India IT News Capsule - Aug 2006, Issue 1

BCCI to have its own website: Board of Control for Cricket in India, the world's richest sporting body has decided to have its own website at last. Competing for the website design and hosting rights are TCS partnering with Microsoft and TCN, THe Cricket Network partnering with Sun Microsystems and Wipro. The winner is to be announced on August 14 this year.

Government to provide G2B portal for investors: With an eye on facilitating easy communication and service linkage to foreign and domestic investors, the government of India is planning to launch a government-to-business (G-2-B) portal. Spear headed by C-DAC, Pune, the Government-2-Business portal would provide investor hassle free information from a spectrum of government departments and also do away with red-tapism and bureaucracy. The move is part of the Rs. 23,000 crore National e-governance plan (NeGP) initiative announced by the United Front government earlier this year.

US graduates in Infosys Global Talent Program: Infosys has hired 126 US graduates under its banner program of Global Talent Program (GTP). These new hires, the largest group of foreign nationals recruited to work in India to date, begin their six-month, customized education program at Infosys' Global Education Center in Mysore, India. The GTP, Infosys' university-level recruiting program outside of India, was created to enhance recruitment efforts to attract the brightest talent in the countries and communities in which Infosys operates.

Wells Fargo to open tech center in India: Wells Fargo & Co., the No. 5 U.S. bank, on Tuesday said it plans in the fourth quarter to open a technology facility in Hyderabad, citing a shortage of qualified technical talent in the United States. The move by the San Francisco based bank is aimed to setup a software development center in India by hiring 30-40 people and ramp up to 300 in a year based on requirement.

SAP to invest $1 billion in India and double workforce: The world's largest business software maker, SAP, Germany has announced plans to invest $1 billion in India over the next 5 years and double its workforce in the country. About 30 million euros ($38.4 million) would be spent on boosting research and development facilities. SAP will also increase its headcount in India to 3,500 by the end of 2006, from 2,750 now, and double the current number in five years.

India - Information Technology Pulse