MASH is fully compatible with many healthcare software programs and offers automated online bill paying, records management, pre-registration, scheduling and targeted communication with patients. MASH’s iPad check-in application has cut patient check-in times by up to 80 percent in other healthcare organizations. Patients are able to easily access and control their personal information while providers receive information faster, and are able to track patient, operational and revenue data.

Lalit Dhingra, President NIIT Technologies and Managing Director, NIIT Healthcare Technologies, said, “Today’s patients lead busy lives and thus appreciate the convenience, efficiency and security provided by an iPad-based program like MASH. We are proud to offer a disruptive, game-changing program that brings the latest mobile technology to the healthcare industry and are delighted that MASH will help to transform patient and physician experience across Antelope Valley Hospital.”

“MASH’s ability to reduce the waiting time and paperwork in our ER will provide our hospital with life-saving and cost-saving technologies,” said Humberto Quintanar, Chief Information Officer of Antelope Valley Hospital.

“We are consistently striving to utilize innovation and technology to deliver quality patient care and improve patient satisfaction,” stated Edward Mirzabegian, Antelope Valley Hospital Chief Executive Officer. “Implementing the MASH self-registration system will streamline our patients’ check-in experience and greatly reduce ER wait times.”

Much of the hiring will be for the company’s research and development centre in Bangalore, which is its largest outside the US. The IT giant has been increasingly using the Bangalore centre for innovating products for emerging markets such as India, China and Brazil.

Sanjay Rohatgi, the vice-president, said, “By 2015, we will be ramping up from 7,500 people to about 12,000 people, increasing workforce out of Bangalore. We want to innovate faster and at the right price point for emerging countries because the growth will happen in this part of the world now.”

Rohatgi looks after Cisco’s business in India and the SAARC region. Cisco’s service provider vertical contributes about 36 percent to the company’s total revenues from India.

Cisco has plans to work with service providers for leveraging 3G by offering services such as e-education with the aim to take video and data services to consumers and enterprises. The telcos have direct access to Cisco’s Bangalore engineering team, which enables them to get customised products.

By the middle of 2012 Cisco is expected to close one or two major long-term evolution (LTE) contracts. The broadband wireless access (BWA) services are expected to begin by the year-end.

The new telecom regulator will take over at a time when the industry will be bracing up for 2G spectrum auctions. TRAI has to issue recommendations as per the Supreme Court directive that cancelled 122 telecom licences this month.

The currently TRAI Chairman J S Sarma is due to retire on May 14, 2012. Sarma took over as the Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in May 2009 from Nripendra Mishra.

Applications have been invited for the post of TRAI chairman. The applications have to be submitted by March 20, according to a public announcement. An existing government employee will have to retire from the post before joining as TRAI chairperson. The appointment will be for three years, at the pay scale of Rs 3.75 lakh per month.

According to sources, those likely to be in the fray for the post include Member of the Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal PK Rastogi, BMC Commissioner Subodh Kumar and DoT Member (Technology) Chandra Prakash.

According to sources, the Department of IT has been asked to inform email service providers on this subject.

During a high-level meeting held in the office of Union Home Secretary RK Singh, on December 29, 2011, the Department of Information Technology was asked to take up the matter with providers of services such as Gmail, Windows Mobile Active Email, Nokia Intellisync Email, Yahoo mail and others.

Government also has plans to establish an India-centric Skype service. The ‘Indian Skype’ may be used by government officials to communicate with each other.

In the meeting attended by members of intelligence, and telecom department Gulshan Rai, the Director General of CERT-in, said that Yahoo automatically locates all email accounts registered in India to the server in India. However, Yahoo accounts registered outside India and subsequently accessed from India are routed through servers outside India.