Nasscom announces successor to Kiran Karnik

DQW NEWS BUREAU Bangalore, Oct 4

Nasscom has announced the appointment of Som Mittal as the
successor to Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom. Mittal will assume the office of
the President from January, 2008. He is presently Head-Services Business,
Asia-Pacific and Japan, Hewlett-Packard.

Announcing this, Harish Mehta, who headed the search committee
for this role and is a past Chairman of Nasscom (and Chairman of Onward
Technologies), said, "This is a challenging assignment, with Nasscom
playing a vital role in sustaining the growth of India's IT industry. The
search committee, which comprised of past Chairmen of Nasscom, the present
Chairman and the President, was looking for an outstanding individual to take up
this key leadership role. I am pleased that, in Mittal, we have such a
person."

Som Mittal

Congratulating Mittal on his appointment, Lakshmi Narayanan,
Chairman, Nasscom and Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, Cognizant, said,
"We are delighted to announce the appointment of Mittal as President,
Nasscom. I would like to formally welcome and congratulate him, on behalf of the
entire industry. His extensive experience in the IT industry, in addition to his
previous work in other sectors, brings a unique blend of industry-specific
knowledge as also broader global perspective. He has been Chairman of Nasscom
(2003-04) and this has provided him direct insight into the functioning of the
Secretariat and the overall industry and also a strong relationship with the
industry leaders that will be invaluable to Nasscom. His particular insights
into BPO and remote infrastructure services area will be of great value as the
industry innovates to sustain its global leadership against competition from
other nations."

Speaking on his appointment, Mittal said, "I am honored to
take up this role as President of Nasscom at this exciting stage of the industry's
lifecycle when the Indian IT/ITeS sector has established its position in the
global landscape and is continuously defining newer benchmarks. There is a very
high benchmark of this role as well and I look forward to continuing the
excellent work that Kiran Karnik and Dewang Mehta have done for this industry,
across all areas-the industry, customers, with the media, Governments and all
other stakeholders. I look forward to leading team Nasscom in these interesting
times, to enable both continuity and change to happen," he added.

Welcoming the selection of Mittal as his successor, Karnik said,
"It is a matter of great satisfaction to be handing over the reins to such
a capable individual. The industry has come a long way in the last few years and
it is a matter of great pride for me to have been part of this success story. I
look forward to working with Som over the next few months as we make our
respective transitions."