Two Colorado Springs boys reported missing

Font ResizeLocal NewsBy Ryan Parker
The Denver Postdenverpost.comPosted: 12/24/2012 07:01:11 AM MSTDecember 24, 2012 2:5 PM GMTUpdated: 12/24/2012 07:05:35 AM MST

Colorado Springs police are asking for the public's help in locating two boys.

Johnny Gordon,15, and Eric Woods, 14, were reported missing from a mobile home park at 4825 Astrozon Blvd., according to a Colorado Springs police news release.

The report of the missing boys came in at 6:51 p.m. Sunday.

According to police, the boys disappearance "appears to be out of character."

Anyone with information regarding the boys whereabouts should contact police at 719-444-7000 or remain anonymous through crime stoppers at 719-634-STOP.

Ryan Parker: 303-954-2409, rparker

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Nose Job: Mosul Men go Under Knife for Good Looks

By Saleh Elias.

This article was originally published by Niqash. Any opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News.

Business is booming, say cosmetic surgeons in one of Iraq’s most dangerous cities. It’s not just Botox for ladies either. Apparently the biggest increase is in young men who want more attractive noses.

The Mosul clinic run by Dr Sadallah al-Zako is full almost all day, every day. For five working days of the week it’s crowded with people from all age and social groups. What they have in common: they want to look nicer.

Al-Zako is a member of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons and he was the first to introduce cosmetic surgery to the city of Mosul in 1987. And now, as he told NIQASH, cosmetic surgery is on the increase.

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Iraq Gets 2 New Navy Ships

Video: Thousands Protest Govt ‘Sectarianism’ Iraqi Kurdistan Trade Mission – 24 Feb to 1 March 2013 Nose Job: Mosul Men go Under Knife for Good Looks Categorized

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Iraq Boosts Gold Reserves

Iraq Gets 2 New Navy Ships Video: Thousands Protest Govt ‘Sectarianism’ Iraqi Kurdistan Trade Mission – 24 Feb to 1 March 2013 Nose Job: Mosul Men go Under Knife for Good Looks Categorized

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Social media, cloud computing hold promise for Indian IT in 2013

Year 2012 was a mixed one for the top five IT services firms. Reuters

Factors like weakening rupee, high production input prices, hike in borrowing costs, and geo-political situation continued to plague the industry in 2012.

These along with domestic policy paralysis prompted software services industry body Nasscom to lower growth forecast for 2012-13 for IT-BPO exports to 11-14 percent from previous fiscal’s target of 16-18 per cent growth.

IT companies seem to be ready for this new “normal” and are now embracing technologies like social media, cloud, analytics and mobility (SCAM) to optimise and ensure efficiency in business environment, all within flat or lower than usual IT budgets.

While the global macroeconomic scenario remains uncertain in the coming years, the industry will continue to exhibit resilience and adaptability in continually reinventing itself to retain its appeal to clients, Nasscom said.

“The year 2012 has been a landmark year for the Indian IT industry… At such a large base, we expect the industry to clock double digit growth in FY 2013 which exhibits that despite global uncertainties, IT-BPM industry has moved from efficiency to effectiveness,” it added in an emailed response.

2012 was a mixed one for the top five IT services firms. While Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies and Cognizant saw good growth, Infosys and Wipro lagged peers. TCS and HCL Technologies have registered quarterly revenue growth 13 percent and 17 percent in dollar terms, while both Infosys and Wipro registered under 5 percent growth.

Also, Infosys slashed its revenue growth outlook to five percent for FY2012-13 and suspended its practice of giving quarterly guidance, while Wipro hived off its non-IT businesses like Consumer Care & Lighting into a new company to focus exclusively on IT.

Cognizant continued to give strong competition to its counterparts, pushing Infosys to the third spot in the top Indian IT services players tally with growth of over 20 percent. Though it is not listed in India , Cognizant is often referred to as an Indian entity with three-fourth of its over 1.50 lakh employees being based here.

Overall, the companies remain confident of growth and opportunities in 2013. HCL Technologies Senior Corporate Vice President Shami Khorana said though the macro environment will continue to be challenging in 2013 with flat IT budgets, the outlook remains positive.

“We continue to maintain a positive outlook focussing energies on the US and Europe re-bid market,” he said. TCS CEO and MD N Chandrasekaran is also upbeat about the industry’s growth. “When history looks back at this era, it will be remembered for the huge technology and digital transformation we are now living through, not the economic turbulence.”

According to him, four “powerful” technologies

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At Pimpri, Tata Motors is preparing for a fireworks of output

More money and more attention is going to the passenger vehicle unit as the company ramps up R&D. Reuters

Tata, a global name since it bought Jaguar Land Rover in 2008, is losing traction at home as underwhelming product tweaks, heavy discounts and slumping capacity utilisation mark a painful 18 months for its passenger division.

Not since the 2008 Nano, the world’s cheapest car, has Tata unveiled a head-turning passenger vehicle, and not since the Indica’s launch in 1998 has it set the Indian market alight. Now, the company is heading back to the drawing board.

More money and more attention is going to the passenger vehicle unit as the company ramps up R&D, ditches a failed product strategy and prepares to enter the mini SUV segment and reboot the so-far underwhelming Nano.

“We have done something very innovative that will allow us to respond more positively,” said Tim Leverton, Tata Motors’ head of research and development. “You’ll see, over the next 12-18 months onwards, a fireworks of output.”

Tata will pour more than Rs 7,500 crore into the passenger vehicle business over the next five years. Less than 30 percent of that has been earmarked for facilities or upgrading hardware, leaving the rest for new products.

“The business is understanding that’s a heavy investment to make,” Leverton said. “But it needs to be made.”

Tata desperately needs a new hit model to arrest its sliding sales and eroding market share. A slew of new variants to combat competition from global brands will see it bin its inflexible past strategy of one car per market segment.

The success of the new drive will hinge on how soon Tata can bring fresh designs and ideas to market. That could take time.

“We’re definitely not factoring in a revival in their market share for the next two to three years. We don’t see any major new products … launched over the next two to three years,” said Jinesh Gandhi, auto analyst at Motilal Oswal Securities in Mumbai. “It’s going to be an uphill task for them.”

Tata’s car sales fell 8 percent in the April-November period from a year earlier, as main rivals Hyundai Motor and Maruti Suzuki posted increases.

The company relied on Jaguar Land Rover for 90 percent of its consolidated profit in the last financial year. The slowdown in its domestic business is seen as a drag on its value.

Tata Motors has a 12-month forward price to earnings ratio of 7.4, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine, against 17.2 for Maruti Suzuki and 9.2 for BMW AG.

“For sure new products are the source of growth and interest in our market,” Managing Director Karl Slym told Reuters. “And so product focus is and should always be a priority.”

The appointment this summer of Slym, a former General Motors executive, itself marked a shift. His two predecessors were former heads of Tata’s commercial vehicle business

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Russia rejects tax sops to ONGC subsidiary

India had also sought to include Imperial Energy fields in the list of the fields where produced oil is subject to a reduced rate of export customs duty. Reuters

Putin is to visit New Delhi on Monday for the 13th annual bilateral summit and New Delhi was hoping the high taxes on oil produced by Imperial Energy will be sorted out before that, sources privy to the development said.

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of the state explorer which had in 2009 acquired Imperial Energy for $2.1 billion, says high taxes mean its gets only $19-20 per barrel at an oil price of $90-100.

This nominal net back is generated from the exploratory and production efforts made in the harsh conditions of West Siberia, from where a meagre 13,803 barrels per day of output has to be transported through 5000 kilometres of pipelines.

This is hardly enough to cover the operational expenditure, it feels. The Russian Government, in the last three years of ONGC’s presence has gained about half a billion dollar in taxes. Sources said Moscow has stated that it cannot extent any special treatment to Imperial Energy. It has however indicated that some relief may come in form of rebates Moscow is planning for exploitation of tight oil reserves all over the country.

India had also sought to include Imperial Energy fields in the list of the fields where produced oil is subject to a reduced rate of export customs duty. Russia has remained non-committal on the issue.

Besides seeking a pie in the future exploration projects planned in Arctic, India may push for more LNG supplies during Putin’s official visit. Gas utility GAIL India Ltd had recently signed a 20-year contract to buy 2.5 million tons per annum of LNG from OAO Gazprom beginning 2018-19. LNG will come from Gazprom’s Shtokman production facilities, which has an estimated 130 Trillion cubic feet of reserves.

During talks, India may push for participation of ONGC in the Yamal LNG project. Initial talks have already been held with Novatek, the second largest gas producer in Russia after Gazprom.

ONGC has teamed up with GAIL and the nation’s largest liquefied natural gas importer Petronet LNG Ltd for taking a stake in the Yamal project which is controlled by Novatek. Total SA of France has 20 percent stake in the project.

Besides Yamal, GAIL is eyeing interest in a planned greenfield LNG project on the eastern coast of Vladivostok. Also of interest is the capacity expansion of the existing Sakhalin-2 project, aimed mostly at catering to the Asian market.

Also, Indian refiners are interested in procuring crude oil from Russia on long term contract. ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas arm of the state explorer, currently owns a 20 per cent interest in the Sakhalin-1 project in Far East Russia.

PTI

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