Pune: World Wide Technology (WWT), a US-headquartered technology solutions provider and systems integrator, is strengthening its India presence following the launch of a new global integration centre in the country.
The $11 billion company has increased its headcount to 60 from 20 people a year ago and would continue to invest in its local operations, Matt Horner, SVP, Global Enterprise Sales, WWT told ET.

“We will continue to grow with our operations and intend to grow to twice the current size in the next 12-18 months,” he said.

The new centre will provide application development and testing services to other companies. Additionally, the India centre also offers support to WWT’s global customers, said Horner. “We are also developing new tech solutions which help build applications in a pre-production scenario,” he added.

WWT is the largest global partner to Cisco, providing solutions for network, employee experience and collaboration. This is another important avenue of growth for WWT in India. “There are only three-four Cisco solution providers here as opposed to dozens in the US,” said Horner. India, he said, is a very attractive market for the company. Cloud providers are another segment where it’s seeing significant growth, apart from pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

Globally, WWT works primarily with the top 1,000 enterprises. In India too, it has been working with large tech integrators, said Horner.

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In a rangebound session on Thursday, which was dominated by weekly options expiry, NSE Nifty headed nowhere and ended with marginal losses. The index saw a positive opening, but soon slipped into the red. After recovering from the day’s low, it hovered around the 12,000 level. The index again failed to break above the crucial 12,000-12,050 zone and settled with a loss of 30.70 points or 0.26 per cent at 11,968.40.

In Wednesday’s session, 12,000 strike continued to hold maximum Call open interest, and this prevented the headline index from attempting a breakout. Nifty has remained in a broad consolidation zone of 12,050-11,800. The 12,000-12,050 range continues to be a significant hurdle.

Friday’s session is likely to see a muted start. Nifty might witness some mild initial upmoves, but will find stiff overhead resistance at 12,000 and 12,068 levels. Supports may come in at 11,910 and 11,850.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart stood at 64.04 and stayed neutral, showing no divergence against the price. The daily MACD remained bearish and traded below its signal line. The Percentage Price Oscillator (PPO) stayed negative.

A small engulfing bearish candle was formed on the charts. This candle is a bearish formation if it occurs during an uptrend, which is the case now. Further, it has appeared after a ‘Doji’ in the previous session. The present structure has the potential to stall the current rally and keep the market in a consolidation.

We recommend traders to avoid aggressive positions on either side. Nifty has refused to move out of the broad consolidation range, with the 12,000-12,050 zone acting as stiff resistance. We expect these levels to continue posing very hurdle.

Over-leverage positions should be avoided unless a directional bias is established. We reiterate a cautious view on the market for Friday.

(Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA, is a Consultant Technical Analyst and founder of Gemstone Equity Research & Advisory Services, Vadodara. He can be reached at milan.vaishnav@equityresearch.asia)

JAMMU: As the second phase of the flagship ‘Back to the Village’ programme is all set to begin in Jammu and Kashmir next week, Lt Governor G C Murmu on Wednesday said 5,000 officers will reach out to the people in each panchayat because real progress can be brought by working together.

The ‘Back to Village-2‘ (B2V2) programme will be organised from November 25 to 30 with a senior government official asserting that its fundamental objective is empowerment and development of panchayats.

The first phase of the first-of-its-kind initiative to reach out to the people at the grassroots level was last held from June 20 to 27 across 4,483 panchayats, which witnessed tremendous response from the public.

“In June, we started a unique initiative. We sent 5,000 officers, each in one panchayat of Jammu and Kashmir to stay for two days with the people. We were overwhelmed by the love and affection our officers received from all of you,” Murmu said.

“Encouraged by your response, we have now decided to launch another similar effort, B2V2. This time too, 5,000 officers will visit each panchayat, stay with all of you and discuss with you your problems and issues and also tell you what we are doing to bring development and progress,” he said in an advertisement which appeared in various local dailies here on Wednesday.

Requesting the people to participate in this effort with same zeal and affection displayed in June, he said, “I also urge all my officers to display the same sincerity and empathy that they did when they visited you (the people) the last time.”

“I am confident that working together we can bring real progress to our villages,” the Lt governor said.

Meanwhile, Principal Secretary Planning and Development Rohit Kansal reviewed the arrangements for B2V2 programme at a meeting here, stressing upon the deputy commissioners that fundamental objective of B2V programme is empowerment and development of panchayats.

“The B2V2 will be based mainly on four themes like follow up of Back to Village 1, ensuring functionality of panchayats in terms of manpower, 100 per cent coverage of beneficiary oriented schemes and doubling of income of rural people by giving impetus on rural economy,” Kansal said.

He impressed upon all the deputy commissioners that they should establish control rooms for B2V2 programme in their respective districts and directed them that they should hold a meeting with visiting officers of panchayats before and after B2V2 programme.

He also instructed them that the visiting officers should be provided with information regarding languishing projects, major developmental plans and schemes carried in the district and directed them that a detailed meeting with all the line officers in the district should be held before the start of B2V2.

Kansal impressed upon the officers in the meeting that B2V2 is going to be a regular affair and suggested that the B2V2 will help in formulation of district plans according to panchayats.

In a related development, the administration has released the list of senior officers who have been assigned various districts across the Union Territory. The list included 23 IAS, five IFS and 293 KAS officers.

“The exact location of the panchayat where the officer will conduct the programme shall be communicated by the Deputy Commissioner concerned,” an order issued by the General Administration Department read.

Chennai: Vasan Healthcare’s court-appointed insolvency resolution professional is expected to hammer out a deal with lenders to accommodate a strategic partner to revive the eye-care chain. The company, backed by Sequoia, Westbridge and Singaporebased GIC, spiralled to insolvency after it ran afoul of law enforcement and suffered funding difficulties.

“A meeting between the IRP and the lenders will take place soon and the question of a strategic partner may be taken up, now that the court (Madras High Court) has vacated a stay on the insolvency proceedings,” a person directly aware of the resolution procedure told ET.

The outstanding claims to banks, financial institutions and Asset Reconstruction Company Edelweiss are at ?1,268 crore, according to the company’s list of financial creditors put up on its website. The first meeting of the committee of creditors (CoC) is slated for Thursday.

A division bench of the Madras High Court allowed insolvency resolution for Vasan Healthcare in October, nearly two years after it was stayed by a single judge order over the question of whether insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings can continue in the wake of winding up procedure at the high court. Insolvency resolution professional, V Mahesh, had moved the NCLT based on the high court order, and obtained an order reviving the corporate insolvency resolution process recently.

According to people aware of the operations at Vasan Healthcare, the eye-care chain runs about 110 centres, down from above 190 clinics during its heyday about four years back. All its operational centres are in South India while centres in Mumbai, Delhi and one in Dubai have either been shuttered or turned nonoperational.

It has over 2,500 employees and about 300 doctors on its rolls. More than 60% of the equity shares are held by promoters, while over 500 crore are held as shares by Sequoia, GIC and Westbridge on a preferential basis. AM Arun, founder of Vasan, had capitalised on his experience in the pharmacies business in central Tamil Nadu into an eye-care chain in the early 2000s. The regulatory proceedings against Vasan by the enforcement directorate and the I-T department are still ongoing.

Private equity experts are cautiously optimistic about the prospects of a turnaround. C Venkat Subramanyam, founder-director at Veda Corp, the investment banking firm that advised Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital on its Series C funding, said healthcare in general and single-specialty like eye care in particular was quite unlike, say, a textile mill or a steel unit in the sense its value lies not in physical assets but intangibles like brand reputation, clinical excellence and quality of consultants and care. “The markets have moved on to a new market leader creating new benchmarks which makes it a challenge for Vasan to bring some value to the table for a potential acquirer,” said Subramanyam.

Air quality in the Delhi-NCR region remained in the poor category on Wednesday with an AQI of 282. According to the Safar prediction the pollution may rise in the next few days due to low winds and farm fires.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city”s overall air quality index (AQI) read 282 at 8.50 am. The neighbouring areas of Ghaziabad and Greater Noida recorded AQI at 364 and 349 respectively. Noida had an AQI of 323.

The weatherman has forecast partly cloudy skies for the day.

On Tuesday, Delhi recorded a high of 27.1 degrees Celsius and a low of 12.3 degrees Celsius.

After a brief respite, air quality in the national capital deteriorated again yesterday due to calm winds and increased impact of farm fires, official said.

An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered “poor”, 301-400 “very poor” and 401-500 “severe”.

Calm winds and low ventilation index are predicted for the next few days and the condition is conducive for the sudden accumulation of pollutants in the
Delhi region, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) had said on Monday.

The air quality is likely to deteriorate to the higher end of the “very poor” category today and to the lower end of the “severe” category by November 21, it had warned, adding from November 23, a fresh western disturbance is expected to increase the wind speed and improve ventilation.

The Supreme Court-mandated anti-pollution authority, EPCA, had asked Delhi and NCR states on Monday to step up surveillance and enforcement to check local sources of pollution and crop burning in view of the predicted dip in air quality.

It had warned that the situation will worsen if there is light rain, which would be inadequate to wash away the pollutants and add to the moisture instead. EPCA had said hot mix plants, ready mix plants, and stone crushers will continue to remain closed in Delhi-NCR.

The Supreme Court on November 4 banned construction and demolition activities in the region till further notice.


(Inputs from ANI and PTI)

Rich traders with an appetite for risk could initiate a call ratio spread in Reliance Industries. Analysts believe the momentum, which drove the stock to a fresh high of Rs 1514.90 Tuesday, could persist in the near term on hopes of improving prospects for its telco business amid debt concerns at rivals Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel.

The strategy consists of buying a 1520-strike call and simultaneously selling two calls at the 1580-strike. Both the options expire on November 28. The sale of the two higher strikes reduces the overall debit but also exposes the trader to unlimited risk, if the upside is sharper than expected. If the RIL share consolidates, the trader can book out with a small loss as the time decay will eat into the premia of the sold higher strikes too.

Using rounded off provisional prices Tuesday, the 1520-strike closed at Rs 25 and the 1580 at Rs 7 a share (500 shares make a lot). The sale of the two 1580 calls reduces the debit (1520 buy) to Rs 11 (25-14). The loss of Rs 11 happens if RIL closes at or below Rs 1520. At the other end, above Rs 1629, the loss could be unlimited unless a stop loss is placed at, say, Rs 1600, because an extra option has been sold.

Bhavin Mehta, VP, Dolat Capital, and Rajesh Palviya, derivatives expert at Axis Securities, expect the strategy to deliver in a few days, failing which the positions could be squared off at a very limited loss. Mehta added that placing a stop loss at slightly above 1580 was a “must” to prevent a huge loss in the event of a “sharperthan-expected” move.

The maximum profit of Rs 49 a share happens at Rs 1580. Above that level till Rs 1629, the profit keeps reducing. At Rs 1629 is the upper breakeven point, beyond which losses multiply. For instance, if RIL expires at or trades at Rs 1650, the 1520 call will be in the money (ITM) by a net Rs 119 as profit commences above Rs 1531. The two 1580 calls are ITM Rs 140, implying a loss of Rs 21a share.

Placing a stop loss at Rs 1600 is advised, said Viral Berawala of Buoyant Capital. At that level the purchased 1520 call will be a net Rs 69 ITM, while the two sold 1580 calls will be worth Rs 40, implying a net profit of Rs 29.

The stock closed Tuesday at Rs 1511.55 on NSE, before hitting a record high of Rs 1514.9. A slight rise in bullish futures bets on the near month coupled with short covering by call sellers at the 1500 strike helped buoy the share. Call sellers covered 10.05 lakh share at the 1500 strike which has the highest open interest at 16.3 lakh shares. The 1440 put has the highest OI, implying a strong support at that level. Further short covering by 1500 call sellers could take the stock higher.

Stamford, Most Blockchain technologies are still 5-10 years away from transformational impact, said a new report by Gartner Inc. on Wednesday.

According to Gartner’s ‘2019 Hype Cycle for Blockchain Technologies’, Blockchain is sliding into the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’.

However, the market will begin to climb out of this by 2021 as technology advances and pragmatic use cases uniquely supported by Blockchain continue to roll out.

“Blockchain technologies have not yet lived up to the hype and most enterprise Blockchain projects are stuck in experimentation mode,” Avivah Litan, Analyst and Research Vice President at Gartner, said in a statement.

“Blockchain is not yet enabling a digital business revolution across business ecosystems and may not until at least 2028, when Gartner expects Blockchain to become fully scalable technically and operationally.”

According to the market research firm, for Blockchain to become mainstream, users shouldn’t have to worry about picking the right platform, the right smart contract language, the right system interfaces and the right consensus algorithms.

“By 2023, Blockchain platforms will be scalable, interoperable and will support smart contract portability and cross-chain functionality. They will also support trusted private transactions with the data confidentiality required. Altogether, these technology advances will take us much closer to mainstream blockchain and the decentralised web, also known as Web 3.0,” Litan added.

GUWAHATI: Manipur and Nagaland witnessed shutdown over the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which is likely to be reintroduced in the current session of Parliament. Normal life in Manipur was hit by an 18-hour bandh called by the Manipur People Against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Business establishment remained closed and vehicular movement was affected. Despite threat of disciplinary action by the state, government offices and educational institutions saw thin attendance.

In Nagaland, the North East Forum for Indigenous People (NEFIP) gave an 18-hour Nagaland bandh till Wednesday afternoon. NEFIP convener Ningthouja Lancha said the forum had in a memorandum to PM Modi, three months ago, sought withdrawal of the bill as it was ‘genocidal’ for indigenous people. “No positive steps have been taken towards a pre-legislative consultation with stakeholders,” he said.

The Congress in Assam officially decided to oppose the bill but its MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha from the Barak valley told ET: “Congress must not oppose the bill as people voted for BJP, which supports CAB, in the Lok Sabha polls. However, CAB should not go against Article 14 of the Constitution. CM Tarun Gogoi had submitted a memorandum to PM Manmohan Singh in 2012 not to treat Indian citizens who fled due to religious persecution during Partition as foreigners. It also sought refugee status for foreigners who had sought refuge in India after fleeing Bangladesh.”

Asom Gana Parishad chief Atul Bora said BJP received maximum votes during the Lok Sabha polls from areas that witnessed bitter protest against the Citizenship bill.

The bill seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

TechGig, a Times Internet-backed platform for IT professionals, has announced the new edition of Geek Goddess 2019 to find the best women coders in the country, in a bid to improve the representation of women in the field of technology.

The fifth edition of TechGig Geek Goddess will take place in the second week of November; while the women-only coding competition will accept code submissions till October 14.

So far, TechGig has received 37,705 registrations for the coding challenge this year. For decades, women have been poorly represented in the technology industry. In fact, a TechGig survey conducted among women IT professionals revealed that 74% of women in technology believe that a definite bias exists against them and that their suggestions are often not taken seriously by male colleagues.

“TechGig Geek Goddess 2019 promises to be bigger and better than all of its previous editions. The kind of enthusiastic queries that we have already received from our community makes me believe that this year’s edition of Geek Goddess will do justice to the expectations and help corporate India spot the brightest and most talented women IT professionals in the country,” said Sanjay Goyal, Business Head, TimesJobs and TechGig.

Times Internet is part of the Times Group, which also publishes The Economic Times.

The fifth edition of the coding contest will witness intense competition in themes such as artificial intelligence or machine learning, robotic process automation, Cloudify everything, solution hunters’ hackathon, among others.

Over the years, TechGig Geek Goddess code competition has seen enthusiastic participation from women coders, from across India. Last year, the competition saw participation from 68,791 women technologists and helped several women techies realise their dreams.

American Express, a globally integrated payments company, has joined hands for this year’s contest.

“We’re delighted to once again partner with TechGig Geek Goddess on this groundbreaking competition,” said Ruchika Panesar, vice-president of technology at American Express.

MUMBAI: The festive season has bumped up retail sales of automobiles in October during a particularly bad year.

Vehicle registration numbers at regional transport offices, which are a proxy for sales, improved 4% over October last year, as per a report by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), a retailers’ lobby body. The automobile industry has been in a tailspin for over a year now, with sales falling consistently amid poor consumer sentiment.

“Festivals days saw very good footfall at dealerships across most geographies. Consumer sentiment was positive and purchase decisions were concluded as used to be during the growth years,” said Ashish Kale, president, FADA.

Registration numbers of passenger vehicles (PV) improved 11% in October, while those of two wheelers improved 5%. Commercial vehicles (CV) retail continued to decline, shrinking 23% in registration from the year ago.

Inventory build-up at vehicle dealers eased across board, as manufacturers continued to curtail production. At the end of October, inventory with PV dealers averaged between 25 and 30 days’ equivalent, while that for two-wheeler and CV dealers was at 35-40 days and 40-45 days, respectively. The industry norm is to hold 30 days’ worth of inventory.

However, October was an exceptional month. Sales may taper in the remaining two months of 2019, experts said. December is usually a month of low sales as many customers delay purchase to January to get newer model-year vehicles.

“FADA remains cautious for the near and mid-term post the festive season as BS-VI (emission norms) transition approaches and rural demand is yet to pick up due to extended and excessive monsoon,” the dealers’ body said in a release.

The latest FADA report showed a trend similar to that of a report released last week by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), a manufacturers’ lobby group. Registration numbers in both reports vary by about 4 percentage points with the SIAM report suggesting an overall growth of 7.9% against FADA’s 4%.

Notably, both the agencies source data from the road transport and highways ministry’s VAHAN platform. VAHAN data is prone to changing and often crude, needing further filtering to reflect actual sales, ET had reported last month.