Rhone-Poulenc Merger Not `Inevitable'

The toy industry has got a special display in Hall No 12 at the IITE Bright and colourful, this hall is replete with stuffed toys, battery operated gizmos, baby cradles and many other playthings. Books for children and parents can also be picked up from stalls put up by Learners Press and UBS Publishers.

A powerful platform for targeting school children, teachers, young parents and distributors, the toy show seems to be doing brisk business. Parents can be seen enquiring about creatively done charts. Music cassettes, CD-ROMs, video cassettes and video games however are conspicuously absent. Raj Kumar, president, Toy Association of India, says, "We aim to achieve two main purposes by providing a platform for the toy manufacturer. Since he has no advertising budget, this is a good place to talk about the product."

Kilkaari Toys, which sells stuffed toys has crowds of kids hovering around its stall. On offer are glitter painting kits for Rs 150 and cheaply priced non-stick artificial clay. OK Play has slides, swings, cycles, writing desks, golf sets, bowling alley sets and even a beetle car in bright coloured plastic. Not to be missed are the evergreen GI Joe's from Funskool. ription" content="Connectivity in the new millennium is an overriding conce