TCS to Infosys switch cripples MCA 21 site

MUMBAI: New companies have been unable to get off the ground and existing ones cannot upload mandatory information as a critical government website, MCA 21, has slowed down sharply after a vendor contract switched hands from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to Infosys on January 17. To add to the chaos, lenders have been unable to disburse loans as they cannot specify assets that will be used as collateral.

The portal, under the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA), is essentially the gateway to filing statutory information online with the registrar of companies (RoC) and is widely accessed by lenders, chartered accountants and shareholders seeking to obtain financial details on 8.5 lakh registered Indian companies. All companies have to mandatorily incorporate as well as file information online.

India's second-largest software exporter, Infosys, took charge of the portal on January 17 from TCS, which was associated with MCA 21 from 2005. TCS had won the contract as part of India's first Mission Model Project of the National e-Governance Plan. The current contract with Infosys is worth $50 million for five years.

"Lenders have withheld loans for want of creating or modifying a charge, new companies cannot be incorporated, deals are stuck as balance sheets are not available for independent verification, and many transactions are not going forward," says Aashish K Bhatt, a company secretary in Mumbai. "This is causing lot of problem as one cannot access the filings."

MCA Secretary Naved Masood told ET that he expects to tide over the problem by the end of this week. "There are transitional issues. We are keeping a close watch and discussing the same with Infosys officials."

Infosys told to resolve issue soon
The system has substantially improved in the last few days. On Monday, there were about 14,000 filings. Figures for Tuesday are not available at this moment. The login has begun but since the queue is long, the system is not responding adequately. We expect the system to normalise in the next 3-4 days," Masood said.

People familiar with the development said MCA has asked Infosys to resolve the issue soon.

"There is a constant dialogue between our members, ministry and Infosys. There could be teething issues due to the transition from one company to another. We hope that it will be resolved soon," says B Narasimhan, council member, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

Around 57,000 bankers and professionals have been issued digital signature certificates, allowing them to file information on behalf of companies, according to a press release issued by TCS on January 16, 2013.

The website has 6.2 lakh registered users, according to the TCS release that was issued at the time of the handover to Infosys.

MCA-21 was set up to enable electronic filing of documents, registration of companies and public access to corporate information online through a secure interactive portal that saw peak filings of 88,000 a day in 2012. It is designed to fully automate all processes related to enforcement and compliance with legal requirements under the Companies Act.

"The problem seems to be due to the transition period from one vendor to another," says a Delhi-based practising company secretary, who did not want to be quoted as he liaisons with MCA.

Infosys declined comment on the MCA project, citing its policy of not commenting on individual clients.

"Since the national launch in March 2006, more than 19 lakh Director Identification Numbers (DIN) have been issued to directors of companies, 4.7 crore visitors used the portal, and there are over 6 lakh registered users with 2.15 crore e-filings," TCS said in a release on January 16.

Indian start-up founders shift to Silicon Valley

Suresh Sambandam of OrangeScape, Krishna Mehra of Capillary Technologies, Jaspreet Singh of Druva, Balaji Sreenivasan of Aurigo, Vivek Ravisankar of InterviewStreet - all have something in common, other than that they have been featured here for their accomplishments. They are all technology entrepreneurs who started their ventures in India over the past few years, built them to a significant level of success, and now they have all relocated to the US, or are in the process of relocating (themselves, not the companies).

We have mentioned just five names. But there are more. And the one common reason for the move is the US market. It's by far the biggest consumer of technology. "It's as big as the rest of the world in software technology spends - they over-invest in technology," says Mehra of Capillary, which built its cloud-based retail analytics and customer engagement business in India for the first three years. Mehra has established a team of five locals in the US and will himself move to the US in the second quarter of this year.

Aurigo's Sreenivasan says customers prefer to know that the CEO is in the same geography that they are in. "This is even more with enterprise software customers, who spend millions of dollars on their IT systems," he says. Aurigo provides project management solutions to big construction and utilities companies, and 80% of its revenues comes from the North American market.

"Ultimately, people buy from people. The passion that an entrepreneur has is unique and it is important that it be leveraged in the marketplace the company operates in. Building new relationships and nurturing old ones is as important as building the most innovative software. If a customer does not feel comfortable engaging with a vendor, it does not matter how many features the vendor's software product has, or what platform it is built on," Sreenivasan says. He also found that his sales team was more effective when managed closely rather than remotely with frequent trips back and forth.

Shekhar Kirani, partner in VC firm Accel Partners, says it's also easier for companies to honour a contract and resolve issues locally if the start-up has a US headquarters.

The Silicon Valley eco-system is another powerful draw for Indian tech entrepreneurs. OrangeScape's platform-as-a-service product allows people to create cloud-based applications and deploy them easily and quickly. But it's also a space that has seen the entry of big players - Microsoft, Salesforce.com, Google and IBM. To bring attention to his product in the midst of such competition, OrangeScape's Sambandam says he needed to be in the "global headquarters" of technology - Silicon Valley.

"In the Valley, venture capitalists, technology writers, technology consultants all combine to make good products successful. Customers also look at all that is being said about a product and adopt products that are expected to become global. And then the rest of the world picks them up," Sambandam says.

Aneesh Reddy, Capillary's CEO and co-founder who will continue to be based in India, echoes similar views: "The Valley has a lot of activity happening on the social and mobile front, and we wanted to be part of the action, rather than view it from a distance. The Valley also gives a lot of visibility and opens up possibilities for partnerships."

Samir Kelekar, founder of Bangalore-based IT security firm Zeno Security, is relocating to the US to explore licensing opportunities for technologies he has developed. He has a patent in the area of network security and two more are in the pipeline. "In the US, many inventors are able to navigate the patent system on their own without a lawyer's help. Also, it's so easy to start a business there. In India, I need a lawyer and a chartered accountant to help me keep pace with the new rules introduced. In Delaware, where I have an office, there are state-appointed agents to incorporate your company on your behalf if you are based outside Delaware," he says.

However, for all of these companies, India remains the hub of software development. Where there are multiple founders, typically only one founder moves to the US. And experts say that as the Indian start-up eco-system develops and as the start-ups mature, there may be fewer reasons for founders to be in the US. Dhiraj Rajaram, founder of analytics firm Mu Sigma, which is today a near $100-million company, shifted to Bangalore from the US, after establishing a mature US office.

Dell to increase headcount in India: Michael Dell

DAVOS: Terming India as a great growth story for it, global computing giant Dell has said it would further expand its operations and headcount in the country, where it has grown from one person to about 27,000-strong workforce in about a decade.

"India has been a great growth story for Dell. We have quite a large presence there and I personally visit the country few times a year. We have a great team there and about 27,000 people," the company's global chief Michael Dell told PTI in an interview here.

Dell, who was here for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, said the company's plant (in Chennai) and the operations and staff size in the country would continue to expand as per the size of the business.

"If business gets bigger we would expand our operations. When we started in India, we had one person and then we had one thousand, then we went on to ten thousand and today we have 27,000 people working for us there," Dell said when asked about the company's expansion plans for India.

Refusing to put any figures to the company's hiring or other expansion plans for the country, Dell said that the company has never given any estimates and still it has grown from one person to 27,000 people. "All this has been through our natural progression in the country that would continue going ahead," he said.

"What is impressive about India is that you have an enormous population of very well educated young people and we love the talent that is available in India, so we are going to keep growing in India.

"We have grown from one person to 27,000 staff without giving estimates and we are still growing continuously and that would continue. One thing you can be assured of is that We will certainly continue to expand our operations in India," Dell added.

US-based Dell, which was founded by Michael Dell in 1984, is one of the world's largest makers of computers and other computing devices and a leading player in the entire spectrum of information technology business through its various services and solutions for enterprise and retail customers.

Globally, it has an headcount of more than one lakh people, annual revenue of over $62 billion and profits of about $3.5 billion. Dell has about half a dozen manufacturing plants across the world, including one in Chennai, India.

Recently, there have been reports about making US-listed Dell a privately held company, as also about software giant Microsoft being in talks with private equity investors on a possible buyout of Dell. When asked about these reports, Michael Dell declined to comment.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/careers/job-trends/Dell-to-increase-headcount-in-India-Michael-Dell/articleshow/18255106.cms

Google launches global science fair

SAN FRANCISCO: Google launched a global science fair by inviting students around the world to present ideas that could change the world and perhaps become the next Ada Lovelace.

Lovelace was a teenager in the early 1800s when she became fascinated with math and went on to write what is considered to be the first computer program.

"Many great scientists developed their curiosity for science at an early age and went on to make groundbreaking discoveries that changed the way we live," Sam Peter of Google's science fair team said in a blog post.

Examples included Louis Braille inventing an alphabet for the blind at age 16 and telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell experimenting with sound while he was still in his teens.

Partners in the third annual Google Science Fair include European research organization CERN and toy maker LEGO Group.

The Internet powerhouse known for investing in unusual projects such as self-driving cars and glasses linked to the Web said that students ages 13 to 18 can vie for top prize in the science contest.

Challenges tackled by prior fair winners included early diagnosis of breast cancer, cataloguing the ecosystem found in water, and enabling people with hearing loss to better listen to music, according to Peter.

Science fair prizes include a $50,000 scholarship and a trip to the Galapagos with National Geographic Expeditions.

The deadline for submissions is April 30 and top finalists will be brought to Google's campus in Mountain View, California, where winners will be announced during an event on September 23.

More details were available online at googlesciencefair.com.

Run Android Applications on PC via Android SDK Manager

Do you wish to run Android application or games but don’t have a Smartphone to do it? Well, we would in this tutorial unleash a method by which you can run Android applications on your own PC. So, let’s started then……..
1. You need to at first download Android Sdk which you can by clicking here. Note: download the 16-bit or 32-bit version according to your PC.
2. Now install the program and a screen like below will appear:

3. Now, check the latest version of Android that you would like to use for applications and then click on install packages.
4. After installing the packages, go to your web browser and download any of your favorite android application to your PC. But, while installing it copy the files where you have installed the Android SDK.
5. Then open the android-sdk-windows and from their Android virtual device manager. Their click on new and click on the path when you have in the previous step installed copied the files.

 

6. After this, click on start and it will ask if you want to change the screen settings of your android mobile after doing it your android mobile will run. But, Android emulator will run through where you installed the applications.
7. Now go to RUN and type cmd and press enter.
8. Now enter the path where you installed the Android SDK and press enter.
9. Then in the next command write the command which leads to platform tools for e.g cd android-sdk-windows\platform-tools\) writing cd here is necessary.
10. Now, in the next command write: adb -e install -r yourapp.apk and press enter.
11. After this you can the Android emulator and enjoy running applications.

How technology is changing Indian banking sector

The Indian banking sector has been evolving since the year 1770 when the Bank of Hindustan was established in Calcutta and subsequently in its various avatars-when the General Bank of India, which came into existence in 1886 again in Calcutta; and then Bank of Calcutta (later Bank of Bengal - 1806 ), Bank of Bombay and Bank of Madras merging in 1921 to become the Imperial Bank of India which became the State Bank of India ( SBI) in 1955.

The Indian banking system saw another phase of metamorphosis in 1969 when all the leading commercial banks were nationalised by the then prime minister and finance minister, Indira Gandhi. The third phase which actually started changing the face of the Indian banking was the post-1991 economic liberalisation which opened up the banking sector to increased competition and transformation offering better fare to customers.

Technology to the fore

Banks have changed in their operations and moved towards universal banking along with the increased usage of technology and technology-based services offering alternate channels such as smart cards, ATMs, usage of the internet, mobile and social banking. Banks have started deploying core banking, human resource management (HRM) and enterprise risk (ERP) management and process re-engineering etc to improve on their performance and productivity. Majority of banks are insisting on cashless and paperless payment modes.

According to a KPMG study, a research analysts says, as of FY2012, non-cash payments constituted 91 per cent in value terms as compared to 88 per cent in FY in 2010 and 48 per cent in terms of value from 35 per cent in FY 2010. A bank analyst says the payments made through cheques in total non-cash transaction too has come down to 52 per cent from 83 per cent in volume terms, and to nine per cent from 85 per cent in value terms during between FY 2006 and FY 2012.

Indian banks get top billing globally

This has resulted in putting 20 Indian banks in their standing globally. In 2010, the UK-based Brand Finance's annual ranking put these banks in the top 500 banks by their brand value. In 2007, only six Indian banks had the top standing globally.

To see further growth in the banking sector regulators and policy makers have been emphasising on financial inclusion to cover all sections of the society. Half of India's population does not bank. The regulators and policy makers have started taking a serious view of this. As a result, the top regulator the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is now encouraging various entities including non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), co-operative banks, regional rural banks (RRBs), self-help entities, business correspondents in rural areas and microfinance companies which have now given exposure to non-banked rural areas. This shows that at some point of time banking services would reach rural areas as much as they do in urban and semi-urban areas.

The government and the regulator have taken several measures including mandatory opening of at least 25 per cent of new bank branches in unbanked rural areas, giving impetus to opening of new branches in tier III-VI cities. The mandatory and simplified Know Your Customer (KYC) detailing for opening small accounts have made things easier for banks to extend their reach.

Banks have also become finance providers for community services development. Post-liberalisation India has also been attracting banks from various foreign lands. These now number 40 - from 28 in FY in 2008 and have a 7 per cent share of the total assets management. Over 20 Indian banks have now opened over 240 offices overseas.

Future outlook

The banking system has to implement Basel III guidelines as per the directive of the RBI to make it a stronger sector. Some of the key measures of this include creating firm measures to make it foolproof of systemic risks, stringent timelines, ongoing improvement of quality and quantity of capital, liquidity risk management, value-based practices, solid mechanism, disclosures for total transparency and reduction of systemic risk in derivative and other money-related markets.

The RBI has stipulated a time frame of five years to implement Basel III norms. But there are economy related hurdles as the government which holds majority stake in the public sector banks (PSBs) copes with the high fiscal deficit. Once the government decides to dilute its shares in the PSBs and brings it down to around 51 per cent, the Indian banking sector would see a sea change. Also, a large number of foreign players and big Indian corporates are awaiting government clearances for setting up new generation banks. Once there is clarity on this issue things would change drastically.
Source:

NASA Launches Second International Space Apps Challenge

WASHINGTON -- NASA and government agencies worldwide will host the second International Space Apps Challenge April 20-21, with events across all seven continents and in space.

Participants are encouraged to develop mobile applications, software, hardware, data visualization and platform solutions that could contribute to space exploration missions and help improve life on Earth.

The two-day event will provide an opportunity for government to harness the expertise and entrepreneurial spirit of citizen explorers to help address global challenges. During the event, representatives of NASA and other international space agencies will gather with scientists and participants to use publicly released open data to create solutions for 50 software, hardware and visualization challenges, including robotics, citizen science platforms and applications of remote sensing data. Challenges selected to be worked on during the event will be published online prior to the event.

The 2012 challenge engaged more than 2,000 participants who collaborated on more than 100 open source solutions to 71 featured challenges.

"What sets apart the International Space Apps Challenge from other events is that this is a collaborative opportunity to engage people from all over the world to participate in space exploration and develop state-of-the-art technology to improve life on Earth and in space," said Nick Skytland, program manager of NASA's Open Innovation Program.

Twelve locations in the United States will host an International Space Apps Challenge event: Atlanta, Ga.; Austin, Texas; Cape Canaveral, Fla.; Cleveland; Detroit, Easton, Md.; New York; Philadelphia; Reno, Nev.; Rochester, N.Y.; San Francisco; Syracuse, N.Y. Thirty-eight other events will be held in 30 other countries: Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Poland, Macedonia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda and United Kingdom. Also participating will be McMurdo Station in Antarctica and astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Registration for citizen participation will open on March 1.
Source: NASA