Greenpeace releases Guide to Greener Electronics; Wipro is top Green Brand of India

The international non-governmental organization well known for its works of protection and conservation of the environment – Greenpeace has released its “Guide to Greener Electronics,” foucusing on e-waste. According to the “Guide to Greener Electronics” of the Amsterdam, Netherlands based Greenpeace, Nokia and Samsung have been ranked at top positions, while Wipro Infotech has been named as top Green Brand of India.

Wipro Infotech has been ranked among the top five green brands in the world. Scoring 5.5 out of 10 to achieve the top rank among Indian IT brands, Wipro also climed up in the global ranking. In a statement yesterday, Wipro stated that it has been able to achieve its present ranking largely due to its comitted efforts towards “energy efficiency and structured programme for effective e-waste management for customers”.

According to Wipro, it has been – rolling out energy star compliant products, launching ewaste management programmes, creating awareness among public, and using recycled plastics in its new productions. Wipro stated that it has been creating awareness among its customers on recycling collected e-waste rather than mere disposal. The company claimed that it has restricted the usage of pernicious substances in its products.

Greenpeace’s “Guide to Greener Electronics” has named Sony as ‘greenest’ console brands. Accordong to the Guide, Sony consoles are more friendly to environment than that of Microsoft and Nintendo – Sony products are 40 percent environmentally-friendly than Microsoft’s, while 50 percent greener that Nintendo’s products. Sony has scored 5.5 out of 10, Microsoft has scored just 2.7, while Nintendo has scored worst 0.8 in the rankings.

In its Guide to Greener Electronics, Greenpeace has stated that Nintendo has done good job by banning the use of phthalates, and monitoring its use of antimony and beryllium. Certainly, the company is “endeavouring to eliminate the use of PVC, but it has not set a timeline for its phase out”. In its report, Greenpeace wrote, “The company has banned phthalates and is monitoring use of antimony and beryllium and although it is endeavoring to eliminate the use of PVC, it has not set a timeline for its phase out. Nintendo discloses carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its own operations and commits to cutting CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases by 2% over each previous year. However, Nintendo admits that an increase in business led to a 6% rise in CO2 emissions in 2006.”

Greenpeace has praised Apple for reducing the use of PVCs and BFRs in its products, but Philips, according to Greenpeace, has been very impressive in the war against e-waste.

According to Greenpeace, the Guide to Greener Electronics “star” has gone to Philips and the 47,000 people who sent emails to the company. In the report, Greenpeace wrote, “The Dutch electronics giant (Philips) reacted to our e-waste campaign with a dramatic about-turn on recycling and take-back. They’ve jumped from 15th to 4th place in one go. Following public pressure, the company has significantly improved its position on taking financial responsibility for the recycling of its products when they become e-waste.

However, the companies, such as HP, Lenovo and Dell have been penalined in the Guide to Greener Electronics. According to Greenpeace, these companies have failed to keep up ther promises to eliminate vinyl plastic (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of the year. Greenpeace commended some of these companies’ products that are free from hazardous chemicals, yet these companies have been ranked worst for their negligence.

CA Appoints Saurabh Srivastava As Chairman For Its Indian Operations

For its Indian operations, independent IT management software company CA has nominated Saurabh Srivastava as Chairman, effective from April 6, 2009.

Mr. Michael Christenson, President and Chief Operating Officer, CA made this declaration.

Mr. Michael stated, “This announcement is an indication of the importance of India to us as a market and as a global technology center. Saurabh brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience about the Indian market and IT industry, which will be helpful as we seek to expand our operations and position ourselves with the country’s technology, government and venture capital communities. He is widely accepted as one of the architects of the Indian software industry and a role model for entrepreneurs.”

Srivastava will look after sales and development operations of the company, and will report directly to Christensen.

India is CA’s fastest growing geography. It has offices in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi and a research and development (R and D) facility in Hyderabad.

At present, more than 30% of CA’s global development is performed in India and India is CA’s fastest growing geography, the release added.

Srivastava said, “CA is on the leading edge of the software industry in helping companies effectively manage the IT services required to drive business success.”

“The Company has made a substantial investment in India and is a perfect partner for not only Indian companies, but India’s growing IT service providers. I look forward to representing CA and helping in its efforts to expand operations in India,” he added.

Srivastava’s IT career spans business and start-up companies, and industry associations.

Before becoming a capitalist and venture capitalist, he worked expansively in the US, UK, India and Singapore in higher positions with top international companies including IBM and Unisys.

He is the founder of IIS Infotech, which in 1998 amalgamated with Xansa, an outsourcing and technology company. He co-founded Infinity Ventures and is the chairman of the Indian Venture Capital Association.

Moreover, Mr. Srivastava also has played a significant role in upgrading technology in the country (India) and with the Indian administration.

He co-founded Nasscom and was chairman of the Indian Government’s Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council. He has also chaired the IT Committee of the Federation of India Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Integrated Police Information System Developed By Wipro

Integrated Police Information System Developed By WiproOn Friday, an announcement was made by Wipro Infotech that the company has designed an integrated Police information system that would cover all vital activities related to the day-to-day functioning of the police departments including the back-end administrative processes of general administration, finance and stores.

The main aim behind initiating these processes is to help the administration to complete their tasks and record keeping. Thus, it will introduce operational efficiency throughout the police department. As of now, this application is just in its pilot stage.

It should be noted that there would be various operational modules that will help in maintaining the records within the police stations and other police bodies which are involved in several areas such as crime, law and order, wireless, traffic, intelligence and counter intelligence, etc. Furthermore, in order to retrieve important data, each module has a search function.

The other states can acquire the details related to the crime and criminal via a standard based information exchange gateway.

Moreover, the required information from the other states would also be retrieved by the information exchange, thus enabling a seamless sharing of crime and criminal information across the country.

Wipro Infotech general manager (government and defence) Ranbir Singh reported, “To combat high crime rates more effectively, Wipro sees a huge role for information technology. This is a path breaking application and will bring in a lot of efficiency and agility in the functioning between various units of the police department through real time information sharing, thereby resulting in better service to the citizens.”

To add more, there is a citizen interface in the application via which complaints can be raised and the status of an already lodged FIR can be tracked and the content can be displayed by the user interface in English and regional languages.

Zicom Electronic bags order worth Rs 7.5 crore

Zicom Electronic bags order worth Rs 7.5 croreMumbai-headquartered Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd has bagged an order worth Rs 7.5 crore. The company has not disclosed the name of the buyer firm.

The contract involves supply, installation, commissioning and project management of wireless broadband outdoor surveillance system for Gurgaon on turn key basis.

Recently, company’s board has approved raising up to $20 million funds, through issue of overseas convertible bonds, global depositary receipts or other instruments.

Zicom Electronic, founded in 1995, provides electronic security solutions in India. The company’s customers primarily include various companies in the fields of infotech, telecom, media, banking, finance, and industrial.