Assorted articles and Information

Global insurance majors are increasingly looking at the Indian market to foray or expand further, according to Mr C.S. Rao, Chairman, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). He added that IRDA has issued primary licences to three new joint ventures in life (Aegon Religare, Canara Bank-HSBC-OBC and DLF Primerica) and one in non-life (Bharti AXA). This completes the second phase of interest of global players in our insurance sector. The third phase will now begin and there will be more action.

At present, there are 41 players in insurance, including 21 in life sector, the LIC being the lone public sector firm. Private players now have 35 per cent market share. The life segment is a major attraction for private players as the growth rate has been impressive. Its growth is between 35 and 40 per cent. From Rs 10,000 crore first premium in 2001, it has gone up to Rs 86,381 crore in January 2008. This is enough to drive foreign players to India, the IRDA Chairman said. Worldwide, the growth of the insurance industry (total premium volume) is at 2.5 per cent.

The regulator is also expecting more applications for licences over the next one/two years due to banks’ interest in insurance. (Andhra Bank-Legal and General-Bank of Baroda and Bank of India-Daichi-Union Bank of India ventures are likely to enter soon). The good returns from unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPS), non-saturation of urban markets, scope in districts and rural areas will drive further growth.

Mr Rao said, “Going by the pace of growth in life insurance, we expect that there will be more activity in the form of joint ventures between multinational insurance companies and their Indian counterparts”. On capital infusion by existing companies and new firms, Mr Rao said IRDA is not considering permitting any options other than the equity route.

Indian Inc might be reaping the benefits of technological progress and internet, but rising instances of cyber attacks is slicing a substantial chunk of corporate revenues. Among the common crimes in the cyberspace are phishing, hacking, identity theft and defacement of official websites. Further, malicious mails are sent to personal e-mail ids from hacked addresses.

Rajat Khare Director of Information security consulting firm, Appin said, “The corporate sector is incurring losses to the tune of 8-10 per cent of its total revenues on account of incidents like hacking and phishing,” Not just that outsiders are intruding the privacy of companies in the cyberspace but also increasing competition among the entities is adding to the menace.

Statistics available with CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team), a Central government body which tracks major computer security incidents in the country show that a total of 152 Indian websites with the URL .in were defaced during February this year. During the same month, 85 cyber attacks were reported to CERT-In. In addition, such attacks not only cause financial losses but also adversely impact the customers trust on the companies. Moreover, CRET-In data showed that out of the total cyber attacks in February, about 48 per cent were related to phishing and unauthorised scanning accounted for another 20 per cent. A few months back, official websites of BSNL and DRDO were hacked.

Commenting on the threat for cyber security, Net 4 India Chief Executive Officer Jusjit Sawhney pointed out that it is a prime concern for Indian firms. For the India BPO and KPO sector, the matter of security is of prime importance. With country’s like China, Vietnam and Philippines emerging as major competitors, more incidents of cyber crime may translate into loss of client business for the sector, Sawhney added.

Cartridge World, a leading cartridge retailing chain based in Australia, is expanding its operations in South India by opening two retail stores in Chennai. The company was providing 100 per cent guarantee to cover not only the quality of printing but also any damages that might occur in the most unlikely event of the printer being affected by its refilled cartridges.

Naveen Rakhecha, CEO, South Asia, Cartridge World, said the company had 22 stores across India in 12 cities and Chennai would be the 13th city where it was setting up its 23rd and 24th stores. Currently the company has signed up a total 40 stores across 15 cities in India. And the company has great expansion plans for the Indian sub-continent by entering tier I and tier II cities and the capital cities of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. By 2010 the company plans to open 250 stores across the Indian sub-continent.

AFL Pvt. Ltd., a leading logistics company, is the master franchisee for the company in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives. Cartridge World was founded in South Australia in 1997 operating in more than 1,600 locations in 46 countries. It has R&D centres in the U.S., Australia, Germany and the U.K.

Radisson Hotel GRT Chennai was honoured with the prestigious Carlson Hotels President’s Award for 2007. The hotel wins Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific - ‘Hotel of the year’ award, ‘Employee of the Year’ award and the CHAP President’s award.The award winning hotel was selected from among Carlson Hotels in Asia Pacific consisting of 5 brands, Reagent, Radisson, Park inn, Park Plaza and Country Inns and suites in India, China, Bangladesh and Australia. Radisson Hotel GRT, Chennai is winning this award for the third time in consecutive years.

Vikram Cotah, general manager, Radisson GRT Hotel, received the Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific ‘Hotel of the Year’ award from Paul Kirwin, president, Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific, at the recently concluded Brand Conference at Shanghai. On receiving the award, Cotah said, “We are extremely proud to have received this recognition amongst all the Carlson Hotels in the Asia Pacific region. We would not have been able to achieve this without the support of the owners, the employees and our guests. This achievement has placed a greater responsibility on us to raise the bar and excel further.”

Radisson GRT Hotel is the first Indian Radisson property to win the ‘hotel of the year’ award. The hotel also received the President’s award. This award is given to the hotels who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to guest service, product quality and a positive work environment.

HTMT Global Solutions have just been awarded one of the most coveted awards in the BPO world. The prestigious ICT INNOVATION AWARD 2008 is given to companies for outstanding work in process innovation and demonstration of creative capabilities. HTMT overcame stiff competition to win this award.

The award won by HTMT was for the design of a risky driving behavior analysis and scoring process aimed at preventing vehicles crashes or injuries in fleets before they happen. A group of HTMT associates analyse audio and video clips of US and Europe based risky driving behaviors. This analysis detail allows the customer, DriveCam, to provide daily, consistent, and accurate information about risky driving incidents to their clients which reduces overall incidents on the roads.

Commenting on the award, Partha De Sarkar, CEO of HTMT Global Solutions Ltd, said, “This project was particularly challenging given the degree of technicality of the solution required. To design and deliver this level of solution, required strong collaboration between the customer, our delivery team and our client servicing organization. Winning this award typifies the fact that HTMT has moved up the value chain and is recognized as a path breaking, innovative, conceptual solutions provider”.

Joe Harrington, VP, Operations for DriveCam added, “HTMT has proven to be a resourceful and able business partner. They quickly incorporated a very specialized and demanding business practice, hitting the ground running. This process demands both a highly skilled personal and flexible scheduling to attain an accurate and timely output. HTMT has met and exceeded our expectations.”