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There is an old saying, "Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other is gold." Purchase preferences seem to echo the verse's sentiment that life is enriched by both the tried and the new, says Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange (Ipsos is the world's third-largest market research company and the OTX is its global innovation centre). The majority of those in India, 67 per cent of the 1,016 people surveyed online, like to try new brands and products. Maybe that is why so many traditional brands put "new" in front of their product names. One-third in India (33 per cent), though, prefer sticking with brands they know, filling pantries, drawers and shelves with the products they are familiar with.For product managers, it pays to appeal to both. So, on the one hand, they have to elicit excitement from those who prefer the new, and on the other, cater to those who tend to opt for the tried and tested.In more mature economies such as the US, where people are more wary, the eagernes

Old brands vs new ones

Direct transfers must be neither hurried nor abandoned

Slow but steady

Poverty numbers show growth and equity go together

Complements, not substitutes

In conventional terms, genealogy is the study of family lineage and history. For Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily, who likes to add a touch of the philosophical to his speeches, even natural resources have their genealogy. Speaking to the media last week, Moily enthusiastically revealed the family tree of RIL's controversial KG-D6 block. It is about 7 trillion cubic feet of reserves in Manipur, he said. "The grandfather of KG-D6 is there in Manipur," he told reporters in all earnestness.

KG-D6's 'grandfather'

Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily's "grandfather" comment above was novel enough to merit attention. Otherwise, these days, journalists often start taking notes even before he starts speaking. That's because they know what he's going to say; it's a stock speech he delivers on every occasion, whether it is on overseas trips or award functions. Entitled "India-2030 for energy scenario", his speech runs thus: "As much as 80 per cent of the fuel is being imported. But India will attain 50 per cent self sufficiency by the year 2020 and 75 per cent during 2025 in terms of fuel and 100 per cent by 2030." Given the controversies he's facing over gas pricing, this is a safe topic to choose. After all, as John Maynard Keynes reminded us, in the long run, we are all dead.

2030 vision

Ending political interference in the public sector is a no-brainer, right? But not, manifestly, to successive Indian governments, and Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge isn't about to buck the trend. At an informal chat with reporters in Rail Bhavan, he was asked, "Do you think the Railways should be depoliticised like it is in China?" The answer was a blank stare and a mumble, "I don't know what you are talking about, I cannot answer this."

On the beaten track

Apropos the report "Flipkart beefs up to take on Amazon" (July 17), can we really term Flipkart's recent fund raising as a move to take on Amazon? Flipkart, from its days of inception, has followed more of a "step aside" strategy vis-a-vis Amazon rather than positioning itself as "taking on" Amazon. E-tailing, strictly speaking, in India is still at a pre-paradigmatic stage marked by strategic uncertainty (be it product or service standards, marketing, supply chain, pricing etc) and continues to draw a cautious approach by investors. The problem with an innovator like Flipkart, is its difficulty to get access to a vast array of complementary assets required to commercialise its technology and hence, is always in danger of succumbing to big players. This is the basis of a long-heard storyline of Amazon buying out Flipkart. While the Bansal duo deserves all the credit for not succumbing to big players like Amazon, the assumption of "brand" being the source of investors' confidence might

Letters: Create compelling value

This refers to the reports "Rail PPP projects move at a snail pace" and "PSBs could lose some good talent to new banks" (July 19). The Railways has a resource crunch to put through 350 projects at an astronomical outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore, public sector banks are not "akshya patras" and face a shortage of senior level managers with project and risk appraisal expertise. These problems are likely to worsen as the latter report says poaching from the private banks will emerge soon. Besides, there is a shortage of capable and big Indian private sector companies with the ability to complete big infra projects on time and within the approved cost estimates. There is, therefore, a need for financial prudence and judicious prioritisation of the projects. Railway station modernisation is a euphemism for the sale of surplus railway land. Unless properly planned and executed, this will result in station lobbies cluttered with showrooms and shops, leaving little space for the passengers. Our exper

Letters: Red signals for infra

This refers to TN Ninan's column "Good news on poverty" (Weekend Ruminations, July 20). It is quite reasonable to believe that the actions taken by the government has brought results. At the same time, the absolute poverty and the miserable life of people in some tribal pockets like Attapadi in Kerala continues. If the position is so bad in a politically conscious and literate state like Kerala, what would be the position elsewhere? The media is playing a fine role in bringing the black spots to light.Jacob Sahayam  ThiruvananthapuramLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Prevailing poverty

After taking oath as the president of his party, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's first media interaction in the capital could not have occurred on a worse day. The Sena chief had invited journalists for lunch at the residence of party MP Sanjay Raut, but the Delhi rain spoilt the event as it came pouring down and brought down the tents that were erected at the residence and caused a short circuit of the electrical connections.Anticipating that the Delhi rains are unpredictable, Shiv Sena leaders had also booked the Constitution Club of India for the interaction and kept the venue as a second option. However, the media interaction started more than three hours later and the entire Constitution Club conference hall was filled with rain water. Alas, the monsoons had indeed poured cold water on Thackeray's plans.

Shiv Sena plans rained off

Even as wide-scale public protests continue to rock Tamil Nadu over the Kudankulam Nuclear power plant, other states are still enamoured of nuclear power. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was at the Planning Commission this week to get the state's annual plan approved. A Planning Commission member, who was present at the meeting, said the state that falls far below in several social development indices had only one major demand. "They want a nuclear power plant! "

Nuclear demand

BJP president does a disservice to both English and Sanskrit

A language gap

The value of India Inc's mergers and acquisitions (M&As) dropped 39 per cent in the first half of this year, compared to the corresponding period last year

On a decline

Real estate led the pack of alternative investments over the three years ended March 28. Most alternatives had a hard time beating the S&P 500 Index, which returned 12.7 per cent annualised over three years. Other alternatives that outperformed included corn, silver, Adolph Gottlieb paintings and vintage cars. A look at the top performers

Realty check

Health ministry's arbitrary ban on anti-diabetes drug

Investigate first

Tackling the controversial Mauritius route

End round-tripping

Finance Minister P Chidambaram seems to envy the man who is now known as the only bull left in the Indian market: US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. At a recent speech in Delhi, he explained how the government has taken several market-friendly steps over the past year and kept the fiscal deficit and inflation under check. Then, he lamented, "There are some who can move markets without doing anything... just by hinting."  He was referring to the wild market movements on June 22 and July 11 after Bernanke made statements about the US Treasury's bond-buying programme.

Big Ben, big bull?

That some people were accidental recipients of the income tax department's 175,000 "friendly" letters to tax defaulters is an open secret. But the results were sometimes comic. At a recent event in the capital, Chief Economic Advisor Raghuram Rajan described how those who had been paying income tax over the years were shocked to receive these letters. "I know," he grinned, "because one of them was my sister-in-law," a statement that had the audience laughing, although it certainly did highlight the random nature of the exercise.

Relatively taxing

Google's recently launched filtering system for Gmail users in India, which automatically sorts emails under Primary, Social and Promotions tabs, is doing journalists both a service as well as disservice depending on how you look at it. Based on Google's analysis, important emails come under Primary, notifications from social networking sites under Social, and mass mailers from retail stores, offers from e-commerce companies, subscribed newsletters and so on - in short, mails that get the least attention from users - under Promotions. For journalists, however, this sorting technique may be problematic because the hundreds of press releases and invitations they receive every day are also bunged under Promotions. Given that many press releases do actually read like promos, Gmail's filtering system can hardy be blamed - though no doubt an algorithm will ensure that Google's press releases do not end up meeting the same fate.

Press releases as promos

This refers to Subir Roy's column "Refer a patient, earn a commission" (Value For Money, July 17). Just as the pharmaceutical companies shower the medical profession with gifts and goodies, similar benefits accrue by referring patients to select diagnostic centres for investigations essential or otherwise. Like exceptions to every rule there are highly ethical and morally scrupulous professionals who are indifferent to these blandishments. Spending time or using basic clinical skills like talking to the patient takes time. Recently a wealthy Chicago couple donated $42 million to the University of Chicago Medical Center for the creation of an institute to improve the doctor-patient relationship and improve communication skills. Medical students must pass a "clinical skills" exam assessing, among other proficiencies, how well they acknowledge patient concerns, ask about feelings and show empathy.Awareness campaigns by the health care industry seek to transform the worried well into the w

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