Dec

23

Money Market Account

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What strikes me at the first look is their slogan “Understanding what’s important”. Now I guess if organizations got that right 100% of customers needs would be fulfilled. M&T offers the newest high-yield online account. What it means is that in addition to a great interest rate which your money will get. You also get access to funds. Which also means your funds are your funds meaning they are not tied up for a specific length of time.

With a network of 650 branches the site has it all a customer could possibly want. They also have tele banking and much more. Their Money Market Account may well be worth it considering the benefits you as a customer get. You as a customer can do your own due diligence or maybe contact them and find out for yourself how they can assist you.

Dec

23

Checkpoint aquires Nokia’s Business

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Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Nokia’s security appliance business. The two businesses have collaborated over the past decade to deliver industry-leading enterprise security solutions. Building on this collaboration, Check Point will provide an extended security appliance portfolio developed, manufactured and supported by Check Point.

“As a pioneer in security appliances, the Nokia security appliance business has been an important strategic partner for Check Point and has helped us achieve early leadership in the security appliance market,” said Gil Shwed, Chairman and CEO at Check Point. “Adding Nokia’s security appliance portfolio into Check Point’s broad range of security solutions is the natural conclusion of our long collaboration, and will assure a smooth path forward for our mutual customers.”

Check Point and Nokia have long provided customers with a range of best-of-breed security solutions, proven in high-performance, mission critical environments. Nokia’s security appliance business provides purpose-built security platforms optimized for Check Point firewall, virtual private network (VPN) and unified threat management (UTM) software. About 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies have bought Nokia’s security platforms. More than 220,000 Nokia appliances have been installed with over 23,000 customers worldwide.

Check Point has a broad range of security gateways, available as software as well as Check Point’s UTM-1 and Power-1 dedicated appliances. More than 700,000 Check Point security gateways have been licensed with over 100,000 customers worldwide. The Check Point customer base includes 100 percent of Fortune 100 and 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies.

The agreement between Check Point and Nokia is expected to close in the first quarter of 2009 subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Further details of the transaction are not being disclosed at this time.

“Check Point is looking forward to expanding its security portfolio and to continuing to provide customers and partners with the industry’s most comprehensive line of security appliances,” concluded Gil Shwed.

Dec

23

Bharti gets a new partner

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Bharti Airtel, India’s leading integrated telecom service provider today signed a strategic agreement with Virtela, a leading global managed service provider, to significantly enhance its international managed MPLS (Multi Protocol Label Switching) connectivity outside of India to more than 5,000 PoPs (Point of Presence) across 190 countries. Under the agreement, Bharti Airtel and Virtela have integrated their networks through connection points in Southeast Asia and Europe in order to expand Bharti’s MPLS based IP-VPN (Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network) capabilities around the world. Bharti Airtel will now be able to offer its enterprise customers seamless managed MPLS connectivity and advanced managed network solutions to key business customers on a truly global basis.

“The need today is for world class telecom networks that can deliver a host of converged services through innovative and reliable communications technology. The partnership with Virtela is in line with our strategy to extend the global reach of our customers and to provide them with a secure, consistent and robust network running right from their doorstep to the most populous markets and beyond. There is a growing need amongst Enterprises for quality, value, consistency and reliability – anywhere, anytime and we are committed to deliver that value proposition for our customers across the globe.” said David Nishball, President Enterprise Services, Bharti Airtel.

“We are very excited to partner with Bharti Airtel in expanding the reach and depth of managed network services for their enterprise customers to enhance their businesses globally,” said John Powell, Virtela’s vice president of global channels. “This relationship further validates the success of our strategy to add value for service providers by augmenting their portfolios to deliver a seamless service for customers to achieve the highest performance and service quality available worldwide.”

In addition to the strong global connectivity footprint, Bharti Airtel also offers its enterprise customers a truly world class domestic network with PoPs (points of presence) across 125 cities and 83,000 kilometres of optic fibre cable covering all major cities in India.

Bharti Airtel also has partnerships with other major MPLS players such as Singtel, Telstra and others to deliver integrated managed MPLS services to its enterprise customers in India and has become single point of contact for their global communications needs by offering seamless SLAs, one simplified single currency invoice, under one contract. It has also been certified as the first Tier 1 service provider in Asia Pacific under the CISCO managed services channel partnership (MSCP) program.

Dec

23

Tickets at low rates

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In times of recession travel costs take their toll. What is required is discount airfare combined with a great travel strategy. Now here is a site that has it all. You can compare between fares. There is also comparison shopping for travel made really easy. Enter your trip once and you can directly search. You can search for airline tickets, rentals and hotels.

The site is simple and absolutely to the point. If you can also signup to get exclusive deals. If you are looking for cheap airline tickets this maybe a good idea. So whether its a holiday at the Carribean or Latin American vacation to Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires, luxurious Caribbean this site offers you rates that are simply amazing.

Overall this is simply a great website worth a click.

Dec

23

Cisco’s Global Talent Acceleration Program Graduates in India

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Furthering its goal to develop homegrown technical skills and career certifications through education initiatives, Cisco marked the first graduation of students from its Indian Global Talent Acceleration Program (GTAP) here last week.

Launched in October 2008, the Cisco® GTAP is part of an ongoing investment in the region aimed at developing next-generation local network consulting engineers for the company. The 13 graduates hail from the inaugural class of associate network consulting engineers.

Officiating at the graduation ceremony, GTAP Program Director John Livingston commented: “The graduation of the first cohort of GTAP students in India is a milestone for Cisco in our efforts to create skilled local staff and provide our customers and partners with improved direct support. By increasing the pool of skilled and certified associate and professional engineers, the program will help enable Cisco to better serve customers in India as well as in the wider Asia Pacific region. Our investment will help to foster a climate of confidence in which business and government leaders commit to major new projects.”

GTAP has particular relevance in India, where the surging economic development will create a demand for 118,000 more networking professionals by next year, according to a 2004-2009 IDC report on global skills. The program is designed to be sustainable. The delegates receive a salary and go through the training in relatively small groups of 16 people. This enables GTAP to put a strong emphasis on technical and professional training, mentorship and on-the-job training. Entry- or associate-level candidates for the program were all recent college graduates, and mid- or professional-level students have significant prior experience with Cisco networking. Datacraft, Fast Lane, and Global Knowledge, all Cisco Learning Solutions Partners, offer this program in India.

The GTAP program is accelerating rapidly across the globe and now boasts three facilities: the Jordan initiative (launched in November 2007); the Johannesburg facility, the ‘hub’ for programs in emerging Africa; and the newest facility in Bangalore.

Furthermore, Cisco recently announced that it has started recruiting candidates from Kenya, Angola, Nigeria, Namibia and Botswana to enroll in the GTAP program in Johannesburg. This is the first time the program is being extended to delegates outside South Africa. Successful candidates will start training in January 2009.

Dec

23

TERI Signs MoU with Center for Innovation and Renewable Energy (CIRE), Mexico City

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In its quest for moving on a sustainable development pathway, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and the Center for Innovation and Renewable Energy (CIRE) signed a memorandum of understanding declaring to promote renewable energy and energy efficient technologies in both the countries and the Latin American society at large.

Dr RK Pachauri, Director General TERI, Mr. Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Knowledge Commission, H. E. Mr. Rogelio Granguillhome Morfín, Ambassador of Mexico in India and Mr. Manuel Camacho, representative from government of Mexico, were present at the MoU signing.

Committing TERI’s support to CIRE in helping develop environment friendly energy solutions, Dr RK Pachauri, Director General TERI, said, “TERI is overwhelmed by the Mexican government’s response to partner with the Center for Innovation and Renewable Energy, Mexico City. We are sure that through such strong government support and partnerships a lot can be achieved in combating the dangers of climate change globally.”

Mr. Sam Pitroda, Chairman, National Knowledge Commission, said “The CIRE, having obtained the right talents, infrastructure and political support, will be a vital link between companies, markets and knowledge centers, especially in the Latin American countries.” He also reiterated his conviction in TERI towards supporting CIRE in finding climate friendly alternate energy solutions.

Mr. Manuel Camacho, representative from the Government of Mexico, said “In line with its commitment, the government is delighted in signing this MoU with TERI, an esteemed organization and a pioneer in the field of sustainable energy solutions.” Further referring to the environmental chaos that Mexico faced in the mid-80’s, Mr. Camacho said, “The CIER must be a center of excellence that promotes and fosters the entailment between academy, industry and government to impel the technological development. In making this institute a center of excellence the government of Mexico is leaving no stone unturned and is tapping all possible support and knowledge expertise from Universities, Research centers, Enterprises, Financial Institutions and others partners.”

In this endeavour, TERI would work closely with CIRE in its establishment, including human resources and infrastructure development; working out the research agenda and its plan of action so that the aims of CIRE are met.

CIRE would work on two levels, namely, local as well as global levels in the field of energy, considering that energy is an implicit economy empowering factor. CIRE vision is to work in areas of Renewable energy, Energy conservation and efficient use of energy and Green buildings. Towards this, CIRE would collaborate with the main academicians, researchers as well as institutions of higher learning.

CIRE will have a multi-level integration. This center will, in the beginning, have Mexico City government’s funding. This will also include infrastructure promotion and management of the project, legal endorsement and a favorable environmental policy towards energy saving and renewable energy use.

The second tier of operations is to use the expertise of Universities and Research centers, hence promoting collaboration between TERI, Mexico City’s Science and Technology Institute, New York Academy of Sciences, and the premier Research & Technology investigation centres in Japan, Brazil, Israel and Russia.

Enterprises, Financial institutions and other partners in the next tier will help in international promotion of CIRE, especially to the Latin American counties and would help in enterprise direction, structuring of business plans, international commercialization and support services.

Dec

22

Amadeus

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Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry, has announced that the number of properties in its Global Distribution System (GDS) has reached 80,000, providing a vast choice for travel agents and greater visibility for the participating hotels. Overall hotel bookings made through the Amadeus GDS during the first nine months of 2008 rose by 7.4% compared to the same period in 2007, generating close to 1.7 bn Euros for hotels using the system.

In particular, there has been a significant growth in the number of independent hotels and smaller chains joining Amadeus GDS, demonstrating Amadeus’ appeal among hoteliers not traditionally represented in a GDS. Recent additions to Amadeus GDS include over 500 hotels through Hotel-Net.it and 200 Cuban hotels through a distribution agreement with the Cuban Ministry of Tourism. Amadeus has recently signed agreements with Boscolo in Europe, Yatra in India and Derbysoft in China which will add even more non-GDS properties to the system.

“With over 230 hotel chains represented in Amadeus, we already cater to the vast majority of a business travellers needs,” says Jean de Durfort, Head of Distribution, Amadeus, “so now we have turned our focus to integrating the kind of hotel properties which lesiure travellers and SME business travellers are looking for: two- and three-star properties and independent hotels. We aim to bring the traditional strength of the Global Distribution System – high quality content with high levels of connectivity to ensure up-to-date data and reliable bookings – to the independent sector of the hotel industry which has traditionally not been represented in GDSs.”

Dec

22

Uniting Communities

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okia Siemens Networks forms partnerships with three educational institutions in India

Under its “Uniting Communities” program of corporate social responsibility, Nokia Siemens Networks has entered into partnerships with three educational institutions in India to foster communications and information technology skills and opportunities for students. Under its ‘Bridge the Gap’ program, the company will work with Swechha (a non-governmental organization), to roll out networking training, and provide apprenticeship opportunities to students in six New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) Schools. In addition, the company has entered into agreements with the Amity institute of Telecom Technology & Management (AITTM), a part of Amity University, Noida and Institute of Technology & Management (ITM), Gurgaon under which it will provide scholarship opportunities to fourteen deserving students.

Mamta Agarwal, Director Education, NDMC said, “This kind of public private partnership can make a big difference to providing quality education to students who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The kind of support provided by Nokia Siemens Networks – which includes theoretical knowledge and practical hands on experience - is just the exposure children here need to get prepared for the opportunities that await them in the coming years.”

“Nokia Siemens Networks is committed to adopting a realistic and sustainable approach to corporate social responsibility. Our programs leverage our expertise in technologies, and reflect our core business. Our aim is to go beyond donations or one-time events, and foster a culture of employee volunteering and thereby to improve education opportunities, and strengthen the talent pipeline in India,” said Michael Kuehner, Head, Nokia Siemens Networks, sub-region India.

Dec

22

MindTree wins award

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MindTree Limited, a global IT and R&D services company, announced today that it has been declared the winner of the National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance for 2007-08. The award was presented to MindTree Chairman & Managing Director Ashok Soota by the Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari in New Delhi on December 19, 2008.

The National Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance is given by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) to the top two companies every year. MindTree was declared the winner by a panel of eminent members from the industry and regulatory bodies. The recognition was based on multiple criteria such as ethical business conduct, transparency, integrity, maintaining sustainable relationships with all stakeholders in its corporate family, corporate social responsibility and future vision.

“We are delighted to win this award that recognizes our efforts in good corporate governance. The jury particularly noted our clearly articulated and implemented values, and our inclusive approach wherein the interests of all our stakeholders are protected and nurtured,” Soota said. “This award is a special one for us. We believe strong corporate governance will take us closer to our vision of becoming one of the most admired companies not just in India but across the globe.”

The hallmarks of MindTree’s Corporate Governance philosophy are ethical business conduct, transparency and commitment to values, which in turn retain and enhance stakeholders’ trust. The organization’s value system, termed CLASS (Caring, Learning, Achieving, Sharing, Social Responsibility), lies at the core of it.

Dec

22

Fidelity Bonus

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Fidelity Mutual Fund has announced a dividend of Rs. 0.70 per unit (Face Value of Rs.10 per unit) in its open-ended, gilt scheme, the Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund, subject to availability of distributable surplus. All investors registered in the Dividend Option as on December 26, 2008 will be entitled to this dividend which will be tax-free in the hands of the investors.

On the ex-dividend date, the NAV of the dividend option will reduce in line with the amount of dividend declared and statutory levy (if applicable). Under the dividend reinvestment option, the dividend declared will be re-invested at the ex-dividend NAV.

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