Lotus Development Corporation, India Branch Office (Lotus), has signed an agreement with Edutech Informatics India Pvt. Ltd (Informatics), appointing Informatics as its National Training Partner (NTP).

This partnership, which is the first strategic alliance of its kind in the domestic IT training and education industry, will greatly enhance aspiring learners' accessibility to Lotus education in India. The partnership entitles Informatics to extend the Lotus Authorised Training Partner (LATP) status to its entire network of 94 IT training centres.

With this alliance, Informatics will also be a significant corporate fulfillment partner for Lotus' training needs. Enterprises using Lotus products will have access to Informatics training, thus having a choice of larger number of Lotus training sites in the country.

Announcing the partnership, Graham Lind, director, programmes, Lotus Development (Asia-Pacific), said, ``The demand fortraining in Lotus authorised courses has rapidly grown in the last few years. A need to enhance accessibility of the Lotus training and education in the country has been increasingly felt by us. This is the reason why we decided to partner with Edutech Informatics. Informatics, with their wide network within the country and immense international experience in IT training and education in 26 different markets in Asia, will help us take the Lotus authorised courses to all parts of India.''

Speaking on the occasion, Pradeep Tripathi, MD and CEO, Edutech Informatics, said, ``This alliance will synergise the strengths of Lotus and Edutech Informatics. It will open new vistas for the students as well as clients of both our companies in the field of Lotus training and education.''

As NTP, Informatics can appoint LATPs within India to run the Lotus-authorised courses, which include its R4.x and R5 courses. A Lotus-certified course would cost between Rs 5,950 and Rs 29,950, depending on the content of thecourse.

Preparations underway for Constro 2000

Constro 2000, the seventh international conference and exhibition on the construction industry, will be held in New Delhi during March 1-4, 2000. Sponsored by Pune Construction Engineering Research Foundation (PCERF), an apex R&D institution in India that carries out studies in all aspects of construction, and co-sponsored by the ministry of urban development and Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC), the event has G V Ramakrishna, chairman, CIDC and chairman, Disinvestment Commission, as the chief patron.

Employing 3.1 crore people, the construction sector is the largest employer in the country after agriculture. India spends up to 50 per cent of its planned expenditure in this sector and the total outlay for infrastructure development is Rs 8,00,000 crore in the next five years.

Traditionally, only contracting companies have been considered part of the construction industry. But the purpose of this event is to give it a larger base inthe economy.

The event will draw participation from 15 countries, including Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, the United States and the United Kingdom. The event is being organised by the TAFCON group.