News in brief

US Ambassador places three-point agenda for IT growth

NEW DELHI: Speaking during the launch of McKinsey-Nasscom study on Indian IT Strategies, US Ambassador to India Richard F. Celeste said that Ministry of IT (MIT) will be successful if it is known as the Ministry of Speed. He was expressing concern about the delays in key public policy initiatives that become a major roadblock for the growth of the concerned segment. He then listed out three key points to encourage the growth of IT in the country. They were: Reduction in duty on hardware supporting IT and telecom industry; Opening up Internet Gateways from January 1, 2000; and tax-free e-commerce till it reaches a level of acceptance in the country.

In response to the increase in the number of Indian software professionals going to US, the ambassador said that 40 per cent of the total H1 B visa issued worldwide goes to India. He added that "if the pace continues, India will have 1.2 million such H1-B Visa issued during the year 2008."

NEW DELHI: One of the leading hardware solution providers, Fortune Pvt. Ltd. has announced the opening of India's first Computer Mall. It will be a one-stop solution for all hardware requirements--for Home, Small offices, Small Businesses and large Corporate, where the focus will be on entire system integration and network management. Housed in an area of over 1,000 square feet, the mall provides a very interactive atmosphere for the users. It showcases computers and peripherals catering to a wide range of customers, high and low end.

Says Manoj Gupta, Managing Director, Fortune Pvt. Ltd., "The typical customer compares offerings across at least a couple of outlets before making up his mind. Hence, the idea is to provide a single window opportunity to the customer and avoid the inconvenience of shuttling across the resellers who are essentially used to dealing with small business."

The product line includes PCs, packaged software, microprocessors, storage devices like hard disk drives, DAT drives, CD writers and CDRs, networking products, scanners, monitors, printers, multimedia products, modems, communication products, UPS and much more.

To encourage the academics in the country to use genuine Microsoft products, Microsoft Corporation (India) has launched a special licensing scheme at discounted rates. Under the scheme, educational establishments and government organizations in the fields of education can purchase non-perpetual licenses for a range of MS products. These include MSOffice-standard/professional, NT workstation upgrade, visual studio professional, BackOffice CALs, Office Step by Step interactive and Encarta Standard. In addition, they can opt for additional products like FrontPage, Project etc at a marginal cost. The renewable agreement allows these institutions to get free upgrade for the entire period of the agreement.

There is a catch though. The subscription-based agreement, valid for 12 months, is applicable only to institutions that have 100 desktops in the campus, and, according to sources, cost approximately Rs 3,000. After subscribing, the schoolteachers can use the same at their homes as well. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is the first educational institute to have signed an agreement for using the products for its 700 desktops around 25 regional and 340 countrywide study centers. According to its Vice Chancellor, A. W. Khan, "Such installation will facilitate to provide a common software platform to faculty students besides building a habit of safeguarding the intellectual property right."