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Financial Information Network & Operations Ltd (FINO) — a multi-bank promoted company providing smart-card based multi-application solutions to the unbanked — has within two years of its existence enrolled over 10 lakh customers to use its services.

The Mumbai-based company is targeting to enrol at least 10 lakh customers every quarter from now on, such that no village or family would remain financially excluded, eventually. FINO’s biometric smart card has ushered in ‘the next big revolution’ in the rural banking and finance sector, says its Chief Financial Officer and President, Mr Rishi Gupta. (more…)

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Royal KPN (nyse: KPN - news - people ) NV posted first quarter sales and EBITDA in line with expectations, and said the integration of Getronics was progressing.

Total income over the first quarter came in at 3.570 billion euros, up from 2.924 billion year-on-year.

EBITDA rose to 1.231 billion euros from 1.189 billion in the same period a year ago.

Analysts had pegged sales in the range 3.447 billion euros to 3.637 billion, and EBITDA in the range 1.222 billion euros to 1.257 billion. (more…)

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R Systems, a provider of outsourced product development and customer support services, on Monday reported a nearly four-fold rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 2008 to Rs 7.98 crore against Rs 2.10 crore in the year-ago period.

Consolidated revenues from operations for the first quarter rose to Rs 79.88 crore (Rs 59.36 crore).

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IBM on Monday announced the completion of its approximately 845 USD million deal to acquire Telelogic AB, a leading provider of software to develop technical systems and enterprises and architecture.

The tender offer, announced on June 11, 2007 was finalised after IBM obtained acceptance from 98.7 per cent of stock ownership in Telelogic as well as satisfaction of other conditions of the offer, including necessary worldwide regulatory approvals, an IMB release said. (more…)

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Software exporter Wipro was hit by rumours on Monday of a mass exodus of its top executives, which contributed to a near 2% decline in its stock price. Other than the newly promoted joint CEOs, nearly every senior management officials’ names were bandied about.

Eventually, it turned out to be a case of a storm in a tea cup. A Wipro official confirmed that PR Chandrasekar, president, Americas and Europe, had resigned, but no other executives had quit (more…)

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The Indian giant’s TCS makes most of its money in the U.S., while Big Blue does the bulk of its business abroad

Quick quiz: Which company is more “American”—Mumbai-based Tata Consultancy Services, or Armonk (N.Y.)-based IBM (IBM)? Evaluate the two based on where they make their sales, and the answer is surprising. TCS, India’s largest tech-services company, collected 51% of its revenues in North America last quarter, while 65% of IBM’s were overseas. (more…)

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Satyam Computer Services Ltd, a leading global business and information technology (IT) services provider, is targeting big corporations via its global solutions centre (GSC) in Cyberjaya.

The GSC would service local and international customers, according to director and vice president for Asia Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa, Virender Aggarwal.

“Our Malaysian operations will be focusing on large companies and banks,” he told StarBiz via a conference call from Singapore to Hyderabad last week (more…)

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Kerala plans to set up an SEZ exclusively for IT hardware manufacturing for which the preliminary work has already been completed, the State Industry Minister, Mr Elamaram Kareem, said.

Inaugurating a one-day workshop organised jointly by the Electronics Industries Association of India (ELCINA) and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) here, he said that the State Government was planning to extend all the concessions available to the IT industry to the electronics hardware industry as well, such as special power tariffs, exemption from stamp duty and registration fees for all units established in IT hardware parks. (more…)

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Hyderabad-based Satyam Computer Services Ltd is planning to set up its first offshore development centre (ODC) in Gujarat at Gandhinagar.

The global IT consulting and services provider has sought 25 acres from the state government. Likely to be commissioned within two years, the ODC would generate employment for over 3,000 professionals in the state over a period of five years.

“We have applied for a 25-acre land in Gandhinagar and are likely to receive an approval from the government soon (more…)

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Global IT major Accenture on Tuesday said that it expects to increase its India headcount to 50,000, from the present 37,000, within a year.

“We are looking at India headcount to be about 50,000 in a year,” Accenture Chairman & CEO William D Green said in Mumbai.

Globally, the company plans to make 60,000 gross additions to its workforce by August been consistently investing in training manpower. (more…)

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Accenture will be steadily ramping up its Indian operations and hiring 13,000 people within a year, as part of its strategy to facilitate India playing a bigger role in its global operations.

Accenture, which has a headcount of about 37,000 in India at present, intends to scale up this figure to 50,000 in the next 12 months, Mr William D. Green, Chairman and CEO, said.

Worldwide, its gross addition is expected to be 60,000 by the year ended August 31, 2008. (more…)

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IT consulting major Accenture and the Indian School of Business (ISB) have launched the Accenture Management Development Academy in India, an online, classroom and on-the-job training programme.

This is designed to develop and nurture leaders from Accenture’s mid-level management in India. The Centre for Executive Education and the Centre for IT and Networked Economies at ISB have partnered with Accenture to develop the curriculum for the Academy. (more…)

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Despite a slowdown in the banking and financial services markets in the US, Polaris Software Labs has posted 19 per cent growth in dollar terms for the quarter ending March 2008, compared to the same quarter last year.

A strong rupee has, however, resulted in a marginal revenue growth of about 6 per cent in rupee terms and a less than one per cent growth in net profit.

Deals for the quarter were billed at Rs 39.83 a dollar, Rs 4.92 less than that the billing rate in the same quarter in the previous year (more…)

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IT bellwether Infosys Technologies today said it has bought advanced technology module from an Australian company to enhance the features of its banking software product Finacle.

“We have acquired IP (Internet Protocol) from an Australian company this month to add more functionality to Finacle. The IP, which provides a comprehensive set of financial tools to our existing product line (more…)

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Indian semiconductor and embedded design service industry is estimated to grow at 21.7 per cent between 2007-2010, says an industry report.

The total design market in India in 2007 was estmiated at USD six billion. Eightyone per cent of the revenues were in the area of embedded software followed by VLSI design (13 per cent) and hardware/board design (six per cent), the “India semiconductor and embedded design service industry (2007-2010): Market, technology and ecosystem analysis” said. (more…)

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The Indian semiconductor design services industry is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.7 per cent, to $10.96 billion by 2010, from the present level of $6 billion. The industry is expected to clock a revenue of $ 7.3 billion by 2008-end.

These projections are part of the report `Indian Semiconductor and Embedded Design Service industry (2007-08)’ — compiled by the India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and International Data Corporation (IDC). (more…)

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As part of its expansion plans to diversify its revenue base, Satyam Computer Services is investing over $95 million (around Rs 380 crore) in a couple of acquisitions abroad.

The company has entered into an agreement with Caterpillar Inc, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines.

The deal for Satyam to acquire Caterpillar’s market research and customer analytics (MR&CA) intellectual property and assets is $60 million (Rs 240 crore).

Satyam will also launch a business unit to provide MR&CA solutions and services globally to Caterpillar and its customers in various industries.

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iGate Corporation, an integrated technology and operations firm, today said its subsidiary — iGate Solutions — reported a revenue of $54.9 million from operations, an increase of 4 per cent for the first quarter of 2008.

Revenues for the quarter increased to $54.9 million compared with $47.9 million in the same period last year and $52.8 million in the previous quarter, iGate Corporation CEO Phaneesh Murthy said announcing its first quarter financial results under US GAAP for the three months ended March 31, 2008, in a statement. (more…)

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Mumbai-based CMC, — a subsidiary of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) — announced a 9 per cent rise in its consolidated profit after tax at Rs 24.02 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, compared with Rs 21.91 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

The firm, however, reported an 8 per cent fall in its revenue for the quarter ending March 2008 at Rs Rs 265.8 crore compared with Rs 290. 58 crore in the corresponding quarter in FY07.

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There has been no visible negative impact of the US slowdown on deal making as the company continues to work with enterprises in their effort to be more efficient. These are paving way for deeper transformation deals, according to the Chairman of Satyam Computer, Mr B. Ramalinga Raju.

“In the Americas, other than the US, countries such as Canada, Brazil and some other markets continue to be buoyant and so is the case with continental Europe. The proportion of continental Europe is likely to go up as we explore more markets, just as most IT services companies are exploring,” Mr Ram Mynampati, Satyam President, said at a news conference. (more…)

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With revenues of Rs 187.4 crore (Rs 151.2 crore) and net profit of Rs 25.9 crore (Rs 21.45 crore) for the last quarter of fiscal 2007-08, the Hyderabad-based Infotech Enterprises Ltd has shown a growth of 23.9 per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively, over the comparative quarter of the previous year.

While a robust performance of its core engineering services helped the company grow, its operating margins in the background of a softening dollar stood at 18.2 per cent (against the projected 18-20 per cent), said Mr B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director. (more…)

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Infosys Technologies Ltd (INFY.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), India’s second-largest software services exporter, said on Friday it had won a five-year outsourcing contract from U.S. insurer Conseco Inc (CNO.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Nasdaq-listed Infosys (INFY.O: Quote, Profile, Research), which counts Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Philips Electronics (PHG.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) among its more than 500 clients, will provide application development and maintenance services to Conseco, it said in a statement. (more…)

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Shares of Satyam Computer SVCS Ltd rallied Tuesday after the company said it was in a co-development agreement with Oracle to build integration packs for Oracle products.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Satyam said it would work with Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people )’s application development team to create an integration product between Oracle’s Agile PLM product and its E-Business Suite product. (more…)

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Bangalore-based Sonata Software Ltd reported a 32 per cent growth in net profit for the latest fourth quarter. Revenue for the quarter grew 9.3 per cent, the IT consulting and services company said.

The company said net profit was Rs 16.9 crore, compared with Rs 12.8 crore in the year-ago period. Revenue was Rs 384.26 crore, up from Rs 351.64 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

Sonata said its board recommended a final dividend of 60 per cent and an interim dividend of 50 per cent. The company added nine clients during the quarter, it said. (more…)

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Geospatial and engineering solutions company Rolta Ltd has reported a 44.3 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2008 to Rs 65.72 crore as against Rs 45.54 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. On a quarter on quarter-on-quarter basis, the company saw a 9.1 per cent surge in net profit.

Total revenues of the company increased by 55.3 per cent to Rs 288.37 crore (Rs 185.59 crore). Sequentially, revenues rose by 19.3 per cent. (more…)

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City-based IT solutions firm 3i Infotech has raised around Rs 500 crore in debt over the last three-four years, in order to fund its domestic inorganic growth and working-capital requirements.

This debt has been raised by the company, in addition to the Rs 890 crore raised through FCCBs (of which Rs 247 crore was converted till March 31, 2008).

Mr Amar Chintopanth, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, told Business Line that his company has utilised some part of the debt for financing domestic acquisitions. (more…)

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US software major Novell will invest an additional $100 million over the next three years to scale up its India operations, including research and product development capabilities, a top company official said here on Wednesday.

“As our largest facility outside the US, the India development centre is key for our global engineering initiatives, including our award-winning products and technologies. The India centre has contributed a great deal in developing a suite of IT integrated management software products and delivering inter-operable Linux and other platform services. (more…)

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Pradeep Nevatia, President and CEO of Ninestars Information Technology Ltd, is passionate about distributed delivery model for large-scale data processing, be it in the form of village BPO (business process outsourcing), college campus BPO, or as a CSR (corporate social responsibility) activity.

“Distributed delivery model is not a new phenomenon. The ‘manufacturing’ sector knew it long ago,” explains Mr Nevatia. With the support of technology the concept should in fact be taken to higher and higher levels, he adds during a recent lunch-hour interaction with Business Line. (more…)

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Software exports from Tamil Nadu were expected to touch Rs 26,000 crore in 2007-08, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi announced in the state Assembly on Wednesday.

Answering supplementaries regarding setting up of IT parks in the state, he said Tamil Nadu had made software exports to the tune of Rs 21,700 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 14,600 crore in 2005-06.

Responding to CPI-M’s N Nanmaran’s question over setting up of an IT park in Madurai, the Chief Minister, who also holds the IT portfolio, said work would start in a month or two in this direction. (more…)

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By Dominique Vidalon PARIS, April 16 (Reuters) - The board of Atos Origin on Wednesday recommended shareholders vote against proposals by two activist funds to nominate five board members, saying it feared the funds could aim for control of the French IT services group.

The statement, which confirmed comments a source close to the matter made to Reuters on Tuesday, sets the stage for a showdown at the May 22 annual meeting. (more…)

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