Nik's Diary
Indian markets opened in
the red on negative opening in most of the major Asian markets because of
bailout announced by Cyprus president, in which private citizens’ bank
deposits would be tapped. Cyprus announced plans for a one-off levy on
bank deposits in exchange for equity in the banks as part of a deal that
would have international creditors provide 10bn euros (US$12.9bn) to
shore up the island nation’s finances. Under the bailout, Cyprus would
also sell government assets, raise corporate tax rates and impose a tax on
interest earned in Cypriot banks. US stocks moved lower over the
course of the day on Friday as profit taking continued and a report from
Reuters and the University of Michigan showed a substantial deterioration
in consumer sentiment in the month of March to 71.8 from 77.6 in February.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released a separate report showing that
industrial production increased by more than expected in the month of
February to 0.7% (Estimate – 0.5%). Meanwhile Indian markets fell on
Friday, dragged down by rate-sensitive realty, banking and auto stocks, as
investors adopted a cautious approach ahead of the RBI’s monetary policy
meeting due tomorrow. S&P’s comments that the outlook on India's
sovereign rating is constrained by slowing growth and the Cobra post's alleged
expose of money laundering activities by three top private sector
banks also dampened investor sentiment.
Petrol price cut by
`2/litre; diesel unchanged
Petrol
in Delhi and NCR will cost Rs. 2.40 less from Friday. In
the steepest reduction in prices in the last nine months, the state-owned oil
companies on Friday announced a cut in petrol prices by Rs. 2 per litre (excluding state taxes), resulting into an
effective reduction of up to Rs. 2.50 per
litre. While the new petrol rates will be effective from Friday, there
will be no change in those of diesel. The reduction in rates comes in the
wake of falling crude oil prices in the international market. The fall in
global oil prices has also helped lower losses on diesel sales. In Delhi,
petrol will now cost Rs.68.34 per
litre against Rs. 70.74
currently. It was expected that oil firms will affect the monthly hike of
40-50 paise per litre in diesel rates but they reportedly deferred the decision
to save the government from trouble in Parliament. When oil firms had last
hiked petrol price on March 2, the Opposition parties had disrupted one full
day’s proceedings. The cut in petrol price follows two rounds of hikes since
February. Petrol price was hiked by Rs. 1.50 per litre on February 16 and then by Rs. 1.40 per litre on March 2. Both the hikes were
excluding local VAT. Source:
Hindustan Times
DoT asks Bharti to
stop 3G services in seven circles and slaps a `350cr fine
The Department of
Telecommunications (DoT) ordered Bharti Airtel Ltd(BRTI.NS) to stop
providing 3G roaming services outside of its licensed zones, said a source with
direct knowledge, sending shares of the company down 1.1 percent. The DoT also has said Bharti must pay a penalty of 3.5
billion rupees, the source said. A Bharti spokesman did not have immediate
comment. The government last year bar red
wireless service providers from offering 3G roaming services outside their
areas of service, but a court halted the execution of the order. Mobile
companies in India own 3G licenses only for specific areas of the country and
often have agreements with other wireless providers to provide roaming services
outside of those areas. Shares of Idea Cellular (IDEA.NS), which is also
involved in the dispute related to 3G roaming pacts, down 1.2 percent. Source: Reuters
Infosys wins second
contract from India Post
Infosys today announced
that the company has been selected by India Post to implement and manage a
platform that will transform its rural operations. With this new agreement,
Infosys will facilitate India Post's Rural Systems Integration (RSI) program.
This initiative will increase adoption of the department’s services, and
enhance the reach of postal services to the country's rural population,
streamlining the distribution of social benefits. As part of an earlier
agreement, Infosys is also partnering with India Post to transform its
financial services operations and end-user experience under the Financial
Services System Integration program. The two projects are part of the
'India Post 2012' modernization program that aims to bring transparency,
agility, flexibility and scalability to its business operations. The programs
will empower employees to deliver services more efficiently to rural
communities using the latest technology. They will also position India Post as
a key agent in the Government of India’s inclusive growth policies. Infosys
will develop a Service Delivery Platform (SDP) that will leverage Infosys
solutions such as mConnect, TruSync and Finacle Inclusion. These will serve as
a foundation for the RSI program. The new SDP will allow more than 130,000
rural post offices to offer online services. Additionally it will connect and
manage more than 30,000 handheld devices used by rural postal workers for
distribution of social benefits under the National Rural Employment Guarantee
Act and process Electronic Money Orders. Speaking about this
deal, India Post said, "We are very happy to partner with Infosys on one
of the largest transformational journeys India Post has ever undertaken. We are
confident that Infosys will help make the Rural Systems Integration project a
success." According to Mr. CN Raghupathi, VP and Head of India
Business, "India Post has been a key driver of the country's
socio-economic development for over 150 years. This partnership will give us
the opportunity to promote inclusive growth by helping to deliver services more
efficiently to all citizens. We will use our proven technology leadership and
innovation capabilities to build a platform that will transform India Post and
enhance its reach significantly." Source: india education diary
Wipro
bags three year contract from Emirates NBD
Wipro Infotech, the India and Middle East IT Business unit of
Wipro Ltd announced that it has won a 3 year strategic Managed services
contract from Emirates NBD to deliver end to end service transition and
transformational services to maintain their IT systems through a managed
service framework. This includes comprehensive help desk and field support
services. It will make the processes more streamlined thereby allowing the bank
to offer better services to their end customer. Emirates NBD is a banking
group and a market leader across core business lines. It is the leading retail
banking franchise in the UAEand is also a major player in the corporate
banking arena. Wipro will support both physically and remotely all
Emirates NBD's offices in the Middle East and many of its international offices
through a remote support model. Wipro will also maintain and manage more than
8000 assets of the organization with a pool of dedicated people and managed
services tool. Wipro will be using a centralized Incident Management Service
desk and will provide first level application support services along with end
user support services. Clustered Onsite and On call desk support services
will be provided by trained professionals using tools aligned to international
industry standards. As a part of this initiative 30 Emirates NBD employees will
be transitioned into Wipro through a seamless process. High quality service
provided by a dedicated team will help Emirates NBD increase responsiveness and
hence improve business performances. This automation will also help Emirates
NBD reduce cost of operations and thereby enhance overall productivity and
profitability. Middle East is a focus market for Wipro and managed services is
one the offerings which has been adopted by clients across segments. Wipro was
recently honoured with Frost & Sullivan's Product Leadership Award in the
Middle East Managed Services Market for demonstrating excellence in the managed
services products segment, by offering high performance, high detection, and
rapid response solutions. Mukund Seetharaman, General Manager & Business
Head- Gulf, Wipro said, "This is a very strategic engagement for us in the
region and we are excited at this opportunity to be a partner to ENBD. We are
confident of enabling ENBD to achieve their objective of adopting global best
practices for higher productivity and providing better services to their end
customers." Ali Sajwani, CIO of Emirates NBD said, "Banking is a
dynamic sector and technology contributes to competitive advantage. Emirates
NBD is focused on a transformation programme aimed at improving IT
effectiveness and efficiency. Wipro with its global expertise and capabilities
in the Banking sector is a perfect partner of choice and we are confident this
partnership will enhance service levels on core IT activities, improve delivery
time of projects and most importantly focus on delivering initiatives aligned
with the Bank's strategic direction. Source: ameinfo
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