Scope to open a BPO center in Chennai
Scope International, the wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank, UK plans to set up another call centre in Chennai with a seating capacity of 600 to 700 employees. The operations of this new centre will start in the first or second quarter of 2009.

NASA awards an $18 m outsourcing contract to Qwest Communications
NASA has awarded a 9-year outsourcing contract worth $18 m to Qwest. As per the contract, the company will provide voice and data services, communications and networking services and technical solutions to all its federal agencies across the US.

AstraZeneca awards a 5-year IT contract to Cognizant
AstraZeneca has awarded a five year application maintenance contract to Cognizant. As per the contract, the company will implement application maintenance services to improve operational efficiencies in the R&D, sales and marketing sections of AstraZeneca's Global Shared Services organization.

Central and Eastern European Outsourcing Association (CEEOA) established
The Baltics, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romanian countries have come together to form the CEEOA to promote the Central and Eastern European region as an offshore outsourcing destination. The association will aim to drive attention as a competitive alternative to other global offshoring destinations in IT, BPO services and manufacturing outsourcing.

Scicom to expand organically in South Asia and Africa
Scicom (MSC) Bhd plans to open new centers in the South Asia and Africa regions due to an increase in offshoring customer contact services by the US and European companies. Scicom currently operates in Kuala Lumpur, India and the US having 1,782 employees.

Ebix makes a new offer to Healthaxis
Ebix Inc. has raised its offer from 77 to 85 cents per share to acquire Healthaxis based in Texas. Healthaxis has a "time bound" offer open until Nov. 10. The company has a bid from BPO Management Services Inc. which it has accepted.

TriNet appoints Managing Director of General Atlantic to Board of Directors
Mr. H. Raymond Bingham, managing director of General Atlantic, has been appointed to the Board of Directors of TriNet. He currently serves as a Director for Oracle Corporation, Flextronics International Ltd., and STMicroelectronics.