Mr. David Lingafelter, President, Moen Incorporated said “At Moen, our approach is to offer reliable products to each of our consumers. Our unmatched quality, designs and service has been the key differentiator for has lead us to be clear cut leaders in big consumer markets like US, Canada and China. We look forward to increase our international presence with the launch in India and are confident that like every other country we will soon become the market leaders here as well.”

“India is a very important market for Moen. We came to India in 2006 to study the market reaction to our products and the response was very encouraging. Hence we are launching officially in the country. By the end of the 1st quarter of 2009 we will have a presence in over 15 cities. We will also be setting up anm assembling unit in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh which should be functional by end of 1st quarter 2009. Moen is considered to be among the top brands globally and we wish to replicate that success in India as well“said Mr. Michael Hui, Vice President, Asia Pacific.

“Our aim is to expand and consolidate presence across the country through standalone stores and multi brand outlets. We would be setting faucets boutiques to enable customers experience our product range. By the end of fiscal year 2009 we would have over 40 shop in shop boutiques and 2 exclusive boutiques in the country. Our communication and marketing strategy for India will focus on establishing long-term relationships with our specifiers, traders and consumers.” said Mr. Smarty Pal Singh, National Head Sales & Marketing, Moen India.

The faucets boutique launched in Delhi will house a wide range of iconic bathroom products including bathroom faucets, showerheads, Kitchen and garden faucets. The boutique offers a captivating shopping experience distinguished by a modern, innovative store design and a comprehensive merchandise mix that completely delights customers as they experience the Moen brand.

“The faucet category has emerged as a fashion statement rather than just another utility product in India. It’s important to understand the tastes of a market and the way consumers live and lead lives. Moen has studied consumer households and its offering is completely in line to the need of the Indian consumer. We have given emphasis on not only design but also on features which add to usability delight of the end user. At Moen the challenge is to live by the philosophy of creating products that not only look good but are also reliable that the consumer can live with them for life,” Mr. Smarty Pal Singh added.

Moen offers a range of products and solutions like kitchen suites, pullout / pulldown spout faucets, two handle faucets, one handle faucets, pot filler faucets, bar/prep faucets, butler faucets, composite sinks, stainless steel sinks, bar/prep sinks, and accessories etc. The company also provides bathroom suites, sink faucets, tub faucets, shower faucets, tub/shower faucets, showerheads and showering accessories, bathroom accessories, utility/laundry faucets, and outdoor faucets. It serves customers and trade professionals, including plumbing wholesalers, builders, plumbing contractors, and re- modelers.

Moen's faucets range from traditional cross-handled designs to sleek contemporary looks. The company also added specially designed faucets for the bar and laundry, as well as accessories like liquid soap dispensers and massage showerheads. The Pause Button Faucet, 7 function showerheads, a combination faucet and sprayer, and Riser spout, Foldable spouts, tilting functions, combined practicality and fashion for the kitchen and bathroom experience. Moen counts competitive pricing, a strong reputation for quality, and good brand recognition among its strengths.

According to market estimates, the size of sanitary and bathroom solutions in India is estimated to be Rs. 2500 crore out of which the branded segment accounts for 55 percent share growing at a rate of 20 percent.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Moen Incorporated., a Fortune Brand Group Company came into existence in the year 1937, by Mr. Al Moen in Seattle Washington. Moen offers stylish and affordable bathroom faucets, shower heads and kitchen faucets. Based in North Olmsted, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Moen is the number one faucet brand in America (USA & Canada). Besides introducing the world to the single-handle faucet, Moen is known throughout the plumbing industry for its innovations, including its Washer less cartridge system, M*Pact(R)common valve system and more. Al Moen owns a total of 75 patents. Moen has built its reputation on timeless design and enduring quality.

Old Second Bank (O2) is one of the oldest banks in Chicago suburbs. O2 wants to be the bank of choice in the workplace, marketplace, and the community through our demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusion. O2's commitment to diversity and inclusion enhances organizational culture so that each individuals knowledge, skills, perspectives, ideas, and experiences contribute more effectively to organizational performance.

EmpXtrack Performance Management System is a set of web-based tools which enables an organization to develop employees by focusing on setting SMART Goals, Performance evaluation, Employee Feedback, Compensation Planning and Succession Planning. EmpXtrack thus proved a perfect match for meeting Old Second Bank's mission for organizational performance. Due to its global accepted functions, EmpXtrack had been successfully implemented in banking & financial institutions, retail industry, publishing houses, non-profit organization, IT groups and various other industry verticals.

Jim Berry, Vice President, AAP, Information Services, Old Second Bank said, “The Performance Appraisal System (PAS) that was developed for us is wonderfully simple, yet a very powerful approach on how to best present the performance evaluation of our staff.”

Saigun Technologies President and Chief Architect of EmpXtrack, Tushar Bhatia said, “Seeing the current economic scenario, it is important for financial institutions to critically evaluate employee goals and improve/measure their performance consistently. EmpXtrack is a robust HR product which is highly capable of meeting even the complex performance management criteria for employees of banking and financial institutions. We provide unmatched customer support while implementing performance management system, and in migration from older system to EmpXtrack.”

About Old Second Bancorp, Inc.

Old Second Bancorp, Inc., a bank holding company, provides community banking and trust business services in the United States. Its services include demand, savings, time deposit, individual retirement, and Keogh deposit accounts; commercial, industrial, consumer, and real estate lending, including installment loans, farm loans, lines of credit, and overdraft checking; safe deposit operations; and trust services.

Website: http://www.o2bancorp.com

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Saigun Technologies and EmpXtrack

Saigun is a technology group focused on designing niche HR Management solutions. Saigun pioneers development of integrated, flexible and on-demand solutions for management of human capital. It provides technology to some of the Fortune 500 companies for various requirements like health care , retirement choices, decision support kits and compensation planning.

EmpXtrack

EmpXtrack is a leading On-Demand Human Capital and Talent Management Software which provides solutions for Performance Management, Talent Management, Recruitment, HRMS, Payroll and Strategic HR. It supports comprehensive analytic and dashboards to assist Management to take strategic decisions based on Human Resource Data.

We offer 5 editions of EmpXtrack, each one designed to meet a specific HR need. Our product range provides solutions to organizations of all sizes. Whether you are a startup of 20 employees or an enterprise with thousands of employees, EmpXtrack can empower your Human Resource Management.

Website EmpXtrack: www.empxtrack.com

Considering the importance of CSR in current context, Birla Institute of Technology and Science – BITS Pilani Rajasthan which is one among the top ranking universities in India today organized a Seminar during 7-8 November 2008 on “Dynamics of Transformative Cooperation in Business and Society: A Millennium Challenge”.

The Seminar was inaugurated on Friday 07 November 2008 by Prof LK Maheshwari, Vice Chancellor BITS Pilani and the key note address was delivered by Shri M Ramadoss Chairman and Managing Director Oriental Insurance. A book on CSR written by Guest of Honor Dr SK Panda Principal Secretary Higher Education, Govt of Tripura was also released. The Seminar had 5 sessions apart from paper presentations.

The theme for Session-I was CSR as a Good Business Model and the key note address for same was delivered by Dr Vikas Goswami Lead CRS Microsoft India New Delhi. The panelists for this session included Proud to be BITSian Prof Harsh Bhargava from IBS Hyderabad, Dr Sandeep Pandey Ramon Magsaysay Award winner and Prof Sudheer Thaakur from BITS Pilani. The panel discussion for this session was moderated by Proud to be BITSian Prof Arjun Badlani Adviser Darshan Education Foundation, New Delhi.

The theme for Session-II was Social Initiatives as promoted by the Corporates and the key note address for same was delivered by Proud to be BITSian Mathew Cherian CEO Helpage India. Mathew Cherian had no hesitation in stating that he owed whatever he is today to the broad based and interdisciplinary education which allowed him to do electives such as Comparative Religion and attend lectures by Swami Chinmayananda during his student days at Pilani. The panelists for this session included Shri VS Ramana, Head Corporate Communications L&T – ECC Chennai, Prof KBL Srivastava IIT Kharagpur, Proud to be BITSian and renowned corporate consultant Mr Ashok Balwani from Mumbai and Prof Anil Bhat from BITS Pilani.

The theme for Session-III was Global Warming and Climate Change and the key note address for same was delivered by Shri Rajendra Singh, Ramon Magsaysay award winner. The panelists for this session included Prof Chanda Chakraborty IIT Kharagpur, Dr VK Vidyarthi NABARD Jaipur, Prof Rajiv Gupta and Prof Arya Kumar from BITS Pilani The panel discussion for this session was moderated by Dr RP Pareek Medical Superintendent BITS Pilani.

The theme for Session-IV was UN Global Compact – A CSR Initiative and the key note address for same was delivered by Ms Nicola Swan, Visiting Professor, Henley Management College London UK. The panelists for this session included Proud to be BITSian RK Anil UNDP New Delhi, Prof Irfan Khan Taleem Research Foundation Ahmedabad, Dr Aniruddha Dey Kolkata, Dr Nirupama Prakash from BITS Pilani and Dr Jharana Mishra from Bhubaneswar. The panel discussion for this session was moderated by Dr BR Natarajan from BITS Pilani.

The theme for Session- V was Education, Innovation and Business and the key note address for same was delivered by Dr SK Panda guest of honor for the seminar. The panelists for this session included Prof Sudhanshu Bhushan NUEPA New Delhi, Prof Arjun Badlani, Ms Malini Thadani Head Corporate Sustainability HSBC Mumbai, Proud to be BITSian Dr Dinesh Abrol from NISTADS, Prof Ravi Prakash and Prof Suman Kapoor from BITS Pilani. This session was moderated by Shri VS Ramana from L&T ECC Chennai.

The seminar sponsors included Planning Commission, Canara Bank, Aircel, NABARD, NTPC, SAIL, OWSA, CSIR, UGC and Bharat Petroleum. The seminar was enthusiastically attended and participated by a large number of faculty members and students of BITS Pilani. The seminar concluded with the valedictory address by Prof RK Mittal and Prof AK Sarkar from BITS Pilani

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

DestinAsian: Viewfinder is a group show featuring submissions from both professional and non-professional photographers of various ethnicities, from around the world. Some these include pictures taken from ‘Indian Women: The Roles Revised’, an expo organised by the Drik agency. Displaying a wide range of images including portraiture, landscapes and documentary-style photos – the show also reveals fascinating personal narratives around themes of identity and migration.

The exhibition, which runs from 6 to 16 November 2008, seeks to avoid clichéd representations of life in the Indian subcontinent and present images with a particularly original or different perspective. These pictures – many of which will be for sale -- also aim to address issues that matter to contemporary audiences, but in way that is honest, unpretentious and accessible.

The show is being guest-curated by Bombay Mix, which stages various events of contemporary Asian culture -- particularly for new audiences and venues. It is being held alongside other events at the Greenwich Picturehouse cinema and The National Maritime Museum, as part of Bombay Mix’s annual DestinAsians festival. In keeping with the museum’s remit, many of the images depict travel, transport and journeys -- in both literal and metaphorical senses. For further details see www.bombaymix.org.

[Photographs attached, please contact the curator for further images]

Notes To Editors

Launch event: Thursday 6 November, 6.30 to 8.30pm

Exhibition dates: Thursday 6 November to Sunday 16 November 2008

Exhibition open: Monday to Friday, 9-5pm ; Saturday and Sunday, 12-4pm

Admission: Free

Venue:

Viewfinder Photography Gallery, Linear House, Peyton Place, off Royal Hill, Greenwich, London SE10 8RS

Transport: Greenwich (DLR and Rail, 8 mins from London Bridge) ; Cutty Sark (DLR)

For more information:

Contact the curator - Lionel Openshaw, lionel@bombaymix.org 020 7732 6169 / 07985 979 390 ; or

Contact the gallery - Louise Forrester, louise@viewfinder.org.uk 07949 764 022

Contact details for publication:

gallery@viewfinder.org.uk ; 020 8858 8351, ext. 4 ; www.viewfinder.org.uk

Some participating photographers are available for interview.

The Viewfinder Photography Gallery is a not-for-profit space in Greenwich that hosted its first exhibition in 2005.

Viewfinder on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/London-United-Kingdom/Viewfinder-Photography-Gallery/18732189693?ref=ts

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Recently the Bollywood movie Rock On directed by Abhishek Kapoor, produced by Ritesh Sidwani and Farhan Akhtar under the banner of Excel Entertainment presented by Big Pictures was a big time hit and made musical waves all over. The music for the film was by Shankar Ehsaan Loy and the trendy lyrics by Javed Akhtar. The story of the film is about Aditya (Farhan Akhtar), Joe (Arjun Rampal), Kedar Zaveri the Killer Drummer (Purab Kohli), Rob Nancy (Luke Kenny) who were college mates with love for music, end up forming a band Magik, make music for a while, have ego trips and break up. The four of them respectively were the mind, the will, the heart and soul of the Magik band. After several years, Aditya’s wife Sakshi played by Prachi Desai puts her best of histrionic efforts to reunite the Magik Band and they indeed unite and go on to hit the music world all over again. That was typical bollywood pulp and reel fiction and its time to know about some real music and facts in this context.

The only thing common among L S Ganesh, Vijay Athreye, Sunil Nanda , Raju Varghese , Rahul Chettri, Prdeep Viswanathan, Shalabh Ahuja and Sanjeev Punj is that during the 70s they were all students of Birla Institute of Technology and Science – BITS Pilani Rajasthan which is one among the top ranking universities in India today. They were admitted and graduated in different years, studied different degrees, stayed in different hostels, took up different careers, went to different cities, different countries but yet one thing common for them was that they had passion for music which they had played together on different occasions in the auditorium of the Institute during their student years at Pilani.

After 25years, Anita wife of Sunil Nanda discovers the husband’s passion for music and played a key role in bringing some of the friends together and made them play music for the Silver Jubilee Reunion of 1976-81 batch of BITS Pilani at the auditorium of the Institute in 2006. Now that Spark had been lit by Anita, Sunil became the torch bearer egged by Vice President BITS Alumni Association (BITSAA) to re form alumni band which took the name Not Yet Over The Hill (NYOTH) to re create all over again the music magic in them. The marathon project for which most interactions went through emails and e meetings took shape and the friends reunited although they never split like the reel story Rock On.

On 20 October 2008, the passion packed team LS Ganesh and Vijay Athrey (Vocals), Pradeep Viswanathan and Sunil Nanda (Bass), Rahul Chettri and Raju Varghese (Lead), Sanjeev Punj and Shalabh Ahuja (Drums) landed up at Pilani and after the scintillating start to OASIS which is one among the top ranked college fests in India today literally stormed the stage. The team also included Anirudh Punj son of Sanjeev Punj on drums. Gautam De (Goat) played the managerial role for the band's pilani visit.

They played songs like Roadhouse Blues, Born to be Wild, Uriah Heep Stealin’, Wizard, Mr Fantasy, John Barleycon, Proud Mary, Deep Blue Sea, Brain Damage, For what it is worth, Down by the River, Just a song and Hey Jude.

With his talented voice and superb guitar playing LS Ganesh presently Management Professor at IIT Madras enchanted the youngsters from BITS and colleges across the country who had converged at Pilani for the annual pilgrimage Oasis. Rahul Chettri was awesome with his great charisma enhanced by his shiny bald head on stage. Pradeep had the crowd eating out of his hands with his imaginative lead. Raju and Sunil Nanda played some deeply resounding bass. Vijay had a good haunting voice all through and sang with ease as if he was in his teens. Sanjeev was terrific on drums and his son Anirudh who played the drums for Hey Jude was superb. Shalabh Ahuja on drums was sheer vintage wine. Ganesh ended the session with his famous desi song about Let Me tell you how this fellow fell in Love. After reading this, it’s for sure IIT Madras would love to see their beloved management guru Prof LS Ganesh doing case studies on magic of music.

These proud to be BITSians with age hovering around 50 draw their inspiration from Jethro Tull Lyric You are never too old to Rock'n'Roll if you are too young to die. One wonders if any such thing could have ever happened in the alumni history of any other institution!

When NYOTH finished their performance, the Richter scale measured over 8 in the jam packed auditorium of the Institute to trigger a well deserved tsunami of applause. The audience glided out humming Uriah Heep’s Sunrise and the new day breaking through. For more details about the NYOTH band contact Proud to be BITSian Sunil Nanda sunil_nanda_blr@yahoo.com

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

PennyWise http://www.pennywisesolutions.com which takes pride in offering the widest gamut of technology services at cost-effective prices is a provider of custom software development solutions for small and medium businesses across the globe. With expertise on Microsoft Development Platforms, Java Development, Open Source LAMP Development, Search technology development, Search engine Optimization(SEO), Search engine Marketing(SEM), Online Reputation Management(ORM) & Social Media Optimization, Pennywise Solutions is India’s leading 360 degree Digital Marketing Technology Consultancy and Solutions Provider.

SMEs have a big role to play in the nation building task as well as in shaping the global economy. Dun & Bradstreet the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight in association with Fullerton India Conceptualized a coveted award to recognize emerging SMEs across ten sectors viz., auto components; chemicals and petrochemicals; engineering goods; food and agro products (including horticulture and floriculture); gems and jewellery; IT and ITeS; leather and leather products; pharmaceuticals; plastics (including goods and processing); and textiles. The awards, in conjunction with the publication Emerging SMEs of India 2008, highlight the achievements of leading SMEs in their respective sectors. For the year 2008, it is indeed a matter of pride that Pennywise Solutions bagged the Dun & Bradstreet –Fullerton India SME Awards in the IT-ITES sector.

Recently PennyWise Solutions has been nominated to TATA NEN Hottest Startup award http://www.hotteststartups.in/ which is a result of the combined efforts of TATA, a globally respected and admired business group and the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), a non-profit organization, and India's leader in entrepreneurship education. Over 25 Knowledge & Associate Partners representing the entire entrepreneurial community, and beyond, have joined hands to make the Awards a success. They include: 376 NEN member academic institutes, TiE, Indian Angel Network, Open Coffee Club, Smart Techie, Proto.in, Pagalguy, Cool Avenues, MBA Universe, Kickstart.in, Startups.in, Webyantra and many more. In total, Hottest Startups will reach over 5,50,000 people, through partners alone.

To put PennyWise Solutions right on top of India’s only community chosen award for Indian Start-ups, one may send SMS “HOT 116” to 56767.

When you have a bunch of dreamers, performers and achievers with never say die attitude and hunger for the impossible who graduated from Birla Institute of Technology and Science - BITS Pilani which is one among the top ranking universities in India today behind PennyWise Solutions, you can be sure that for the company there are no dreams too large, no innovation unimaginable and no frontiers beyond reach.

The Proud to be BITSians behind PennyWise are indeed torch bearers for Brand BITS Pilani.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

Apogee's programs are implemented in three divisions: Apogee Awards, Apogee Academy and Apogee Artists, which serve to identify and support emerging artists, to assist them in achieving their full potential, and to showcase their talent around the world. The combined impact of these programs is designed to fulfill Apogee's vision of "recreating the future of human creativity."

The Foundation intends to begin implementation of all three of these program areas in diverse regions of India and neighboring countries in the course of the coming year. Detailed information on each of these program areas can be found on Apogee's website:www.apogeefoundation.org

Apogee President Kenneth Schneider said: “The Asian subcontinent is home to some of the world's most advanced and inspiring artistic traditions, as well as to many of the world's greatest artistic talents. It is a privilege for everyone at Apogee to play a role in bringing these art forms and their exponents to the world stage for the world's benefit.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Apogee is an international philanthropic organization dedicated to the development of human excellence in the performance arts. The Foundation is a global leader in discovering, developing and celebrating human creative potential.

The theme for this year TiE-ISB Connect is to tap the ‘The Next 800 million Opportunity’ and review the overall economic growth patterns; compare with the developed nation and explore the possible models for India. Discussion will also be held the about migration of labor pool from primary farming sector to secondary manufacturing sector and further to tertiary services sector including the wage arbitrage.

TiE-ISB Connect 2008 inaugural keynote will be addressed by Deepak Parekh, Chairman HDFC who is also the chief guest for the event on the topic “Wealth Creation & Inclusive Growth". Other eminent keynote speakers during the 3day event are David Kayle, Acumen Fund, Y C Deveshwar, ITC and Bijou Kurien, Reliance Retail.

Speaking on the importance of the theme, Ajit Rangnekar, Deputy Dean, ISB, said, “Inclusive growth in India requires equal opportunities and entrepreneurship has the potential to meet this demand. The ISB has focused its efforts to nurture entrepreneurs, who will create ventures that will generate opportunities and wealth in the rural and ancillary sectors.”

J A Chowdary, President of TiE, Hyderabad Chapter said, TiE-ISB Connect has been successful in providing many aspirants who came with the vision of realising their entrepreneurial dream, a purposeful destination to turn idea into reality. Our mission, he said is to play a key role in bringing Bright Ideas and Cool Start ups to accomplish their journey and find ways to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Explaining the need for such a platform, Dr Krishna Tanuku, Executive Director, WCED, said, “We need more community based support for entrepreneurship rather than individual. Events such as the TiE- ISB Connect play a key role in strengthening the community support forentrepreneurship.”

TiE-ISB Connect 2008 received 149 executive summaries out of which 112 were received under the Bright Ideas category and 37 under the Cool Start Ups Category. The Business plan showcase this year attracted over 200 business plans under the Bright Ideas and Cool Start-ups categories. .

Sun Startup Essentials will award the winners from each of the Bright Ideas and Cool Startups categories a Seed Hardware (1 server).Winners will also get :

· Access to Sun Labs at Bangalore to startups to Test / Benchmark / Port / Scale their applications

· Special offer on My SQL Enterprise

· Access to Engineering Team at Bangalore to help startups tackle the architecture level issues, scaling issues, and Infrastructure issues

• Access to Technology trainings through Webinars

The keynote and panel discussion at TiE-ISB Connect 2008 event will feature the emerging sunrise sectors –

• Agriculture & Agri-Processing: Present and Future Potential
• Manufacturing
• Retail
• Energy
• Infrastructure & Urbanization
• Health Care
• Education & Training

The event will also feature workshop on Jumpstart your venture, VC Connect and a special panel discussion on Taking India Forward.

TiE-ISB Connect 2008 event is supported by TOTEM Infrastructure, Microsoft, Sun Start Up Essentials, SATYAM, INDU Group, and Microsoft Start Up Accelerator Program.

To know more about the TiE-ISB Connect Conference and to register, kindly visit www.tie-isbconnect.com

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani provides an atmosphere that nurtures techies and whiz kids who are encouraged to do what they believe in. October each year is the time of metamorphosis of the Institute and the quaint town Pilani in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan turns into a pulsating amalgam of youth.

For BITSians OASIS is the widening of the mind and of the spirit and epitomizes the process by which a person becomes all that they were created capable of being. The 96 hours of nonstop excitement and entertainment has a spectrum of On Stage and Off Stage Music, Dance, Theatre, Poetry, Photography and whole lot of Creative events.

With "UNIO MYSTICA" as the theme, for the 38th All India Cultural Festival OASIS 2K8 scheduled from 21-24 October, Sanjeev Sahi a proud alumnus of BITS Pilani who shot to fame with his stellar leadership role in the Human Resource Development of aviation major HAL Bangalore triggered a mind blowing start on October 20th evening.

Mr Sanjeev Sahi who did his Master of Management Studies (MMS) from 1972 to 1977, puts passion into whatever he does. After his stint with Steel Major SAIL, Power Majors NTPC and NJPC, Mr Sahi joined HAL Bangalore in 1995 and presently is the Director Personnel. In addition, he holds high level positions in the apex body of Public Sector Undertakings in India - Standing Conference of Public Enterprises - SCOPE.

Recalling his nostalgic days at BITS, Pilani, when Mr Sanjeev Sahi thundered with his punch line that BITS educational system empowers you for facing the toughest of challenges in life, there was delirium all over. Proud to be a BITSian, Mr Sanjeev Sahi who is a dreamer, performer and achiever is undoubtedly a torch bearer of Brand BITS Pilani.

For BITSians OASIS is all about Passion driven by Passion and that is why it continues to remain as the jewel in the crown among college festivals in India. Youth from all over the country have converged at Pilani for this year OASIS to experience the Unio Mystica which promises the tranquility, the hysteria, the liberation and the celebration of the unconventional.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

Sunil joined Airtel in August 2003 and has had a multifaceted exposure in Mobile Services marketing.

Mr. Manu Talwar, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the M&G circle – mobile services, stated, “ We would like to welcome Sunil and wish him good luck in the endeavors that he undertakes to further strengthen the circle.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Bharti Airtel Limited:

Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is India’s leading integrated telecom services provider with an aggregate of over 77.24 million customers as of end of August 2008, consisting of 74.77 million mobile customers. Bharti Airtel Limited has been voted as India's most innovative company, in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

Bharti Airtel is structured into three strategic business units - Mobile services, Telemedia services and Enterprise services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles. The Telemedia business provides broadband & telephone services in 94 cities and is foraying into the IPTV and DTH segments. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national & international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel’s high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 78,540 kms covering all the major cities in the country. The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe. For more information, visit www.bhartiairtel.in

The First ever ‘Public Choice’ awards to recognize India’s new wave of growth, the TATA NEN Hottest Startups is an online contest where people can nominate companies & vote for them both on internet & through SMS.

The Awards are a unique collaboration between the Tata Group, India’s most respected business conglomerate and National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN), the largest representatives of new & future entrepreneurs in India. The Awards aim to showcase and recognize high potential young companies in India, with the goal to attract visibility for over 800 entrepreneurs & their ventures in India, and engage over 5,00,000 people.

Ennovasys, a software company providing real-time asset visibility for enterprises is one of the companies that got nominated. Identifying and tracking exact location of each asset helps organizations to increase productivity, reduce theft, improve operational efficiency, utilization and obtain industry compliances. Ennovasys uses RFID, GPS and Mobile technologies to provide this visibility. These solutions are created and distributed by Ennovasys through partners in different global locations. Solutions are offered in SAAS as well as installed model.

“We are extremely delighted to be a part of this trend setting event in India. Traditionally Indian IT companies have been concentrating on Software Services and consulting. These new initiatives will bring out the entrepreneurial sprits in everyone and encourage them to build new products and ideas in the market” said Uday Shankar, CEO, Ennovasys.

The TATA NEN Hottest Startups Awards are designed to engage the public in the selection process. People can nominate and check out the nominations online. Voting can be done online or via sms. Comments can be shared online about the Nominees – people can campaign for their favorite startup, get their friends to vote and participate in Hottest Startup events!

More information and company profile at www.hotteststartups.in

The 2008 Tata-NEN Startups Awards will showcase a wide range of high potential startups from multiple sectors, ranging from healthcare, retail, mobile technologies, biotech, hospitality, lifestyle, IT and service providers.

Voting for the TATA NEN Startups Awards opened on August 27, 2008. Last date for sending nominations is October 22, 2008. In phase I, public votes and expert reviews will decide the 30 shortlisted companies, which will be announced on November 6. Phase II will comprise on-ground and online campaigning by the 30 shortlisted startups and culminate into a major voting drive where the public will vote for the Top 5 Winners who will be declared on December 23, 2008.

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Ennovasys is a software company providing real-time asset visibility across supply chain. Ennovasys uses RFID, GPS and Mobile technologies to provide this visibility. Ennovasys has created a Location based engine "Pista" which is the core for creating solutions for partners and customers. Once these solutions are created they are distributed by Ennovasys and partner to different geographic locations. These solutions are offered in SAAS as well as license model.

Many of the members are industrialists, businessmen, professionals in companies like Ranbaxy, Eicher, L & T etc. CEO of News Paper Naidunia, Vinay Chhajlani; Shri S.S. Maru , Senior Executive President of Grasim Nagda are also active members of BITSAA Indore Chapter . Some of the chapter members who had studied at Pilani during 1950 to 1960 are retired professionals adding Happiness Quotient (HQ) to the chapter.

Picnics, movie shows, pool dinners, farmhouse visits, factory visits, New Year dance parties, meetings in Hotel are some of the regular features. Every meeting is a very lively meeting. Each get together is full of enjoyment, sharing of news, games, quizzes, and lot of interesting lacha sessions which are the never ending arguments and agreements. They have become in a way one large closely knit family as most of them know each other very well, help each other and meet in happiness, sorrows and other special occasions.

All members including wives and children look forward to the next meeting eagerly. In fact there are so many members who are attached to many social groups, clubs etc in the city, however they keenly look forward to BITSAA get-together. According to most of them, it is the best group to meet and socialize in the city.

Shri Manohar Baheti and friends from BITS 69 batch are the real guiding force behind the BITSAA Indore. It is worth mentioning here that BITS 69 is a unique alumni association, probably in whole of the world. They meet regularly in India and out of India during various functions. BITS 69 already figures in the Limca Book of Records for maximum number of alumni meets by a single batch of any university and they are determined to hit the Guinness Records also.. BITSAA Indore was started by these enthusiastic, dedicated individuals. Over the years a beautiful and closely knit group has been created.

For BITSAA Indore Chapter, Presently Akhilesh Jain (BITS 79 Email Id akhileshjai@yahoo.com) is the President and the team includes (Mrs.) Renu Vijay Lath (BITS 69) as Vice President, Vijaysen Jain (BITS 81) as Secretary, (Mrs) Dr. Anubha Nitin Gangrade (BITS 87) as Treasurer, Anil Agrawal (BITS 86) as Joint Secretary. It is to be noted that while President, Secretary, and Joint Secretary are members, the Vice President and Treasurer Office bearers are the spouses of the member to ensure that families are involved. Invariably, many times spouses become more active and generate new interesting ideas for next programmes.

Undoubtedly, each one of the Proud to be BITSian in BITSAA Indore Chapter is a champion and torch bearerof Brand BITS Pilani. Next time any one visits Indore and finds a group making noise quietly, be assured that it is the BITSAA Indore Gharana get together.

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Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

Ragamalika conducts cultural programmes and concerts in Pilani throughout the year. Its members are actively involved in the organization as well as the management of all activities related to the events, apart from participating in the performances themselves.

Ragamalika also organizes SANGAMAM - a cultural festival normally held in February every year at Pilani. It features eminent artistes from all over the country performing for a cosmopolitan audience of over 4000.

This year, on 07 October evening, in the auditorium of BITS Pilani, Ragamalika organized the dance ensemble Nrithya Ranjani. The items chosen for the evening performance included Mallari in Raga Gambhira Natai, Idadhu Padam in Raga Khamas and Adi Thalam, Adinaye Kanna another padam in Raga Mohana Kalyani and Adi Thalam, Bhajan Mayya Mori Main Nahi Makkan Kayo and Thillana in Raga Dhanashree and Adi talam.

The Ragamalika team for the evening performance, comprised of the Bharatnatyam dancers Aastha, Namrata, Aishwarya, Manjeera and Jayasharadha; the singers Riddhi, Deepak, Sriram, Vamsi Surya Manoj and Pratik with Harmonium; the Mridangam players Chandrasekar and Bharat; Hardik on Tabla; and the violinists Shravan, Arvind, Bharat and Ajay. The dances were dazzling, music was mesmerizing and singing was soul soothing. Its for sure, the audience who came for the show enjoyed it and those who did not come indeed missed it.

The Ragamalikans undoubtedly are true ambassadors of Brand BITS.

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Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

The Institute target is to reach the 5000 student intake mark by end of the 11th plan. Under its up-gradation program it has added 1000 seater hostel building with modern dining facilities to accommodate 2500 students, a 250 seater International student’s hostel. It also proposes to create new state of the art lecture halls complex for 3000 students, a 1600 seater ultra modern hostel and a 350 seater girl’s hostel in the coming year.

Announcing the details to the media on the occasion of NIT’s Golden Jubilee Year, Prof. Y V Rao, Director of National Institute of Technology, said “Our goal is to build an iconic institution that “sync with future” by making rapid changes which will add tremendous institutional value and build confidence amongst our students and its faculty to strengthen their vision vertically”

To keep pace with the needs of the industry and to face new global challenges NIT has established new centers of excellence namely Center for Automation and Instrumentation, Center for Advanced Materials, state of the art computer center to accommodate 400 students. Besides, NITW is creating centers for Energy and Environment, Innovation and Incubation and a Knowledge Center. In addition, several new courses and verticals to cover emerging technology areas in Material Technology, Bio-technology and Nano technology over a period of next 5 years.

Prof. Rao said “Our challenge going forward is not only to increase the student intake but also create top of the class faculty pool. We hope to exceed our performance standards by introducing new UG and PG programs incorporating most up-to date research and training that will solve industry problems and reward our young student community’s career dreams.”

Currently, the institute has 3000 students and 200+ teachers. It offers four year B.Tech degree in 8 Engineering disciplines, Two year M.Tech programs in 23 specializations across the eight Engineering Departments. The Institute also offers MBA (exclusively for Engineering graduates), MCA, M.Sc (Tech) and Ph.D Programs.

As part of NIT’s foreign collaboration and visiting faculty initiative that will prepare the faculty and the students for the future, it has signed MOUs with Universities of Cincinnati and Lawrence Technology University of USA, ESIGELEC and University De Technologic – De Belfort Montbeliard (UTBM) of France for exchange of Faculty and students, as well as combined research cooperation and Academic programs.

Some of the new programs that will be introduced by the Institute are Ceramic Technology, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology and Energy Management Systems. Recently, courses under the M.Tech program have been added to strengthen academic performances of the Institute in Information Security, Construction Technology and Management, Automobile Engineering, Advanced Communication systems.

A scheme for people working with eminence in the industry and various institutes introduced by the Institute to join as adjunct faculty has met with great success. Senior industry professionals and experts from leading organisations such as Accenture have joined the institute as senior professors.

The strength and reputation of NIT is reflected by the success and stature of its Alumni. A total of 10,824 B.Tech graduates, 5689 Post graduates and 293 Ph.D students have passed out of this Institute in last fifty years.

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About NIT Warangal

The National Institute of Technology, Warangal – NITW (Formerly known as Regional Engineering College, Warangal – RECW) has a journey of excellence since inception and is stepping into its Golden Jubilee year on 10th October 2008.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect behind the concept of REC’s for technical advancement and promotion of National Integration in the country, laid the foundation stone for REC Warangal, the first in the chain of REC’s in the country on 10th October 1959. During this span of 49 years of its glorious existence, it has become a proud Almamater for over 10824 B.Tech. graduates in different branches of technology, 5689 post graduates and 293 doctorates in Technology and Science.

Regional Engineering College (REC) Warangal was established as a society in the year 1959. The college was jointly funded and managed by Central and State Governments till the year 2003 when MHRD, Govt. of India (GOI) took a decision to take over all the REC’s and rename them as National Institute of Technology and convert them as Deemed Universities. With passing of National Institute of Technology (NIT)-Act-2007 on 15th August 2007, NIT’s have become Institutes of National importance.

Currently the Institute receives grants from MHRD to the tune of about Rs. 35 crores every year as non-plan and plan grant of Rs. 100 crores. The Institute enjoyed a good reputation since its inception and enjoyed the prime patronage of major funding agencies – For example the UNESCO aid during 1959-1963 for laboratory infrastructure, the Indo-UK aid of Rs. 6 crores on the theme of Information Technology during 1994-98 and World Bank aid of Rs. 24 Crores under TEQIP during 2005-08

The Institute started functioning with three B.Tech programs in 1959 and subsequently expanded the undergraduate and post graduate programs. Currently the Institute is offering four year B.Tech degree in 8 Engineering disciplines, Two year M.Tech programs in 23 specializations across the eight Engineering Departments. The Institute also offers MBA (exclusively for Engineering graduates), MCA, M.Sc (Tech) and Ph.D Programs.

The current status of the Institute, which is being consistently ranked among the Top 10 Technical Institutes in the country including IITs and is enjoying 100% campus placement, owes to the contribution from several quarters. The current enrolment of students at B.Tech level is 740 + 110 (DASA = Direct Admission Students Abroad) and the enrolment in all postgraduate programs of Engineering, Sciences and Humanities and Research is 720.

The college had the distinction and privilege of being able to attract and retain highly qualified Faculty and this has helped in shaping the destiny of the Institute. This brand of committed and dedicated Faculty with very high academic potential has nurtured, shaped and developed each Department of the Institute into Centers of Excellence and today it stands as a top ranking technical Institute. The current Faculty strength is about 200.

Notwithstanding being a relative newcomer to the Asia Pacific market, in 2007 Altitude Software registered an outstanding performance in IP agent shipments and secured a place in the regions “top ten”.

On a regional basis, Altitude Software has experienced a 115% increase in shipments in 2007 and it now holds a top five market share position in Latin America. In EMEA, a 19% increase has placed Altitude Software firmly in the top 10 manufacturers by market share. Within the EMEA Region, the Gartner report showed even stronger growth in key markets such as Spain (23% increase, third market share position); France (142% increase, fifth market share position); Germany (Altitude now has the tenth largest market share) and Italy *.

Altitude Software has recently announced the availability of the Altitude IP Contact Center 3.5 Release. The Altitude IP Contact Center is a complete modular software suite putting together the Altitude uCI (Unified Customer Interaction) multichannel software solution and the Altitude vBox, a contact center optimized soft switch. The latest version brings to Contact Centers the benefits of SIP trunking, centralized voice recording over IP; and outbound voice automation, enabling a wealth of new features and adding support for a number of hardware platforms.

Altitude Software is a leading independent contact center solutions vendor, with 18 offices worldwide, resulting in a fast expanding regional customer base and strong partner network. The Altitude uCI (Unified Customer Interaction) suite has a ten year plus track record of outstanding results in contact centers worldwide, having won 40 plus Industry Awards for Innovation and Performance in more recent years.

* “Market Share: Contact Centers, Western Europe, 2007, Drew Kraus, June 2008”

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About Altitude Software

Altitude Software is a leading independent contact centre vendor with the Altitude Unified Customer Interaction™ (Altitude uCI) product line. Altitude uCI manages and improves customer relationships for each new interaction in a wide range of contact centres, from SMEs to large multisite organisations.

Altitude uCI is a cost-effective application suite conceived to improve the overall productivity of the contact centre. Since Altitude uCI was engineered to integrate easily with enterprise front office and back-office systems, Altitude uCI delivers significant cost benefits, revenue benefits, and intangible benefits with a limited upfront investment. Altitude uCI not only allows users to achieve return on investment in a limited time frame, but also provides a successful solution to their customer interaction and organisational efficiency strategies. Altitude Software serves around 700 customers (with more than 170.000 agents) of all sizes in 55 countries worldwide, both directly and through a wide network of partners. Altitude Software has 15 Offices in four continents. Please visit us at www.altitude.com.

The alumni gathering indeed looked like a stellar constellation of Chairmen, Managing Directors, COOs, CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, Scientists, Presidents and Vice Presidents, Techies, Entrepreneurs, Media Moghuls, Academicians Realtors as well as Consultants. Each one of them undoubtedly has been a dreamer, performer, achiever and a leader in applying technology to improve lives across society.

Irrespective of whatever degree they did at Pilani, wherever they came from and whatever their life journey had taken them to, there was one thing they all shared in common and that was passion for the alma mater. Each one of them agreed that their stay at Pilani had left an indelible mark on their lives.

This batch like the other batches have indeed enhanced the reputation and raised the profile of BITS Pilani both nationally and internationally through their successes, contributions and support. Each one of them undoubtedly is a true ambassador of Brand BITS.

Wearing a bright red T shirt and cap specially designed for the reunion, they went around the campus on 03 October 2008 morning and interacted with the Vice Chancellor and senior officers of the Institute. In the afternoon, they gave career counseling and shared their professional expertise with the current students of BITS Pilani.

While addressing the students, they were emphatic in stating that it was the broad based integrated and interdisciplinary approach of education at BITS, Pilani which gave each one of them ample opportunities from admissions to graduations for developing Resource mobilization acumen, Negotiation Skills, Information Skills, Problem Solving Skills, Decision Making Skills and Communication Skills apart from Ability for Leadership, Time, Stress and Project Management. To them in a nutshell, it was the BITS system that imparted them the Never Say Die Attitude and Hunger for the Impossible.

Same day evening, a colorful function was held in the auditorium of the Institute, where they remembered and honored the professors who cared, inspired, encouraged and challenged them during their student years. The unforgettable evening function also included performance by the Music Club as well by alumni and their family members.

With Passion Quotient for alma mater peaking, for each one of them, Pilani was just not yet another destination where one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey. For BITSians, BITS Pilani is a place to be remembered forever.

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Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

Announcing the title sponsorship, Venk Krishnan, CEO of NuWare said that the tournament fit nicely with the company's culture.

"We are a technology solutions company with a presence both in the U.S. and India. A lot of our employees play the game and we have cricket teams at both of our offshore centers as well as in USA. That's a key reason why we are delighted to join hands with DreamCricket," Mr. Krishnan said.

"This tournament marks the continuation of the NuWare's longstanding support of cricket," Mr. Krishnan noted.

Mr. Krishnan, who now lives in Bangalore, was the Founder and President of the Sayreville Gladiators club in New Jersey before he relocated to India in 2006. The Gladiators cricket club won the GSCL knockout tournament in 2007. Mr. Krishnan is also a board member of Sportingmindz (www.sportingmindz.com) .

According to Mr.Krishnan, the New Jersey T20 tournament's greater visibility makes it more attractive for corporate involvement.

"I have first-hand experience with cricket organization and am aware of the immense potential that cricket has in USA. I have always been a firm believer that USA, specifically the East Coast, is ready for a professional-grade tournament. The NuWare New Jersey T20 is the first step on a long journey to bring high-quality cricket to the country. We are excited to be part of this journey," Mr. Krishnan noted.

Venu Palaparthi, Director of DreamCricket.com and Tournament Commissioner said: "We are truly delighted with NuWare's commitment to further elevate the tournament in its inaugural year. NuWare's support allows us to enhance the experience for both players and fans. The winner of the inaugural NuWare New Jersey T20 will take home the NuWare Cup in addition to $5000 cash."

NuWare is a niche supplier of remote infrastructure management solutions and strategic offshore IT services with corporate head quarters in Iselin, NJ and offshore centers in Bangalore and Chennai in India.

NuWare joins other blue-chip sponsors for the event including Reebok, Citibank NRI Services, Murtha Cullina LLP, Smith Barney,Stuart Sport and TechnoPrism.

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Dreamcricket.com is USA's leading cricket portal. Based in Hillsborough (New Jersey), DreamCricket operates an indoor cricket center, coaching academy and online as well as offline cricket store. DreamCricket.com is entering the event space with the New Jersey T20 cricket event.

In a press release issued by J.D. Power and Associates, Crown was named as the relocation company with best performance for Destination Services. J.D. Power and Associates indicated that its study is the only source of independent, unbiased customer satisfaction information on relocation service providers, and is based on evaluations from transferees who were relocated to a destination within the United States, in the past 12 months.

In their announcement, their Customer Satisfaction Index ranking showed the market average at 708 (based on a 1,000 point scale) and Crown Relocations' at 725. The highest score for any company included in the index is 744. Of the six factors J.D. Power and Associates said it considered in the study (destination services; non-moving related services; packing services; relocation counselor; selling of prior residence; and transportation of belongings), Crown received the highest score in Destination Services.

This study focused on domestic moves, but Crown extends its services internationally. To view additional details from the J.D. Power and Associates survey, visit: mcgraw-hill.com.

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Crown Relocations provides strategic mobility program management and a wide range of relocation services for over 2,000 corporate clients and 100,000 transferees and their families each year. Crown’s complete selection of services, and our “one point of contact” structure, guarantees that Human Resource professionals will be informed and transferees will be established and productive in their new working environment.

Crown’s departure services include travel coordination, auto disposition, mail forwarding, lease termination, de-registration and move day inspections. Custom-designed repatriation training is also coordinated to ensure transference of acquired skills and competencies.

For the safekeeping of personal possessions being transported or stored, Crown owns and operates state-of-the-art facilities around the world that are specially designed for the secure handling and storage of household goods.

Settling-in support encompasses a broad range of customized services including airport ‘meet and greet’ service, utility and furniture installation and comprehensive referral information ranging from poison control contacts to child care and transportation services.

At Crown Relocations, our mission is to ensure our clients, transferees and Crown staff are Well Connected, Worldwide™.

With more than a hundred corporate golfers vying for top honours at the event; AMCHAM, which has been playing an active role in bringing U.S.A. and India on a closer business level, sees this as a good opportunity for closer interaction and networking amongst the attendees. Mr. Ajay Singha, Executive Director-AMCHAM India elaborated, “AMCHAM provides a platform to promote activities that encourage and stimulate investment by US companies in India and encourage closer trade ties between the two nations. This Golf tournament further affords a good occasion wherein they get to discuss and identify common issues and interests regarding their economic and commercial interests.” He also added that this tournament will be turned into an annual affair hereafter, not only in New Delhi but also in other metros and major cities.

The evening ended with the prize distribution and a cocktail reception that followed soon after. The winners were Mr. Nand Lal from DDA, the first and second runner up were Mr. Raju Prasad and Mr R A Jamali from Diesel Locomotive Works, Indian Railways. The winner of the handicap category 16 and above was Mr AVM (Retd) AJS Walia, MD – Sikorsky Aircrafts Corporation and winner of the handicap category 0 – 15 was Mrs Neelam Rudy. The key sponsors of the event were AT & T, Coca Cola, KPMG and Xerox.

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About AMCHAM:

The American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM - India) is an association of American business organizations operating in India. Established in 1992, AMCHAM has over 500 members. AMCHAM provides opportunities to members to represent and express their views and opinions, especially regarding trade, commerce, finance, services, industry, agriculture and related issues and to seek to understand and give effect to such opinions to the extent considered desirable and possible. The organization also maintains Sectoral Committees and undertakes advocacy on policies and procedures affecting AMCHAM members’ operations in specific sectors as well as affecting the growth of foreign direct investment in India.

Right from 1979, BITS Pilani has set a benchmark in Industry University collaborations for addressing the Human Resource Development issue of various industries by launching an array of work integrated learning programmes to synergize the workplace requirements of the industry with the learning requirements of the university.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BITS and Sabre was signed on 19 September 2008 with the objective of fostering collaboration between the two institutions to promote academic and research interactions. The MoU was signed by Dr Sara Garrison Senior Vice President on behalf of Sabre and Prof L K Maheshwari Vice Chancellor on behalf of BITS Pilani.

BITS would offer educational avenues at various levels to meet the human resources development needs of Sabre through its Off-Campus Work Integrated Learning Programs. Sabre would endeavor to make available the necessary facilities for the implementation and continuation of the Practice School Program of BITS Pilani after discussions between the two organizations. Sabre will also participate in the placement activities of graduating students from Pilani as well as other campuses of BITS.

A Coordination Committee consisting of Vice-Chancellor, BITS as Chairman, and two nominees each from Sabre and BITS would plan, coordinate and monitor the academic and research programmes as well as all related operational matters within the framework of the academic regulations of BITS and the objectives outlined by Sabre.

During her visit to Pilani, Dr Sara Garrison also delivered the key note address for the inaugural session of the International Conference on Soft Skills Development Strategies: Corporate and Academia Perspective which was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr V N Rajasekhran Pillai Vice Chancellor IGNOU and Chairman Distance Education Council.

In her power packed speech titled Soft Skills of Business – The Missing Education Link, Dr Sara had the audience eating out of her hands by elaborating how to think, how to explain and how to execute in real life situations. Dr Sara also visited the Library of the Institute, the white marble temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, the Birla Museum etc and commented that the infra structure of the Institute was one of the best among the university campuses she had visited.

While the world would remember 19 September as the day in 1893 when New Zealand became the first country in the world to give Women the Vote, for times to come BITS will remember it as the day Dr Sara Garrison from Sabre visited Pilani.

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Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

Sufism is the mystical and ancient branch of Islam that emphasizes the seeker's path toward ecstatic unity with God. Many Sufi traditions seek to utilize its emotive power for remembering God or dhikr. Sufi communities or orders are found throughout the Muslim world, from South and Central Asia through Turkey, Iran, the Levant and northern, eastern and western Africa. With that wide a geographical and cultural spread for Sufism itself, Sufi musical practice is itself equally diverse.

Each Sufi order or brotherhood has its own traditions, and forms of Sufi practice vary greatly from region to region. It's not surprising, then, to find that Sufi musical forms are wildly distinct and varied; to the newcomer, it might even seem quite startling to discover that, for example, qawwali from Pakistan and India is linked spiritually and historically to, say, the "whirling dervishes" of Turkey or the Wolof-language praise songs from Senegal. However, all these different facets of ritual and performance have the same goal in mind: to lose oneself in remembering God and in drawing closer to the divine.

The highlights of the Sufi Music evening at Pilani included Jesa Khan’s mesmerizing Khartal who had the audience dancing at his fingertips, Rahees Khan’s Morchang who had the audience eating out of his hands, Ghamu Khan’s soul stirring Kamaycha, Bhutta Khan’s haunting voice who had the audience wanting more and more, Sher Mohammed’s magical Algoza and Bhutta Khan’s reverberating Dholak. True to Jalal-Ud-Din Rumi the great Persian Sufi poet’s quote, each one of them performed right from his soul and made the audience feel a river of joy flowing in them.

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Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

In his thought provoking inaugural speech, Prof Pillai was emphatic in stating that purpose of education is to improve the quality of life and that BITS is undoubtedly a pioneer in educational innovation for developing a model which had inbuilt mechanism for imparting soft skills and for fostering industry university collaborations. He had words of praise for the work integrated learning philosophy based off campus distance learning programme initiatives of BITS Pilani.

After inaugurating the conference, Prof Pillai visited the BITS library housed in a building of architectural marvel and the Centre for Educational Technology which has the digital video studio equipped with the satellite (EDUSAT) based as well as leased line based high quality video conferencing facilities for delivering lectures to various BITS on campus and off campus programmes. Prof Rahul Banerjee Chief of Software Development and Educational Technology (SDET) unit explained and demonstrated to Prof Pillai, the internet based highly scalable desk top video conferencing facility with interactive features for delivering lectures to the off campus distance learning programme students of the Institute. In the meeting with Vice Chancellor and other senior officers of the Institute, Prof Pillai shared his thoughts on distance learning and said that the journey for excellence in education must deploy more and more emerging technologies.

While the world would remember 19 September as the birthday of George Cadbury founder of the famous chocolate brand, BITS will always remember it as the day Prof Rajasekharan Pillai visited Pilani.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

All of this stems from a story that is now playing like a broken record on TV channel after channel all over the world. Call it the Sub-Prime crisis, the Wall Street Meltdown or any other term you would like to coin; the bottom-line is that it spells trouble for the world’s most prosperous nation.

This week, I had the challenging task of explaining to my 14 year old daughter (who is learning Business Studies as one of her school subjects) what this all means. I started off by throwing all the usual buzz words (which gets you through most adult conversations and cocktail circuits), only to be asked “What, Why, What, Why” so repeatedly, that I had to go back to the very basics, which also got me thinking! After some deliberation, soul searching and research, I have arrived at some basic conclusions.

The problems that the U.S is facing today are caused by two basic issues; one external and one internal. In the case of the former, the US is facing strong inflationary pressure from high reliance on oil, however so is most of the world. In the case of the latter, the US is a nation that is highly reliant on debt to fuel the nation’s desire to spend. At a consumer level, individuals borrow to buy goods from China, and at a national level China buys US debt to fund the countries excessive spending habits, making a handsome livelihood in doing so. Who is the winner in this story?

In a lighter vein, I tell my friends who live outside the Middle East that we in the Middle East, are on the other side of the recession! In simple terms, the additional monies that US consumers are spending (not just on their gas guzzling SUVs) are being collected by the Petro Powers of the Middle East, the manufacturing base in China, and the knowledge base in India. All these economies are in turn using this money to develop their economies and are even buying low priced assets in the US. For instance, Saudi Arabia earns in excess of USD 1 Billion a day in oil incomes, and is eyeing up 900 Billion USD in FDI over the next 10 years. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is already the single largest share holder of Citigroup.

Therefore Lesson No. 1: No recession – only Power Shifts. A recession happens only when the world has lost, destroyed or unproductively used resources; otherwise it is a Power Shift.

Lesson No. 2: The US problems are significantly self-inflicted. When the going was good, housing loans were given without due diligence and high flying executives who helped them to salaries and bonuses that borders which on insanity. A little less than two years ago, Business Week reported that Bear Stearns’ Chairman Jimmy Cayne was almost a billionaire. The value of his nearly 6 million shares (boosted by gains the firm made on sub-prime mortgages and mortgage-backed securities), soared to over US$900 million. That has all turned to dust now, but personal gains achieved by company executives while leaving investors exposed leaves a lot to be questioned.

Lesson No.3: Every dollar spent has to be borne by a consumer somewhere; and if that consumer does not see value, then they will not pay for it.

This sounds so simple, yet the World’s economic power house could not figure it out; neither could many of those unfortunate companies that are in the Fortune 500. It is not for us to grandstand and make great posthumous prophecies, but to learn “how to” and “how not to!” The question is will we learn or suffer from amnesia?

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MTI Consulting is an international strategy andmanagement consultancy with operations in Bahrain, Dubai, UK, India, Austria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Mexico and Bangladesh, and has provided solutions to clients in over 275 projects in 33 countries across 5 continents. The company recently diversified into 7 specialist units along the lines of Branding, Corporate Finance, HRM, Legal & Governance, Channels & Sales, Supply Chain and Technology.

1957 born Smt Shobana Bhartia is an alumnus of Calcutta University and takes credit for spearheading Hindustan Times right on top of web popularity of Indian Newspapers. Well known in the Indian media fraternity for setting new benchmark in the horizon of Indian media, Smt. Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director of India’s leading print media company HT Media Ltd., is publisher of English daily Hindustan Times and Hindi daily Hindustan both highly respected and top ranking newspapers in India. She has been Rajya Sabha member, the Chairperson of the Press Trust of India (PTI), the Deputy Chairperson of the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), and member of the National Institute of Fashion Design, the National Institute of Design (NID), Indian Newspaper Society and Commonwealth Press Union London. Her media initiatives such as Mint, a business daily launched in collaboration with the Wall Street Journal, FM Channel Fever 104 partnering with Virgin Radio and daily tabloid Metro Now as joint venture with Times of India have been making waves all over.

It goes without saying that Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani which is one among the top ranking universities in India today has always been led by a leader who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.

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Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani Rajasthan which has the reputation of pioneering the online examinations for admissions through the path breaking BITSAT and setting a bench mark in industry university collaborations is one among the top ranking universities towering above the rest in various best college surveys in India today. BITS offers degrees in various disciplines presently at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad campuses apart from an array of work integrated learning programmes for HRD of a vast spectrum of Indian corporates. The alumni of the Institute who are who is who in various professions and Proud to be BITSians peaking with Passion Quotient for Alma mater are spread across the globe from Australia to America.

"Right now, we are handling all logistics with whiteboard, spreadsheets and brains", said Guenter Bretschneider, Head of EADRCC. "After witnessing the success of Aidmatrix software solutions during recent emergencies in the US for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), we are convinced that this is the right step for our organization to better handle donations in times of crisis. Aidmatrix Network® will make us faster, more transparent, more efficient."

Shari Temple, Managing Director, Aidmatrix Europe: "Aidmatrix Network® provides a single location to capture and report the full picture of need, donations, and delivery in real time. Whether it is product or volunteers, Aidmatrix Network instantly makes requirements from the field available to potential donors and vice versa. This also prevents unnecessary donations from getting in the way of critical life-saving efforts."

NATO EADRCC plans to launch the Aidmatrix Network® in late September. It will be available to 63 countries. These are the 50 Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) member countries - NATO Allies and Partners, the "Mediterranean Dialogue Countries", the "Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Countries" as well as Afghanistan and Kosovo.

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About The Aidmatrix Foundation, Inc.

The Aidmatrix Foundation, Inc. builds and operates powerful technology solutions that support diverse stakeholders in their efforts to work together to solve the world's most challenging humanitarian crises. More than 35,000 leading corporate, nonprofit and government partners leverage our solutions to mobilize more than $1.5 billion in aid annually, worldwide.
www.aidmatrix.org

About Euro Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC)

The EADRCC was established in 1998 as a partnership tool of NATO Civil Emergency Planning and is NATO´s principal civil crisis response mechanism. The Centre stands ready, year round, on a 24- hour basis, to respond to civil emergency situations in the Euro-Atlantic area and to function as a clearing-house for coordinating requests and offers of assistance. The coordination activities involve close cooperation with NATO Military Authorities and consultations with the United Nations´ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA).
www.nato.int/eadrcc

Armaan is the youngest driver of the team and has been brought on board to create the best ever Indian racing team in an international championship. Narain Karthikeyan, Lead Driver, A1 Team India added, "This year holds a lot of expectations from India and I am looking forward for a consistent performance for Team India. Hope that the new season brings more interesting and challenging paradigms for us to prove our capability to the motor racing world.”Andaleeb Sehgal, Chief Executive Officer, A1 Team India said, “Today is a momentous day for all of us here. We had a phenomenal third season with two wins at Zhuhai, China and Brands Hatch, UK and are all geared up to make this forthcoming season even better. We have a lot of expectations from the new structure of the team and hopefully India will emerge as on of the best performing countries participating in the races.”The new season will take the series on a brand new level being officially powered by Ferrari. All 25 cars on the grid including Team India will have Ferrari chasis and engines.

The brand new car for team India for this season and drivers will now don a new look. The new livery launched today is based on the theme of the traditional sporting colors of India using an interesting combination of classic Indian blue and Cyan. David Clare, CEO A1GP Asia Pacific, who was also present at the occasion said, “India is a priority market for A1GP. It gives me immense pleasure to see that motor racing is catching up fast among Indian audiences. It’s a brand new season for A1GP which we all are looking forward to, especially after Ferrari’s association with us. We are keen to add many more interesting venues to our calendar and hopefully India will be one amongst them soon.” A1GP is increasingly gaining popularity among Indian sports enthusiasts. To reach out to a wider audience, A1GP has tied up with ESPN Star Sports in India to telecast all the races of the season live as well as repeated. The event also announced the new promo on A1 Team India produced by Espn Star Sports.

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ABOUT A1GP WORLD CUP OF MOTORSPORT

Pitting nation against nation in the World Cup of Motorsport, A1GP unites 23 countries in a competition where human bravery, skill and excellence determine victory. Racing identical single-seat cars, the deliberately equalised technology allows countries as diverse as the USA, Lebanon, France, China and South Africa to compete on a level playing field.

With three days of on-track action, an A1GP event offers a rare opportunity for fans to interact with teams and drivers. Exclusively inclusive, A1GP brings the thrill of international motorsport to billions of fans across the globe.

Now preparing for its fourth season, A1GP takes in a mix of established world-famous venues plus exciting new state-of-the-art facilities and tight twisty street circuits, delivering high-speed adrenalin fuelled action at every turn.

A1 Team India represents India in A1GP - The World Cup of Motorsport. A novel concept in motor racing, A1GP has been steadily growing in popularity since its first ever race in September 2005. It is an FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) approved world championship motor racing series which pits teams representing up to 25 nations, representing over 80% of the world’s population, against each other, in single-seater racing cars. These teams compete on a level playing field giving the entire credit to driver and engineer performance.

A1 Team India has been a favorite on the track last season with two historical wins in Zhuhai, China and Brands Hatch, UK – the last race of the season. The new 2008-09 A1GP season starting in October 2008 is taking the format on a completely new level with Ferrari coming onboard as the car and engine manufacturers. For the first time in history, 25 Ferrari cars will be on one grid. The prestigious Ferrari brand will hence be officially associated with A1GP. All cars and official merchandise are contractually obligated to portray the slogan "Powered by Ferrari". Michelin becomes the exclusive tyre partner for the new season.

A1GP, only four seasons old, is an arriviste that has grated on the nerves of the motorsport establishment. Narain Karthikeyan is Team India’s biggest asset along with the credibility of representing India at the World Cup of Motorsport. Catching up from the last season, A1 Team India aims for a consistent performance that will place India among the top six teams in the world. With a team structure that will ably support Narain, there is just no looking back for the new A1 Team India.

One of the driving forces behind A1 Team India is Spice Energy Group, which is the official sponsor since 2006-2007 and has been investing hugely for the development of the sport in India. The Ministry of Tourism – Incredible!ndia and the Indian Air Force also extend their active support to A1 Team India.

For further information please contact:

Karina Gupta
Manager Communications - A1 Team India
M: +91 9958162211/9810000464 E: karina.gupta@a1gpteamindia.com

Samir/ Mohita - Hanmer MS&L, Mumbai
98337 11437/ 9322007116 samir@hanmerpr.com / mohita@hanmerpr.com

Apart from meeting his fans, Batista™ will also meet children from Doorstep School, a local NGO, to encourage them in their chosen path in life.

Batista™ ’s chiseled body and explosive temper makes him dominate the ring. Despite his intimidating six foot six inches and 290 pound frame, he has a quiet demeanour, projecting incredible intensity and confidence.

Speaking about his India tour, an excited Batista™ said, “I’m thrilled about this visit, having heard about India from my peers who have visited the country. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone and to experience the warmth and charm of India”.

Ever since Batista™ first saw WWE® on television, he aspired to be a part of it. He showed the grit of a true WWE® Superstar right from the outset and redirected his training and philosophies, redesigning his body and mental outlook to fit the bill of a true World Heavyweight Champion.

Speaking of the visit, Mr. Rukin Kizilbash, General Manager-India, Ten Sports, Taj Television India Pvt. Ltd said “Batista™ has a huge fan following in India and he is one of WWE®’s favourite Superstars. Ten Sports from its inception has always delivered the best in WWE® – including real life chances for fans to see their heroes not only on television but beyond the ring, up close and personal.”

Batista™ debuted in WWE® in May 2002 and went on to win the 2005 Royal Rumble® where he earned the right to Main Event at WrestleMania® XXI. At that event, Batista™ won his first World Heavyweight Championship. The Animal’s extraordinary fan base makes him one of the most recognizable celebrities around the globe. Batista™ has Greek and Filipino lineage.

WWE® on Ten Sports cuts across age and gender barriers and regularly records television ratings, second only to cricket.

BATISTA™ - Fast Facts

Name:

Batista™

WWE® Ring name

Batista™ , The Animal

WWE® Theme song

By Salvia on WWE® Wreckless Intent™

From

Washington, D.C.

Height

6 foot 6 inches

Weight

290 pounds

Signature Move/Finishing Move:

Batista™ Bomb

Trainer

Wild Samoan and former World Tag Team Champion,

WWE® Debut

May 2002.

Career Highlights:

World Heavyweight Champion; WWE® Tag Team Champion, World Tag Team Champion; 2005 Royal Rumble® winner

Additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at WWE.com and corporate.WWE.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.WWE.com/worldwide/.

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Trademarks: All WWE® programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans, wrestling moves, trademarks, copyrights and logos are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include the conditions of the markets for live events, broadcast television, cable television, pay-per-view, Internet, feature films, entertainment, professional sports, and licensed merchandise; acceptance of the Company's brands, media and merchandise within those markets; uncertainties relating to litigation; risks associated with producing live events both domestically and internationally; uncertainties associated with international markets; risks relating to maintaining and renewing key agreements, including television distribution agreements; and other risks and factors set forth from time to time in Company filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results could differ materially from those currently expected or anticipated. In addition to these risks and uncertainties, our dividend is based on a number of factors, including our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan, our financial results and condition, contractual and legal restrictions on the payment of dividends and such other factors as our board of directors may consider relevant.

ABOUT WWE®: WWE® is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. WWE® has been involved in the sports entertainment business for over 50 years and has developed into one of the most popular forms of global entertainment today. WWE®’s television programming can be seen across more than 130 countries around the world and tours yearly with more than 300 live events. WWE® is a publically trades company on the New York Stock Exchange, for additional information on World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: WWE) can be found at WWE.com and corporate.WWE.com. For information on our global activities, go to http://www.WWE .com/worldwide/.

ABOUT TEN SPORTS: Taj TV’s Ten Sports,the mostwatched sports channel in the sub-continent, is available inmore than 55 million cable/satellite homes worldwide.The world’s biggest producer of cricket, the Channel broadcasts cricket from Sharjah,West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe throughout the Indian sub-continent and Asia, as well as to the United States and Canada (Cricket Plus), Continental Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Ten Sports also owns the exclusive rights in its sub-continent territories for the WWE®, the UEFA Cham