Global mining giant Rio Tinto has entered into an innovation partnership with IT firm iGate Patni for developing next-generation technologies and expects to invest up to $80 million towards this initiative. Rio Tinto expects to spend around $60 million to $80 million over the next five years on this partnership, both the companies said in a joint statement. The partnership would work towards improving mining processes that include unprecedented levels in automation, and remote operations that will revolutionise the way mining has been conducted so far, it added. Rio Tinto also inaugurated an innovation centre in iGate Patni?s facility in Pune which will play a crucial role in facilitating and leveraging these next generation automated technologies. ?Rio Tinto and iGATE Patni have invested close to $3 million in the infrastructure for the RTIC,? iGate Patni CEO Phaneesh Murthy said.
Partha Chatterjee new chairman of Haldia Petro
The Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) board on Tuesday appointed Bengal commerce and industry minister Partha Chatterjee as the new chairman of the company with nine out of fourteen members voting in his favour. HPL managing director Partha S Bhattacharyya said the board took a view of appointing a non-executive chairman through majority votes instead of making it a unanimous decision. The nominees of the financial institutions present in the board also took the final call of converting R128 core worth of loan to equity.
Cloud computing services catching cos? eye: TCS
Cloud computing may be promoted as the next big thing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), but a study conducted by IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) suggests that large companies are aggressively looking at the services too. Latin America and Asia Pacific are the most aggressive adopters of cloud computing services as compared to their conservative counterparts like the European and US region. TCS conducted an extensive study on over 600 companies with more than $1 billion in revenues. An average Latin American company has almost two fifths (39%) of its total applications in the cloud. Asia Pacific region is closely behind with over a quarter (28%), whereas less than one fifth (19%) of the average US company?s applications are hosted in the cloud. In Europe, the figure is closer to one tenth (12%).
MindTree to open first US centre in Florida
Bangalore-based IT and product engineering services company MindTree on Tuesday said it will open its first major US development centre in Gainesville, Florida. ?The Southeast is an untapped region for MindTree from a talent and client acquisition standpoint. Setting up our first major US Development Centre in Florida gives us a foothold into this region,? said MindTree president, Americas, Scott Staples. MindTree?s expansion of its presence in the US is expected to bring some 400 new jobs to the Gainesville area beginning late this summer, the company said.
NMDC inks performance MoU with steel ministry
National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has signed an MoU with the ministry of steel explaining its performance targets for the year 2012-13. The parameters of the MoU are production of iron ore, sale of iron ore, project implementation, R&D efforts, sustainable development, energy conservation, corporate social responsibility. It also includes quality compliance, manpower productivity, human resource management, corporate governance, customer satisfaction, financials, etc. The MoU was signed between NK Nanda, CMD, (addl charge) and PK Misra, secretary, ministry of steel, recently.