Satyam's latest updates - May Axe 10,000 Employees: Headhunters

[nithyasubramanian]

Satyam fraud: Court puts off hearing on ED plea to April 28   

Hyderabad, April 24: A local court on Friday postponed to April 28 hearing on a petition of Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking permission to record statements of Satyam's former Chairman B Ramalinga Raju and other accused in the Rs 7,800- crore financial fraud in the IT company.

The XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate posted the matter for further hearing on April 28.

The Enforcement Directorate on April 6 had filed an application seeking the court's permission to record the statements of Ramalinga Raju, his brother and Satyam's former MD Rama Raju, former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas and former auditors of Price Waterhouse - S Gopalakrishnan and Talluri Srinivas.

In its plea, the Enforcement Directorate had maintained that the Satyam case accused had violated several legal norms, thus calling for action against them under various provisions of the Directorate.

Meanwhile, the order on bail pleas of Raju brothers and Vadlamani Srinivas will come up for hearing tomorrow.

The orders on the CBI application seeking the court's permission to conduct lie detector test on the Satyam accused will also come up tomorrow.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

[Kalyan]

Rajus used 17 aides to manipulate demat accounts

Seventeen trusted lieutenants of B Ramalinga Raju, the defamed promoter of Satyam Computer Services, and his family were made to open demat accounts to fraudulently trade in shares of the promoters of the beleaguered IT firm.

Investigations by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reveal that the promoters of Satyam — Raju's mother Applanarasamma, his brother Suryanarayana Raju and his wife Jhansi Rani — sold their shares in 1999 to 17 employees and made a killing in the market. The modus operandi shows the promoters transferred the physical shares through endorsement in the names of these 17 individuals, who, in turn, deposited the same in their demat accounts and then sold these shares through five investment companies.

The investment companies, floated by Raju and his family, included Elam Investment, High Grace Investments, Fincity Investments, High Sound Investments and Veeyes Investments. Later, these investment companies sold these shares in the market.

The money was transferred to the individual accounts of these 17 employees and their families. The latter, in turn, transferred the funds to the promoters and the transfers were done through cheques.

In 2000-01 the promoter's family got around Rs 75 crore, of which Raju's mother received Rs 5.5 crore, Suryanarayana Raju got around Rs 12.78 crore and his wife Jhansi Rani Rs 24.84 crore .


In the same year, these promoters also sold shares through the investment company and gifted the money to some of the family members. Featuring in this list are Ramalinga Raju (Rs 27.91 crore) and his brother Rama Raju (Rs 26.89 crore). Ramalinga Raju's wife Nandini Raju received Rs 10.20 crore, while Rama Raju's wife Radha Raju got Rs 9.70 crore. Ramalinga Raju's son Rama Raju Jr was also a beneficiary and received Rs 1.97 crore.

Over the years, the promoters sold their shares in the open market and made around Rs 715 crore even though Satyam was not performing well. "The accused made hay when the sun was shining by off-loading the shares, while other investors may have been holding on to the shares with the false hope that their value would rise," said the CBI in its charge-sheet.

From September 2006, the promoters of Satyam held their shares in a corporate entity SRSR Holdings. Suryanarayana Raju, the director of SRSR holdings, began pledging them as security with various non-banking companies on behalf of the 327 front companies floated by Raju and his family. He appointed several trusted employees as directors of these front companies to mask the fraud.

Ramalinga Raju admitted to fudging the books of Satyam in January this year. The CBI has charged him and eight others of conspiracy, cheating, falsifying accounts, generating forged valuable securities and tampering evidence.
Capital market regulator Sebi is also probing into insider trading of shares and has given inputs to other investigating agencies, said people familiar with the development.


source : economic times

[sajiv]

Satyam, FIFA honeymoon to stay

HYDERABAD: Satyam Computer Services Ltd., will continue to work with FIFA, the international governing body of football, and their first big test will come when the Confederation Cup will be held in Columbia in June this year.

Speaking to Express, M V Sridhar, head of Sports Marketing, said the acquisition of the company by Tech Mahindra has not affected its relations with the FIFA.

"We are continuing our relations with Fifa. We will be working with them in the upcoming Confederation Cup. It will be a big test as it will be run up to the next year's World Cup in South Africa.

We are gearing up for the big occasion," said Sridhar.

Sridhar said since the Fifa is our customer, the entire operationswill be carried by our company.

Satyam had signed agreement with FIFA in November 2007 as their event managers.

Apart from operationalhelp, the Satyam will help in event manager solutions and IT requirements of FIFA. It became the first Indian company to be part of the FIFA family.

In fact, the FIFA has already signed up Satyam for the 2014 Worl d Cup to be held in Brazil.

[sajiv]

Tech Mahindra's turnaround: posts net profit of Rs 230 cr

Mumbai: Tech Mahindra, the new owner of scam-hit Satyam Computer, has come back in to the black in fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009 by posting Rs 230 crore net profit. The company had posted a net loss of Rs 221.39 crore in the same period last fiscal , if exceptional items, including a Rs 440-crore one-time expenditure, are taken into account.

Consolidated total income declined marginally to Rs 1,059.07 crore during the period under review from Rs 1,059.71 crore in the corresponding period in FY'08.

The company's revenue rose 2.88 per cent to Rs 1,051.30 crore during the March quarter from Rs 1,021.8 crore in the corresponding period a year-ago.

[VelMurugan]

Satyam-TechM may be worth $2.2 bn

Satyam Computer Services and its new owner Tech Mahindra are set to have combined revenues in the range of around $2.2 billion.

While an immediate merger is ruled out, the two companies may be integrated two or three years down the line to have one large Tech Mahindra, a top Tech Mahindra official told employees at the "Tech Mahindra All Hands Meet Conference" last week.

According to him, the employee strength at Satyam is around 45,000. "The exact tally at this point is not known but it would be around 40,000-42 ,000 employees, including subsidiary, they have a few subsidiaries with that and it will be a little more," he said.

The revenue and manpower projections assume significance, given that clients and employees exited after the defamed founder of Satyam B Ramalinga Raju confessed to fudging the firm's books by inflating revenue and profits. The real picture on the financial position will be known when Satyam's accounts are re-stated. Satyam's revenue, which was around $1.8 billion, is believed to have dropped to $1.2 billion after the scam due to significant client attrition. With Tech Mahindra's revenue at around $1 billion, the combined revenue would be around $2.2 billion going forward.

"As always, we will be the number one in telecom. But with the acquisition of Satyam, we will also be number one in large number of other areas, including business intelligence and enterprise solutions. Obviously, this will de-risk our model and this will give us a strong suite in consulting and enterprise business solutions. Most importantly, it diversifies not only our verticals, but it diversifies our currency," the official said.

He, however, made it clear that he would be oversimplifying if he said that all was well with Satyam. "There are legal cases too which we have to look at, there is restatement of accounts which we have to look at, there is an overhang resulting from the fraudulent activities of the earlier promoter which includes everyone from CBI to FERA violations. We would have to deal with government agencies and provide them with all the information.

Source : indiatimes

[sajiv]

Investigators cant locate ADR funds of Satyam

Only US$50 mn raised from the sale of American Depository shares was deposited in Satyam`s Indian bank accounts.

Two-thirds of the US$150 mn reportedly raised by Satyam Computer Services Ltd. in a 2001 share sale in the U.S. can't be found by investigators at India's fraud office.

Only US$50 mn raised from the sale of American Depository shares was deposited in Satyam's Indian bank accounts, report adds.

[VelMurugan]

Satyam paid excess corporate tax

The troubled software company Satyam Computer Services Ltd paid excess tax. According to Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) Satyam paid an additional corporate tax of Rs 186.9 crore on account of inflated accounts.

According to a news article in a business daily, SFIO's report on Satyam also shows that the company paid an excess incentive of Rs 338 crore to employees. The employees were getting the excess incentive over the last few years on account of inflated books.

The promoters made Rs 3,029.67 crore by selling equity between 2000 and 2009, made possible by price manipulation and insider trading, adds the news article. The SFIO report also suggests connivance by auditors.

Source : indiatimes

[Kalyan]

'Satyam misused accounting software'


The former management of scam-hit Satyam Computer Services had kept loopholes in its accounting software and left passwords unsecured to facilitate fraud, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), which is probing the scandal, has told the government. The software system for managing company's financial accounting functions was deliberately made very complex for inflating profits, the SFIO said in its report.

The report said different departments of the company were not integrated electronically and the management overlooked this weakness to dupe investors and other stakeholders.

The invoice management system of Satyam had a weak password protection, making the system vulnerable to misuse. Therefore, fake invoices could be created by unauthorised users. SFIO has also found that in order to balance the collections against these fictitious invoices, they were first shown as receipts in the current account maintained with the Bank of Baroda, New York Branch and subsequently they were shown to be transferred to other bank accounts as fixed deposits.

Against these fixed deposits, the promoters were regularly generating fake quarterly balance confirmation letters showing the amounts of fixed deposits and the interest accrued on them. These forged current account balance statements and confirmation letters were fed into Satyam's accounting software Oracle Financials for the quarterly audits of the company.

Soon, three other bank accounts in India, Citi Bank, HDFC Bank and HSBC were also used for this purpose of falsification of current account balances.

There were no validation checks for a number of invoices. The SFIO report points towards a serious control deficiency in the system that facilitated entering of unauthorised transactions, making unauthorised payments and non-detection of unauthorised activities.

No internal passwords were required to access the database of Oracle Financials, which increased the possibility of unauthorised changes to the programmes.

The report says Price Waterhouse, which audited Satyam's accounting software, had pointed out to the company's audit committee that the weakness in the system may result in mis-statement of the annual or interim financial statements. The report further says that the audit committee chairman denied receiving such an input.




source : economic times

[sajiv]

Big clients to back Satyam

New Delhi: In a news that could bring cheer to Satyam employees, three of their big clients — Nestle, Nissan and CIBA — who were on a wait-and-watch mode have assured to continue business with the firm.

"Clients such as Nestle and Nissan have already expressed confidence in the company and had assured us that they will continue with us," an official privy to the development said.

Nestle has also given some additional business to Satyam in April, the official added.
One of the multi-million dollar SAP clients of Satyam, Nestle, which was earlier keeping a tab on the developments.

Analysts had feared that post-acquisition of the firm by Tech Mahindra, clients of Satyam who were sitting on the fence would jump to other vendors. However, after the acquisition, some of the companies had expre-ssed confidence in the entity and pledged to continue business with them.

Auto major Nissan for whom Satyam provides application management had also said they would continue business with the firm. The company has also got an endorsement from another SAP client CIBA.

Moreover, the UK, Switz-erland and Germany who have earlier imposed some strict norms on Satyam employees for getting Visa have eased them.

After crisis broke out, Satyam employees were asked to be present in person for visas interviews. However, restrictions have been eased now and the employees need not be present in person.

[VelMurugan]

3 big clients to stay with Satyam

In a news that could bring cheer to Satyam employees, three of their big clients Nestle, Nissan and CIBA who were on wait and watch mode have assured to continue business with the firm.

"Clients such as Nestle and Nissan has already expressed their confidence in the company and had assured us that they will continue with us," an official privy to the development said. Nestle have also given some additional business to the Satyam last month, the person added further.

One of the multi-million dollar SAP client of Satyam, Nestle, which was earlier keeping a tab on the developments. Analysts had feared that post the acquisition of the firm by Tech Mahindra clients of Satyam who were sitting on the fence would jump to other vendors.

However, post the acquisition some of the companies had expressed confidence in the entity and pledged to continue business with them. Auto major Nissan for whom Satyam provides application management had also said that they would continue business with the firm. The company has also got an endorsement from another SAP client CIBA.

Moreover, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany who have earlier imposed some strict norms on Satyam employees for getting Visa have eased them. Post Satyam crisis, employees of Satyam were asked to be present in person and appear for visa interviews.

However, now they have eased the norms and the employees need not be present for the interview in person. Satyam Computers plunged into crisis after its founder B Ramalinga Raju in January admitted to have cooked the books of the company for year.

In April, information technology firm Tech Mahindra announced to acquire a 51 per cent stake in the beleaguered firm for Rs 2,900 crore. Earlier, the government-appointed chairman of Satyam Kiran Karnik had said that though some clients have left the company but at the same time Satyam have got some new work as well.

Source : indiatimes

[dwarakesh]

Three weeks on, Tech Mahindra acquires 31% in Satyam

HYDERABAD: Tech Mahindra on Tuesday acquired a 31% stake in Satyam Computer Services, nearly three weeks after it was named the new owner of the beleaguered IT firm. The Pune-based company, which is the IT arm of Mahindra & Mahindra, has been allotted 30.27 crore shares of Satyam in a preferential allotment for Rs 1,756 crore.

The share allotment was approved by the government-nominated Satyam board through a circular resolution. The funds have been released from the escrow account to the company's account. And Satyam expects to use the money for general corporate purposes, including repayment of certain existing loans, said a company statement.

The preferential allotment of shares will be followed by a mandatory open offer to acquire an additional 20% for Tech Mahindra to get a majority control of Satyam. Priced at Rs 58 per share, the two transactions will cost Rs 2,889 crore. Tech Mahindra cannot sell Satyam's shares for three years due to the minimum lock-in period stipulation.

NYSE-listed Satyam plunged into a crisis after its defamed founder B Ramalinga Raju confessed to perpetrating a Rs 7,000-crore financial fraud. The government-appointed the board to salvage the firm from the crisis. Satyam shares closed at Rs 45.55 on Tuesday at BSE.

source: economictimes

[sajiv]

Satyam Allots 30.28 Crore Shares To Tech Mahindra

After winning the bid for Satyam Computer Services, in a global auction, Tech Mahindra has now been allotted 30.28 crore equity shares of the former. Satyam allotted the shares, representing 31 percent of the share capital, to Venturbay Consultants. The latter is a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra, which is taking over a controlling stake in the IT major hit by scam.

As per the statement released by Satyam Computer Services, the board of directors of the company allotted 30,27,64,327 equity shares to Venturbay Consultants, on preferential basis. After the allotment of the shares, the paid-up share capital of the company has increased by Rs 60,55,28,654, representing approx. 30.28 crore equity shares of Rs.2 each.

At present, the paid-up share capital of Satyam Computer Services is Rs.195,34,44,694, representing 97,67,22,347 equity shares of Rs.2. each, up from Rs.134,79,16,040 (in the past). Earlier (on April 22), Tech Mahindra had announced its open offer for a 20-percent additional stake in Satyam Computer Services, at Rs.58 per share.

[nithyasubramanian]

Maytas Infra approves SBI Caps' draft CDR   

Hyderabad, May 09: Newly-constituted board of Maytas Infra, a company promoted by the kins of the scam-tainted Satyam Computer, on Saturday approved the draft Corporate Debt Restructuring (CDR) proposal prepared by the SBI Capital Markets.

The CDR proposal, aimed at restructuring the debt of the infrastructure company, will be taken up for final approval by the CDR cell, headed by IDBI Bank.

"The clearance (by the board) came after SBI Capital Markets, consultants to the CDR scheme, made a presentation to the board," the company release said.

Apart from board members, the major lenders of Maytas Infra were also present at the meeting to review the CDR, it added.

Although the company officials did not disclose the amount of CDR, the Hyderabad-based construction firm is believed to have debt of Rs 1,700 crore and an order book of Rs 8,500 crore.

Maytas board, the release said, also reviewed the status of various projects, including the Hyderabad metro rail project, being undertaken by the company on BOT basis.

"As the CDR scheme is likely to be approved soon, the Board is optimistic on the execution of various projects taken up by the company," the release said.

Following an order by the Company Law Board, the government had appointed four directors, including a Chairman, on the board of Maytas Infra.


courtesy : Zeenews.com

[nithyasubramanian]

RBI should come out with norms for verifying bank a/cs: SFIO

New Delhi, May 09: The Serious Fraud Investigation Office in its report on the Satyam fraud has suggested that the RBI should come out with definite guidelines for banks to issue balance confirmation certificates (BCC), to help auditors verify company accounts.

"(The) RBI may examine this (the procedure for issuing BCC) and issue necessary guidelines to ensure that forged balance confirmation certificates are not used for perpetration of fraud," the investigation arm of the Corporate Affairs Ministry said.

In case of Satyam, the statutory auditor Price Waterhouse relied on forged balance confirmation certificates produced by the Satyam management to certify accounts of the IT company.

The SFIO report further added that the auditors did not make any enquiry to ascertain the factual position on outstanding balance in current accounts and fixed deposits as required under ICAI directives.

"The... Lapse on the part of statutory auditors has enabled the Satyam executives to perpetrate a massive fraud, as it was noticed that... Many of the balance confirmation certificates were fake and forged," the report said.

Satyam, under disgraced founder B Ramalinga Raju, relied on forged fixed deposit receipts and bank accounts to present a rosy picture of the company. The company even paid taxes on interest on non-existing fixed deposits.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

[nithyasubramanian]

Fidelity reduces stake in Satyam Computer to 4.02%

Mumbai, May 09: Foreign fund house Fidelity has reduced its stake in beleaguered IT company Satyam Computer to 4.02 per cent after offloading shares worth Rs 55.80 crore, through an open market transaction.

Fidelity, through its various investment arms, offloaded 1.18 crore shares representing 1.76 per cent stake of Satyam Computer, the IT firm said in a disclosure on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Prior to the transaction, the fund house held a 5.77 per cent stake, while now it holds 4.02 per cent stake, or 2.70 crore shares, in Satyam Computer.

Earlier this month, Tech Mahindra completed the process for acquiring 31 per cent in Satyam Computer. Tech Mahindra, through its subsidiary Venturbay Consultants, had been alloted 30.27 crore shares, or 31 per cent stake, in the firm.

Last month, Tech Mahindra had outbid others in the race to acquire a majority stake in the scam-tainted IT firm, following which Venturbay had deposited Rs 1,756 crore in the escrow account as the subscription amount for the initial shares.

At the end of the March quarter, Fidelity through its arms -- the Fidelity Diversified International Fund and the Fid Funds (Mauritius) Ltd -- held 8.71 per cent stake in the company.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

[dwarakesh]

Satyam paid Rs 186.91 crore as tax over seven years on fictitious interest income on non-existent fixed deposits, said the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) in its report on the accounting scam in the IT firm.

Satyam Computer Services, under the leadership of its founder B Ramalinga Raju, paid excess tax on fictitious interest income from 2000-01 to 2007-08 on non-existent fixed deposits to prevent any "systematic falsification of accounts" from getting detected, said the SFIO report, the investigation arm of the Corporate Affairs Ministry.

Satyam, in the centre of the biggest accounting fraud in the country ever, is alleged to have shown fake fixed deposits of Rs 3,318.37 crore on its books of account, while the company had FDs worth only Rs 9.96 crore.

"The amount of excess taxes paid by the company between the financial year 2000-01 and 2007-08 is found to be Rs 186.91 crore, as worked out by investigation," the SFIO said in its report.

Noting that the Raju brothers (B Ramalinga Raju and B Rama Raju) were aware that no tax was payable on the false interest income, the report said "they deliberately misused the funds of the company to the detriment of its shareholders in making payment of taxes which were not due".

These falsifications helped the promoters in giving a rosy picture of the company and obtaining very high prices for their shares held in the name of their family members and front companies floated by them, the report said.

When questioned by the SFIO on why the company paid excess tax on fake income from non-existent fixed deposits, Raju had said the company should not have paid more tax than warranted by its performance.

Raju also told the investigating agency that he was unable to comment any further because of his lack of understanding of the issues involved.

On being asked about the persons who played a key role in the fraud, Raju said he took help from Vadlamani Srinivas (ex-CFO of Satyam) and G Ramakrishna (ex-auditor), who were reluctant partners.

Raju further said that Srinivas and Ramakrishna were executing things as per his instructions, though he was not aware of the mechanism.

source: economictimes

[nithyasubramanian]

Satyam no more a worthy rival of Infosys

New York, May 10: Scam-hit Satyam Computer may have embarked upon a revival path under the new owner Tech Mahindra, but it seems to have lost its place among the noteworthy competitors of its rival Indian IT service provider Infosys.

Before it was hit by the country's largest ever corporate fraud, admitted to by its founder and the then chairman B Ramalinga Raju in January, Satyam had been a regular on the list of competitors mentioned by Infosys in its annual report filings with the US market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission.

However, Satyam's name is conspicuously absent on Infosys' latest annual report filing for the financial year ended March 31, 2009.

Both Infosys and Satyam are listed in the US -- Infosys on the Nasdaq and Satyam on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

In its annual report filings, Infosys had been saying that it operates in "a highly competitive and rapidly changing market", while listing out among its rivals the names of Indian IT service providers such as TCS, Wipro, Satyam, HCL Technologies; ...

... business process outsourcing (BPO) firms like Genpact and WNS; and global players like IBM, HP, Cap Gemini, Oracle and SAP.

However, in its latest annual filing, Infosys has dropped the names Satyam as well as HCL.

The other names and factors about competition in Infosys' latest annual filing have remained broadly unchanged from the previous year.

Infosys has said that it competes with "consulting firms such as Accenture Limited, Atos Origin, BearingPoint Inc, Cap Gemini SA, and Deloitte Consulting LLP".

Besides, it also competes with divisions of large global technology firms such as HP and IBM; IT outsourcing firms such as Computer Sciences Corp, Keane, Logica and Perot Systems; and offshore technology services firms such as Cognizant, Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Technologies Ltd.

Other companies named as its competitors include "software firms such as Oracle Corporation and SAP AG; business process outsourcing firms such as Genpact Limited and WNS Global Services; and in-house IT departments of large corporations".

Infosys has further said that "in the future we expect competition from firms establishing and building their offshore presence and firms in countries with lower personnel costs than those prevailing in India".

Infosys has not clarified the grounds for Satyam's omission from the list of its competitors.

After Raju admitted in January this year to financial wrongdoings at Satyam for several years, the government superseded the company's board, and the new board later reached a deal to sell a majority stake to the Mahindra group's IT arm.

Tech Mahindra has acquired a 31 percent stake in Satyam through a preferential allotment of shares and has also made an open offer to acquire a further 20 percent.

courtesy : Zeenews.com

[dwarakesh]

Satyam investors seek Rs 5000 cr compensation over share crash

Investors have approached a consumer court in New Delhi against fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services, seeking compensation for the lost
value of the company's shares, taking inspiration from about six similar suits filed against the company by investors in the US.

Midas Touch Investors' Association (MTIA) has approached the National Consumer Redressal Commission seeking compensation of Rs 4,987.50 crore (about $1 billion) for three lakh Satyam shareholders, who lost their money when Satyam shares crashed to Rs 11.50 in January this year from Rs 544 last May. The scrip has now stabilised at about Rs 45.

Besides the company, the petition names Satyam's former promoters, ex-independent directors and the ex-auditor, Price Waterhouse, as respondents liable to pay compensation. This is the first time shareholders have approached a consumer court in the country for compensation for the losses suffered due to fall in share price. The court will hear the petition on Monday.

The investor body approached the consumer court as only this platform can order compensation for all goods sold, including shares and debentures, if there is a deficiency on the part of the seller.

MTIA is an investor protection panel which gets its resources from the investor education and protection fund maintained by the ministry of corporate affairs for taking up investor grievances with the government and regulators. The petition has been filed under section 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, which deals with the unfair practice of promoting sale of goods (shares, in this case) through false representation and deficiency in service, as well as, claim for damages.

Neither the Companies Act nor the rules governing capital markets provide for compensating shareholders for loss — whether it's the risk equity investors take or on account of fraud. MTIA says independent directors and auditors are appointed by shareholders at the annual general meeting for a service. If they fail in their duty, those who hired them — the shareholders — have a right to compensation under the consumer protection law.

The reports of the directors and auditors in Satyam were fictitious, says the association. "The responsibility of directors and statutory auditors to shareholders is evident from the fact that they address their reports to the shareholders of the company," said Virendra Jain, founder of MTIA.

source: economictimes

[dwarakesh]

Satyam loses four top execs

Four top guns are on their way out of the scam-hit IT major Satyam and buzz is that many senior functionaries of the firm will soon f
ollow suit.

Possibly speculating a realignment of roles by Tech Mahindra, senior vice presidents Virender Aggarwal and Gary Teelucksingh have put in their papers, according to sources. Aggarwal is the regional business unit head for Asia Pacific and Middle East and Teelucksingh is the senior vice president for Satyam Americas that includes Canada , Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Sources in the company said that two other important people, Krish Kumaraswamy, the SAP Technology Practice head and Ramesh Babu, the second in command for the SAP business unit have also quit. Senior industry analysts said that Kumaraswamy could have quit to join HCL that has recently bagged a major SAP project.

Industry analysts said that senior employees may have sensed Tech Mahindra's plan of action which may have included scrapping of some positions or appointing its own set of senior vice presidents.

"You move when your situation is good," said a senior industry source, explaining that quitting while holding a respectable senior position possibly appeared as a wise decision to the big shots of Satyam, who may have been able to bargain for good deals with other firms, which may not have been the case had TechM tampered with their positions.

"There could be concerns of some positions even ceasing to exist. After all, customers are drying up in regions like Middle East and Latin America," said a company source.

Of the four, sources say Virender Aggarwal is the biggest wicket, who not only spent 10 years in Satyam (he joined the company in 1999, leaving NIIT where he held the position of vice president) but played a key role in Satyam's expansion in other regions, particularly Singapore, where he was taking up Satyam's expansion plans since the year 2000.

source: indiatimes

[VelMurugan]

Satyam losing more clients

Two US-based clients of Satyam Computers, Agilent Technologies and Lowe's Companies, along with another banking sector client Euronet Worldwide, have terminated their contracts with the scam-hit IT firm.

The firm had been losing clients from the time the scam broke in January this year and Tech Mahindra's (TechM) takeover has not been able to arrest the trend.

Agilent, a measurement company, that withdrew its project last week, including a 24-hour customer support facility, had earlier terminated another ongoing project with Satyam in January, soon after news of B Ramalinga Raju's confession to the Rs 7,000-crore fraud broke.

While this project is said to have gone to TCS, sources indicate that the earlier project had been bagged by Hewlett Packard. "Agilent will prove to be a huge loss for us. Not only did it bring good business to the company, but also had close to 300 associates working on its projects," said a mid-management level Satyamite.

Many associates on the Agilent project until recently are now on the bench awaiting either a new project or a pink-slip. Lowe's, a chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores, also called off its project with Satyam recently. The project had close to 120 employees of the IT firm working on it.

"Any project which involves a team that has more than 50 members is considered to be big. Hence, this too was a big project and would definitely add to the woes of the company and its staffers," said another Satyamite.

Source : indiatimes

[sajiv]

Satyam has 10,000 excess staff: Tech Mahindra

New Delhi The chief executive of Tech Mahindra, which is taking over Satyam Computer Services, said on Friday the fraud-hit outsourcer had 10,000 excess staff on an employee base of 40,000.

Last month, Tech Mahindra won an auction for a controlling stake in New York-listed Satyam.

Satyam's founder and former chairman shocked investors in January by saying profits had been overstated for years, putting in doubt the survival of a company once ranked as India's fourth-largest software services exporter.

[sajiv]

Satyam looking at ways to cut costs

Favours out-of-court settlement with Upaid

Four more nominee directors on board

NEW DELHI: Concerned over rising cost hitting revenues, Satyam Computer Services on Friday said it was looking at cutting down costs.

"The customer front is good, stable. But costs are high... the revenues would be less," company Chairman Kiran Karnik told reporters here after a meeting with the board members and officials of Tech Mahindra, which is taking over Satyam Computer. The company discussed a host of cost-cutting measures that can be explored.

Tech Mahindra Chief Executive Vineet Nayyar said Satyam had 10,000 excess employees in its 40,000-strong headcount. The company was not looking at layoffs. It was exploring sabbatical and virtual bench strategy, Mr. Karnik said.

New auditors
Mr. Karnik said the new auditors, Deloitte and KPMG, made presentation at the meeting and said it would take minimum six months for restatement of the company's accounts.

On the protracted legal battle with U.K.-based mobile solution firm Upaid, Mr. Nayyar said an out-of-court settlement was favourable and the company would explore that option.

Meanwhile, in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, Satyam Computer said four nominee directors of Tech Mahindra, including its Chief Executive Vineet Nayyar, had been appointed on the board of the company, with effect from June 1. — PTI

[karthick]

'1 in 4 Satyam staff may lose job'

Panic has gripped employees of the beleaguered Satyam following Tech Mahindra boss Vineet Nayyar's statement on Friday that the Satyam scam-hit company has 10,000 excess employees on board. Satyam has less than 40,000 employees presently. '' One in four employees will lose his job.

This is very very bad news,'' a techie told TOI. '' Raju did us in first, and now this news. It's very hard on us,'' another employee said. A few thousand employees have already left Satyam in the last few months.

There was a mad rush of employees at the HR department of Satyam Associates who wanted to check whether Tech Mahindra would accommodate them in their ongoing projects in cities like Mumbai and Noida. '' The company had intimated to us about this option almost a month back.

But at that time not many were interested because of the relocation and added to the fact that salaries wouldn't have gone up.

But now we want to grab whatever is available,'' an employee said. But a departmental head at Satyam rationalized the situation . '' What else to do. By getting rid of 10,000 employees, the remaining 25,000 to 30,000 jobs can be saved.

Otherwise, with clients shrinking and no new business coming, the whole company will go phut in six months. There is just no business to support such a large staff,'' he told TOI. '' I' m drawing up a list of people in my department who have to be fired and it causes heartache to me to name people with who0m I have worked so closely.'' Many senior executives are exiting and many other will leave too.



source : economic times

[sajiv]

Satyam may sack 8,000 non-billable staff

New Delhi Satyam Computer is likely to sack most of its non-billable staff of up to 8,000 working in marketing, HR and administration wings, after Tech Mahindra takes charge of the company from June 1.

A Satyam official said there is no doubt that there will be large-scale sacking mostly of the support and non-billable staff (other than hardcore software engineers) once Tech Mahindra (the new owner of the company) directors come on board from June 1.

The surplus staff is about 10,000-12,000 and the 'least painful' ways of sacking is asking the bench, non-billable and support staff to go.

The company spokesperson, when contacted, said that at the moment these are mere speculations.

Sources also said the outsourcer may opt for "virtual pool" sacking method whereby the company would ask some of the staff to take 75 per cent of its salary and take one-year off and look for a job elsewhere with the fragile assurance that they would be recalled, if required.

Tech Mahindra CEO Vineet Nayyar, who will also come on board of Satyam from June after it acquired fraud hit company last month, had said last week that Satyam has about 10,000 surplus staff and "we are looking at the least painful ways to tackle the problem."

[dwarakesh]

Satyam may sack 8K non-billable staff

Satyam Computer is likely to sack most of its non-billable staff of up to 8,000 working in marketing, HR and administration wings, af
ter Tech Mahindra takes charge of the company from June 1.

A Satyam official said there is no doubt that there will be large-scale sacking mostly of the support and non-billable staff (other than hardcore software engineers) once Tech Mahindra (the new owner of the company) directors come on board from June 1.

The surplus staff is about 10,000-12,000 and the 'least painful' ways of sacking is asking the bench, non-billable and support staff to go. The company spokesperson, when contacted, said that at the moment these are mere speculations.

Sources also said the outsourcer may opt for "virtual pool" sacking method whereby the company would ask some of the staff to take 75 per cent of its salary and take one-year off and look for a job elsewhere with the fragile assurance that they would be recalled, if required.

This is the bad news for the already tormented Satyam employees.

Source: indiatimes

[VelMurugan]

Satyam may sack 8K non-billable staff

Satyam Computer is likely to sack most of its non-billable staff of up to 8,000 working in marketing, HR and administration wings, after Tech Mahindra takes charge of the company from June 1.

A Satyam official said there is no doubt that there will be large-scale sacking mostly of the support and non-billable staff (other than hardcore software engineers) once Tech Mahindra (the new owner of the company) directors come on board from June 1.

The surplus staff is about 10,000-12,000 and the 'least painful' ways of sacking is asking the bench, non-billable and support staff to go. The company spokesperson, when contacted, said that at the moment these are mere speculations.

Sources also said the outsourcer may opt for "virtual pool" sacking method whereby the company would ask some of the staff to take 75 per cent of its salary and take one-year off and look for a job elsewhere with the fragile assurance that they would be recalled, if required.

Source : indiatimes

[VelMurugan]

Satyam needs CVC nod for PSU bids

Giving exemption to Satyam Computer to make bids for business from the PSUs without readying its accounts may require permission from the Central Vigilance Commission and Comptroller and Auditor General of India, chief of PSUs' body SCOPE has said.

"The guidelines which PSUs have to follow are (under) the purview of the CVC, CAG on how tenders are to be awarded and how we have to scrutinise the offer. Probably, we have to make a reference to the Central Vigilance Commission whether they will allow such a thing," Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE) Chairman Arup Roy Choudhury said.

He said individual public sector firms would also have to consult their administrative ministries. While granting a waiver to the beleaguered IT firm is possible, it is not going to be so easy, he said.

"It is a little difficult, some approval, some procedural clearances are required," Choudhury told PTI.Earlier this month, the Corporate Affairs Ministry had written to various ministries including telecom, railways and steel seeking directions for public sector units (PSUs) under their administrative control for exempting Satyam from submitting audited balance sheets while bidding for projects of the state-owned firms.

Satyam Computer, since been taken over by Tech Mahindra, has not been able to finalise its accounts as massive accounting frauds were admitted by its founder Chairman B Ramalinga Raju in January.

Source : indiatimes

[sajiv]

Satyam: further delay in variable pay disbursement

CHENNAI: The recent acquisition of Satyam by Tech Mahindra has created more troubles for Satyam employees.

Three of the top executives of Satyam BPO put in their papers to seek better opportunities.

According to official sources, the three senior managers include Naresh Jhangiani, Satyam BPO Global Head (Human Resources), V. Satyanandam (Head of corporate services), and Kulwinder Singh (Head of marketing-Asia Pacific).

The sources have also indicated that the variable payments, which were due from January to March, 2009, have not been paid so far. Even though the company had assured the employees that the variable pay would be paid/disbursed by April, till date it had not been done.

Instead, a circular from the head of Human Resources of Satyam has been forwarded to the employees stating further delay in the payment. Sources said that these variables were given to employees when the company was under government control.

The sources also pointed out that there had been lay-offs even though the new owner, Tech Mahindra, had assured that there would be no retrenchment in spite of excess staff of 8,000.

However, according to a Satyam spokesperson, apart from Jhangiani, the other two executives are from middle management. They had put in their papers a month or two ago.

He also maintained that the exit of the three people would have no impact on the company.

"The company is looking at smoothening the process and no significant impact is expected on the daily operations as these executives work for supporting teams," he said.

Satyam had announced on May 22 that the appointment of Venturbay directors on the board would be effective from June 1. However, the board has now decided to advance the effective date to May 27. Vineet Nayyar has been designated as whole-time director of the company effective June 1.

[sajiv]

Satyam's Australia chief quits

Melbourne IT firm Satyam Computer's Australia chief Deepak Nangia has quit from his high profile role, in pursuit of greener pastures, a media report says.

The local head of IT company Satyam Computer services in Melbourne, Nangia was quoted saying by The Australian, "I left the company about three weeks ago to pursue other opportunities."

He joined Satyam in 2002 and during his tenure, Nangia built Satyam Australia into a 200-million-Aus-dollars company, securing blue-chip clients such as Telstra, NAB and Qantas.

According to a company spokesperson, Satyam has identified a successor and an announcement would be made soon.

The report said Nangia, along with his other teammates, has been working overtime to retain Satyam's clients.

However, some clients, including Telstra and NAB, have either decided to cut all ties or reduce their engagement with the Indian firm due to the accounting fraud saga.

The firm's bid to build a USD 75-million software facility at Deakin University in Geelong, Melbourne, also remains in limbo more than a year after it was announced.

Late last year, Nangia had said Satyam employed about 1,000 people locally, with an additional 700 workers in India servicing Australian customers.

Over the past few months, other senior executives have left the firm, including the head of Satyam's Asia-Pacific unit, Virender Agarwal, the report said.

Agarwal has been replaced by TR Anand, global head of Satyam's telco unit.

[VelMurugan]

Finmin mulls Satyam special audit

The Finance Ministry is evaluating options of conducting a special audit of scam-tainted IT firm Satyam Computer's accounts to ascertain the company's tax liability.

A decision on this will be taken after the tax authorities go through the report of the Serious Fraud Investigations Office, (SFIO) which they have requested from the Corporate Affairs Ministry.

"We have written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to provide us the SFIO report on Satyam Computer," a source said. Recently, the income-tax authorities conducted a special audit of the accounts of several firms including real estate major DLF, which got a tax notice of about Rs 400 crore.

However, in the case of Satyam, the tax department may not conduct a special audit if reports from other government agencies like the SFIO serve the purpose.

"We may or may not order a special audit as that may further delay the (tax assessment) order. If our points are covered in the reports filed by other agencies, we don't need to conduct a special audit," the source said.

The IT department does a special audit for accounts found to be inaccurate under Section 142 (2A) of the Income-Tax Act.
Under that Act, an assessing officer "in the interest of revenue" can order a special audit of the accounts of a company.

The tax department has been scrutinising the company documents for about two to three weeks after getting the papers, which were with the Criminal Investigation Department of the Andhra Pradesh government and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

"Recently they have allowed us to inspect the documents. It has been about 2-3 weeks that we have been inspecting the documents, which were earlier in the possession of the CID and CBI," the source said.

Source : indiatimes

[Kalyan]

Satyam to sweeten layoff terms

A majority of the 10,000 excess staff at Satyam Computer Services are set to be offered 40% of their salary for six months in what can be termed as a severance package being firmed up by the beleaguered IT firm.

[sajiv]

Satyam appoints country manager for ANZ region

HYDERABAD: Satyam Computer Services Ltd. on Monday announced the appointment of Venki Prathivadi as the new country manager and Vijay Prasad as the new principal advisor for Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).

Mr. Prathivadi will direct all Satyam activities in the two countries, including the major solution centres in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

A long time resident of Australia, Mr. Prathivadi worked as a consultant in SAP and EDS before moving to Satyam in 2003. His most recent position was delivery director for a leading Australian telecommunications provider. Mr. Prasad, one of Satyam's senior-most executives, nurtured the Enterprise Applications and Business Intelligence Group, and served as CIO.

In his new post, Mr. Vijay Prasad will provide advisory services to build delivery excellence and leadership in the ANZ region.

The appointments were announced by T.R. Anand, Director and Senior Vice-President of Satyam.

[sharmila banu.m]

Three senior support managers at Satyam Computer's BPO unit -- Naresh Jhangiani, global head (HR); V Satyanandam, head, corporate services; and Kulwinder Singh, head, marketing, Asia Pacific) -- have reportedly resigned. The Business Standard quoted a company spokesperson as saying, "There would be no impact on the company of their (three managers') exit. The company is looking at smoothening the process, and no significant impact is expected on the daily operations, as these executives work for supporting teams."


SOURCE - BPOTimes.com
DATE - 02.06.2009

[sharmila banu.m]

Satyam Computer Services, a global consulting and information technology services company has announced the appointment of Venki Prathivadi as the new country manager for Satyam Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). Satyam has also appointed Vijay Prasad as principal advisor to the ANZ region.

Venki will direct all Satyam activities in the two countries, including customer relationship management, solution development, service delivery, sales and support. Satyam operates major solution centers across Australia in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Venki Prathivadi replaces Deepak Nangia, who left the company for personal reasons.

The company made this announcement during the trading hours today, 01 June 2009


SOURCE - NDTV PROFIT
DATE - 03.06.2009

[sharmila banu.m]

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday urged the designated court for CBI to dispose off its petition pending before it and grant permission to record the statements of Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju and four other accused in the multi-crore rupee scam in the IT firm.

The Directorate's petition filed in the XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court has been pending since April 6 which sought permission of the court to record the statements of the accused in the jail.

The Enforcement Directorate's counsel Raju Avasthi and P Prasad pleaded the court to allow the agency to examine and record the statements of the accused to find out whether there was any violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Directorate is an empowered agency under PMLA and there are the questions to be put before the accused to ascertain sources of income, Avasthi argued.

The agency wanted to examine only financial crime of the accused as properties generated by them were allegedly purchased with money diverted by the company's account, he contended.

The Directorate wanted to record the statements of Raju brothers and Satyam's former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas, and two former auditors of Price Waterhouse S Gopalakrishnan and his deputy Talluri Srinivas.

However, counsel S R Ashok, appearing on behalf of Ramalinga Raju, and Ravinder Reddy, counsel for Rama Raju, opposed the petition saying that when the case was filed on bases of fudging of accounts and non-existence of money, there was no question of diverting the fund from the company.

As the defence lawyers sought more time for arguments, judge K Sudhkar posted the case for further hearing to June 3.

The judge also posted the hearing on the petition of CBI for conducting lie-detector test on Ramalinga Raju and two others to June 8 as the defence counsels urged the court to re-open the petition for further arguments.

The petition of CBI to subject Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju and Vadlamani to a lie-detector test is pending in the court since March 24.



SOURCE - ZEENEWS.COM
DATE - 04.06.2009

[sharmila banu.m]

New Delhi:

The full board meeting of Satyam Computer is likely to be held on June 11 after its new owner Tech Mahindra assumed charge and the board may draw a consensus on the sensitive issue of laying off as many as 5,000 employees in phases.

Sources said the meeting is scheduled to be held on next Thursday or Friday and for the first time the full board -- six government-nominated members and four member from Tech Mahindra (through its arm Venturebay Consultants)—will discuss the business strategies.

A company spokesperson said as and when the meeting takes place, there will be comprehensive discussions on all related issues. He, however, did not divulge details of the agenda or whether or not the meeting would look at ways on how to rationalise the employee strength.

Sources said given the sensitivities of the situation,

the board is likely to draw a consensus on the 'lay-offs' to be undertaken which may take the shape of keeping 5,000-10,000 people on the bench (reserve).

Tech Mahindra CEO Vineet Nayar had recently said Satyam has 10,000 surplus staff and the company would look at the 'least painful' ways to handle the situation.

"It is a question of revival and viability", they said.

Last week Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurseed had said the government will not turn a blind eye to any lay-offs in Satyam.

Sources said the company may be forced to ask about 5,000 employees to leave out of the support staff, who are not on the software projects.



SOURCE - INDIAN EXPRESS.COM
DATE - 06.06.09

[Kalyan]

It's end of the road for 10,000 Satyam staff


It was a pink Friday at Satyam Computer Services, as over 10,000 employees of the beleaguered IT firm were preparing for an unhappy holiday. Over one fourth of Satyam's workforce was a part of the virtual pool, an exercise implemented by its new owner Tech Mahindra to downsize the excess staff.

The Pune-based IT firm had announced a plan to send the excess staff on a sabbatical to address higher staff costs, which account for more than half of the company's expenses currently. The pool constitutes of about 14,000 associates, who were on bench for the last three months.

The usual din at the Satyam headquarters was replaced by an unusual silence as anxious employees paced in and out of the campus.

ET spoke to associates from various bands categorised under the virtual pool. In a mail to the employees, the Satyam management asked to them to pursue other interests for the stipulated timeframe. These employees will now have to come to the company with a prior appointment even on a day-to-day basis.

All the associates are classified under bands with the ascending levels being S, T, B and I. "The management is not clear on the criteria for the classification. I was on the bench for the first time since I joined the company three years ago. We are left with no choice, as the job markets continue to remain cold. Not only this, we will not be able to bargain better salaries despite our experience," said an employee from the T band.

Most of the virtual pool employees are under the S and T band. "It's just a sugar-coated way of asking us to leave the company. We are now worried about our personal financial obligations. With the reduced salary, we will not be able to meet any of them," said another employee, who was with the company for six years.

However, when contacted the company spokesperson said the virtual pool programme gives employees an opportunity to come back depending on the   business demand. They will continue to be a part of Satyam and have to resource for their skill enhancement programmes from home, he said. Under the virtual pool, an associate can draw about 40% of his current salary, including medical insurance and provident fund for a period of four to six months.

"In spite of drawing a merit rating in the performance assessment, the virtual pool initiative was imposed on me. It comes as a shock," said a Satyam employee.

Not just them, but associates, who have not yet been given the lighter shade of pink slip, are jittery about their future. "Many employees are currently dismayed as the future is uncertain. I can also be on the hit list in the next couple of months," said a senior executive.

Few employees also retaliated that a much stronger move in line with the public sector units would have saved the employees. "A public sector unit will never pass on the losses to the staff. Though it's hard to expect the IT sector to work in these lines, a staff union in place would have helped us," said an agitated employee.

For most Satyamites, the virtual pool programme means the end of an ambitious and illustrious career at the firm that was India's fourth largest IT exporter.

[dwarakesh]

Satyam calls back 400 virtual bench employees

According to the latest report, Satyam Computers has called back about 400 people who were asked to sit on the virtual bench.

Last week, Satyam had announced that it plans a Virtual Pool Programme (VPP) to address the issue of excess employees, which will be one-time programme aimed at addressing staff costs while retaining talent within the company.

According to Tech Mahindra, the new owner, the surplus employees would be put in a separate pool and would be paid basic salary, provident fund and medical insurance, and at a later stage if they still needed a job they would be considered for employment. They also said they can be called back when required as regular employees.

It is designed to cover associates who have not been in billable roles for three months or more and includes support resources.

source: itvoir

[sajiv]

Satyam Computers is now Mahindra SatyamHyderabad:

Two months after taking over scam-tainted Satyam Computer Services, Tech Mahindra today renamed the IT major as Mahindra Satyam.

The logo will be adopted from the Mahindra Group. "This strategic move paves the way for the emergence of a robust brand, which draws from the core values of the Mahindra group and the inherent strength of the Satyam brand," said a company statement here today evening.

"Customer centricity, high standards of corporate governance, unimpeachable ethics form the cornerstones of the Mahindra Group," said Mahindra Group vice chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra.

"This rebranding exercise symbolizes an amalgamation of the Mahindra Group's values with Satyam's fabled expertise, even as it retains that part of Satyam's identity which signifies commitment, purpose and proficiency of the organization and its people," the statement said.

Satyam's executive vice chairman Vineet Nayyar described the move as "a significant milestone towards the recovery of the company".

Tech Mahindra, owned by the $6.3 billion Mahindra Group, bought the scam-hit IT company in an open auction in April.

The re-branding comes six months after Satyam's founder and then chairman B. Ramalinga Raju confessed to a Rs.78-billion accounting fraud.

The government launched a probe, superseded the board, and put the company up for sale in open auction.

Ramalinga Raju, his brother Rama Raju, former chief financial officer Vadlamani Srinivas and five other accused are currently in jail. (IANS)

[VelMurugan]

Satyam to cut jobs if orders languish

Satyam Computer Services Ltd's 8,500 employees placed on a so-called "virtual pool" may have their positions eliminated in six months if the company fails to find them work, Executive Vice Chairman Vineet Nayyar said.

"We are hoping that this doesn't happen, that things will pick up, but yes, there is a possibility," Nayyar, former chief executive officer of Satyam's new owner Tech Mahindra Ltd., said in a telephone interview.

Satyam will release a reorganisation plan to cut costs and help retain customers after a stock collapse prompted by founder Ramalinga Raju's admission in January that he overstated assets by $1 billion.

Raju's disclosure triggered India's biggest corporate fraud probe and a distress sale of the Hyderabad-based provider to Tech Mahindra in April to prevent an exodus of clients and employees.

Satyam, which said it had about 48,000 employees at the time Tech Mahindra agreed to buy it, has 8,500 employees on a "virtual bench" because of a lack of orders, Chief Executive Officer Chander Prakash Gurnani said.

Source : indiatimes

[sajiv]

HC allows US court to secure documents in Satyam fraud case

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today allowed a request of US district court to examine witnesses and secure documents related to accounting
fraud in Satyam Computer (now Mahindra Satyam) from IT industry body NASSCOM.

Justice S Ravindra Bhatt allowed the plea of UPAID Systems, a British mobile solutions company which had claimed USD 1 billion compensation from Satyam alleging that fraudulent activities by the IT firm caused huge losses.

UPAID Systems had approached the District Court of Texas and the US Court had issued a letter of request for recording and deposition of witnesses and answers of some written questions regarding fraud by Satyam from NASSCOM.

To get it implemented in India, UPAID Systems had approached the Delhi High Court.

After hearing the plea, Justice Bhatt appointed advocate Jayant Tripathi to obtain the written testimony of the NASSCOM to be submitted in the US court.

UPAID Systems had submitted in the US court that NASSCOM's testimony was important in the matter as Mahindra Satyam was its member and the founder of the firm, B Ramalinga Raju, was former Chairman of the industry body.

It alleged that negligent misrepresentation, forgery and breach of contract by Mahindra Satyam. Satyam has sold some geographical patterns to UPAID, which allegedly turned out to be invalid. The suit is still pending in the US court.

[sajiv]

Satyam shareholder's plea dismissed

HYDERABAD: The bid by a shareholder of Satyam Computer Services Pvt. Ltd to reopen the issue of superseding its Board of Directors by the Company Law Board and other consequential actions could not fructify at the initial stage itself.

Justice V. V. S. Rao of the High Court, the designated judge to hear cases arising out of Companies Act, on Tuesday dismissed the petition filed by Manohar Lal Sharma, who said that he was a shareholder. Complaining that the shareholders had not been consulted and taken into confidence when the new board was appointed, the petitioner said that the Company Law Board could not act unilaterally.

The preliminary issue of limitation went against the petitioner and the petition was filed beyond the time limit fixed by the Companies Act, they said. Justice Rao said that the court could not extend the period indicated in the statute and dismissed the petition filed for condoning the delay. As this preliminary petition was dismissed, the main case will not be taken up for hearing and cannot proceed further.

[sajiv]

Mahindra Satyam: no total biz turnaround yet

Indian IT services firm Mahindra Satyam is winning new outsourcing deals, but business is yet to see a total turnaround as some cautious clients wait for stability to return to the company before loosening their purse strings, an official said.

While there have not been any major client losses since April, some customers continue to keep Mahindra Satyam on their "watch list" to track its performance for about six months, said Atul Kunwar, head of operations in Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa and India.

Mahindra Satyam was earlier known as Satyam Computer Services. Satyam was acquired by India's Tech Mahindra in an auction in April after the firm was hit by India's biggest corporate fraud that was revealed in January.

"Definitely, there is a sense of optimism that has started to come back but it isn't something that's windfall kind of a situation right now," Kunwar told Reuters in a phone interview from his Mumbai office on Monday.

"I won't say that we have crossed the hump," he said. "The momentum is starting to build (but) it is not that it has reached critical mass kind of a thing."

Shares in Mahindra Satyam, which counts General Electric Co, Citigroup and Cisco Systems Inc among its clients, fell 1.2 percent to 103.35 rupees in the main Mumbai market that rose 1.6 percent.

While the stock is down 39 percent in 2009, it has more than doubled since April 13 when Tech Mahindra -- majority owned by Mahindra & Mahindra -- won a competitive bidding to acquire fraud-hit Satyam.

However, brokerage CLSA said in a report on July 23 that the assumption about customer losses being over was "overly simplistic" and that stabilising operations amid a challenging global economic environment was tougher than thought earlier.

"In fact, until clarity emerges on Satyam's financials, we would refrain from valuing Satyam as a going concern itself since client losses can linger on for several quarters," it said.

Mahindra Satyam is in the process of restating its accounts.

NEW OUTSOURCING WINS

Kunwar said Mahindra Satyam was seeing good business momentum in the geographies excluding the United States, with the company "actively participating" in some deals in Europe that could bring in revenues of about $50 million over four to five years.

"Europe is actually, from the point of view of looking at all these terrains, moving faster towards getting the momentum."

The company has also won new deals in Africa in the last couple of weeks, Kunwar said, but declined to give details as the information was not public yet. In India, the company is bidding for a "large number" of government deals.

Non-U.S. regions bring in about 50 percent of Mahindra Satyam's revenue and the firm expects a sharp surge in India, Africa and the Middle East businesses in about two years, Kunwar later told Reuters TV in an interview, but did not give details.

In June, Satyam had announced a "virtual pool" programme under which about 8,500 employees, who had not been working on any outsourcing project for three months, were sent home for up to six months on a reduced salary structure to cut costs.

About 1,200 employees from the programme have already been asked to return following new outsourcing wins, Kunwar said.

[sajiv]

Satyam to sack chunk of seniors

Hyderabad: "Either you leave or we will make you leave."That's the message the new management of fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services -- or Mahindra Satyam as it is known now -- is sending out to at least 900 senior employees in the rank of general managers, senior managers, assistant vice-presidents and vice-presidents, according to sources.

The company has about 1,500 of them, of which about 600 have been given new roles as part of organisational restructuring. The rest, said sources, are in the line of fire.

Satyam categorises its employee pool into three segments -- billable, non-billable support and non-billable bench.

The billable employees are the ones that keep the cash registers ringing. The non-billable support category, as the name suggests, is into support services including managerial functions and administrative roles. It is this segment that is in the crosshairs.

"Suddenly, the organisation feels we are overheads. In fact, a senior employee can never be put into billable category. We are paid to train and keep ready people who can be deployed in billable functions. The change in the organisational culture after Tech Mahindra took us over is creating some friction," a senior employee, who has been informed about his name figuring in the to-be-axed list, told DNA.

A Mahindra Satyam spokesperson called it 'rumours'."It is a fact that we gave an offer to some employees to find a job. We also told them to take home four months' basic pay and an experience certificate in case they find a better option instead of two months basic as per the agreement we have with them. But, the number you are saying (900) is not correct. It is not possible for the company to maintain its operations by firing so many seniors," Mahindra Satyam's chief people's officer Hari T said.

Excess staff is being accommodated in various other functions and sometimes being shown as available resources to other Mahindra companies, he said.

But according to employee sources, about 20 human resources executives have been given the job of liaisoning with the identified senior employees.

"The deal is straight. They are willing to offer us four months basic and an experience certificate in case we volunteer to quit. Otherwise, they are threatening to terminate us by giving us two months basic salary and a termination letter. In this market, it is difficult to find a new job with a termination letter on hand," an employee explained.

The tactics are not going down well in the company though the employees are still weighing the option of seeking a legal recourse.

"Starting with Ram Mynampati (the interim CEO appointed by Ramalinga Raju) to Vineet Nayyar (of Tech Mahindra), everyone assured the employees that there is no threat from the new management. But, no one stuck to what they said," another employee said.

In fact, the senior employees also recall that they were pressed into action immediately after the founder of the company Raju caused the unbelievable crisis by confessing to committing an accounting fraud.

"We were the ones to keep the flock together during the crisis. Now, we are being treated as overhead. Interestingly, the government seems to have given an unprecedented immunity to the new management and is not willing to take care of the welfare of the employees," the source said.

[sajiv]

Satyam scam: ED seizes Raju properties worth 1k cr

The Enforcement Directorate seized 287 properties worth Rs 1,000 crore belonging to the Ramalinga Raju brothers of scam-hit Satyam Computers on Tuesday, Aug 25.

The ED took over the assets on the grounds that the properties were acquired with the scam money, TNN report said.

The attachment would considered these properties ineligible for any sale, mortgage and any other similar transaction.

ED officials also seized 38 lakh Satyam shares from SRSR Holdings which is said to be worth Rs 24 crore in the current market price.

The properties attached were shown as agricultural by the Rajus but in reality are prime commercial plots in and around Hyderabad, Chennai , Bangalore and Nagpur.

The ED's attachment order, issued on Aug 18, states that the accused had purchased these properties with an amount of Rs 170 crore in the name of 80 companies they floated between 2005 and 2009.

[sajiv]

Sathyam multiplex at Express Avenue soon

CHENNAI: Sathyam Cinemas will open its second multiplex at Express Avenue, a shopping mall that is coming up on Anna Salai.

Announcing this here on Tuesday, Chief Operating Officer of Sathyam Cinemas Tan Ngaronga said that the multiplex would have eight screens - six small with a seating capacity of around 150 each and two screens with 300 seats each.

Other features include digitally enabled screens and RDX technology for high definition digital movie projection besides plush seating arrangements. The multiplex would be integrated with the mall where top retail brands would be present, he said. Sathyam Cinemas is planning expansions in Andhra Pradesh and more facilities in Chennai.

The proposed mall is more of an extension of the existing multiplex, he said. "Chennai's market is expanding at a fast pace. Audience here demand a variety of movies – from Hollywood to Hindi and Tamil. Even other regional language films do extremely well here. We decided to split screens to offer choices to audience rather than merging all the space into two or three screens," Mr. Ngaronga said.

[karthick]

The CBI will soon file a second chargesheet against former disgraced Chairman of Satyam Computer B Ramalinga Raju as it claimed to have unearthed more financial frauds like siphoning off money from the company, which may have caused loss to the shareholders.

Sources in the CBI said that Raju's confessional statement after the scam came to light earlier this year was an attempt by him to divulge only what he wanted to, while keeping other alleged financial frauds under wraps.

The sources said the investigators had found some more clues of alleged financial frauds of siphoning off money from Satyam and re-routing it to other front companies floated by the accused.

The agency, on April 7, had filed a chargesheet against Raju and eight others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and forgery.

The CBI had submitted 1,532 original documents of bank transactions and 65,000-pages of other documents, which included the statements of 432 witnesses in the case along with the chargesheet.

The sources said a close scrutiny of the documents showed siphoning of money to some tax haven countries and later re-routing it back into the country. The Agency has also sought permission to investigate the overseas findings of the scam-tainted computer firm.

The agency is also probing the role of a prominent stock broker for alleged management of funds of the firm, which necessitates further investigation.

[Kalyan]

Satyam trail: CBI arrests internal audit head Gupta

The CBI arrested Satyam's internal audit head V S Prabhakar Gupta for allegedly fabricating account books, just days before it is due to file a second chargesheet in the multi-crore fraud at the IT firm.

The CBI spokesman here said the agency has arrested Gupta, head of internal audit of Satyam Computer (now Mahindra Satyam), after his "role came to light now."

The spokesman said he has been arrested after being "arraigned as an additional accused (he was not named in the FIR filed in January). He has been produced before the court and has been remanded to judicial custody till November 26."

While the spokesman refused to divulge any further information about Gupta, sources in the agency claimed that the auditor had helped in falsifying accounts including inflating the overseas employees pay bill.

The arrest comes just few days ahead of the CBI preparing to file a second chargesheet, as the team probing the case returned from Mauritius with some bank details from the island nation.

The CBI team had gone to probe the alleged diversion of funds by disgraced Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju to Mauritius for re-routing it back to fictitious firms set up by the accused in India, the sources said.

The CBI, which is probing the Rs 10,000-crore accounting fraud - the largest in Indian corporate history, has found during its investigations that Raju had diverted large amounts to Mauritius -- a tax haven --from where the money was brought back to India via several European countries, sources said.

CBI filed the first chargesheet on April 7 this year. The CBI, after filing the second chargesheet, will later travel to the US and probe the transactions made in the Current Accounts maintained in Bank of Baroda's New York branch, and a non-existent balance of Rs 1,733 crore has been found till date.

The CBI, which set up a multi-disciplinary investigation team, including officials from the Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate and RBI, has claimed the money involved in the scam is nearly Rs 10,000 crore, more than what was stated by Raju in his confessional note in January this year.

[Kalyan]

Raju goes back to jail from Nims

Officially speaking, Ramalinga Raju went missing from official records since Wednesday night only to surface at Chanchalguda jail 24

hours later on Thursday night. Raju was 'discharged' from the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences on the night of November 25 but he did not go back to the prison the same day.

Instead, on Thursday, 'discharged patient' Raju was still enjoying the comforts of his private room at NIMS until late evening even as Chanchalguda jail authorities claimed they were awaiting communication from the hospital or the escort team that was keeping a vigil on him.

Sources said that the hospital received a letter from the jail authorities on Wednesday saying that there was a delay in treating Raju for his illness. The letter also warned the management that if any problem arose, the hospital authorities would be held responsible.

Reacting to the letter, the head of cardiology department, under whose care he was admitted, was asked to discharge Raju on the same day. Since the time Raju was 'discharged' on Wednesday night, the hospital authorities on Thursday refused to talk saying that they had discharged him and no medical aid was given after that.

But ironically, he stayed put up in one of the VIP private rooms at the hospital where he had stayed since September 25. He was admitted to hospital on September 7 after he suffered a mild heart attack.

While the hospital authorities told the media that they were waiting for a vehicle to be arranged by the prison authorities, till late night on Thursday, he was accommodated in the same room and the vehicle was nowhere in sight. But there was a lot of activity around his room with a posse of policemen in uniform and in plainclothes moving in and out of his room, appearing busy.

[Kalyan]

Mahindra Satyam has won a Rs 100-crore ($20 million) outsourcing contract from the world's largest maker of commercial aircraft,  Airbus, to manage its internal quality and processes.

Sources said the three-year contract involving technology maintenance, will put Satyam at a vantage point as they can now have an overview of the projects and technology which controls the organisation. "The work outsourced mainly includes quality management," said a person familiar with the matter.

An email query to Mahindra Satyam and Airbus remained unanswered at the time of this report going to press. This is the second important contract Mahindra Satyam has bagged in the last few months.

It won an IT outsourcing contract last month from Swedish defence and aerospace firm, Saab, to develop its operations for the global defence and security market in India in a deal valued at around $300 million.

The five-year contract, includes providing tech support for engineering services and maintenance. This will enable both the companies jointly address the battlefield management system (BMS) for the Indian Army.

Mahindra Satyam said it has initiated the task of setting up a centre of excellence for network centric warfare (CoE NCW). The centre will be used for mission critical applications such as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence solutions and homeland security.

Experts like Chethan Kambi, senior research analyst for aerospace and defence practices at Frost & Sullivan, says that projects like the one outsourced by Airbus includes a gamut of IT operations ranging from human resources management, exchange of work to even sending emails.

"Aircraft makers have to exchange information across their multiple offices across the world through highly-effective IT networks," he said.

Experts said such kind of work also deals with testing and development of software, which ultimately goes on the aircraft.

"This kind of work outsourced to Indian IT companies brings 15-18 per cent efficiency," an expert said.

Mahindra Satyam counts Cisco , Nissan, GE, Citigroup and GlaxoSmithKline, as its top five clients. Over the last four months, the company gained 32 new customers.