Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd. announces “Real Good Young Chef 2012”

Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd. India’s premier poultry and vegetarian products manufacturer and marketer with strong value-added brands such as Real Good Chicken and Real Good Yummiez, creates a unique platform for the young culinary talents of Bengaluru and professional Chefs. This unique platform forms a common ground both for budding chefs to understand industry expectations and professional chefs to identify young talents.

A first of its kind inter-college competition took place in the city today. This month long competition commenced with an Intra College competition and had participation from Garden City College, PES institute of hotel management, Christ University, Institute of Hotel management, and M S Ramaiah College of Hotel Management. Two best talents were identified from each of these premier hotel management colleges in Bengaluru by eminent professional Chefs.

The top 2 talents from each college competed with each other in the inter-college competition. These top 10 finalists created their best, original and innovative 3 course meal with Godrej Real Good Chicken in the final cook-off at the Golden Palms Hotel and Spa. The Real Good Young Chef, 2012 competition was judged by a panel of eminent Chefs - Chef Manu Chandra, Chef Vijay Malhotra, Chef Dipon Mukherjee and Chef Dipankar Khashnobish.

The winners are Mr. Milwin Reuben (Winner) from Christ University, Miss. Mirzan (2nd Runner up) from PES College and Miss. Akshaya Shivkumar (1st Runner up) from Christ university.

Sushil Sawant, Associate Vice President – Godrej Tyson Foods Ltd, expressed his excitement about this first ever Inter-College competition. Speaking on the occasion he said, “It gives us immense pleasure to encourage Young Chefs of the country who possess all the creativity and spark to make it big in the industry. It is our constant endeavor to add value not just through innovative products but also with innovative engagement programs.

Chef Vijay Malhotra, of Hotel ITC Windsor, Bengaluru commented, “The future of the industry relies on innovations that will truly delight foodies who are willing to experiment and such competition would drive creativity.”

Chef Manu Chandra - Executive Chef, Olive Beach Bangalore and Olive Bar and Kitchen Mumbai commented “The Real Good Young Chef competition is an impressive first step by Godrej Tyson to bring quality competitions to aspiring chefs. Very often being part of such competitions can be an eye opener to students who have trained in restricted environs.  I'm certain this contest will be the one to watch for in future. It will also be eagerly awaited by students, chefs and industry alike.

Chef Dipon Mukherjee - Regional Executive Chef at The Lemon Tree Hotels commented “From a single meal per month eaten in a restaurant a decade ago, the average urban Indian in the top eight metros is now consuming 7 - 8 meals a month in restaurants. This has led to the growth in F & B industry. The Real Good Young Chef, 2012 is a perfect platform for young and talented students to showcase their creativity and for the industry to identify talents.”

Godrej Nature’s Basket, India’s leading world food chain awarded the winner with an internship that offers him the opportunity to experience, learn and gain exposure on the job that prepares him for a future in the industry. The winner will be on board as a food consultant for this period during which he will meet our discerning consumers, work with our food aficionados and take up an interesting project.

About Godrej Tyson Foods:

Godrej Tyson Foods is a joint venture between Godrej Agrovet Ltd., a part of the Godrej Group and Tyson Foods Inc. The company is India’s premier poultry and vegetarian products manufacturer and marketer with strong value-added brands such as Real Good Chicken and Real Good Yummiez. The venture combines Godrej’s hygienic supply chain and strong value-added brands with Tyson Foods’ expertise in processing and product development to create great-tasting, safe, and healthy products. The company also offers India’s expanding foodservice industry and universe of modern retailers, innovative poultry solutions and world-class products customized to local tastes.

Sourced From: Madison PR

MindTree’s Board of Directors elects Subroto Bagchi as Chairman

MindTree Limited, a global IT and Product Engineering Services Company, today announced that Mr. Subroto Bagchi and Dr. Albert Hieronimus will assume new roles in the Company’s Board of Directors as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively, effective April 1, 2012.

“MindTree is now poised for scaling greater heights. It is a time when visionary leadership requires to be combined with fulltime executive involvement. Subroto Bagchi is, clearly, the best man for the job in this next phase of growth, profitability and customer satisfaction” said Dr. Hieronimus. “I welcome Subroto in his new role and am confident that he will drive the company’s strategy, values and vision for the future.”

Speaking on his appointment, Mr. Bagchi said “We are grateful to Dr. Hieronimus and the Board of Directors for their strong support to MindTree over the years. It is an honor to be elected as Chairman of the Board of one of the most admired companies in the industry. Along with Krishnakumar’s support and the guidance by the Board of Directors, we will build an expertise-led and culture-backed organization focused on developing deep engagements with our clients and delivering superior, sustainable financial performance.”

Mr. Krishnakumar Natarajan, CEO & MD, MindTree Limited said “The new appointments reaffirm our vision to become a stronger player in the global software services industry. Subroto and I have a history of collaboration; we share the same vision and values that will take us to 2020.”

Dr. Hieronimus will continue on the Board as Vice Chairman and will chair the Nomination & Governance and the Investor Grievances Committees. He is a member of the Audit Committee and Strategic Initiatives Committee of the Board.

Further, effective 31 March, 2012, Mr. George M. Scalise and Mr. N. Vittal are stepping down from MindTree’s Board of Directors on attainment of the age of retirement while Mr. Mark A. Runacres is stepping down from the Board due to other commitments. The Board and MindTree management team are grateful for their support and guidance to MindTree over the years.


Sourced From: Genesis Burson-Marsteller

VIJAYA BANK ‘REDUCES INTEREST RATES ON MSME LOANS’

With an additional thrust on MSME Loan Portfolio Vijaya Bank has reduced the Rate of Interest on MSME Loans by 0.25% to 0.75% with effect from 1.3.2012.

Apart from this, wherever the borrowers account is rated by an external Credit Agencies the Bank extends further reduction in Rate of Interest ranging from 0.25% to 1.0%

Sourced From: VIJAYA BANK
 

Dr. John D. Balian in India to launch ‘Gray Wolves and White Doves’, an action packed thriller

Mr. Venkatesh Rajagopal, the Chairman and Managing Director of Indian Terrain, will host the launch event of the novel Gray Wolves and White Doves at ITC Windsor Manor on 25th February 2012. The thriller based novel, Gray Wolves and White Doves is based on actual events. Here, in India to launch his first novel among Bangalore’s literati, Dr. Balian in conversation with Vidya Virkar -daughter of Lt T.N Shanbhag and Managing Director of Strand Bookstore. Dr. Balian will interact with the select group of invitees.

Dr. Balian has lived in the locales described in the novel and has first-hand knowledge of the events. While the novel is the epitome of a timeless story and the struggle between the good and the evil and the perseverance of the underdog, it is an unique tale told in an unique manner. The historical/current political and social upheavals in the Middle East make this book eminently relevant.

Synopsis of ‘Gray Wolves and White Doves’

In a rugged and ancient corner of the world shrouded in mystery and myth, five-year-old Hanna can imagine no other home than his small village at the edge of the Turkish Plains of Anatolia.

Suddenly, in one terrible instant an unimaginable tragedy strikes and the boy’s happy life is overturned, sending him into exile and on an odyssey of lurking dangers, dashed hopes and thwarted ambitions.

Torn from his family and uprooted from his homeland, the young boy is dispatched to a seminary in Jerusalem where he is renamed Jonah and embarks on a discovery of his true heritage and new identity. This sanctuary is also snatched away when Jonah, still in his early adolescence, finds himself caught in the crossfire of the Holy City’s “unholy” wars.

Caught in a web of deceit and factional feuds, a persecuted Jonah narrowly escapes the snares of his nemesis and the specter of the hellish Turkish prisons. He resorts to a fugitive subsistence in foreign lands, and is recruited by his former foe to join a clandestine group. Despondent, young Jonah finds himself forced to choose his fate: abandon his principles to carry out a barbaric mission to exact revenge; or find a new path to pursue an improbable dream in a new world.

Based on actual events of the 1960’s and 1970’s in the Middle East, Gray Wolves and White Doves transports the reader to a land steeped in ancient rituals, Middle Eastern traditions and modern intrigue. From this tumultuous background rises a moving, captivating story of a child’s search for identity and belonging amid rekindled feuds and the turmoil of a changing world.

Gray Wolves and White Doves is a real life and action-packed thriller that weaves a timeless tale of man’s perseverance, the endurance of hope, and the winning ways of the human spirit no matter how bleak the circumstances.

Gray Wolves and White Doves by Dr. John D. Balian is available on Amazon.com.

About the Author

John D Balian, MD’s life story personifies the immigrant story and the American Dream. Considering his very humble beginnings in the Middle East and the inconceivable adversity Dr. Balian faced from childhood through adolescence to later become an accomplished physician and a senior executive in a multinational corporation, his life story should be the inspirational and motivational account of these challenging times.



Dr. Balian was born to parents of no education and no means in a remote village in Anatolia near Diyarbekir, a historic Armenian city now in Eastern Turkey. He faced unimaginable tragedy that led to the splintering of his family that launched him into a life of destitution and wandering through several Middle Eastern and European countries. Despite cruel twists of fate, he eventually reached the land of opportunity because of his own fighting spirit and survival instincts and the help and kindness of strangers.

He attended Columbia University on a full scholarship and received a medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. After a medical residency and fellowship, Dr. Balian worked for the United States Food and Drug Administration prior to moving into the healthcare industry. He currently is a senior executive of a US-based global corporation. Due to his reputation of a transformational leader in his field with numerous accomplishments and innovations, Dr. Balian was recently elected to serve on the Board of Directors of the Armenian Center of Columbia University. He is widely published in varied trade journals.
 
Sourced From: Media Moments

FIAT India launches Linea 2012 and Punto 2012 in Bangalore

Mr. Enrico Atanasio, Head Commercial, Fiat India

FIAT India Automobiles today showcased the next generation 2012 Linea and 2012 Punto. The Company is ready to redefine performance and luxury benchmark in these segments. With its assortment of best-in-class features the new vehicles are the epitome of Italian design and ingenuity.


The FIAT Linea 1.3 ADVANCED MULTIJET DIESEL and 1.4 FIRE PETROL and the FIAT Punto 1.2 FIRE Petrol, 1.4 FIRE Petrol and 1.3 MULTIJET Diesel are loaded with innovative and exciting features and are set to delight its customers. The car sets new standards by introducing a bouquet of features in terms of performance, safety, comfort, ride and handling and in- car infotainment. Through its path breaking innovation and upgradation the cars are a true reflection of FIAT’s commitment towards the Indian consumers. The elegant and performance oriented 2012 Linea and sporty and sturdy 2012 Punto are available in new, exciting and vibrant colour- Oceanic Blue along with the previous range of colours such as Fox Trot Azure, Tuscan Wine, Sunbeam Beige and Exotica Red.



Highlights: Model Year 2012 range

· Fully refreshed interiors with new interior theme colours and an all new exterior colour i.e, Oceanic Blue

· Bringing segment first features for Linea – Rain sensing wipers & auto switch on/off headlamps,(continuing the past tradition of being the first to bring innovative features to the segment e.g., Blue & Me and MY Car)

· More features & equipment across the range with much higher value to the customer at every price point

· Significant Quality improvements on key attributes like ground clearance, air conditioning and NVH for diesel versions

FIAT Linea 2012

The FIAT Linea 2012 has been introduced with a host of all-new exciting features which are certain to delight customers. The excitement is expected to increase as it patrons are set to experience a complete new variety of equipments with an integrated audio system from base version, Auto AC, ABS with EBD, alloy wheels, airbags and ‘Blue and Me’ infotainment starting from the mid version onwards. It also has an improved segment best ground clearance of 185 mm with a powerful and improved AC. The new Linea luxury diesel version provides nothing less than leather seats with chrome interiors and 16” alloy wheels. The new segment features include rain sensors and auto switch on/off head lamps. Giving Linea a premium touch with its refreshing interiors is the new light beige theme, comprising of fabric seats and floor carpet, dashboard and door trims. The improved fuel efficiency for the Linea 1.3 ADVANCED MULTIJET DIESEL is 20.4 and for 1.4 FIRE PETROL is 14.6.

FIAT Punto 2012

Power and style truly personify FIAT Punto 2012 that is now available with an enhanced ground clearance (Punto 1.2- 195 mm and Punto 1.4 and 1.3 - 185 mm). The base variant features comprise of an integrated audio system and central locking along with front power windows making it the only premium hatchback with such rich content in the entry version. The introduction of new bright grey interiors, fabric seats, carpeted flooring and door trims is sure to leave its customers astonished. A dual tone dashboard now adorns the entire range. The improved fuel efficiency for the Punto 1.2 FIRE Petrol is 15.2, for 1.4 FIRE Petrol is 14.6 and for 1.3 MULTIJET Diesel it is 20.3.



The good news continues even with the pricing, with the cars being available in different variants at a special introductory period price.

Ex-showroom - Bangalore:

 Speaking on the launch of 2012 Linea and Punto, Mr. Enrico Atanasio, Head Commercial, FIAT India Automobiles Ltd said, “At FIAT it is our constant endeavor to provide customers with newer and better cars with timely upgradation in comfort and technology. Since customer satisfaction is of utmost importance, we continuously look at ways to provide better value through our cars. With the launch of 2012 Linea and Punto this year our customer can enjoy an experience which is delightful and uniquely FIAT”

Sourced From: Perfect Relations

INTEX launches 3G wireless data card

Intex Technologies, pioneer in Technology & IT Products, announced the launch of its first 3G wireless data card. This card aims to provide users with multiple benefits- from web access, browsing, e-mailing, social networking, sharing of photographs, downloading and uploading heavy files to music downloads and video streaming on-the-go; all in all, a pleasurable experience!

With its unmatched downloading speed upto 7.2Mbps and upto 5.76Mbps uploading speed, this sleek card can be effortlessly slipped into the USB slot of a laptop or other devices for high-speed 3G wireless connectivity for Internet and phone calls. It is also compatible with GPRS enabled Sim cards on a 2G platform.

An added feature of the data card is that it allows users to send and receive messages along with managing phone book through the laptop/ PC.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Vikram Kalia, GM- Product Management, Intex Technologies said, “INTEX 3G wireless data card strengthens Intex’s commitment to bring a digital revolution by transforming the way Indians communicate, conduct business and get entertained. The data card allows the users to access internet whenever and wherever they want without having to worry about Wi-Fi hotspots or the exorbitantly priced tariffs of hotels, etc. In today’s world, being connected 24/7 has become a necessity, a way of life. Keeping this in mind, Intex has launched this card with wireless access on both 2G & 3G Sim, making seamless and continued connectivity a reality for its customers.”

Intex plans to soon tie up with the 3G service providers to offer attractive combo offers and make this service popular in India. This 3G data card will be available at both IT and Telecom Channel Partners and also at INTEX SQUARES (exclusive retail stores), across the country.

Attractively priced at Rs 2820, the USB card/stick supports micro SD card up to 16 GB and runs on most of the available operating systems- Windows, XP, Vista Win 7, Mac OS and Linux.

About Intex Technologies (India) Ltd.

Intex Technologies is a pioneer in Technology & IT Products such as Computer Peripherals, Mobile Phones and Consumer Electronics. Set up in 1996, the company is headquartered at New Delhi. Intex has been ranked 85, amongst the 200 fastest growing IT companies in India by Data Quest. During the last 9 financial years, the company turnover has increased by leaps and bounds to Rs. 733 crore in 2010-11(at a CAGR of 32% over the last 5 financial years).

Intex has built for itself a high credibility amongst its vast network of channel partners and several million satisfied end users by offering innovative products at affordable prices supported by strong sales and service network.

The company has a pan-India presence though a network of 29 branches, at 70 exclusive retail stores – Intex Square, over 3000 distributors, over 22,000 resellers and more than 500 service centres. The products are also available at more than 150 dedicated counters of reputed chains of hyper markets and specialty stores across the country.

Brand 'Intex' covers 8 business segments- PC & Peripherals, Mobile Phones, Consumer Electronics, Security Software, Retail, Power Electronics, Enterprise Business and International Business. The business segments cover a portfolio of 29 Product Groups spread across more than 350 SKUs ranging from Multimedia Speakers, Headphones, Web Cameras, TFT-LCD /LED monitors, Data Card, Dual SIM/Triple SIM and Single SIM mobile handsets, LCD & LED TVs,  DVD players, Antivirus & Internet Security to name just a few. The Company has been a pioneer in launching novel products like India's first projector Phone V-Show, Vision Phone for visually challenged, Dominator to name few.


Sourced From: Perfect Relations Ltd.

RED DIGITAL BAGS PEPSICO’S MIRINDA SOCIAL MEDIA MANDATE

Red Digital has been awarded the social media mandate for PepsiCo’s Mirinda.
Red Digital will build and execute social media strategies that will help PepsiCo’s Mirinda brand reach out to their audience on social media platforms. The agency will play a key role in creating online buzz about the brand’s new offerings along with launching various campaigns and building engagement across social networks.

For Mirinda, Red Digital’s immediate mandate on social media is to create an impact for Mirinda’s latest breathless campaign, with which it has launched two new flavors, Mirinda Orange Masala and Mirinda Orange Mango, while continuing with the base Mirinda Orange flavor. The launch is supported by a robust 360-degree campaign called the Taste Twister Challenge, supported via Radio, Outdoor & On-Ground activation along with social media. Red Digital will help in bringing the experience of this program to Facebook & On-ground. The program requires consumers to call or SMS at 08800033333 to choose the Taste Twister of their favorite flavor and recite it repeatedly in one breath for as long as possible; longer the recording, greater are the chances of winning exciting prizes, including 10 MP3 players and 1 tablet PC every day! Red Digital has replicated this experience on Facebook and Android tablets for on-ground activation, making the programme truly 360-degree.

Red Digital is also geared to exploit the new disruptive full sleeve packaging that captures the taste and fun experience of drinking Mirinda through applications on Facebook. These applications use the most prominent aspect of the packaging: the emoticons, to bring alive the new flavors. The applications range from allowing fans on the Mirinda India Facebook fan page to enter into an augmented reality world and play with the emoticons to classifying friends in various taste categories. The agency will also be creating an augmented reality iPhone and Android application.

The campaign, for the first time ever, will also see Red Digital creating TweetMobs though the duration of this campaign.  These will be high impact subjects being Tweeted by Mirinda and re-tweeted by a group of people within a specific time frame. Red Digital will connect with the Twitterati’s and get as many people to tweet about the topic with various Mirinda branded hash tags creating a plethora of endorsements for Mirinda.
Commenting on the development, Harsh Jain, Founder & Managing Director, Red Digital said, “Social media provides seamless opportunities to build interest groups. Digital is no longer just about showing banners and clicking on them. It’s about generating engagement, activation and creating convergence between the online and offline worlds. We are glad to have an innovative partner like Pepsi Co onboard and look forward to creating path-breaking innovations in new media in the near future. The new activities for Mirinda brand emphasize our continued focus on digital innovation aimed at bringing value to our clients.”


Speaking on Mirinda’s partnership with Red Digital, Ruchira Jaitly, Executive Vice President - Marketing, Beverages (Flavours), PepsiCo India said "Social Media has become a very important tool for engaging with consumers and having a dialogue with them on a constant basis. We are pleased to have Red Digital on board as our social media partner for this initiative. Their prior experience in handling leading brands coupled with a deep understanding of consumer behavior in the digital space will definitely ensure there is a high level of engagement and traction for Mirinda’s campaign on 3 Flavors."
Mirinda India Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/mirindaindia

ABOUT RED DIGITAL:


Red Digital is a Mumbai based 360 degree digital ideation and services company which operates across new media platforms including social media, gaming, mobile and the traditional web. From start-ups to global brands, they've helped businesses realize their online potential. Red Digital presently works with multiple high profile clients including Adidas Cricket, Mumbai Indians, Danone, Godrej, Educomp, UTV Motion Pictures, Monginis, Godrej, Ibibo, Pogo, Cartoon Network, Disney, Apollo and Dream11.com for whom they manage design, brand solutions, gaming, social reputation management, ideation, online activation, product development and social commerce .

ABOUT PEPSICO INDIA:

PepsiCo entered India in 1989 and has grown to become one of the largest food and beverage businesses in India. With an investment of over $1 billion, PepsiCo India has built an expansive beverage and snack food business supported by 37 beverage bottling plants and 3 food plants. PepsiCo India’s extensive portfolio includes iconic brands like Pepsi, Lay’s, Kurkure, Tropicana 100%, Gatorade, Quaker, and fast growing brands i.e. Nimbooz and Aliva.
PepsiCo India is driven by its global commitment to sustainable growth, Performance with Purpose, which works on four planks of replenishing water, partnering with farmers, waste to wealth and healthy kids. In 2009, PepsiCo India achieved a significant milestone, by becoming the first business to achieve ‘Positive Water Balance’ in the beverage world. In 2010, PepsiCo India gave back 4 billion liters more water than what it consumed, a fact verified by Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd. For more information, please visit www.pepsicoindia.co.in

Sourced From: Brand-Comm

Hide & Peek To Host Workshop on Nurturing Reading Habits

Hide and Peek, a leading chain of play centre for young children, will host an interactive workshop - ‘Nurturing Reading Habits’ - aimed at providing a platform for parents to inculcate reading habits in children aged 0-6 years. Shamsa Mistry will conduct these workshops on February 23, and it is part of the initiatives planned by Hide & Peek to provide learning opportunities to the pre-schoolers through short fun filled sessions.

Elizabeth Hardwick, Novelist and Literary Critic who published ‘The Decline of Book Reviewing’ had proclaimed that the greatest gift you can give to your child is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, and it gives knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind.

Roshini  Thadini, Director   of Hide & Peek informed, “The current realities surrounding our children include host of distractions, too much TV, inability of parents to take time out to read to children and a simple inability to select right book for the little one! Inspired by the great thought from Elizabeth Hardwick we are introducing a series of workshops on Nurturing Reading Habits for 0-6 year old children. We plan to introduce more innovative learning exercises before the summer vacation ensues, and each will be fun and encourage children to explore our world simultaneously.”

The workshop, designed by Shamsa Mistry (MSc Research Methods and Analysis, UK), encourages and extends support to parents in nurturing reading habits in their children. With over 15 years of experience in teaching and training, Shamsa a mother of two, adds her own personal experiences to these sessions.

The workshop will highlight the challenges parents face in initiating and sustaining reading habit and brainstorm on possible solutions. The topics for discussions will range from selecting an appropriate book for each age, to inculcating a regular reading habit, to introducing the world of books and various means of encouraging reading habits. It will also provide a platform to share and grow with other likeminded parents.

Hide and Peek believes in the principle that urban spaces, rich in culture, diversity and experiences, can provide and nurture the creative world of our children. The playschool encourages children to enjoy outdoor playing and discover their world by themselves.

Hide and Peek, earlier known as Peekaboo, is a warm ‘n bright place, spread over 4,500 sq. ft of childrens' indoor and outdoor play centre. Come rain or sunshine, hide & peek is designed for children birth through elementary age and offers a safe and family-friendly play environment in which both children and parents can have fun!

Sourced From: April Media PR

Akamai Introduces Kona Site Defender to Protect Enterprises from Multi-vectored DDoS and Application Security Attacks

Akamai® Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leading cloud platform for delivering secure, high-performing user experiences to any device, anywhere, today introduced Akamai Kona Site Defender. The service is designed to protect the brand value of companies by shielding their web sites, applications and associated data in the face of increasing and more complex attacks.  These attacks can cost companies millions in lost transactions and business productivity each year, and even higher losses in their brand value and reputation.  With the introduction of Kona Site Defender, real-time web security monitoring, adaptive rate controls and other powerful features are bundled into a single, always on, cloud-based solution that can protect an enterprise’s most critical online business functions.

Akamai currently provides web security solutions to more than 300 enterprises – including financial institutions, retailers, government agencies, and media and entertainment companies organizing today’s most high-profile events – and has seen a more than 140 percent increase in customers taking advantage of Akamai security solutions from 2010 to 2011. And while many organizations still wish to pair acceleration with web security in order to give users of primary sites and web applications an optimal experience, an increasing number find that the requirement for protection from DDoS and application layer attacks applies to a much broader number of their web properties. The availability of Kona Site Defender makes it possible for these organizations to more easily protect web sites from attack without requiring the purchase of acceleration and optimization services.

“Attackers don't stay on one layer anymore; they tend to include both network and application-based techniques, which makes defending against them more complicated,” said Wendy Nather, research director of 451 Research's Enterprise Security Practice.  “Enterprises are looking for resilient defense that takes advantage of the provider's experience with large volumes of these kinds of attacks.”

At the foundation of Akamai’s security offerings is the massively distributed Akamai Intelligent Platform™ that is designed to provide not only unmatched scale but also automatic protection against network layer attacks. Because the AkamaiIntelligent Platform is designed to only accept valid HTTP/S requests on port 80 and port 443, network layer attacks such as TCP SYN floods, UDP floods, and other network packet based attacks are deflected. The Akamai Intelligent Platform is further designed with built-in automatic protections against HTTP “slow client” attacks (e.g. Slowloris) and HTTP Request Smuggling attacks.

Akamai’s platform-based approach to web security can offer powerful protection to customers without incurring the performance penalty often associated with other methods, such as traffic scrubbing. Akamai seeks to deliver protection natively in the existing traffic path eliminating the need for rerouting, mitigatingadded latency and incurring no single point of failure. The Akamai Intelligent Platform is designed to deliver always on protection with industry leading scalability.  Every Akamai edge server can act as a Kona Site Defender policy enforcement point, which is designed to allow Akamai to rapidly scale up defenses against attacks against its customers.  In addition, Kona Site Defender helps protects customers from some of the potential costs resulting from high volume attacks by explicitly capping burst fees that Akamai might otherwise charge for traffic bursts if that traffic was caused by a large scale DDoS attack.

At the application layer, where attacks such as SQL injection and cross site scripting are prevalent, the Akamai technology is differentiated through the inclusion of a full-feature web application firewall. This application layer firewall consists of approximately 100 easy to configure rules that are designed to provide:

·      HTTP protocol violation protections

·      HTTP request limits

·      HTTP policy limits (limit methods, content types, file extensions, etc.)

·      Protections against trojans

·      Defenses against scanners and bad robots

·      Genericattack protections (e.g. SQL injections, cross site scripting, system command injections, etc.)

·      Outbound content protection

 In addition, the web application firewall can block requests based on the geography of the IP address making the request and it can define custom rules that apply specific protections for customer applications.

New design features introduced with the launch of Kona Site Defender include:

Advanced Security Monitor: Knowing in real-time that a web site or application is being attacked, and having visibility into the nature and source of the attack, is critical to a successful defense.  Kona Site Defender provides security professionals with the required real-time visibility into security events as well as the capability to drill down into attack alerts to retrieve detailed information on who isattacking, what they are attacking, what defense capabilities triggered theattack declaration and what specifically was seen in the requests that triggered site defenses. As important, archived log data is available for 90 days to aid in post-attack forensics review.

Rate Controls: Kona Site Defender provides a new set of web defenses based on detecting and blocking clients that exhibit malicious behavior. The platform monitors the rate of requests coming from individual IP addresses and gathers statistics about each.  This allows customers to block any IP address that is behaving in an abusive way, such as sending too many requests per second or causing too many origin errors. These protections are always on.  Further the statistics collected allow Kona Site Defender to automatically detect IP addresses that have a high request rate but are not malicious such as large enterprise proxies.

“Our customers are some of the most innovative online businesses in the world, and as such, are looking for that same level of innovation from the companies with whichthey work to protect their brands and their reputations,” explained John Summers, vice president, Security Business, Akamai. “With the introduction of Kona Site Defender, we’re offering what we believe is the best way to respond to an ever changing, and in many ways, ever more hostile online environment.”

In recent weeks, Akamai customers have benefitted from the Company’s differentiated approach to delivering DDoS mitigation and web application security services. Both commercial and government organizations have been protected from potentially crippling, long-term attacks that in some cases reached a peak of more than 16,300 requests/sec (862 Mb/sec), an increase of 110 times normal traffic, and lasted over three days. In every case, the customers’ sites remained up and fully operational.

Akamai Kona Site Defender is in limited availability now and will be generally available April 11, 2012. For more information please visit http://www.akamai.com/security. To see Kona Site Defender in action, please visit Akamai at the upcoming RSA Conference 2012  (Booth 851).

About Akamai

Akamai® is the leading cloud platform for helping enterprises provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere.  At the core of the Company's solutions is the Akamai Intelligent Platform™ providing extensive reach, coupled with unmatched reliability, security, visibility and expertise.  Akamai removes the complexities of connecting the increasingly mobile world, supporting 24/7 consumer demand, and enabling enterprises to securely leverage the cloud.  To learn more about how Akamai is accelerating the pace ofinnovation in a hyperconnected world, please visit www.akamai.com or blogs.akamai.com, and follow @Akamai on Twitter.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act

This release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-lookingstatements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, failure of Akamai services to operate as expected or to address intended market needs, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, and other factors that are discussed in Akamai's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.

McAfee Q4 Threats Report shows malware surpassed 75 Million Samples in 2011

McAfee today released the McAfee Threats Report: Fourth Quarter 2011, revealing that malware surpassed the company’s estimate of 75 million unique malware samples last year. Although the release of new malware slowed in Q4, mobile malware continued to increase and recorded its busiest year to date.

“The threat landscape continued to evolve in 2011, and we saw a significant shift in motivation for cyber attacks,” said Vincent Weafer, senior vice president of McAfee Labs. “Increasingly, we’ve seen that no organization, platform or device is immune to the increasingly sophisticated and targeted threats. On a global basis, we are conducting more of our personal and business transactions through mobile devices, and this is creating new security risks and challenges in how we safeguard our commercial and personal data.”



Malware

The overall growth of PC-based malware actually declined throughout Q4 2011, and is significantly lower than Q4 2010. The cumulative number of unique malware samples in the collection still exceeds the 75 million mark. In total, both 2011 and the fourth quarter were by far the busiest periods for mobile malware that McAfee has seen yet, with Android firmly fixed as the largest target for writers of mobile malware.

Contributing to the rise in malware were rootkits, or stealth malware. Though rootkits are some of the most sophisticated classifications of malware, designed to evade detection and “live” on a system for a prolonged period, they showed a slight decline in Q4. Fake AV dropped considerably from Q3, while AutoRun and password-stealing Trojan malware show modest declines. In a sharp contrast to Q2 2011, Mac OS malware has remained at very low levels the last two quarters.



Web Threats

In the third quarter McAfee Labs recorded an average of 6,500 new bad sites per day; this figure shot up to 9,300 sites in Q4. Approximately one in every 400 URLs were malicious on average, and at their highest levels, approximately one in every 200 URLs were malicious. This brings the total of active malicious URLs to more than 700,000.

The vast majority of new malicious sites are located in the United States, followed by the Netherlands, Canada, South Korea and Germany. Overall, North America housed the largest amount of servers hosting malicious content, at more than 73 percent, followed by Europe-Middle East at more than 17 percent and Asia Pacific at 7 percent.

 Spam

At the end of 2011, global spam reached its lowest point in years, especially in areas such as the United Kingdom, Brazil, Argentina and South Korea. Despite the drop in global levels, McAfee Labs found that the present spearphishing and spam are highly sophisticated.



Overall botnet growth rebounded in November and December after falling since August, with Brazil, Columbia, India, Spain and the United States all seeing significant increases. Germany, Indonesia and Russia declined. Of the botnets, Cutwail continues to reign supreme, while Lethic has been on a steady decline since last quarter. Grum made a significant comeback after a long decline, surpassing Bobax and Lethic by the end of Q4.

 Data Breaches

The number of reports of data breaches via hacking, malware, fraud and insiders more than doubled since 2009, according to privacyrights.org, with more than 40 breaches publicly reported this quarter alone. The leading network threat this quarter came via vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows remote procedure calls. This was followed closely by SQL injection and cross-site scripting attacks. These remote attacks can be launched at selected targets around the globe.

To access McAfee’s Threats Report: Fourth Quarter 2011, please visit http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/reports/rp-quarterly-threat-q4-2011.pdf.

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

Note: McAfee is a registered trademark or trademark of McAfee, or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. © 2012 McAfee All rights reserved. The product plans, specifications and descriptions herein are provided for information only, subject to change without notice, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied.


Sourced From: Text100 PR, 

Sony India offers Quick Heal Antivirus with all Micro Vault ranging from 4GB to 32GB

Sony India recently announced their value added promotion offer on all Sony Micro Vault ranging from 4GB to 32GB.

The company will provide free Quick Heal Antivirus, internet security software, on purchase of any Sony Micro Vault across any capacity. The offer is valid from 23rd January to 31st March 2012. Quick Heal Antivirus protects pen drives, laptops and desktops from unwanted virus. It also helps to secure e-mail accounts and provides protection against all kinds of internet or network-based threats.

Picture3To avail Sony’s Quick Heal Promotion Offer, the customer has to scratch the silver line (provided at the back of all retail packaging) and download the file provided on the web link page www.quickheal.com/sony. After entering the redemption code, one can enjoy 4 months of subscription absolutely free.

Sony Micro Vault are priced from Rs. 480 to Rs. 4399 and can be availed across all Sony Center and other major electronic outlets in India.

About Sony India Pvt. Ltd.

Sony India is one of the most recognized consumer electronics brand in the country, with a reputation for new age technology, digital concepts and excellent after sales service. In India, Sony has its footprint across all major towns and cities in the country through a distribution network comprising of over 5000 dealers and distributors, 270 exclusive Sony outlets and 20 direct branch locations. Sony India also has a strong service presence across the country with 255 service outlets. Manned by customer friendly and informed sales persons, Sony’s exclusive stores ‘Sony Center’ are fast becoming the most visible face of the company in India. A distinctive feature of Sony’s service is its highly motivated and well-trained staff that provides the kind of attentive and sensitive service that is rare today.

For more details, please visit: www.sony.co.in


Sourced From: Perfect Relations

Firstsource Solutions Partners With RuralShores To Strengthen Rural BPO Services

FIRSTSOURCE SOLUTIONS LTD., a leading global Business Process Outsourcing services provider, announced its partnership with RuralShores in establishing a 135 seat delivery center in Chand, a village in Chhindwara District in Madhya Pradesh. The alliance aims at taking BPO work to rural India. Firstsource and RuralShores have joined hands to set-up this rural office to empower the Indian youth and created employment opportunities.

Chand is a village located 27 kilometers away from Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh; all employees arrive from villages within a radius of 10 kilometers from Chand. The RuralShores Chand center is completely equipped with IT infrastructure and meets the standards and regulatory requirements. The center will attempt to bring global-style outsourcing services, while exposing this rural area to global business practices.

RuralShores currently has 135 seats in the Chand center scaling up to 250 by May, 2012. With the help of Firstsource, more than 175 individuals are operating out of its delivery center. Through this partnership, the two companies are primarily servicing customers in regional languages.


“Rural India holds a lot of potential and talent waiting to be tapped. With our partnership with RuralShores, we are positive that we can provide great opportunities to the youth without having to move away from their village. However, more importantly, rural BPOs compliment our focus to penetrate the Indian market,” said Mr. Shalabh Jain, Executive Vice President, Asia Business Unit, Firstsource Solutions.


Also speaking on the occasion, Mr. Murali Vullaganti, CEO, RuralShores says, “We are happy to be associated with a leading service provider like Firstsource to help address the cause of youth empowerment in India. I am certain that we have a great potential for more ventures in a market with a growing landscape like rural India.”

Nasscom says IT-BPO firms plan to increase the total rural BPO employee base by more than 10 times over the next three years. Rural BPOs are now compelling business ventures for outsourcing companies due to various factors like availability of talent, really low attrition rates, affordable real estate, low labour and operational costs

About Firstsource:

Firstsource (NSE: FSL, BSE: 532809, Reuters: FISO.BO, Bloomberg: FSOL@IN) is a leading global provider of customized BPO services to the Healthcare, Telecom & Media and Banking and Financial Services industries. Its clients include Fortune 500, FTSE 100 and Nifty 50 companies. Firstsource has a “rightshore” delivery model with operations in India, U.S., UK and Philippines. (www.firstsource.com).

 About RuralShores

RuralShores started in 2008, is a socio-commercial entity which was started with an objective to rollout Rural BPO centers across rural India. A group of successful and like minded professionals, with the intention of doing their little mite to address this dire need, have launched an initiative to set up business processing centers in the rural areas. Over three years, company has grown to 12 centers with a footprint across 8 states. Today RuralShores employs more than 1000 rural youth, thus directly impacting 1000 rural families and creating tertiary employment for another thousand households.

RuralShores has been recognized by the prestigious Edison Awards 2012, USA in the Lifestyle and Social Impact category for its mission of social intervention with business innovation.
(www.ruralshores.com)

Global Quest Underway to Identify Education Visionary

The search has begun for an individual – or group – to become the next Laureate of the WISE Prize for Education. This is the first global prize to recognize world-class contributors to education at a similar level to other major prizes for science, literature, peace or economics.

The WISE Prize for Education, now in its second year, pays tribute to those in any sector whose achievements have had a significant and lasting impact upon education at any level and demonstrate an inspiring and visionary approach.

The Laureate receives $500,000 (US) and a gold medal.

Commenting on the search for the 2012 WISE Prize Laureate, WISE Chairman Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, said: “This year again, I hope that the nominations will cover the entire scope of what education can bring to the world, from an outstanding contributor to academic research to an on-the-ground practitioner whose work has benefited many. The perfect profile may also be someone who has shone the light of education in adverse circumstances, or who has uncovered and nurtured talent which had lain unnoticed and neglected.”

His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, awarded the inaugural WISE Prize for Education to Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairman of BRAC, at the 2011 WISE Summit in Doha, Qatar.


Sir Fazle Hasan Abed has spent over 40 years developing the Bangladesh-based BRAC into a broad initiative dedicated to assisting the neediest to gain skills and empowerment through education.
BRAC has contributed directly to the education of more than 10 million young people from pre-primary through to secondary levels. BRAC is now active in nine other countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in the world, providing a wide range of education programs which have benefited nearly 140 million individuals.

Prof. Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, Columbia University, USA, was a member of the Jury in 2011. He commented: “In Sir

Fazle Hasan Abed we found a truly exemplary Laureate for the inaugural WISE Prize. Whoever the 2012 Laureate proves to be, the next WISE Prize will take one step further in raising global awareness of the importance and potential of innovation in education.”

WISE is inviting nominations from individuals and institutions with a demonstrable commitment to education, such as universities, schools, colleges, teachers’ organizations, research facilities, international organizations, governments, private corporations and the media. A high-level Committee will make a pre-selection of the nominations received from around the world, and an international Jury of distinguished individuals will make the final choice of the Laureate whose name will be announced at the 4th WISE Summit to be held November 13-15, 2012, in Doha, Qatar.

Dr. Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani added: “Our selection process is highly rigorous to ensure that the individual or group we identify embodies the highest degree of excellence. We received several hundred nominations last year and look forward to an even stronger response in 2012.”
The closing date for nominations is March 31, 2012. The nomination process is strictly confidential. To nominate a candidate for the Prize or for further information about WISE and the WISE Prize, please visit: www.wise-qatar.org or  www.wiseprizeforeducation.org


About the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE):

WISE is dedicated to building the future of education through innovation. This global collaborative initiative was inaugurated in 2009 by Qatar Foundation, under the leadership of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Its mission is to address the challenges facing 21st-century education, to expand dialogue around the world and to implement practical and sustainable solutions. To this end, WISE holds an annual international Summit that provides a unique platform and meeting place for thought leaders and experts to share best practices about education. WISE is also a year-round initiative devoted to reaching outside the traditional circles of the education community to promote innovation and implement concrete actions. The WISE 2012 Summit will take place in Doha, Qatar, 13-15 November 2012. Full details on the WISE website: www.wise-qatar.org 

Vivel Soaps Announces ‘See the World’ An experience to enjoy a dream holiday – ‘Choo lo Aasmaan’

Vivel, ITC’s leading personal care brand has yet again raised the bar to provide a unique brand experience to its customers. Vivel caters to the intrinsic beauty needs of the modern Indian woman, thereby giving her the confidence to fulfill her aspirations – ‘Choo Lo Aasmaan’. In line with this brand philosophy, Vivel Soaps announces Vivel ‘See the World’ contest.  It offers consumers an opportunity to live a dream holiday and leisurely explore dream destinations like Switzerland, Paris, Italy and a host of breathtaking Indian locales.

Vivel soaps invite every individual and valued Vivel customer to participate through a simple process. There is a unique code mentioned on all carton packs of Vivel soap variants. Participants just need to SMS the 6 digit alphanumeric unique code as VIVEL<>UNIQUE CODE to 9222281111 or register their unique code on the website www.vivel.in/seetheworld.

Kareena Kapoor, Brand Ambassador, Vivel Soaps, says, “Vivel is one of the longest brand associations for me and I am extremely proud of how the brand has grown phenomenally over the years. Vivel ‘See the World’ is yet another unique Vivel experience. I urge everyone to participate in this contest and experience dream destinations with their families. Live your dream with Vivel!”

10 winners could win the family dream holiday to Switzerland, Paris and Italy and 100 lucky Vivel consumers will win an indulgent vacation to Goa, Tirupati and Shimla. In addition to the host of holidays, every correct Vivel unique code message will win consumers a plethora of exciting gifts.

Vivel ‘See the World’ contest is an initiative with an endeavor to engage with consumers across India and gift them with an opportunity to reach for the stars. The contest is on till the 30th of June, 2012 and is open to all Vivel customers across India except in the states of J&K and Tamil Nadu.

Vivel soaps invites you to live your dream holiday with your family!

Sourced From: Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick

Samsung launches series 5 Ultra Notebooks in the Indian market

Digital technology leader, Samsung Electronics, today announced the launch of its new Series 5 Ultra notebooks. A family of extremely portable, no compromise Ultrabooks, the Samsung Series 5 boasts a slim design profile with a rich feature set and an Intel® Core™ i5 processor. The Series 5 Ultrabooks, available in 13” and 14” screen sizes, redefine the computing experience by offering users top-of-the line performance, with near instant starts using FastStart and the innovative ExpressCache™ storage, all in a stylish yet sturdy design. Designed with consumer feedback in mind, the 14” model is also one of the first in the market to feature a built-in DVD drive and SD card slot, giving users the ability to easily access software, movies, photos and more.

Launching the new Ultra notebooks, Mr. Ranjit Yadav, Country Head -Samsung Mobile & IT said, “The Series 5 Ultrabooks are a true showcase of Samsung’s capability to innovate and bring to life products that are designed keeping in mind the requirements of our consumers. With the Series 5, our consumers will be able to enjoy superior performance, great looks and complete portability. With the launch of Samsung Ultrabooks, we are creating a new segment within the Notebook space.”



Enhanced Features for Superior Performance



Performance alone is insufficient without enough space to store your data. Despite the recent trend of cloud storage, local storage is still preferred among users on a daily basis. The Series 5’s performance is matched by its storage capacity, with the 14’’ model delivering up to 1TB of storage capacity and the 13” model delivering up to 500 GB, thus ensuring that users never need to carry additional storage devices with them. The performance has been further enhanced by the extended battery life. The Samsung Series 5 Ultra delivers up to 6.4 hours of battery life on a single charge, to make sure users enjoy the ultra features throughout the day. The Samsung Battery Life Plus is a true anti-aging battery technology which keeps 80 percent of the cell’s original capacity in a life cycle lasting up to 1,500 charging cycles / three years. This ensures that the battery can last up to five times longer than other notebooks. ExpressCache™ features enhanced overall performance, including the ability to boot up in just 20 seconds and wake up in around two seconds, as well as faster start times for frequently used programs and up to 2x quicker web browsing.



Light, Powerful and Ultra-mobile



Taking its design cues from Samsung’s existing popular Notebook PC lines, particularly the high-end Series 9, the Series 5 Ultra features sleek lines and a cool, sophisticated design.



To ensure ease-of-use while on the move, the 13” variant is just 14.9~17.6mm thin and 1.42kg light (w/SSD). It features the Intel® Core™ i5 processor with 8GB memory, up to 500GB storage and 16GB iSSD with ExpressCache™. Consumers can also choose from a 128GB SSD or 258GB SSD as their preferred storage. To offer maximum connection to other devices, the 13” model also carries a full-size HDMI port along with one USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, 4-in-1 multi SD card slot, Ethernet and webcam.



The 14” model is equipped with Intel® Core™ i5 processor and has 8GB memory and 16GB iSSD with ExpressCache™ system offers exceptional performance. For larger storage and heightened visual experience, it can accommodate up to 1TB storage as well as an AMD Radeon™ HD7550M 1GB graphics card. An integrated Optical Disc Drive is also installed for maximum convenience. In terms of connectivity, the 14” model offers full-size HDMI, VGA, two USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, 4-in-1 multi SD card slot, Ethernet and webcam. All the above features are packed into a 20.9mm thin and 1.84kg light chassis.



Whether you’re sharing vacation photos with friends or giving a presentation to clients, images come alive on the Series 5 Ultrabook’s 13.3” or 14” 1366 x 768 high resolution display with Samsung’s SuperBright Technology (300 nits). With 16 million color saturation and an easy-to-view matte screen, users enjoy the high quality visual experience in a wide range of environments, both indoors and out.



Pricing

The 13” and 14” Ultrabook models will retail at Rs. 48,990/- and Rs. 54,390/- respectively.

 “The launch of Samsung Ultrabooks will strengthen our NotePC offering in the consumer space and together with our enhanced NotePC lineup this year, will help us to significantly consolidate our position in the Indian market,” states Mr. Yadav. The Samsung NotePC range is available in the price range between Rs 14,990/- to Rs 100,000 /-.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.


Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 222,000 people in 205 offices across 71 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com


Sourced From:Text 100 Bangalore

Gartner Highlights Five Business Process Management Pitfalls to Avoid

Business process management (BPM) delivers significant benefits to organizations, but some organizations have faced many problems due to wrong turns along the way, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner analysts have identified five BPM threats BPI (business process improvement) leaders need to be mindful of as organizations progress on their BPM initiatives.

"Considerable attention has been paid to the value of BPM and the dramatic transformation it can bring to an organization, but undertaking BPM isn't easy and BPI leaders and practitioners often stumble along the journey," said John Dixon, research director at Gartner. "BPM can be fraught with challenges due to the scale and breadth of skills, attributes and tools needed to be successful. BPM also presents innumerable challenges in areas such as organizational change, measurement systems, communications, business analysis, improvement methodologies and vendor selection."

With this in mind, Gartner has compiled five BPM pitfalls to avoid. They include:

Pitfall No. 1: Being Caught Unprepared to Demonstrate Value Delivered

With this pitfall, the BPM team may well have delivered some value to the organization, but if it did, it failed to keep a record of these achievements, or to routinely communicate them to those that matter. All BPM projects should start with an understanding of how success (outcomes) will be measured. It is vital to understand what the team is trying to improve (with a baseline measurement) and the corresponding improvement (metric). This metric must be communicated to the business, to clearly articulate the benefits delivered. The key is to learn the language of the organization and to use that language to communicate success.

Pitfall No. 2: Deploying a BPMS Without Understanding BPM as a Discipline

Deploying a cutting-edge business process management suite (BPMS) will solve nothing unless the organization also applies BPM as a discipline. BPM is not about technology. Because it fundamentally changes how people work, BPM is about change. The problem with relying solely on input from one subject matter expert, or group of managers, is that the process documented will reflect only what the expert or managers "think it should be." This "offline" analysis misses one of the greatest opportunities for improvement: mapping the real process.



Pitfall No. 3: Launching a BPM Effort Based on Perceived Problems, Without Validating the Facts

BPM activities must be based on facts and data, rather than reactions to those who shout the loudest.

 When starting a BPM initiative, it is good practice to allot a period of time to set up and gather metrics before process improvement work occurs. This period should be agreed to upfront, with the BPM steering committee or project sponsors, to properly set expectations.



Pitfall No. 4: Developing BPM Capabilities Without Delivering Business Value

A BPM team must build its capabilities, but this effort needs to be balanced with a degree of realism: the organization wants to see some return on its investment, often relatively quickly. Effort must be made to deliver benefits — even if they are relatively small at first — and to communicate them to the business so it can see some return on investment and feel positive about maintaining funding.



Pitfall No. 5: Focusing on Mapping Processes Instead of Improving Processes

BPM teams can get lost in mapping processes, acting under the assumption that this mapping activity amounts to "doing BPM." However, if these process maps are not used as a tool for bringing about real business improvements — or if such productive use cannot be demonstrated — they have no inherent value. BPM teams need to track and communicate the business value delivered.

 Additional information is available in the Gartner report "Tales From the Trenches: Five BPM Pitfalls to

Avoid". The report is available on Gartner's website at www.gartner.com/resId=1787515.



Mr. Dixon, the Summit chair, will discuss how to overcome the barriers to BPM success in further detail at the Summit. For further information about the Gartner Business Process Management Summit 2012, taking place March 14-15 in London, please visit www.gartner.com/eu/bpm. Additional information from the event will be shared on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Gartner_inc and using #GartnerBPM.



The Gartner Business Process Management Summit 2012 in Baltimore, Maryland will be held on April 25-27 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront hotel. Additional information is available at www.gartner.com/us/bpm. Members of the media can register by contacting Christy Pettey at christy.pettey@gartner.com.



About Gartner Business Process Management Summit 2012

BPM can be fraught with challenges, due to the scale and breadth of the skills, attributes and tools needed for success. The Gartner Business Process Management Summit 2012 will help organizations advance their BPM projects, improve their skills and deliver truly transformational BPM. Attendees will learn how to overcome barriers to BPM success, optimize business outcomes with BPM, and deepen their understanding of the next generation of BPM technologies.



About Gartner

·                        Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to 60,000 clients in 11,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 4,400 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com


Sourced From: Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick 

NEC India enters into a strategic alliance with Uneecops Technologies - Partnership to strengthen focus on the government vertical for its projection solutions

NEC India, a leading display, network and IT solutions provider entered into a strategic alliance with Uneecops Technologies Ltd., a leading provider of comprehensive solutions to SMEs and the Government, to increase its penetration for projection solutions in the government sector. This partnership will enable NEC India to drive greater depth for its Multimedia Product business and empower the Government entities (Central and State Governments, public undertakings, autonomous bodies, quasi-public bodies, defense and central schools) with the best in class projection solutions.

NEC has an established history of providing innovative products and solutions including a comprehensive range of projectors with embedded technologies that allow advanced image correction and 3D reform across super-shot to long-throw variants. Its wide range of projectors offer compelling value propositions to suit various market segments including education, enterprise & Government.

Uneecops Technologies Ltd. has been in the forefront of providing comprehensive solutions to Small and Medium sized businesses and the government vertical. This association with Uneecops Technologies is in line with NEC India’s go to market  strategy, to form and strengthen association with partners who not just have critical mass but also have strong domain expertise,  Uneecops Technologies come with a strong  foothold in the Government space which will prove to be mutually beneficial.

Commenting on this alliance Abhilesh Guleria, Head- IT Platforms & Multimedia Product Group, NEC India said, “We are pleased to appoint Uneecops Technologies as our premier multimedia solutions partner for Director General Supply and Disposal (DGS&D) Sales. With this partnership, we hope to gain inroads and tap the immense potential in the government sector. Being acclaimed as the No. 2 projector brand in India, NEC is well positioned to meet the growing demands in the Government space.”

Elaborating on the alliance Mr. Piyush Jain, Managing Director, Uneecops Technologies Ltd said, “We are delighted to be associated with NEC India.  NEC’s market leadership, superior product quality and our Government vertical expertise will be greatly instrumental in strengthening relations and empowering the government vertical with the best in the industry.”

About NEC India Pvt. Ltd.

NEC India Pvt. Ltd, established in New Delhi, India, in August 2006, leverages on NEC's unique capabilities in integrating IT and networking technologies for a diverse customer base across governments, businesses, individuals and society in India. NEC India provides and develops solutions for Carrier Network, Unified Communications, Retail, Security and Surveillance Systems, IT and Multimedia Products to cater to the rapidly expanding Indian market.

NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. ©2011 NEC Corporation.

About Uneecops Technologies Ltd.

Uneecops Technologies Ltd. is an 80 crore Company providing integrated solution and services to its Global Clientele since its establishment in 1996. Besides NEC it has successfully established alliances with major OEMs of the world including Canon, Wipro, VCON, RISO, SAP & ESRI. It has PAN India presence with offices in various regions of the country; Head Office at New Delhi, Corporate Office at Noida and BPO at Noida. It is accredited for providing quality products with high degree of customer care and impeccable After Sales Services.

Sourced From:Perfect Relations

Kimberly-Clark Corporation moves to Asia Pacific model

Kimberly-Clark Corporation announced consolidation of its North and South Asia regions into a single Asia Pacific model.

Asia Pacific is one of the fastest growing and exciting regions in the world today. With the integration of these two regions Kimberly-Clark aims to simplify its business and better focus resources on key priorities, enhance its ability to quickly move innovation across markets, and further strengthen its ability to develop people, as well as provide them with an even broader range of rich career experiences.

Leadership of the region will be consolidated underAchalAgarwal, who has been promoted to President – Asia Pacific effective March 1, 2012. Kimberly-Clark International President, Bob Black said ‘Agarwal’s track record of success as President - North Asia and his depth of experience in the region has prepared him very well for this new role’. His new leadership team will include the Managing Directors of ASEAN, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, and Taiwan, as well as the region’s Finance, Human Resources, IT, Legal, and Product Supply functional leaders.

Currently based in Australia President – South Asia, Mark Wynne declined to take up posting at the company’s headquarters in Dallas and as a result, will be leaving Kimberly-Clark at the end of February. In making the announcement, Bob Black thanked Wynne for his ‘significant and lasting impact over the past four years leading South Asia through major transitions to ensure its success in a very challenging environment’.

About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust K-C’s brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in more than 80 countries. To keep up with the latest K-C news and to learn more about the company's 140-year history of innovation, visit www.kimberly-clark.com

Sourced From:Corporate Voice Weber Shandwick

HERO MOTOCORP FORMS STRATEGIC PARTERNERSHIP WITH ERIK BUELL RACING OF USA

In a landmark development, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL), today announced forging a strategic partnership with Erik Buell Racing (EBR) of the US, encompassing multiple areas of collaboration.

As part of the partnership, HMCL will receive support in terms of cutting-edge technology and design to develop future models from EBR - the East Troy, Wisconsin-based firm, which specializes in designing and manufacturing powerful and high-speed motorcycles.

Announcing this here today, Mr. Pawan Munjal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Hero MotoCorp, said “It gives me immense pleasure to welcome Erik Buell to the exciting world of Hero MotoCorp. This is in keeping with my objective of quickly scaling up our own in-house R&D capabilities to a global two-wheeler technology power-house by leveraging a network of strategic international alliances. Erik and his team have been working closely with our engineers and designers to develop our next-generation range of products with cutting-edge technology and first-of-its-kind features.

 “The Indian two-wheeler industry is set to evolve, and it is only natural that as the market leader, we are driving this change. As a part of this plan, Erik is going to play an integral role in giving shape to some of my dream two-wheelers for the discerning youth of today. So my R&D team and Erik’s team together have made some definitive progress in this direction, and we will hopefully be putting a few scorchers on the roads soon.”

Sourced From: Corporate Voice | Weber Shandwick

Bangalore Student ‘Sachin Kukke’ Among Six Winners of Global YouTube Space Lab Science Competition

YouTube, Lenovo, and Space Adventures today announced the six regional winners of YouTube Space Lab (youtube.com/spacelab), the global science competition that challenged 14-18 year-olds to design a science experiment that can be performed in space.  In cooperation with space agencies including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Space Lab will provide two global winners the chance to have their experiment conducted and live streamed to the world using a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop from the International Space Station on YouTube.

Out of the 6 regional winners, one winner in the 17-18 year old category is Bangalore’s 18 year old Sachin Kukke from BMS College of Engineering. His winning experiment was based on Ferrofluid and aims to measure the thermal conductivity of ferrofluids in microgravity.

“We’re very excited to announce ‘Sachin Kukke’ as the regional winner from India. YouTube Spacelab in association with Lenovo saw participation from over 80 countries with the highest (40 percent) entries coming from India. We want to thank and congratulate all the winners, including the 9 Indian winners whose experiments were shortlisted in the top 60. Through initiatives like these, we want students to get inspired and explore the wonders of science and technology.” said, Nikhil Rungta, Country Marketing Head, Google India.



Sachin Kukke the Indian winner from APAC region, said, “This is like a dream come true, I had never ever imagined that I would get to experience zero gravity in my life. I had hopes of making it to the final six but I was not so sure. I am very excited to win this and I am really looking forward to meeting the other finalists and experiencing the Zero gravity flight.”



The six regional winners, who hail from Egypt, India, New Zealand, Spain, and the U.S., are:

14 - 16 year olds:

         Patrick Zeng & Derek Chan, New Zealand (Asia Pacific region)

         Laura Calvo & María Vilas, Spain (Europe, Middle East and Africa region)

         Dorothy Chen & Sara Ma, U.S. (The Americas region)



17 - 18 year olds:

         Sachin Kukke, Bangalore, India (Asia Pacific region)

         Amr Mohamed, Egypt (Europe, Middle East and Africa region)

         Emerald Bresnahan, U.S. (The Americas region)



The six regional winning teams will visit Washington DC in March for a series of activities and events to honor their achievements, including a ZERO-G Flight, a Lenovo IdeaPad U300s Ultrabook™, a special tour and dinner at the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum at Dulles, and an awards ceremony at the Newseum on March 22. The two global winners (one team from each of the two age groups) will be announced at the awards ceremony on March 22, and will later this year have their experiments performed 250 miles above Earth aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and live streamed on YouTube as part of a global event celebrating science and space.

In addition, the two global winners will get to choose a unique space experience:  a trip to Japan to watch their experiment blast off in a rocket bound for the ISS, or once they are 18-years old, a one-of-a-kind astronaut training experience in Star City, Russia, the training center for Russian cosmonauts.


"This grand project demonstrates that math and science matter,” said Zahaan Bharmal, Google’s Head of Marketing Operations, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and the man behind the idea of Space Lab.  “These six winners represent the next generation of scientists and even space explorers. Their families, schools, local communities and countries should be very proud.”

"An India finalist in the Global YouTube Spacelab science competition indicates the zest with which Indians foster their passion for science" says Shailendra Katyal, Director, Marketing, Lenovo India. "We believe competitions like our partnership with YouTube Space Lab provides students with an opportunity to consider science as a career aspiration. We congratulate all the 6 finalists and wish them luck, may the best one win."

In October 2011, YouTube invited budding scientists in two age categories, 14-16 years old and 17-18 years old, either alone or in groups of up to three, to submit a YouTube video describing their experiment to YouTube.com/SpaceLab.  The Space Lab channel itself, which serves as a launch pad for discovering the best space and science videos on YouTube, has received more than 50 million combined video views worldwide throughout the course of the competition.



Over 150,000 YouTube users worldwide helped determine the six regional winners by voting for their favorite experiment.  The YouTube community casted votes alongside our prestigious panel of judges, including NASA’s Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s Associate Administrator of Education and former Astronaut Leland Melvin, ESA Astronaut Frank De Winne, JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and Cirque du Soleil’s founder Guy Laliberté.



For more information, please visit youtube.com/spacelab.



About YouTube

YouTube is the world’s largest online video community, allowing millions of people to discover, watch, and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original-content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC, is based in San Bruno, California, and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.

About Space Adventures

Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world's first private space explorers, is headquartered in Vienna, Va., with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecraft. The company's advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker, and Skylab/Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott.  For more information, please visit www.spaceadventures.com.

Sourced From: Perfect Relations PR

MAHINDRA SATYAM AND JAPAN’s SBI HOLDINGS ANNOUNCE A USD 50 Mn. JOINT GLOBAL FUND

Mahindra Satyam (hereinafter “MSAT”), a leading global Consulting, IT and Business services provider and SBI Holdings, Inc. (hereinafter “SBIH”), a leading global internet based financial conglomerate and Japan’s largest venture capital/ private equity house, currently managing more than US$ 3 billion, today announced the launch of a joint fund aimed at investing in ICT companies globally.

The total size of the proposed fund will be US$ 50mn with equal contribution from both. The fund will be subject to regulatory and other approvals. The objective of the fund is to help leapfrog the innovation curve by investing in high growth and promising companies in the evolving ICT space.

Mahindra Satyam considers “innovation” as an integral enabler to its future growth, intends to harness new business opportunities in IT Services/Consulting work from companies the fund invests in, possible revenue stream from other portfolio companies of SBIH and access to next-generation technologies, in addition to financial returns from the judicious investments being made.

Mr. C P Gurnani, CEO, MSAT said “With sharp focus on the future trends, we intend to go full throttle on investing into emerging spaces such as Mobility, Social Networking, security Solutions and Cloud. Investments in enterprise mobility and collaborative applications are the leading IT investment priorities for businesses in 2012, with infrastructure consolidation, virtualization and security upgrades in the second tier. This path breaking Fund, managed by SBIH’s expertise in this domain, will be a an accelerator for our growth”

Mr. Kitao, CEO of SBI Holdings said“SBIH is excited about this joint fund with MSAT, as combining the two firms’ complementary strengths will create an investment platform which will enable the fund to capture lucrative opportunities in the global ICT sector.”

About Mahindra Satyam:

Mahindra Satyam is a leading global business and information technology services company that leverages deep industry and functional expertise, leading technology practices, and an advanced, global delivery model to help clients transform their highest-value business processes and improve their business performance. The company's professionals excel in enterprise solutions, supply chain management, client relationship management, business intelligence, business process quality, engineering and product lifecycle management, and infrastructure services, among other key capabilities.

Mahindra Satyam is part of the $14.4 billion Mahindra Group, a global federation of companies and one of the top 10 business houses based in India. The group focuses on enabling people to rise. Mahindra operates in the key industries that drive economic growth, enjoying a leadership position in tractors, utility vehicles, information technology, vacation ownership, rural and semi-urban financial services, etc. Mahindra has a significant and growing presence amongst others, in the automotive industry, agribusiness, aerospace, automotive components, consulting services, defence, energy, industrial equipment, logistics, real estate, retail, steel and two wheelers.

 Mahindra Satyam development and delivery centers in the US, Canada, Brazil, the UK, Hungary, Egypt, UAE, India, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia serve numerous clients, including many Fortune 500 organizations. For more information, see www.mahindrasatyam.com



About SBI Holdings:

Established in Japan in 1999, SBI Holdings, Inc. (“SBI”) is a leading global internet-based financial conglomerate.  SBI Group’s core businesses include Brokerage and Investment Banking, Asset Management, Commercial Banking, Insurance and Online Settlement.  As of December 31, 2011, SBI Group consists of 141 companies (including consolidated partnerships, equity method affiliates and 7 publicly listed companies).  SBI’s unique “Financial Ecosystem” structure offers a complete suite of retail financial products, enabling SBI to realize greater synergies.

 SBI Group is also Japan’s largest VC/PE house currently managing more than USD 3 Billion in committed capital. SBI Group’s basic policy in developing the asset management business is to establish joint operation systems with prominent local partners. Beginning with the first overseas fund established in 2005 with the Temasek Group, an investment arm of the Singapore government, SBI has expanded its network with prominent partnerships with institutions such as Abu Dhabi’s Invest AD and Ministry of Finance, Brunei Darussalam.

 Safe Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. Mahindra Satyam undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements.


Sourced From: Tech Mahindra Ltd.