Bangalore

The resilient $270-billion plus Indian IT industry returned to the higher growth trajectory in 2013 and is hoping to gain momentum in the ensuing year for a greater share of the global multi-billion dollar outsourcing market.

Putting behind a turbulent 2012, the industry consolidated its presence in the software services sector, with its top four IT bellwethers – TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL – posting better results to register a healthy 12-14 percent growth thus far as against 10 percent last fiscal (2012-13).

The central government cleared Karnataka’s proposals to set up two more National Investment & Manufacturing Zones (NIMZ) in the northern region of the state, union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said Monday.

“We have approved two more NIMZs for Karnataka at Bidar and Gulbarga to attract investments and create jobs in the manufacturing sector,” Sharma told reporters here after reviewing projects with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and senior officials.

Manipal University’s Melaka-Manipal Medical College, the first Indo-Malaysian joint venture in higher education, has secured six-star rating for the second time in a Malaysian quality evaluation system, the varsity said.

Located at Malacca in Malaysia, the college also bagged six stars for international students’ readiness in the 2012-13 MyQuest Ratings.

MyQuest, the quality evaluation system for private colleges ratings was instituted in 2010 by the Malaysian ministry for higher education to measure performance of private institutions in the South Asian country biennially.

The Mangalore-Bangalore combination of Arjun Rao and co-driver Satish Rajagopal, driving a Volkswagen Polo, took the honours in both INRC Overall and 1600cc categories as the Coffee Day Rally, the fifth and final round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, concluded here Saturday.

Two of the three Special Stages scheduled to be run today were completed while the third was cancelled after Malaysia’s former world champion Karamjit Singh (co-driver Jagdev Singh) crashed his VW Polo R2, blocking the route.

Paving way for its induction into the Indian Air Force, indigenously-designed fighter Tejas Friday got initial operational clearance for flying by air force pilots and will join the fleet after the final operational clearance likely next year to replace the ageing Russian-made MiG jets.

The historic milestone was marked by an awesome flying display of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) airport here, demonstrating its prowess and strike capability in presence of Defence Minister A.K. Antony, IAF chief N.A.K. Browne and top officials.

The Karnataka High Court Friday declared sale of United Spirits Ltd’s 1.9 million shares by United Breweries Holding Ltd (UBHL) to British spirits major Diageo plc null and void.

Business tycoon Vijay Mallya is chairman of UBHL of the UB Group, which runs diversified businesses ranging from breweries to an airline.

Annulling the sale, a division bench of Justice N. Kumar and Justice Rathnakala said the share deal could not be allowed till the pending winding-up petitions of six creditors to the UBHL’s airline business was concluded.

After losing their first home match of the season to Kingfisher East Bengal last Sunday, Bengaluru FC will be looking to get back to winning ways as they take on Salgaocar FC in the 16th Round of the Airtel I-league at the Bangalore Football Stadium here Saturday.

The hosts, who are leading the points table with 27 points from 14 matches, will be hoping to further consolidate their position by bagging full three points. On the other hand, Salgaocar, who have 18 points from 13 matches, will be aiming for an upset and a move up the points table.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony was visibly elated at Light Combat Aircraft Tejas getting initial operational clearance (IOC-II) and departed from his prepared speech several times to convey his feelings.

The minister, who has taken interest in steering the project, said the sky was the limit for India’s defence market and Tejas could be exported after India meets its needs. He also asked the private industry to invest more in research.

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India’s indigenously designed and developed frontline fighter Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas is poised to achieve an important milestone today.

This fourth generation aircraft will get its second Initial Operations Clearance today to pave the way for its induction into Indian Air Force, IAF squadrons.

Defence Minister A K Antony and Air Force Chief NAK Browne will be present on this momentous occasion in Bangalore.

After the second clearance, the defence major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) will take up series production of the aircraft.

In a brazen attack outside a police station here, three persons, all sons of policemen, allegedly assaulted two young girls involved in an accident before they were arrested and sent to judicial custody.

“The boys have been arrested last night for allegedly assaulting two young girls and the mother of one of them. They have been sent to judicial custody,” Joint Police Commissioner B K Singh told PTI here.

Indian IT bellwether Wipro Ltd Thursday announced a fellowship programme to nurture talent of American school teachers in mathematics and science in collaboration with Michigan State University.

“We are funding the multi-year programme with a $2.8-million grant to initially train about 100 teachers in Chicago public schools in both the subjects,” Wipro chief executive T.K. Kurien said in a statement from New Jersey.

A day-long strike by about 12,000 employees of state-run and private banks Wednesday stalled operations, including transactions, across Karnataka, a trade union leader said.

“The strike was total and peaceful across the state. About 4,000 employees of banks in and around Bangalore demonstrated outside the State Bank of Mysore (SBM) head office in the city centre in support of their demands, including wage revision,” Karnataka’s United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) joint convener A.N. Krishnamurthy told IANS.

Indian IT bellwether Infosys Ltd. won a deal from Foreign Enterprise Service Corporation (Fesco) to develop an innovative human resources services platform solution, the company said Tuesday.

“As enterprises in China accelerate their transformation and growth, they are looking for partners who understand requirements of both global and local businesses,” Infosys China subsidiary Chief Operating Officer Mike Lu said in a statement from Beijing.

Strand Scientific Intelligence of Strand Life Sciences Tuesday unveiled an image database for better diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients.

The city-based Strand subsidiary developed the Curie Image Database (CID), an image analysis and management platform, with the Paris-based Curie-Cancer of Institut Curie, a private foundation formed by Marie Curie (1867-1935) – the first women Nobel laureate.

Leading retail chain Titan Industries Ltd Monday opened its 1,000 store here, becoming the first Indian firm to have a thousand outlets across the country in seven formats.

“It has been a fascinating journey for us since 1988 when we opened our first watch store in this tech city. It was a bold step then when consumer products and retail market were unorganised and underserved,” Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhat told reporters on the occasion.

The Indian space agency Monday cautioned people on forged profiles about its Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

“It has come to our notice that a number of pages in the social media are floating in our name, department of space and Mangalyaan (Mars), which have no authenticity,” the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said in a statement here.

The threat of a “silent” liver disease epidemic looms over India, with the problem compounded by the absence of safe, reliable and affordable diagnostics – especially biopsies.

Now IndioLabs (IL), a Bangalore-based start-up, has come up with ‘BioScoop’, a cutting-edge, cost-effective procedure that could revolutionise the way a biopsy is done.

Clueless even almost a month after the brutal attack on a woman bank official at an unguarded ATM kiosk here, police on Monday increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh cash reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.

Ever since the gory attack caught on CCTV footage sparked a nationwide outrage, police has formed different teams of 200 police officials to investigate the case and hunt the accused.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President G Parameshwara have left for New Delhi where they will attend a meeting with AICC leaders on Monday to discuss preparations for the Lok Sabha elections and also start the process of shortlisting party candidates.

The Income Tax department has attached all assets of cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines for failing to remit taxes amounting to Rs.350 crore, a senior official said Sunday.

“We have attached all assets of Kingfisher Airlines and are in the process of recovering its dues by sale and attachment of properties of the defaulter company,” IT official Lokesha said in a statement here.

Seeking to eliminate parental alienation of children of separated and divorced parents, a Bangalore-based NGO Saturday said it has joined hands with the city’s Men’s Rights Association (MRA) to work against gender-biased laws.

“Children’s Rights Initiative for Shared Parenting, Bangalore and MRA, Pune will jointly take forward the cause for children who suffer on account of their estranged parents due to increasing separation or divorce cases,” CRISP president Kumar V. Jahgirdar told IANS.

Imran Qureshi, a 31-year-old Pakistani, underwent stem cell therapy for hip joint at a private hospital here.

“Qureshi, a garment exporter from Karachi port city, has been treated for hip bone joint through stem cell therapy by our experts at the Bangalore Institute of Regenerative Medicine,” Live 100 Hospital chairman H.N. Nagaraj told reporters Thursday.

The disease, known as avascular necrosis in medical jargon, breaks the hip joint due to the cellular death of its bone tissues when blood supply is interrupted even in healthy people.

Bangalore’s realty market received the maximum private equity investment of nearly Rs 2,000 crore in the country during January-September 2013 with increased demand for leased office assets from institutional investors, according to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

Private equity (PE) investment in Bangalore rose by 79% to Rs 1,979 crore during the first three quarters of 2013 calendar year as compared to Rs 1,106 crore in the year ago period, C&W said in a report.

Indian IT bellwether Infosys Monday unveiled a new product platform that helps global brands in the FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) segment drive profitable growth in emerging markets.

“As our latest offering in the products, platforms and solutions space, the retail platform has been built to help global brands accelerate profitable growth in emerging markets,” Infosys chief executive N.R. Narayana Murthy said at a product preview here.

State Governor Hamsaraj Bharadwaj has once again applauded Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressing satisfaction over his good governance. At the same time, the Governor has openly aired his resentment over the style of functioning of a few ministers in the Siddaramaiah cabinet.

The Governor has said he was happy over the performance of the CM who personally has no charges against him. “I have already told the CM several times about my displeasure over the functioning of a few ministers. But he has not yet been able to rectify the same,” Bharadwaj said.