Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy on Thursday urged the countrymen to first identify themselves as Indians and rise above states, religion and caste.

Speaking at an event in Gorakhpur, Narayana Murthy said, " While it's easy to drape ourselves in our national flag and shout 'Mera Bharat Mahaan' or 'Jai Ho', it is difficult to practice values. We have to identify ourselves as Indians first and rise above states, religion and caste."

Speaking further he asked the people to shun away jingoism and added, "Our governments have to become more citizen-friendly and remove obstacles to entrepreneurs to create larger and larger number of jobs. Our economic policies have to be less populist and more based on expertise."

The Infosys co-founder also added that the investor's confidence was at a historic high in the country.

"Our economy is growing at 6 to 7 per cent this year. India has become the software development centre of the world. Our foreign exchange reserve has crossed 400 billion dollar. Investor confidence is at a historic high, " he said.

Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy on Thursday urged the countrymen to first identify themselves as Indians and rise above states, religion and caste. Speaking at an event in Gorakhpur, Narayana Murthy said, " While it's easy to drape ourselves in our national flag and shout 'Mera Bharat Mahaan' or 'Jai Ho', it is difficult to practice values.

Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy on Thursday urged the countrymen to first identify themselves as Indians and rise above states, religion and caste. Speaking at an event in Gorakhpur, Narayana Murthy said, " While it's easy to drape ourselves in our national flag and shout 'Mera Bharat Mahaan' or 'Jai Ho', it is difficult to practice values. We have to identify ourselves as Indians first and rise above states, religion and caste." Speaking further he asked the people to shun away jingoism and added, "Our governments have to become more citizen-friendly and remove obstacles to entrepreneurs to create larger and larger number of jobs. Our economic policies have to be less populist and more based on expertise." The Infosys co-founder also added that the investor's confidence was at a historic high in the country. "Our economy is growing at 6 to 7 per cent this year. India has become the software development centre of the world. Our foreign exchange reserve has crossed 400 billion dollar. Investor confidence is at a historic high, " he said.

Identify as Indians first and rise above states, religion, caste: Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy

Corporate thought-leader and Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy has flayed the high wage hikes that senior managements have been apportioning to themselves when the software industry is in trying times and has advised them to make &quot;sacrifices&quot; to maintain common man&#39;s faith in capitalism.

Conceding that times are difficult for the IT services sector, Murthy dismissed the commonly attributed threats of artificial intelligence and automation as &quot;more hype than reality&quot;.

Terming the trend of no hikes for juniors and freshers as &quot;worrisome,&quot; Murthy rued that the senior level people have been taking handsome hikes.

&quot;I think that is not the way to make capitalism acceptable to the larger masses in a country that has huge poverty,&quot; he said, speaking at the IIT-Bombay over the weekend.

&quot;If we believe in capitalism, if we believe that is the best solution for the country to move forward, then the leaders of capitalism will have to demonstrate self-restraints in apportioning to themselves the part of the benefits that come out of running companies, Murthy, who mostly flies the economy class, added.

Murthy, a strong proponent of &quot;compassionate capitalism&quot; since his days in the company, did not make any reference to Infosys. It can be noted that over the past few months, Murthy had gone public with his displeasure over senior executive compensation at Infosys.

Speaking before the students at the prestigious institute, Murthy said in the last seven years, the salaries of freshers in the software industry have stayed stagnant while the same for senior-level employees have grown by up to 1,000 per cent.

&quot;If all of us make sacrifices, then the youngsters will understand,&quot; he said.

He said the IT sector is passing through a trough that is cyclical in nature and may occur once a few years.

One of the reasons for this is the investments in IT done by the developed world clients in the past, he said, adding they are waiting to reap the benefits of the same before starting to invest again.

However, change in the technological landscape where automation and artificial intelligence are said to be making deeper in-roads was dismissed by him.

&quot;There is this whole thing about automation and artificial intelligence. That is much more hype than the reality, at-least in the software services,&quot; Murthy said.

The domestic IT sector employs over 4 million directly and its revenues have crossed over USD 150 billion, according to industry lobby Nasscom.

The lobby warned that the rate of hiring is slowing down, while some IT companies concede that a fewer number of people are required to do the work for the same revenue billing.

Many industry reports had in the past highlighted steep decline in hiring in the software space primarily because of automation which has been eating up tens of thousands of human jobs annually. So far this fiscal year, there has no net increase in hiring by the industry.

Terming the trend of no hikes for juniors and freshers as "worrisome," Murthy rued that the senior level people have been taking handsome hikes.

Corporate thought-leader and Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy has flayed the high wage hikes that senior managements have been apportioning to themselves when the software industry is in trying times and has advised them to make "sacrifices" to maintain common man's faith in capitalism. Conceding that times are difficult for the IT services sector, Murthy dismissed the commonly attributed threats of artificial intelligence and automation as "more hype than reality". Terming the trend of no hikes for juniors and freshers as "worrisome," Murthy rued that the senior level people have been taking handsome hikes. "I think that is not the way to make capitalism acceptable to the larger masses in a country that has huge poverty," he said, speaking at the IIT-Bombay over the weekend. "If we believe in capitalism, if we believe that is the best solution for the country to move forward, then the leaders of capitalism will have to demonstrate self-restraints in apportioning to themselves the part of the benefits that come out of running companies, Murthy, who mostly flies the economy class, added. Murthy, a strong proponent of "compassionate capitalism" since his days in the company, did not make any reference to Infosys. It can be noted that over the past few months, Murthy had gone public with his displeasure over senior executive compensation at Infosys. Speaking before the students at the prestigious institute, Murthy said in the last seven years, the salaries of freshers in the software industry have stayed stagnant while the same for senior-level employees have grown by up to 1,000 per cent. "If all of us make sacrifices, then the youngsters will understand," he said. He said the IT sector is passing through a trough that is cyclical in nature and may occur once a few years. One of the reasons for this is the investments in IT done by the developed world clients in the past, he said, adding they are waiting to reap the benefits of the same before starting to invest again. However, change in the technological landscape where automation and artificial intelligence are said to be making deeper in-roads was dismissed by him. "There is this whole thing about automation and artificial intelligence. That is much more hype than the reality, at-least in the software services," Murthy said. The domestic IT sector employs over 4 million directly and its revenues have crossed over USD 150 billion, according to industry lobby Nasscom. The lobby warned that the rate of hiring is slowing down, while some IT companies concede that a fewer number of people are required to do the work for the same revenue billing. Many industry reports had in the past highlighted steep decline in hiring in the software space primarily because of automation which has been eating up tens of thousands of human jobs annually. So far this fiscal year, there has no net increase in hiring by the industry.

Narayana Murthy trashes artificial intelligence as hype, asks IT leaders to be less greedy

The announcement of a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/infosys-to-buyback-shares-worth-up-to-130-billion-rupees-19210" target="_blank">share buyback woth Rupees 13,000 crore</a> failed to cheer investors as the Infosys scrip tanked over five per cent.

The stock continued its slide for the second consecutive session closing at Rupees 873.50 on the BSE.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/sensex-ends-lower-infosys-dips-over-five-per-cent-19265" target="_blank">Benchmark indices were down</a> 0.84 per cent, falling&nbsp;for the&nbsp;second consecutive session.

&quot;Market failed to retain its opening strength due to continued pressure on the IT major, despite a premium buyback announcement,&quot; said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd as quoted by PTI.

On Friday, the stock had slumped 10 per cent. In the last two consecutive trading sessions the company&#39;s market valuation has seen a drop of Rupees 33,911.93 crore.

The <a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/vishal-sikka-resigns-as-md-ceo-of-infosys-to-be-executive-vice-chairman-19151" target="_blank">exit of Vishal Sikka as the CEO of Infosys</a> has caused a firestorm within the IT giant. The IT company&#39;s board targeted the founder, NR Narayana Murthy, and blamed him for Sikka&#39;s exit. 
&nbsp;

(With inputs from PTI)

The company had announced that it would buy back shares worth 13,000 crore

The announcement of a share buyback woth Rupees 13,000 crore failed to cheer investors as the Infosys scrip tanked over five per cent. The stock continued its slide for the second consecutive session closing at Rupees 873.50 on the BSE. Benchmark indices were down 0.84 per cent, falling for the second consecutive session. "Market failed to retain its opening strength due to continued pressure on the IT major, despite a premium buyback announcement," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd as quoted by PTI. On Friday, the stock had slumped 10 per cent. In the last two consecutive trading sessions the company's market valuation has seen a drop of Rupees 33,911.93 crore. The exit of Vishal Sikka as the CEO of Infosys has caused a firestorm within the IT giant. The IT company's board targeted the founder, NR Narayana Murthy, and blamed him for Sikka's exit. (With inputs from PTI)

Infosys buyback offer fails to lift spirits, stock tanks over 5%

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