IAHGames and Tata Communications in pact for Online Gaming Services

September 21st, 2008 by | No Comments | Filed in Politics

First Truly Global CDN Supports Gaming Initiatives in APAC

SINGAPORE,  September 21, 2008 – Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications, and IAHGames, a major online game Publisher and Operator in Southeast Asia, announced this week at the 2008 Games Conference Asiathat IAHGames has engaged Tata Communications to provide their Global Content Delivery Network (CDN) service in Asia. Tata Communications’ Global CDN service accelerates game delivery and offers a high quality customer experience for the digital media and entertainment community. The CDN service will deliver a range of online games, including the award-winning Granado Espada and an upcoming title EA SPORTS ™ FIFA Online 2 which is due for closed beta testing today.

Tata Communications, which launched its next-generation CDN service globally last week, delivers one of the highest performance and reliability in the industry while providing immediate access to content, including High-Definition Video, without delay or jitter. With more than 300 points of presence worldwide, Tata Communications’ now offers the first truly global CDN service on a state of the art, single ASN global IP network. Tata Communications CDN service enables large gaming files to download six times faster than conventional networks
“As one of the top game operators in the Asia-Pacific region, we choose to work with the best partners in the world to offer unparalleled gaming experience to our customers,” said Mr Yeo Yeok Chuan, Vice President of Marketing & Strategy for IAHGames “Partnering with Tata Communications and utilizing their global CDN allows IAHGames to provide a faster and more efficient way to deliver digital content to our APAC customers. We look forward to working with Tata Communications to bring high quality gaming services to gamers based throughout Asia.” 
According to Mr.Yeo, the global gaming market has grown tremendously over the past 20 years, now earning more revenue worldwide than the Hollywood movie industry.  Southeast Asia’s gaming market in particular has shown enormous growth over the past few years, and will continue to do so as online and gamer penetration expands. The vast population of the region still exhibits a multitude of untapped potential, and based on recent evolution of the gaming market in Korea and China, Southeast Asia’s gaming community and business will continue to grow exponentially for at least the next five years.
“The launch of Tata Communications’ CDN service offers a faster and better way for  customers  to deliver digital content on the Internet,” said Genius Wong, Tata Communications’ Senior Vice President of Global IP and VPN Services. “Supporting IAHGames to deliver its suite of game contents to the APAC gaming community reduces the need for expensive infrastructure build-outs by the gaming industry and extends content delivery worldwide instantly. Tata Communications’ goal is to deliver solutions that meet the needs of the gaming market, most importantly distribution and enhances customer experience, as it continues to grow globally.”
Tata Communications provides one of the Internet’s most advanced CDN services. CDN services enablethe gaming community to easily outsource distribution of games, video, downloads, and multimedia applications over the Internet.  Tata Communications’ Global CDN service combines Tier-1 Global IP backbone and next generation CDN technology to deliver high download throughput on large game applications, content, video clips and also support Live Broadcast HD video feed.
For more information on Tata Communications CDN Service visit www.tatacommunications.com

Infotech Enterprises wins “GITA Excellence Award” from GITA – ANZ

September 17th, 2008 by | No Comments | Filed in Politics

Hyderabad, September 17th 2008 – Infotech Enterprises Ltd (IEL), a global technology solutions provider with headquarters in Hyderabad, India today announced that its EGIS Implementation at NDPL has been awarded the “GITA Excellence Award” by GITA-ANZ (Geospatial Information Technology Association, Australia & New Zealand). Infotech Enterprises is first company to implement an Enterprise GIS (EGIS) to a utility in India. With around 3,300 GIS Professionals and 16 years of wide-ranging customer engagements, Infotech is one of the largest and most accomplished companies in the industry today.

At NDPL, Infotech has fully implemented their geographical information system (GIS) and integrated it with their business and distribution management systems. EGIS has thus become a reliable source of information to provide data for operations, commercial, planning and asset management. The data is always updated on a real time basis which gives the right information at the right time for better and more efficient decision making.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr. B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, Infotech Enterprises Limited said, “It is a matter of pride for Infotech Enterprises that NDPL’s EGIS Implementation has won the GITA Excellence Award. It is a great way of recognizing our commitment to our customers and our pursuit of excellence. It is a reward for our deep domain expertise and leadership in GIS and reinforces the strong relationship we enjoy with NDPL”.

The project, which leads the field in the electric distribution utility industry, was centred on interfacing and integrating GIS with other systems of the company encompassing all key business processes. This unique and innovative usage includes, but is not limited to, Capital Expenditure Management, Asset Management, Operations and Maintenance Management and Commercial Management.

The key challenges faced by NDPL included imprecise legacy data – addresses created over several decades , inadequate space to create a proper distribution infrastructure, and poor customer data in terms of billing and operational details. The other business challenges faced by NDPL were around reducing AT&C losses, new connections, planning and asset management.

Tags: , ,

Reliance Infrastructure Ltd Key highlights of the FY08 Annual Report

September 17th, 2008 by | No Comments | Filed in Politics

- Consolidated revenues grew 21.9% yoy to Rs83.5bn and consolidated PAT increased 36.4% yoy to Rs11.4bn.

- Revenue growth was driven by the strong performance of the power segment and higher contribution from subsidiaries and JVs. EPC revenues were materially lower yoy.

- Other income continues to drive profit growth comprising an exceptionally high proportion of PBT (114% in FY08 and 108% in FY07).

- During the year, Reliance Infrastructure Ltd (Rel Infra) increased investments in Reliance Power (holds 45% post IPO) and bought back 0.95mn shares.

- Balance sheet gained strength with reduction in leverage and utilization of cash.

- Company made robust progress in implementation of infrastructure projects (in airports, roads, business districts and mass rapid transit systems).

Tags: , ,

Ranbaxy Statement on FDA Alert on Drugs

September 17th, 2008 by | No Comments | Filed in Politics

Gurgaon, India , September 17, 2008 – In response to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration press release today announcing warning letters and Import Alert for Drugs issued to Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd regarding drug products produced in two Ranbaxy plants in India, the company issued the following statement:

“Ranbaxy is very disappointed in the action FDA has taken today. The company has responded to each concern FDA has raised during the past two years and had thought that progress was being made. We are, however, pleased that FDA’s testing and review led the agency to conclude that there is no reason to question the safety or effectiveness of Ranbaxy’s drugs. The company has just received the warning letters that FDA has issued and has not had the opportunity to review those concerns that FDA has determined are unresolved. Once it has had an opportunity to review the issues, the company looks forward to continuing to cooperate with FDA to resolve the remaining issues.”

According to the FDA announcement, the warning letters and Import Alert do not apply to Ranbaxy’s other facilities including its three manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Ohm’s Laboratories facilities in New Brunswick, NJ, North Brunswick, NJ, and Gloversville, NY, from which Ranbaxy delivers some 59 drug products to the U.S. healthcare system, including:  Simvastatin, Acyclovir, Minocycline, Clindamycin, Lorazepam, Loratadine-D, Cetirizine, Acetaminophen Extended release tablets, Lisinopril and Zolpidem.
Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, India’s largest pharmaceutical company, is an integrated, research based, international pharmaceutical company producing a wide range of quality, affordable generic medicines, trusted by healthcare professionals and patients across geographies. Ranbaxy’s continued focus on R&D has resulted in several approvals in developed markets and significant progress in New Drug Discovery Research. The Company’s foray into Novel Drug Delivery Systems has led to proprietary “platform technologies,” resulting in a number of products under development. The Company is serving its customers in over 125 countries and has an expanding international portfolio of affiliates, joint ventures and alliances, ground operations in 49 countries and manufacturing operations in 11 countries. 

 

Tags: , ,

ICICI Bank statement on Lehman Brothers

September 16th, 2008 by | 1 Comment | Filed in Politics

ICICI Bank Limited: Statement from Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Joint Managing Director & Chief Financial Officer 
 
At June 30, 2008, ICICI Bank and its subsidiaries had consolidated total assets of Rs. 484,643 crore. ICICI Bank UK PLC  had total     assets of about US$ 8.7 billion at that date. ICICI Bank PLC’s investment of  Euro 57 million  (approximately US$ 80 mn)  in  senior bonds of Lehman Brothers Inc . constitutes less than 1% of ICICI Bank UK PLC’s total assets and less than 0.1% of the consolidated total assets of the ICICI Group. ICICI Bank UK PLC already holds a provision of about US$ 12 million against investment in these bonds. Considering a 50% recovery estimate, the additional provision required would be about US$ 28 million. There is no other material impact on ICICI Bank or ICICI Bank UK PLC on account of exposure to Lehman Brothers.

Tags: ,

RCOM & BBC WORLD NEWS ENTER A STRATEGIC AGREEMENT FOR MOBILE

September 16th, 2008 by | No Comments | Filed in Politics

BBC  World  News  available on Reliance Mobile as live streaming for  first time in India

Reliance Mobile subscribers can view from anywhere in India

Service accessible 24×7

Mumbai, September 16, 2008 :Forging  ahead  in  its  aggressive  plans to provide innovative content to millions  of  subscribers,  Reliance  Communications has made available BBC
World  News  for  the first time as a mobile streaming (unicast) service 24
hours a day for Reliance Mobile users across India. Through this agreement,
Reliance  Mobile  users  can  access BBC’s trademark live breaking news and
landmark programming initiatives as they happen directly on their handsets.

Reliance Communications became the first telecom operator (CDMA) to provide
mobile  streaming  (unicast)  service  in  India  in  2004.  ‘Mobile TV’ on
Reliance  Mobile  World  is  already  a  very  popular service representing
different  genre  of  content such as TV news and shows, music, cricket and
sports,   fashion   and   glamour.   Reliance   provides  hours  of  latest
entertainment,  and  information based rich media content through eleven TV
channels  to  its subscribers. They have been available to several millions
of  users  with  Reliance  Mobile  World  enabled  handsets  supporting  TV
streaming (unicast) service, for many years.

 

Hosted  on the Reliance Mobile World (R World), the ‘Mobile TV’ menu offers
unique  experience in viewing BBC World News’ popular content including the
Network’s  latest  programming.  As the streaming is on-line 24×7, Reliance
Mobile  customers  can  watch  their  favorite  programs  conveniently from
anywhere  even  while  on the move within the state or traveling across the
country.

 

Worldwide  trend  showcases  how consumers are upgrading from ringtones and
wallpapers,  the  mainstays  of  the mobile entertainment, to more advanced
features  like  mobile  TV  and  propelling  the growth of TV on the mobile
phones by leaps and bounds. In countries like South Korea and Japan, Mobile
TV is already a way of life. Other countries in the Americas and Europe are
fast catching up.

 

Commenting  on  the  tie-up,  Mr.  Krishna  Durbha,  Head-  VAS  Business &
Marketing,  Reliance  communications said, “Today lakhs of mobile phones on
Reliance Communication network are unicast streaming enabled. Through these
phones, Reliance Mobile customers can watch more than eleven TV channels 24
x  7.  We  are  proud  that  Reliance Communications is one of the very few
telecom  operators  in the world to provide such a service. Our association
with   BBC   World   News   will  enable  us  to  provide  up-to-the-minute
international news coverage to our subscribers.”

 

Mr.  Nachiket  Pantvaidya, Genral Manager, Global Channels, South Asia said
“Globally, BBC World News is a successful tri-media news service delivering
international  news and information across multiple platforms of TV, online
and  mobile.  It  has  been our endeavour that the highest number of mobile
users  in  India  can  have  access to the in-depth, credible and up-to-the
minute news coverage that the BBC is synonymous with. We are happy that our
association  with  Reliance  Communications  has  helped  us facilitate the
same.”

Tags: , , , , ,

Welspun India to De-merge its divisions

September 16th, 2008 by | No Comments | Filed in Politics

Mumbai, September 16, 2008: Welspun India Ltd., (WIL), part of US$ 3 billion Welspun Group today announced the de-merger of its Distribution & Marketing and Investment Divisions into two separate companies at cost basis. This will allow strategic focus on specific tiers of the businesses and thus shall enable better business control, flexibility on business operations and leveraging International focus of the Group.

The Distribution & Marketing Company, which will hold all the international businesses, and Welspun Retail Limited (WRL) will be known as Welspun Global Brands Ltd. (WGBL) whereas the Investment Company will be known as Welspun Investments Ltd. (WINV). As a part of this de-merger, WGBL will issue fresh shares to Promoters and shareholders of WIL in lieu of Promoters’ and WIL’s shareholding in WRL (which is valued at cost basis) and thus WGBL will hold entire equity of WRL.

The current shareholders of WIL will be allotted new shares in WGBL and WINV i.e. – shareholders of every 100 shares in WIL will be given 10 shares of WGBL and 5 shares of WINV.

Post Demerger, Promoter and Non-Promoter shareholding in WGBL shall be 57.6% and 42.4% respectively.
Upon de-merger, both WGBL and WINV will automatically be listed separately on Indian stock exchanges i.e NSE and BSE.
The above arrangement is subject to necessary statutory and regulatory approvals. The effective date for this de-merger is proposed to be 01.04.2009

Tags: ,

Lehman Bros. Holdings Downgraded To 'Selective Default'

September 16th, 2008 by | 1 Comment | Filed in Politics

-Contributed by a blogger
Other Lehman Entities To ‘BB-’ Or ‘R’
NEW YORK Sept. 15, 2008–Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said today that it lowered its long-term
counterparty credit rating on Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (Lehman) to ‘SD’ (selective default, meaning payments
may not be made on some financial obligations), from ‘A’. We also removed the rating from CreditWatch, where it
had been placed with developing implications on Sept. 12, 2008.

The downgrade followed our lowering of Lehman’s preferred stock issues to ‘D’ from ‘BBB+’. At the same time, we
lowered Lehman’s senior unsecured debt issues to ‘CCC-’ from ‘A’, and its subordinated debt issues to ‘C’ from ‘A-’.
The issue ratings remain on CreditWatch where they were placed on Sept. 12, 2008, but we have changed the
implications to negative from developing.

Meanwhile, we lowered the long-term counterparty credit and issue ratings on most of Lehman’s other subsidiaries
to ‘BB-’ (see list below). These ratings remain on CreditWatch with developing implications, which means that we
could raise, affirm, or lower the ratings.

In addition, we lowered the long-term counterparty ratings on Lehman Brothers International (Europe) and Lehman
Brothers Holdings PLC to ‘R’, signifying that regulators have taken over these entities, from ‘A’. We removed the
ratings from CreditWatch, where they had been placed with developing implications on Sept. 12, 2008.

“These rating actions follow the announcement that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the parent/holding company of
the Lehman Brothers group, intends to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,” said Standard & Poor’s credit
analyst Scott Sprinzen. “No other Lehman subsidiary has been included in the filing. At this time, it is not clear
whether Lehman will default on its holding company senior and subordinated debt obligations. But we assume
Lehman is highly likely to discontinue payments on its hybrid capital issues.”

It is also uncertain whether the Chapter 11 proceedings will ultimately include some of Lehman’s affiliates in the
U.S.and in other countries or whether regulators will take over those entities. Ten securities firms and banks
reportedly have access to a $70 billion “club” borrowing facility, which should help to stabilize the financial markets,
while the Federal Reserve has broadened the collateral eligible to be used under the Primary Dealer Credit Facility.
“Standard & Poor’s will continue to monitor the situation closely and make additional rating changes as further
information about Lehman’s reorganization becomes available,” said Mr. Sprinzen.

Lehman’s Chapter 11 filing followed a precipitous decline in confidence on the part of creditors, counterparties, and
clients, with severe ramifications for its ability to fund its operations. This faltering confidence is attributable, in part,
to the company’s large holdings of commercial real estate, and residential mortgages and mortgage-backed
securities–and uncertainty regarding their value–which therefore served as a magnet for negative market sentiment
in the current difficult environment.

Tags: , ,

IT Services Sector Update by EMKAY Global Fin. Svc. Ltd

September 13th, 2008 by | No Comments | Filed in Politics

Currency continues to play counter to demand risks 
Difficult demand environment: Europe joins the ‘woes’ bandwagon

The Indian IT sector’s demand situation continues to worsen with the vendors now needing to reassess spending patterns at their European clients whereby until now street had only been concerned with the credit issues afflicting the US geography. To highlight that European client might be on the same side of the fence as their US counter parts, we wish to highlight

n                                the decelerating revenue growth for the tier 1 vendors ( please refer to chart: ‘Trend is down here as well’)

n                                credit related losses at European BFSI clients (refer to table: Surprised!! :European banks have suffered more than their US peers) and

n                                recent commentary from both the IT vendors as well as some of the European clients on business prospects.(contrary to earlier confidence from vendors that their diversification towards Europe would counter the negative impact from US)

USD strengthens V/s GBP, Euro, INR

We wish to highlight that the rapid bounce back in the US$ continues during Q2FY09 as well with US$ appreciating by ~12% FYTD against GBP and ~10% FYTD V/s Euro.
Although the rapid appreciation of the USD V/s the GBP and Euro would impact Infosys’s US$ term revenue growth (we estimate that Infosys’s FY09 revenue growth guidance of 19-21% YoY growth could be negatively impacted by ~250 bps and Infosys could report US$ revenue growth of 18.3% V/s our estimates of 20.8% currently, for details refer to the working below). However Infosys’s earnings estimates could still be upgraded by ~4.9% and ~4.5% for FY09 and FY10 respectively to Rs 107.2 and Rs 122.6 (if we were to base the estimates at Rs 45/$ for FY09 and Rs 44/$ for FY10 respectively). The earnings impacts for other IT services companies would also be impacted driven by their exposure/billing in US$, Euro and GBP. We note Tech Mahindra could be adversely impacted the highest as it derives ~65% of revenues from UK alone.

Remain ‘Neutral’ on Sector; Sector lacks +ive catalyst albeit for currency

We maintain ‘Neutral’ on the sector with no BUY rated stocks amongst the large cap IT   services space. We believe that the offshore vendors would enter next year/CY09’s budgeting cycle in a similar/ extended precarious state as they were placed at the start of CY08. We remain worried because in a rush to lock in volumes for FY10, the pricing discipline shown by the vendors until now could be disrupted.

Tags: , , , ,

Key beneficiaries of Indo-US Neclear Deal

September 8th, 2008 by | No Comments | Filed in Politics

This the list of companies who will be the key beneficiaries of Indo-US
nuclear deal.

ABB

Alstom Projects India

Areva T&D India

BHEL

Crompton Greaves

Gammon India

HCC

L&T

NTPC

Reliance Infrastructure

Rolta

Tata Power

Walchandnagar Industries

Tags:

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »