There have been announcements of the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Mahindra Satyam tomorrow. CNBC-TV18 learns from sources that S Durgashankar is being considered for the post of the CFO of the company. Also, CP Gurnani is likely to be the company's new CEO.

Here is a transcript of Sumantra Barooah and Kenan Machado’s comments on CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

What we learn from a source who is a former Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M) executive and he says that S Durgashankar is likely to be the next CFO and he is being considered for that post. As of now, nothing is final till it is announced, which we expect to be done tomorrow.

S Durgashankar held a very high post at M&M as head of its merger and acquisition (M&A) team. He was instrumental in taking some key decisions in M&M’s activities. Now, he is being selected as a front runner for the CFO post and he is likely to be named as the key member of the core team of Mahindra Satyam tomorrow.

We also hear from sources that CP Gurnani, who is currently the President of International Operations at Tech Mahindra, is being considered for the role of CEO of Satyam. Now, we do not know for sure whether a decision has been taken or not but the Mahindra Group has invited the media tomorrow for a press conference for an update on its IT business and that is when most likely this announcement will be made. But as of now, according to source, he is only being actively considered.

CP Gurnani, according to sources again, at Tech Mahindra was the brain behind the entire acquisition of Satyam. He was the person who first pitched the idea and strongly advocated it. Even during the entire bid process he was actively involved in it and post the acquisition he has been talking to clients. He is taking active interest in marketing because he has always been a marketing and sales person. He has been driving the India geography for Tech Mahindra and is most likely to take a very active role in Satyam itself.

The current CEO of Satyam is AS Murthy—no word yet on what his future will be. The last time when Tech Mahindra’s management had spoken to the media in Hyderabad they openly said that they would support AS Murthy but again if CP Gurnani is going to be named the CEO tomorrow, there is no word yet on what will happen to AS Murthy.

After two days of deliberations on a road map for fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services at the firm’s ‘Leadership Meet’ that concluded here today, Tech Mahindra, the new owners, have given the IT company a new brand identity — Mahindra Satyam.

“This rebranding exercise symbolises an amalgamation of the Mahindra Group’s values with Satyam’s fabled expertise, even as it retains that part of Satyam’s identity which signifies commitment, purpose and proficiency of the organisation and its people,” Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of the Mahindra Group, stated in a press release today.

“This is a significant milestone towards the recovery of the company (Satyam). We are optimistic that this new brand will re-energise the organisation and be well received by all our stakeholders. With this initiative, we will witness steps by the management to adopt and inculcate the values of ‘performance and customer first’, ‘good corporate governance and citizenship’, which are drawn from the Mahindra Group. With this synergistic approach, Mahindra Satyam will learn from the best management practices of the Mahindra Group, while focusing on nurturing Satyam’s innate skills and capabilities,” said Vineet Nayyar, executive vice-chairman on the Satyam board.

“In terms of professionalism, we have always sought the best people for the job and given them the freedom and the opportunity to grow. We will continue to do so. We will support innovation and well-reasoned risk taking, but will demand performance. Customer is first ... we exist and prosper only because of the customer. We will respond to the changing needs and expectations of our customers speedily, courteously and effectively,” the release said.

Hours after World Bank made public that Wipro [Get Quote] has been debarred from doing any business with the global lender, the company's chairman Azim Premji wrote to its over 100,000 employees saying that the company had not done anything unethical.

Denying charges levelled by the World Bank that Wipro provided improper benefits to the bank staff, Premji said, "Let me reaffirm that Wipro was right from a legal as well as ethical standpoint. We believe what we did what was right and we did it in the right manner."

The company, in 2000, had provided World Bank staff option to purchase its American Depository Shares at IPO price through a Directed Share Programme. However, the World Bank in June 2007 determined that this was a conflict of interest.

In an internal communication to the company's employees, Premji said, "We have always prided ourselves for setting the highest standards of business ethics in our dealings with all our stakeholders. We have built a strong culture which upholds compliance in letter and spirit. The approach was no different in this instance also."

The World Bank deemed the IT firm ineligible to bid for direct contracts from it for the period 2007-2011. The World Bank also named other companies that were barred from doing business it in a list made public on Monday.

Premji further explained that all participants in the Direct Share Programme signed a conflict of interest statement that their purchase did not violate any ethics or conflict of interest policies of their company.

Though the company maintained yesterday that the announcement will not have any impact on its revenues, its stock took a beating at the BSE on Monday. It, however, was trading 4.5 per cent up at Rs 237.6 on the BSE on Tuesday. -- PTI

A number of news outlets reported yesterday that Apple had changed its longstanding stance that Macs don't need anti-virus software. Given that one of Apple's more prominent Get a Mac Ads touts the Mac's immunity to viruses, the sudden change of heart seems newsworthy, except that Apple has been suggesting that users run anti-virus software for some time.

What's interesting is that, after Apple pulled the technote that started the news frenzy (you can still see thanks to Google's cached page), the company issued a statement to Macworld claiming that "the Mac is designed with built-in technologies that provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box."

Now that is a reversal, considering that the original technote with the anti-virus suggestion dates from June 2008. What appeared yesterday was verbatim the same notice that went up in June.

But now the company seems to have changed its mind.

What Apple seems to be saying is you used to need anti-virus software, but now you don't, but wait, maybe you do, or maybe you might want to for added protection.

Who knows?

Here's one thing we can tell your for certain: out of the box Mac OS X offers no anti-virus software whatsoever.

So what are these "built-in technologies" Apple is referring to? Perhaps Apple is talking about the warning dialog that makes sure you think twice before opening downloaded software, or perhaps it refers to Apple's rather small market share which discourages most virus creators from bothering to infect Macs.

So what's the verdict, should you bother installing anti-virus software on your Mac?

The answer depends on how smart you are. There are very few viruses out there for Macs. Those that do exist are generally proof of concept ideas or don't do much harm. In short, your virus risks on OS X are minimal.

As long as you don't engage in high-risk web browsing (downloading anything and everything that pops up, installing every porn video codec your can find or other stupid ideas) and have a good backup system in place, there's no need to waste your time with anti-virus software.

- Hit by the global economic slowdown, Adobe Systems said Wednesday that it would cut 600 jobs and lowered its revenue expectations for the fourth quarter.

The job cuts will be made worldwide and account for about 8 percent of Adobe's total workforce, which stood at 7,623 at the end of September.

The economic slowdown led to slower-than-expected sales of Adobe's new Creative Suite 4 software, which includes products like Photoshop and Dreamweaver and went on sale during the fourth quarter in North America and Europe, the company said.

"The global economic crisis significantly impacted our revenue during the fourth quarter," Shantanu Narayen, Adobe's president and CEO, said in a statement.

Adobe said it expects fourth-quarter revenue to be between US$912 million and $915 million, down from its earlier forecast of $925 million to $955 million. Profits will be higher than expected, however, at $0.59 to $0.60 per share before one-time charges, ahead of the consensus analyst estimate of $0.51, according to Thomson Reuters.

The news sent Adobe's stock 7 percent lower in after-hours trading, to $20.95. Adobe is due to report its full results Dec. 16.

It joins a growing list of technology companies, including SAP, Intel and Sun Microsystems, that have been hurt by the economic downturn.