Satyam implicated in new scandal

Troubled Indian IT services firm Satyam is embroiled in another possible scandal, with reports suggesting problems with a contract with the World Health Organisation for the development of a $55.5 million global business management system, reports Computing.co.uk.

According to audit documents seen by Fox News, Satyam ignored the instructions of the software's manufacturer Oracle when implementing the system.

Also, when the audit report was published in May 2008, Satyam was exceeding the contracted amount by $1.4 million, but the audit said this could rise further if there were more delays.

Google recently stomached a $726 million write-down thanks to its stake in the increasingly-irrelevant America Online (AOL). Now it looks like the search giant wants out of its AOL investment entirely, says The Register.

Yesterday, during his quarterly earnings call with reporters and analysts, Time Warner CEO John Martin said Google recently asked if it could exercise the so-called "demand registration rights" for its 5% stake in AOL.

In other words, Google has asked Time Warner to either buy back its three-year-old AOL stake or spin AOL off as a public company. "We are reviewing the request. But we have several options, including proceeding with the request, delaying a decision for some time, or buying back Google's stake at an appraised value, which would obviously be well below the original amount," Martin said, according to All Things Digital.

Facebook is giving its 150 million users a mystery virtual gift to celebrate its fifth birthday, reports The BBC.

The gift shop's presents usually range from cuddly bears to a pint of beer and from champagne to a four-leaf clover.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg said: "In the spirit of celebrating connections between people, we encourage you to use this gift to give thanks to [those] you are connected with on Facebook."

As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama famously courted both labour unions and Silicon Valley firms. Now as president, Obama is finding that two groups that have been some of his most enthusiastic supporters are at loggerheads, says CNet.

The tech sector sees Obama's call for billions of dollars in targeted tax cuts and deficit spending on a new green economy as a generous windfall. So does the labour movement, which spent at least $385 million electing Democratic candidates, and is at odds with business over investment and procurement policies in the so-called "stimulus" package, including the "buy American" provision.

However, union leaders say high labour standards must be maintained in the government's nearly trillion-dollar attempt at economic recovery, which includes billions of dollars for broadband deployment and tens of billions of dollars for energy initiatives.