The Cyberabad Times

SITEL India Ltd, a joint venture between US-based SITEL Corporation and Tata Group, will open its new contact centre, its third site in the country, here on January 16 with an initial target of 1,000 employees. The company has two centres in Mumbai.

Safir Adeni, chief executive officer, SITEL India, Mike Nemer, chief operating office, SITEL, and Pauroos D. Karkaria, executive director and CFO of Tata Infotech Ltd., told a press conference here that SITEL India Limited's first centre was launched last year.

They said Hyderabad was chosen to be SITEL India's next destination mainly because of its huge pool of skilled graduate talent, robust infrastructure, proactive support of the Government and low cost of living for its employees. The Hyderabad centre would undertake operations in telecom/ISP and banking, financial services and insurance while serving the US-based customers.

Mr. Adeni said the company had already made investments of over Rs.25 crores in infrastructure. It was focussing on achieving excellence at Hyderabad. Of the 1,000 employees to be taken in, already 297 were undergoing training.

British Trade Office exploring opportunities

Even as the animation and gaming business is set for a major boom, Bangalore-based British Trade Office has started looking for opportunities to work with the Hyderabad-based companies in the two sectors. The BTO, according to Andrew Dinsely, the First Secretary (trade and investment), is mining the available data to scout for the companies it would like to work with. It has decided to depute one more member for the BTO's office in the city so that "we can get more from our relationship in Hyderabad."Mr. Andrew, accompanied Nikkan Woodhouse of The Independent Games Developers Association (TIGA) to participate in the Animation India 2006.

Gitex India 2006 opens new avenues

The three day Information Technology (hardware and software) fair GITEX India 2006 was inaugurated on Wednesday at the Hyderabad International Trade Expositions (HITEX) complex by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.

This is the fifth time that the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) is organising this annual event in association with the Andhra Pradesh government. The event is being used as a networking platform for national and international ICT companies exploring business opportunities in India. Speaking on the occasion, Reddy said that Andhra Pradesh was making giant strides in the field of information technology, and this could be gauged from the fact that the state occupied the fifth position in IT exports.

He, however, said that there was a need for IT compnaies in the state to be more proactive. "Last week, we identified twelve hundred acres of land for hardware parks. I take this opportunity for all the hardware companies who want to set up their shop in the state of Andhra Pradesh to come and join us in a big way. The IT and hardware companies cannot grow unless the government provides proactive support. We have to give all infrastructure support like the land, quality products, proper logistics, communications and more than anything else a very good industrial and environment climate. We are doing everything that is possible," Reddy said.

The fair is being held for the fifth consecutive year. This year, over 90 companies are participating in the event. A job fair has also been organised to enable unemployed students and youth to find jobs in the IT sector. The participating companies included Infotech, Microsoft, HSBC, ADP, BenQ, Hangzhou ( China), Dubai Internet City, Satyam, Ram Infomatics, Zoom Technologies, SQL, Portal Player, Net4India, Eurostar. The companies are happy with the user friendly policies of the government for the IT sector. Countries like China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, US and Taiwan are participating in the event. Satyam Computer, Wipro, Microsoft India and Google (as a start up here) are among a host of IT companies having their centres in Hyderabad.

Senator John Kerry in Hyderabad

Visiting US senator and Democratic candidate for the 2005 American Presidential elections, John Kerry, today said that his views on outsourcing were misinterpreted.Stating that every company has a right to chose its own course, the senator, however, faulted those American companies that made decisions in favour of business process outsourcing purely on non-economic considerations. "We had problem with some people who made their choices purely for the purpose of taking advantage of tax benefits" Kerry told mediapersons here after his meeting with chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy. He said that he had no problem with outsourcing based on economic considerations.

Referring to his campaign on the issue of outsourcing during the presidential elections, he said that it was an issue of loss of jobs, loss of healthcare, loss of pension benefits and about not providing alternatives to those who lost their jobs. Kerry said that he only wanted the companies to be better corporate citizens of his country.

Replying to a question on the significance of his visit to Hyderabad, he said the city was going through an economic transformation in terms of business, and outsourcing among other things.

"I thought it important to visit the place to know firsthand and understand what is happening and what the challenges are," he said. He also said that both US and India came together to work for the mutual advantage and to the comfort of all of our workers. The issues relating to transport, infrastructure, AIDS awareness, environment, and the outside challenges from China among others came up for discussion during his meeting with the chief minister, he said.

He complimented India for its contribution to globalisation on several fronts. Later, he also met the leader of the opposition and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

ITeS to gain from TPS

Even as the industry is grappling to cash in on Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO), a new wave of Transaction Process Services (TPS) is set to hit Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) sector, Wipro BPO Chief Operating Officer Devashish Ghosh said. Indian ITeS companies should prepare themselves to carve out a niche in the emerging Transaction Process Services wave, he said in his keynote address at CII conference on Hardware & ITeS as part of GITEX India 2006 on Thursday.

Ghosh said ITeS companies would now be asked to provide a combination of services related to process, applications and infrastructures. In the next five years, a major percentage of companies' revenues would go to employees' salaries and India may lose on its traditional cost advantage, Ghosh added.

Infotech Enterprise Managing Director B V R Mohan Reddy said there was a lot of scope for developing small and medium sector units in IT industry. Andhra Pradesh Minister of Finance K Rosaiah assured all possible help from the state government to the industry. Chairman CII (AP) M K Patodia, Vice-chairman CII (AP) G Vivekanand and others also spoke on the occasion.

Wyeth, GVK Bio sign research pact

The US-based pharma multinational Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has entered into a research partnership agreement with GVK Biosciences, one of the leading contract research organisations (CROs) in India. The joint research pact requires GVK to establish a dedicated discovery chemistry research site to engage 150 synthetic chemists working exclusively for Wyeth. This is the first time in India that such a large multi-year contract has been awarded for a CRO.

The partnership will commence with 30 chemists on site in Hyderabad by the beginning of 2006 and is expected to grow to a total of 150 chemists by early 2007. It is expected that this collaboration will have a significant impact on the efficiency and productivity of small molecule drug discovery at Wyeth. Wyeth selected GVK BIO from among other global CROs after a detailed evaluation. The agreement was signed recently at Wyeth Pharma’s headquarters at Collegeville, USA.

Save Musi

The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA and Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) will work jointly for taking up 'Save Musi' works and free flow of traffic at different places. HUDA Chairman D. Sudheer Reddy and Municipal Commissioner Sanjay Jaju who held discussions at HUDA office on Tuesday considered several proposals. They included laying a parallel road from Nagole to Zoo Park, constructing a Causeway Bridge on Musi, between the Race Course Road and Amberpet and another Causeway Bridge between Dilsukhnagar and Ramanthapur. The speeding up of works relating to Nalgonda cross roads flyover, Punjagutta-Greenlands flyover was also discussed.

Hyderabad to host BioAsia

The third edition of BioAsia-2006, Asia's biggest biotechnology event promoted by the State Government and Genome Valley will be held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre from February 9 to 11. For the first time, industry secretaries from 10 States will come together to discuss the development of bio cluster in the country, A. Ashok, Director of Biotechnology, and D. Balasubramanian, chairman, Biotech Advisory Committee, announced here on Monday. BioAsia will introduce innovative modules in its schedule in addition to international trade show, forums and conferences. It will attract over 60 exhibitors, 500 delegates, 60 internationally-acclaimed speakers and 15,000 visitors from across the globe. It will provide a platform to showcase products, services and technologies apart from offering business and networking opportunities on an international scale.

Animation India 2006 conference

A study by the National Association of Software and Services Companies has revealed huge growth potential for animation and gaming industry in India, with revenues expected to reach $1.25 billion by the year 2009. The report, unveiled at the two-day Animation India 2006 conference organised by Nasscom in Hyderabad on Thursday, forecast that the Indian animation industry would reach a turnover of $950 million whereas the Indian gaming industry would notch up turnover of $300 million by 2009.

Speaking at the conference, Nasscom president Kiran Karnik said: "India's expertise and creative skills, combined with the entrepreneurial drive of its companies, make it well positioned to tap the potential of this growing global industry."

In his view, the rapid growth of mobile telephony, increase in personal computers and the greater use of animation content would fuel the growth of the domestic market too. "If India focuses on developing the talent pool and leveraging our cost competitiveness, animation and gaming look like the next promising fields," he observed. Nasscom study pointed out that India is fast going up the animation-outsourcing ladder. Though a recent entrant in the global animation scene, demand for India's production services is growing at a fast pace. With global entertainment majors such as Walt Disney, Imax, Warner Brothers and Sony signing up huge contracts with Indian animation companies, local animation design studios are gradually establishing their credentials overseas and building their skill sets in this high potential global market.Animation India 2006 also deliberated on the strategies that need to be followed and the roadmap for the growth of animation industry.

"The boom is not only seen in the animation industry. The growth of the mobile industry has led to a rise in demand in the gaming industry as well. India being a very competent nation with technology has an edge over others in terms of the time involved in game development," the Nasscom study said. Games developed in India have been successful internationally and, therefore, are enhancing India's image as a country with the technical and infrastructure capabilities to provide gaming-related services that meet international standards. With the growing business in animation and gaming, an emerging trend that can be seen in the market currently is that a number of Indian companies are adopting a co-production business model from an outsourcing model.

The Nasscom study estimated that the global market size of the animation and gaming industry would witness an annual growth rate of 8 per cent and reach $75 billon by 2009. Based on this, the global animation market (from the developers' perspective) is expected to increase to $35 billion by 2009 from $25 billion 2005. The size of the Indian animation market was estimated at $285 million (from the developers' perspective). It is expected to witness a CAGR of 35 percent from 2005-09 and increase to $950 million by 2009. Similarly, the market for gaming industry is expected to witness a CAGR of 78 per cent and reach $300 million by 2009 from $30 million in 2005.

CBay to set up healthcare BPO

CBay Systems (India) Pvt Ltd will develop a state-of-the-art healthcare BPO unit in Hyderabad at an investment of around Rs 65 crore. The unit, to come up in two years’ time on an eight-acre plot in the proposed special economic zone (SEZ) at Popalguda, will employ around 2,500 people.

CBay Systems India is one of the five software companies that has been allotted land in the recently announced SEZ by the state government. The company plans to expand in the state by setting up smaller centres (about 50 people) at Guntur and Tirupati besides a moderately-sized centre (about 150 people) at Vizag. In Andhra Pradesh, CBay has a 500-seater facility at Hyderabad and a 100-seater production-cum-training facility at Vijayawada.

Patni plans Rs 500 cr centre

In a move to strengthen its presence in south India, IT major Patni Computer Systems is planning to invest over Rs 500 crore in Hyderabad for over a two-three year period for setting up a facility in the city, which will accommodate over 10,000 personnel and help in de-risking its processes. Patni had acquired Cymbal Corporation, a Hyderabad-based company in the telecom space, for $68 million in November 2004.

This acquisition has helped the company to get a consultant base of over 500 personnel and access to 14 communication service provider accounts, including Virgin Mobile, Hutchison Telecom and Comcast. The present investment plan will help in providing a balance in operations for the company, as it operates mostly from the western region of the country.

The centre would help in providing employment to locals in Hyderabad and act as a disaster recovery unit, Deepak said. The Pune-based company has already acquired 30 acres of land, of which 15 acres would be developed under the first phase. The facility would be set up at the Software Economic Zone and Patni has also signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government. The Hyderabad facility will help the company to focus on its telecom and other major applications. The centre, on completion, will continue to cater to its existing clients -Virgin Mobile, Hutchison Telecom and Comcast among others - and the new customers that would be added in due course of time.

At present, Patni operates from around eight development locations: Chennai, Bangalore, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Pune, Noida, Gandhinagar, in addition to the centre in Hyderabad.

Ventech Solutions to hire

In an effort to emerge as a global player in software product development, Ventech Solutions has chalked out plans to acquire two Indian companies. A leading IT services company with offices in the US and Chennai, Ventech solutions has also announced Rs 40 crore expansion plans in India, which will employ over 1,000 IT professionals over the next few years. "Strategic dialogues are progressing to acquire two companies, one in Chennai and the other in Hyderabad. We will complete the acquisition by first quarter of 2006. The initiative will add USD 5 million to our revenues," said Ravi Kunduru, CEO of the company at a press conference on Wednesday. The CEO said Ventech had plans to acquire companies in the US also.

Royal Orchid to set up hotel

Royal Orchid Hotels Ltd, a chain of hotels, is planning to recruit 200-220 people, including staff for sales and marketing, front office, food and beverage production, service and house keeping, for its proposed hotels in Pune and Hyderabad. The Bangalore-based hotel chain is planning to raise Rs 102-122 crore from the capital market to fund its expansion plans, which include the operating two hotels in Pune and Hyderabad under long term lease. Put together, these two hotels would have 172 rooms.The hotel in Pune will have 100 rooms and the hotel in Hyderabad, which will be set up by its subsidiary Royal Orchid Hyderabad Pvt Ltd, will have 72 rooms. Both the hotels are expected to start operations by October 2006 and would cater to business travelers in the premium segment.

Cyberabad reboots on renewed rush

One may be tempted to call it the anti-Bangalore effect but clearly Cyberabad seems to be turning out to be the favourite for IT companies to set up shop. The Andhra Pradesh administration is all set to sign up deals totaling upwards of Rs 400 crore in real estate development with six IT companies that include biggies such as Patni Computer Systems, Cognizant and Connexant which will set up campuses in the city with a capacity for upwards of 21,000 people.

Significantly Patni, which employs over 11,000 software professionals, will build facilities with a projected capacity for nearly 10,000 people at an investment of Rs 160 crore. The campus will be spread over 30 acres. Cbay Systems will spend a projected Rs 100 crore with a projected employment of 2,664 people while semiconductor design major Connexant will build facilities at an investment of Rs 35 crore.

Connexant chairman Dwight W Decker had announced in Hyderabad a $250 million expansion plan recently that will see India emerging its design base. US based IT services giant Cognizant, which employs over 23,000 people across the world, will build a campus at a projected investment of Rs 40 crore with a capacity for 3663 people. Sonata Software will pick up eight acres to set up a campus art an investment of Rs 30 crore.

The deals come ahead of the state’s three-day flagship event of Gitex India 06. These will come up at Pappanguda on the outskirts of Hyderabad where the country’s first software special economic zone(SEZ) is slated to come up over 120 acres. Space at the SEZ has been totally taken up, the state IT & C secretary Ratna Prabha told presspersons today. Given the fact that the current dispensation providing incentives come to an end in 2009, companies are rushing for space under the SEZ scheme which provides sops such as 100% IT exemption, till 2015.

At the same time the government is also signing up memoranda of understanding with five companies that want to set up campuses at Visakhapatnam, Ratna Prabha added.

Nipuna signs $8 mn animation deal

In one of the biggest deals clinched by an Indian BPO firm in the field of animation, Nipuna Services Limited has signed an $8 million contract with German firm 4K Animation. Under the project, Nipuna, a BPO subsidiary of Satyam Computer Services Limited, will execute various projects for 4K Animation GmbH, including special effects and animation features for a Hollywood movie.

Announcing the deal, Nipuna's chief executive officer Venkatesh Roddam said a team of 50 people from the company would work with 4K Animation on various animation projects for a Hollywood movie, 3D animation for a TV production and commercials. The global team of 4K will comprise professionals from seven nationalities for this project, which is to be delivered in the next 10 to 12 months. Both the companies, however, refused to reveal details like their share in the deal. Nipuna, which at present has facilities in Hyderabad and Bangalore, will set up a new facility in Chennai for the project.

This will be the first international animation project for Nipuna, which claims to be the world's only eSCM-SP (eSourcing Capability Model for Service Providers) level 4 services provider. A majority of the company's services are in the verticals of telecom and media, healthcare, insurance and pharma and knowledge process outsourcing. Jan Schmidtgen, managing director, 4K Animation, said his company was proud to partner with Nipuna, which has IT skills for the animation industry.

Oracle India to Add 1,400 Jobs

Oracle said Tuesday it will add 1,400 people to its workforce in India as the company reaches out to smaller business customers in the country’s towns and rural areas.

Speaking at the Open World annual developer conference in Mumbai, Oracle President Charles Phillips said the company is ramping up the expansion of its operations in India and will increase its workforce to 10,000 in the next eight months. The new workers will be in the areas of sales and marketing, product development, consulting, and product support and services.The software company’s current Indian workforce strength of 8,600 is about 17 percent of its 51,000 global workforce. It already operates in six Indian cities.

Under the expansion plan, the company will start operating in 15 Indian cities within the next eight months.The Redwood Shores, California-based software company is following the lead of many technology companies this year that are expanding their operations and workforce in India to take advantage of the country’s fast-growing economy.Oracle’s entry to India came in 1987 through a distribution agreement with a partner.

In 1994, Oracle was one of the first software companies to establish an India development center, which is its largest research and development center outside of the United States. The company currently has two development centers in the south Indian cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore.

AP CM to inaugurate GITEX

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy will inaugurate the fifth edition of GITEX India and GITEX India Computer Shopper at the HITEX International Exhibition Centre on the 11th Jan. The three-day event brings together leading Indian and global players on a sigle platform, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) said in a release here.

A wide spectrum of the participating companies at GITEX India including software developers, hardware manufacturers, solutions providers, telecom equipment manufacturers and hardware and software vendors.

Last year, the event registered a growth of 26 percent in trade visitors while general public registrations had crossed the 17,250 mark, the release added.

Realty prices to move up in 2006

Major sectors such as IT, ITeS, BPO, financial services, pharmaceutical, telecom and retail are expected to keep the demand for commercial space northward across cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad during 2006, says international real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

Continued leasing by corporates due to a series of consolidations and relocations, most of which will be due to growth and expansion of business environment across all the sectors including commodities and aviation, coupled with the encouraging overall economy growth, the demand for commercial space will be on the higher side, said the company.

Select locations such as Bandra-Kurla Complex (Mumbai), Navi Mumbai, Old Mahabalipuram Road (Chennai), central part of Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Banjara Hills, Madhapur and Rajbhavan Road of Hyderabad, Whitefield, Electronic City and Inner/outer ring roads of Bangalore will witness both the development of commercial space as well as office space leasing during 2006, the study said.

Based on its study, Cushman & Wakefield said the quality office premises shall continue to remain in short supply in Mumbai as compared to the demand. As a result, Mumbai is expected to witness an increase of 10% to 15% in capital and rental values over the next couple of quarters across micro-precincts.

Bandra-Kurla complex will emerge as a more vibrant and active business district for corporates and will become an expensive commercial real estate in India, the study said.

Similarly, driven by IT, ITeS, BPO and financial service industry, New Delhi/Noida/Gurgaon will remain buoyant throughout the year and will witness an additional supply of 7.63 million sq ft. Metro will play a major role in defining the demand and prices along the proposed routes to be commissioned in 2006, the study pointed out.

Malaysian coy to establish five-star hotel

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today assured a Malaysian delegation, which evinced interest in establishing a five star hotel in Hyderabad, that all clearances would be given fast through a single window. Replying questions of NRIs participating in the Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas here, Dr Reddy said the party could approach the Tourism ministry and assured that all the clearances would be given as fast as possible.

SITEL opens contact centre

SITEL India Limited, an ITeS company, has announced the opening of its contact centre in Hyderabad. The company plans to hire 1,000 people initially, and is also considering setting up a campus in the city.

SITEL India is a 50:50 joint venture between the billion-dollar SITEL Corporation, a global provider of outsourced customer support services, and the Tata Group. Apart from the centre in Hyderabad, the company has two centres in Mumbai employing 2,000 people. The company expects to double its manpower by the end of December this year.

Conference on embedded systems

As we move towards the fourth generation of digital revolution, the consumer market would trigger the growth for the semiconductor industry as compared to the government sector earlier, according to David E Orton, president and chief executive officer of ATI Technologies Inc, a $2-billion company in visualisation technologies. Every 18 months, there is new technology that is coming one's way. In the next two years, cell phones may provide access to real-time TV as well. The churn in the consumer market is, therefore, fuelling the growth of the industry, Mr.Orton said.

Today, the semi-conductor industry is growing at the rate of around six per cent. Therefore, in the next several years, the industry need to focus on the consumer market as there is huge growth involved in it. The fourth generation of digital convergence is driven with consumer at the centre.

Gulf NRIs may get voting rights

Prime Minster Manmohan Singh announced that the UPA Government is actively considering giving voting rights to Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in the Gulf countries. Mamohan Singh was speaking at the Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas in Hyderabad on Saturday. Though the event in itself was not as flamboyant as the three earlier Parvasi Bharat Diwas meets, Singh decided to give it a big news point. The NRIs based in the Gulf have been demanding voting rights for a long time as they cannot participate in the electoral process of countries like Saudi Arabia.

Though Singh's statement comes as a good news for this community, it is also being seen as both controversial and cumbersome. Voting rights for NRIs has been a long-standing issue with both procedural difficulties and political dimensions and is a difficult process to implement. There is also much more than just the announcement of an intention. According to experts, the procedural changes would include the amendment the Representation of Peoples and also point out several other repercussions. The Prime Minister could well have kick-started a public debate on the issue. But observers say that with the Assembly elections coming up in Kerala – where almost every family has a gulf connection – the move could have a political intention as well.

Hyderabad symbolises the idea of India

Why did the Indian government decide to host the 4th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Hyderabad? The answer comes from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, "Hyderabad symbolises the idea of India and the idea of being an Indian."

Opening the annual conclave of overseas Indians in the Hi-Tech City in the outskirt of Hyderabad, the prime minister said the city's composite culture, cosmopolitanism and modernism have always been admired. "What is often recognised is the global outlook of the Hyderabadi person and the Andhra people," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said as to why the government decided to host the annual NRI meet in the city. To showcase the face of new India, the PBD in Hyderabad begun in the new sprawling Hyderabad International Convention Centre, which the prime minister unveiled on Saturday.

"The fact that we are holding the first meeting of overseas Indians in this prestigious convention centre makes Hyderabad the best destination for NRIs and foreign investment," an elated Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy said. Prime Minister Singh praised the new symbols of globalisation in Hyderabad such as Cyberabad, the pharmaceutical and bio-tech industries and the many sports facilities. "This magnificent new Convention Centre is yet another symbol," the prime minister added. The Hyderabad International Convention Centre, a world-class facility for hosting global conferences, has a five-star hotel Novatel with 300 rooms, which will operate as an independent business entity. HICC's main conference hall can accommodate over 6,000 with a pre-function foray area of 6,500 square metres. It also has an in-built projection screen of 18/16 feet with state-of-the-art accoustics.

The Rs 300 crore centre has the facilities like Internet cafes, ATMs, shops, five-star hotel, pool, restaurants, bars, car parking for 1,000 cars, loading docks and power back-up generation facility, among others. HICC is a joint venture of Dubai-based MR Partners and Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure Investment Corporation. HICC general manager Philip Lagon says the Centre is getting lots of orders for global conventions. "This shows that Hyderabad is the best destination for NRIs and the new India," Lagon Said. He said HICC already has been booked for 17 national and international conventions to be held in 2006.

MoU signed to improve health sector

The Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to improve the primary health sector in the country.

MOIA secretary Krishna Kumar and AAPI president Vijay Kohli formally signed the MoU in the presence of the Minister of State for Overseas Indian Affairs Oscar Fernandes and State Health Minister K. Rosaiah on the first day of the fourth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas being held here on Saturday.

Under the agreement, the Centre would facilitate the establishment of knowledge, institution and stakeholder partners to promote and implement primary health care pilot projects. It would also establish a working group in consultation with the AAPI to identify stakeholder States that would partner the pilot projects.

The MoU, which came into effect from Saturday, would hold good till January 6, 2009. Dr. Kohli said the AAPI would establish a group to enable the collection and analysis of empirical data on the status of health and health care delivery in the project areas to jump start the pilot projects. Together, the MOIA and the AAPI would consult the project States and establish direct contacts between overseas Indian health professionals, associations and organisations to facilitate cooperative ventures and promote practical exchanges in research and development in primary health care.

Teva in talks to buy Aurobindo

Giant Israeli generic pharmaceuticals company Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA ; TASE: TEVA) is in talks with Hyderabad-based Aurobindo for a possible acquisition of the Indian company. The report says Aurobindo, which manufacturers and exports bulk drugs, formulations, and oral suspensions, is looking for a value of 500 rupees per share, which compares with a share price on Friday of 443 rupees. Aurobindo's share price has almost doubled in the past year.

The Financial Express says that Teva is interested in Aurobindo because of its low manufacturing costs compared with Teva's plants in Israel and Hungary. The newspaper quotes a spokesperson for Aurobindo as saying that the controlling shareholders were not selling their stakes.

Teva recently inaugurated its new R&D center in India. After the official opening, Teva vice president Aharon Yaari, who heads the company's Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Division, said "India plays an important part in our development programs and we are looking at collaborations with Indian companies in clinical programs and cutting edge scientific areas like biotechnology." Nevertheless, asked about a possible acquisition in India in the near future, Yaari said the company was for the time being seeking to grow organically, and not necessarily through acquisitions.

There have been reports in the Indian press recently about another possible acquisition target for Teva in India, namely Matrix Laboratories, a company traded on the Indian stock exchange at a market cap of $750 million.

New Convention Centre Launched

Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), India's largest and first purpose-built convention facility, officially opens today under Accor management and will immediately establish the city as India's leading convention and exhibition destination.

Developed by Emaar Properties, the Middle East's largest real estate development company, HICC is located in India's fastest growing high-technology corridor. Earlier this year, Emaar appointed Accor to operate the adjacent Novotel. The Andhra Pradesh provincial government co-owns HICC with Emaar, and the aim of the investment part is to attract prestigious international conventions to Hyderabad and serve the meeting needs of businesses in the area.

HICC offers convention and event organisers 291,000 square feet of primary meeting space with a capacity to seat 5,000 delegates, 250,000 square feet of pre-function areas supported by 32 break out rooms. This can be increased to 6,500 delegates for special events. The Centre is equipped with state-of-the-art automated facilities and the latest audio visual technology, and is already attracting marque events including the Asian Development Bank meeting scheduled for May 2006.

Accor's appointment to run HICC reflects the group's experience in managing major conference and exhibition facilities around the world. Accor operates conference centres in many of the key cities around the world including London, Paris, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro. Each of these centres offers superior, seamlessly coordinated services, including accommodation, meeting facilities, banqueting, catering and entertainment, and are capable of handling exceptional, large-scale events.

In the Asia Pacific region, Accor has some 200 hotels with significant conference facilities, and the group has managed one of the region's largest and most successful conference centres - the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre - for over a decade.

The adjoining Novotel Hyderabad, which is scheduled to open in March 2006, is the first new-build Novotel for Accor in India and part of an aggressive expansion for the group and its hotel brands around the country. In March 2005 Accor and Interglobe Enterprises announced the launch of a joint venture company to develop a network of up to 25 Ibis hotels in India over the next 10 years. Accor also announced the launch of its management company for India, AAPC India Hotel Management, to manage all hotels under the Sofitel, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis brands.

Value Labs , NDTV buy out Red FM

Hyderabad based Value Labs , Malaysian broadcaster Astro and Prannoy Roy promoted NDTV buy out Red FM, operated by Radio Today, a division of Aroon Purie controlled Living Media Group, the owners TV Today Network and India Today magazine.

These investors have join the club for an anonymous amount to take control of Radio Today. Associate companies of Value Labs and Astro, through their existing Indian joint ventures, have come together with NDTV News (subsidiary of NDTV) to acquire Radio Today (Mumbai) Broadcasting Limited, Radio Today (Delhi) Broadcasting Limited and Radio Today (Calcutta) Broadcasting Limited from the Living Media Group.

Arjun Rao, Founder-Promoter and CEO of Value Labs, said, "We're very excited with the opportunity to expand into the radio sector in India and we hope to build upon our global experience in the multimedia space. The possibilities that exist in relation to creating an interactive ecosystem across radio, television, Internet and mobile is something we're looking forward to."

Value Labs is a Hyderabad based global IT service provider, with extensive experience in telecom and multimedia application development. NDTV currently broadcasts three news and current affairs channels, NDTV 24x7, NDTV India and NDTV Profit. Astro is a leading media player in Malaysia and South East Asia.

His holiness consecrates Buddha statue

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama visited the famous statue of Lord Buddha at Hyderabad's Husainsagar lake. The 72-feet tall Lord Buddha was installed on the Rock of Gibraltar on April 12, 1992. Nearly 14 years later, the Dalai Lama consecrated the statue of Lord Buddha at a special 30-minute ceremony. The statue is made of a single rock weighing 320 metric tonnes.

The Dalai Lama is in Andhra Pradesh for the Kalachakra, the initiation ceremony of Buddhists which starts on Thursday in Amaravati in Guntur district. Significantly, it comes at a time when Hyderabad is terrorised by revelations that different fundamentalist outfits are planning strikes.The Dalai Lama says Buddha's teachings have more relevance in today's times. "It is important to not just look at the statue of Buddha but to follow the teachings of Buddha. It calls for a combination of a good heart and a good brain," the Dalai Lama said. With more than 1,30,000 Buddhists expected to visit Andhra Pradesh for the Kalachakra, the state tourism department is trying to use the opportunity to promote the neglected Buddhist circuit in the state.

PM in Hyderabad

With the Prime Minister in Hyderabad, the city has been put on high security alert. The precaution comes a day after the police managed to avert a major tragedy by foiling the plot of Jaish-e-Mohammed to trigger bomb blasts, including suicide bombings. PM arrived in Hyderabad on Monday night.

No force on earth can weaken us

Condemning the recent terrorist attack on Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday sought to send out a strong message to the perpetrators of violence saying "no force on Earth can weaken the resolve of Indian people". Opening his inaugural address at the 93rd Indian Science Congress in Hyderabad with a tribute to Prof MC Puri, who was killed in the terror attack, the Prime Minister said the slain scientist was a 'soldier of knowledge' who lived a life of peace dedicated to science and education. "Dr Puri was gunned down in the greatest temple of Indian science by the most reprehensible and cowardly enemies of our people," Singh said as the incident cast a grim shadow on the gathering of scientists. Stating that the 'symbols and temples of our knowledge society' were being targeted by terrorists, he asserted, "I am confident that all our knowledge workers will close ranks and join the struggle to make India a great nation, a humane and modern nation and a knowledge power".
Against the backdrop of the Bangalore incident and Andhra Pradesh police recently busting a terror network, tight security arrangements were made at the Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) campus, the venue of the Congress about 15 kilometres from the city.

Second green revolution

Prime minister Manmohan Singh has called for a second green revolution in the country that will focus on non-food crops, horticulture and new plant varieties. Inaugurating the 93rd Indian Science Congress in Hyderabad today, Singh said, "Science and technology have benefited the Indian farmer but there still remains the challenge of bridging the development gap between urban and rural India. This requires a second green revolution in non-food crops, horticulture and new plant varieties." Taking into consideration the criticism that the first green revolution faced, Singh said the second one should focus on dry land agriculture and benefit small and marginal farmers. He also spoke on the need for decentralisation and inter-linking of rivers for promoting rural development.

Outer ring road foundation stone layed

Announcing that a massive Rs 1,70,000 crore investment would be channelised for road development in the next seven years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday expressed confidence that the country, which achieved eight per cent growth this year, could eradicate various ills afflicting society in a decade. Laying the foundation stone for the first phase of the eight lane express highway, the first such in the country, slated for completion by March 2008 to coincide with the Greenfield International Airport at Shamsabad on the city outskirts, he said "The country has achieved a good growth of eight per cent during 2005 and it will be able to wipe out poverty, hunger, diseases, in eight to ten years if the same tempo is maintained". Referring to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's request made earlier for liberal assistance under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, he promised all help to Andhra Pradesh through the Special Purpose Vehicle created for development of infrastructure and by providing required viability gap funding for the Rs 3000 crore Outer Ring Road project. "There is no shortage of funds for taking up development projects", Singh said.

World Urdu conference in Hyderabad

A three-day World Urdu Conference will be held in the city from January 14. More than 60 scholars, intellectuals, writers and poets from India and abroad will take part in the conference, sponsored by the 'Siasat' Urdu daily. 150 foreign delegates are also expected to take part in the conference, in which nine seminars on different linguistic and literary topics would be deliberated upon. Addressing mediapersons yesterday, Conference President and Urdu daily 'Siasat' Chief Editor Zahid Ali Khan said the conference will be inaugurated by Andhra Pradesh Governor Sushilkumar Shinde at the Jubilee Hall here and Union Food Processing Minister Subodh Kanth Sahay will be the chief guest. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and his Karnataka counterpart Dharam Singh along with noted scholar of UAE Juma Al Majid will be participating in the inaugural session.

Hyderabad bound passengers checked

Security checks have been strengthened on all flights following the arrest of two persons in Hyderabad, allegedly having links with terrorist groups, airport sources said today.

The sources said that the baggage of all passengers was being thoroughly checked on Hyderabad bound flights from here and that they were also being frisked before being allowed to board the flights. The security checks were being done by the personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force, which mans the airport security, the sources said. Meanwhile, police said that high security, in the wake of December 28, 2005 Bangalore terrorist attack, was continuing, with armed police personnel manning many important buildings, airports and railway stations in the city.

Why Act Shocked Now?

The attack in Bangalore was only the more visible evidence of a long-term war of attrition by Pakistani state agencies and their jehadi surrogates, intended to undermine India's political stability, increasingly by attacking its economic, scientific and technological strengths. Police here Monday foiled a plan by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed to trigger New Delhi-like serial blasts by arresting two suspects and recovering huge quantity of explosives from them.

Two suspects - Shakeel and Syed Haji - were arrested and huge quantities of explosives recovered from them. They later told the police they were planning to target police headquarters and Hitec City, the IT hub. The duo had links with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and terror groups backed by it like Jaish-e-Mohammed, police said. Police said they were looking for more suspects and asked people to be on high alert and cooperate with security agencies.

The alert was sounded hours before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's arrival to inaugurate the Indian Science Congress. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and top scientists of India will attend the five-day event, beginning Tuesday. Additional Police Commissioner (Crime) Rajeev Trivedi, who produced the duo before the media, said they were part of the group behind the suicide bomb attack on the Police Task Force headquarters in the city Oct 12 last year. Two people including the suicide bomber, reportedly a Bangladeshi, were killed in that attack.

According to Trivedi, the seized explosives include a highly explosive bomb. "The most dangerous thing about the bomb recovered from Shakeel is that it was connected to a cell phone. It means that it could be triggered from anywhere," he said.

Shakeel was a close follower of Moulana Naseeruddin who was arrested by Gujarat Police in 2004 for involvement in the killing of former home minister Haren Pandya. The explosives were ready between May and September last year and the suspects intended to use human bombs. However, they could get only one bomber, who was employed for blast the blast at the task force office. The suicide bomber was identified as Mohatasam Billa alias Dilan of Bangladesh. Monday's arrests and recovery of explosives followed the interrogation of Zahid, one of three men arrested last month in connection with the task force office blast. Intelligence agencies had alerted police in Hyderabad a few days ago about possible terror attacks on IT facilities in the city.

Police Dec 18 had arrested three men in connection with the blast - Ibrahim, Zahid and Kaleem. Zahid's brother Shahid, who has links with Jaish-e-Mohammed and often visits Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, was the mastermind, police said. Police are also trying to piece together information from various sources to probe links among terrorist units operating in the city. Last week, police had arrested Mujeeb Ahmed, a local commander of terror group Hizbul Mujahideen. He was released from jail last year after the government had commuted his life sentence in a case relating to the killing of a police officer and his gunman in 1992.Police have not ruled out a link between this terror module and last week's attack on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, in which a professor was killed and three people were injured.

The tip followed the arrest of two men in West Bengal - a suspected Bangladeshi suicide bomber identified as Hilaluddin, and his associate Nafeequl, who were brought here from New Delhi Sunday for questioning in the suicide bombing case. The police force is already on high alert in the city as several international events are lined up for the next couple of weeks. After the science conference, the city will host Indian Diaspora conclave or Pravasi Bharatiya Divas from Jan 7. Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama also reached Hyderabad Monday morning for 'Kalachakra, a global meet of Buddhist monks at Amarvati in Guntur district from Jan 5. The Congress party too is holding a conclave here from Jan 21 to 23.

Dalai Lama in Hyderabad

Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobel laureate the Dalai Lama arrived in Hyderabad on Monday to attend "Kalchakra", the global conclave of Buddhist monks. The spiritual leader arrived amid tight security for his 15-day visit to the State. More than 100,000 Buddhists are expected to attend the 12-day long "Kalachakra" beginning on January five at Amaravati in Guntur district. The Dalai Lama will bestow Kalachakra empowerment for the 13th time in his life to promote peace and tolerance. He will also attend a programme at the State Museum where he is scheduled to inaugurate the 16th enclosure named Holy Relic Gallery, containing a rare possession, to mark the Museum’s Platinum Jubilee. Police have made tight security arrangements for the Dalai Lama following intelligence reports from Tibetan authorities about a serious threat to his life.

Conference on Hardware and ITeS

A one-day conference on Hardware and ITeS, being organised jointly by the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) and Andhra Pradesh government, will be held here on January 12.The conference would coincide with GITEX India 2006, scheduled to be held from January 11 to 13, the CII said in a release here today. The conference on issues, challenges and opportunities related to the Indian Hardware and ITeS industry, would focus on the global standards and deliberate on recent trends and developments in these vital sectors. The conference also aimed at exploring investment opportunities in the IT sector in Andhra Pradesh, the release added.

BHEL bags Rs 800-cr Nalco order

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has bagged a Rs 800-crore order for setting up the ninth and tenth units of National Aluminium Company Ltd’s 960 Mw captive power plant, located at Angul in the Dhenkanal district of Orissa. The project will be executed by BHEL’s southern division. While the ninth unit will be commissioned in 26 months, the entire project will be completed in 29 months. After completion of the project, the installed capacity of the plant will increase to 1,200 Mw, making it the Asia’s largest captive power plant. This is the largest-value single order bagged by BHEL for a captive power plant. The order involves manufacturing, supplying, erecting and commissioning of two steam turbine generator (STG) sets of 120 Mw each with matching pulverized fuel fired boilers. BHEL will also deliver generator transformers, associated auxiliaries and unified controls and instrumentation system. BHEL has been given the civil and structural work.

Coffee Day tunes in to WorldSpace

WorldSpace® Satellite Radio (NASDAQ: WRSP), one of the world leaders in satellite-based digital radio services, today announced that it has formed an alliance with Café Coffee Day, India’s largest coffee chain to play its satellite radio content throughout the day for patrons at 100 cafes across India.

With its extensive and diverse bouquet of radio stations, WorldSpace provides listeners uninterrupted music in different flavors. The alliance gives coffee lovers an opportunity to listen to different genres of music. More than 40 stations will be on offer in participating cafes - from Spin, an international Pop & Rock station; UpCountry, the country music station; to Jhankaar and Farishta, 24-hour Hindi music stations, which are a delight to music lovers, according to a release here.

In addition to showcasing more than 40 radio stations of premium music and entertainment, Café Coffee Day will also host exclusive consumer entertainment and promotional activities at the outlets organised by WorldSpace. The year-long alliance includes the installation of WorldSpace receivers in 100 Cafe Coffee Day outlets across India. In the first phase, Café Coffee Day outlets in Cochin, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad will be outfitted with equipment.

GOPIO Conference

The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) has scheduled its Conference 2006 in Hyderabad on January 5th and 6th, in conjunction with Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2006. The conference will be formally inaugurated on January 5th at 7.00pm at the Manohar Radisson Hotel, followed by a reception and dinner. A GOPIO session is scheduled prior to the conference inauguration,will hear reports on NRI/PIO issues from different countries with large PIO population followed by a session on “Mobilization of Indian Diaspora Resources for Common Goal.

GOPIO has been organizing conferences and conventions in different parts of the world to mobilize the global NRI/PIO community and help bringing the Indian Diaspora closer to mother India and strengthen the inherent bonds between mother India and the scattered Diaspora. The conference in Hyderabad on January 5th and 6th, 2005, is another of its continuing efforts to mobilize the global Indian community and facilitate their networking.

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