B4U India

Infotech announces extension of long term contract with Bombardier Transportation

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:33:00 -0400

Infotech Enterprises Limited signed with Bombardier Transportation a new long term contract to continue to provide engineering, electronic design, technical publications and IT-related services to Bombardier Transportation divisions worldwide.

The contract builds on a relationship that started in 2003 and now Infotech supports all Bombardier divisions across multiple technologies and projects in a real-time engineering environment.

Under their renewed contract, the projects include the prestigious Delhi Metro Phase II for which Bombardier will soon start to supply trains. The original relationship was executed under the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) framework.

The new contract does not have this clause which further demonstrates Bombardier Transportation’s commitment to work with Infotech Enterprises as a long term partner for their engineering outsourcing requirements.

Josef Doppelbauer, CTO and Vice President Project Management, Bombardier Transportation added: “Bombardier and Infotech have enjoyed a long-term relationship and will continue working together to further build our association. This renewed contract proves the strength of our business relationship with Infotech Enterprises. Together with our long operational manufacturing facility in Vadodara and the opening of a new rolling stock production facility at Savli to deliver the Delhi Metro project, this relationship will continue to further strengthen our engineering competence within our existing Indian operations. Our relationships and own capacities in India will not only ensure the support of local Indian projects but also help design and deliver high quality new systems that could be utilized for our global needs.”

Commenting on the occasion, Krishna Bodanapu, Sr. Vice President – Manufacturing, Infotech Enterprises Limited said, “Infotech Enterprises is very proud to be associated with Bombardier Transportation. We started with simple engineering tasks such as data migration in 2003. Bombardier management team has shown exceptional vision and focus in enabling the relationship to evolve into a strategic partnership with Infotech undertaking complex engineering tasks in real-time projects. Infotech Enterprises is committed to building on this relationship and we look forward to supporting Bombardier Transportation’s continued market leadership.” (ANI)

7 yrs old girl gets Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Award for Excellence in Animal Welfare

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:23:00 -0400

Karunashram unit of People for Animals (Wardha) announces Ashraya Ananthanarayanan, a seven year old girl in Pennsylvania as the recipient of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial award for excellence in animal welfare.

K.L.Ramchander (OSK), ex Regional Director of Air India applauded Ashraya for her guts and gumption at such a tender age. Not one to shy away from injustice, Ashraya has taken every opportunity to champion the cause of animals. On receiving the award, Ashraya said, “Compassion is something everybody has. It''s just that sometimes we do not notice it ourselves or we do not have enough courage to bring it out. I believe that a person with a correct combination of values and character can bring about the revolution of peace in this world.”

Ashraya learnt of Karunashram from Arthy and Ponnani, her parents. She immediately expressed her desire to help and donated Rs10, 000 from funds that she had raised from a dance recital. Karunashram and Ashraya share a unique relationship unaffected by distance.

Last year, Ashraya was appointed the Child Ambassador of Karunashram in recognition of her fund raising efforts for the organization. There has been no stopping her ever since. In July, 2008, she received the Compassionate Kid award from PETA; the world''s largest animal welfare organization for rescuing a turtle from captivity.

Ashraya hit the headlines in several newspapers for her brave act. Ashraya will also release her debut Piano CD in Dec 2008. It will be a joyful collection of Indian Classical songs and Western Classical on thespians. The proceeds of which shall go to help PETA, Karunashram and SEVA.

Apart from being a young writer of the Amazing kids'' magazine of USA, she also plans to release her bud book in 2009 titled "THE RING OF HOPE" on compassion. Ashraya will also be featured in a book by Ninon de Vere De Rosa, the founder of Kids Talk Productions and in her TV Show as Voices of Tomorrow. For this tiny tot, there is no ''Next is what?'' She sure knows what''s next.

Karunashram also announces the launch of V Pasta, a signature vegan dish by Ashraya to mark the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. Available in Le Royal Meridien, Crepe Station, 5 The Restaurant, Royal Orchids and Moshes, V Pasta aims to celebrate the spirit of compassion in a dish.

Earlier this year Karunashram also started the City''s Angel award to highlight the work of individuals towards animal welfare. Four Mumbaikars namely Anupama Hariharan, Shashi Iyer, Monika Mehta and Shilpa Mistry received the certificate of merit. Anupama Hariharan showed tremendous bravado in saving the life of a man who was hit by a vehicle on the Eastern express highway.

Shashi and Shilpa, both suburbanites have constantly provided refuge to needy animals. Monika Mehta, a student of TISS initiated fostering and adoption services in association with Karunashram. Determined to fight a losing battle, Monika single-handedly organized the resources for ensuring adoption of puppies and kittens in Mumbai.

Ravi Ramchander of Karunashram said that when their team first started work, they had no idea what they could do in Mumbai, as the shelter was based in Wardha. But the support from so many bright youngsters has infused fresh life into the cause and has made it possible to look beyond the periphery of the common towards something more uncommon. All we need is one brave person and one more.

As Mahatma Gandhi said, “A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”

For more information on Karunashram, visit www.karunashram.com (ANI)

Audi starts production of new Audi A4 in India

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:23:00 -0400

Total of 11,000 Audi A4 models to be produced by 2015.

Audi is continuing to make its mark on the Indian automobile market. The company today announced the start of local assembly of the new Audi A4.

“The successful model, which was launched on the Indian market in July this year, is the second Audi model to be produced at the Group plant in Aurangabad after the Audi A6. By 2015 we will have built a total of some 11,000 Audi A4 and 7,000 Audi A6 models in India, while investing over ?30 million in our Indian production site,” said Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management for Production at AUDI AG.

“India is one of the most important future growth markets for Audi. Compared with last year, our vehicle sales in the first eight months of this year grew by over 190 percent to some 700 units,” stated Peter Schwarzenbauer, Member of the Board of Management for Marketing and Sales at AUDI AG.

“We are in a great position to establish the Audi A4 successfully in the long term on the Indian market. We are also making excellent process with our dealer network, which is currently being expanded to twelve locations.”

50 employees work in CKD (Completely Knocked Down) production, which takes place in an exclusive part of the Group plant in Aurangabad. Assembly is in accordance with the worldwide quality standards of AUDI AG.

Cutting-edge technology and highly skilled employees are the key to efficient production: the Indian team has been intensively prepared for their jobs with extensive training at the Audi plant in Neckarsulm (Germany) in the following areas: production, electronics, logistics and quality.

“The outstanding infrastructure at the plant, highly developed working processes, a large pool of skilled workers and favorable logistical conditions combined with our Audi philosophy of “Vorsprung durch Technik” have resulted in Audi A4 CKD production starting two months ahead of schedule,” said Frank Dreves, Member of the Board of Management for Production at AUDI AG.

By 2015 Audi plans to have built a total of over 18,000 cars in Aurangabad, around 11,000 of which will be Audi A4 models. In 2009, the first full year of production, 640 Audi A4 sedans will be assembled in a single-shift operation, as will 380 Audi A6 models.

Audi aims to sell 1,000 units of the whole model range this year, 3,000 units per year by 2010 and 10,000 units per year by 2015. The Audi A4 will be the key contributor in achieving these targets. (ANI)

Money India launches a news website on consumer finance

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:22:00 -0400

Venturian Media Limited a leading global online publishing and marketing company today announced the launch of their Indian consumer finance news and comparison site www.money-india.com which offers free and comprehensive tools for helping consumers to make better and faster choices when searching for the right product to suit their needs.

Ross Travill, Marketing Director at Venturian said: “Our model is based on simplicity and offering a faster route to product application. Today''s lifestyle means that consumers often need to make decisions quickly and don''t have the time to look at multiple, often confusing offers meaning they end up with an unsuitable product. Our smart comparison tools cut through the noise and give the facts on the best products available saving our user''s time as well as money.”

The site launched earlier this month and has already established itself as the number one destination for Indian consumers looking to find the cheapest and latest offers on credit cards, loans, insurance and banking products with its instant popularity proving to be a draw for India''s largest financial services companies looking to feature their products.

Agreements have been signed already with Kotak, ICICI, Barclays, Deutsch Bank and Tata AIG with many more in the pipeline. Money India is expecting complete coverage of the Indian marketplace by early next year with their impartiality and commitment to best practice ultimately benefiting the consumer.

Additionally, a dedicated news team based in Hyderabad and headed up by Sharat Prabhakar, a former Manager for South East Asia at New Corporation will be providing interactive news, insight and analysis aimed to appeal to a broad cross section of readers from educating the layman to professional and topical debate on the issues faced by the industry.

Mr Prabhakar commented: “There is a lot of disinformation in the marketplace meaning that too often people are entering in to unsuitable credit arrangements, ultimately leading to a vicious cycle whereby borrowers default and therefore lenders are more likely to keep interest rates higher in order to compensate. Our aim is to educate consumers in to making sensible choices by only working with reputable lenders. By making people aware of the small print before they apply this will be beneficial to all stakeholders.”

Whilst the Indian retail banking sector is still not as evolved as some other nations Prabhakar feels that Money India has launched at exactly the right time for the consumer with an increasing presence from Global lenders and the relaxing of previously tight anti-competition legislation – “Competition is finally increasing here too which is great news for the consumer providing they''re properly educated. Even government owned banks are waking up from a deep sleep and finding that in order to survive in this brave new world where customer is king they need to compete.” (ANI)

Bombay Stock Exchange launches currency derivatives

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:42:00 -0400

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) launched its currency derivatives segment in dollar-rupee currency futures on Wednesday in Mumbai.

Top officials of Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said that in today''s business environment, organizations, irrespective of their nature of business face currency risk.

They added that by the introduction of trading in currency derivatives, market, would prove to be an excellent opportunity to hedge currency risk for the players.

C.B Bhave, chairman of SEBI congratulating the exchange on launching the currency derivatives, assured the investors that both Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and SEBI are monitoring the market.

"I have no doubt on the geniuses of the traders in Bombay. They will take this exchange path. I congratulate BSE on starting this currency derivates platform. People have already started demanding that their restrictions that have been put on currency trading should be relaxed. RBI and SEBI are working together on monitoring what is happening. The exchange is also taking note of the demands in the market place," said Bhave.

He added that discussions are on to bring about relaxation in the currency trading norms.

With the introduction of the currency derivatives, participants would now no longer have to depend on over-the-counter products such as forwards, swaps and options only to hedge their currency risks.

Currency derivatives are used by many enterprises in international trade to hedge their risks against fluctuations in currency prices. (ANI)