The project is a major upgrade for the Military Police and will consist of 8 brand new physical servers, provided by HP, to replace the old server cluster. These servers will be setup and run using virtualization software to provide anywhere from 400 to 500 virtual servers to run the Military Police’s entire intranet environment.

This intranet environment must perform a wide variety of tasks, including: operational intelligence systems, email, monitoring end-to-end services, 190 call centers (equivalent to 911 in the United States), etc.  The old servers will not be discarded, but rather reused for the Military Police’s internet environment, which will be run on 50 to 60 virtual servers.

Nana Baffour, CEO and Co-Founder of Midas Medici said, “This is another major project for Midas and the CIMCORP brand in Brazil. Due to the sensitive nature of fighting crime, the Military Police will need a state-of-the-art system with sophisticated security architecture and data storage requirements, combined to protect mission-critical data and police records.”

“The company remains committed to providing the Military Police with CIMCORP’s industry recognized quality of service, and look forward to announcing additional projects with other government agencies and large businesses throughout the remainder of 2011 as its organic sales continue to increase, noted Baffour”.

The Military Police of Sao Paulo is the largest state police force in the country of Brazil, with over 100,000 personnel in its ranks, distributed across several battalions all over the state as well as within the Greater Sao Paulo region (Grande Sao Paulo) which itself comprises 40 cities and towns.

Operating in Brazil since 1988, Midas’ CIMCORP brand provides and manages a complete spectrum of IT infrastructure services and solutions to commercial and government markets.  CIMCORP specializes in data center services with an emphasis on complex solutions that enable Brazilian companies to virtualize and implement cloud-based systems.

CIMCORP has 8 regional offices, 12 distributorships, 3 partner data centers, and an international subsidiary in Miami, FL.

The 21 oil and gas exploration blocks, majority owned and operated by HRT O&G, cover an area of approximately 48,500 square kilometers, are located in the Amazon’s Solimoes basin. According to a Degolyer & MacNaughton reserves audit report, the blocks bring TNK-BP a net prospective and contingent resource of 789 Million barrels of oil equivalent (BOEs).

These include 11 discoveries, where oil and gas were tested. Initial production from the fields in the Solimoes basin is expected in 2012.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mikhail Fridman, Chief Executive Officer of TNK-BP said, “TNK-BP is pleased to have signed these agreements with HRT on the Solimoes Basin project, TNK-BP’s first venture in Brazil. The project will give the company access to significant new resources in one of the world’s fastest growing markets.

“TNK-BP is looking forward to a long and successful business partnership with HRT, as well as to new opportunities to deepen its footprint in the region,” said Fridman.

The companies intend to hold a formal ceremony and press conference in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on 1 November, 2011 to officially mark the start of their new partnership.

TNK-BP is Russia’s third largest oil company, 50% held by BP and 50% held by the AAR Consortium (Alfa Group, Access Industries, and Renova). TNK-BP also owns close to 50% of another Russian oil and gas company, Slavneft. TNK-BP accounts for approximately 16% of Russia’s production (including its share of Slavneft). SEC proved reserves (life of field basis) were 8.794 billion boe as of December 31, 2010.

BP is one of the world’s leading international oil and gas companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items.

TNK-BP is a vertically integrated oil company with a diversified upstream and downstream portfolio in Russia and Ukraine. The company’s upstream operations are located primarily in West Siberia (Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Districts, Tyumen Region), East Siberia (Irkutsk Region), and Volga-Urals (Orenburg Region).

In 2010 the company produced on average 1.74 mboed (excluding its 50% share in Slavneft).

The Open Group’s new South American office and member network increase the organization’s footprint worldwide, with other local offices located in China, France, Japan, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Brazil has experienced some of the world’s largest growth over the past decade, tripling its economy to become the seventh largest in the world.

Gartner projects Brazil’s IT end-user spending to reach $128 billion USD in 2013;(1) and IDC predicts that Cloud Computing adoption in Brazil will grow by 60 percent between 2011 and 2013, with 80 percent of the country’s IT funds invested in implementing Cloud environments by 2015.(2)

Commenting on the acquisition, Allen Brown, president and CEO for The Open Group said, “The establishment of The Open Group office in Brazil is indicative of the tremendous global demand among emerging nations for internationally accepted IT standards and certification programs that advance strategic business objectives and interoperability”.

“The Open Group hopes easy access to the development of open standards, as well as an opportunity to actively shape them, will be invaluable to enterprises and IT professionals throughout the region,” said Brown.

Brazil Country Manager Isabela Abreu will be tasked with growing membership throughout the region, encouraging engagement within The Open Group’s Forums and Work Groups, and raising awareness of certification programs, open standards, frameworks and disciplines such as enterprise architecture and information security.

She will also be working to demonstrate to government officials and local IT executives the importance of establishing a strong IT infrastructure as Brazil’s economy and international influence grows.

Separately commenting, Abreu said, “Brazil’s development is being driven not only by its burgeoning economy, but also by upcoming large-scale global events such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics that will be hosted by Brazil in 2014 and 2016, respectively.”

“With events such as these, large scale IT systems will need to be built, and The Open Group’s guidance will ensure that IT standards and enterprise architectures will facilitate how Brazilian companies build their global IT infrastructures,” she said.

This new user-friendly and web-accessible technological platform allows companies to monitor the composition of investment fund portfolios on a daily basis, and analyze the main factors influencing the trading of their own shares and those of their peers.

The SSM also allows the more efficient targeting of new investors, and provides important input allowing IR professionals to continuously sell the company’s investment story in a more effective manner.

The SSM tool is the first in Brazil to identify in a simple and intuitive way which investment funds/fund managers are holding a given stock in their portfolios. SSM allows companies to monitor the purchase and sale trends of any stock acquired on the Bovespa month by month and compare the purchase and sale trends of their sector and investment peers.

Together with MZ-CRM, SSM also gives companies full control over their shareholder base, as well as those of their peers, allowing them to map market tendencies and ensure more precise investor targeting.

The system’s enormous database has information on more than 10,000 funds registered with the CVM, as well as data on more than 580 fund managers and historical figures on more than 450,000 portfolios going back to 2005.

Using the tickers of any spot market stock traded on the Bovespa, the system gives its users access to the number of shares bought and sold by the investment funds (R$ and units); the stock’s current position in the fund portfolio (R$, units and %); net assets and turnover of the investment funds and data on the managers of each investment fund.

With a market share of over 80% and more than 90% of all IPOs held since 2001, MZ is the MZ Group business unit responsible for creating, developing, implementing and operating global investor relations programs for listed companies, as well as unlisted companies seeking qualified access to the debt market (reducing their cost of capital and forming relations with rating agencies).

Through its unique business model combining technology, content/services and consulting, MZ has recently expanded to Asia (MZ Asia Pacific) and the United States (MZIlios and MZHCI).

Web platform allows publicly-traded companies to monitor the purchase and sale of their shares and those of their peers.

MZ Group is a multinational company and the world’s largest independent provider of investor relations (IR), corporate communications, governance, market intelligence and applied technology services.

The merger gives rise to @titude Global, a leading corporate communications group with global footprint and the world’s largest independent provider of investor relations services, with a particular focus on innovation and high growth markets.

With expected consolidated revenues of US$34 million in 2011, @titude Global provides exclusive services to more than 580 clients in 11 countries, through its offices located in Sao Paulo, New York, Chicago, San Diego, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei.

MZ Group and MVL Communications’ shareholders and executives are joining forces and now share the same corporate vision: to be the world leader in their respective areas of operation based on innovation, perseverance, ethical conduct, merit-based culture and a firm determination to increase value for shareholders and society as a whole.

@titude Global is poised for the imminent convergence of all media and communications tools and the provision of multi-stakeholder platforms on a local and global scale.

As a result of the merger, MVL Comunicacao will take control of BRIC Integrated Corporate Communications and will be headed by Nilson de Oliveira, an MVL Comunicacao partner since 2005. All of MVL and BRIC’s client service teams will remain unaltered.

“There is growing worldwide demand for convergent solutions that eliminate the need to manage several unrelated suppliers, heralding an era of long-term strategic relationships,” explained Nilson de Oliveira.

According to Mauro Lopes, founding partner of MVL, “the merger is taking place at a historic moment when communications and relationships are no longer accessories but essential core activities of any organization: the new civilizing paradigm demands dialogue between individuals and companies.”

The leaders of @titude Global’s other business units in will remain in place.

Rodolfo Zabisky, founding partner of MZ Group and CEO of @titude Global, said, “The move is another important step towards assembling a major confederation of entrepreneurs that will catalyze and lead the consolidation of the corporate communications, investor relations and governance business on a global scale.”

The undertaking marks another major step toward the creation of a sustainable aviation biofuels industry in Brazil. Azul, GOL, TAM and Trip airlines will be strategic advisors in the program.

Under the partnership, Boeing, Embraer and FAPESP will lead the development of a detailed report outlining the unique opportunities and challenges of creating a cost-effective, bio-derived, and sustainable jet-fuel production and distribution industry in Brazil. When completed in late 2012, the report, which will include a technology and sustainability roadmap, will be made public.

The study will be guided by a series of public workshops during 2012 with input from a wide range of stakeholders, as well as a strategic advisory board, which will give the project wide-ranging guidance and institutional support. Members will include airlines, fuel producers and suppliers, environmental experts, community groups, and government agencies.

The study will frame the creation of a sustainable aviation biofuels research center in Brazil. This center will be jointly funded by FAPESP and industry in order to drive a long-term research agenda for the development of aviation biofuels technology in Brazil.

A special call for proposals by FAPESP to establish this center is expected to follow the initial study phase. The mission of the center will be to close the technical, commercial, and sustainability gaps needed to enable the creation of this new aviation fuel supply chain in Brazil.

Suely Vilela, member of FAPESP’s board of directors noted; “The partnership with Boeing and Embraer brings a new level of FAPESP efforts to foster research partnerships between universities and companies in Sao Paulo.”

Vilela further indicated that the research center will be created through public selection, according to FAPESP’s Research, Innovation and Diffusion Centers, which aim to establish long-term advanced core research that results in innovation.

Donna Hrinak, president of Boeing Brazil said; “Brazil already has shown global leadership in developing biofuels for ground transportation. Bringing together people from throughout Brazil who possess the leadership and expertise to create new, low-carbon energy sources for aviation is the right thing to do for the industry, for customers, for Brazil, and for future generations.”

Boeing and Embraer are focused on creating sustainable aviation biofuels produced from renewable resources that do not drive food competition in vulnerable regions by competing with land and water resources.

According to a company release, the new joint venture, which will be 80% owned by CAAS’s wholly own subsidiary, Hengsheng, will be based in Sao Paulo and established with two local Brazilian automotive partners, with ownership of 15% and 5%, respectively.

Mr. Hanlin Chen, Chairman of China Automotive Systems, stated, “Brazil is the most important economic engine in South America, and China has surpassed the United States as Brazil’s leading trade partner. The automotive market is on the rise in Brazil, with current annual OEM demand estimated at 3.5 million vehicles and a rapidly growing aftermarket sector.

CAAS has seen Chinese automakers, such as Chery Auto, one of its largest customers, successfully penetrate the Brazilian market with high quality, value-added vehicles and believes it can also leverage this trend.

According to Chen, CAAS local partners have proven track records in production and distribution.

“The company believes its strong product development capabilities and high quality control processes for mass production will create tremendous value for local OEM and aftermarket customers. This joint venture will enable the company to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities presented by Brazil and South America, as a whole,” said Chen.

Based in Hubei Province, the People’s Republic of China, China Automotive Systems, Inc. is a leading supplier of power steering components and systems to the Chinese automotive industry, operating through nine Sino-foreign joint ventures. The Company offers a full range of steering system parts for passenger automobiles and commercial vehicles.

The Company currently offers four separate series of power steering with an annual production capacity of over 3.5 million sets, steering columns, steering oil pumps and steering hoses.

Its customer base is comprised of leading Chinese auto manufacturers, such as China FAW Group, Corp., Dongfeng Auto Group Co., Ltd., BYD Auto Company Limited, Beiqi Foton Motor Co., Ltd., Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. and Chrysler North America outside of North America.

The Brazilian foray will serve as a platform from where to launch the Chinese auto manufacturer’s products in Latin America.

The result of the first nine months of 2011 represents an increase of 123% over the same period last year. Investment between January and September 2010 reached 22.55 billion dollars. The total FDI flow from January to December 2010 reached 48.4 billion dollars.

According to the Central Bank of Brazil, foreign direct investment should surpass 60 billion dollars in 2011. The numbers are considered to be a direct result of the excellent fundamentals of the Brazilian economy.

The Council, composed of 54 members, is one of the main UN bodies. Among other functions, ECOSOC monitors the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and the outcome of United Nations conferences on economic and social issues. Together with the Security Council, ECOSOC coordinates UN assistance to countries emerging from conflicts.

The candidature reflected the importance given by Brazil to the interdependence between security and development, as well as to the strategic role ECOSOC plays in promoting sustainable peace.

The agenda of the meeting between Presidents Rousseff and Yanukovych included the Brazil-Ukraine space cooperation. The two leaders underlined the progress made in the development of the joint space project “Cyclone 4″, which should result in the launch of a space vehicle from the Brazilian center of Alcantara, in the Northeastern state of Maranhão.

During the visit of President Yanukovych, Brazil and Ukraine signed agreements in areas such energy, defense and agribusiness.