Centra Realty makes stops in New York, Philly, Boston

GURGAON, India – Ashish Bahadur and the Gurgaon-based Centra Realty Pvt. Ltd. have spent half a decade delving into India’s real estate market. Bahadur knows its potential and is now on a quest to enlighten American investors about the opportunity.

Final night chat with Newmark details subtle Internet success

WALTHAM, Mass. – The Boston chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs welcomed a customer-service representative from one of the world’s most popular Web sites as the premier speaker at the organization's annual convention, TiECON East 2008, which wrapped up May 30 after a two-day run.

Experts predict industry will continue to flourish

WALTHAM, Mass. – Unlike the technology waves of the 1980s and 1990s with limited life-cycles, interest in outsourcing to India has not peaked and will not subside anytime soon, according to a panel of outsourcing experts who gathered at the recent TiECon East 2008 conference.

Sale to Mumbai mining business comes  during Asarco’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy

TUCSON, Ariz. – Indian mining and manufacturing giant Sterlite Industries Ltd. will acquire Asarco LLC, the third-largest copper producer in the United States, for $2.6 billion.

MIT researcher examines U.S.’s pressing problem

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – It is possible to slash fuel use by all vehicles on U.S. roads to pre-2000 levels within a few decades, but doing so will require an immediate and herculean effort in several areas, according to data issued recently by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Solar energy provider SunEdison LLC recently hauled in $131 million in venture capital, yielding the largest round yet for a South Asian-run business this year. The Beltsville, Md.-based company also secured $30 million in debt financing as part of the deal. Financial backers included Greylock Partners; HSH Nordbank AG; Applied Ventures LLC; Black River Commodity Clean Energy Investment Fund; MissionPoint Capital Partners; and Allco Renewable Energy Ltd.

Chairman, CEO, Syntel Inc.

Bharat Desai is chairman, chief executive officer and co-founder of Syntel Inc., an IT-services and knowledge process outsourcing firm headquartered in Troy, Mich.

BOTHELL, Wash. – Winshuttle Inc., a private software company, entered into an alliance with Capgemini that will push the company further out in the marketplace and help grow its revenue to an expected $10.5 million in 2008, up from $5.5 million in 2007.  

E-commerce company Ignify has high hopes for new integration with Microsoft business-management tools

LOS ANGELES – Ignify Inc., a company that specializes in e-commerce services, will now integrate with all Microsoft enterprise resource planning products, in an effort to help its customers better control their business relationships.

HP company continues growth as industry head

SAN FRANCISCO – The world's largest Web-based, digital-photo-processing service has just gotten a lot bigger. Snapfish by HP, the online photo venture launched at the height of the dot-com era and now owned by American IT giant Hewlett-Packard Co., has acquired all of the customers of MeraSnap.com, one of India's most popular photo-processing Web sites and a direct competitor to the Indian version of Snapfish.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Providence Equity Partners plans to invest $640 million in Indian wireless communications company Aditya Birla Telecom Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Idea Cellular Ltd.

The Providence investment will be used to fund the network rollout and ongoing operations of Aditya Birla Telecom.

MIT students provide prosthetic work to India

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is working with India’s Jaipur Foot Organization to fit its patients with prosthetic limbs more efficiently.

BOSTON – In May, Pioneer Investments provided Medical Relief for India with support for their medical operations in rural areas of India.

Dr. K.S. Charak and Susan Pfau, both of Medical Relief for India, were in Boston to accept the funds as a result of a recent “Denim Day” held at Pioneer Investments which were then matched by the company.

A lesson in market perseverance, sprayed with a little bit of luck

SANTA ROSA, Calif. – Most successful entrepreneurs tackle a problem, start a company that solves it and then hit the market. Dr. Ketan Mehta is no different – except that the problem he addressed with his NeilMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. was his own.

WALTHAM, Mass. – PerkinElmer has expanded its health and environmental focus to India with the opening of a new global EcoAnalytix application and technical center in Mumbai.

ALAMEDA, Calif. – InSite Vision Inc. has signed a licensing and distribution agreement with Biem Pharmaceuticals, an ophthalmology-focused Turkish pharmaceutical company, for InSite's AzaSite azithromycin ophthalmic solution or the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis, commonly known as pink eye.

Surveys find cash focus now on managing return

ISELIN, N.J. – Two separate Ernst & Young surveys underscore important changes in the role of the chief financial officer and finance function in driving the success of pharmaceutical companies.

From the outside the franchise industry is often generalized into a number of segments but, as an insider knows, a closer look reveals such a wide variety of concepts – even within these segments – that the choices are dizzying. The same holds true for franchise financing.

Accor hopes to establish economy hotel standard

CARROLLTON, Texas – Here’s an idea for a new reality-television show, filmed on location at a Motel 6 anywhere in the United States: “Extreme Makeover: Hotel Edition.” The premise of the show is to give the dated property a fresh upgrade.

ATLANTA – Mukesh “Mike” Patel was among this year’s recipients of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor given by the National Ethnic Coalition on May 10 in New York City.