According to Arun Jethmalani, CEO ValueNotes, “Currently offshoring has been initiated by the Tier 1 newspaper publishers in the US, and is largely limited to ad production services. However, as offshoring matures, the Tier 2 and Tier 3 publishers will offshore a range of services to India.”

Currently, the offshore vendor market is at a nascent stage with only a handful of vendors in India actively focusing on the newspaper segment. Amongst the India-based service providers, Express KCS, Affinity Express, 2AdPro and Mindworks Global are the market leaders. Given the current lacuna of ‘end-to-end’ service capability amongst vendors, we expect the early entrants to grab this slot. These vendors are expected to build complementary capabilities to achieve this objective. The Indian offshore revenues from newspaper publishers are estimated to be $35 m in 2008. Says Jaslene Bawa analyst ValueNotes, “Going forward we expect offshoring to the newspaper segment grow to $120 m by 2012, however the vendors need to gain client confidence in terms of delivering consistently good quality of output and a quick turnaround.”

The offshore opportunity from newspaper publishers is estimated to be approximately $3.5 b; while the estimated Indian offshoring at $35 m highlights the huge untapped potential. Significant offshore opportunity exists across the service chain. According to Aradhana Kolhatkar, analyst ValueNotes, “Traditional publishing BPOs, Indian graphic design firms and Indian newspaper publishers are well poised to grab the opportunity; however they will need to tool themselves with new skill sets to service the global newspaper publishers”.

The ValueNotes report, “Offshoring by US Newspaper Publishers” provides information and analysis of the US newspaper Industry and a detailed analysis of the Indian service provider landscape. Profiles of vendors operating in this space are also available.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

ValueNotes Database is a leading provider of business intelligence and research, with expertise across selected domains and types of customer needs. Working with clients across the globe we have significant understanding of international markets.

The ValueNotes Outsourcing Practice is one of the largest information providers on the outsourcing industry. Our Outsourcing Practice uses a comprehensive, analytical framework providing fresh insights into the fast emerging and yet, complex outsourcing space. We extensively track the outsourcing space in-depth through a regular analysis of news and events and continuous primary research and contact with the industry.

To learn more about the ValueNotes Outsourcing Practice, see samples, order reports, or provide us with your feedback on this research, please go to www.sourcingnotes.com or write to bporesearch@valuenotes.biz. You can also call us at 91 20 2588 1164 / 65

Custom Synthesis projects outsourced to Mithros offer clients tremendous savings. The primary advantage is of course the one-stop shopping experience through Taros, Germany. Requests are processed from start to finish by Taros’s management team, ensuring stringent quality control measures and the highest standards. This approach saves clients both the added costs of travelling to India as well as the handling of administrative and communication bottlenecks. Completed projects are subjected to a final quality control check in Germany, and a re-purification is conducted if required, before compounds are shipped to the client.

Mithros specializes in custom synthesis of reference compounds, combinatorial chemistry, building blocks, starting materials, synthesis of active substance intermediates and capacity extensions and process development.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Over 1,100 Asia Pacific companies participated in the survey, which was conducted online by Blue Coat in August 2008. The survey explored topics regarding branch office Internet access, work force mobilization and consolidation of datacenters. Respondents to the survey included IT professionals from companies in Australia; Bangladesh; Greater China; India; Indonesia; Malaysia; New Zealand; Pakistan; Philippines; Singapore; Sri Lanka; South Korea; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam; and Japan.

In India, the survey was conducted with over 120 companies and the findings revealed that as compared to 40% of Asia Pacific companies, 46% of Indian companies provide branch offices with direct Internet access. However, more than 50% of branch office internet traffic is still backhauled over the Wide Area Network, and 70% of companies would want to provide the same level of protection at the branch office as in headquarters or data centers.

Although a significant number of companies still backhaul branch office Internet traffic hundreds or thousands of miles to a remote data center or headquarters over private or semi-private data lines, a growing number of companies have established local Internet service at the branch and receive direct Internet access there. Some companies have local Internet access, but route all corporate traffic directly to headquarters or a data center using a site-to-site VPN, which serves as the WAN link, and do not allow access to the Web in the local branch office.

"We see a significant number of companies that either have branch offices with direct Internet access or are in the process of migrating to such access, rather than relying on backhauling that traffic to a centralized access point across the WAN," said Matt Young, vice president, Asia Pacific, Blue Coat Systems. "Companies are rejecting the high cost and inefficiencies of backhauling Internet traffic. With Blue Coat appliances, companies can gain 'direct-to-the-net' branch office access while maintaining consistent, centrally-managed security and control by using the same appliance that provides WAN optimization. We enable companies to migrate away from backhauling to direct Internet connections in the branch."

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Blue Coat Systems

Blue Coat secures Web communications and accelerates business applications across the distributed enterprise. Blue Coat's family of appliances and client-based solutions – deployed in branch offices, Internet gateways, end points, and data centers – provide intelligent points of policy-based control enabling IT organizations to optimize security and accelerate performance between users and applications. Blue Coat has installed more than 40,000 appliances worldwide. Blue Coat is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information on Blue Coat, please visit our website: www.bluecoat.com.

Contributing to the growth of the organisation are companies that have recently signed new or extended agreements with American Express Business Travel across Asia Pacific. These include: Australia Post in Australia, Invensys in India, Emerson and Symantec in Singapore, and Kraft China.

“As a leading travel management company, our focus is to help companies optimize their travel spending – regardless of economic conditions. We are pleased that in today’s environment, businesses from across industry sectors and geographies are turning to us to provide the technology, expert insight and customer service they need to generate cost savings and maximize their business travel investment,“ commented Libby Roy, GM and VP American Express Business Travel, Japan, Asia Pacific and Australia.

Advisory Services drive $1 million of savings for clients YTD

The Advisory Services offering, which helps corporations get more from travel budgets, has experienced impressive growth and is in high demand due to the challenges of the current economic environment. To date this year, the team has worked with more than 20 clients from industries such as manufacturing, IT, financial services, resources and professional services and identified over $1 million of savings for these customers.

Expecting the growth trend to continue as companies look to drive further cost savings into their travel programs the company has recently appointed Jonas Borglin to the position of director, business development, Advisory Services, Japan, Asia Pacific and Australia. Jonas has relocated to Sydney from Sweden where he headed up the business process outsourcing group for American Express Business Travel in the Nordic region.

“Many customers we work with have focused on how to travel smarter and implement strategies to drive savings so they can keep travelers on the road. It is in this type of environment that our Advisory Services offering becomes an even more valuable resource for our customers to take advantage of,” said Libby Roy.

“Quantifiable savings can be achieved on air, hotel and meetings spend through in-depth analysis of our extensive travel data repository, benchmarking, and the specialist vendor negotiation we undertake on behalf of customers.”

Industry leading online innovations

Cementing its position as an online leader American Express Business Travel has announced plans to launch a business to business online networking community for the corporate travel industry. A first of its kind resource, BusinessTravelConnexion.com will bring together a consortium of industry decision makers, suppliers and experts in the industry’s most extensive online, community platform.

“The latest online innovation from American Express, BusinessTravelConnexion.com will grant corporations and individual travel professionals access to the wealth of information and expertise of our organisation and members of the broader business travel industry, while asking them to supplement the site’s value by contributing their own experiences,” said Libby Roy.

“With the advent of new technology we’re witnessing the business travel industry moving toward online resources and automated services and our objective with this new interactive network is to continue to revolutionise the business travel experience.”

In Singapore, the company is adding to its existing online product suite with a new online booking tool and fare loading system that will give clients quicker and easier access to the best available fares of the day.

“We have had an online booking tool in Singapore since 2003 and there is strong demand from our customers in that market for an enhanced offering. To date the industry infrastructure hasn’t supported a fully online self service booking tool which is why we have created our own to give our customers access to the most relevant and accurate online content available. We expect this enhancement to double our online usage rates by the end of 2009.”

“In more mature markets such as Australia the majority of domestic bookings are now made online. Later on in the year we will be launching an enhanced online booking tool in India.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About American Express Business Travel

American Express Business Travel (https://owa.text100.co.in/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.americanexpress.com/businesstravel_), a division of the American Express Company, is dedicated to helping its clients realize the greatest possible value from their investment in travel through increased cost savings, outstanding customer service and greater spend control. For small businesses, medium-sized enterprises and multinational corporations, American Express Business Travel provides a combination of industry-leading booking technology, travel management consulting expertise, strategic sourcing and supplier negotiation support, and customer service available online and offline, around the world.

American Express operates one of the world's largest travel agency networks with $26.4 billion in global travel sales in 2007.

American Express Company (https://owa.text100.co.in/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.americanexpress.com/_) is a diversified worldwide travel, financial and network services company founded in 1850. It is a world leader in charge and credit cards, Travelers Cheques, travel and business services.

Companies are looking to balance the pressures of inflation and lower HR budgets by increasing productivity (57 percent) and redeployment of manpower (31 percent). Meanwhile 30 percent of them stated that they have increased performance linkages to counter fixed pay increases. Only 20 percent of the organizations surveyed mentioned a hiring freeze or slowdown.

Sandeep Chaudhary, leader of Hewitt's Rewards Consulting Practice in India, commented, "Contrary to expectations, there hasn’t been any dramatic move to downbeat macro-economic factors on compensation. Instead, companies are looking at innovative ways to cut other costs like travel and recreation without compromising on employee salaries or learning and development. This is a healthy sign of a growing and mature economy. The war for talent is not over and the current blip is transient. Hence organizations realize that they have to manage the talent supply for the long term and not the downturn.”

While 25 percent of the companies surveyed are looking to reduce staff budgets, with cuts largely in the areas of travel and recreation, only 9 percent of the companies mentioned a reduction in training budgets. Also, only 1 percent of the companies are looking at increasing work hours to manage rising costs of business while 4 percent of the organizations mentioned a promotion freeze, all being from the IT , ITES and BFSI sectors.

Mr. Chaudhary commented “Business Leaders need to realize that “productivity” can help us tame inflation and seems the only sustainable factor, which we can independently influence. In our burgeoning economy there is a colossal waste of resources, from capital to talent deployment. Organizations would need to take stock and enumerate various ways to improve efficiency and boost productivity.”

Infrastructure and BFSI leading; IT-ITES most affected

Retaining its top position, Infrastructure sector is leading with 24.1 percent salary increase in 2008, followed by Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (16.5 percent), and Manufacturing (15.4 percent) while ITES, and IT showed a drop against 2007 numbers at 12.6 percent and 12.5 percent respectively.

1. Projections for 2009 are slightly lower than the increases given in 2008 across sectors, with Telecom being the only sector showing an increase. This is reflective of the cautious approach companies are taking towards salary increases in the current economic environment and the dip is largely in the range of 1 – 2 percentage points. Infrastructure is showing the maximum dip although they are still projecting the highest increases for 2009 at nearly 19 percent.
2. Scarcity of talent coupled with increasing competition continues to augment salaries in the real estate sector year on year.
3. While stable BFSI businesses are looking at lower increases, some organizations in the sector are growing their operations given the strong long term potential of the Indian market, and are hence giving higher salary increases. This data could be inflating the overall average for the sector. The salary increase budgets in Banking, Financial Services and Insurance have been set on current projections and could be revised later in the year basis corporate performance.
4. The Telecom sector is projected to see continued growth in India. With the advent of 5 new players over the last one year,

*Source: Hewitt Salary Increase Dipstick Study 2008

1. there is an acute talent crunch and hence we see a 1 percent increase in the projected salary increases for 2009.
2. Adversely impacted by the recent rupee-dollar volatility and the slowdown in the global economy, the IT-ITES sector is treading cautiously on salary & rewards.
3. After witnessing huge growth in 2007, the retail sector is seen stabilizing in 2008 with average salary increases at 13.6 percent down from 17.6 percent in 2007. The figures for 2009 could not be reported since their budgeting process for FY09 has not yet completed.

Mr. Chaudhary commented “Organizations need to set new performance agenda and reassess if their compensation strategy is driving organizational and employee performance. Organizations which feel today that “cash” is the name of the game cannot be more wrong on the front. Yes, it is the most perceptible aspect of the employment deal, but not the complete deal in itself. It is important to respond to the real needs of the employees, which invariably are around career opportunities, learning & development etc.”

General Staff and Manual Workforce benefit the most on Salary Increases

1. The average salary increases across levels continues to be led by middle and junior management, however the 2009 projections are a little lower across levels.
2. Interestingly, general staff and manual workforce is witnessing higher salary increases. This directly correlates with the fact that high inflation has impacted this level more than others.

*Source: Hewitt Salary Increase Dipstick Study 2008

Changing compensation management dynamics –

No salary freeze for 2009; Variable pay assumes greater significance in difficult times

When asked how they saw compensation management in their organizations change in 2008 vis-a-vis 2007,

1. 42 percent of companies said that they would have lower salary increases, bringing in a greater correlation between performance and pay
2. 28 percent of companies stated that they would have lesser hiring
3. 28 percent expected no change
4. None of the organizations surveyed are expecting a salary freeze for 2009
5. 30 percent of the companies surveyed said they have increased performance linkage to counter fixed pay increases. This was led by Pharma (50 percent), FMCG (43 percent) and BFSI (40 percent)
6. Variable bonus as a percentage of annual salary has gone up consistently across levels
7. Fixed pay for General Staff and Manual Workforce has increased, with variable pay at these levels dropping from 14.2 percent and 12 .2 percent in 2007 to 11.9 percent and 10.9 percent in 2008 respectively. This indicates that companies are trying to help their junior employees cope with the pressures of the rising cost of living.

Mr. Chaudhary commented “The job market has slowed down considerably across sectors, and the irrational salary offers being given to hire talent in the past will now be restricted to a much smaller population. Companies should focus on grooming internal talent and build from within to manage their future talent needs.”

1. Average attrition for 2009 YTD across industries is at 15.4 percent which is a marked drop from the average attrition for 2008 at 19.4 percent.

2. Attrition has reduced across industries with traditionally high employee turnover sectors like ITES, Retail and Telecom seeing marked drops.

3. Junior Management, Middle Management and General Staff continue to lead attrition across levels of management, although the quantum has reduced significantly across all levels. The maximum drops are seen at Top Executives, Senior Management and Manual Workforce.

“India is currently mirroring the Global macroeconomic scenario, however, India’s domestic consumption story remains intact. While salary increases in India have been between 14 – 15% since 2004, a slightly lowered projection is not a sign of worry. This is a good time for organizations to consolidate their HR strategies towards a high performance orientation and also look at removing redundancies from their organization structures.” says Mr. Chaudhary.

About Hewitt's Salary Increase Survey

Hewitt surveyed 150 leading Indian companies foreign-owned, locally-owned, and joint-venture companies this year, analyzing information across 9 primary industries. The study measures actual and projected salary increases, and compensation practices for six specific job categories, namely top executive, senior management, middle management, junior manager/professional/ supervisor, general staff, and manual workforce.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Hewitt Associates

For more than 65 years, Hewitt Associates (NYSE: HEW) has provided clients with best-in-class human resources consulting and outsourcing services. Hewitt consults with more than 3,000 large and mid-size companies around the globe to develop and implement HR business strategies covering retirement, financial and health management; compensation and total rewards; and performance, talent and change management. As a market leader in benefits administration, Hewitt delivers health care and retirement programs to millions of participants and retirees, on behalf of more than 300 organizations worldwide. In addition, more than 30 clients rely on Hewitt to provide a broader range of human resources business process outsourcing services to nearly a million client employees. Located in 33 countries, Hewitt employs approximately 23,000 associates. For more information, please visit www.hewittasia.com .

The GEI team presented the successful results of the revolutionary first Pilot Study of Ologen Implant in Phaco-Trab at the WOC, the Most Prestigious Platform for Ophthalmology in the world. The Original Research Work done by GEI was presented under the title of 'Adjunctive Use of Biodegradable Porous Collagen-Glycosaminoglycan Implant in Phaco-Emulsification combined with Trabeculectomy for Surgical Management of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma' to over 10,000 delegates from all over the world.

Speaking on the success of the pilot study, Dr Grewal said, "It is a matter of great pride & honour for us to be at the forefront of revolutionary research work in the international arena and to be the flag-bearers for our country at highly prestigious platforms like the WOC. We are highly pleased with the pilot study results of the use of Ologen Implant in Phaco-Trab for simultaneously surgically treating both Cataract & Glaucoma. Uptil now, when an ophthalmologist decides to undertake treating both Cataract & Glaucoma of the eye in a single surgery, the conventional method available is 'Phaco-Trab with Mitomycin-C'. The use of Mitomycin-C in Phaco-Trab many times leads to significant post-operative complications in the eye."

"It is a great achievement for us that we, at GEI, are playing our humble part in the development of a safer and better alternative technique, the 'Ologen Implant in Phaco-Trab'. After the resounding success of the pilot study and the exceedingly encouraging response at the WOC, we are highly hopeful that as more and more comprehensive research is done on this technique and as it becomes the primary treatment for simultaneous Cataract-Glaucoma, millions of patients, not only in India, but all over the world, will benefit from our hard work," adds Dr Grewal.

In the conventional method 'Phaco-Trab with Mitomycin-C', Mitomycin-C is used as a Chemotherapeutic Agent. Its purpose is to maintain the surgically created passage by inhibiting fibroblast proliferation. But its use leads to significant complications. The major drawbacks of using Mitomycin-C are delayed wound healing, excessive drainage & shallowing of anterior chamber of the eye, thin cystic bleb area, and late wound dehiscence & high incidence of late endophthalmitis where patient develops very serious infection in the eye years after the surgery. Also the use of Mitomycin-C decreases the likelihood of an aggressive post-operative fibro-blast mediated scarring process; it is radiomimetic, may cause widespread cell death, induce acellularity and apoptosis, alter bleb morphology, and increase risk of complications such as hypotony maculopathy, corneal toxicity, wound leakage, infection and endophthalmitis.

The 'Ologen Biodegradable Collagen Matrix Implant' is a new, safer and more effective alternative. Ologen is a Collagen Matrix Implant, a biodegradable scaffold, which can induce a regenerative non-scarring wound healing process without the use of medicines like Mitomycin-C. The Ologen Implant is a 3D collagen-glycosaminoglycan copolymer that leads to a random reorganization of regenerating myofibroblasts, fibroblasts and the extra-cellular matrix i.e. collagen. This matrix has an added advantage that it is fully biodegradable with time.

This collagen implant improves the remodeling of the regenerating tissues and prevents scar formation. Ologen Collagen Matrix induces the fibroblasts to grow randomly, and leads to the wound healing normally. The collagen's porous structure can work as reservoir, a buffering system, and controlled drainage. It randomizes the growth of myofibroblasts and creates a new physiologic environment between anterior chamber and subconjunctival space. Unlike anti-fibrotic agents like Mitomycin-C which reduce the physiologic barrier by inhibition, Ologen Implant maintains the physiologic barrier by regeneration which keeps the function of bleb and normalizes the dynamic aqueous balance to create a safe conjunctival system.

The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) (www.icoph.org) is an organization founded in 1927 with the aim of educating ophthalmologists and helping them participate in a worldwide community to share information, tools, and support. The ICO is a federation of more than 100 national and subspecialty societies of ophthalmologists and related organizations worldwide. The ICO hosts a variety of proactive programs, including the biennial World Ophthalmology Congresses.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Grewal Eye Institute, with facilities at Chandigarh & Panchkula, is the world's fourth JCI accredited (thehighest quality accreditation)and also India's first ISO 9001:2000 certified eye care hospital chain. GEI is the single stop for all eye care needs under one roof. The institute offers internationally benchmarked, premium quality eye care with many cutting edge techniques like the 'iLASIK', the ultimate in laser vision correction, available at a single premises. GEI has been at the forefront of bringing new technological and medical tools not only to the region, but also to India. GEI became the first institute in the entire Indian Sub-Continent to offer the revolutionary 'Collagen Crosslinking with Riboflavin' (C3R) Treatment for the dreaded Keratoconus disease.

The Grewal Group also offers India's first professional BSc (Hons) degree course in Optometry and Ophthalmic Techniques under the GEI School of Optometry. Roshni, an NGO by the group, aims at assisting poor eye patients in need of treatment. The institute, through tie-ups with major national & international insurance firms, offers cashless transactions. The informative & user-friendly website ' gei.co.in' assists patients both from India & abroad. The institute keeps conducting various eye camps, public education seminars and symposiums for the Continuous Medical Education of Ophthalmologists, on a regular basis. ***

• 9.30am - 5.30pm: Recorded Standard Time! – Nearly 45% people don't bat an eyelid while logging incorrect in / out times. If I'm late, I ain't telling!
• Calling "Granny or Aunty" from office is fine! Nearly 46.8% feel using the office line for personal long distance calls is ok.
• The next time cost goes up, check your expense reports! Around 55.7% workers had no qualms about fudging details here.
• Nearly 60% people lied unabashed while applying for leave. "Too bad boss wants me at work – I need time off" is the attitude.
• The next time you bribe someone, there's a full chance you qualify for the 62% of people who consider this act normal and ethical!
• Promise the earth to the customers … it'll be too late by the time they find out anyway! This attitude is echoed as 60% responses support this as accepted ethical behavior.
• Everything's fair in love 'n war – and now Business too! Nearly 62% respondents would use any means to get competitor information.
• Need printouts / photocopy for personal work? Worry not, the office support system is there just for you.Nearly 61% respondents felt it was fine to take printouts and photocopies at office for personal work.
• Work productivity dipping … Obviously! Around 63% respondents are ok with doing personal work during office hours.
• Kolkata comes through as a highly integrity & ethic conscious city with an ethics index of 76%. Also, against popular notion, Delhi-ites seem to be quite ethical and straight-forward – or so they say at 53%!
• Interestingly, among the cities interviews, Kolkatais most sensitive to unethical behavior with an ethics index of 76, vis-à-vis Ahmedabad which came through the most lenient at an ethics index of 21.

Interesting Outcomes

• Ahmedabadis show an astonishing 74% disagreement that qualifies"Falsifying 'In time' and 'Out time' in the Attendance register"as unethical.Respondents in Kolkata,DelhiandHyderabadhave recorded a higher integrity quotient in this regard with an average score of 78% consensus.
• Making personal long distance phone calls discreetlyis considered acceptable, except inNew Delhiwhere 51% respondentsstronglydisagree.
• Fudging expense reportis routine in most cities.Differing from this is Kolkata which records the highest response against such an act.
• Gossiping in the garb of 'networking' is the favourite pass timeas nearly 60% respondents love to indulge in it and do not consider it unethical.Topping this list is Ahmedabad, Pune,BangaloreandHyderabadwith an average of around 70%.
• Your idea or mine, what's the difference – says the Boss. Taking credit for subordinate's ideas isnotunethical, says Ahmedabad andBangalore, while rest of the cities beg to differ with an average score of 42%.
• "Accident last evening…..sudden fever ….stomach upset….mom not well."75% of respondents fromBangalore,Hyderabadand Pune (apart from Ahmedabad) accept they lie to take leave, and do not consider it unethical.However, almost 78% of the Kolkata workforce differs on this.
• To run errands for the Boss is a privilege,consider a majority of the respondents.Only 14% of the total respondents across citiesstronglydisagree and consider this unethical.
• Nearly 80% respondents fromHyderabaddon't bat an eyelid while taking office stationery home.In agreement with them are Ahmedabad,Bangaloreand Pune.
• Nearly 60% respondents feel it's acceptable for theboss to showfavouritismat workplace.
• Bribing in today's cut-throat business conditionshas become an acceptable way of life. However 67% of Kolkata respondentsstronglydisagree.
• It is heartening to know that96% of the respondentswould NOT feel squeamish about directly confronting their colleague if they find their colleague indulging in (what they think is) unethical activity. Ahmedabad is more likely to take the route of speaking to the co-worker's Supervisor while Kolkata is least likely to adopt this indirect way. Pune is the city which strongly believes in 'blowing the whistle' while protecting their identity.
• While there is no single solution to check ethical behavior, most respondents agreed thatLeaders should 'Walk the talk' – the highest nods received inHyderabadand Kolkata. Respondents in Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai felt that having open lines of communication would help decrease unethical behavior at the workplace, while Delhi and Ahmedabad respondents feel having flexible work schedules would reduce unethical behavior.
• Amazingly, one third respondents inBangalore,DelhiandHyderabadare unaware of their company's Ethical Policy!

TeamLease Services, India's largest staffing company, today released the 4thsurvey in the series of 'World of Work' surveys to understand the changing scenario at workplaces inIndia. The study titled'Nothing Ethical about Ethics'attempts to present views of the corporate workforce on 'Workplace Ethics' across 8 cities in India - New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune.

Workplace Ethics or simply ethics is a constant and evolving challenge that has direct impact on businesses and reputation.Management and employees have been trying to incorporate ethics into their office system that can help in retaining and attracting employees and customers alike. But how far has this been successful, what is the current scenario when it comes to taking liberties with office rules. The study has attempted to find the "hidden truth" of Indian Workplace Ethics.

A structured questionnaire was administered using a mix of telephonic and computer-aided-telephonic-interviewing (CATI) technology, to working men and women across all levels belonging to top 500 companies inIndiafor a sample size of 401. The cities where the questionnaire was administered areNew Delhi, Mumbai,Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad,Hyderabadand Pune. The study was commissioned by TeamLease Services and conducted by global research firm Synovate in the months of May and June 2008.

According to Surabhi Mathur, General Manager, Permanent Staffing, TeamLease Services, "The acceptable code of conduct in Corporate India is morphing from the dogmatic thought police whose card carrying members were the HR department to a more fluid situation that accepts diversity, relativity and materiality.Some people view this as a devaluation but Companies are getting better at defining non-negotiables but not interfering in trivia."

The study further reveals that Kolkata reacts strongly towards unethical office behaviour, whereas the most lenient city is Ahmedabad. While Mumbaikars would confront their co-workers directly for unethical behaviour, Ahmedabad believes in the indirect route, as per the report.Hyderabadand Kolkata insists that leaders / managers should 'walk the talk' on office ethics withHyderabadstressing on the need to frequent ethics training in offices and increase in open lines of communication. According to the study, Mumbai and Chennai are more aware of company's policy towards unethical behaviour and interestingly, one in every four respondents in Chennai have experienced mobile / /wallet thefts at the workplace.

Some interesting recall from respondents on unethical behaviour NOTICED BY CO-WORKERS:

Kolkata: Bribing for business purpose and sexual harassment

Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad:False commitment to customers and harassment by seniors

Hyderabad:People who have side business are not 100% dedicated to work

Chennai:Revealing client information to competitors and Boss having an affair with the junior and treating others unfairly

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About TeamLease Services Private Limited

TeamLease Services (TeamLease™) isIndia's largest Staffing company - a pioneer and market leader in the Temping (temporary staffing) industry today. Having pioneered the concept of Temporary Staffing inIndia, the company is constantly striving to bridge the gap between industry and thousands of aspiring candidates. TeamLease is currently one ofIndia's largest private sector employers. They have more than 80,000 employees in over 670 locations across the country for more than 1000 clients. Clients, Associates and Candidates are serviced through their 24 offices and their proprietary web-based Temp Network (TLNet) atwww.teamlease.com

About TeamLease Services Private Limited

TeamLease Services (TeamLease™) isIndia's largest Staffing company - a pioneer and market leader in the Temping (temporary staffing) industry today. Having pioneered the concept of Temporary Staffing inIndia, the company is constantly striving to bridge the gap between industry and thousands of aspiring candidates. TeamLease is currently one ofIndia's largest private sector employers. They have more than 80,000 employees in over 670 locations across the country for more than 1000 clients. Clients, Associates and Candidates are serviced through their 24 offices and their proprietary web-based Temp Network (TLNet) atwww.teamlease.com

Speaking on the report release Mr Arvind Mahajan, National Industry Director, Energy, Infrastructure and Government of KPMG said “Developing countries like India and China are under increasing international pressure to undertake measures to limit their aggregate emission levels. While the government on its part has recently announced the National Action Plan on Climate Change, the onus is now on private businesses to do their bit”. He added “merely good intentions with regard to environment awareness are not enough, what is needed is a structured and measurable plan. The first step to the process is measuring the current carbon footprint.

Secondly, companies should seek to benefit from opportunities brought by climate change. For instance, the global market for low carbon energy efficient technologies is estimated to be $3 trillion by 2050.

The global awareness on climate change is far greater. Most companies in the developed world have measured and announced their baseline carbon footprint, and also their reduction targets over 5 to 10 year periods. As per the KPMG report the case with Indian businesses is rather dismal. 41% of the respondents in this study indicate having at least some quantified goals for carbon reduction to be achieved by 2010. However, a significant 38% of the respondents have no goals whatsoever. The report also brings to light the lack of appreciation of the tools and capabilities required to contain climate change. The most widespread measure that businesses engage in, or plan to engage in, to tackle climate change is the usage of energy efficient appliances (94%), this is followed educating and training employees on environment friendly practices (77%). A lot fewer businesses are engaged in other primary drivers of emission reductions. Only 29% of firms review and update their global supply chain to achieve energy efficiency and only 25% have discontinued high energy services.

The KPMG study was conducted with a view to finding out how Indian firms are responding to the issues and challenges around climate change. A total of around 70 business leaders at the CEO/CXO level were interviewed for this study. KPMG itself is committed to addressing climate change first and foremost, by acting as a good corporate citizen. The principal ambition of ‘KPMG’s Global Green Initiative’ will be to reduce the member firms combined carbon footprint by 25% by the year 2010 from a 2007 baseline, through emission reduction schemes and the use of renewable energy in its member firms.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About KPMG

KPMG is the global network of professional services firms of KPMG International. KPMG member firms provide audit, tax and advisory services through industry focused, talented professionals, who deliver value for the benefit of their clients and communities.

KPMG in India has offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune and services over 2,000 international and national clients. The firms in India have access to more than 900 Indian and expatriate professionals.

Paul Coby, SITA Chairman, said: “Airlines were the first industry to fully automate all parts of their business. The Air Transport Industry has now become the world’s first truly web-enabled industry. IT enabled airlines to make both major savings and improve customer service after 9/11. But in these challenging times with oil at over $130 a barrel, there is now an even more urgent need to deploy technology to serve airline customers, save costs and to equip airline staff with effective technology to do their jobs better.”

“Among the record 121 airlines responding to this year’s survey, the online sales average is only 24% with their own website. This varies from 43% in North America to just under 10% in Africa and the Middle East. A very important source of revenues is clearly being lost to those airlines not using web selling at a time when everyone in the industry needs to maximize returns on their IT spend. Selling online has already massively helped to drive down distribution costs, saving airlines in the region of $2 billion.”

Coby added “the adoption of the new generation Web 2.0 technology can deliver greater sales and greater savings across the industry, and better returns from the $11bn invested annually.”

Francesco Violante, SITA CEO, said: “The price of fuel is providing the economic incentive for the airlines to tap further into ancillary revenues by acting not as traditional airlines but e-commerce companies offering every type of service to their global consumer market of 2.3 billion passengers using state of the art technologies such as Web 2.0 and Travel 2.0 applications. This can greatly help to withstand predicted airline losses of $2.3 billion this year[2].”

He pointed to the example of Ryanair which now sells 98% of its tickets online and gains over 17% of its revenues online from ancillary sources while for many established airlines the figure is less than 5%.

Since the first Airline IT Trends survey in 1999, airlines have invested around $100 billion in IT and communications. As a percentage of revenues the average airline IT spend is now 2.2%. At the industry level, this equates to around $11 billion this year which represents an increase of 5% on last year. This increase is seen as recognition that IT plays a strategic role, generating revenue as well as helping deliver cost reductions and customer service improvements through self-service and smoother passenger management.

Other key highlights from the survey include:

MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC ISSUES

The main drivers for IT investment cited by survey respondents were reducing costs, 62%; improving customer service, 54%; enabling new market offerings and revenue opportunities, 45%; and improving workforce productivity, 40%.

Top investment areas included passenger processing and services, 63%; aircraft management /operations, 44%; passenger security, 34%; and employee security, 21%.

SELF-SERVICE ADOPTION

Airlines are forecasting that while only 1% of passengers use mobile phones for check-in today, this will rise to 6% next year by which time more than half of airlines will offer the service. This forecast suggests an evolution of self-service to mobile devices.

The following airline self-service initiatives are already in place: web check-in, 56%; mobile phone check-in, 21%; self-boarding kiosks, 21%; online trip-change service, 25%; and lost baggage self-service, 12%.

PASSENGER SECURITY

85% of the airlines responding to this year’s survey now provide passenger data to the world’s governments, up 4% from last year. Of those providing data, 73% provide to less than five governments and the remaining 26% to six governments or more.

ONBOARD TECHNOLOGY

The majority of airlines expect to have deployed at least one of these services onboard aircraft within a three to four year time frame: SMS via mobile phone; GPRS for Blackberry; Voice calls via mobile phone; Internet access via laptop; email access via laptop; and IM via laptop. More than half of respondents indicate they are planning to charge for these services or to finance them through advertising.

[1] The Airline IT Trends Survey included responses from 121 airlines around the world and almost half of the survey respondents are in the Airline Business Top 100 revenue rankings.

[2] IATA Press release No. 27, 02 June 2008 Fuel Crisis a Catalyst for Change

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

SITA is the specialist provider of IT business solutions and communications services to the world’s air transport industry. SITA manages complex communication solutions for its air transport, government and GDS customers over the world’s most extensive communication network, complemented by consultancy in the design, deployment and integration of communication services. Its broad range of airline and airport IT applications and services includes airport operations and integrated baggage services, common use and desktop services, flight operations and air-to-ground communications and end-to-end airline distribution and fares services.

SITA has two main subsidiaries: OnAir, which is leading the race to bring in-flight mobile telephony to the market, and CHAMP Cargosystems, the world's only IT company solely dedicated to air cargo. SITA also operates two joint ventures providing services to the air transport community: Aviareto for aircraft asset management and CertiPath for secure electronic identity management. In addition SITA sponsors .aero, the Internet top level domain reserved exclusively for aviation.

SITA covers 220 countries and territories and the head office is in Geneva, Switzerland. SITA had consolidated revenues of US$1.42 billion (€1.06 billion) in 2007.

Further information can be found at www.sita.aero.

“Best Practices in IT Front Office for Build-to-Order Products” (http://www.cincom.com/ITreport) discusses the findings of a report from a technology perspective on the state of mass customization and build-to-order practices.

Of the IT managers surveyed, about 85 percent ranked becoming customer value-driven, reducing costs and introducing new technology as their highest priorities. Many of these priorities could be met with a knowledge-management system. However, knowledge management ranked last in priority with only 34 percent ranking it as “important” or “very important.”

Seven Important Company Metrics Frequently Unmeasured

In addition, many IT managers at these manufacturing companies considered a number of measures highly important in their organization. However, seven of these important metrics were seldom tracked despite being eminently trackable, especially if front-office and back-office systems are automated and integrated.

The seven metrics of high importance¾but relatively low tracking¾are:

1. Quality of data
2. Order rework
3. Customer-facing time for sales reps
4. User adoption of IT systems
5. Quotation rework
6. Win rate
7. Perfect order rates

The survey results show that there is “a lack of understanding among IT professionals as to the potential impact of front-office automation and integration with back-office systems to the bottom line,” says Jim Wilson, Cincom Program Director and author of the report. “Success of customization efforts appears to be holding back initiatives in this area.”

Cincom Systems targeted the survey at senior IT managers at 1,840 manufacturers of complex industrial, electrical and transportation equipment and systems.

For a copy of the report, please visit www.cincom.com/ITreport.

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Cincom delivers and supports innovative software and services to simplify complex business processes. For nearly 40 years, Cincom has empowered thousands of clients worldwide to outperform the competition by providing ways to increase revenue, control cost, minimize risk, and achieve rapid ROI.

Cincom serves clients on six continents including BMW, Citibank, Boeing, Ericsson, Penn State University, Milacron, Siemens, and Trane. For more information about Cincom's products and services, contact Cincom at +91 11 23737590, send an e-mail to info_india@cincom.com , or visit the company's website at http://www.cincom.com/.

According to the survey, the career growth pattern among CISMs is clear as they continue to move up into management ranks and acquire more business-focused responsibilities. When asked what their next career step will be, 40.6 percent of respondents said that they intend to step into an executive management role, 40.6 percent intend to step into a chief information security officer (CISO) role and 27.1 percent see themselves in a chief security officer (CSO) role.

The survey also revealed that the top five most common activities performed by information security managers in their current positions are risk management, security program management, data security, policy creation, and maintenance and regulatory compliance.

“The role of information security management is quickly evolving to direct the use of technology to solve or prevent business problems instead of being a purely technical specialization,” said Lynn Lawton, CISA, FBCS CITP, FCA, FIIA, PIIA, international president of ISACA. “It is encouraging to see that CISMs are taking increased responsibility for business functions such as risk management, governance and architecture. These activities help protect the value that information provides to enterprises around the world.”

When asked about prior job duties, only 54.8 percent of respondents said that they had responsibility for risk management. In their current position, 75.6 percent said they were responsible for this business-related function. Network security was the third most frequently performed activity in prior positions, but it dropped to eighth in current positions.

“It is clear that Certified Information Security Managers are experiencing career growth and moving up higher into management,” said Evelyn Susana Anton, CISA, CISM, chair of the CISM Certification Board. “This shows that these functions are vital business drivers and are receiving increased attention from boards of directors and executive management.”

Designed for experienced information security managers, the CISM designation is a groundbreaking credential earned by more than 9,000 professionals since it was established in 2002. In Certification Magazine’s 2007 Salary Survey, CISM was found to be the second-highest paid certification and was noted as being recognized as an asset among business leaders.

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With more than 75,000 members in more than 160 countries, ISACA (www.isaca.org) is a recognized worldwide leader in IT governance, control, security and assurance. Founded in 1969, ISACA sponsors international conferences, publishes the Information Systems Control Journal, and develops international information systems auditing and control standards. It also administers the globally respected Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) designation, earned by more than 60,000 professionals since 1978; the CISM designation, earned by more than 9,000 professionals since 2002; and the new Certified in the Governance of Enterprise ITTM (CGEITTM) designation.

About the Information Security Career Progression Survey Results

ISACA surveyed 1,426 CISMs from 83 countries in November 2007. Survey respondents represented more than 20 different industries; the greatest populations were in banking and financial services (26.6 percent), consulting (23.75 percent), technology (12.5 percent), government (12 percent), and healthcare (4.2 percent). The purpose of the survey was to examine how professionals in information security management arrived at their current position, what types of activities they are accountable for and how they envision their future.

Says Surabhi Mathur, General Manager, Permanent Staffing, TeamLease Services, “The survey captures some of the implications of the youthification of India’s workforce and their changing view of employment. Today’s youth has higher aspirations, is more impatient, has more choices and does not view employment as a relationship but as a transaction. This “taxicab relationship” has important consequences for Corporate India’s strategy and tactics for recruiting, retention and talent development”

A structured questionnaire was administered by global research firm Synovate for TeamLease using a mix of telephonic and computer-aided-telephonic-interviewing (CATI) technology to two types of Target Groups: Youth below the age-group of 25 years across eight major cities (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune) for a sample size of 443 and HR Heads across the cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai) for an indicative sample size of 52.

Report Summary

Ø Office locale and convenience of commuting have emerged as primary criteria for accepting and keeping jobs amongst the younger generation.

Ø Stress over job security compels young employees to look at ‘better job opportunities elsewhere’. This, coupled with work-life imbalance, is key contributors to employee disengagement.

Ø ‘Unmet expectations’/ ‘promises not kept’ are also large contributors to employee ‘disenchantment’ and ultimately, attrition.

Ø “Marriage” and “Starting own business” are least considered reasons for leaving the company.

Ø Despite the popular misnomers that today’s youth have short lived ambitions, are opportunistic and only money-oriented. ‘Future career opportunities’ reflected as one of the key influencers for picking jobs. Most respondents agreed on ‘Future Career Opportunities’ being an important aspect. At the same time, ‘Job Profile’ was highlighted as the next most prominent criteria for talent attraction.

Ø A large number of respondents agreed that “Growth Opportunities” and “Job profile that matches future career plans” did form an integral factor to promote longevity at the organization.

Ø “Financial Independence” and “Supporting Family” continue to be drivers for youth taking up employment. A vehement disagreement on “Materialistic Needs” being reasons to take up jobs was unanimous.

The changing HR domain draws new parameters for measuring success. Ability to attract the best talent (at the most competitive salaries) and successful retention of employees is now the all consuming mantra for all HR Managers. But is there really a synergy between “expectations” and “aspirations”? Are organizations aligned to the changing needs and desires of the younger lot?

While many commonalities exist between the youth and the HR community such as stress laid on ‘Workplace Environment’, ‘Future Career Opportunities’ and ‘Job Profile’, the difference of opinion lies in factors like ‘Flexibility of Time and office travel time’, ‘Social Status’ and ‘Low Compensation’ reflected in the detailed survey.

Some observations are more stark that the others, having geographical implications too.

· 80% of the youth gave “Corporate/Brand image” high priority while choosing a job, and there was a buy in on the same by most HR professionals too.

Surprisingly, 18% Mumbaikars expressed willingness to ‘go down the unbeaten path’ and do away with the so-called “Branded” organizations.

· Almost 90% of the youth stressed on the money-mantra while accepting a job, though Ahmedabad seemed to deviate a bit with just 70% acceptances.

Overall, HR professionals agreed that on “Compensation & Benefits” high competitiveness existed, however in Mumbai almost 45% of the HR members stood undecided if that was the fact, and 18% in Bangalore disagreed.

Low Salaries was also the most cited reason for retrenchment – however a vehement 20-30% youth and HR in Bangalore & Hyderabad denied this.

· Youth and HR folks agreed that ‘Future Career Opportunities’ was a clear criterion for selection; once again surprisingly 18% of the HR folks in Bangalore disagreed.

80% of the youth also expressed a greater retention of organizations where the ‘Profile which matches the future plan’.
Barring a flat 18% disagreement from Bangalore, all HR folks were in consensus too.

· “Location of Office” & “Convenience of Travel” was a unanimous buy-in from job seekers & the HR fraternity; except an 18% disagreement from the Mumbaikar & 10% from Kolkata – guess travel is a way of life more than a choice parameter here!

· ‘Gain experience for future studies (MBA programmes)’ is what the 60-80% youth dream to do although 30% of them pose a neutral response. However, over 80% of HR professionals endorse the trend in cities except Hyderabad and Mumbai with over 20% disagreeing.

· Although the same percentage of youth and HR heads in Mumbai vouches for ‘international travel opportunity’ as the secondary parameter in motivating the young workforce, there is a stark difference in the opinion of the youth and the HR community in Chennai and New Delhi. In Chennai only 38% of youth agree to this factor when compared to almost 76% of HR professionals.

· At least 50% of the youth across all cities want to enjoy the ‘enhanced social status’, with Bangalore’s young showing the highest degree of disagreement. There is a difference in opinion in Hyderabad’s youth and HR community with 54% of the former and only 40% of the latter thinking on the same lines.

· Even though there is a major consensus amongst youth and HR managers that ‘Long working hours’ facilitates attrition, a significant 20% youth in Mumbai, Hyderabad & Bangalore disagree – different work ethos?

· “Company Policy” continues to be a cause for irritation, agree youth and HR alike, surprisingly high agreement in Pune with 90% youth attributing it to cause for exit.
However, unanimous 20% disagreement from Mumbai youth and HR about this factor being such a dramatic influencer in attrition.

· 73% youth in Pune agree that ‘Peers/ colleagues moving out’ accentuates their own move out, and over 40% of the respondents in Mumbai & Delhi and over 20% in rest of the cities disagree.

Surabhi Mathur adds “With the growing concept of “made-to-order” jobs and sky-rocketing aspirations of youth today, the HR fraternity’s challenge increases manifold. Moving from ‘administrative surveillance’ to ‘strategic engagement’ is and will remain the key parameter to success.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

TeamLease Services is India’s largest Staffing Company having pioneered temporary staffing in India. Currently they have over 74,000 employees on the rolls, presence across 470 locations with 24 offices in India. TeamLease’s biggest visible accomplishment is the speed of scaling (have hired somebody every 5 minutes for the last four years, weekends and nights included). In the permanent recruitment domain, TeamLease Services provides executive search, database selection, advertised selection and turnkey solution, withdomain experts to anchor specific industry verticals. TeamLease Services is head quartered in Bangalore.

About Teamlease’s “India’s changing world of work” survey series

Teamlease, as a market leader, has self-interest in a deeper understanding of India’s labour market changes and makes substantial investments in research. The current survey series aims to look at India’s labour markets from an angle to conventional thought. The first series looked at romance in the workplace while the second one covered the issues of two career couples.

“In the past, CitiXsys has won several accolades and awards; however, being recognized by Dun & Bradstreet on a national level across India is definitely a great milestone and accomplishment for CitiXsys,” said Kamal Karmakar, CEO of CitiXsys. “This recognition is an acknowledgment of CitiXsys as a leading provider of SAP Business One Solutions in the retail, distribution and financial industry and reconfirms our strong presence to compete successfully at all levels and emerge as a market leader,” he added.

Dun & Bradstreet is recognized around the world as the leader in providing global business information has been enabling companies to Decide with Confidence® for 165 years. The company manages a commercial database of over 100 million companies and is supported by D&B’s proprietary DUNSRight® Quality Process, which transforms the enormous amount of data collected daily into decision-ready insight. Customers around the world have come to rely on Dun & Bradstreet as a provider of the world’s largest and high quality commercial business information database.

To view the names of companies selected by Dun & Bradstreet visit: http://www.dnb.co.in/TopIT_08/result.asp

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About CitiXsys

CitiXsys is a leading provider of products for SAP® Business One in the Retail, Warehousing and Distribution Industry. The largest SAP® Business One Solutions Partner globally, CitiXsys also provides implementation, integration and customization services to SAP partners and customers worldwide. CitiXsys clients have realized the promise of the CitiXsys Advantage: innovation, on-time service delivery, rapid return on investment and high quality products and solutions.

CitiXsys helps clients across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific regions and Africa realize high business impact and value from improved retail, warehouse and distribution solutions in the Business One landscape. Acknowledged as a leading Business One Solution Provider by industry analysts and experts, CitiXsys clients include globally recognized companies such as American Express, SAP, Swarovski Optik, Greiche & Scaff, Britannia, Wellborn Cabinet, Inc., Biotique, Colio Wines, Margaret Howell and Alcan. CitiXsys was acknowledged as the Global Innovation Partner by SAP in 2008 and is the recipient of the SAP® Pinnacle Award, a recognition given by SAP to global partners that have made exemplary contributions to SAP's ecosystem.

The company has its corporate headquarters in New York City and offices in the U.S, Canada, U.K, Australia and India. For more information please visit: www.citixsys.com

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All product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. SAP® and other SAP® products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP® AG in Germany and in several other countries globally. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only.

For PR/Media Inquiries Contact: Sangeeta Mehrotra /Sr.Manager-MARCOM / E: sangeeta.mehrotra@citixsys.com

Lead by Delap & Waller EcoCo Ltd., a leading Sustainable Design Consultancy with offices in Dublin and Cork, the EU-funded project audited existing social housing schemes in counties Meath, Kildare and Dublin. The schemes featured included family dwellings and dwellings for the elderly and the disabled.

It is hoped that the audit will establish best ventilation strategies for existing social housing in order to achieve occupant health and comfort, maximum energy efficiency and significant reductions in energy bills for householders.

Seminars will take place at the Lifetime Lab in Cork (2pm, 22 May) and at Cultivate in Dublin (7pm, 3 June).

All data collected during the audit will be presented to social housing providers who are considering upgrading their social housing stock by performing energy intelligent retrofitting of individual dwellings and entire schemes.

Consultants and other construction professionals will also be provided with an insight into key issues they will be facing during retrofit projects and practical solutions for improvements in energy performance for old and new dwellings.

50% of Ireland’s 1.5 million dwellings were built prior to the introduction of Building Regulations in Ireland in 1979. Energy consumption in Irish homes is about 40% higher than the European average and Irish homes are responsible for a staggering 11.5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

“A dramatic improvement of the energy performance of the existing housing stock is therefore essential if we want to make any dent into our greenhouse gases emission targets”, explained Mr. Jay Stuart, Managing Director of DWEcoCo Ltd.

While welcoming the Government’s Budget commitment to commencing or acquiring 9,000 social housing units in 2008, Mr. Stuart expressed concern that many would not be completed with maximum energy efficiency in mind.

According to Mr. Stuart, “Unfortunately most dwellings due for completion in 2008 will be constructed to the minimum energy efficiency standards of the Building Regulations. Energy savings for householders and greatly reduced carbon emissions can be achieved by going that step further without incurring large additional costs. In particular the current Part F of the Building Regulations dealing with ventilation is out of date and in conflict with the new Part L. The industry requires the knowledge and tools which we will offer to social housing providers and construction professionals through our project findings and public information campaign.”

Advanced thermal imaging and pressure testing equipment was used in the AVASH survey to investigate the state of the dwellings’ thermal insulation and degree of air tightness.

Utilising this information, computer simulations have been used to determine the best ventilation strategy for the dwelling type. A key performance indicator for the project is the level of ventilation and air tightness and their impact on energy use for space heating. Other benefits include a much healthier and comfortable living environment for the households involved as well as significant cuts in energy bills.

Mr. Stuart stated that AVASH project partners in the UK and Denmark had recently launched similar audits.

It is expected that the result of these projects, along with the analysis of social housing schemes in Ireland, will have a European wide impact, will contribute to the exchange and sharing of knowledge and experience in the field and will improve the energy performance of the existing social housing stock and its inhabitants’ quality of life.”

Further information about the audits and Advanced Ventilation Approaches for Social Housing (AVASH) is available from the website: http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

For further information about the AVASH seminar in Cork, please contact Xavier Dubuisson, manager of DWEcoCo’s Cork office at 021 496 6757.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

“Enhancing reputations–Increasing exposure–Increasing understanding”

Founded in 2006, Dunphy Public Relations is a communications group led by Mark Dunphy from County Clare. Mr. Dunphy previously held the position of ‘Head of News and Current Affairs’ in Clare FM Radio.

Dunphy Public Relations has secured extensive local, national and international media coverage for clients including Clare County Council; Supply Network Shannon; The Atlantis Holiday Group; Shannon Town Council; Cliffs of Moher New Visitor Experience; Clare Museum; Digino Marketing; Renewable Energy Skillsnet; Magico.ie; Kilrush Town Council; Clonlara Wholesale; Minister for Labour Affairs, Tony Killeen; Clare County Library; and Ennis Town Council.

"Not only did XIENCE V clearly differentiate itself from the TAXUS stent in the first year after treatment, it has now demonstrated even more positive effects at two years in the SPIRIT III trial," said Dr. Stone, Columbia University Medical Center and chairman, Cardiovascular Research Foundation, New York. "As measured by clinically significant reductions in target vessel failure and MACE, XIENCE V demonstrated an even greater improvement in patient outcomes compared to TAXUS at two years than at one year, driven by numerically lower rates of heart attacks and lower observed rates of re-intervention of the target lesion. We also saw encouraging trends for lower observed rates of late and very late stent thrombosis in XIENCE V-treated patients, especially in those who discontinued dual antiplatelet therapy."

The SPIRIT III trial of 1,002 patients, which is the basis for the pre-market application of XIENCE V to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), demonstrated the following key results for XIENCE V at two years:

- more -

· A 45 percent reduction in the risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) compared to TAXUS (7.3 percent for XIENCE V vs. 12.8 percent for TAXUS, p-value=0.004)*. MACE is an important composite clinical measure of safety and efficacy outcomes for patients, defined as cardiac death, heart attack (MI), or ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization (TLR driven by lack of blood supply).

· A 32 percent reduction in the risk of Target Vessel Failure (TVF, cardiac events related to the treated vessel) compared to TAXUS (10.7 percent for XIENCE V vs. 15.4 percent for TAXUS, p-value=0.04)*. TVF is a composite clinical measure of safety and efficacy outcomes defined as cardiac death, heart attack (myocardial infarction or MI) or target vessel revascularization (TVR).

· A 40 percent reduction in the risk of ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization (ID-TLR) as compared to TAXUS (4.6 percent for XIENCE V vs. 7.5 percent for TAXUS, p-value=0.07)*.

· Low rates of stent thrombosis between one and two years, defined as very late stent thrombosis, per Academic Research Consortium (ARC) definition of definite/probable stent thrombosis (0.3 percent for XIENCE V and 1.0 percent for TAXUS) and per the SPIRIT III protocol (0.2 percent for XIENCE V and 1.0 percent for TAXUS). The ARC definitions of stent thrombosis were developed to eliminate variability in the definitions across various drug eluting stent trials.

"From these results, it is clear that XIENCE V can deliver sustained benefits to patients over the long term," said John M. Capek, Ph.D., executive vice president, Medical Products, Abbott. "We continue to be pleased with the way XIENCE V is performing, with outstanding results that are consistent with what we have seen throughout the SPIRIT III trial."

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About the SPIRIT III Trial

SPIRIT III is a prospective, multi-center, randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial comparing XIENCE V to TAXUS in 1,002 patients (669 XIENCE V patients, 333 TAXUS patients) with either one or two de novo native coronary artery lesions. The trial was conducted across 65 academic and community-based centers in the United States between June 22, 2005 and March 15, 2006.

- more -

The primary endpoint of the SPIRIT III trial was in-segment late loss at eight months, wherein XIENCE V demonstrated superiority to TAXUS with a statistically significant 50 percent reduction in late loss (mean, 0.14 mm for XIENCE V vs. 0.28 mm for TAXUS). In-segment late loss is a measure of vessel renarrowing. In the co-primary endpoint of TVF at nine months, XIENCE V demonstrated statistical non-inferiority compared to TAXUS with an observed 20 percent reduction in TVF (7.2 percent for XIENCE V vs. 9.0 percent for TAXUS).

Additionally, in the pre-specified secondary endpoint of MACE, XIENCE V demonstrated a 43 percent reduction at nine months (4.6 percent for XIENCE V vs. 8.1 percent for TAXUS) and a 42 percent reduction in MACE at one year (6.0 percent for XIENCE V vs. 10.3 percent for TAXUS) compared to TAXUS.

About XIENCE V

The XIENCE V stent system utilizes everolimus, which has been shown to reduce tissue proliferation in the coronary vessels following stent implantation, and is based upon the highly deliverable and proven MULTI-LINK VISION® coronary stent platform.

XIENCE V was launched in Europe and other international markets in October 2006. XIENCE V is currently an investigational device in the United States and Japan, and is under review for approval by the FDA. Abbott expects to gain FDA approval for XIENCE V in the second quarter of 2008.

Abbott also supplies a private-label version of XIENCE V to Boston Scientific called the PROMUS™ Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System. PROMUS is designed, studied and manufactured by Abbott and supplied as part of a distribution agreement between the two companies.

Everolimus is licensed to Abbott by Novartis for use on its drug eluting stents.

For images of Abbott’s XIENCE V stent and other information, please visit the company’s online newsroom at www.abbottvascular.com/presskit.

* Event rates are based on Kaplan-Meier estimates; p-values are for descriptive purposes only.

The annual ranking shows more than 60 percent of companies recognized in the Rising Star category of companies with fast annual growth of more than 33 percent are from outside the U.S., with most from the Asian-Pacific region.

“The remarkable rise in the number of companies from Asia, especially from China, who were considered for the Global Outsourcing 100 shows that the power balance in the outsourcing industry is shifting,” said Jagdish Dalal, IAOP’s managing director, thought leadership, who led the judges’ panel.

In addition to the Rising Stars recognized on the list, the Global Outsourcing 100 also shows an increase in Asian companies recognized as Leaders with annual sales of $60 million or more.

Of the top 10 best outsourcing providers in the world, half were from India. These companies are: Infosys (ranked #3), Tata Consultancy Services (#6), Wipro Technologies (#7), Genpact (#9) and Tech Mahindra (#10).

IAOP established the Global Outsourcing 100 as a resource to help companies compare providers using an objective methodology and make better informed decisions when selecting suppliers. It includes both Leaders and Rising Stars, as well as 25 sublists based on geography, services and industry.

Similar to the qualifying process that companies use to select vendors, companies are ranked on quality following a rigorously judged application process that examines 18 criteria. The final rankings are based on a weighted average of the judges’ scores on demonstrated competencies, size and growth, management capabilities and customer references.

Global Outsourcing 100 Highlights for Asian-Pacific Region

The companies in India, China and the Asian-Pacific Rim that have the largest employee presence also are featured in newly released sublists of the Global Outsourcing 100.

The largest outsourcing employers in the Asian-Pacific Rim include (in alphabetical order): Concentrix Corporation, Emerio GlobeSoft Pte, Frontline Outsourcing (Asia), ICT Group, Innodata Isogen, NCS, SPi, Sykes Enterprises, Symphony House Berhad and TELUS International.

China’s largest outsourcing companies by number of employees are: Achievo, Beyondsoft (Beijing), Bleum, CompuPacific International, Dalian Hi-Think Computer Technology, hiSoft Technology International, Inspur, Longtop International, Neusoft Group and VanceInfo Technologies.

The list also highlighted Asian providers among the biggest public companies in the Rising Star category. These included: Chinasoft International Ltd, Frontline Outsourcing (Asia), Hundsun Global and Shinetech Software.

For the full Global Outsourcing 100 list and sublists, see www.outsourcingprofessional.org.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About IAOP in Asia

Through its Asian-Pacific Advisory Board, active and growing chapters, and increasing membership base, IAOP provides a wide range of services and programs to meet outsourcing professionals’ needs in the fast-growing Asian-Pacific region.

Among its comprehensive offerings for outsourcing customers, providers, advisors and students in the Asian-Pacific region are the world-renowned Outsourcing World Summit® Conference Series and Outsourcing Leadership events; Certified Outsourcing Professional (COP) training programs; and the Global Outsourcing 100, which ranks Asian outsourcing service providers among the world’s best and fastest growing.

About IAOP

The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) is the global, standard-setting organization and advocate for the outsourcing profession. With 40,000 customer, advisor and provider members worldwide, IAOP helps companies increase their outsourcing success rate, improve their outsourcing ROI, and expand the opportunities for outsourcing across their businesses. To learn more, visit www.outsourcingprofessional.org.

Media Contact:
Michael Forbes - IAOP Communications Manager
(845) 452-0600, ext. 118
mike.forbes@outsourcingprofessional.org

As a part of the research study ZeebraCross is conducting a sub-study on how business school students make career choice decisions. The study will help to understand students’ perceptions of retail careers and how students make their choices between factors such as starting salary, career growth opportunities and work-life balance.

The management of ZeebraCross is planning to conduct similar surveys in other B-Schools based at Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Delhi.

ZeebraCross exclusively focuses on Retail Training and Research Services. The firm capitalises on its content, research and industry experience for developing passionate, ambitious, energetic and forward-thinking individuals to drive the modern retail momentum.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

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Nearly 87 per cent of eligible menhave been tested at least once since the programme was introduced in 1988. By2005 cancer deaths had fallen by 54 per cent, compared with 29 per cent for therest of Austria, which hadn’t benefited from the programme.

There is no evidence that trendsin the Tyrol and the rest of Austria were significantly different before freetesting was introduced.

“Prostate specific antigen (PSA)testing was introduced to the Tyrol in 1988 and since 1993 it has been freelyavailable to all men aged from 45 to 75 and to men under 40 with a familyhistory of the disease” explains lead author Professor Georg Bartsch from theUniversity of Innsbruck, one of the international team of medical experts thatmakes up the Tyrol Prostate Cancer Screening Group.

“Our findings suggest that thecombination of free PSA testing and free treatment for any resulting prostatecancer can lead to significant reductions in death rates. This free treatmentnormally involved surgical removal of the prostate.

“What was interesting about thisstudy was that so many men came forward for testing after the programme waswidely advertised in the print and broadcast media. People living in the Tyrol– one of the nine Federal states that make up Austria – tend to enjoy closeproximity to health facilities and be very receptive to preventative medicalprogrammes.”

By 2005, just under 87 per cent ofmen aged between 45 and 75 living in the region had undergone a PSA test.

“Our study clearly shows thatdeaths from prostate cancer have declined much more quickly in the Tyrol since1988, when this programme was introduced, compared with the rest of Austria.

“Before the programme wasintroduced, prostate cancer death rates in the Tyrol were similar to the restof the country, but after the programme was launched the death rate in theTyrol started falling by an average of 7.3 per cent a year, more than twice the3.2 per cent observed in the rest of Austria.”

The findings also have importantimplications for age-related prostate cancer deaths, say the researchers,especially as the number of older men is steadily increasing.

“Deaths from prostate cancer inthe 80 plus age group have been increasing across Austria, but there has beenno evidence of this happening in the Tyrol” says co-author Professor Boyle fromthe International Agency for Research on Cancer.

“This indicates that the screeningprogramme in the Tyrol is picking up cases of prostate cancer at an earlierstage of the disease, when it can be treated more effectively. This earlytreatment reduces the risk of the disease coming back later in life and killingthe patient when they are older.”

The authors conclude that theintroduction of free screening has made an important contribution to reducingprostate cancer death rates in the Tyrol, a region where treatment is freelyavailable to all patients with the disease.

But they acknowledge that there isstill controversy surrounding some aspects of screening for prostate cancerthat need to be resolved.

These include the effectiveness ofPSA testing in all cases, whether aggressive treatment alters the outcome in menwith advanced stages of the disease and whether testing and treatment seriouslyimpinge quality of life.

“Our study shows that whenwidespread PSA testing was introduced to the Tyrol, and people with the diseasereceived free treatment to cure their prostate cancer, the fall in death rateswas significantly higher than in the rest of Austria” says Professor Boyle.

“This reduction in death rates ismost probably due to the fact that cases of prostate cancer were detected at anearlier stage, when treatment for this disease tends to be more effective.

“However it is important toremember that screening is only the first step in the optimal management ofpatients with prostate cancer.”

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

Notes to editors

·Tyrol Prostate CancerDemonstration Project: early detection, treatment, outcome, incidence andmortality. Bartsch et al. BJUInternational. 101, pp 809-816 (April2008).

·Established in 1929, BJUInternational is published 23 times ayear by Wiley-Blackwell and edited by Professor John Fitzpatrick from MaterMisericordiae University Hospital and University College Dublin, Ireland. Itprovides its international readership with invaluable practical information onall aspects of urology, including original and investigative articles andillustrated surgery. www.bjui.org

·About Wiley-Blackwell.Wiley-Blackwell was formed inFebruary 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. byJohn Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wiley’s Scientific, Technical,and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishingbusiness with deep strength in every major academic and professional field.Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly peer-reviewed journalsand an extensive collection of books with global appeal. For more informationon Wiley-Blackwell, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.comor http://interscience.wiley.com

Aditya Verma, Business Head Makaan.com said, "Makaan Rating is a powerful tool aimed to benefit both buyers and genuine sellers. Over period of time, sellers who furnish correct information will be able to sell their property faster. It will also put positive pressure on sellers who give false information to get more sales queries. With this feature we hope to build on our motto "Real Properties. Real Buyers".

With nearly 40 thousand property classifieds in newspapers and about 7.5 lac property listings online, there lacked an appropriate evaluation process to assess the genuineness of the displayed information. This initiative by Makaan.com is expected to set a benchmark for the validation process of property listings. As the system is based on personal experiences of buyer with the property sellers, it is neutral and not influenced by the portal. The system works on a star-rating format, higher the number of stars against the listing, higher is the correctness of its information.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About Makaan.com

Makaan.com is an online real-estate service promoted by People Interactive; the consumer Internet division of the Anupam Mittal led People Group. This site has been conceived to explore and invent opportunities in the online real-estate space. Makaan.com is committed to helping users make wise and profitable decisions related to buying, selling, renting and leasing of properties, in India and key global geographies. This user-friendly portal has Pan India presence, with physical offices in top 13 cities of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kochi, Vizag and Vijaywada.

About People Interactive

People Interactive was founded in 1997 to help architect India's Internet landscape. Today it is one of India's leading Internet companies and boasts brands such as Shaadi.com, Shaadi.com Centres, Fropper.com, Makaan.com and Astrolife.com. The company is focussed on discovering and developing scalable Internet business models around communities and classifieds. It prides itself in being a pioneer of Indo-centric Internet business models and believes in innovation led growth.

The company won the IT People Award 2007 for Excellence in Information Technology, and was also awarded the Red Herring Asia Top 100 Awards in 2006. In September 2007 Business Today recognized the company's flagship brand – Shaadi.com as one of the Top 10 Marketers in the country. Shaadi.com was also felicitated at the WEB18 'Genius of the Web' Awards 2007, as the best E-Commerce site (Matrimony), and Shaadi.com Centres won the 'Franchisor of the Year Award' for the third consecutive year in 2007. People Interactive was also named as one of the Top 500 companies in Deloitte Technology Fast 500 – Asia Pacific Awards 2007. People Interactive is a Sequoia Capital backed company and is part of the Anupam Mittal led People Group.

For further details contact:
Rakesh Kumar Jha
9873904595
rakesh@hanmerpr.com

Commenting on the study,F. Colton, CEO of the India Streetremarked, “We feel, with this recognition that those looking to do business in India will now have a clearer roadmap for much needed investment. These professionals are clearing the way for more foreign direct investment."

The assessment andselection of the top10influential real estate professionals in Indiawasdone in a meticulous manner by measuring21 individual criteria. Onlythe top 10 professionals were selectedof the 1000 people evaluated. The India Street study was devised as a way of recognizing professionals who are contributing to India’s nascent real estate industry. The complete study results can be found here http://www.theindiastreet.com/2008/04/top-10-india-real-estate-professionals.html

To make the study comprehensive and representative the top 10 people were selected from a range of services within real estate including tenant representation, political influence, access to capital, and real estate bloggers. The study took into consideration the impact each has made to India real estate and the influence these professionals currently have in the market.

For more information on the Influence Study please visit

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

The survey has received over 1,000 responses from Indian netizens and shows that nearly 60% of Internet surfers in India look for property-related information on websites.

Commenting on the MagicBricks.com survey findings, Mr. R. Sundar, CEO, Times Business Solutions remarked, “At a time when the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation has commissioned the Reserve Bank of India team to conduct its own study on what constitutes affordable housing, these findings are extremely significant – a 2-bedroom home within 5-10 lakhs is the aspiration of the average Indian, who dreams of his own roof over his head.”

The survey finds that more than 50% of Indians online are looking for a 2-bedroom house to call their home, and find the Rs 5-10 lakh bracket affordable. Of this, about 54 per cent users belonged to the megacities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The remaining 46 per cent came from smaller cities and towns like Nasik, Ludhiana, Batala, etc. This search for their dream home leaves Indian internet users with homes normally confined to the extreme suburbs or peripheries of large and small cities.

The respondents came from all classes of cities and the search was largely for personal immediate use. These survey results represent the dreams and aspirations of a cross section of people including the service class, businessmen, lawyers, professors, house wives and young professionals. Most have been looking for property in the last six months or so and are trying to match what is available with what they desire. Standalone houses are still the most dominant category of demand followed closely by group housing.

The basic level of services the respondents aspired to included water and power back-up, and scored significantly over premium lifestyle features, such as clubs & swimming pools, that most big developers offer.

The survey has been conducted by MagicBricks.com Research and Analysis wing, which constantly monitors the property and real-estate market in the country, providing insights, impact assessment reports, official forms, legal & taxation expertise and realty rates to MagicBricks.com users.

The MagicBricks.com Survey on Affordable Homes can be accessed Here.

Source: Press release distribution via India PRwire

About MagicBricks.com -

The internet has empowered and paced up our lives almost on every front. The emerging virtual world of the real estate sector is an outstanding example of the paradigm shift the internet is bringing. People prefer to search for information on product online before they actually buy it and this applies to property search as well. Online property search is catching up fast, be it a residential or a commercial plot, building, flat or office space.

Keeping with the trend, Times Business Solutions launched MagicBricks.com in August ’06, as a platform to bring together buyers and sellers in the real estate industry. Within three months of its launch, MagicBricks.com achieved the status of being the No.1 property portal in India. With its revolutionary next-gen services customized specifically to address the real estate industry it has consolidated its position as the leader in the sector. MagicBricks.com provides a common platform for all users, and provides a space for property buyers & sellers to locate properties of interest and source information about all property related issues in a transparent and unambiguous process.

MagicBricks.com offers a pan – India coverage of over 500,000 listings, showcasing the Indian real-estate market. MagicBricks.com currently records over 15 million page-views per month.

MagicBricks.com comes packed with a host of tools, never witnessed before by Real-Estate Industry, which include –

•Location Map Service: This unique service is the first of its kind in India that provides home-seekers with the benefit of viewing the maps of selected neighborhoods - highlighting banks, schools, hospitals and other important places around properties that interest them.

•Unique Property Alerts: provide regular Email & SMS Alerts every time a property listing matches user requirements.

•Micro-Sites: Key developers and builders also have micro-sites within MagicBricks.com to showcase their particular offerings in their own unique style.

•Virtual Walkthroughs: Unique previews of selected properties, much like a site visit, that can be viewed online anywhere, anytime.

•Brix-Research: MagicBricks.com Research and Analysis wing constantly monitors the property and real-estate market in the country, providing insights, impact assessment reports, official forms, legal & taxation expertise and realty rates to MagicBricks.com users.

MagicBricks.com observed that the majority of people, in this business, were constantly on the move, and did not access the internet on a daily basis, but conducted their business over mobile phones, and thus the most valued services launched by MagicBricks.com, which further advanced its leadership were the Mobile & Internet convergence services, first through ‘MagicSMS’, and subsequently ‘MagicBricks Mobile’.

Through the ‘Magic SMS’ service, users can send free SMS through the website to sellers for properties and buyers for requirements that interest them. The simple and user-friendly interface creates a succinct yet comprehensive message that is sent to the person who has listed the property or requirement.

As a value addition to MagicSMS , MagicBricks.com also provides developers and real estate agents - ‘Property Leads on SMS’ – a premium service that offers instant SMS updates of new properties, listed for sale or rent customised as per the subscribers selection.

Not one to rest on its achievements, MagicBricks.com launched, India’s first Mobile Property Portal – ‘