Wipro goes green as India's e-waste mounts
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(InfoWorld) - Indiaâs Wipro Ltd. has introduced new PCs that are compliant with the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive. The move by Wipro to offer RoHS compliant products follows a 2005 demonstration by activists of environmentalist organization Greenpeace International who dumped old PCs outside the Bangalore headquarters of Wipro, one of India's largest computer manufacturers and IT service providers. In September 2006, the company announced an e-waste disposal program for its customers. Wipro is the first Indian computer maker to offer products that are RoHS compliant, said Ramapati Kumar, team leader for toxics at Greenpeaceâs Bangalore office. The RoHS directive, adopted in 2003 by the European Union, went into effect in July last year. This directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. How much impact the Wipro initiative will have on India's e-waste problem remains to be seen -- but it's a start. The government estimates that around 146,000 tons of e-waste are produced annually in the country. But Greenpeace's Kumar said the figure is actually twice as high because the government estimate covers only e-waste generated in big cities. Moreover, about 150,000 tons of used PCs, printers and other IT devices enter India illegally each year, according to Kumar. Some of the equipment is intended as donations to local charities but is sold before reaching Indians too poor to afford a PC, he said. Indian government regulations on handling e-waste are notoriously lax and do not measure up to the RoHS directive, he added. Wiproâs entire PC line will be RoHS compliant by the end of this year, said Ashutosh Vaidya, vice president of Wiproâs Personal Computing Division. The division, which targets primarily corporate customers, sold about 170,000 PCs last year, and expects sales of 250,000 units in the companyâs fiscal year ending March next year, Vaidya said. âIt is a good start, but we still have a long way to go,â Kumar said. The Indian government is still framing rules for proper handling of e-waste. Ahead of those rules, Wipro has promised by 2009 to phase out the use of some hazardous chemicals still used in its products, including a brominated flame retardant (BFR) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). These chemicals are not covered under the RoHS directive.
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(InfoWorld) - Measures to reduce the millions of tons of electronic waste generated each year by manufactures of computers, mobile phones and other consumer electronic products will be the focus of a United Nations-sponsored conference in the capital of Kenya. Delegates from about 120 governments gathered in Nairobi on Monday to begin week-long talks on how to reduce the use of toxic substances, such as lead, cadmium and mercury, found in PCs and cell phones, and to promote programs for recycling and re-using as many components as possible. The U.N. estimates that up to 50 million metric tons of "e-waste" are generated worldwide every year, representing more than 5 percent of all municipal solid waste. In the U.S. alone, as many as 20 million PCs are thrown out every year. A good chunk of that waste ends up in Africa and other developing countries, according to the U.N. Every month, more than 100,000 disregarded computers are entering the Nigerian port of Lagos alone, said U.N. Under-Secretary General Achim Steiner in a speech. Local experts estimate that up to 75 percent of the used PCs, TVs and phones sent from developed countries are unusable and end up in the landfills of developing countries, where the items are often burned, releasing toxic fumes and leaching chemicals. On the table at this week's meeting are proposals to encourage manufacturers to take more responsibility for their products, from the design stage through the supply chain to final disposal. In a speech, Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto, executive secretary of the Basel Convention, which monitors hazardous waste, pointed to a partnership with several mobile phone manufacturers and operators, including Nokia Corp, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB and Vodafone Group PLC to develop programs for recycling and re-using the millions of mobile phones now sold worldwide every year.
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With its plethora of gadgets that  become outdated almost as soon as they are sold, the consumer  electronics industry is an unlikely champion of the  environment.
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Wipro, India&#39;s third largest outsourcer, Friday reported growth in revenue and profits for the quarter ended September 30.The company reported revenue of 47.28 billion Indian rupees ($1.19 billion at the exchange rate on closing day of the quarter), up by 35 percent for the same quarter last year. Its profits at 8.1 billion rupees were up 17 percent from profits in the same period last year.The results are based on U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).During the quarter,&#160;Wipro completed the acquisition of Infocrossing, a U.S. provider of IT infrastructure management, enterprise application and BPO (business process outsourcing) services through a tender offer. The company is also expanding its presence in the U.S. by setting up its first development center in the country for delivery of services onshore to its customers in the U.S. Wipro expects to fill 200 positions at this center in Atlanta, Georgia in the first year. A near-shore center in Monterrey, Mexico was also set up during the quarter.Wipro has both a domestic and export business. Exports for the quarter, consisting of IT and BPO services, were 32.4 billion rupees, up by 19 percent over exports in the same quarter last year.Wipro, like other Indian outsourcers, has been affected by the weakening of the U.S. dollar. A weak dollar translates into fewer rupees, even as these companies have to spend more in rupees to pay for rising staff costs. The company&#39;s operating margins for the quarter improved despite increasing salaries in India, on account of higher prices, higher utilization and operational efficiency, Wipro said.India&#39;s largest outsourcer&#160;Tata Consultancy Services&#160;(TCS) of Mumbai, and second largest outsourcer,&#160;Infosys Technologies&#160;of Bangalore, both reported strong revenue and profits growth for the quarter.Wipro added 59 new clients during the quarter in its export business. It also added 5,341 new employees, taking the total number of employees in its export business to 77,478 as of September 30.
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In Silicon Valley, the bandwagon is now electric-powered, as a who's who of IT stalwarts reinvent themselves as cleantech entrepreneurs. This map presents a small sampling of the companies, causes, and familiar faces behind the greening of the Valley.
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The chairman of Wipro, IndiaÂs third-largest outsourcing firm, spoke about outsourcing, competition and education.
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India&#39;s third largest outsourcer Wipro reported a 32 percent increase in revenue in the quarter ending December 31, but profits grew by only 11 percent over the same quarter last year, reflecting&#160;higher salaries in India, and reduced margins as a result of its&#160;acquisition last year of U.S. IT services provider Infocrossing.
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(InfoWorld) - EMC Corp. will train more than 1,000 Wipro Ltd. staff in the use of its storage technologies as part of an alliance announced by the companies on Wednesday. EMC becomes the latest of several big technology vendors to partner with an Indian outsourcer to deliver services to customers worldwide. The partnerships take advantage of the low cost of providing services from India, as well as the considerable client base of Indian outsourcers. The partnership with Wipro, of Bangalore, is the first by EMC with an Indian outsourcing company. As part of the deal, the companies will also jointly market their products, with Wipro offering pre-sales, delivery and development services to customers. "Ours is a technology play, while Wipro's is a services play in this partnership," said Sanjay Mirchandani, EMC's senior vice president of emerging markets and international development. Besides the U.S. and Europe, the companies will target the growing Indian and Middle Eastern markets, where EMC sees a big opportunity for its products, and where both companies are already making significant investments, Mirchandani said. In March, EMC partnered with the Indian training company NIIT Ltd. to train storage professionals in 32 countries, including India. EMC has its own services organization, and Wipro and EMC are working out the details to avoid competition between their respective services divisions, Mirchandani said.
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IBM's silicon-recycling announcement on Tuesday couldn't have originated from a more apt location: Vermont, with its high-tech ambitions and green sensibility. So what does it take for a scrappy, forward-thinking state to get in on the technology biz-dev fun? One word comes to mind: broadband.
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Wipro Technologies, the global IT services division of Wipro Limited  (NYSE:WIT) today announced the launch of the Integrated Publishing  Platform (IPP) to address the Media, Publishing and Information Services  markets.
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By Hazimin Sulaiman  TECH companies are gradually moving towards a greener Earth with a little push from the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) pioneered by Intel and Google. The initiative is rapidly gaining momentum among major IT players.
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NEW YORK -- When Office Depot Inc. stores ran an electronics recycling drive last summer that accepted everything from cellphones to televisions, some stores were overwhelmed by the amount of e-trash they received.
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The company's Carbon to Collaboration effort includes green buildings and a push for its teleconferencing service.
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Top TV makers have formed a recycling company to handle tech waste and comply with changing state laws.
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A combined PC, telephone and television is being used in aid projects in India.
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A vast online network is being used to promote social and environmental responsibility.
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Indian outsourcer Wipro says 2007 revenues were up, but profits growth was slow due to higher salaries and reduced margins.