SEZ Benefits

The government of India launched the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) scheme in 2000 with the aim of augmenting exports. They realized that in order to encourage foreign direct investment there is the need to provide a business atmosphere that is internationally competitive as well as hassle free. Hence, as part of the SEZ scheme enclaves were created within the nation, which were treated as foreign territories as most of the taxes, tariffs, and duties, that were applicable throughout the nation, were relaxed in special economic zones. The creation of SEZs put an end to the misery suffered by investors until then such as multiplicity of controls and clearances, absence of excellent infrastructure, and an unstable fiscal regime. It provided an amicable atmosphere for investors to carry out industrial, service and trade operations.


SEZ was actually part of the Foreign Trade Policy but in order to give it a long term and stable framework and to instill confidence in investors regarding the government’s commitment to SEZ, the SEZ Act was enacted in 2005. The SEZ Act covers all the important aspects required not only for setting up of SEZs but also for units operating in SEZs. Private developers, Central / State Governments, or both jointly can set up SEZ. As of June 2012, there are 143 operating special economic zones in India.


The SEZ Act provides a lot of benefits and incentives for those operating units in special economic zones. Let’s look at some of these SEZ benefits and incentives.


* 15 year corporate tax holiday on export profit – 100% for initial 5 years, 50% for the next 5 years and up to 50% for the balance 5 years equivalent to profits ploughed back for investment

* Permission to carry forward losses for 8 years, thus providing tax shelter on losses incurred in the initial years

* Customs duty exemption on import of capital goods, raw materials, consumables, and spares

* 100% foreign direct investment in manufacturing sector permitted

* Exemption from any duty of Excise on capital goods, raw materials, and consumable spares, etc. brought from the domestic market

* Exemption from Minimum Alternate Tax

* Exemption from Securities Transaction Act

* Exemption from Dividend Distribution Tax

* Exemption from Central Sales Tax (CST) on the sale or purchase of goods provided that the goods are meant to carry out the authorized operations

* Exemption from Service Tax

* Exemption of Capital gain on transfer of asset in case of shifting of Industrial Undertaking from Urban Area to SEZ


We would explore more of these benefits and incentives in the second part of this article.


Related links: Precision machining   ,   Aerospace manufacturing

Comprehensive Aerospace Engineering Solutions for Top-Quality Results

With the competition in the aviation industry growing there is tremendous challenge being faced as the aerospace manufacturing businesses are struggling to enhance their profits while also delivering quality products. Aerospace manufacturing and engineering requires a lot of precision and hence requires intense calculation and planning is needed to deliver the necessary accurate results. Apart from this limited product lifecycle in aerospace engineering, lack of experienced staff and the need to deliver the product in the market fast are also putting a strain on the existing engineering processes, and the resources.


While the organizations that manufacture machines for aerospace, automotive and for industrial use have to ensure that the models prepared for mass use are safe and risk-free, they also need to provide safe and quality products without disrupting their budgets.  These businesses require focused and smart processes and people to accomplish their goals. The ones who ensure a strong and reliable balance between demand and supply have the strength to lead comfortably despite all odds. With the right integrated engineering services, businesses can maintain and upgrade their cost structures.


With the best aerospace engineering solutions, companies have a lot to gain. They can offer design to build services that help businesses meet the growing offset requirements in aerospace engineering contracts. With their methodical approach, they can focus on quality and also help businesses improve quality of supply, reduce time-to-market, grow capacity, increase revenue generation, reduce cost of product development and enhance sustenance aerospace engineering. They can also enhance the profitability and the ultimate increases the business value of your organization.


These engineering solutions also offer customized advice for precision manufacturing, sheet metal fabrication, processing, designing and development of tools, fixtures and gauges which helps in reducing costs the leveraging revenues. They have profound knowledge in large castings, forgings and power generation equipment like steel and gas turbines. They usually offer a host of other services that includes the entire range of aerospace engineering services from design and development, engineering analysis, manufacturing engineering, embedded systems development, technical publications to manufacturing we are the one of the most preferred end-to-end aerospace engineering solutions provider for many global aerospace OEMs and suppliers.


They can also execute standards that are at par with global engineering services with a fully equipped inspection center and the usage of premium quality inspection instruments as well as gauges. Every aerospace engineering business that adopts successful engineering solutions can ensure healthy product development practices, to ultimately enjoy rewarding results.


Related Links: SEZ Benefits ,   Engineering services consulting

Attain Engineering Accuracy with Precision Machining

Precision machining is an important manufacturing procedure that helps to attain high dimensional accuracy and high surface integrity of operational constituents for multiple technological applications, for instance those in biomedical, aeronautical, meteorological, mechanical, nano-technological, mechatronic and microscopy industries. In order to attain a satisfactory level in precision machining operation, one needs to have a clear understanding of the control and setting of machining conditions, mechanisms of material removal and the efficiency of cutting tools. Therefore, quality precision machining needs a complete integration of the development of machining tools, the enhancement of machining procedures and the apt applications of material science blended with mechanics and engineering of solids.


It is observed that individual components have various properties and therefore needs multiple precision mining procedures and conditions to attain high surface accuracy and integrity. For instance, silicon monocrystals are brittle by nature and chemically sensitive to machining environment. Composites have two phases with various mechanical properties that needs to be carefully considered in machining else there will be unwarranted damages in either the cutting tool or the work piece or both. The modern day precision machining methodologies used by eminent engineering services consulting firms and organization address both industrial productions as well as basic concerns such as:-


* Polishing

* Grinding

* Electrochemical discharge machining

* Abrasive jet machining

* Laser sintering

* Chemo-mechanical machining

* Drilling

* Fractal analysis

* Molecular dynamics analysis

* Finite element simulation


Furthermore, these engineering companies and organizations also make use of innovative machining technology that includes of certain components. Some of them are listed below:-


* A comprehensive sourcing solution that is arrived at by incorporating design and manufacturing

* Offers large scale fabrication for industrial and  other power generation sectors

* Attempts to manage large scale turn key fabrication projects

* Comprises of castings and forgings with and without machining, precision machined components for medical, industrial and other automotive sectors

* Comprises of robust vendor qualifications and monitoring procedures

* Helps customers to attaining quality, delivery and expense objectives


Today leading companies specializing in integrated engineering services are focusing their efforts on precision machining, that comprises machining from bar stock, billers, castings and forgings. These companies possesses machining facility with the state-of-the-art manufacturing procedures for aerospace structural parts, automotive manufacturing and sub assemblies, instrumentation and industrial machines parts along with ferrous and non-ferrous material machining, that includes Titanium.


Related links:  SEZ benefits ,  Industrial machinery manufacturing

Why eDiscovery Tools Are a Necessity for Law Firms

As data volumes are increasing at a rapid rate, the need to store and maintain has become all the more important.  Litigation teams need to be provided with the best eDiscovery tools to ensure that your legal process is moving in the right direction. Flexible, integrating solutions help lawyers work smarter and reduce the burden of ediscovery on law firms. eDiscovery tools can help legal teams to view the status of every case and also take timely and decisive action.

 

In the early days lawyers had to ponder and bury themselves in countless documents to find the one relevant document they need the most. But now, lawyers and litigation teams no longer need to spend their time examining largely irrelevant data. With the right tools, they can help search, cull and filter data early, allowing for early case assessment. Any amount of information can be handled easily, giving an extra advantage to law firms and enabling them to prepare strong cases for their clients. Not just locating the data, but eDiscovery tools also ensuring that the right and relevant information is procured for a particular legal matter in an efficient manner.

 

While it does not make sense to waste precious resources analyzing such large volumes of data, adopting the right eDiscovery tools data can be swiftly searched, located and secured with the aim of using it as evidence for any type of legal case, whether criminal or civil. There have also been amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that make sure that that assessment and handling of electronically stored information happens early in the litigation process.

 

eDiscovery tools should remove all ambiguities, and has the capacity to conduct all types of searches. It helps in responding to diverse legal actions, and is essential for the effective functioning of litigation. Legal teams comprehend how search technology can help reduce eDiscovery costs and mitigate legal risks. With the right solutions and tools time can be saved in searching for relevant information, while investigating teams are better aided in making prompt and correct decisions.

 

Electronic data discovery has the potential to yield positive results; and law firms have good opportunities to strengthen their businesses by using them, which is why they are becoming imperative in law firms. Litigation teams can be assured of relief and positive outcomes with a complete electronic discovery tool that would take care of the entire process of litigation effortlessly and without snags. Invest in a first enterprise-class e-discovery solution that manages all legal matters, regulatory inquiries, and corporate investigations in a single application.

 

Scientific Developments in Biometrics

In simple terms, biometrics technology is based on the identification of individuals by behavioral or physical characteristics. Instances of such physical characteristics recognition includes face, iris, fingerprints and hand geometry. Behavioral characteristics on the other hand can include signature, voice, walking gait and other dynamics. Recently, there have been numerous contributions done in the field of Biometrics by clinical institutes, eminent scientists and notable clinical research organizations (CRO).

There have been various contributions from academic institutes and renowned international authorities in this field as well. Medical professionals and researchers delve deep in scientific biometric treatments and come up interesting discoveries relevant to the subject that comprises pattern matching algorithm, data acquisition and other concerns that influence the system level, for instance standards, security, databases and networks.

Today popular clinical research organizations in India provide a complete range of data management services in bio equivalence and phase I to IV clinical trials that are carried on in their clinical laboratory. The main objective is to be able to transform raw data to precise, correct and consistent trial results in compliance with regulatory policies. These CRO’s have a dedicated Biometrics team working in order to pace up the regulatory submission process and reduce timeline with the help of advanced thinking and commitment to quality. Biometrics services offered by CRO’s are also utilized by the biotechnology, device and pharmaceutical enterprises. The service portfolio includes:-

Database Programming

 

* CRF Design (paper & electronic)

* CRF Annotation

* Database Programming

* Validation Checks

* Metadata Repository Management

Data Management

 

* Data Acquisition

* Data Reconciliation

* Discrepancy Management

* Medical Coding (MeDRA & WHODD)

* Database Lock

* Data Extraction for Reporting

Pharmacokinetic & Pharmacodynamic Studies

 

* Sampling Point Estimation

* Technical Document Review

* PK/PD Query Resolution

* PK/PD Subject Matter Expert

* Pharmacokinetic support across study engagement

PK/PD Reporting

 

* SDMS Data Extraction

* PK Data Analysis

* PK Summary Reporting

Biostatistics

 

* Randomization

* Sample size estimation

* Trial Design Inputs

* Statistical Analysis Plan

* Statistical Analysis

* Biostatistics Subject Matter Expert

Statistical Reporting

 

* TLF Programming

* CDISC Data Mapping (SDTM & ADaM)

* Clinical Data Repository

* Pooled Data Analysis & Reporting

* Safety (ADR) Reporting

* Patient Profiles & Data Cleaning Reporting

Biometrics team working in Indian CRO’s has the expertise to assist in various clinical trial stages. Their service list also comprises of statistical analysis, protocol writing and report writing. The team is well equipped with advanced software systems for instance Win NonLin and SAS (SDMS & MED X view.

Read Also On: Phase I Study

Combat the Dangers of Gray Market Sales

With the costs of goods rising, every consumer looks for discounts and bargains. Discounted products in terms of cosmetics, electrical products, fragrances, and other lifestyle goods at times appear like a great deal when they come at a discounted price. However, the question is how well do we know about them? We need to enquire about the source from where they are sourced and the reason for them to be so cheap. Generally known brands are high priced, but when they are available at a much discounted price they often comes from a gray market source. These grey markets deal in duplicate and counterfeit goods, imitating logos and trademark of original brands. They make money by selling these duplicate products and by playing on consumer ignorance and sentiment.

 

Owing to the very nature of  gray market it becomes difficult to track the number of products that are sold through such distribution channels monthly or annually. These products have a damaging effect on the credibility and bottom-line of brands and companies.   Most consumers tend to blame the brand than conducting a thorough research. Hence, leading companies suffer loss of revenues, consumer goodwill as well as their brand reputation.

 

Today ecommerce is a flourishing industry and is expanding by the day. Whilst most websites follow legal and ethical practices, there are few that sell via an illegal channel. As a result, most enterprises have realized that internet in a way has facilitated the growth of gray market sales. For instance, in the high tech industry, remarking is a common process for selling faulty goods. However, today with advanced solutions it is possible to prevent all these internet frauds. Anti-counterfeiting solutions from top service providers help you to curb gray market activities with features such as:-

 

  • Improved SaaS-based anti-counterfeiting software solution
  • High-End search capabilities which monitors the Internet daily.
  • Application of human intelligence to further assure data integrity
  • Prioritization for suspects based on client criteria

 

The new age SaaS based anti-counterfeiting software has a unique search capacity that enables you to spot at what price and where your products are sold globally. You can take immediate action against violators by tracking the distributors or channels responsible for supplying the faulty goods to the gray market sources.


Know more onSales Intelligence

 

Meet Regulatory mandates with Enterprise Compliance Management Solution

With businesses opportunities expanding globally, business houses today have to address the regulatory requirements of countries in which they operate. Regulatory mandates, though may initially appear to be constraints, would do well to the business houses, in setting up processes to help meet these requirements.

 

Traditionally, manual systems, and at times, stand-alone applications have been used to manage various compliance processes to meet the needs of specific users. Today, these regulatory compliance initiatives have become more demanding.With an increasing number of regulatory requirements, companies are forced to make additional IT investments for ensuring compliance with each of the regulations. Looking at multiple solutions to meet various regulatory requirements can be more time consuming and expensive with process and documentation efforts getting replicated. Such isolated initiatives reflect gross inefficiency.


For example, regulatory compliance for health care entities is complex, with federal laws providing mandatory requirements and state laws fine tuning these requirements to meet the specific compulsions of the State. These regulations have set deadlines for conformance and non-compliance to such regulatory requirements is likely to attract penalties. Businesses need to opt for an efficient regulatory compliance management solution that will support all their compliance initiatives and give results quickly.


As managing compliance is a continuous process, in a globalized environment, the use of compliance management software makes it easy for organizations to conform to the regulations without any adverse impacts. With automated processes of managing governance, risk and compliance procedures, the enterprise compliance management software mitigates the risks involved for companies.


These solutions simplify the complex and time-consuming process of achieving and maintaining information security and compliance. Such a compliance management framework provides  totally integrated automated IT compliance and security solution meeting all security, compliance, and risk management needs. It enables companies to manage regulatory requirements such as, PCI, ISO, COBiT, SOX, BASEL II, HIPAA, FISMA, and other country specific frameworks.


Investing in a comprehensive security and compliance management solution ensures that there is better control over information security and improved visibility of security and compliance status. Such a solution simplifies and reduces the time required for regulatory compliance and certification process, while  effectively automating all security, compliance, audit, and risk management needs.

Also read on- vulnerability management, vendor management

Save Your Business From Phishing Effects with Timely Action

Have you been receiving mails from your banks time and again advising you not to reveal your passwords or any financial details? If yes, then this is a warning from your financial consultants to be alert against phishing attacks. Phishing is a social engineering attack that is targeted at people and those who are unaware about its consequences can easily fall prey and lose their hard earned savings. This information is especially crucial for your business as it deals in several financial transactions. Your employees are the main foundations of your business. How reliable are these foundations? Are they well-informed about the online risks? Are they capable enough to handle them efficiently and save your business from being wrecked?

If you are uncertain about the answer then it’s time to consider taking immediate action before it is too late.  Some think that protection from phishing is a trivial matter that can be handled easily when the issue erupts. Phishing is not a virus that can be remedied with the help of an anti-virus program. It can cause massive depletion of your business revenues. It is a severe form of attack that targets your employees by sending them mails asking for sensitive financial information.

If your employees are unaware and untrained they will easily supply the critical information to be manipulated by evil sources. The reason why it is easy to fool the people is because the emails seem to be sent from a genuine bank website which in reality is not. These mails are accompanied by links or attachments which if clicked on can lead you to a fraud site and render you penniless.

You must implement anti phishing solutions that provide you with insightful analysis and appropriate remediation measures to control the menace effectively. If you deploy the anti phishing software you will receive enormous benefits. The software provides comprehensive protection to your business by assessing the awareness levels of your employees and making them more proficient in foiling the phishing attacks competently. The software launches a mock phishing attack, monitors and records the reactions of your employees. Once the test is over it sends the results to individual employees through personalized emails with more effective strategies to handle the attacks.

The anti phishing software helps in identifying the loopholes in your organization which can provide a free entry for phishing attacks. It provides you with reliable and practical phishing protection solutions that help prevent losses and damages. The intensity that these attacks cause is unaccountable. Even if you implement anti phishing solutions after any attack you will not be able to protect your entire savings. But if you act prudently and employ solutions in advance you can save your business from unnecessary losses.

Read Also On: Phishing Fail Rate

Combat Loud Noise Background with Safety Earplugs

Owing to the rapid pace of industrialization and its related construction activities, high noise has become an acute concern. Prominent examples of such high noise areas are noted in road works and demolition activities, noisy factory world and other loud ambiances. Therefore, it is essential that individuals should use advanced safety ear plugs and other high end noise protection devices. Any kind of noise that exceeds 70Db and is continuous in nature has the capacity to cause harm to one’s auditory health and can result in permanent hearing loss.

 

Hence, hearing loss prevention is an essential concern for most industrial sectors, especially the ones that deal in high noise surroundings such as aviation, metallurgy, construction, mining, manufacturing and many others. In the past, there have been records of loud noise situations that have resulted hearing hemorrhage permanently in working staffs. Furthermore, there are others who are partially affected by high noise with ailments such as acute headaches and other kinds of chronic nerve pains. Lack of adequate treatment and precautionary measures might aggravate the problem and result in lifelong deafness.

 

Therefore the best way to steer clear from these auditory ailments and provide safety to their working staff, most enterprises that has to work in high noise conditions are opting in for innovative advances safety earplugs and earmuffs. These devices help workers to carry on with their work without getting affected by the heavy noise. These hearing protection devices have in-built technology that enhances the speech quality and clarity and allows then to recognize the background noise as well. This helps them to know the surrounding they are present in.

 

Top notch service providers today have introduced revolutionary earplugs, headphones and safety earmuffs using new age technologies. In addition this, there are also smart range of noise protection equipments that provides a clear two-way communication and other advantages. Other features of these advanced earplugs are:-

 

  • A two-Way Radio Interface
  • Enables communication in environments up to 105 dB (A)
  • Binaural Capability which makes it possible to hear the speech direction and other sounds
  • Wireless Bluetooth connection to cellular phones
  • Security against all types of noise, namely, Continuous, Impact, Intermittent,
  • Facilitates in a face to face communication, up to 97 dB(A)
  • You can safely hear your surroundings whilst also hearing speech
  • 12+ hours continuous talk time
  • Helps to communicate short range distances Ear Muff to Ear Muff, up to 50 meters
  • There are simple buttons for tactile adjustment without having to look or remove earmuffs
  • 12mth Warranty
  • MP3 Interface
  • Industrial ruggedized
  • Long-lasting adaptable headband
  • Extra soft ear cushions that provides comfort for a long time

The fact that heavy sounds can result in chronic auditory problems was unknown to many. Working staff that carry on their work in loud surroundings are vulnerable to these ailments to a great extent. It is a duty of their companies to ensure their auditory safety and protect them from occupational hearing loss. Advanced hearing protection devices such as earplugs and earmuffs helps to solve this problem to a great extent.

 

Know more on :  ears hearing protection

 

Understanding the “Meaningful Use” of EHR - Part II

In the first part of this article, we delved upon the benefits announced by the federal government as part of the HIPAA and HITECH act for the healthcare professionals who adopt certified electronic health records (EHR) technology and put it to meaningful use in healthcare. In the second and final part of this article, we will look at stage 1 proposed by the HITECH act for defining meaningful use of electronic health records.

Stage 1 of meaningful use comprises of two sets, namely the core set and menu set containing objectives that the healthcare provider must report in order to receive incentives. In addition to reporting on core set and menu set objectives, the healthcare professional must also report on clinical quality measures. Core set consists of 15 objectives while the menu set consists of 10 objectives.

Core Set
The 15 core set objectives define the tasks that are essential for creating any medical record.  

1.       Record patient demographics (gender, race, ethnicity, date of birth, and preferred language)
2.       Maintain up-to-date problem list of current and active diagnoses
3.       Record smoking status for patients 13 years of age or older
4.       Maintain active medication list
5.       Record vital signs and chart changes (height, weight, blood pressure, calculate and display body-mass index, plot and display growth charts for children 2-20 years)
6.       Maintain active medication allergy list
7.       On request, provide patients with an electronic copy of their health information (including diagnostic test results, problem list, medication lists, medication allergies, discharge summary, procedures)
8.       For individual professionals, provide patients with clinical summaries of each office visit
9.       Computer provider order entry (CPOE) for medication orders
10.   Generate and transmit permissible prescriptions electronically (eRx)
11.   Implement capability to exchange key clinical information (ex:problem list, medication list, medication allergies, diagnostic test results), among providers of care and patient authorized entities electronically
12.   Implement drug–drug and drug–allergy interaction checks
13.   Protect electronic health information created or maintained by certified EHR technology through the implementation of appropriate technical capabilities
14.   Implement one clinical decision support rule and ability to track compliance with the rule
15.   Report clinical quality measures to CMS or states

Menu Set
Of the 10 objectives, the healthcare professionals must choose at least 5, which they should meet within the 2011 and 2012 period.

1.       Implement drug formulary checks
2.       Generate lists of patients by specific conditions to use for quality improvement, reduction of disparities, research, or outreach
3.       Incorporate clinical laboratory test results into EHRs as structured data
4.       Use certified EHR technology to identify patient-specific education resources and provide those to the patient if appropriate
5.       Provide summary of care record for patients for each transition of care/referrals
6.       Perform medication reconciliation between care settings
7.       Submit electronic syndromic surveillance data to public health agencies
8.       Submit electronic immunization data to immunization registries or immunization information systems
9.       Provide patients with timely electronic access to their health information(including laboratory results, problem list, medication lists, medication allergies)
10.   Send reminders to patients (per patient preference) for preventive and follow-up care

Clinical Quality Measures
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) defines clinical quality measures as “measures of processes, experience, and/or outcomes of patient care, observations or treatment that relate to one or more of the Institute of Medicine domains of health care quality (e.g., effective, safe, efficient, patient-centered, equitable and timely).” To demonstrate meaningful use, the healthcare professional must report on three core measures and three additional measures.

If the healthcare professionals meet all the above objectives, they would be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

Read on - IT Compliance, governance, risk and compliance