News in brief

Now, an exclusive website for Doctors

BANGALORE: Bangalore-based Portal Solutions Pvt Ltd has launched an exclusive portal for doctors called `meditimes.com' with a start-up capital of Rs 1.2 crore from Dr Reddy's Holding (DRH) and IIQ Investments Pvt Ltd in the ratio of 65:35. Speaking about the portal, Portal Solutions Pvt Ltd. Director V. Prashanth said, "Today more and more medical professionals are discovering that the Internet has the power to be the new wonder drug for their practices, professional enhancement and personal lives. Meditimes.com serves this need by providing doctors online, 24-hour access to the latest medical information, regular updates, links to medical knowledge resources and journals, etc. In addition, meditimes.com allows doctors to establish networks to facilitate the exchange of ideas, experiences and information that could prove vital to the health of their patients. Thus it allows global expertise to have a local impact."

"We also plan to have tie-up with PC vendors and ISPs to offer discounts on PCs and Internet connection to the doctor community," said Portal Solutions Pvt Ltd. CEO K.S. Sudheer. As part of value added services, mediatimes.com allows doctors to select the criteria for information and updates, thereby customizing it to meet the needs of each doctor, specifically. The portal provides expert medical help through a special forum, peer opinions and assistance through its discussion board, an exhaustive directory of Indian doctors, tips on setting up a practice, tax planning, matrimonial service and much more. Over the next one year, the company's brand will be built through events, advertisements and banners. The company expects 50,000 subscription by next one year.

Wipro bags e-business orders worth $35 million

BANGALORE: Wipro Technologies, the software arm of Wipro Infotech, has bagged new business orders worth $35 million. These orders have come from end customers and infrastructure providers. These e-business orders are from traditional brick-and-mortar businesses such as Home Depot, Farmers Insurance, Franklin Templeton, OTIS Elevator and Nike in the US, Daiwa Institute of Research in Japan and Thomas Cook in UK; and the emerging breed of dotcom companies that have adopted pure internet business models like VideosDotCom and AnotherUniverse.com, both of USA.

Wipro has also bagged orders from the infrastructure companies such as Fujitsu Communication Networks of the US, Tell Labs of Finland, and Mitsubishi and Sony of Japan. "Our strategy is to enable the e-business transformation of our customers. This includes end customers as well as their vendors who provide them their E-business infrastructure," said Wipro Technologies President and CEO and Wipro Ltd Vice Chairman Vivek Paul. "In today's world, the brick-and-mortar companies are trying to realize the same commercial benefits which the emerging dotcom companies see. We intend to help them in this transition to the hybrid world."

Wipro is also evaluating the needs of the small and medium enterprise (SME) market by providing services to the emerging application service providers (ASPs), accoding to S. Ghosh, General Manager, Marketing, Wipro Technologies. Wipro's initiative in moving up the value chain is centered around building competencies in identified horizontal and vertical domains, and creating component based productized services. With a business strategy to enable E-business transformation through an e-business framework, alliances and productized services, Wipro Technologies grew sales by 55 per cent in the first half of 1999-2000 to Rs 440.7 crore compared to the corresponding period the previous year.