XCHANGING EXPANDS PRESENCE IN SOUTH EAST ASIA

SINGAPORE, Jul 27 (MARKET WIRE) —
As part of its global expansion, Xchanging plc (LSE: XCH), one of the
largest and fastest growing global business processors, has relocated its
Singapore operations to a new flagship centre. This centre will be headed
by William Woo, who was recently appointed as Managing Director for
Xchanging, South East Asia.

Located at 13 International Business Park, Jurong East, the centre follows
global best practice in design and technology to create a state-of-
the-art environment. It follows a repeatable format seen in all Xchanging
offices across the world. The design supports lean processing,
collaboration and transparency with customers. This centre also advances
Xchanging’s corporate social responsibility goals as an economical and
environmentally responsible workplace.

David Andrews CEO Xchanging said, “Establishing our South East Asia
headquarters marks a significant milestone for Xchanging as it forwards
our ambition to be the global business processor of choice for our
customers. Singapore is undoubtedly emerging as a global financial
services hub; the region as such is taking a leadership position in the
utilisation of new generation technologies such as Cloud Computing. This
makes it a logical step in our growth strategy. Our existing customer
relationships such as with the Government of Singapore and DHL give us a
good head start in the region”.

Xchanging’s Asia Pacific business includes Australia, Singapore, Malaysia,
India, China and Japan. Kerry Purcell, Head of Asia Pacific for Xchanging
added, “To address opportunities in the diverse economies of this region,
we have organised ourselves as three sub-regions in Asia Pacific -
Australia, India and surrounding South Asian countries and South East
Asia. As a central business hub, Singapore was the perfect location for
us to set up our South East Asia headquarters. There is a growing demand
for technology and BPO services in the region. Our centre in Singapore
brings us closer to our customers in the region to offer Xchanging’s
expertise and services to companies across industries in South East Asia”.

For further information, please contact:

Xchanging

Meeta Thareja Tel: +44 (0)20 7780 5374
meeta.thareja@xchanging.com

Cardew Group Tel: +44 (0)20 7930 0777
xchanging@cardewgroup.com

About Xchanging

Xchanging is one of the largest and fastest growing business processors.
With a wide range of multinational customers in 42 countries and
employing over 8,000 people, we are a truly global company. Our aim is
simply to provide business processing services better, cheaper and faster.

Xchanging provides procurement, accounting, human resources and technology
services across industries. These include banking, insurance,
manufacturing, retail and real estate among others. We combine functional
expertise with deep industry domain knowledge to provide
industry-specific outcomes for our customers.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007, the company is in the
FTSE250, the index of mid-capitalised companies traded on the London Stock
Exchange. Xchanging is also a member of the FTSE4Good index which
measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised
corporate responsibility standards.

www.xchanging.com

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All reproduction for further distribution is prohibited.

Source: Xchanging via Thomson Reuters ONE

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

Australia to give 2.4 million dollars for biotechnology research with India

New Delhi, May 12 (ANI): Top scientists will receive funding for cutting-edge research into everything from bioenergy and biofuels to vaccines and medical diagnostics as part of a joint multi-million dollar program with India.

The Indo-Australian Biotechnology Fund is part of the 65 million dollars Australia-India Strategic Research Fund.

The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, said eight collaborative projects between Australian and Indian scientists would receive 2.4 million dollars.
Matching funding will be provided by the Indian Government.

“This funding will further strengthen the important bilateral relationship between Australia and India,” Senator Carr said.

“Some of the leading scientists in biotechnology will form partnerships to tackle the big issues facing communities in Australia and India – such as growing healthy crops and making wheat and rice more resistant to disease.

“This fund is a joint initiative of the Australian and Indian governments. It is Australia”s largest bilateral research fund, providing $65 million over eight years from 2006-07.

“India is a strong research nation in its own right and an important partner in work undertaken here in Australia.”

Projects to be supported under Round 4 of the fund include: establishing an Australian-Indian collaboration on sustaining crop productivity under stress conditions caused by chemical or physical influences such as temperature and water; a project to improve management of diabetic ulcers by identifying diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers; engineering novel disease resistance in wheat and rice; and assessing the role of cyanobacteria in solar bio-fuel and carbon sequestration.
Other projects supported by the fund are in nutraceuticals, functional foods, and bioremediation. (ANI)

Sunday will be crucial for both India and hosts WI

Bridgetown, May 8 — If misery does indeed love company, then India can console themselves with the fact that they are not alone, at least for now. Having been handed a proper hiding by Australia, India would have noted with some glee that their next opponents, West Indies, suffered similarly at Sri Lanka’s hands.

When the two teams are done with their battle on Sunday, one will be closer to a spot in the final four, the other may as well pack their bags. Captains seldom dwell on losses, and this was true both of M.S. Dhoni and Chris Gayle.

If anything, Gayle was forced to think about plans for the next game soon after losing their first Super 8 match. “Yes, we can use the short ball, but we have to be careful at the same time,” said Gayle when asked if he would try and mimic Australia’s tactics.

“It’s a small ground and India have quality batsmen to make necessary adjustments.” Those adjustments, from India’s point of view, are essentially a change in mindset.

With the approach of trying to hit themselves out of trouble failing against Australia, a return to a safety-first method cannot be ruled out. “We tried to fight fire with fire but it did not work,” Dhoni conceded.

“Sometimes you have to be a bit patient, wait for the ball to get slightly older and then go after the bowling.” If short-pitched bowling was the lead talking point, India’s decision to put the opposition in wasn’t far behind.

It’s another strategy that could be revised, given just how little extra assistance India’s pacers got. Add to this the fact that India played only two quickies, and opened the bowling with the off-spin of Harbhajan Singh and the decision to bowl first seemed ripe for revision.

“Whenever the team is batting second, it’s always going to be a pressure situation. If the team batting first gets 190 and the chasing team loses a couple of early wickets, it automatically gets on the back-foot,” said Gayle.

“Teams will be looking at batting first on this sort of wicket. Once you get in, you can definitely play your shots.

Oz Trade Minister’s visit to boost India-Australia links

New Delhi, May 3 (ANI): Australia’s Minister for Trade Simon Crean is in India on a weeklong visit to strengthen partnership and lay the groundwork for continued growth in the trade and economic relationship.

Crean visit to India started on May 2 and will last on May 8 during which he will take the Australia-India trade relationship to a new level.

The Australian Trade Minister will discuss the finalisation of the bilateral FTA Feasibility Study in meetings with his counterpart Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma in New Delhi.

India has a population of 1.2 billion, is the world’s largest democracy and is Australia’s fastest growing major trade relationship.

“This will be my third visit to India and comes at a crucial time with booming trade and investment between the two nations and an opportunity for even greater growth. The Government has put India in the front rank of our international partnerships,” Crean said

On Monday Crean will meet with the Chairman of the Organising Committee of the New Delhi Commonwealth Games, Suresh Kalmadi, and will be briefed on preparations for the October 2010 event.

“The Games will be a great event for India and New Delhi and we look forward to Australia sending its largest Commonwealth Games team ever,” he said.

“Part of discussions will be security arrangements for Australians representing Australia at the Games. We are pleased with cooperation so far and these talks will continue with the Games less than six months away.”

Crean’s visit will include the capital New Delhi, the financial centre Mumbai and Hyderabad.

In Delhi, Crean will discuss the FTA feasibility study and meet Indian Ministers from a variety of portfolios to push forward the broad bilateral agenda.

Along with his counterpart Sharma, Crean will address the Confederation of Indian Industry and meet delegates from the Joint Business Council.

He will host a function in honour of the Advance Emerging Leaders India Summit, which is being held in Delhi on 4 May. (ANI)

England may travel by train to reach West Indies for T20 cup

London, Apr 21 (ANI): England cricket team could travel by train to the south of France to catch a flight to the West Indies for the World Twenty20.

Most of the England squad are due to fly to Barbados from Heathrow on Sunday morning, but the continuous suspension of flights from London has left the International Cricket Council and the England and Wales Cricket Board looking for alternative routes.

The ICC is set to charter a flight from Dubai on Sunday or Monday, which could carry the England team if they can find a working airport in Europe.

The south of France and Spain are being explored, with the ECB having provisionally booking a Eurostar trip on Sunday, The Telegraph reports.

Almost all teams were due to fly through London en route to the Caribbean but the ICC is now looking to send Australia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, South Africa and Bangladesh through Dubai instead.

“We will do everything possible to ensure the players get to the Caribbean. We’ll look at all possibilities to ensure the attendance of players from the UK, even if it means getting them to Dubai on helicopters and low-level flights,” said ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat. (ANI)

Reliance Communications to distribute official ICC World Twenty20 mobile content

Dubai, Apr. 19 (ANI): With two weeks to go before the West Indian party begins at the ICC World Twenty20 2010, ICC global partner Reliance Communications is set to bring the unique atmosphere of world-class cricket from the Caribbean directly to your mobile handset.

The official ICC World Twenty20 West Indies 2010 mobile services will include live audio commentary, match action video clips, wallpapers, ring tone, caller ring-back tune, score updates and other features. It will be available for a wide range of mobile devices including the iPhone and BlackBerry.

To extend the reach of the official services, Reliance Communications is keen to tie up with established mobile operators in key cricket territories so that fans located in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Pakistan, Ireland, Sri Lanka, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies can enjoy the action and excitement of international Twenty20 cricket.

Qualified and interested third parties seeking further information regarding this commercial opportunity are invited to contact Sujai.Srivastava@relianceada.com. (ANI)

Oz Indian community urged to remain calm after death of Gurshan Singh

Melbourne, Mar 6(ANI): Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Victorian Premier John Brumby have urged the Indian community to remain calm and not link three-year-old Indian boy Gurshan Singh’s death to attacks on Indian students and taxi drivers in Melbourne.

Gurshan”s body was found dumped by the side of a road in Melbourne”s suburbs six hours after he disappeared from a relative”s home in Lalor on Thursday.

The tragedy came a day after Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith met Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to discuss the safety of Indian students and strengthening trade and economic ties.

Prime Minister Rudd said if it was murder, people need to pause and introspect about its implications on Australia”s already strained relations with India.

“The death of any little child causes everyone in this country to stop, pause, think, reflect,” The Herald Sun quoted Rudd, as saying.

“If this is a case of murder, there is nothing worse than the brutal murder of a little child. The authorities are investigating it and we have every confidence the authorities will get to the bottom of it,” he added.

Victorian Premier Brumby said he found the case “personally distressing”, and urged the public not to jump to conclusions about any racial aspect to the crime.

He said the death was an unthinkable tragedy and expressed deep sorrow for the family and relatives.

“The most important thing is we find the cause of death and bring those responsible to justice,” Brumby said.

“I”m not going to get into the Australia-India debate. It is about mourning the death of a three-year-old child, and the loss of a child so young is a terrible, terrible tragedy that I find personally distressing,” he added.

Meanwhile, India’s Consul-General in Melbourne, Anita Nayar, said she was in constant touch with investigators, but declined to say what they had told her. (ANI)

Gillard says Australia, India could consider extradition treaty during her visit

Melbourne, Aug.22 (ANI): Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has revealed that her country and India could consider parameters for an extradition treaty during her five-day visit from August 30.

The extradition treaty issue has once again acquired center stage attention after Australians expressed their outrage over a drunk learner driver fleeing to India on a false passport.

Puneet Puneet (Puneet Puneet), 19, had pleaded guilty to culpable driving after he fatally crashed his car into Gold Coast student Dean Hofstee, also 19, in central Melbourne last October.

He failed to come to court last week and police believe he left Australia on the passport of a fellow Indian student.

Gillard heads to India to ramp up the federal government’s efforts to rehabilitate Australia’s reputation on the subcontinent following reports of violence against Indian students.

“We as a government don’t comment on individual extradition matters. But I can say this… as a government we take crime seriously and we want people to be brought to justice,” the Daily Telegraph quoted her, as saying. (ANI)

Australia, India sign AUD 25 billion Gorgon LNG Deal

New Delhi, Aug.19 (ANI): Australia and India have signed their first ever long-term LNG contract. A Sales and Purchase Agreement between ExxonMobil and Petronet LNG of India was completed on August 10, 2009.

Welcoming the agreement, Australia’s Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP said: “This deal, worth more than AUD 25 billion over 20 years, represents the dawning of a new trading partnership between Australia and India, and brings the Gorgon gas development yet another step closer to fruition”.

“I hope this new partnership with India will grow to be as significant as our LNG export trade with our friends in East and North East Asia” he added.

Signed on 10 August in Perth, the Agreement will see around 1.5 million tonnes of LNG from the Gorgon project sold into India annually over a 20-year term.

According to a press release of the Australian High Commission here, the Gorgon LNG project will become the largest single investment ever undertaken in Australia. The project is being developed by the Gorgon Joint Venture, which consists of Chevron (50 percent and operator), ExxonMobil (25 percent) and Shell (25 percent).

The gas fields in the Greater Gorgon area hold more than 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and form Australia’s largest known gas resource. (ANI)

Australia announces Endeavour Awards

New Delhi, May 15 (ANI): The Australian Government has announced the Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards to provide scholarships for the best university students from Australia and Asia.

Australia’s High Commissioner to India, John McCarthy said: “I am sure that India will provide some of the best and deserving candidates for these scholarships. The scholarships will help strengthen the educational links between our two countries. Indian students have shown a keen interest in studying in Australia in recent years and India is now the second top-source country for Australia’s international education industry, with over97,000 Indian enrolments in Australia in 2008″.

“This initiative will support a heightened relationship with future leaders in the region in years to come. The Australian governmentis committing$14.9million over four years to establish this scholarship program and I am confident that this will yield beneficial results,” McCarthy added.

Australia offers a range of study and research scholarships and awards available to candidates in the Asia Pacific region, and 102 Indian students have received these awards in the past 18 months.

The Prime Minister’s Awards highlight the increasing importance of education to the Australia-India relationship. Australia is also committed to strengthening links between Australian and Indian educational institutions to further the growing bilateral relationship.

The Endeavour Awards are the Australian Government’s internationally competitive, meritbased scholarship program providing opportunities for citizens of the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Europe and the Americas to undertake study, research and professional development in any field of study in Australia. Awards are also available for Australians to do the same abroad.

The Australian Government recently announced a new scholarship program as part of its response to the 2020 Summit. The Prime Minister’s Australia Asia Endeavour Awards will provide scholarships for the ‘best and brightest’ university students from Australia and Asia. These scholarships will support a heightened relationship for future leaders which can be expected as their careers progress.

The Government is committing $14.9 million over four years to establish this scholarship program.

Commencing in 2010, forty scholarships will be awarded annually, twenty at undergraduate level and twenty at postgraduate level, to allow Australian university students to undertake up to one year of study in Asia, which can be followed by an internship or work placement in Asia. Ten scholarships will also be awarded to the top international Endeavour Awards scholars from Asia each year.

The following have been identified as priorities for both incoming and outgoing scholars: China (including Hong Kong and Macau SARs); India; Indonesia; Japan, Malaysia, ingapore, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. (ANI)