point.

Panasonic to buy Sanyo in $9 billion deal

TOKYO (AP) — Panasonic has begun a 800 billion yen ($9 billion) takeover of Japanese rival Sanyo, hoping that transforming into one of the world's biggest electronics companies will help it weather the toughest business conditions in a century.
Top shareholders, including Goldman Sachs, had been haggling over the price with Panasonic Corp. since it expressed interest in Sanyo last month, but Friday revealed they'd settled on a tender offer price of 131 yen ($1.47) a share.
The deal would also allow Panasonic, which makes Viera TVs and Diga Blu-ray disc players, to take advantage of struggling Sanyo's green businesses in solar panels and rechargeable batteries.
Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo said that taking over Sanyo will provide an opportunity for his company to become more competitive to ride out the worsening global downturn.
"The alliance with Sanyo will provide an engine for growth for us," he said at a news conference in Osaka, central Japan, shown via satellite in Tokyo.
Sanyo President Seiichiro Sano told reporters that the deal "is opening a way to fight these tough times that come only once in a 100 years."
Daiwa spokesman Kenichi Kanda said the company viewed the bid favorably, welcoming the Panasonic-Sanyo alliance "as boosting the companies' value and being positive for the Japanese economy."
Sumitomo Mitsui also said it was moving toward accepting it, evaluating the planned alliance as a good one.
Sanyo shares dipped 3.6 percent to 136 yen ($1.50) while Panasonic shares gained 2.9 percent 1,051 yen ($11.8). The companies announced the tender plans shortly after trading ended in Tokyo.
Associated Press writers Shino Yuasa and Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.

Microsoft Improves IE8 for Disabled Users & GOOGLE CHROME exists BETA officially

Microsoft will add features to the next version of Internet Explorer to make it more accessible to disabled users of the Web, the company said Thursday.A post on the IEBlog by Accessibility Program Manager JP Gonzalez-Castellan highlights several user-interface features that should improve the accessibility of IE8, among them Caret Browsing, Adaptive Zoom and High DPI (Dots Per Inch).The features will improve the browser's usability for everyone, not just disabled people, he wrote. He drew a parallel with the ramps added to public places for people in wheelchairs who can't get up stairs, something required by the Americans with Disabilities Act."Airports soon noticed that mothers with baby strollers and passengers with rolling suitcases were using the ramps too, since it was easier than picking up a stroller or a suitcase over the ledge," he wrote. "In much the same way, when you make software more accessible, everybody wins."Caret Browsing will benefit both low-mobility Web users and those who are visually impaired, according to Gonzalez-Castellan. These people may prefer to use a keyboard or a device that interacts with a keyboard rather than a mouse to navigate Web pages.Caret Browsing allows users to navigate a Web page using a moveable cursor on the screen and the keyboard. They'll be able to select and copy text, tables or images using only the keyboard.Adaptive Zoom is also aimed at low-mobility and visually impaired users. It scales elements of a Web page before the page is laid out in the screen, which is different from the zoom function in IE7. IE7 magnifies Web pages, scaling elements post-layout and then redrawing them on the screen. But that means users often have to scroll horizontally as well as vertically to view the full enlarged page.By scaling elements pre-layout, IE8 will redraw the page and adjust the content to avoid displaying horizontal scroll bars, Gonzalez-Castellan wrote. This makes it easier to browse zoomed pages because a user only has to scroll up and down, and not left and right. An example of what this looks like is available on another IEBlog post.High DPI is also a revision of an existing IE7 feature. DPI, or dots per inch, is a measure of how dense are the individual droplets of ink -- or pixels on a computer display -- that make up an image.In IE7, the ability to zoom content on a Web page did not match the DPI Scaling settings in Windows, which allow for images to be viewed at a larger setting than do the browser zoom settings. IE8 will automatically match the DPI Scaling settings, resulting in improved image scaling on Web pages.Microsoft expects to ship the final version of IE8 early next year. It recently sent an update of the current test build to select beta testers and expects to release one more public test version of IE8 before its final release.
Google has officially announced that its Chrome browser is no longer a beta version and made a full version of the product available for download.An update completed Thursday -- the program's 15th since its inception in early September -- is now available without a beta label attached. The news follows speculation started by an interview with a company executive just one day ago."We have removed the beta label as our goals for stability and performance have been met, but our work is far from done," an announcement by Product Management VP Sundar Pichai and Engineering Director Linus Upson states.The update will be automatically installed within the next few days for current Chrome users.
Ref : PC world, Dec-2008.

Mumbai terrorist attacks don't deter technology companies

Terrorist attacks late Wednesday in Mumbai are unlikely to make multinational technology companies change their strategies for India.

The attack in Mumbai is the latest in a string of terrorist attacks across the country, including a number of attacks earlier in Mumbai.

The attacks late Wednesday by terrorists using guns and grenades in Mumbai did however appear different than previous ones, because it targeted top five-star hotels in Mumbai's business district. About 100 are feared dead in the shootouts, which still continue as police battle the armed terrorists. Some foreign residents at the hotel are being held hostage by the terrorists. 

"It is sad that this has happened, but we are confident that India will bounce back to normalcy," said Vidya Natampally, director of strategy at Microsoft Research India. 

The terrorist attacks will not change Microsoft Research's plans in India. " We are committed to staying on in India," Natampally added.

Dell has issued a travel advisory to its staff, advising caution and due diligence when traveling to India, said a spokeswoman for the company. "That is the only measure we have taken," she added.

A large number of technology companies including Oracle, Microsoft, and Dell run large software development and call center operations in India. But ever since the threat of terrorism increased since last year, these companies have tightened on security at their facilities.

"For a long time now, we have tightened on security at all our facilities," the Dell spokeswoman said.

Indian outsourcing companies and Indian operations of multinational technology companies were not affected by the attacks, though the disruption of train service in Mumbai on Thursday could affect the movement of staff.

The Bombay Stock Exchange in south Mumbai has shut down on Thursday. The state government has ordered schools and colleges closed Thursday.

Ref : PC World , november - 2008.