The Hindu Business Line : Cognizant rings Nasdaq bell in Chennai, NY

REMOTE RINGING: (From left) Mr Rajeev Mehta, Chief Operating Officer, Global Client services, Cognizant Technologies; Mr Gordon Coburn, Chief Financial and Operating Officer; Mr David Hopper, US Consul General in Chennai; Mr Franciso D'Souza, CEO, Ms Charlotte Croswell, President, Nasdaq International and Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice-Chairman, Cognizant at the remote ringing of Nasdaq opening bell from Chennai on Monday. - Bijoy Ghosh

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Chennai March 5 At sharp 8 p.m. in Chennai and 9.30 a.m. in New York, Mr Francisco D'Souza, President and CEO, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, remotely rang the Nasdaq opening bell from the company's Chennai techno-complex.

The event was to `commemorate many performance milestones' of the US-based provider of IT and business process outsourcing services with development centres in India.

Cognizant and Nasdaq co-hosted two celebrations - in Chennai and New York City at Nasdaq's MarketSite.

In Chennai, Cognizant's management team of Mr D'Souza, Mr Lakshmi Narayanan (Vice-Chairman), Mr R. Chandrasekaran (President and Managing Director, Global Delivery), Mr Gordon Coburn (Chief Financial and Operating Officer) and Mr Raj Mehta (COO, Global Client Services) was present. In the US, it had its industry practice heads.

Ms Charlotte Croswell, President, Nasdaq International, and Mr David Hopper, US Consul General, Chennai, were also present in the Chennai event.

Cognizant reported revenue of $1.4 billion in 2006. In November 2006, it was selected to join the S&P 500 Index and in 2004 was named to the Nasdaq-100 Index, according to a press release.

The Nasdaq Remote Opening Bell ceremony is a recreation of the daily Opening Bell that takes place in the Nasdaq studio. Both the opening and closing bell ceremonies are broadcast live on Nasdaq's TimesSquare Tower in New York and are televised by global television stations. Nasdaq re-created the MarketSite Opening Bell ceremony from Cognizant's facility in Chennai by displaying the electronic podium and traditionally signing into the market at the event. According to Mr D'Souza, since joining Nasdaq in 1998, Cognizant has grown from 1,000 associates to around 40,000 today. Nasdaq's governance and transparency provide shareholders with the confidence they need as they invest in Cognizant.

In her remarks, Ms Croswell said typically when a company is opening the Nasdaq market, there are perhaps one or two significant milestones that "we" may celebrate.

However, in a relatively short time of being a public company, Cognizant has achieved a level of success and reached milestones that literally takes some companies decades to achieve. Cognizant stock opened at $85.24 on the Nasdaq as against the Friday's close of $86.93.