India's Largest Social Network SMS GupShup Expands Leadership Team, Adds New Locations, Multiplies Reach

India’s largest social network and group messaging provider, SMS GupShup, announces the addition of two senior executives: Ravi Sundararajan as vice president of marketing, and Samir Parekh as vice president of human resources. The two bring four decades of marketing, sales and human resource experience, as well as expertise in product management and training. The company has met its goal to double headcount for 2011, with over one-hundred new employees company-wide. SMS GupShup has also opened five new offices across India in order to meet demand from its advertiser and user base.



SMS GupShup now has over 50 million users, outpacing both Twitter and Facebook in India. To meet the demands of its growing audience, GupShup has doubled its in-house staff this year, going from 100 employees in 2010 to 200 this year. The majority of SMS GupShup employees come from premium engineering and business institutes like IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) and IIM (Indian Institute of Management) and bring strong domain knowledge and experience.


As the company’s new vice president of marketing, Ravi Sundararajan brings over twenty years of experience in product management, development, sales and marketing to his new position at SMS GupShup. Sundararajan has entrepreneurial and blue chip business experience across his previous roles as an executive at Symantec, CEO at Cloud Services Start up, GM at Akamai, VP at Palm and Engagement Manager at McKinsey and Company. Sundararajan, an engineer by trade, earned his M.B.A at Harvard University. He will lead the company’s global marketing efforts including product, solution, channel and consumer marketing, branding, corporate communications and operations. Sundararajan is routinely invited to speak at industry/ media events.


“GupShup is transforming India in ways only dreamed about before, and I’m excited to connect our social media innovations with businesses and consumers around the world,” said Sundararajan


Samir Parekh is a chartered accountant by trade and also ran his own mutual fund distribution company, which he sold. He then became a full time trainer at Kotak Life Insurance. He has been a HR consultant since then, serving several clients before joining GupShup. In his new role as vice president of HR, Parekh will be responsible for growing and retaining the ace team at SMS GupShup (what is the ‘ace team’? pls add sentence to clarify).

Parekh looks forward to the possibilities for growth at SMS GupShup and said, “Great organizations are defined by great people. It’s my job to find them. As our user base grows, we must meet the demand with brilliant and passionate minds.”


SMS GupShup also announces the opening of seven new offices across India in order to meet demand from its advertiser and user base. SMS GupShup previously had five offices in India; the addition of seven new offices gives the company more equal distribution throughout all regions of India. The new locations are: Kochi, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, and Jaipur. The company already had offices in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai, with headquarters in Mumbai.


“We have some of the best talent in the industry. Adding Ravi and Samir takes that to the next level and help us achieve our vision for everyone to be able to ‘GupShup’ – which means ‘chit chat’ in Hindi – on any mobile phone, even if they’re hundreds or thousands of miles away from each other. With these new hires, ‘GupShup’ is well on the road to becoming as common a word in English as yoga or kama sutra,” says SMS GupShup co-founder and CEO Beerud Sheth.

To learn more about SMS GupShup, please visit www.smsgupshup.com


About SMS Gupshup

SMS GupShup was created with the vision to create group messaging for all. The SMS GupShup platform enables the creation of large Mobile Communities and Reply-All Chat, a revolutionary product that allows people to use SMS for communication in smaller groups.

Launched in April 2007, SMS GupShup is a lifeline that connects 50 million Asians via mobile device. The network is a combination of nearly 5 million communities that share content on topics such as finance, entertainment, lifestyle, health, sports and technology. Founded by seasoned Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and incubated at the IIT Bombay Business Incubator, the company is funded by Charles River Ventures, Helion Ventures and Globespan Capital.

For more details visit http://www.smsgupshup.com/

Syenergy Environics co-sponsors PanIIT 2011 Global Conference

Syenergy Environics Ltd, a leading Radiation Management and Solutions Company in India, is co-sponsoring Pan IIT Global Conference happening in New York, Hilton Hotel, starting from September 30- October 2, 2011. Pan IIT is an annual event which brings together the most recognizable symbols of “India's intellectual excellence, achievement and leadership: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) system”, along with other world thought leaders and doers.


The theme of 2011 conference is “Solutions for a Better World” by launching the program ‘WHEEL’ encircling innovative solutions to common problems in six areas: Water; Healthcare; Energy; Education; Lifestyle; Security.

Mr. Ajay Poddar, Managing Director, Syenergy Environics, says “Syenergy Environics is proud to be associated with this signature event where such a galaxy of people will congregate. We are presenting ‘Envirochip’ which provides Radiation Protection from Mobile phones to each delegate. I am happy that, being an IITian, my research and product will help my fellow IITian’s.

With an idea of “IIT Alumni Make a Better World“, the conference will bring together a varied group of remarkable group of individuals inclusive of industry leaders, politicians, bureaucrats, corporate and government bodies from US and India to provide the insight analysis of the present economic developments and trends in both the regions.

PanIIT had renowned people like Bill Gates of Microsoft, former President of US, Bill Clinton, K.V. Kamath of ICICI Bank are few of the names who had been the speakers in this global conference. This year the Plenary Session speakers include Sen. Chuck Schumer, Charles Kaye (Warburg Pincus), Theodore Roosevelt IV (Barclays), Brian Bolster (Goldman), and many more.

The United States and India are on a path of major collaboration in many areas, and IITians are an integral part of these initiatives. In the spirit of cooperation and teamwork, at the 2011 Global PanIIT Alumni Conferences will kickoff a thought leadership program, WHEELS (www.wheelsiit.org). The mission of WHEELS is the creation of innovative ventures global benefit of society by bringing together human capital and other necessary resources for innovative solutions to common problems in people’s lifestyle.

For more information, visit http://www.cvent.com/events/2011-global-conference/event-summary-2bee770354434fae85a90e8ac50891e0.aspx


About Syenergy Environics Ltd.

Syenergy Environics Ltd is a leading radiation management and solutions company in India. Incorporated in the year 2007, the company renders a service called “ENVIRONICS”, which analyzes and corrects environmental and building Material radiations, Geopathic Stresses (negative radiations from the Earth) and Electromagnetic radiations in built spaces - residential, commercial and industrial.



More than 1000 Establishments have benefitted from Environics. These include PSU Refineries, Steel Plants’s, Institutions, Hospitals, Hotels, MNC’s, Real Estate developments, Media offices, Banks, and Industries. Their landmark projects include Hyderabad International Airport and Green Spaces- the largest Green Building Development in the world. Clients include IOC, HOC, BPC, GAIL, ICICI Bank, Indian Express, Zee Network, SAIL, GMR, Emami, Piramal Group, etc

New portfolio of Xerox color printers and multi-function devices give

Xerox India, a part of Xerox Corporation, world's leading enterprise for business process and document management launched a new range of entry level to mid segment A4 print devices in color to help small and medium businesses (SMBs) create professional-looking documents in house without busting budgets, that deliver high-quality color in a compact package. This new range of printers from Xerox comes in a small form factor and offering simplicity and dependability especially when office space is at a premium for individual users and small work teams.


Commenting on the launch of the new range of single function and multi-function devices in color, Konstantin Klein, MD, Xerox India said, “Economies and Businesses worldwide is in the process of consolidation and are looking to do more with less. This is where these new devices fit in; they help reduce costs with extended capacity cartridges, their small size and light weight makes them easy to ship, relocate and manage in a small workspace with the benefit to workforce working remotely. Additionally, these new color products give SMBs an affordable and easy way to create the same impactful color documents as larger enterprises.”


He also added, “Rapid growth in key developing markets is occurring as IT trends are largely being driven by consumer and SMB segment, which is still largely underpenetrated. Also driving opportunity is the emerging middle class and growing government infrastructure, which is expected to be one of the largest growth segments in developing markets and in India. Therefore a significant opportunity exists for Xerox to sell into small medium to larger enterprise as IT products and solutions extend beyond professional to home environments. ”

The 20PPM Xerox Phaser 3010 is a new monochrome printer to the current product portfolio establishing a new bottom end to the black and white A4 printer product line. The Xerox Phaser 3040 is 20% faster at 24PPM and print speed compared to its earlier predecessor. The WorkCenter 3045 offers MFP functionality at the 24PPM speed and includes more robust connectivity and security features. These products are among the smallest printing devices available in the market and can fit anywhere they are needed. Fewer moving parts, a result of the Q-LED technology, increase the dependability of the range and Xerox EA toner technology ensures professional printed output. Having only one common consumable ensures that these products are easy to manage in the office environment with multiple devices. The up front location eases access to toner cartridges are and along with the no-mess design they’re easy to replace when needed.


Xerox Phaser 6000 and Xerox Phaser 6010 color printers prints speeds as fast as 10 and 12 pages per minute (ppm) for color and 12 and 15 ppm for black and white. These are two of the smallest and lightest color printers on the market, making it a great fit for space-constrained small and home offices. The plug-and-play setup and can handle a variety of custom media and sizes, from labels and card stock to envelopes.


All the above products are ENERGY STAR® qualified and backed by the Xerox Total Satisfaction Guarantee. For five consecutive years, Xerox has been recognized by J.D. Power and Associates for providing “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience” in Technology Service and Support worldwide.


About Xerox India


Xerox India Limited is a part of Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX), world's leading document management technology and services enterprise. Xerox India offers an array of innovative document solutions, services and systems. Digital systems include color and black-and-white printing and publishing systems, digital presses and multifunction devices, laser and solid ink network printers, copiers and fax machines. Xerox's services expertise is unmatched and includes helping businesses develop online document archives, analyzing how employees can most efficiently share documents and knowledge in the office, operating in-house print shops or mailrooms, and building Web-based processes for personalizing direct mail, invoices, brochures and more. Xerox also offers associated software, support and supplies such as toner, paper and ink. The company's operations are guided by customer-focused and employee-centred core values -- such as environmental sustainability, citizenship, diversity and quality -- augmented by a passion for innovation, speed and adaptability.


About Xerox



Xerox Corporation is a $22 billion leading global enterprise for business process and document management. Through its broad portfolio of technology and services, Xerox provides the essential back-office support that clears the way for clients to focus on what they do best: their real business. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., Xerox provides leading-edge document technology, services, software and genuine Xerox supplies for graphic communication and office printing environments of any size. Through ACS, A Xerox Company, which Xerox acquired in February 2010, Xerox also offers extensive business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing services, including data processing, HR benefits management, finance support, and customer relationship management services for commercial and government organizations worldwide. The 136,000 people of Xerox serve clients in more than 160 countries. For more information, visit http://www.xerox.com, http://news.xerox.com, http://www.realbusiness.com or http://www.acs-inc.com. For investor information, visit http://www.xerox.com/investor.

NEW IEEE 2030TM STANDARD ESTABLISHES GLOBALLY RELEVANT

The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) has achieved an important milestone with the approval of the IEEE 2030TM – IEEE Guide for Smart Grid Interoperability of Energy Technology and Information Technology Operation with the Electric Power System (EPS), End-Use Applications, and Loads – during the IEEE-SA Standards Board meeting in September. IEEE 2030 establishes a globally relevant Smart Grid interoperability reference model and knowledge base that can be used by utilities who are developing their infrastructure roadmaps, by manufacturers who are planning Smart Grid systems and applications, by scientists who are conducting research, by governments who are crafting regulations and by standards-development organizations (SDOs) who are writing additional standards for Smart Grid.


The IEEE 2030 Working Group and final balloting process had diverse global representation, with participation from countries all over the world including Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, as well as from North America, Europe and Latin America.


“Volunteers from around the world addressed ways to integrate their respective technologies as well as the technical vocabularies, business cycles and capitalization structures into the framework. The participants in this process successfully avoided the barriers that often result when countries, companies and industries pursue individual and potentially incompatible approaches to technologies that have global relevance,” said Dick DeBlasio, IEEE 2030 Working Group chair, chief engineer at the National Renewable Energy Lab facility of the U.S. Department of Energy and IEEE Smart Grid liaison to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). “The result is the world’s first system-of-systems, foundational standard that has been created from the ground up to inform Smart Grid interconnection and interoperability, and it happened in a rapidly paced, two-year development environment that demanded the integrated contributions of hundreds and hundreds of people from across the Smart Grid’s three primary disciplines: power systems, communications and IT (information technology).”


IEEE 2030 is available for purchase at IEEE Standards Store.

IEEE 2030 provides alternative approaches and best practices for Smart Grid work in India and worldwide, and defines terminology, characteristics, functional performance and evaluation criteria and the application of engineering principles for Smart Grid interoperability of the EPS with end-use applications and loads. Additionally, it defines design tables and the classification of data-flow characteristics necessary for interoperability, with emphasis on functional interface identification, logical connections and data flows, communications and linkages, digital information management, cyber-security and power generation usage.



Work has already commenced on three IEEE 2030 extensions:


* IEEE P2030.1TM–Guide for Electric-Sourced Transportation Infrastructure – is intended to establish guidelines that can be used by utilities, manufacturers, transportation providers, infrastructure developers and end users of electric-sourced vehicles and related support infrastructure in addressing applications for road-based personal and mass transportation.


* IEEE P2030.2TM – Guide for the Interoperability of Energy Storage Systems Integrated with the Electric Power Infrastructure – is intended to help users achieve greater understanding of energy storage systems by defining interoperability characteristics of various system topologies and to illustrate how discrete and hybrid systems may be successfully integrated with and used compatibly as part of the electric power infrastructure.


* IEEE P2030.3TM – Standard for Test Procedures for Electric Energy Storage Equipment and Systems for Electric Power Systems Applications – is intended to establish a standard for test procedures around verifying conformance of storage equipment and systems to storage-interconnection standards.


For additional information about IEEE 2030, IEEE P2030.1, IEEE P2030.2 or IEEEP2030.3,pleasevisit http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/scc21/2030/2030_index.html.



To learn more about IEEE-SA, visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ieeesa, follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ieeesa or connect with us on the Standards Insight Blog at http://www.standardsinsight.com/.


About the IEEE Standards Association:



The IEEE Standards Association, a globally recognized standards-setting body within IEEE, develops consensus standards through an open process that engages industry and brings together a broad stakeholder community. IEEE standards set specifications and best practices based on current scientific and technological knowledge. The IEEE-SA has a portfolio of over 900 active standards and more than 500 standards under development. For more information visit http://standards.ieee.org/.


About IEEE:



IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional association, is dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Learn more at http://www.ieee.org/

‘element14 Features’ brings a comprehensive range of innovative electromechanical products to Asia Pacific

element14 (formerly Farnell), the first electronic component distributor that fuses commerce and community, today announced that the newest edition of the ‘element14 Features’ focuses on a wide range of electromechanical products across three product categories: Switches, Relays and Fuses; Connectors, Cable and Cable accessories; Fans and Enclosures. Maintenance and repair professionals and design engineers will be able to access over 14,000 products and resources related to these three product categories from element14.


element14 offers the latest miniaturisation technology in switch products, which aligns with increasing market demand for miniaturized end user products and applications. element14 also stocks a comprehensive range of the reliable and innovative fuses and relay solutions with next day delivery to most cities in the region from global manufacturers including TE Connectivity, Littelfuse, Omron and Honeywell. In addition, discounts of up to 45 percent will be available for selected products.


Another segment that 'element14 Features' is focusing on is connectivity solutions and engineers can access the widest range of connectors stocked in Asia Pacific as well as 3,000 industrial cables and accessories. Engineers can choose from a wide selection of high performance and cost effective products from leading connectivity specialists such as Bulgin, Belden, HellermannTyton, Phoenix Contact and Pro-Power.


Fans and Enclosures is the third category and element14 offers an encompassing selection of these components from leading suppliers such as Hammond, Multicomp and Fibox. The range of enclosures stocked by element14 is widely used across different industries including telecommunications, medical and instrumentation markets.


Some of the products element14 offers from these three categories include:

· Littelfuse TLS Series: These fuses are designed specifically for the protection of telecommunications equipment and they have been precision engineered to operate up to 170 VDC to provide current-limiting short-circuit protection for cables and components found in the DC power distribution circuits of telecommunications systems. The compact design and multiple mounting configurations of the TLS series allow it to be used in a variety of applications.


· TE Connectivity Flexlite™ Wire offers a high-performance nonflowing insulation suitable for a variety of applications, especially those with occasional high-temperature excursions, such as high-power battery-operated devices or intermittent-duty motors and heating elements.


· Hammond 1550Z Enclosures Series is a range of very economical, diecast aluminium alloy enclosures designed to meet IP66. It is easy to wall mount using the "through box - blind hole" construction and ideal for repetitive opening and closing


“element14 understands design engineers’ need to combine different components seamlessly in order to maximise the functionality of their designs. With a booming manufacturing sector in Asia, the demand for increasingly sophisticated and integrated products continues to grow. That is why we are featuring three different product categories this month from which engineers will be able to select compatible components across different product families to create solutions more efficiently,” said Marc Grange, Head of Product Management, element14, Asia Pacific.


Within the ‘element14 Features’ section, users will be able to retrieve useful technical information on the latest electromechanical components and solutions; the information enables engineers to better understand and maximise the usability and integration of various components into increasingly complex designs. Users also benefit from element14’s platform as they can compare detailed specifications across the different product categories and determine compatible products for their designs.


For more information about ‘element14 Features’, please visit http://in.element14.com/features

About element14


element14 offers 130,000 products, for next-day delivery in most cities in Asia Pacific from its three distribution hubs located in Shanghai, Singapore and Sydney. The company offers 24/7 telephone support for customers, 24/5 online technical support and catalogue sales, with a hassle-free return policy.


In India, please visit http://in.element14.com/. This eCommerce site is integrated with the Group’s global online Community portal (www.element14.com).



Worldwide, element14 is the first collaborative community, research portal and eCommerce website for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts. The website provides product data, design tools, technology information and top brand components to seamlessly facilitate the design process; users can consult industry experts and collaborate with peers around the globe. element14 online Community is sponsored by Premier Farnell plc (LSE: pfl).


About Premier Farnell

Premier Farnell plc is leading the way in the high service, multi-channel provision of essential products, information, software and technology solutions to electronic design engineers, maintenance and repair engineers and purchasing professionals globally. Its differentiated proposition includes 29 local language transactional websites, and the critically important element14 ecommunity for design engineers - an industry first (www.element14.com). With sales last year of £990.8m and underlying profits of £93.3m the Group distributes its comprehensive portfolio of products and services throughout Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, supported by a global supply chain of over 3,500 suppliers and an inventory profile developed to anticipate and meet its customers’ needs. Recently awarded Platinum status by the Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index the business takes its CSR commitments very seriously.


While global in scope, Premier Farnell recognises the individual needs of each market and has continued to internationalise its model accordingly, trading locally under different brand names. Its primary electronics businesses trade as Farnell in Europe, Newark in the US, Canada and Mexico and Farnell Newark in Brazil. Across Asia Pacific the business trades as element14.







Key facts



* Operations in 35 countries

* 4,100 employees

* Over 2 million customer contacts in 156 industries

* Over 3,500 leading suppliers

* Over 400,000 products stocked with access to over four million more on demand

* Global leader in legislation RoHS, WEEE, REACH


For more information, please visit http://www.premierfarnell.com/



About Hammond Manufacturing Company Limited

Hammond Manufacturing Company Limited manufactures a broad range of products for the electronic and electrical products industry, including metallic and non-metallic enclosures, racks, small cases, outlet strips, surge suppressors and electronic transformers.


About Littelfuse

Littelfuse is the worldwide leader in circuit protection, offering the industry’s broadest and deepest portfolio of circuit protection products and solutions. Backed by industry-leading technical support, design and manufacturing expertise, Littelfuse products are vital components in virtually every product that uses electrical energy, including portable and consumer electronics, automobiles, industrial equipment and telecom/datacom circuits. In addition to its Chicago, Illinois, world headquarters, Littelfuse has over 20 sales, distribution, manufacturing and engineering facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Technologies offered by Littelfuse include Fuses; Gas Discharge Tubes (GDTs); Positive Temperature Coefficient Devices (PTCs); Protection Relays; PulseGuard® ESD Suppressors; SIDACtor® Devices; Silicon Protection Arrays(SPA™); Switching Thyristors; TVS Diodes and Varistors.

For more information, please visit the Littelfuse website at www.littelfuse.com.


About TE Connectivity



TE Connectivity is a global, $12.1 billion company that designs and manufactures over 500,000 products that connect and protect the flow of power and data inside the products that touch every aspect of daily lives. TC’s nearly 100,000 employees partner with customers in virtually every industry - from consumer electronics, energy and healthcare, to automotive, aerospace and communication networks - enabling smarter, faster, better technologies to connect products to possibilities.

For more information, please visit the TE Connectivity website at http://www.te.com.

Infotech partners with SEI to assess the Smart Grid Maturity level of Utilities

Infotech Enterprises, a leading engineering solutions provider announced its partnership with Software Engineering Institute (SEI), a US federal government funded research and development center headquartered in the renowned Carnegie Mellon University in the US. Under this partnership Infotech will help Utilities across the world in making an assessment of their Smart Grid maturity level. This partnership will expand Infotech’s existing capability to help Utilities evolve a Smart Grid roadmap and support the implementation of enabling solutions.


The Smart Grid Maturity Model (SGMM) evolved by SEI helps Utilities objectively assess their state of Smart Grid readiness by arriving at a score through a series of workshops and audits conducted by trained navigators. Subsequently, Utilities go through a process of reengineering their business processes, upgrade and modify their Information Technology and Operational Technology (OT) systems and align data supporting these systems. Infotech’s SEI trained and certified navigators located across the world will provide holistic services to the Utilities not only in evaluating their maturity but also to help them implement Smart Grid solutions. This partnership coupled with Infotech’s deep domain knowledge, expertise in working with IT and OT systems and SEI-trained navigators will be able to help Utilities across the globe to undertake their Smart Grid journey realistically and with more confidence.


Commenting on this partnership, John Renard, President - N&CE, Infotech Enterprises Limited said “For over two decades we have been providing award winning geospatial services to Utilities across the globe to manage their infrastructure and distribution operations. We see this as an important step in expanding our Smart Grid services. This partnership with SEI will help us participate in defining the Smart Grid roadmap for Utilities and in becoming a key partner in the roll-out”.


Vidyalankar Nidamarthy, Vice President & Business Head – Utilities, Infotech Enterprises Limited said, “With the ability to provide Distribution Management services, electronic design and leveraging our successful geospatial background, we are ideally positioned to evaluate and implement Smart Grid solutions and offer end to end services to Utilities, Product vendors and System integrators”.

About Software Engineering Institute (SEI):


SEI is a US federal government funded research and development center headquartered on the campus of the world-renowned Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. SEI also has offices in Arlington, Virginia, and Frankfurt, Germany. SEI operates with major funding from the US Department of Defense. SEI works closely with defense and government organizations, industry, and academia to continually improve software-intensive systems. SEI works to help organizations to improve their software engineering capabilities and to develop or acquire the right, defect-free software within budget and on time, every time. SEI is considered to be at the forefront of an industry-wide Smart Grid initiative towards achieving a reliable and secure energy supply.


About Infotech Enterprises Limited

Established in 1991, we are a leading Global Engineering services company. We provide services to a wide range of industries - Aerospace, Rail, Automotive, Marine, Energy, Oil & Gas, Plant Engineering, Consumer Electronics, Medical Electronics, Semiconductor, Telecom (Manufacturers) Computing industries, Utilities, Telecom (operators) and Government. Infotech has a distinctive business model: “Global Delivery and Collaborative Engineering”. We operate “Centres of Excellence” for leaders in key industries. We combine the extensive engineering design and solutions capability based in India with global delivery through our offices worldwide providing local customer interface and project management.



Our cutting edge is our industry specific domain expertise, people and processes, technologies, tools and training. We draw on this strong foundation to create measurable business impact for customers around the world, resulting in long-term relationships with several of the most recognized names in their respective industries. Many of these are among the fortune 500 companies.



Our processes are aligned with practices of ISO 9001:2008, ISO 27001:2005, AS 9100C, IRIS, ISO 13485 quality standards and CMMi Level 5 framework.



We are a (INFOTECENT in BSE – Bombay Stock Exchange and in NSE – National Stock Exchange) listed company with equity participation from globally reputed investors. For more information, please visit www.infotech-enterprises.com

BGS Global Hospitals announced Deep Brain Stimulation treatment for movement disorders caused by bullet injury to 19 year old Iraqi patient

BGS Global Hospitals successfully performed a minimally invasive, reversible and adjustable surgery - Deep Brain Stimulation for dystonia (a movement disorder) in a 19 year old patient from Iraq, 17 years after he received a gunshot injury in his head.


The case

Bavel Fatih Mohammed, now 19 years hailing from As- Sulaymaniyah, Northern Iraq, suffered a gunshot injury in the head when he was two year old child.

The bullet pierced through the top left side of the head, and passed through the brain - the frontal cortex, thalamus – aqueduct – and came out from the right side of the back of the neck. He was then hospitalised for over two years in a local hospital and during this period he was comatose for around 7 months. Since then he has been left with significant disability affecting his activities of daily living especially the walking.

His condition when he arrived at BGS Global Hospitals

Bavel arrived at BGS Global Hospitals, Bangalore, 17 years after being injured by the bullet in his head.

He was noticed to have abnormal posturing of the body especially of the right upper and lower limb, his hand was bent backward, leg flexed and moved backward. He was walking mostly on the toes with the right foot and legs were crossing over each other affecting his body balance further.

In addition he was in pain due to spasms while walking and could take only a few steps with lot of difficulty. The movement of his right hand also further interfered with the use of left hand including eating. He could not use the right hand at all for any meaningful activity. He also had difficulty in opening both eyes.

Deep Brain Stimulation performed on patient

Bavel was diagnosed to be suffering from a movement disorder termed Seconday dystonia (Right hemidystonia). Dr. L. K. Prashanth, Consultant Neurologist and Movement Disorders Specialist, BGS Global Hospitals elaborated, “Deep Brain Stimulation technique performed for Bavel lasted over 8 hours and involved the following steps:

1. A stereotactic frame was fixed to the patient’s head under local anaesthesia.

2. A specific part of the brain called Globus Pallidum was identified using CT and MRI. Using the frame fixed on the patient the neurosurgeon can determine X, Y, Z coordinates and hence pinpoint the exact location in the brain for electrode implanting by using a special software.

3. A small burr hole about one inch in diameter was made on the left side of the head and through this the DBS electrode was implanted in the left Globus pallidum interna after confirming the same through electrophysiological recordings. A test stimulation was performed in the operation theatre to ascertain that this is the best site.

4. A special DBS battery (impulse generator) was implanted in a pocket created below the collar bone. The battery was connected to the electrode on the brain by a connecting wire which was tunnelled underneath the skin. This procedure of connecting the battery is done under General anaesthesia as against the electrode implantation which is done under local anaesthesia.

Post operative Programming

The battery is used to stimulate the region of interest in the brain with different electrical voltages to get best clinical benefit. It is controlled through a hand held programmer. This programmer communicates with the battery to manage voltage and battery pulse width and frequency.

Dr. L. K. Prashanth added, “The electrode has 4 points to discharge current. With programming we identify the best contact to have good clinical benefits. The patient will be followed up regularly over the next 6 weeks and with periodic programming the final parameters will be fixed. In Bavel’s case we have done about 70 % of the programming already.”

Deep Brain Stimulation in this case - A difficult procedure

Dr. N. K. Venkataramana, Chief Neurosurgeon BGS Global Hospitals said, “The case is very challenging and difficult. We are treating the patient 17 years after brain injury and the cause of dystonia arising out of gunshot injury to the brain such as in this case is very rare in the world. Deep Brain Stimulation treatment is a challenging and time consuming procedure because we need to ascertain the exact position of the electrode through micro electrode recording of the brain. This treatment was however opted over an open surgery to avoid the risk of increased damage to the brain. It makes no lesion in the brain, it is a minimally invasive surgery that is reversible, adjustable and programmable to individual requirements.”

Condition of Bavel now after the treatment

Dr. N. K. Venkataramana elaborated on Bavel’s condition, “The improvement in Bavel’s condition is now about 40 % in just twenty days after treatment. With complete programming and accrued benefits over time we expected him to achieve over 90% recovery.

• His gait has improved

• Standing ability improved. He can stand straight and firmly plant his right foot on the ground

• He has better balance

• He can walk comfortably. (He went for a two hour walk for the first time in his life a few days back)

• He can climb up and down stairs

• The right hand has become straighter, the odd backward movement being nearly corrected.

• He can open his eyes better.

Bavel has a double vision when he opens his eyes fully. A corrective surgery required for this will be performed at a later date.”

(He was in the hospital for 20 days and was discharged on 19th Sep 2011. The surgery was performed on 5th Sept 2011).

More about Dystonia

Dystonia is diverse movement disorder characterized by abnormal, involuntary muscle contractions, causing twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. Dystonia is thought to occur due to disorganization in certain areas of brain (e.g., Basal ganglia) that is responsible for normal body movements. Abnormal signals are sent from the brain to the muscles, which cause simultaneous contractions of several muscles. When this happens it leads to abnormal and sometimes painful posturing of body parts. The primary dystonia’s (genetically determined) frequency varies from 0.7 to 50 per 100,000 people. It is also common in communities where marriages occur in blood relations.

BGS Global Hospitals – Centre for Stereotaxy and Movement Disorders

Advanced Neuroscience Institute, BGS Global Hospitals has a Centre for Stereotaxy and Movement Disorders which offers a complete range of minimally invasive procedures. Stereotaxy is a specialised surgical technique to reach the deep seated areas of the brain with precision.

This offers both diagnostic and therapeutic options for brain tumours, cysts, blood clots, Parkinsons Disease, termers, pain and intractable epilepsy. The hospital arranges a special clinic every Friday to evaluate and provide comprehensive treatment for these patients.

BGS Global Hospitals is located at 67, Uttarajalli Road, Kengeri, Bangalore.

Capillary Technologies launches TruTouch

TruTouch is one of Capillary’s unique offerings in the customer engagement solutions space – TruTouch provides customized solutions for SME retailers through an easy-to-use, self-serve-style product. Designed specifically with keeping challenges and requirements of SME retailers in mind, TruTouch allows retailers to engage their customers in a convenient cardless and paperless program. This cost effective model requires no capital expenditure and operates on Capillary’s patent-pending cloud + mobile platform; thus, helping retailer’s increase their business whilst keeping the operating costs at minimum.


Using TruTouch a retailer can delights patrons at every step of the way - from registration to rewards. The new customer enrolment can be done in less than 10 seconds without filling up a form, encouraging more registrations. The superior technological prowess demonstrated via TruTouch’s key USPs of running real-time and providing instant analytics on every purchase made within seconds. The Dynamic Instant Vouchering system also allows the retailer to gratify the customer instantly with mobile vouchers for gifts and discounts which they can make use of, which they can utilize.

TruTouch is equipped to analyse and classify the customer base into various pools based on factors like gender, frequency of visits, average bill value, purchase patterns etc., thus enabling the retailer to target the right customer profile for their promotional activities. As a result, the customer’s engagement activities are more focused, therefore increasing customer delight.

Capillary’s continuous monitoring and training of store managers and cashiers is an added USP and ensures high usage and better Return on Investment (RoI) from the first month of implementation; showing a visible increase in redemption rate (10 – 12% increase) as opposed to other programs that take close to 2 years to realize. Moreover, the retailer can track the actual RoI for every customer interaction through the online platform which has been proven to be extremely beneficial in creating future campaigns.

Today, TruTouch is running successfully in more than 100 stores across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, with noted brands in the segment such as Prestige The Man Store, Saboo Silks, Smart Line and Blush.

eBay Census 2011 Bengaluru races to India’s Third Largest eCommerce Hub

eBay India (http://www.ebay.in/), India’s leading eCommerce marketplace, revealed that Bengaluru was the third largest eCommerce Hub in the country, according to the eBay India Census 2011. Ms. Deepa Thomas, Head – Partnerships & Pop Culture, eBay India, today unveiled the 4th edition of the annual eBay Census Guide which documents the key trends in online buying, importing, selling & exporting across Indians in the Top 20 eCommerce Hubs, 28 states and 7 Union Territories. eBay Census also revealed export trends to 189 countries as well as import trends from 120 countries.


India’s Top 5 eCommerce Hubs are Delhi, closely followed by Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur & Chennai. According to the eBay India Census, Ms. Thomas revealed:

· Online Shopping is mainstream & a nationwide phenomenon: India had over 3,311 eCommerce Hubs from all 28 States and 7 Union Territories. The Top 5 States with the most transactions were Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh.



· Consumers & Entrepreneurs from Rural India are increasingly plugged into eCommerce: Over 1,267 Rural Hubs are transacting online with 1 out of every 10 purchases from Rural India as well as 1 out of every 20 sales from Rural India.



· Metros (India) have a dominant share of purchases, with Tier 2 & 3 cities (Bharat) catching up fast: Metros (India) contributes 51% of all eCommerce Transactions while Tier 2&3 Cities (Bharat) contribute about 40% of transactions & Rural India contributing to 9% of transactions.



· Online Indians are brand savvy: eBay Census Top 5 Brand Rankings revealed Sony as the largest brand on eBay followed by Nokia, Samsung, Apple & Reebok.



· Women Shoppers are increasingly addicted to shopping online: Women shoppers are buying cosmetics, jewellery, watches, fashion & fitness equipment online. Over 45% of all purchases are in the Lifestyle category.



· Electronic gadgets continue to rule the online shopper’s wallet: Gadgets continue to be the most popular choice & contribute to 50% of all purchases.



· Indian Retail Exports accelerating rapidly & export to 189 countries worldwide: Indian entrepreneurs export a variety of products to millions of eBayers in 189 countries around the globe. The Top 5 Countries Indians export to are United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada & Germany.


The eBay Census 2011 also revealed many interesting trends about the online shopping habits of Bengaluru residents including:

#1. Tech Savvy Residents: Technology products had the highest domestic transactions (54%) and were the most popular Imports (80%)


#2. Webcam Connect: India’s IT Hub, Bengaluru, aces global networking with the most webcam imports.

#3. Helmet Power: Bengaluru sets standards for road safety for the country, selling the most helmets & visors.


#4. Health Check: Bengaluru residents monitor their health, buying the most blood pressure & diabetes monitors.

#5. Music Lovers: Bengaluru delights music fans around the world, with the most LP Record exports.


Bengaluru’s Top 5 Bought & Sold

· Top 5 Bought: Republic of India Notes, Earphones, Food Storage Containers, Batteries, Metal Rimmed Sunglasses

· Top 5 Imports: Headsets, Laptops, Digital Cameras, Men's Fragrances, Dietary Supplements


· Top 5 Sold: Indian Miniature Sheets, Metal Strap Wrist Watches, Men's Wallets, Car Perfumes, Helmets


· Top 5 Exports: LP Records, Knitting Kits, Vintage Vacuum Tubes, Face Masks, Bracelets


· Top 5 Brands: Nokia, Apple, Seagate, Samsung, Casio

For your own free copy of the eBay Census Guide with more India facts, please log onto www.eBay.in/census

Methodology

eBay Census 2011 research findings were based on an analysis of all online buying and selling transactions by Indians on eBay between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. eBay India analysed eBay transactions over a year within the individual Indian States & Union Territories as well as the key Indian cities to identify the top Buying and Selling Hubs based on the number of transactions that have happened on the eBay India site. In addition, retail export transactions & retail import transactions between global eBayers and Indian eBayers were analysed. Interesting fun facts, unique purchases, local, national and global trends all come to light in eBay India Census 2011.



About eBay India

eBay India (www.eBay.in), India’s leading eCommerce marketplace, is India’s No. 1 online shopping destination where thousands of Indian entrepreneurs list a wide range of products across Electronics, Lifestyle, Collectibles and Media categories. eBay India is a 100% subsidiary of eBay Inc.

CGI India puts its best shoe forward! - CGI conducts Walk Around the World, an Annual Global Health and Wellness initiative

CGI Group Inc. (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A), a leading provider of information technology and business process services, today organized its fourth edition of the Annual Walk Around the World (www.cgiwalkaroundtheworld.com) initiative focused on global health and well-being of its members (employees).


Walk Around the World is a part of Global Health and Wellness initiative that brings thousands of members from around the world participating in a short walk before or after working hours, or during their lunch break. Members all across CGI locations in the world walk for a distance of 4 kilometers at their respective locations with the total distance adding up to symbolize ‘Walking Around the World’.


“Our members are the heart and soul of our company and they drive our CSR efforts. In turn, we at CGI care about our members and invest in them with workplace programs to support their wellness, promote healthy lifestyles and create positive work environments where each member can perform to his or her full potential,” says Chandramouli S, Senior Vice President and BU Head for CGI India. “Walk Around the World initiative gives us an opportunity to spend some time with your colleagues and recharge together”, Chandramouli further adds.


“Nothing is more important to the success of our company than the health and well-being of each one of our members,” says Pradipta Banerjee, Vice President, Human Resources. “CGI with 31,000 members across 100+ offices has conducted several health events. Few of the India based recent events include Eye Screening and Eye Pledge, Blood Donation Camp, Dental Check-ups, Low-Calorie Recipe Competition, Ergonomics etc to name a few – led and executed by our members. Investing in our members and our communities has always been a core CGI value. We know from experience that serving locally, benefits all of us globally,” adds Pradipta.


This year, CGI India saw a whopping 2,750 members participate in the walk across its Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore offices. With the idea to promote wellness as the cornerstone of a healthy workplace for employees, this event aims at a wellness mission. CGI puts an effort to establish a work environment that promotes healthy lifestyles and decrease the risk of disease. Extending the thought of corporate social responsibility, Walk Around the World also had a handicraft stall through an NGO, selling their merchandise and all proceeds to charity. The event was an effort to engage people to take on their own health challenge with the participation in the event as a beginning.


About CGI

Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is one of the largest independent information technology and business process services firms in the world. CGI and its affiliated companies employ approximately 31,000 professionals. CGI provides end-to-end IT and business process services to clients worldwide from offices and centres of excellence in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia Pacific. As at June 30, 2011, CGI's annualized revenue was approximately C$4.2 billion and its order backlog was approximately C$12.7 billion. CGI shares are listed on the NYSE (GIB) and the TSX (GIB.A) and are included in both the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Index. Website: http://www.cgi.com/.

Winners of the first Intel -Department of Science & Technology (DST) Asia Pacific Challenge 2011 announced

Teams from Japan and Philippines have won the coveted Intel- DST Asia Pacific Challenge for 2011 for their innovative projects. The Japanese team led by Eiichi Yamaguchi won the first prize for its Portable UV Index Sensors and their Networking Systems. Joshua Rueben Go Aragon and Laurence Erich Chiang Co of Philippines won the second prize for their design and fabrication of a jointed articulating laparoscopic tool. Intel- DST Asia Pacific Challenge 2011 is a unique initiative in the area of technology innovation to recognize outstanding ideas by youth and technology start ups that address social issues across 10 Asia-Pacific countries.




The Intel-DST Asia Pacific Challenge, is designed for individual innovators and technology startups, organized by the Asia-Pacific Incubation Network (APIN) in collaboration with Intel and the Department of Science and Technology (Government of India), across 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. This initiative aims to showcase excellence in technology innovation and entrepreneurship in Asia-Pacific, to deliver innovation and entrepreneurship in business incubation in the Asia Pacific.



“We believe that technological innovation is the driver of future economic and social success. With this initiative, Intel seeks to be an accelerator of innovation and entrepreneurship amongst incubators and technology start-ups in the region,” said Dr. Praveen Vishakantaiah, Intel India President.



“Despite the growing entrepreneurial base, investors are finding it difficult to identify the appropriate opportunities. Companies like Intel and Asia Pacific Incubation Network who share their technological expertise and foster development of innovative technological skills, play a crucial role in this significant endeavor by presenting the best innovations and entrepreneurial skills that help to make this world a better place. This collaboration aims for advancement in social development by providing an opportunity to participate in the global events like this.” said H.K. Mittal, advisor, National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), DST, Government of India.


The Intel -DST 2011 grand winners split a total prize of US$15, 000 for their innovations. The grand winners will also be eligible for a direct entry to showcase their projects at "Intel Global Challenge at UC Berkeley", a premier world stage for technology entrepreneurship.


About the Intel Department of Science & Technology (DST) Asia Pacific Challenge



The Program aims to create a platform for identifying high-tech, high-potential technology innovations that help addressing the larger issues faced by the society in the sectors of health, energy, climate change, education, and rural empowerment, among others, across 10 Asia-Pacific countries. The youth segment is the key agent for driving socio-economic development and technological innovation in Asia-Pacific. The Intel-DST Challenge aims to promote science and technology and cultivate the creative spirit and practical ability of today’s youth to solve the key challenges facing society today.



Winners were selected through a competitive process that reviewed 50 participants; the expert panel consisted of faculty and academicians from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA), the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) and reputed Venture Capitalists (VCs).



About Intel

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom and blogs.intel.com.

NASSCOM Infrastructure Management Summit 2011

National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today kick-started the two-day NASSCOM Infrastructure Management Services Summit 2011 at the ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru. The summit will discuss and debate the key trends in infrastructure management with specific emphasis on cloud computing, mobility and unified infrastructure.


Delivering the welcome address, Mr. Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM, said, “we are at an exciting phase for the Infrastructure Management sector – convergence of technologies, cloud, mobility, unified infrastructure, managed services, green tech – are megatrends that are redefining traditional computing. The Infrastructure Management sourcing industry has been a growth driver for IT services and our estimates indicate that the industry revenues are in excess of USD 5 billion in FY 2011 and provides direct employment to over 100,000 skilled professionals”.


NASSCOM, in association with Deloitte, also launched a study titled, ‘Deconstructing the “CLOUD”: The New Growth Frontier for Indian IT-BPO Sector’, on the sidelines of the Summit. The focus of the study is to understand the opportunities for the IT-BPO sector in India and key imperatives for India to build leadership in the cloud.


According to the study, Cloud computing is expected to have a significant impact on current IT-BPO services industry, in terms of types of services offered, delivery mechanisms and business models. The global cloud computing market is projected to grow at 33% CAGR and reach ~USD 680 bn by 2020 while the domestic market opportunity expected to reach ~USD 16 bn in the same period. About 2/3rd of this will be ‘new-business’ and the rest will come from existing service lines.

Launching the report, Mr. Som Mittal, President, NASSCOM, said, “Cloud computing is reshaping the Indian IT market by generating new opportunities for IT providers and driving changes in traditional IT offerings. There are ample opportunities for cloud in every industry, and with the increased preference of cloud adoption in the coming years, industry will have to invest in competency building internally to take advantage of cloud computing technologies. While security is one of major hindrances toward cloud adoption, policies needs to be created and designed to help enterprises establish and execute a comprehensive security strategy that addresses threats and potential liabilities resulting from cloud computing. India will definitely have a leadership position in the cloud market in times to come.”


Cloud is also opening up new avenues for new “Product” oriented services. It will help create new service opportunities around cloud lifecycle management, legacy modernization and cloud management due to new complexities. Cloud is reducing barriers to entry and enabling non-traditional IT players to enter the space. It is imperative for IT services players to re-invent their mental models and substantially re-tool themselves.


While cloud will create and utilize some of the existing service lines/spaces for IT-BPO companies, it also opens up a whole new opportunity to play along the cloud services stack. SaaS, the largest segment contributing USD 244 bn by 2020, will see an explosion of players delivering solutions to suit specific industry, geography and/or business process needs. IaaS, with proven value proposition is expected to be the second largest cloud market to reach around USD 143 bn by 2020. PaaS has been largely restricted to create SaaS applications; however could potentially transition to standalone development and deployment platforms. IT-BPO vendors being limited by scale to compete in generic PaaS segments, will look to align to specialist PaaS category focusing on specific client business needs.

In the cloud world, speed is of essence and it is critical to “fail quickly” and re-invent rather than have long innovation cycles. Players especially in the SaaS space will have to think like mobile application developers of today – speed to build network effects. Solutions have to be modularized and “designed to fail” so that failure of a component does not bring down the entire application. Players will also have to think in terms of value chains and ecosystems in the cloud stack to figure out where they would like to play and who do they partner with. This will be especially important because of the new breed of players (e.g. telcos, market pivots etc) who will enter the services space and also to expand customer base beyond the traditional enterprise clients.


Key stakeholders, industry, government and NASSCOM will need to work in unison to build cloud as the next wave of growth.


About NASSCOM


NASSCOM® is the premier trade body of the IT-BPO industries in India. It is a global trade body with more than 1200 members, which include both Indian and multinational companies that have a presence in India. NASSCOM's member companies are in the business of IT services, BPO, Engineering design, products, internet and e-commerce and animation and gaming. NASSCOM’s membership base constitutes over 95% of the industry revenues in India and employs over 2.5 million professionals.

HomeShop18.com announces Nokia Fest by popular demand

Keeping the promise of delighting its customers with exciting and timely offers; HomeShop18.com, India’s leading online shopping destination, brings the Nokia Fest for a week and gives its customers a chance to save upto 28% on the most popular mobile phones of Nokia across a wide range like Smartphones, Touch screen mobiles, QWERTY mobiles, Touch 'n Type, Entry Level mobiles & more. The Nokia Fest begins on 17th September and ends on 23rd September, 2011.


HomeShop18.com conducted a brand poll on a popular social networking website. Users were asked to vote for the mobile phone brand on which they would love to get amazing discounts. Out of 741 votes received, a majority of 409 users chose Nokia and that is how HomeShop18 chose the No. 1 mobile handset makers in the country to offer discounts exclusively on www.HomeShop18.com for this festive season.




Some of the hottest selling Nokia phones Homeshop18.com has on offer at major, exclusive discounts include Nokia N97 available at Rs 18999 (otherwise priced in the market at Rs 26269), Nokia X7-00 - the latest addition to the Nokia Family- priced at Rs 19993 (regular market price of this model is Rs 22829), and Nokia E7 priced at Rs. 24999 (regular market price is Rs. 28019) and many more…



HomeShop18.com offers FREE Shipping on every purchase and has a dedicated 24x7 customer care centre to handle people’s queries, post purchase. Customers also have multiple payment options to choose from including Internet Banking, Debit/Credit Card, Cheque or Demand Draft.



Customers can log on to the official website of HomeShop18 to avail the Nokia Fest offers at http://www.homeshop18.com/shop/faces/jsp/sale/clearancesale.jsp?catalogueID=2&sales=17ClearanceSale



About HomeShop18:

HomeShop18 is Network18 group’s online and television retail marketing and distribution venture.


HomeShop18.com is India’s fastest growing e-commerce website (traffic growing at the rate of 300% YoY) with a monthly reach of over 1.7 million unique visitors, each spending over 7 minutes (avg.) on the website. It is today ranked as the largest e-commerce sites (B2C e-commerce, Shopping Cart sites) in the country, in terms of % share of transactions. (Source: ViziSense, Period – Jan to June, 2011)


Adding a new customer every 6 seconds, HomeShop18’s robust distribution set-up helps it reach out to over 3000 cities across the country. HomeShop18 offers a complete product range across all major categories; including digital, fashion & lifestyle, beauty products, jewellery, kitchen essentials, home & furnishings, kids’ gear, books and many more. HomeShop18 has partnered with more than 500 established brands and marquee labels such as Reebok, Lee, Peter England, Nokia, Canon, Samsung, Whirlpool, Videocon, Spice and Sia among many others, giving its millions of customers over 70 lakh products to choose from.


HomeShop18’s 6.1 million CRM base is supported by a trained and customer focused 24X7 call centre manned by 750 executives catering to over 35,000 calls a day.

A. O. Smith Launches Horizontal Water Heater – EWSH

A. O. Smith India Water Heating Private Limited, a leading water heater manufacturer, today announced the launch of EWSH, India’s only horizontal water heater with BEE 5 star rating. Ergonomically & aesthetically designed with floor & wall mounting option the water heaters go a long way in meeting Indian household bathroom fitting requirements.


With this announcement, A. O. Smith introduces India’s first technologically advanced horizontal water heater backed by American technology that ensures that the water heater works efficiently in Indian water conditions. The range comes with a unique glass coated heating element & a 4 Year Warranty on the heating element, reflecting the superior quality of A. O. Smith products.



A.O. Smith’s EWSH range comes with a safety valve. The valve is designed to automatically relieve and discharge water in case the pressure overshoots the present limits. The non- return valve allows water flow only in one direction thus preventing dry heating of element.



Commenting on the launch, Mr. Tamal Chaudhuri, Managing Director, A. O. Smith India Water Heating Private Limited said, “At A. O. Smith, our primary focus is to bring ‘innovation that delights our customers’ in the Indian households with contemporary design, aesthetics and cutting-edge technology. The key is to deliver products with an ideal combination of quality, cost and delivery options.”



“The challenge is to keep our global image intact, yet aspire to be the driving force in creating milestones that accommodate the needs of the local Indian market. Energy efficient products, which qualify to international quality standards, have been introduced in the Indian market to ensure that we bring the world class products for our consumers. Our latest addition, EWSH range of horizontal water heaters fully responds to all of these characteristics and endorses our commitment in providing our customers with innovative technology & energy efficient solutions”, he added further.







A. O. Smith products are of superior quality and come with features like colourful bodies. The company’s Blue Diamond™ Glass Lining formula withstands corrosion and offers improved protection against premature tank failure caused by hard water commonly found in India. The glass-coated heating element increases life of the heating element.



A. O. Smith India is head quartered in Bengaluru. A. O. Smith manufactures both residential as well as commercial water heaters. It currently has sales offices and stocking warehouses strategically located throughout the country as well as a sales and customer service organization in place.

About A. O. Smith

A. O. Smith is a $1.5 billion (U.S.) manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis. The company markets an extensive line of residential and commercial water heaters and boilers and has manufacturing operations in the United States, Mexico, China, Canada, India, and the Netherlands.

Virtusa Announces Responsive Process Management Test Drive Offering at Progress Revolution 2011

Virtusa Corporation (NASDAQ: VRTU), a global IT services company that offers a broad range of information technology services, including IT consulting, technology implementation and application outsourcing services, today announced wide availability of the Virtusa RPM (Responsive Process Management) Test Drive offering at Progress Revolution 2011. An evolution of the company’s BPM Test Drive offering, the new service goes hand in hand with the Progress® Responsive Process Management(r)™ (RPM) suite to integrate process management, provide real time stability and ultimately enable organizations to make the right investment decisions, at the right time.



The RPM suite has the unique ability to deliver real-time control and visibility into business operations and allow companies to respond quickly and flexibly to changing market needs. This translates to a number of business benefits including increased productivity, reduced overall costs and increased efficiencies. However, due to the lack of understanding around how to best utilize RPM technologies, these business benefits are often not realized.

Virtusa’s RPM Test Drive helps clients plan and execute successful RPM programs. Virtusa’s RPM Test Drive educates business and IT teams on RPM value, concepts and methods, identifies transformation opportunities by building a business case with ROI, and helps customers adopt the right project model and methodology. The three-week engagement is built on the company’s Understand-Evaluate-Demonstrate (UED) framework for RPM Needs Assessment, Business Case and ROI Calculation. It has proven to help organizations reduce the time to program kick off by 90 percent and lower program risks by more than 70 percent.

“RPM provides a much more forward thinking view of BPM,” said Stuart Chandler, global head of Virtusa’s BPM practice. “So many organizations are unable to use information in real-time, putting them at a competitive disadvantage. Our RPM Test Drive addresses this issue by equipping organizations with the knowledge and tools they need to quickly respond to a market that is constantly changing.”


“Virtusa has been providing innovative solutions and offerings in the BPM space for over 10 years,” said Allen Brault, senior director global alliances at Progress. “As a leading Global Industry Partner for Progress, Virtusa extends this heritage by launching the RPM Test Drive offering which helps organizations better understand, evaluate and realize the full potential of an RPM based solution.”


Virtusa’s RPM Test Drive offering is built on the company’s successful BPM Test Drive. For many enterprises, BPM has dramatically improved operational efficiency, increased agility and accelerated time-to-market. Despite these proven benefits, many BPM projects fail to deliver on their potential due to an inability to align the organization, clearly articulate goals and address non-technology challenges. Virtusa’s RPM Test Drive helps organizations anticipate and avert these common pitfalls to reap the full value of BPM.


Virtusa is a Platinum Sponsor of Progress Revolution 2011. To learn more about Virtusa’s RPM Test Drive, visit Virtusa’s booth at the event or visit http://www.virtusa.com/practices/bpm/progress-rpm.asp .


About Virtusa



Virtusa provides end-to-end information technology (IT) services to Global 2000 companies. These services, which include IT consulting, application maintenance, development, systems integration and managed services, leverage a unique Platforming methodology that transforms clients’ businesses through IT rationalization. Virtusa helps customers accelerate business outcomes by consolidating, rationalizing and modernizing their core customer facing processes into one or more core systems.



Virtusa delivers cost-effective solutions through a global delivery model, applying advanced methods such as Agile and Accelerated Solution Design to ensure that its solutions meet the clients’ requirements. As a result, its clients simultaneously reduce their IT operations cost while increasing their ability to meet changing business needs.



Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Massachusetts, Virtusa has operations in North America, Europe and Asia.



© 2011 All rights reserved. Virtusa, Accelerating Business OutcomesSM and all other related logos/service names are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Virtusa Corporation in the US, UK, EU, India and/or Sri Lanka. All other company and service names are the property of their respective holders.



About Progress Software Corporation



Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS) is a global software company that enables enterprises to be operationally responsive to changing conditions and customer interactions as they occur – to capitalize on new opportunities, drive greater efficiencies and reduce risk. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of best-in-class infrastructure software spanning event-driven visibility and real-time response, open integration, data access and integration, and application development and deployment – all supporting on-premises and SaaS/Cloud deployments. Progress Software maximizes the benefits of operational responsiveness while minimizing IT complexity and total cost of ownership. Progress Software can be reached at www.progress.com or +1-781-280-4000.

MCAFEE RESHAPES INDUSTRY WITH Breakthrough Security Technology

The threat landscape is rapidly changing to one of advanced persistent threats and stealth attacks. A new approach to security is needed to stay ahead of the cybercriminals, and today McAfee unveiled McAfee DeepSAFE. The new technology, which will help fundamentally change and reshape the security industry.


McAfee and Intel recognize that in order to ensure users have an engaging and productive computing experience, it is essential that devices are protected against intrusions from security breaches and malware in more effective ways than are available today. Every type of device is vulnerable, and it is this recognition combined with the desire to take a holistic approach to secure computing that led to the Intel and McAfee collaboration.


With the announcement of this new DeepSAFE technology, McAfee and Intel are working to change the industry by combining the power of hardware and software to create much more sophisticated ways to prevent attacks. Cybercriminals know how to evade current operating systems-based security, demanding a new paradigm – security beyond the operating system.



“This is a tremendous shift for McAfee and one of the biggest innovations in the security industry’s history,” said Todd Gebhart, co-president of McAfee. “McAfee DeepSAFE uses hardware features already in the Intel processors to provide security beyond the OS. From this unique vantage point, DeepSAFE can apply new techniques to deliver a whole new generation of protection in real time to prevent malicious activity and not just detect infections.”

McAfee DeepSAFE, co-developed with Intel, is a technology that allows McAfee to develop hardware-assisted security products to take advantage of a “deeper” security footprint. The technology sits below the OS providing a vantage point that helps fundamentally change the security game. McAfee DeepSAFE enables innovative new protection technologies including proactively detecting and preventing stealthy advanced persistent threats (APTs) and malware. Many APTs include stealth techniques such as rootkits that embed themselves deep in the OS to evade current security solutions.



Demonstrated on stage today was one way to apply this new vantage point, in rootkit prevention. According to McAfee Labs, more than 1,200 new rootkits per day are detected - equating to 50 per hour every single day. A system running the DeepSAFE technology was able to detect and stop a zero day Agony rootkit from infecting a system in real time. This technology is expected to launch in products later in 2011.


McAfee DeepSAFE:



* Builds the foundation for next generation hardware-assisted security operating beyond the operating system

* Provides a trusted view of system events below the operating system

* Exposes many attacks that are undetectable today

* New vantage point to block sophisticated stealth techniques and APTs

* Provides real time CPU event monitoring with minimal performance impact

* Combines the power of hardware and flexibility of software to deliver a new foundation for security



“Intel and McAfee are working on joint technologies to better protect every segment across the compute continuum from PCs to devices,” said Renée James, senior vice president and general manager of the Software and Services Group at Intel and the Chairman of McAfee. “By combining the features of existing Intel hardware and innovations in security software, Intel and McAfee are driving innovation in the security industry by providing a new way to protect computing devices. We are truly excited to introduce this technology upon which we will deliver new solutions.”



“At McAfee our customers and partners trust us to help them stay ahead of the cybercriminals and keep their business protected,” said Michael DeCesare, co-president of McAfee. “This technology and our joint collaboration with Intel is the next evolution of security and will enable McAfee to continue to be the trusted security provider to our largest and most complex customers.”


For more information on McAfee DeepSAFE visit www.mcafee.com/deepSAFE.

About McAfee

McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. McAfee delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that help secure systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world, allowing users to safely connect to the Internet, browse and shop the Web more securely. Backed by its unrivaled Global Threat Intelligence, McAfee creates innovative products that empower home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to prove compliance with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities, and continuously monitor and improve their security. McAfee is relentlessly focused on constantly finding new ways to keep our customers safe. http://www.mcafee.com

National Instruments today announced the NI Measurement Studio 2010 Service Pack software upgrade for increased dependability. The release, which addresses 15 improvements to Measurement Studio 2010, is an exclusive update for members of the NI Standard Service and Volume License programs and can be downloaded now from http://www.ni.com/.


Measurement Studio is an integrated suite of programming tools for Microsoft Visual Studio that extends the Microsoft .NET framework to help Visual C# and Visual Basic .NET developers create solutions for a variety of engineering challenges. Measurement Studio increases developer productivity by offering off-the-shelf, customizable measurement and automation classes and user interface controls to create Windows Forms or Web applications for test and automation.



Engineers can use Measurement Studio 2010 to develop in the latest version of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and take advantage of the latest advancements in development techniques and tools. With the new intensity graph, engineers can display 3-D data using color to show the magnitude of the third dimension. Measurement Studio 2010 also features user interface code snippets to speed development time and easily customize user interface controls.
Readers can download the Measurement Studio 2010 Service Pack upgrade by visiting www.ni.com/mstudio.

About National Instruments

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 30,000 different companies worldwide, with its largest customer representing approximately 4 percent of revenue in 2010 and no one industry representing more than 15 percent of revenue. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has approximately 5,500 employees and direct operations in more than 40 countries. For the past 12 years, FORTUNE magazine has named NI one of the 100 best companies to work for in America.

Nice to Acquire Fizzback for $80million

NICE Systems Ltd (NASDAQ: NICE)today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquireFizzback, introducing the most complete Customer Experience Management(CEM) with the integration of revolutionary, real-timeVoice of the Customer(VoC) solution.


The Fizzback SaaS offering is a real-time operational VoC solution. It sends consumers requests for feedback relating to a specific interaction or transaction via mobile, web or social media. The consumer is engaged at the point of experience, for example in the contact center, branch, point of sale (POS), mobile application, or web.The feedback is analyzed by the system to determine a relevant response, and automatically conduct a dialog with the consumer in natural language rather than in survey format.

Fizzback’s unique approachgenerates game-changing response rates of up to 50%, significantly higher than industry norms at under 10%, as it motivates consumers to provide relevant feedback, at the moment of interaction. Additionally, consumers provide feedback about their experience rather than only about what was asked in a survey.With more than 150 million feedbacks collected annually, Fizzback enables organizations to better understand their customers’ perceptions, and be agileacross the organization, while improving customer experience at the various enterprise touch points.

The combination of Fizzback and NICE will both improve CEM as well as operationalize VoC both for the contact center and across the enterprise. Correlating customer feedback to specific interactions or transactionshelps improve performance enterprise-wide with statistically validated responses, as well as enhance quality managementand processes. Key efficiency metrics that can be significantly improved include First Contact Resolution (FCR) and Average Handle Time (AHT) in the contact centerand employee performance in direct customer facing roles.

Capturing, analyzing and acting on the Voice of the Customer (VoC) is critical to the success of any Customer Experience initiative. NICE’s cross-channel analytics solutions support VoC programs by: (1) analyzing customer interaction content (indirect feedback), whether the customer is interacting with the organization or talking about the organization through the contact center, social media, or other channels, and by extracting insights from these interactions; and (2) by analyzing customer behavior (inferred feedback), such as transaction and web browsing patterns or their journey along different touch points. By adding direct customer feedback with the Fizzback solution, NICE now provides a complete CEM solution that delivers a holistic understanding of the customer by combining on one platform the VoC from each of the three feedback dimensions: direct, indirect and inferred.


Zeevi Bregman, President and CEO of NICE said, " The adoption of and demand for CEM solutions, at all levels of the organization, including Marketing, Finance and Operations, is on the rise. With the addition of Fizzback,NICE isexpanding the scope of its capabilitiesof Impacting Every Customer Interaction by introducing a Customer Experience Managementsolution with the most complete Voice of the Customer offering. This enables our customers to more effectively capture, understand and leverage VoCas the foundation to a cross-enterprise CEMstrategy.”


Rob Keve,CEO of Fizzback said, “Our unique solution has been enabling our customers to achieve exceptionally high response rates from their customers, and to receive feedback in real-time. This combination allows them to take immediate action for increasing customer loyalty and driving efficiency across the enterprise. This has resulted in extremely high usage rates for our customers, making Fizzback a strategic part of how our customers make decisions and run the business. Thus, we are proud to have experienced rapid growth and high rates of product adoption. We are looking forward to combining these capabilities with NICE’s real-time, cross-channel analytics to provideboth NICE and Fizzback customers greater access to even broader capabilities with a more complete VoC solution.”

Under the terms of the agreement, NICE will acquire Fizzback for a total cash consideration of approximately $80 million. Subject to certain conditions and satisfaction of terms, the transaction is scheduled to close in the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2011 with 2 to 3 cents dilution of fully diluted Non-GAAP EPS for that quarter. In 2012, the acquisition is expected to add approximately $20 million to NICE’s non-GAAP revenues, to be slightly dilutive, and to become accretive to fully diluted Non-GAAP EPS within four quarters post closing.


About Fizzback



Founded in 2004 headquartered in the UK and backed by Advent Venture Partners, Nauta Capital and TAG, Fizzback is a global provider of Voice of the Customer solutions, providing software solutions for Real-Time Customer Feedback that drive customer loyalty and employee performance. The award winning Fizzback solution helps companies listen, respond and act in real-time to their customers’ comments. Fizzback customers include tier-1 organizations from a variety of vertical industries, including, British Telecom (BT), O2, Best Buy Europe, Everything Everywhere,National Express,Virgin Media, Tesco,andseveral Tier 1 North Americantelecom carriers.

About NICE Systems

NICE Systems (NASDAQ: NICE), is the worldwide leader of intent-based solutions that capture and analyze interactions and transactions, realize intent, and extract and leverage insights to deliver impact in real time. Driven by cross-channel and multi-sensor analytics, NICE solutions enable organizations to improve business performance, increase operational efficiency, prevent financial crime, ensure compliance, and enhance safety and security. NICE serves over 25,000 organizations in the enterprise and security sectors, representing a variety of sizes and industries in more than 150 countries, and including over 80 of the Fortune 100 companies. www.nice.com

SANDISK ANNOUNCES SUITE OF RETAIL PRODUCTS THAT CAPTURE,SHARE AND PRESERVE DIGITAL CONTENT

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today unveiled a broad lineup of new retail products and introduced a new preservation solutions category. SanDisk’s product portfolio addresses all market segments—from mobile phones and cameras to notebooks and tablets—and use cases ranging from entry level to professional.




“Our flash storage solutions help consumers capture more photos, load their mobile apps faster, share exciting moments with friends and preserve their memories for generations to come,” said Manisha Sood, Country Manager and Director, India and SAARC SanDisk Corporation.



Preserve the Memories


SanDisk® Memory Vault: SanDisk introduced a new product that is tested to preserve images in their original quality for up to 100 years1. The SanDisk Memory Vault provides consumers with a convenient, reliable way to pass down their images for generations to come—a photo album for the digital age.



SanDisk released the results from an online survey conducted on its behalf by Harris Interactive from July 28-August 1, 2011 among 2,294 U.S. adults aged 18 and older2.

The survey found that 79 percent of U.S. adults who have digital photos plan on passing them down to future generations. Photos are so precious that 64 percent of U.S. adults would not consider destroying their family photo collection for any amount of money, not even for one million dollars.



Valuable photos deserve reliable storage solutions. SanDisk developed the SanDisk Memory Vault using Chronolock™ technology, which incorporates the key elements of advanced solid-state storage to create a proprietary memory management solution. This allows the device to provide consumers with peace of mind that their precious photos and videos will be preserved for up to 100 years. The SanDisk Memory Vault comes in 8 gigabyte3 (GB) and 16GB capacities carrying MSRPs of Rs. 3,499/- (8GB) to Rs5,499/- (16GB). To learn more about the online survey and the SanDisk Memory Vault, click http://www.sandisk.in/

Capture the Moments

64GB SanDisk Extreme® Pro™ SDXC™ UHS-I Card: SanDisk doubled the performance and capacity of its professional-grade imaging lineup to create a new SD card based on the latest SD 3.0 specification’s Ultra High Speed (UHS) bus architecture. The card offers the fastest write performance of any SD card in the world to date and is ideal for imaging enthusiasts using UHS-enabled cameras.



The card’s up to 90 megabyte per second (MB/sec)4 write speeds let photographers capture a series of RAW images using burst mode, and its UHS Speed Class 1 rating can record Full HD videos5. The card features up to 95MB/sec read speeds capable of supporting transfer of photos to a computer in half the time. SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC™ and SDXC™ UHS-I cards come in 8GB to 64GB capacities with MSRPs at Rs. 2,199/- (8GB) to Rs16,299/- (64GB).



64GB SanDisk® Mobile Ultra™ microSDXC™ Card: SanDisk’s new 64GB microSDXC card can double the capacity of even the most advanced smartphones and tablets. The UHS-based, high-capacity card features up to 30MB/sec4 transfer speeds and offers the Class 6 performance needed to capture Full HD videos. The card is compatible with any tablet or smartphone equipped with a microSDXC card slot.



Mobile phone sales are expected to reach 1.7 billion in 2014, and the majority of these handsets will include microSDXC card slots, according to Strategy Analytics, Slotted Phone Shipments Forecast, 12/10. Mobile phones allow consumers to create and enjoy an increasing amount of digital content, ranging from user-generated Full HD videos to full-length feature films and videogames. High-capacity mobile memory cards provide the storage expansion consumers need to keep up with the explosion of digital content.



SanDisk Mobile Ultra cards come in capacities ranging from 4GB to 64GB to meet a variety of needs, with MSRPs at Rs. 899/- (4GB) to Rs14,799/- (64GB).



Share the Experiences


Cruzer® Fit™ and Cruzer® Switch™ USB Flash Drives: SanDisk’s new Cruzer Fit USB flash drive is about the size of a dime, fitting easily into USB-compatible tablets and notebooks for convenient storage expansion. The drive comes in 4GB to 16GB capacities with MSRPs at Rs. 249/- (4GB) to Rs749/- (16GB).



SanDisk’s new Cruzer Switch USB flash drive features a cap-less, slider-less, flip-top design for easy portability and comes in 2GB to 64GB capacities with MSRPs at Rs. 499/- (2GB) to Rs2,699/- (64GB).





SanDisk® SecureAccess™ Software: SanDisk offers encryption and online backup features (up to 2GB optionally available*) on almost all of its retail USB drives. The software creates a password-protected** private vault on the drive that lets consumers share the files they want while protecting sensitive data.



ImageMate® All-in-One USB 3.0 Reader/Writer: Based on USB 3.0 interface transfer performance of up to 500MB/s***, this card reader/writer reduces transfer time when downloading data from a card to a computer. Outfitted with four card slots, this compact solution supports all major card formats and is backwards compatible with USB 2.0-enabled devices. Its sleek vertical design and small footprint makes this a great choice for stylish and fast photo and video transfer. The reader/write carries an MSRP of Rs. 2,799.



Availability

The Cruzer® Fit™ and Cruzer® Switch™ USB Flash Drives are available now, the other new products will be available by quarter four of this year.



About SanDisk

SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) is a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, from research and development, product design and manufacturing to branding and distribution for OEM and retail channels. Since 1988, SanDisk's innovations in flash memory and storage system technologies have provided customers with new and transformational digital experiences. SanDisk's diverse product portfolio includes flash memory cards and embedded solutions used in smart phones, tablets, digital cameras, camcorders, digital media players and other consumer electronic devices, as well as USB flash drives and solid-state drives (SSD) for the computing market. SanDisk's products are used by consumers and enterprise customers around the world.



SanDisk is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company, with more than half its sales outside the United States. For more information, visit www.sandisk.com.



1 To learn more, visit www.sandisk.com/preserve.

2 Survey Methodology: This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of SanDisk from July 28- August 1, 2011 among 2,294 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact tom.beermann@sandisk.com.

3 1 gigabyte (GB) = 1 billion bytes. Some capacity not available for data storage.

4 Based on SanDisk internal testing; performance may be lower depending upon host device, OS and application. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes.

5 Compatible device required. Full HD (1920X1080X30fps) HD (1280x720x30fps) & 3D video support may vary based upon host device, file size, resolution, compression, bit rate, content and other factors. See www.sandisk.com/HD.

*Registration required. Terms and conditions apply.

** Password protection uses 128-bit AES encryption and is supported by Windows® XP, Windows® 7 and Mac OS X10.5+ (software download required for Mac, visit www.sandisk.com/secureaccess)

*** Based on USB 3.0 specification; performance may vary depending upon use case. 8 bits = 1 byte. 1 megabyte (MB) = 1 million bytes.



SanDisk’s product and executive images can be downloaded from

http://www.sandisk.com/corporate/media.asp

SanDisk’s web site/home page address: http://www.sandisk.com