30 MAR, 2012: INFOSYS, TCS, SIFY BAG POSTAL DEPARTMENT'S TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS
The Department of Post (DoP) has issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) to Infosys, TCS, Sify and Reliance Communications Infrastructure for different technology advancement projects.
"Department is trying to induct technology in a big way. There are eight RFPs (Request for Proposal) we have floated and issued Letter of Intent in five (projects) to companies which include Infosys, TCS, Sify and Reliance," said Secretary (Posts) Manjula Parasher
The Department has got approval of Rs 1,877.2 crore to be spend across these projects over period of two years and will seek additional funds when the need arises.
DoP has issued to Infosys for two projects which are Rural System and Financial Services Integration, Tata Consultancy Services for Change Management, Sify for Network Integration and Reliance Communications Infrastructure for Data Centre.
APRIL 2, 2012: AEGIS REFINANCES DEBT, PROFITABILITY STILL A CHALLENGE
After an initial delay in tying up alternate funding that put the firm on a negative credit watch, business process outsourcer Aegis partially re-financed its $190-million (Rs 970-crore) debt on Saturday, even as profitability continues to be a challenge for the Essar group firm.
According to an executive with direct knowledge of the matter, $156 million of the loan maturing in April has been refinanced through dollar and euro denominated debt of five-year tenure. Rest of the loan would be repaid using internal accruals
Aegis, which specialises in call-centre business, is planning an initial public offering soon but the low profitability and high debt could hamper the prospects of such a share sale.
Last week, credit rating agency Standard & Poor's had placed Aegis on credit watch with negative implications due to the firm's "weaker-than-expected operating performance and a significant delay in refinancing a large upcoming debt maturity".
APRIL 3, 2012: TCS SAYS US CLASS ACTION 'WITHOUT MERIT'
Tata Consultancy Services denied a US class action suit that it unfairly kept the US tax refunds of Indian employees working abroad, saying the claims were "without merit".
A US judges on approved the suit against TCS. The plaintiffs accuse the company of forcing its Indian employees to sign over their US tax refunds, according to the Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein law company, which is representing them.
The complaint also alleges that TCS did not pay its employees the amount it promised them before going to the United States.
APRIL 4, 2012: EDUCOMP BAGS RS 209 CRORE ORDER FROM ASSAM GOVERNMENT
Education solutions provider Educomp said its ICT division; Edureach has bagged an order worth Rs 209 crore from the Assam government under the ICT@Schools project.
Educomp signed the agreement with Assam Electronics Development Corporation Ltd, Government of Assam on March 23, 2012 for the implementation of Rajiv Gandhi Computer Education Programme (RGCEP), Educomp said in a statement.
RGCEP reaches 1,054 governments high and higher secondary schools in the state and over 6.5 lakh students are expected to benefit from this program me every year, it added.
Educomp said with the addition of 1,054 government schools in Assam, the company now reaches a total of 12,176 government schools across 10 states, serving over 6.7 million students.
The project will be implemented under Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model for a period of five years.
APRIL 5, 2012: VISA REJECTIONS DISRUPT INDIAN IT OPERATIONS IN US
The US visa restrictions are causing huge disruptions in the onsite activities of Indian IT companies.
Visa rejections are at an all-time high and companies are not able to send enough support and maintenance staff to their client locations overseas to complete projects on time.
Between 2005 and 2007, the denial rate for L1 petitions ranged from 6 to 7%, in 2008 it rose to 22% and reached 27% in 2011. L1 is a visa given for intercompany transfers of specialist talent.
"But what is understood as specialization by Indian companies is often not understood by the US consulates. So there is always this perception difference,'' said an immigration consultant at a leading IT firm.
At the same time, companies are very eager to secure L1 visas, as they are almost 50% cheaper than H1 visas. An L1 visa costs $2,300 (end to end cost for application to work permit), while it is $5,300 for an H1 visa, which comes with an annual quota of 65,000.
But some blame the Indian companies. "L1 is an austerity measure for companies today. They apply for L1 visas even when they require H-1 B visas. The consulates are aware of all these Indian tricks. Rejections happen due to this too," said Pradip Tukral, a visa consultant.
APRIL 6, 2012: NASSCOM CREATES HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN FOR IT COMPANIES
Nasscom has created a health insurance plan in association with oriental insurance for the 2.5 million people industry.
Insurance premiums come down when more people are part of a plan, and given the scale of the IT sector, Nasscom's techie-health plan will bring down substantially the cost of providing insurance especially for small and medium businesses.
Nasscom said over 200 companies have already committed to join the plan. The association's target is to bring 1,000 small and medium businesses under the scheme in 15 months.
"The scheme offers a 30% to 50% cost savings to companies with up to 100 employees. It will have a cover of up to Rs 3 lakh for employees and their spouses and children,'' said Sangeeta gupta, senior V-P, Nasscom.
There are different kinds of plans, and the cost of the plan for a 100-employee company would vary between RS 1.5 lakh and RS 9.5 lakh based on the plan.
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