Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, who is being blamed by the company&nbsp;for the sudden resignation of its CEO&nbsp;Vishal Sikka, said he was &quot;anguished&quot; by the allegations made by the Infosys board and would reply to them &quot;in a right manner, right forum and at an appropriate time.&quot;

Murthy, who has previously&nbsp;questioned the high compensation paid to Sikka and the&nbsp;severance package of some of the former top executives, said &quot;the deteriorating standard of corporate governance&quot; was the reason for the concerns raised by him.

&quot;Anguished by the allegations, tone and tenor of statements made by the Infosys board, below my dignity to respond to baseless insinuations,&quot; NR Narayana Murthy said.

&quot;Will reply to allegations in right manner, right forum and at an appropriate time,&quot; he added.

Infosys has blamed a recent letter by Narayan Murthy allegedly for Vishal Sikka&#39;s exit. In a statement, the IT major said the Infosys founder had attacked the integrity of the Board in the letter.

&quot;Murthy&#39;s continuous assault, including his latest letter, is the primary reason for the resignation of Sikka despite strong Board support,&quot; the IT major said in a statement here hours after it accepted Sikka&#39;s resignation.

&quot;Murthy&#39;s letter contains factual inaccuracies, already disproved rumours, and statements extracted out of context from his conversations with Board members,&quot; Infosys said.

In an interview, Murthy had also suggested that IT companies could&nbsp;protect the jobs of youngsters if senior executives take pay cuts.

Narayana Murthy is being blamed by the company?for the sudden resignation for Vishal Sikka

Infosys founder Narayana Murthy, who is being blamed by the company for the sudden resignation of its CEO Vishal Sikka, said he was "anguished" by the allegations made by the Infosys board and would reply to them "in a right manner, right forum and at an appropriate time." Murthy, who has previously questioned the high compensation paid to Sikka and the severance package of some of the former top executives, said "the deteriorating standard of corporate governance" was the reason for the concerns raised by him. "Anguished by the allegations, tone and tenor of statements made by the Infosys board, below my dignity to respond to baseless insinuations," NR Narayana Murthy said. "Will reply to allegations in right manner, right forum and at an appropriate time," he added. Infosys has blamed a recent letter by Narayan Murthy allegedly for Vishal Sikka's exit. In a statement, the IT major said the Infosys founder had attacked the integrity of the Board in the letter. "Murthy's continuous assault, including his latest letter, is the primary reason for the resignation of Sikka despite strong Board support," the IT major said in a statement here hours after it accepted Sikka's resignation. "Murthy's letter contains factual inaccuracies, already disproved rumours, and statements extracted out of context from his conversations with Board members," Infosys said. In an interview, Murthy had also suggested that IT companies could protect the jobs of youngsters if senior executives take pay cuts.

Below my dignity to respond to baseless insinuations: Narayana Murthy on Infosys accusations

Vishal Sikka has&nbsp;resigned as the managing director and CEO of Infosys.

The board of directors of Infosys Ltd have accepted Sikka&#39;s&nbsp;resignation, reports said.

U B Pravin Rao has been appointed as interim-managing director and chief executive.&nbsp;Sikka has now been appointed as executive vice-chairman, Infosys said.

Sikka&#39;s exit hit the Infosys stocks as it tanked 6 per cent in morning trade.

&quot;Over the last many months and quarters, we have all been besieged by false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks,&quot; Sikka said in his statement to the company&#39;s board.

&quot;The distractions that we have seen, the constant drumbeat of the same issues over and over again, while ignoring and undermining the good work that has been done, take the excitement and passion out of this amazing journey,&quot; he said in his resignation letter.

Read the full text of Sikka&#39;s resignation letter below:&nbsp;

Over the last few days, since our earlier call, I&rsquo;ve met Sesh several times, talked to you individually at length, and spent time thinking things thru with Vandana. During this time, one of our employees, Sandeep Karamongikar, died in his sleep, likely of a massive heart attack. He was working on the chatbot frontend in Nia. Also over the weekend, in possibly the greatest demonstration of AI capability ever, a bot built by the researchers at OpenAI (yes, that OpenAI), defeated the world&rsquo;s best players of DOTA2, a multiplayer online video game, a game where the bot learned to play entirely from scratch. Further demonstrating that the force to automate routine, even advanced, activities is an unstoppable and exponential one. And the Charlottesville incident here in the US demonstrated once again the power of words and silences to cause real damage, or to heal.

After much reflection, I have concluded that it is indeed time for me to leave my current positions as MD and CEO, and I have communicated my resignation to Sesh. I will be working closely with Sesh, Ravi, Pravin, with all of you, and the senior management team to plan out the details and the timelines to ensure a smooth transition and in the meantime, continue our work without disruption, and ensuring that we protect our company, the employees, the clients, and the interests of every shareholder. You can count on my commitment to this.

I came here to help navigate the company through what I saw as a massive transformation opportunity, to transform our company and restore strong profitable growth, as well as help transform the business of our customers. I came to do this with the power of technology, given my experiences with similar transformations, my background in AI, and the structural changes that I saw happening in the IT services industry. This needed new skills, new thinking, new initiatives, and a transformation in the culture, from a cost-oriented value delivery, to entrepreneurship oriented value delivery. You have heard me articulate this many times before.

This type of a transformation has always been a passion for me, indeed I took this job for this reason. We have achieved much in the last 3+ years, and for sure we can all be proud of the powerful seeds of transformation that have already been sowed. No one anticipated the additional headwinds like the geo-political disruptions (Brexit, Trump, visa etc.) that made this transformation even more challenging, but also rewarding. But, the distractions that we have seen, the constant drumbeat of the same issues over and over again, while ignoring and undermining the good work that has been done, take the excitement and passion out of this amazing journey. Over the last many months and quarters, we have all been besieged by false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks. Allegations that have been repeatedly proven false and baseless by multiple, independent investigations. But despite this, the attacks continue, and worse still, amplified by the very people from whom we all expected the most steadfast support in this great transformation. This continuous drumbeat of distractions and negativity over the last several months/quarters, inhibits our ability to make positive change and stay focused on value creation. Addressing the noise by itself is damaging; hundreds of hours of my own time has gone into this recently. But the structural challenges this engenders within the organization, has a very damaging effect on our ability to carry out any kind of a transformation, especially one that is as fundamental as transforming from a cost-oriented to an innovation oriented value delivery to clients.

Therefore, I have come to this moment and the end of this journey. I hope that it gives everyone a chance to reflect, and give the transformation effort another big push and move the company forward rapidly to build its future, to build upon the foundation that we have laid over these past 3 years. If these types of attacks continue, I hope each of you will continue to be the voice of fairness and reason &ndash; providing the active, emphatic and unequivocal support that the company, the management, the employees, and all of the stakeholders and friends of the company need in order to succeed. Since the board deeply believes in the cause we have started, I will be happy to support all of you to achieve a smooth transition, and serve as your Executive Vice Chair as discussed.

I would like to thank each one of you, my dear colleagues, my friends and mentors, and look forward to working with you to close this chapter and open a great new one for all of us.

He will now be the executive vice chairman

Vishal Sikka has resigned as the managing director and CEO of Infosys. The board of directors of Infosys Ltd have accepted Sikka's resignation, reports said. U B Pravin Rao has been appointed as interim-managing director and chief executive. Sikka has now been appointed as executive vice-chairman, Infosys said. Sikka's exit hit the Infosys stocks as it tanked 6 per cent in morning trade. "Over the last many months and quarters, we have all been besieged by false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks," Sikka said in his statement to the company's board. "The distractions that we have seen, the constant drumbeat of the same issues over and over again, while ignoring and undermining the good work that has been done, take the excitement and passion out of this amazing journey," he said in his resignation letter. Read the full text of Sikka's resignation letter below: Over the last few days, since our earlier call, I’ve met Sesh several times, talked to you individually at length, and spent time thinking things thru with Vandana. During this time, one of our employees, Sandeep Karamongikar, died in his sleep, likely of a massive heart attack. He was working on the chatbot frontend in Nia. Also over the weekend, in possibly the greatest demonstration of AI capability ever, a bot built by the researchers at OpenAI (yes, that OpenAI), defeated the world’s best players of DOTA2, a multiplayer online video game, a game where the bot learned to play entirely from scratch. Further demonstrating that the force to automate routine, even advanced, activities is an unstoppable and exponential one. And the Charlottesville incident here in the US demonstrated once again the power of words and silences to cause real damage, or to heal. After much reflection, I have concluded that it is indeed time for me to leave my current positions as MD and CEO, and I have communicated my resignation to Sesh. I will be working closely with Sesh, Ravi, Pravin, with all of you, and the senior management team to plan out the details and the timelines to ensure a smooth transition and in the meantime, continue our work without disruption, and ensuring that we protect our company, the employees, the clients, and the interests of every shareholder. You can count on my commitment to this. I came here to help navigate the company through what I saw as a massive transformation opportunity, to transform our company and restore strong profitable growth, as well as help transform the business of our customers. I came to do this with the power of technology, given my experiences with similar transformations, my background in AI, and the structural changes that I saw happening in the IT services industry. This needed new skills, new thinking, new initiatives, and a transformation in the culture, from a cost-oriented value delivery, to entrepreneurship oriented value delivery. You have heard me articulate this many times before. This type of a transformation has always been a passion for me, indeed I took this job for this reason. We have achieved much in the last 3+ years, and for sure we can all be proud of the powerful seeds of transformation that have already been sowed. No one anticipated the additional headwinds like the geo-political disruptions (Brexit, Trump, visa etc.) that made this transformation even more challenging, but also rewarding. But, the distractions that we have seen, the constant drumbeat of the same issues over and over again, while ignoring and undermining the good work that has been done, take the excitement and passion out of this amazing journey. Over the last many months and quarters, we have all been besieged by false, baseless, malicious and increasingly personal attacks. Allegations that have been repeatedly proven false and baseless by multiple, independent investigations. But despite this, the attacks continue, and worse still, amplified by the very people from whom we all expected the most steadfast support in this great transformation. This continuous drumbeat of distractions and negativity over the last several months/quarters, inhibits our ability to make positive change and stay focused on value creation. Addressing the noise by itself is damaging; hundreds of hours of my own time has gone into this recently. But the structural challenges this engenders within the organization, has a very damaging effect on our ability to carry out any kind of a transformation, especially one that is as fundamental as transforming from a cost-oriented to an innovation oriented value delivery to clients. Therefore, I have come to this moment and the end of this journey. I hope that it gives everyone a chance to reflect, and give the transformation effort another big push and move the company forward rapidly to build its future, to build upon the foundation that we have laid over these past 3 years. If these types of attacks continue, I hope each of you will continue to be the voice of fairness and reason – providing the active, emphatic and unequivocal support that the company, the management, the employees, and all of the stakeholders and friends of the company need in order to succeed. Since the board deeply believes in the cause we have started, I will be happy to support all of you to achieve a smooth transition, and serve as your Executive Vice Chair as discussed. I would like to thank each one of you, my dear colleagues, my friends and mentors, and look forward to working with you to close this chapter and open a great new one for all of us.

Vishal Sikka resigns as MD & CEO of Infosys, stocks tank in morning trade

Infosys has come down strongly on the side of its CEO Vishal Sikka who resigned today<a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/drumbeat-of-allegations-was-sickening-vishal-sikka-after-resignation-19164">&nbsp;citing &quot;continuous allegations&quot; against him</a>.

(Also Read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/infosys-refutes-narayan-murthys-charges-of-vishal-sikkas-misdeeds-19187">Infosys refutes Narayan Murthy&#39;s charges of Vishal Sikka&#39;s &#39;misdeeds&#39;)</a>

The company, which had blamed &quot;NR Narayana Murthy&#39;s continuous assault&quot; for Sikka&#39;s resignation, issued a detailed statement after the Infosys founder&#39;s email in which he refuted the allegations levelled against him by the company.

In the email, Mr Murthy had said that he was concerned over the deteriorating standard of corporate governance, which he had brought to the notice of the Board.

Here&#39;s how Infosys responded:

It has come to the attention of the Board that a letter authored by Mr. Murthy, the Founder of Infosys has been released to various media houses attacking the integrity of the Board and Management of the Company alleging falling corporate governance standards in the Company. The Board takes great umbrage to the contents of the letter and places on record the following:

Mr Murthy&#39;s continuous assault, including this latest letter, is the primary reason that the CEO, Dr. Vishal Sikka, has resigned despite strong Board support.

 
Mr Murthy&rsquo;s letter contains factual inaccuracies, already-disproved rumours, and statements extracted out of context from his conversations with Board members.

The Board assures its shareholders, employees, customers and communities that it is committed not to be distracted by this misguided campaign by Mr Murthy and will continue to adhere to the highest international standards of corporate governance as it executes its strategy of profitable growth for the benefit of all Infosys stakeholders.

Mr Murthy&rsquo;s campaign against the Board and the Company has had the unfortunate effect to undermine the Company&rsquo;s efforts to transform itself.

The Board has been engaged in a dialogue with the Founder to resolve his concerns over the course of a year, trying earnestly to find feasible solutions within the boundaries of law and without compromising its independence. These dialogues have unfortunately not been successful.

The Board declines to speculate about Mr Murthy&rsquo;s motive for carrying out this campaign, including the latest letter. The Board believes it must set the record straight on the false and misleading charges made by Mr. Murthy because his actions and demands are damaging the Company and misrepresent its commitment to good corporate governance.

FACT: Since Dr Vishal Sikka was appointed as MD and CEO in August 2014, Infosys has delivered competitive financial performance through profitable revenue growth.

Infosys has, under the leadership of Vishal, developed and articulated a strategy to transform itself to meet the rapidly changing needs of the marketplace in the 21st century. The Company was lagging significantly behind industry in growth rates when Vishal took over and now we are in top quartile from a performance perspective.

Infosys has grown in revenues, from $2.13B in Q1FY15 to $2.65B this past Q1. This was done while keeping a strong focus on margins, closing this past quarter at 24.1% operating margin, beating some competitors for the first time in many years, and improving against nearly everyone in the industry.

The revenue per employee of the Company has grown for six quarters in a row. Attrition has fallen, from 23.4% in Q1FY15 to 16.9% this past Q1, and high performer attrition is much lower than the overall Company attrition.

The Company grew its $100M+ clients from 12 in Q1FY15, to 18 this past Q1, and increased its large deal wins from ~$1.9B in FY15 to ~$3.5B this past year. This has all been done while improving overall utilization (excluding trainees), to a 15-yr high this past quarter, and an all-time high including trainees, while improving our cash reserves, rewarding Infoscions with a new equity plan, and returning Rs. 19,000 Crores as dividend (including dividend distribution tax) over the last three years. This has all been done while improving standing with clients, to the highest ever in the 12 years with a jump of 22 points in CXO satisfaction.

FACT: Infosys has continued to maintain the highest standards of corporate governance that the Company is known for.

The Board of Infosys is carrying out its shareholder mandate to be an independent board, working towards the best interest of the stakeholders.

The Board has sought the counsel of some of the most respected governance experts and legal advisors in the world, which have thoroughly investigated all anonymous allegations and concluded that no wrongdoing occurred. For Mr Murthy to imply &ndash; with no evidence whatsoever &ndash; that three well-respected international law firms, members of the Infosys Board and certain employees are engaged in some grand global conspiracy to conceal information is not tenable on its face. It is important to mention here that Mr. Murthy was interviewed as part of the investigation by Gibson Dunn &amp; Crutcher LLP in pursuance of the investigation in the Panaya acquisition, and was invited and welcomed to provide any information or evidence he believed would support the allegations being investigated. He did not provide any evidence since none exists. However, he has not mentioned this is his media communication against the investigation.

As previously announced by the Company on June 23, 2017, the Board thoroughly investigated each anonymous allegation with the assistance of highly respected external counsel and experts and determined that the allegations were entirely without merit. The Board will make no additional disclosure of the investigation report because further disclosure would be inconsistent with best corporate audit practices and would compromise the confidence of employees that they could report honestly, openly, and candidly to the company in any future investigation or legal matter.

The Board also believes that any further use of resources and time on these matters would be a distraction for the Company and would enable those wishing unfairly to attack Company personnel to continue this harmful conduct. Therefore, the Board has formally closed the investigations of the anonymous allegations so that the Company can focus on strategy, performance, and the creation of shareholder value. The Board remains focused to continuing to support Infosys&rsquo;s strategy, which it believes is in the best interests of the Company&rsquo;s shareholders, employees, clients and communities.

FACT: Mr Murthy&rsquo;s has made repeatedly made inappropriate demands which are inconsistent with his stated desire for stronger governance.

Illustratively:

Mr Murthy has demanded that the Board adopt certain changes in policy, else he will attack board members in the public, which threat was carried out when the Board did not acquiesce;

He has demanded that the Board appoint specific individuals onto the Board under similar threat, without appropriate disclosure and without regard to basic determinants of appropriateness or fit of the candidate for the role as a Board member;

He has demanded operational and management changes under the threat of media attacks;

Notwithstanding that the remuneration package of senior management was approved overwhelmingly by shareholders (including members of the promoter group), Mr. Murthy preferred his dictat to prevail with no place or tolerance for the outcomes of shareholder democracy.

Mr Murthy wanted the demands to be adhered to without attribution to him.

The Board has, in its fiduciary role to consider all shareholder inputs, treated each demand from Mr. Murthy as a suggestion and only acted on suggestions which we believed was in the best interest of the company and declined to act on others. Over time the demands have intensified, which when declined by the Board resulted in the threats of media attacks being carried out.

FACT: Mr Murthy may be in the process of engaging in discussions with certain key stakeholders of the Company to further his criticisms of the Board and Management.

We are concerned that this type of campaign runs the risk of confusing investors and undermining the Company&rsquo;s management efforts.

FACT: The Board is a fully independent Board, with professionals as its members who have been appointed by a clear majority of the shareholders.

Given the commitment of the Board to remain independent and pursue a chosen strategy, the Board currently has no intention of asking Mr. Murthy to play a formal role in the governance of the organization.

Co- Chair of the Board, Ravi Venkatesan has repeatedly over the past few weeks publicly stated his and the Boards support for Dr Sikka. The Company categorically rejects any speculation or allegation of discord between the Infosys Board and Dr Sikka.

Infosys has come down strongly on the side of its CEO Vishal Sikka who resigned today citing ?"continuous allegations" against him.

Infosys has come down strongly on the side of its CEO Vishal Sikka who resigned today citing "continuous allegations" against him. (Also Read: Infosys refutes Narayan Murthy's charges of Vishal Sikka's 'misdeeds') The company, which had blamed "NR Narayana Murthy's continuous assault" for Sikka's resignation, issued a detailed statement after the Infosys founder's email in which he refuted the allegations levelled against him by the company. In the email, Mr Murthy had said that he was concerned over the deteriorating standard of corporate governance, which he had brought to the notice of the Board. Here's how Infosys responded: It has come to the attention of the Board that a letter authored by Mr. Murthy, the Founder of Infosys has been released to various media houses attacking the integrity of the Board and Management of the Company alleging falling corporate governance standards in the Company. The Board takes great umbrage to the contents of the letter and places on record the following: Mr Murthy's continuous assault, including this latest letter, is the primary reason that the CEO, Dr. Vishal Sikka, has resigned despite strong Board support. Mr Murthy’s letter contains factual inaccuracies, already-disproved rumours, and statements extracted out of context from his conversations with Board members. The Board assures its shareholders, employees, customers and communities that it is committed not to be distracted by this misguided campaign by Mr Murthy and will continue to adhere to the highest international standards of corporate governance as it executes its strategy of profitable growth for the benefit of all Infosys stakeholders. Mr Murthy’s campaign against the Board and the Company has had the unfortunate effect to undermine the Company’s efforts to transform itself. The Board has been engaged in a dialogue with the Founder to resolve his concerns over the course of a year, trying earnestly to find feasible solutions within the boundaries of law and without compromising its independence. These dialogues have unfortunately not been successful. The Board declines to speculate about Mr Murthy’s motive for carrying out this campaign, including the latest letter. The Board believes it must set the record straight on the false and misleading charges made by Mr. Murthy because his actions and demands are damaging the Company and misrepresent its commitment to good corporate governance. FACT: Since Dr Vishal Sikka was appointed as MD and CEO in August 2014, Infosys has delivered competitive financial performance through profitable revenue growth. Infosys has, under the leadership of Vishal, developed and articulated a strategy to transform itself to meet the rapidly changing needs of the marketplace in the 21st century. The Company was lagging significantly behind industry in growth rates when Vishal took over and now we are in top quartile from a performance perspective. Infosys has grown in revenues, from $2.13B in Q1FY15 to $2.65B this past Q1. This was done while keeping a strong focus on margins, closing this past quarter at 24.1% operating margin, beating some competitors for the first time in many years, and improving against nearly everyone in the industry. The revenue per employee of the Company has grown for six quarters in a row. Attrition has fallen, from 23.4% in Q1FY15 to 16.9% this past Q1, and high performer attrition is much lower than the overall Company attrition. The Company grew its $100M+ clients from 12 in Q1FY15, to 18 this past Q1, and increased its large deal wins from ~$1.9B in FY15 to ~$3.5B this past year. This has all been done while improving overall utilization (excluding trainees), to a 15-yr high this past quarter, and an all-time high including trainees, while improving our cash reserves, rewarding Infoscions with a new equity plan, and returning Rs. 19,000 Crores as dividend (including dividend distribution tax) over the last three years. This has all been done while improving standing with clients, to the highest ever in the 12 years with a jump of 22 points in CXO satisfaction. FACT: Infosys has continued to maintain the highest standards of corporate governance that the Company is known for. The Board of Infosys is carrying out its shareholder mandate to be an independent board, working towards the best interest of the stakeholders. The Board has sought the counsel of some of the most respected governance experts and legal advisors in the world, which have thoroughly investigated all anonymous allegations and concluded that no wrongdoing occurred. For Mr Murthy to imply – with no evidence whatsoever – that three well-respected international law firms, members of the Infosys Board and certain employees are engaged in some grand global conspiracy to conceal information is not tenable on its face. It is important to mention here that Mr. Murthy was interviewed as part of the investigation by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP in pursuance of the investigation in the Panaya acquisition, and was invited and welcomed to provide any information or evidence he believed would support the allegations being investigated. He did not provide any evidence since none exists. However, he has not mentioned this is his media communication against the investigation. As previously announced by the Company on June 23, 2017, the Board thoroughly investigated each anonymous allegation with the assistance of highly respected external counsel and experts and determined that the allegations were entirely without merit. The Board will make no additional disclosure of the investigation report because further disclosure would be inconsistent with best corporate audit practices and would compromise the confidence of employees that they could report honestly, openly, and candidly to the company in any future investigation or legal matter. The Board also believes that any further use of resources and time on these matters would be a distraction for the Company and would enable those wishing unfairly to attack Company personnel to continue this harmful conduct. Therefore, the Board has formally closed the investigations of the anonymous allegations so that the Company can focus on strategy, performance, and the creation of shareholder value. The Board remains focused to continuing to support Infosys’s strategy, which it believes is in the best interests of the Company’s shareholders, employees, clients and communities. FACT: Mr Murthy’s has made repeatedly made inappropriate demands which are inconsistent with his stated desire for stronger governance. Illustratively: Mr Murthy has demanded that the Board adopt certain changes in policy, else he will attack board members in the public, which threat was carried out when the Board did not acquiesce; He has demanded that the Board appoint specific individuals onto the Board under similar threat, without appropriate disclosure and without regard to basic determinants of appropriateness or fit of the candidate for the role as a Board member; He has demanded operational and management changes under the threat of media attacks; Notwithstanding that the remuneration package of senior management was approved overwhelmingly by shareholders (including members of the promoter group), Mr. Murthy preferred his dictat to prevail with no place or tolerance for the outcomes of shareholder democracy. Mr Murthy wanted the demands to be adhered to without attribution to him. The Board has, in its fiduciary role to consider all shareholder inputs, treated each demand from Mr. Murthy as a suggestion and only acted on suggestions which we believed was in the best interest of the company and declined to act on others. Over time the demands have intensified, which when declined by the Board resulted in the threats of media attacks being carried out. FACT: Mr Murthy may be in the process of engaging in discussions with certain key stakeholders of the Company to further his criticisms of the Board and Management. We are concerned that this type of campaign runs the risk of confusing investors and undermining the Company’s management efforts. FACT: The Board is a fully independent Board, with professionals as its members who have been appointed by a clear majority of the shareholders. Given the commitment of the Board to remain independent and pursue a chosen strategy, the Board currently has no intention of asking Mr. Murthy to play a formal role in the governance of the organization. Co- Chair of the Board, Ravi Venkatesan has repeatedly over the past few weeks publicly stated his and the Boards support for Dr Sikka. The Company categorically rejects any speculation or allegation of discord between the Infosys Board and Dr Sikka.

Read: Infosys's point-by-point denial of Narayana Murthy's allegations

Indian shares fell on Friday led by Infosys&nbsp;that plunged after the resignation of Chief Executive Vishal Sikka heightened uncertainty about the IT services provider&#39;s future.

However, the BSE and NSE indexes still posted their biggest weekly gain in five.

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed down 0.85 per cent at 31,524.68, but gained nearly 1 per cent in the week.

The broader NSE Nifty ended 0.67 per cent lower at 9,837.40, but rose 1.3 per cent for the week .

Infosys shares closed down 9.6 per cent, their biggest daily fall in more than four years.

Indian shares fell on Friday led by Infosys?that plunged after the resignation of Chief Executive Vishal Sikka heightened uncertainty about the IT services provider's future

Indian shares fell on Friday led by Infosys that plunged after the resignation of Chief Executive Vishal Sikka heightened uncertainty about the IT services provider's future. However, the BSE and NSE indexes still posted their biggest weekly gain in five. The benchmark BSE Sensex closed down 0.85 per cent at 31,524.68, but gained nearly 1 per cent in the week. The broader NSE Nifty ended 0.67 per cent lower at 9,837.40, but rose 1.3 per cent for the week . Infosys shares closed down 9.6 per cent, their biggest daily fall in more than four years.

After Vishal Sikka quits, Sensex ends lower but BSE, NSE post weekly gain

Infosys Friday (August 18)&nbsp;rebutted the fresh charges by founder NR Narayana Murthy, and said&nbsp;suggestions that world-renowned law firms connived&nbsp;with the board twice to overlook alleged &quot;misdeeds&quot; of a CEO and give a clean chit were &quot;completely untenable&quot;. 
 
The comments came after Murthy said that several shareholders, who had read the whistle-blower report, had told him that an &quot;impartial and objective investigation&quot; did&nbsp;not happen in the manner in which Infosys&#39; probe was conducted. 
 
Infosys Chairman R Seshasayee rubbished the claims that a probe had been conducted by world renowned firms. 
 
&quot;... To suggest that world renowned law and forensic firms will connive with the board, not once but twice...And overlook something which is a misdeed and submit a clean report, to our mind, is completely untenable,&quot; Seshasayee said. 
 
He added that the board did all it could to look into whistle blower complaints of corporate governance lapses, particularly those related to acquisition of Panaya. 
 
&quot;It is the job of the board (Infosys) to enquire and make sure that there is indeed no such misdeed. And that is precisely what the board did,&quot; he said. 
 
In a day of high drama at Infosys, CEO Vishal Sikka quit and the board squarely blamed Murthy&#39;s &quot;continuous assault&quot; for his exit. 
 
The board, which has been locked in a confrontation with some of the founders over the past quarters, also alleged that Murthy&#39;s recent letter contained factual inaccuracies and that his &quot;misguided campaign&quot; was damaging the company. 
 
Murthy in a statement had said that he was not seeking &quot;any money, position for children, or power&quot;, and that his concern primarily was the deteriorating standard of corporate governance at Infosys. 
 
Murthy also released the contents of his letter to advisors dated August 14, 2017 where he had said that he did not wish to comment on Sikka&#39;s work, and that his concerns are around governance at Infosys. 
 
&quot;I believe that the fault lies with the current board ... We just want the board to protect the institution rather than protecting some individuals like the board is doing today,&quot; Murthy had said in his mail to advisors. 
 
Murthy also stressed that he did not want Infosys board to &quot;drive the institution to death&quot; through serious governance &quot;deficits&quot;. 
 
During the conference today, Seshasayee said that the board had looked into anonymous whistle blower complaints on three occasions and that investigation had not found evidence of wrongdoing on any of the occasion. 
 
Defending the decision to have a board-initiated investigation, Seshasayee argued that giving shareholders the task of taking up anonymous complaints or letting them appoint committee for probe was &quot;the best way to destroy an organisation&quot;. 
 
Disbelieving reports of globally renowned and independent investigating agencies would be akin to saying that no one can be trusted, he pointed out. 
 
&quot;Nothing has come out of the investigation,&quot; he maintained. 
 
Infosys co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan said that succession planning was priority for board, and that it was important that incoming CEO buys into Infosys&#39; vision and culture and is people-oriented. 
 
To a specific question, Venkatesan said he is not in contention for the CEO&#39;s role.&nbsp;

Infosys said suggestions that world-renowned law firms connived?with the board twice to overlook alleged 'misdeeds' of a CEO and give a clean chit were 'completely untenable'

Infosys Friday (August 18) rebutted the fresh charges by founder NR Narayana Murthy, and said suggestions that world-renowned law firms connived with the board twice to overlook alleged "misdeeds" of a CEO and give a clean chit were "completely untenable". The comments came after Murthy said that several shareholders, who had read the whistle-blower report, had told him that an "impartial and objective investigation" did not happen in the manner in which Infosys' probe was conducted. Infosys Chairman R Seshasayee rubbished the claims that a probe had been conducted by world renowned firms. "... To suggest that world renowned law and forensic firms will connive with the board, not once but twice...And overlook something which is a misdeed and submit a clean report, to our mind, is completely untenable," Seshasayee said. He added that the board did all it could to look into whistle blower complaints of corporate governance lapses, particularly those related to acquisition of Panaya. "It is the job of the board (Infosys) to enquire and make sure that there is indeed no such misdeed. And that is precisely what the board did," he said. In a day of high drama at Infosys, CEO Vishal Sikka quit and the board squarely blamed Murthy's "continuous assault" for his exit. The board, which has been locked in a confrontation with some of the founders over the past quarters, also alleged that Murthy's recent letter contained factual inaccuracies and that his "misguided campaign" was damaging the company. Murthy in a statement had said that he was not seeking "any money, position for children, or power", and that his concern primarily was the deteriorating standard of corporate governance at Infosys. Murthy also released the contents of his letter to advisors dated August 14, 2017 where he had said that he did not wish to comment on Sikka's work, and that his concerns are around governance at Infosys. "I believe that the fault lies with the current board ... We just want the board to protect the institution rather than protecting some individuals like the board is doing today," Murthy had said in his mail to advisors. Murthy also stressed that he did not want Infosys board to "drive the institution to death" through serious governance "deficits". During the conference today, Seshasayee said that the board had looked into anonymous whistle blower complaints on three occasions and that investigation had not found evidence of wrongdoing on any of the occasion. Defending the decision to have a board-initiated investigation, Seshasayee argued that giving shareholders the task of taking up anonymous complaints or letting them appoint committee for probe was "the best way to destroy an organisation". Disbelieving reports of globally renowned and independent investigating agencies would be akin to saying that no one can be trusted, he pointed out. "Nothing has come out of the investigation," he maintained. Infosys co-chairman Ravi Venkatesan said that succession planning was priority for board, and that it was important that incoming CEO buys into Infosys' vision and culture and is people-oriented. To a specific question, Venkatesan said he is not in contention for the CEO's role.

Infosys refutes Narayan Murthy's charges of Vishal Sikka's 'misdeeds'

Indian shares rose for a third consecutive session on Thursday, with Infosys leading the gains after announcing a likely share buyback, while Asian markets rose as tensions between the US and North Korea eased.

Shares of Infosys, India&#39;s No. 2 software services exporter, rose as much as 3.6 per cent after the company said on Wednesday its board would consider a proposal to buy back shares at a meeting later this month.

Sentiment was also upbeat across global markets with Asian shares advancing as tensions between the US and North Korea came off the boil, although the Federal Reserve&#39;s concerns about weak US inflation weighed on the dollar.

&quot;Infosys buyback is a very good thing for other IT companies,&quot; said AK Prabhakar, head of research, IDBI Capital.

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.35 per cent at 9,932.40 as of 0530 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.30 per cent higher at 31,867.08.

Infosys drove gains in the Nifty IT index, which climbed as much as 1.4 per cent in its biggest intraday percentage gain in nearly a month. KPIT Technologies gained 3 per cent and Tech Mahindra 1.6 per cent.

The Nifty PSU Bank index, which has lost nearly 9 per cent since India&#39;s central bank announced its decision to cut the repo rate, gained as much as 1.08 per cent.

The Nifty FMCG index was trading 0.3 per cent higher after rising 2.5 per cent in the previous session.

Asian markets rose as tensions between the US and North Korea eased

Indian shares rose for a third consecutive session on Thursday, with Infosys leading the gains after announcing a likely share buyback, while Asian markets rose as tensions between the US and North Korea eased. Shares of Infosys, India's No. 2 software services exporter, rose as much as 3.6 per cent after the company said on Wednesday its board would consider a proposal to buy back shares at a meeting later this month. Sentiment was also upbeat across global markets with Asian shares advancing as tensions between the US and North Korea came off the boil, although the Federal Reserve's concerns about weak US inflation weighed on the dollar. "Infosys buyback is a very good thing for other IT companies," said AK Prabhakar, head of research, IDBI Capital. The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.35 per cent at 9,932.40 as of 0530 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.30 per cent higher at 31,867.08. Infosys drove gains in the Nifty IT index, which climbed as much as 1.4 per cent in its biggest intraday percentage gain in nearly a month. KPIT Technologies gained 3 per cent and Tech Mahindra 1.6 per cent. The Nifty PSU Bank index, which has lost nearly 9 per cent since India's central bank announced its decision to cut the repo rate, gained as much as 1.08 per cent. The Nifty FMCG index was trading 0.3 per cent higher after rising 2.5 per cent in the previous session.

Sensex rises; Infosys buyback proposal lifts mood

India&#39;s software giant Infosys has said its board will consider a proposal, to buy back equity shares, at its meeting later this month.

The country&#39;s No. 2 software services exporter had said in April, it would return up to $2.03 billion to shareholders in the fiscal year ending March 2018, adding the manner of the payout will be decided by later by the board.

The company, which did not provide any details on the buyback, said the outcome of the board meeting will be announced after the meeting on August&nbsp;19.

The software giant had said it would return up to $2.03 billion to shareholders in the fiscal year ending March 2018

India's software giant Infosys has said its board will consider a proposal, to buy back equity shares, at its meeting later this month. The country's No. 2 software services exporter had said in April, it would return up to $2.03 billion to shareholders in the fiscal year ending March 2018, adding the manner of the payout will be decided by later by the board. The company, which did not provide any details on the buyback, said the outcome of the board meeting will be announced after the meeting on August 19.

Infosys to consider share buyback proposal

Infosys today refused a request from its founder N R Narayana Murthy to disclose a report by an external consultant on the alleged wrongdoing in Panaya acquisition.

Infosys had hired Khaitan &amp; Company to look into a controversy surrounding the Panaya acquisition after a whistleblower in an email had alleged that the company&#39;s management had wrongly acquired the Israeli automation technology company. In February last year, Infosys had announced it was buying Panaya for $200 million (Rs 1,250 crore) in cash.

&quot;The company does not plan to make the report public,&quot; Infosys said in a statement.

In its website the company gave a summary of the report, saying, it had not found&nbsp;any &quot;evidence that the CEO received excessive variable compensation or incurred unreasonable expenses for security, travel and the Palo Alto office.&quot;

&quot;We found no evidence of inappropriate contracting and&nbsp;no evidence that the Mergers and Acquisitions team failed to obtain&nbsp;appropriate approvals.&quot;

&quot;We found no evidence supporting the whistleblower&rsquo;s allegations regarding the acquisitions &ndash; there were no conflicts of interest or kickbacks, required approvals for the acquisitions were obtained, thorough due diligence was conducted, the valuations of the target companies done by an outside financial advisor were reasonable, and the purchase prices were within the range of values determined by that advisor,&quot; the statement added.

Summary of Infosys statement - <a href="https://www.infosys.com/newsroom/press-releases/Pages/conclusion-independent-investigation-statement.aspx">Click here</a>

Murthy and CEO Vishal Sikka have clashed in the media on several occasions in the past year over pay and severance package of the company. Murthy had questioned Infosys management&#39;s decision after the media reported former finance chief Rajiv Bansal was paid $2.6 million as part of his severance package.

Infosys had hired Khaitan & Company to look into a controversy surrounding the Panaya acquisition

Infosys today refused a request from its founder N R Narayana Murthy to disclose a report by an external consultant on the alleged wrongdoing in Panaya acquisition. Infosys had hired Khaitan & Company to look into a controversy surrounding the Panaya acquisition after a whistleblower in an email had alleged that the company's management had wrongly acquired the Israeli automation technology company. In February last year, Infosys had announced it was buying Panaya for $200 million (Rs 1,250 crore) in cash. "The company does not plan to make the report public," Infosys said in a statement. In its website the company gave a summary of the report, saying, it had not found any "evidence that the CEO received excessive variable compensation or incurred unreasonable expenses for security, travel and the Palo Alto office." "We found no evidence of inappropriate contracting and no evidence that the Mergers and Acquisitions team failed to obtain appropriate approvals." "We found no evidence supporting the whistleblower’s allegations regarding the acquisitions – there were no conflicts of interest or kickbacks, required approvals for the acquisitions were obtained, thorough due diligence was conducted, the valuations of the target companies done by an outside financial advisor were reasonable, and the purchase prices were within the range of values determined by that advisor," the statement added. Summary of Infosys statement - Click here Murthy and CEO Vishal Sikka have clashed in the media on several occasions in the past year over pay and severance package of the company. Murthy had questioned Infosys management's decision after the media reported former finance chief Rajiv Bansal was paid $2.6 million as part of his severance package.

Infosys rejects Murthy's request to make Panaya acquisition report public

Infosys Ltd chief executive Vishal Sikka attempted on Monday to allay concerns over a corporate governance row between the software services firm and its founders, saying his relations with NR Narayana Murthy and co-founders were excellent.

India&#39;s number 2 IT services company, based in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru, has been locked in an escalating public war of words with its founders and former executives, who, led by Murthy, have accused its board of lapses in corporate governance.

Infosys&#39; founders, who own 12.75 per cent of the firm, have questioned the pay of Sikka and severance payouts given to others, including its former finance head Rajiv Bansal. According to local media reports, the founders have also questioned the appointment of an independent director.

Addressing an investor conference in Mumbai on Monday, Sikka called Murthy an &quot;incredible man&quot;. He dubbed issues raised in the media around corporate governance lapses at the firm as &quot;distracting&quot;.

&quot;My relation with the founders is wonderful,&quot; Sikka said at the event hosted by brokerage firm Kotak.

&quot;All this drama that&#39;s been going on in the media, it&#39;s very distracting, it takes away attention, but underneath that there is a very strong fabric that this company is based on and it is a real privilege for me to be its leader.&quot;

The row comes at a time when the more $150 billion Indian IT services sector has seen a slowdown in deal wins from Western clients, and is bracing for changes in visa rules in its biggest market, the United States, that could increase costs significantly and dent profits.

Infosys, founded in 1981 when seven engineers, including Murthy, pooled $250 that was mostly borrowed from their wives, is expected to address the governance concerns at a separate news conference at 1230 GMT on Monday.

Sikka, a former member of the executive board at German software firm SAP, took the top job at Infosys in 2014, becoming its first non-founder CEO. Later that year, Murthy voluntarily gave up his board position.

One of the sore points between the board and the founders has been the salary of Sikka -- who is due to get as much as $11 million based on Infosys&#39; performance.

Murthy also questioned in a recent media interview Infosys&#39; agreed severance payment of about 174 million rupees ($2.6 million) to former finance chief Rajiv Bansal. Large severance pays are rare in India.

The board has backed Sikka and has brushed aside concerns over CEO compensation, appointment of independent directors and severance pay relating to former employees, saying those were old issues and that full disclosures had been made.

Investors have worried that the dispute over alleged corporate governance lapses at Infosys will turn as ugly as it has at the Tatas, India&#39;s top conglomerate, where the ousted former chairman has waged a legal battle against the company.

Sikka&#39;s comments on Monday and Infosys&#39;s upcoming news conference seemed to soothe investors, with a fund manager calling it a &quot;confidence building&quot; measure. Infosys shares rose 1.7 per cent after Sikka&#39;s comments to their highest level in a month.

&quot;Probably this is not going to precipitate into something like the Tatas,&quot; said RK Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management, which owns Infosys shares.

Responding to a query on a potential share buyback, another concern raised by former some executives, Sikka said Infosys would weigh buybacks against the company&#39;s business needs and the use of capital toward potential acquisitions. The company is sitting on a cash pile of more than $5 billion, as of December 31.

(Reuters)

Sikka, addressing an investor conference in Mumbai, said his relation with the founders was 'wonderful'

Infosys Ltd chief executive Vishal Sikka attempted on Monday to allay concerns over a corporate governance row between the software services firm and its founders, saying his relations with NR Narayana Murthy and co-founders were excellent. India's number 2 IT services company, based in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru, has been locked in an escalating public war of words with its founders and former executives, who, led by Murthy, have accused its board of lapses in corporate governance. Infosys' founders, who own 12.75 per cent of the firm, have questioned the pay of Sikka and severance payouts given to others, including its former finance head Rajiv Bansal. According to local media reports, the founders have also questioned the appointment of an independent director. Addressing an investor conference in Mumbai on Monday, Sikka called Murthy an "incredible man". He dubbed issues raised in the media around corporate governance lapses at the firm as "distracting". "My relation with the founders is wonderful," Sikka said at the event hosted by brokerage firm Kotak. "All this drama that's been going on in the media, it's very distracting, it takes away attention, but underneath that there is a very strong fabric that this company is based on and it is a real privilege for me to be its leader." The row comes at a time when the more $150 billion Indian IT services sector has seen a slowdown in deal wins from Western clients, and is bracing for changes in visa rules in its biggest market, the United States, that could increase costs significantly and dent profits. Infosys, founded in 1981 when seven engineers, including Murthy, pooled $250 that was mostly borrowed from their wives, is expected to address the governance concerns at a separate news conference at 1230 GMT on Monday. Sikka, a former member of the executive board at German software firm SAP, took the top job at Infosys in 2014, becoming its first non-founder CEO. Later that year, Murthy voluntarily gave up his board position. One of the sore points between the board and the founders has been the salary of Sikka -- who is due to get as much as $11 million based on Infosys' performance. Murthy also questioned in a recent media interview Infosys' agreed severance payment of about 174 million rupees ($2.6 million) to former finance chief Rajiv Bansal. Large severance pays are rare in India. The board has backed Sikka and has brushed aside concerns over CEO compensation, appointment of independent directors and severance pay relating to former employees, saying those were old issues and that full disclosures had been made. Investors have worried that the dispute over alleged corporate governance lapses at Infosys will turn as ugly as it has at the Tatas, India's top conglomerate, where the ousted former chairman has waged a legal battle against the company. Sikka's comments on Monday and Infosys's upcoming news conference seemed to soothe investors, with a fund manager calling it a "confidence building" measure. Infosys shares rose 1.7 per cent after Sikka's comments to their highest level in a month. "Probably this is not going to precipitate into something like the Tatas," said RK Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management, which owns Infosys shares. Responding to a query on a potential share buyback, another concern raised by former some executives, Sikka said Infosys would weigh buybacks against the company's business needs and the use of capital toward potential acquisitions. The company is sitting on a cash pile of more than $5 billion, as of December 31. (Reuters)

India: Infosys CEO Sikka attempts to quell tensions with company founders

Infosys could hand out pink slips to hundreds of mid- and senior-level employees as it carries out its bi-annual performance review amid a challenging business environment. 
 
The development comes at a time when its peers Wipro and Cognizant are taking similar measures to control costs.

Interestingly, Infosys has said it will hire 10,000 Americans in the next two years and open four centres in the US as it seeks to counter moves by the US to tighten visa norms. 
 
&quot;Our performance management process provides for a bi-annual assessment of performance. A continued low feedback on performance could lead to certain performance actions, including separation of an individual and this is done only after feedback,&quot; Infosys spokesperson said in an emailed statement. 
 
The spokesperson did not divulge the number of people to be impacted, although reports peg the number to be in hundreds. 
 
&quot;We do this every year and the numbers could vary every performance cycle,&quot; the spokesperson said, adding that the assessment is based on individual goals and strategic priorities of the company. 
 
Last week, the US-based Cognizant had rolled out a voluntary separation programme for directors, associate VPs and senior VPs, offering them 6-9 months of salary.

Wipro, too, is learnt to have asked about 600 employees to leave as part of its annual &quot;performance appraisal&quot; even as speculations were that the number could go as high as 2,000. 
 
IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. However, they have warned that increasing automation of processes would lead to reduction in hiring in coming years. 
 
While the outsourcing model has placed India on the global map, increasing scrutiny and rising protectionist sentiment are also posing challenges for the USD 140 billion Indian IT industry. 
 
Companies are now working towards reducing their dependence on work visas and instead hiring more locals to ensure continuity of work for clients, even though it impacts their margins.

(PTI)

Infosys could hand out pink slips to hundreds of mid- and senior-level employees as it carries out its bi-annual performance review

Infosys could hand out pink slips to hundreds of mid- and senior-level employees as it carries out its bi-annual performance review amid a challenging business environment. The development comes at a time when its peers Wipro and Cognizant are taking similar measures to control costs. Interestingly, Infosys has said it will hire 10,000 Americans in the next two years and open four centres in the US as it seeks to counter moves by the US to tighten visa norms. "Our performance management process provides for a bi-annual assessment of performance. A continued low feedback on performance could lead to certain performance actions, including separation of an individual and this is done only after feedback," Infosys spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The spokesperson did not divulge the number of people to be impacted, although reports peg the number to be in hundreds. "We do this every year and the numbers could vary every performance cycle," the spokesperson said, adding that the assessment is based on individual goals and strategic priorities of the company. Last week, the US-based Cognizant had rolled out a voluntary separation programme for directors, associate VPs and senior VPs, offering them 6-9 months of salary. Wipro, too, is learnt to have asked about 600 employees to leave as part of its annual "performance appraisal" even as speculations were that the number could go as high as 2,000. IT companies have been one of the largest recruiters in the country. However, they have warned that increasing automation of processes would lead to reduction in hiring in coming years. While the outsourcing model has placed India on the global map, increasing scrutiny and rising protectionist sentiment are also posing challenges for the USD 140 billion Indian IT industry. Companies are now working towards reducing their dependence on work visas and instead hiring more locals to ensure continuity of work for clients, even though it impacts their margins. (PTI)

After Cognizant, Wipro, now Infosys to lay off employees

IT services firm Infosys Ltd said late on Monday that it plans to hire 10,000 American workers in the next two years and open four technology centres in the United States, starting with a centre this August in Indiana, the home state of Vice President Mike Pence.

The move comes at a time when Infosys and some of its Indian peers such as Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro have become political targets in the United States for allegedly displacing jobs of American workers by flying in foreign workers on temporary visas to service their clients in the country.

The IT service firms rely heavily on the H1-B visa programme, which President Trump has ordered federal agencies to review.

In a telephone interview with Reuters from Indiana, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said his company plans to hire American workers in fields such as artificial intelligence.

He said the firm has already hired 2,000 American workers as part of a previous effort started in 2014.

&quot;When you think about it from a U.S. point of view, obviously creating more American jobs and opportunities is a good thing,&quot; Sikka said.

(Reuters)

Company CEO Vishal Sikka said the firm has already hired 2,000 American workers as part of a previous effort started in 2014

IT services firm Infosys Ltd said late on Monday that it plans to hire 10,000 American workers in the next two years and open four technology centres in the United States, starting with a centre this August in Indiana, the home state of Vice President Mike Pence. The move comes at a time when Infosys and some of its Indian peers such as Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro have become political targets in the United States for allegedly displacing jobs of American workers by flying in foreign workers on temporary visas to service their clients in the country. The IT service firms rely heavily on the H1-B visa programme, which President Trump has ordered federal agencies to review. In a telephone interview with Reuters from Indiana, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said his company plans to hire American workers in fields such as artificial intelligence. He said the firm has already hired 2,000 American workers as part of a previous effort started in 2014. "When you think about it from a U.S. point of view, obviously creating more American jobs and opportunities is a good thing," Sikka said. (Reuters)

Infosys plans to hire 10,000 American workers, open 4 US tech centres

The US has accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering the lion&#39;s share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system, which the Trump administration wants to replace with a more merit-based immigration policy.

At a White House briefing last week, an official in the Trump administration said a small number of giant outsourcing firms flood the system with applications which naturally ups their chances of success in the lottery draw.

&quot;You may know their names well, but like the top recipients of the H-1B visa are companies like Tata, Infosys, Cognizant -- they will apply for a very large number of visas, more than they get, by putting extra tickets in the lottery raffle, if you will, and then they&#39;ll get the lion&#39;s share of visas,&quot; the senior official said, according to transcript of the briefing posted on White House website.

Responding to a follow-up on why Indian companies were singled out for a mention, the White House response said Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Cognizant were the top three recipients of H-1B visas.

&quot;And those three companies are companies that have an average wage for H-1B visas between USD 60,000 and USD 65,000 (a year). By contrast, the median Silicon Valley software engineer&#39;s wage is probably around USD 150,000,&quot; the official said.

He said contracting firms that are not skills employers, who oftentimes use workers for entry-level positions, capture the lion&#39;s share of H-1B visas. &quot;And that&#39;s all public record.&quot;

All the three Indian firms refused to comment on the US administration comment.

The official said H-1B visas presently were awarded through random lottery with about 80 per cent of H-1B workers being paid less than the median wage in their fields.

&quot;Only about 5 to 6 per cent, depending on the year, of H-1B workers command the highest wage tier recognised by the Department of Labour, there being four wage tiers. And the highest wage tier, for instance, in 2015, was only 5 per cent of H1B workers,&quot; he said.

He said workers are often brought in well below market rates to replace American workers, again, sort of violating the principle of the programme, which is supposed to be a means for bringing in skilled labour.

&quot;Instead you&#39;re bringing in a lot of times workers who are actually less skilled and lower paid than the workers that they&#39;re replacing,&quot; he said.

So if the current system that awards visas randomly without regard for skill or wage is changed to a skills-based awarding, it would make it extremely difficult to use the visa to replace or undercut American workers, he said.

&quot;Because you&#39;re not bringing in workers at beneath the market wage. And so it&#39;s a very elegant way of solving very systemic problems in the H-1B guest worker visa,&quot; he said.&nbsp;

(PTI)

An official in the Trump administration said they unfairly corner the lion's share of visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system

The US has accused top Indian IT firms TCS and Infosys of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system, which the Trump administration wants to replace with a more merit-based immigration policy. At a White House briefing last week, an official in the Trump administration said a small number of giant outsourcing firms flood the system with applications which naturally ups their chances of success in the lottery draw. "You may know their names well, but like the top recipients of the H-1B visa are companies like Tata, Infosys, Cognizant -- they will apply for a very large number of visas, more than they get, by putting extra tickets in the lottery raffle, if you will, and then they'll get the lion's share of visas," the senior official said, according to transcript of the briefing posted on White House website. Responding to a follow-up on why Indian companies were singled out for a mention, the White House response said Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Cognizant were the top three recipients of H-1B visas. "And those three companies are companies that have an average wage for H-1B visas between USD 60,000 and USD 65,000 (a year). By contrast, the median Silicon Valley software engineer's wage is probably around USD 150,000," the official said. He said contracting firms that are not skills employers, who oftentimes use workers for entry-level positions, capture the lion's share of H-1B visas. "And that's all public record." All the three Indian firms refused to comment on the US administration comment. The official said H-1B visas presently were awarded through random lottery with about 80 per cent of H-1B workers being paid less than the median wage in their fields. "Only about 5 to 6 per cent, depending on the year, of H-1B workers command the highest wage tier recognised by the Department of Labour, there being four wage tiers. And the highest wage tier, for instance, in 2015, was only 5 per cent of H1B workers," he said. He said workers are often brought in well below market rates to replace American workers, again, sort of violating the principle of the programme, which is supposed to be a means for bringing in skilled labour. "Instead you're bringing in a lot of times workers who are actually less skilled and lower paid than the workers that they're replacing," he said. So if the current system that awards visas randomly without regard for skill or wage is changed to a skills-based awarding, it would make it extremely difficult to use the visa to replace or undercut American workers, he said. "Because you're not bringing in workers at beneath the market wage. And so it's a very elegant way of solving very systemic problems in the H-1B guest worker visa," he said. (PTI)

US accuses top Indian IT firms TCS, Infosys of violating H-1B visa norms

The country&#39;s second-largest IT services firm Infosys today reported a marginal growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,603 crore for the quarter ended March 2017.

Infosys will also pay up to Rs 13,000 crore to shareholders during 2017-18 by way of dividend and/or share buyback. It has named Independent Director Ravi Venkatesan co-Chairman of the company.

Net profit came in 0.2 per cent higher than Rs 3,597 crore in the same period previous year, according to a BSE filing by Infosys.

Revenue of the Bengaluru-based company grew 3.4 per cent to Rs 17,120 crore in the March quarter compared to Rs 16,550 crore in the same period of 2015-16, it added.

The company expects its 2017-18 revenue to grow between 6.1 per cent and 8.1 per cent in dollar terms and 6.5-8.5 per cent in constant currency terms.

On a sequential basis, Infosys&#39; net profit fell 2.8 per cent while revenue declined 0.9 per cent.

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said, &quot;Unanticipated execution challenges and distractions in a seasonally soft quarter affected our overall performance.&quot;

He added: &quot;Looking ahead, it is imperative that we increase our resilience to the dynamics of our environment and we remain resolute in executing our strategy, path to transform Infosys and drive long term value for all stakeholders.&quot;

In US dollars, Infosys net profit was up 1.8 per cent at USD 543 million for the March quarter while revenue grew 5 per cent to USD 2.5 billion.

For the full year, net profit grew 4.3 per cent to USD 2.1 billion while revenue was up 7.4 per cent to USD 10.2 billion.

The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 14.75 per share for 2016-17.

(PTI)

Infosys will also pay up to Rs 13,000 crore to shareholders during 2017-18 by way of dividend and/or share buyback

The country's second-largest IT services firm Infosys today reported a marginal growth in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,603 crore for the quarter ended March 2017. Infosys will also pay up to Rs 13,000 crore to shareholders during 2017-18 by way of dividend and/or share buyback. It has named Independent Director Ravi Venkatesan co-Chairman of the company. Net profit came in 0.2 per cent higher than Rs 3,597 crore in the same period previous year, according to a BSE filing by Infosys. Revenue of the Bengaluru-based company grew 3.4 per cent to Rs 17,120 crore in the March quarter compared to Rs 16,550 crore in the same period of 2015-16, it added. The company expects its 2017-18 revenue to grow between 6.1 per cent and 8.1 per cent in dollar terms and 6.5-8.5 per cent in constant currency terms. On a sequential basis, Infosys' net profit fell 2.8 per cent while revenue declined 0.9 per cent. Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said, "Unanticipated execution challenges and distractions in a seasonally soft quarter affected our overall performance." He added: "Looking ahead, it is imperative that we increase our resilience to the dynamics of our environment and we remain resolute in executing our strategy, path to transform Infosys and drive long term value for all stakeholders." In US dollars, Infosys net profit was up 1.8 per cent at USD 543 million for the March quarter while revenue grew 5 per cent to USD 2.5 billion. For the full year, net profit grew 4.3 per cent to USD 2.1 billion while revenue was up 7.4 per cent to USD 10.2 billion. The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 14.75 per share for 2016-17. (PTI)

Infosys Q4 net profit at Rs 36 billion, up 0.2% on year

The dispute between the founders and the board of India&#39;s second largest software services company Infosys Ltd over governance issues spilled into public view again as founder NR&nbsp;Narayana Murthy criticised a salary hike given to Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao.

In a letter that was released to media, Murthy criticised the steep rise in Rao&#39;s salary.

&quot;Giving nearly 60 percent to 70 percent increase in compensation for a top level person (even including performance-based variable pay) when the compensation for most of the employees in the company was increased by just 6 percent to 8 percent is, in my opinion, not proper. This is grossly unfair to the majority of the Infosys employees...,&quot; said Murthy in the letter.

&quot;The impact of such a decision will likely erode the trust and faith of the employees in the management and the board,&quot; added Murthy.

Infosys declined to comment on Murthy&#39;s letter when contacted by Reuters.

According to a stock exchange filing by the company, only 24 percent of promoter shares voted on a resolution seeking a 35 percent rise in Rao&#39;s compensation, and they all voted for the resolution. (http://bit.ly/2nuHy2e)

The company had sought to reassure investors and analysts in February that it was not being distracted by the dispute with its founders over how the company was being managed.

The company&#39;s founders still own 12.75 percent of Infosys. Led by Murthy, they had earlier questioned the pay rise granted to chief executive Vishal Sikka and also the size of severance payouts given to others, including former finance head Rajiv Bansal.&nbsp;

(Reuters)

Says 60-70% pay hikes for higher-ups is improper when other workers only get 6-8%

The dispute between the founders and the board of India's second largest software services company Infosys Ltd over governance issues spilled into public view again as founder NR Narayana Murthy criticised a salary hike given to Chief Operating Officer Pravin Rao. In a letter that was released to media, Murthy criticised the steep rise in Rao's salary. "Giving nearly 60 percent to 70 percent increase in compensation for a top level person (even including performance-based variable pay) when the compensation for most of the employees in the company was increased by just 6 percent to 8 percent is, in my opinion, not proper. This is grossly unfair to the majority of the Infosys employees...," said Murthy in the letter. "The impact of such a decision will likely erode the trust and faith of the employees in the management and the board," added Murthy. Infosys declined to comment on Murthy's letter when contacted by Reuters. According to a stock exchange filing by the company, only 24 percent of promoter shares voted on a resolution seeking a 35 percent rise in Rao's compensation, and they all voted for the resolution. (http://bit.ly/2nuHy2e) The company had sought to reassure investors and analysts in February that it was not being distracted by the dispute with its founders over how the company was being managed. The company's founders still own 12.75 percent of Infosys. Led by Murthy, they had earlier questioned the pay rise granted to chief executive Vishal Sikka and also the size of severance payouts given to others, including former finance head Rajiv Bansal. (Reuters)

Infosys founder Narayan Murthy slams massive COO pay hike

Infosys Monday&nbsp;vehemently defended the hike in its COO UB Pravin Rao&#39;s compensation, saying the revision was arrived at after benchmarking against peers.

It said the revision, as rolled out for several of its senior leadership team, is &quot;focused on making Infosys more competitive and is benchmarked against peers&quot; and is critical to retaining key talent.

Barely two months after a face-off between founders and management on issues such as CEO salary hike and severance package to former employees, a fresh row has erupted between the two sides, this time over Rao&#39;s compensation. Co-founder and former chairman N R Narayana Murthy had yesterday criticised the hike in COO compensation, calling it &quot;grossly unfair&quot; for a majority of Infosys employees who get 6-8 per cent annual hike.

Infosys, in a statement issued today, said it views Murthy&#39;s statement as &quot;important feedback&quot; and will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure long-term interest of the company.

It justified the over 33 per cent rise in Rao&#39;s compensation, saying Infosys had undertaken a comprehensive survey of best practices and benchmarked senior management compensation with key Indian and global companies.

Infosys said the cash component has decreased by 10.6 per cent to Rs 4.6 crore from Rs 5.2 crore and it is only the performance-based portion that has been raised to 63 per cent from 45 per cent of the total compensation.

&quot;Given the four-year vesting period of stock, the net increase in Pravin Rao&#39;s compensation for 2017-18 will be 1.4 per cent. 
&nbsp; 
This could go up to 33.4 per cent in year four, assuming similar grants are made in subsequent years based on company and individual performance,&quot; it explained.

Defending the decision, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said: &quot;Pravin&#39;s commitment and contribution to the company have been immense, and his partnership over the past about three&nbsp;years has been critical to the successes and growth of our company.&quot;

He added that the decision &quot;aligns the long-term interests of our leadership team with that of our shareholders&quot;.

Infosys contended that the proposal was placed before the shareholders and the recommendations have been approved by 67 per cent of the company&#39;s shareholders in a postal ballot.

Interestingly, only 24 per cent of the promoters had voted in favour of the resolution while the rest, including Murthy, abstained.

&quot;The Infosys board would like to state that it acknowledges the sentiment of shareholders who have not voted in favour of the resolution, and has also taken careful note of the statements expressed by the company&#39;s promoters,&quot; it said. 
 
(PTI) 
&nbsp;

Co-founder Narayana Murthy had criticised the hike in COO compensation, calling it grossly unfair for a majority of employees

Infosys Monday vehemently defended the hike in its COO UB Pravin Rao's compensation, saying the revision was arrived at after benchmarking against peers. It said the revision, as rolled out for several of its senior leadership team, is "focused on making Infosys more competitive and is benchmarked against peers" and is critical to retaining key talent. Barely two months after a face-off between founders and management on issues such as CEO salary hike and severance package to former employees, a fresh row has erupted between the two sides, this time over Rao's compensation. Co-founder and former chairman N R Narayana Murthy had yesterday criticised the hike in COO compensation, calling it "grossly unfair" for a majority of Infosys employees who get 6-8 per cent annual hike. Infosys, in a statement issued today, said it views Murthy's statement as "important feedback" and will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure long-term interest of the company. It justified the over 33 per cent rise in Rao's compensation, saying Infosys had undertaken a comprehensive survey of best practices and benchmarked senior management compensation with key Indian and global companies. Infosys said the cash component has decreased by 10.6 per cent to Rs 4.6 crore from Rs 5.2 crore and it is only the performance-based portion that has been raised to 63 per cent from 45 per cent of the total compensation. "Given the four-year vesting period of stock, the net increase in Pravin Rao's compensation for 2017-18 will be 1.4 per cent. This could go up to 33.4 per cent in year four, assuming similar grants are made in subsequent years based on company and individual performance," it explained. Defending the decision, Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said: "Pravin's commitment and contribution to the company have been immense, and his partnership over the past about three years has been critical to the successes and growth of our company." He added that the decision "aligns the long-term interests of our leadership team with that of our shareholders". Infosys contended that the proposal was placed before the shareholders and the recommendations have been approved by 67 per cent of the company's shareholders in a postal ballot. Interestingly, only 24 per cent of the promoters had voted in favour of the resolution while the rest, including Murthy, abstained. "The Infosys board would like to state that it acknowledges the sentiment of shareholders who have not voted in favour of the resolution, and has also taken careful note of the statements expressed by the company's promoters," it said. (PTI)

Infosys justifies COO salary hike, says effective rise only 1.4%

Nearly half of the workforce in Indian IT firms will be &quot;irrelevant&quot;&nbsp;in the next three to four years, according to a report published advisory firm McKinsey &amp; Company.

The report said IT firms will have to re-skill its workers to stay abreast with the changing needs of the market, Business Standard reported.

The IT&nbsp;industry in India, which is worth $150 billion, employs around 3.9 million people.

The report stated: &quot;IT services providers must turn around their businesses in five major ways such as explosion of new service lines and solutions, investment to build new capabilities, coexistence of digital transformation and traditional services, acquisitions and re-skilling employees with emerging technologies.&quot;

Industry players believe that the industry is lagging behind because technology is changing a faster rate.&nbsp;

The big IT firms like Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have already moved on to training their existing workforce.

Infosys chief operating officer Pravin Rao said&nbsp;<a href="http://www.business-standard.com/search?type=news&amp;q=Infosys" target="_blank">h</a>is company had started platforms like Zero Distance to drive innovation and re-skill its workforce, according to Business Standard.

The Indian IT sector has been plagued with uncertainty in recent times, particularly after US President Donald Trump came to power last year.

India&#39;s software services industry is concerned about a bill introduced in the US&nbsp;Congress seeking to double the salary paid to H-1B visa holders which would dramatically increase the costs for the&nbsp;Indian companies employing them.

(WION with inputs from Reuters)&nbsp;

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A McKinsey & Company report said the IT firms will have to re-skill its workers to stay abreast with the changing needs of the market

Nearly half of the workforce in Indian IT firms will be "irrelevant" in the next three to four years, according to a report published advisory firm McKinsey & Company. The report said IT firms will have to re-skill its workers to stay abreast with the changing needs of the market, Business Standard reported. The IT industry in India, which is worth $150 billion, employs around 3.9 million people. The report stated: "IT services providers must turn around their businesses in five major ways such as explosion of new service lines and solutions, investment to build new capabilities, coexistence of digital transformation and traditional services, acquisitions and re-skilling employees with emerging technologies." Industry players believe that the industry is lagging behind because technology is changing a faster rate. The big IT firms like Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) have already moved on to training their existing workforce. Infosys chief operating officer Pravin Rao said his company had started platforms like Zero Distance to drive innovation and re-skill its workforce, according to Business Standard. The Indian IT sector has been plagued with uncertainty in recent times, particularly after US President Donald Trump came to power last year. India's software services industry is concerned about a bill introduced in the US Congress seeking to double the salary paid to H-1B visa holders which would dramatically increase the costs for the Indian companies employing them. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Nearly half of Indian IT workforce to be 'irrelevant' in 3-4 years

The Infosys Ltd board does not want a war of words with the Indian software services company&#39;s former leadership to descend into the kind of damaging row seen at Tata, an Infosys boardroom source said on Friday.&nbsp;

India&#39;s second biggest IT services company, based in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru, has been in an escalating public dispute with its founders and former executives this week, who have accused the board of lapses in corporate governance.

The founders own 12.75 per cent of the company.

The boardroom tussle at Infosys comes at a time when another iconic Indian firm, Tata Sons, has been hit by allegations of corporate governance lapses following the ouster of former Chairman Cyrus Mistry. The Tata row has spilled into the courts and has tainted the reputation of one of India&#39;s most respected business houses.

&quot;For sure we don&#39;t want another Tata happening. We don&#39;t want that replay and therefore we will do what it takes to avoid that kind of situation,&quot; said the boardroom source, asking not to be named given the sensitivity of the situation.

The strain between Infosys and its founders also comes at a turbulent time for the Indian IT sector in general, which is expecting changes to visa laws in their biggest market, the United States, to raise costs and dent business.

Earlier on Friday, V Balakrishnan, a former chief financial officer at Infosys, told Reuters the company&#39;s board had become &quot;lax on corporate governance and was undermining the values on which the company was built&quot;.

Balakrishnan said founders including NR Narayana Murthy, Kris Gopalakrishnan and Nandan Nilekani had been engaging with Infosys since last year but the board had not addressed any of the concerns raised.

&quot;They have validly raised certain governance issues,&quot; Balakrishnan, who is aware of the exchanges between the founders and the board, told Reuters.

&quot;It is not about performance, or Vishal Sikka,&quot; he said declining to give further details.

Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka&#39;s pay rise and large severance packages offered to two former executives were among a host of issues that have not sat well with Infosys founders, local media reported this week.

&quot;Big letdown&quot;

Infosys declined to respond to Balakrishnan&#39;s comments. The company downplayed talk of governance lapses in a lengthy statement issued on Thursday that backed Sikka&#39;s performance.

The company said: &quot;Vishal and the board, while being pleased with the company&#39;s resumption of industry leading performance on many parameters, are keen to further accelerate the progress and achieve even more shareholder value increase.&quot;

Balakrishnan said he had stopped communicating with the board some two years ago after failing to get a reply on a share buyback suggestion.

&quot;This board is a big letdown,&quot; said Balakrishnan, who also criticised the appointment of a law firm to receive and assess input from stakeholders and make recommendations to the board.&nbsp;

&quot;The board has to personally engage with the founders,&quot; he said.

The Infosys boardroom source insisted there had been no breakdown in communication breakdown with the founders. &quot;We&#39;ve been engaging directly with the founders for several months, we&#39;ll continue to do so.&quot;

(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

Founders and former executives, including Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani have accused the board of lapses in corporate governance

The Infosys Ltd board does not want a war of words with the Indian software services company's former leadership to descend into the kind of damaging row seen at Tata, an Infosys boardroom source said on Friday. India's second biggest IT services company, based in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru, has been in an escalating public dispute with its founders and former executives this week, who have accused the board of lapses in corporate governance. The founders own 12.75 per cent of the company. The boardroom tussle at Infosys comes at a time when another iconic Indian firm, Tata Sons, has been hit by allegations of corporate governance lapses following the ouster of former Chairman Cyrus Mistry. The Tata row has spilled into the courts and has tainted the reputation of one of India's most respected business houses. "For sure we don't want another Tata happening. We don't want that replay and therefore we will do what it takes to avoid that kind of situation," said the boardroom source, asking not to be named given the sensitivity of the situation. The strain between Infosys and its founders also comes at a turbulent time for the Indian IT sector in general, which is expecting changes to visa laws in their biggest market, the United States, to raise costs and dent business. Earlier on Friday, V Balakrishnan, a former chief financial officer at Infosys, told Reuters the company's board had become "lax on corporate governance and was undermining the values on which the company was built". Balakrishnan said founders including NR Narayana Murthy, Kris Gopalakrishnan and Nandan Nilekani had been engaging with Infosys since last year but the board had not addressed any of the concerns raised. "They have validly raised certain governance issues," Balakrishnan, who is aware of the exchanges between the founders and the board, told Reuters. "It is not about performance, or Vishal Sikka," he said declining to give further details. Infosys Chief Executive Vishal Sikka's pay rise and large severance packages offered to two former executives were among a host of issues that have not sat well with Infosys founders, local media reported this week. "Big letdown" Infosys declined to respond to Balakrishnan's comments. The company downplayed talk of governance lapses in a lengthy statement issued on Thursday that backed Sikka's performance. The company said: "Vishal and the board, while being pleased with the company's resumption of industry leading performance on many parameters, are keen to further accelerate the progress and achieve even more shareholder value increase." Balakrishnan said he had stopped communicating with the board some two years ago after failing to get a reply on a share buyback suggestion. "This board is a big letdown," said Balakrishnan, who also criticised the appointment of a law firm to receive and assess input from stakeholders and make recommendations to the board. "The board has to personally engage with the founders," he said. The Infosys boardroom source insisted there had been no breakdown in communication breakdown with the founders. "We've been engaging directly with the founders for several months, we'll continue to do so." (Reuters)

Infosys board backs CEO, keen to avoid Tata-style row

Though India has made tremendous strides in healthcare sector with increased life expectancy, it has a long way to go to reach the global standards, said Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy today.

Quoting the World Bank reports in a lecture at BioAsia, he said though the infant mortality rate has come down, India missed the Millennium Development Goals.

&quot;In India Life expectancy in India has increased from just 45 years in 1960 to 67 in 2010. While the progress has been steady, India still lags way behind comparatively with countries including China and Brazil. These are the countries which have invested considerably more in healthcare. Overall, we must say that India has made considerable progress but we still have long way to go and to catch up with our neighbours and global comparatives,&quot;&nbsp;Murthy said.

He said there is huge disparity in terms of performance between South India and North and North eastern states of India. He also expressed concern over the rise in diseases such as dengue and chikungunya.

&quot;What is somewhat concerning is that we fall behind even our small neighbours like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in public health issues.&nbsp;As per the World Bank report, Indian infant mortality rate has decreased by 25 points between 1995 and 2015.

&quot;However the sad point is the millennium development goal has not been met. Additionally there are huge disparities among Indian states with some of them performing better between Southern states and North and North eastern states,&quot;&nbsp;he further said.

(PTI)

Infosys' founder expressed concern about diseases such as dengue and chikungunya and pointed to a huge disparity in treatment between state

Though India has made tremendous strides in healthcare sector with increased life expectancy, it has a long way to go to reach the global standards, said Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy today. Quoting the World Bank reports in a lecture at BioAsia, he said though the infant mortality rate has come down, India missed the Millennium Development Goals. "In India Life expectancy in India has increased from just 45 years in 1960 to 67 in 2010. While the progress has been steady, India still lags way behind comparatively with countries including China and Brazil. These are the countries which have invested considerably more in healthcare. Overall, we must say that India has made considerable progress but we still have long way to go and to catch up with our neighbours and global comparatives," Murthy said. He said there is huge disparity in terms of performance between South India and North and North eastern states of India. He also expressed concern over the rise in diseases such as dengue and chikungunya. "What is somewhat concerning is that we fall behind even our small neighbours like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in public health issues. As per the World Bank report, Indian infant mortality rate has decreased by 25 points between 1995 and 2015. "However the sad point is the millennium development goal has not been met. Additionally there are huge disparities among Indian states with some of them performing better between Southern states and North and North eastern states," he further said. (PTI)

India yet to achieve global goals in healthcare: Murthy

There were signs of anxiety in the market as the Sensex today slumped 194 points ahead of the budget - to be presented on Wednesday - to a one-week low of 27,656 and the Nifty slipped below 8,600 after the Economic Survey projected a lower growth of 6.5 per cent for 2016-17.

The recently introduced immigration restrictions by US President Donald trump and the new legislation that aims to rework the H-1-B visa programme dealt a blow to IT stocks, which saw a big fall.

TCS, Wipro and Infosys dropped by upto 4.47 per cent, dragging down the BSE IT index by 2.96 per cent, followed by technology that tanked 2.49 per cent.

The Economic Survey for 2016-17, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today, underscored the need for more reforms. Its GDP growth forecast for this fiscal is lower than the 7.1 per cent put out by the Central Statistics Office earlier this month.

The Sensex closed down 193.60 points, or 0.70 per cent, at 27,655.96, it&#39;s lowest closing since January 24 when the figure was 27,375.58. It had lost 33 points in the previous session.

The broad-based NSE Nifty, which hit a low of 8,552.40 intra-day, managed to cut down losses and ended lower 71.45 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 8,561.30.

The risk-averse behaviour was on display as participants took cues from global stocks that remained on the backfoot following Trump&#39;s controversial crackdown on immigration.

&quot;The Economic Survey failed to impress investors who opted for keeping their commitments at a low ebb and wait for the the budget,&quot; said Manoj Choraria, a Delhi-based stock broker.

GAIL, Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Coal India, Lupin, Axis Bank and NTPC were among those that weighed.&nbsp;Sectoral indices such as oil and gas (1.64 per cent), PSU (1.39 per cent), healthcare (1.38 per cent), infrastructure (1.31) per cent and metal (1.01 per cent) all turned weak.

Selling activity also extended to the broader markets, with the BSE mid-cap falling 1.10 per cent and the small-cap 1.03 per cent.&nbsp;According to provisional figures, foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 607.36 crore yesterday.

There were a few that went up cushioning the fall, which include ITC, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto, ONGC and HDFC Bank.&nbsp;In Asia, most markets were closed today for a public holiday. Japan&#39;s Nikkei ended lower by 1.69 per cent. 
European markets, however, were trading higher as major indices in France, Germany and the UK moved up.

(PTI)

TCS, Wipro and Infosys dropped by upto 4.47 per cent, dragging down the BSE IT index by 2.96 per cent

There were signs of anxiety in the market as the Sensex today slumped 194 points ahead of the budget - to be presented on Wednesday - to a one-week low of 27,656 and the Nifty slipped below 8,600 after the Economic Survey projected a lower growth of 6.5 per cent for 2016-17. The recently introduced immigration restrictions by US President Donald trump and the new legislation that aims to rework the H-1-B visa programme dealt a blow to IT stocks, which saw a big fall. TCS, Wipro and Infosys dropped by upto 4.47 per cent, dragging down the BSE IT index by 2.96 per cent, followed by technology that tanked 2.49 per cent. The Economic Survey for 2016-17, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today, underscored the need for more reforms. Its GDP growth forecast for this fiscal is lower than the 7.1 per cent put out by the Central Statistics Office earlier this month. The Sensex closed down 193.60 points, or 0.70 per cent, at 27,655.96, it's lowest closing since January 24 when the figure was 27,375.58. It had lost 33 points in the previous session. The broad-based NSE Nifty, which hit a low of 8,552.40 intra-day, managed to cut down losses and ended lower 71.45 points, or 0.83 per cent, at 8,561.30. The risk-averse behaviour was on display as participants took cues from global stocks that remained on the backfoot following Trump's controversial crackdown on immigration. "The Economic Survey failed to impress investors who opted for keeping their commitments at a low ebb and wait for the the budget," said Manoj Choraria, a Delhi-based stock broker. GAIL, Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Coal India, Lupin, Axis Bank and NTPC were among those that weighed. Sectoral indices such as oil and gas (1.64 per cent), PSU (1.39 per cent), healthcare (1.38 per cent), infrastructure (1.31) per cent and metal (1.01 per cent) all turned weak. Selling activity also extended to the broader markets, with the BSE mid-cap falling 1.10 per cent and the small-cap 1.03 per cent. According to provisional figures, foreign investors bought shares worth Rs 607.36 crore yesterday. There were a few that went up cushioning the fall, which include ITC, PowerGrid, Bajaj Auto, ONGC and HDFC Bank. In Asia, most markets were closed today for a public holiday. Japan's Nikkei ended lower by 1.69 per cent. European markets, however, were trading higher as major indices in France, Germany and the UK moved up. (PTI)

TCS, Infosys drag down Sensex at close

A 26-year-old security guard has been apprehended in connection with the murder of a 23-year-old woman IT professional from Infosys, who was found dead last night in a conference room of the company in Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park at Hinjawadi in Pune, police said on Monday.

&quot;On the basis of the CCTV footage from the company premises and other clues, we zeroed down on a security guard from Assam, who after the incident, fled and now has been held in Mumbai,&quot; said Arun Waikar, the senior police inspector with Hinjawadi Police Station.

The suspect has been identified as Bhabhen Saikia, who was deployed as a guard at the Infosys unit, and is being brought to Pune, he said.

OP Rasila from Kerala, who was working as a system engineer with Infosys was found dead after she was allegedly strangulated with the help of a computer cord and was hit hard on the face, police said.

According to police, the incident might have taken place at around 5 pm, but police received the call around 8 pm&nbsp;last night.

ACP Vaishali Jadhav-Mane had said on Sunday night that the techie was working in the conference room on the ninth floor of Infosys&#39;s Phase-II campus whereas her two team mates were online from Bangalore.

&quot;Her manager was trying to call her, but there was no response. He then called and asked a security guard to go and check, and when the security guard went to see her, the woman was found lying on the floor in an unconscious state in the conference room,&quot; the officer had said.

An offence has been registered under the section of 302 (murder) and further investigation is on, said police adding the process of post mortem is underway.

(PTI)

OP Rasila, 23, from Kerala was found dead after she was allegedly strangulated with the help of a computer cord and was hit hard on the face

A 26-year-old security guard has been apprehended in connection with the murder of a 23-year-old woman IT professional from Infosys, who was found dead last night in a conference room of the company in Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park at Hinjawadi in Pune, police said on Monday. "On the basis of the CCTV footage from the company premises and other clues, we zeroed down on a security guard from Assam, who after the incident, fled and now has been held in Mumbai," said Arun Waikar, the senior police inspector with Hinjawadi Police Station. The suspect has been identified as Bhabhen Saikia, who was deployed as a guard at the Infosys unit, and is being brought to Pune, he said. OP Rasila from Kerala, who was working as a system engineer with Infosys was found dead after she was allegedly strangulated with the help of a computer cord and was hit hard on the face, police said. According to police, the incident might have taken place at around 5 pm, but police received the call around 8 pm last night. ACP Vaishali Jadhav-Mane had said on Sunday night that the techie was working in the conference room on the ninth floor of Infosys's Phase-II campus whereas her two team mates were online from Bangalore. "Her manager was trying to call her, but there was no response. He then called and asked a security guard to go and check, and when the security guard went to see her, the woman was found lying on the floor in an unconscious state in the conference room," the officer had said. An offence has been registered under the section of 302 (murder) and further investigation is on, said police adding the process of post mortem is underway. (PTI)

India: Woman found dead on Infosys Pune campus, security guard arrested

India&#39;s second-biggest software services exporter Infosys Ltd reported on Friday a 7 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit on new client wins, beating street estimates.

Infosys posted a quarterly net profit of 37.08 billion rupees ($544.03 million), compared with 34.65 billion rupees a year earlier. Revenue rose 8.6 per cent to 172.73 billion rupees.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 35.44 billion rupees on revenue of 173.01 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Reuters)

Infosys posted a quarterly net profit of 37.08 billion rupees ($544.03 million), compared with 34.65 billion rupees a year earlier

India's second-biggest software services exporter Infosys Ltd reported on Friday a 7 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit on new client wins, beating street estimates. Infosys posted a quarterly net profit of 37.08 billion rupees ($544.03 million), compared with 34.65 billion rupees a year earlier. Revenue rose 8.6 per cent to 172.73 billion rupees. Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 35.44 billion rupees on revenue of 173.01 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters data. (Reuters)

India: Infosys Q3 net profit rises 7 per cent, beats estimates

Anticipating a more protectionist US technology visa programme under a Donald Trump administration, India&#39;s $150 billion IT services sector will speed up acquisitions in the United States and recruit more heavily from college campuses there.

Indian companies including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro have long used H1-B skilled worker visas to fly computer engineers to the US., their largest overseas market, temporarily to service clients.

Staff from those three companies accounted for around 86,000 new H1-B workers in 2005-14. The US currently issues close to that number of H1-B visas each year.

President-elect Trump&#39;s campaign rhetoric, and his pick for Attorney General of Senator Jeff Sessions, a long-time critic of the visa programme, have many expecting a tighter regime.

&quot;The world over, there&#39;s a lot of protectionism coming in and push back on immigration. Unfortunately, people are confusing immigration with a high-skilled temporary workforce, because we are really a temporary workforce,&quot; said Pravin Rao, chief operating officer at Infosys, India&#39;s second-largest information technology firm.

While few expect a complete shutdown of skilled worker visas as Indian engineers are an established part of the fabric of Silicon Valley, and US businesses depend on their cheaper IT and software solutions, any changes are likely to push up costs.

And a more restrictive programme would likely mean Indian IT firms sending fewer developers and engineers to the United States, and increasing campus recruitment there.

&quot;We have to accelerate hiring of locals if they are available, and start recruiting freshers from universities there,&quot; said Infosys&#39; Rao, noting a shift from the traditional model of recruiting mainly experienced people in the U.S.

&quot;Now we have to get into a model where we will recruit freshers, train them and gradually deploy them, and this will increase our costs,&quot; he said, noting Infosys typically recruits 500-700 people each quarter in the U.S. and Europe, around 80 percent of whom are locals.

Acquisitions in US to increase

Trump&#39;s election win and Britain&#39;s referendum vote to leave the European Union are headwinds for India&#39;s IT sector, as clients such as big U.S. and British banks and insurers hold off on spending while the dust settles.

In India&#39;s IT hub of Bengaluru and the financial capital Mumbai, executives expect a Trump administration to raise the minimum wage for foreign workers, pressuring already squeezed margins.

Buying U.S. companies would help Indian IT firms build their local headcount, increase their on-the-ground presence in key markets and help counter any protectionist regulations.

Indian software services companies have invested more than $2 billion in the United States in the past five years. North America accounts for more than half of the sector&#39;s revenue.

&quot;We have to accelerate acquisitions,&quot; said Rao at Infosys, which in the past two years has bought companies including U.S.-based Noah Consulting and Kallidus Technologies.

Jatin Dalal, Wipro&#39;s chief financial officer, said his growth strategy is to buy companies that offer something beyond what Wipro already does, or new, disruptive firms - such as Appirio, a U.S. cloud services firm.

The chief executive of Tech Mahindra, C.P. Gurnani, said his firm, which two years ago bought network services management firm Lightbridge Communications Corp, is on the look-out for more U.S. acquisitions, particularly in healthcare and fintech - financial technology firms that are disrupting traditional banking services.

Offshoring and automation

In a broader shift from labour intensive onsite projects, Indian IT firms are also turning to higher-tech services such as automation, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms.

With better technology and faster networks, IT firms are encouraging Western clients to adopt more virtual services.

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka says he has focused on automation and AI as growth drivers since 2014. &quot;The AI platform is 5-6 percent of our revenues,&quot; he told Reuters. &quot;Three years ago, it was zero.&quot;

More automation would mean fewer onshore developers.

&quot;The &#39;Plan B&#39; would be to accelerate the trend ... to reduce their reliance on people and increase their focus on delivering automation, leveraging the cloud for their clients,&quot; said Partha Iyengar, Gartner&#39;s head of research in India.

(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

India's IT sector is anticipating more visa restrictions under the Trump administration

Anticipating a more protectionist US technology visa programme under a Donald Trump administration, India's $150 billion IT services sector will speed up acquisitions in the United States and recruit more heavily from college campuses there. Indian companies including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro have long used H1-B skilled worker visas to fly computer engineers to the US., their largest overseas market, temporarily to service clients. Staff from those three companies accounted for around 86,000 new H1-B workers in 2005-14. The US currently issues close to that number of H1-B visas each year. President-elect Trump's campaign rhetoric, and his pick for Attorney General of Senator Jeff Sessions, a long-time critic of the visa programme, have many expecting a tighter regime. "The world over, there's a lot of protectionism coming in and push back on immigration. Unfortunately, people are confusing immigration with a high-skilled temporary workforce, because we are really a temporary workforce," said Pravin Rao, chief operating officer at Infosys, India's second-largest information technology firm. While few expect a complete shutdown of skilled worker visas as Indian engineers are an established part of the fabric of Silicon Valley, and US businesses depend on their cheaper IT and software solutions, any changes are likely to push up costs. And a more restrictive programme would likely mean Indian IT firms sending fewer developers and engineers to the United States, and increasing campus recruitment there. "We have to accelerate hiring of locals if they are available, and start recruiting freshers from universities there," said Infosys' Rao, noting a shift from the traditional model of recruiting mainly experienced people in the U.S. "Now we have to get into a model where we will recruit freshers, train them and gradually deploy them, and this will increase our costs," he said, noting Infosys typically recruits 500-700 people each quarter in the U.S. and Europe, around 80 percent of whom are locals. Acquisitions in US to increase Trump's election win and Britain's referendum vote to leave the European Union are headwinds for India's IT sector, as clients such as big U.S. and British banks and insurers hold off on spending while the dust settles. In India's IT hub of Bengaluru and the financial capital Mumbai, executives expect a Trump administration to raise the minimum wage for foreign workers, pressuring already squeezed margins. Buying U.S. companies would help Indian IT firms build their local headcount, increase their on-the-ground presence in key markets and help counter any protectionist regulations. Indian software services companies have invested more than $2 billion in the United States in the past five years. North America accounts for more than half of the sector's revenue. "We have to accelerate acquisitions," said Rao at Infosys, which in the past two years has bought companies including U.S.-based Noah Consulting and Kallidus Technologies. Jatin Dalal, Wipro's chief financial officer, said his growth strategy is to buy companies that offer something beyond what Wipro already does, or new, disruptive firms - such as Appirio, a U.S. cloud services firm. The chief executive of Tech Mahindra, C.P. Gurnani, said his firm, which two years ago bought network services management firm Lightbridge Communications Corp, is on the look-out for more U.S. acquisitions, particularly in healthcare and fintech - financial technology firms that are disrupting traditional banking services. Offshoring and automation In a broader shift from labour intensive onsite projects, Indian IT firms are also turning to higher-tech services such as automation, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. With better technology and faster networks, IT firms are encouraging Western clients to adopt more virtual services. Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka says he has focused on automation and AI as growth drivers since 2014. "The AI platform is 5-6 percent of our revenues," he told Reuters. "Three years ago, it was zero." More automation would mean fewer onshore developers. "The 'Plan B' would be to accelerate the trend ... to reduce their reliance on people and increase their focus on delivering automation, leveraging the cloud for their clients," said Partha Iyengar, Gartner's head of research in India. (Reuters)

Trump win spurs India's IT firms to speed up recruitments from US campuses

Indian software giant Infosys cut its annual earnings outlook for the second time in just three months on Friday, sending shares down almost three per cent, as cautious clients rein in spending.

The Bangalore-based IT services exporter reported a 6.1 per cent rise in quarterly net profits year-on-year but revised down its sales forecast for the financial year, citing an &quot;uncertain&quot; future.

Infosys shares slumped 2.57 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange in morning trade as a sluggish global economy hits India&#39;s outsourcing industry hard with companies inclined to think twice before rushing to sign contracts.

&quot;Considering our performance in the first half of the year and the near-term uncertain business outlook, we are revising our revenue guidance,&quot; CEO Vishal Sikka said in a statement.&nbsp;

In July, Infosys reduced its growth projection in US dollar terms for the fiscal year 2016-17 from between 11.8 per cent and 13.8 per cent to between 10.8 and 12.3 per cent.

On Friday that was revised down again to between 8.2 and 9.2 per cent.

Infosys and rival Tata Consultancy Services benefited as India became a back office to the world with companies taking advantage of the country&#39;s skilled English-speaking workforce by subcontracting work.

The companies are seen as the bellwether of India&#39;s flagship outsourcing industry but a recent tightening of the purse strings has put pressure on profits with contracts being postponed and in some cases,&nbsp;cancelled.

Infosys said consolidated net profit for the three months to September 30 was 36.06 billion Indian Rupees ($542 million) compared with 33.98 billion Rupees for the same period last year.

Revenues were 173.10 billion Rupees, slightly above a prediction of 171.8 billion Rupees by a survey of analysts done by Bloomberg News.

(AFP)

It reported a 6.1 per cent rise in quarterly net profits year-on-year but revised down its sales forecast for the financial year

Indian software giant Infosys cut its annual earnings outlook for the second time in just three months on Friday, sending shares down almost three per cent, as cautious clients rein in spending. The Bangalore-based IT services exporter reported a 6.1 per cent rise in quarterly net profits year-on-year but revised down its sales forecast for the financial year, citing an "uncertain" future. Infosys shares slumped 2.57 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange in morning trade as a sluggish global economy hits India's outsourcing industry hard with companies inclined to think twice before rushing to sign contracts. "Considering our performance in the first half of the year and the near-term uncertain business outlook, we are revising our revenue guidance," CEO Vishal Sikka said in a statement. In July, Infosys reduced its growth projection in US dollar terms for the fiscal year 2016-17 from between 11.8 per cent and 13.8 per cent to between 10.8 and 12.3 per cent. On Friday that was revised down again to between 8.2 and 9.2 per cent. Infosys and rival Tata Consultancy Services benefited as India became a back office to the world with companies taking advantage of the country's skilled English-speaking workforce by subcontracting work. The companies are seen as the bellwether of India's flagship outsourcing industry but a recent tightening of the purse strings has put pressure on profits with contracts being postponed and in some cases, cancelled. Infosys said consolidated net profit for the three months to September 30 was 36.06 billion Indian Rupees ($542 million) compared with 33.98 billion Rupees for the same period last year. Revenues were 173.10 billion Rupees, slightly above a prediction of 171.8 billion Rupees by a survey of analysts done by Bloomberg News. (AFP)

India: Software giant Infosys cuts earning outlook 2nd time in 3 months

Indian software giant, Infosys&#39;s shares plunged more than 9 per cent at the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday after Infosys cut its earnings outlook for the year. 
 
The Bangalore-based IT services exporter reported a 13 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit year-on-year but revised down its sales forecast, sparking the share-price fall. 
 
Net profit for the three months to June 30 came in at 34.36 billion rupees ($513 million) compared with 30.30 billion rupees for the same period last year, Infosys said. 
 
The performance was weaker than expected, leading the firm to reduce its growth projection in US dollar terms for fiscal year 2016-17 from between 11.8 per cent and 13.8 per cent to between 10.8 and 12.3 per cent. 
 
Shares fell 9.35 per cent to 1065.95 Rupees in late morning trade. 
 
&quot;We had unanticipated headwinds in discretionary spending in consulting services and package implementations as well as slower project ramp-ups in large deals that we had won in earlier quarters, resulting in a lower than expected growth in Q1,&quot; Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said in a statement. 
 
Revenue for the period was 167.8 billion Rupees, compared with analysts&#39; projections of 170.3 billion Rupees, according to Bloomberg News. 
 
Infosys is listed on stock exchanges in Mumbai and New York and was once seen as the bellwether of India&#39;s flagship outsourcing industry and the country&#39;s equivalent to Microsoft. 
 
But it is now engaged in a tough battle to regain the top spot from Tata Consultancy Services(TCS), which announced its quarterly results on Thursday. 
 
Mumbai-based TCS said net profit for the three months to June 30 rose to 63.17 billion Rupees ($944 million) from 57.09 billion Rupees for the same period a year ago. 
 
India has become a back office to the world as companies have subcontracted work to firms such as Infosys and TCS, taking advantage of the country&#39;s skilled English-speaking workforce. 
 
(AFP)

The Indian software major reports 13 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit year-on-year but revises down its sales forecast

Indian software giant, Infosys's shares plunged more than 9 per cent at the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday after Infosys cut its earnings outlook for the year. The Bangalore-based IT services exporter reported a 13 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit year-on-year but revised down its sales forecast, sparking the share-price fall. Net profit for the three months to June 30 came in at 34.36 billion rupees ($513 million) compared with 30.30 billion rupees for the same period last year, Infosys said. The performance was weaker than expected, leading the firm to reduce its growth projection in US dollar terms for fiscal year 2016-17 from between 11.8 per cent and 13.8 per cent to between 10.8 and 12.3 per cent. Shares fell 9.35 per cent to 1065.95 Rupees in late morning trade. "We had unanticipated headwinds in discretionary spending in consulting services and package implementations as well as slower project ramp-ups in large deals that we had won in earlier quarters, resulting in a lower than expected growth in Q1," Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka said in a statement. Revenue for the period was 167.8 billion Rupees, compared with analysts' projections of 170.3 billion Rupees, according to Bloomberg News. Infosys is listed on stock exchanges in Mumbai and New York and was once seen as the bellwether of India's flagship outsourcing industry and the country's equivalent to Microsoft. But it is now engaged in a tough battle to regain the top spot from Tata Consultancy Services(TCS), which announced its quarterly results on Thursday. Mumbai-based TCS said net profit for the three months to June 30 rose to 63.17 billion Rupees ($944 million) from 57.09 billion Rupees for the same period a year ago. India has become a back office to the world as companies have subcontracted work to firms such as Infosys and TCS, taking advantage of the country's skilled English-speaking workforce. (AFP)

Infosys shares plunge as sales outlook cut

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