Spreading their reach Date:   Monday , October 01, 2007 Over 42,000 Oracle professionals certified in India As part of its continuing commitment to enhance the skills of IT professionals in the country, Oracle University has trained and certified over 42,000 Oracle Professionals in India since it began operations in the country in 1995, Oracle announced recently. “In fact, according to a recent survey conducted among Oracle certified professionals, over 88 percent of respondents think they are better qualified to manage more complex issues and projects because they are Oracle-trained and certified,” says Alok Tandon, Director Education, Oracle University in India. To bridge the demand-supply gap of Oracle Certified Professionals, Oracle has designed the partner-driven Workforce Development Program. In the past 12 months alone Oracle University has partnered 100 engineering colleges across the country as part of this program. NIIT teams up with China for manpower development Leading Indian IT trainer NIIT has entered into an alliance with the Chinese government to help create skilled manpower in that country. According to the agreement signed between NIIT chief Vijay K. Thadani and Wang Yang, Secretary General of the Communist Party of ChongQing, NIIT would be imparting its IT training programmes through Chinese universities and colleges. According to Thadani, India and China, the two leading Asian economies, can come together and use their strengths innovatively in the area of developing talent for the global knowledge economy. NIIT entered China in 1998 with the launch of its first IT training center in Shanghai. GE keen to invest in Bengal infrastructure projects GE Equipment Services, the U.S.-based diversified services, technology and manufacturing company, has expressed interest to invest in West Bengal’s infrastructure sector. According to Alan Juliano, President and CEO (Europe), GE Equipment Services, the company is looking at opportunities in certain key areas like port development, road infrastructure, railway, and power. Juliano met Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Chief Minister of West Bengal and discussed future opportunities for investment in the state where GE Equipment Services can participate. GE Equipment Services is also targeting to grow its asset base to $8 billion by 2010 in India. The company has already acquired 15 percent stake in Kolkata-based Titagarh Wagons, which supplies a variety of goods wagons to Indian Railways. BSNL places Rs 1,200 Cr order with tech biggies While Bharti Airtel has signed a $100 million deal with IT major IBM, BSNL is confident enough on Indian companies to place Rs 1,200-crore orders with TCS, HCL, and Wipro for a programme that will enable it to provide a single bill to 65 million subscribers for all its services. According to Kuldeep Goyal, BSNL Chairman and Managing Director, the CDR billing project will be completed in December 2008. It will not only help the customers to get a convergent bill for the entire range of services the PSU (Public Sector Unit) offers, but would also come as a relief to operators who complain of unfair and incorrect pricing. Boeing eyes India captive Apart from capturing business across the aerospace spectrum including manufacturing, engineering, BPO, KPO, maintenance, and raw material sourcing, the $65 billion aircraft manufacturer Boeing is evaluating a captive center and defense sub-assembly line in India, according to newspaper sources. The company which already has partnerships with Infosys, TCS, Infotech, HCL, HAL, and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is in the process of setting up $100 million maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in Nagpur that is expected to begin operations this year end or early next year. According to Boeing’s 2007 annual current market outlook study, India would need 911 new commercial jet airplanes worth $86 billion in the next 20 years.