Not so long ago, India was considered to be a regional outpost lab by the cola giants. Things have moved fast since then: A demand surge in this so-called outpost is helping Pepsico and Coca Cola at a time when sales have plunged in their traditional strong-hold, North America.

India adds fizz to Coke, Pepsi

Business Standard

When Japanese bike major Honda rolled out its first product from a spanking new factory at Manesar in Haryana in 2001, skeptics immediately predicted the downfall of India&rsquo;s (and also the world&rsquo;s) largest motorcycle manufacturer Hero Honda.

Honda's India journey gets a new twist

When Marico introduced Saffola Arise, a new rice brand, the branding exercise was done by India-born Shombit Sengupta who is settled in France. After shifting to Paris from Kolkata in 1973, Sengupta set up the Shining Strategic Design Company, and over the last few years has executed his concept of &lsquo;creative business strategy&rsquo; to companies all over the world. Mukherjee speaks to Pradipta Mukherjee about his new product and retail innovations. Edited excerpts.

'India has great campaigns, poor branding'

After a difficult 2008-09, placements during the current academic session have picked up dramatically at International School of Business &amp; Media, Kolkata.

Placement picks up at ISB&M

Students at the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) are happy that the government has not belied expectations of a &ldquo;reform-oriented&rdquo; Budget.

The view from b-schools

The students felt the government could have dealt with the deficit for 2009-10, which stood at 6.9 per cent of GDP, with a firmer hand. They fear a downgrade by rating agencies on this parameter could significantly increase India&rsquo;s borrowing costs and certainly strain the country&rsquo;s forex reserves. However, the finance minister has chosen to reduce the fiscal deficit in a slow, phased manner, and problems could arise if the world enters another recessionary phase or if we fail to contain our expenditures.

FM could have been firm; Rating 7.6/10

Students at the Hyderabad-based Indian School of Business (ISB) are happy that the government has not belied expectations of a &ldquo;reform-oriented&rdquo; Budget. With the Indian economy showing clear signs of recovery after last year&rsquo;s financial crisis and no major elections this year, except in Bihar, the 2010 Union Budget presented a unique opportunity to India&rsquo;s financial policymakers.

Reform expectations not belied; Rating 6/10

Admissions for the academic year 2010 at over 150 business-schools will be delayed.

Delayed CAT results hit B-school admissions

Last year saw some significant reforms in the education sector, ranging from scrapping of CBSE&rsquo;s class X board exam to enacting of a law to make education a fundamental right of every child. This year however, say experts, the sector might see even more significant happenings.

Education trend 2010: What lies ahead?

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the country&rsquo;s leading fashion design institute, is expecting buoyancy to return in its placement process this year.

Post-2009 lull, promising placements for NIFT in 2010

In October 2005, Kolkata-based Apeejay Surrendra Group acquired Typhoo, the British tea brand, for &pound;80 million from Premier Foods. In the deal, Apeejay bought Premier's entire tea business which includes brands like London Fruit &amp; Herb, Lift and QT apart from Typhoo. Premier&rsquo;s tea blending and packing unit at Moreton, Wirral, was included in the deal. Typhoo, which was launched in 1903, was the third-biggest tea brand in Britain, behind PG Tips and Tetley. At that time, Premier sold 23 million packets of Typhoo each year.

Typhoo tees off in India

In the years preceding the economic meltdown, paeans had been sung about how India was on the road to being an economic powerhouse. But believers were constantly at loggerheads with skeptics on whether this was India&rsquo;s true future or pure fiction. For all the economic misgivings of 2009, India emerged with a positive story to take away. The trend of growth continued bringing attention to the strong fundamentals of our economy. The last quarter saw encouraging results from different companies and sectoral outlooks were looking positive. Our economy, the 12 th largest in the world, according to the World Bank, can now confidently be bullish about our future superpower trajectory.

India passes with flying colours!

Apart from the cityscapes, the Commonwealth Games provide the opportunity to improve the mindscapes of the people of Delhi. The Delhi Government has embarked on a civility campaign, Come on Delhi, to make the city a good host for the upcoming event.

Dilliwalas hear it from Delhi ki Beti

    This brand is named after the current that flows along the coast of Florida.

Answers to last week&#39s quiz (#129)

    During Christmas 2009, who placed &ldquo;plastic red kettles&rdquo; that accept debit and credit cars in 120 cities in the US? The new kettles have wireless card readers attached to them; such kettles have been used to collect coin donations earlier.

The Strategist Quiz (#130)

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The top 10 business bestsellers

Brand Identity: In the recent past, the strongest trend observed in terms of airport development is the establishment of a brand identity for airports and the communication of the same through different means, including retail and F&amp;B.

KIT: Key trends in airport retail development

Trust Kishore Biyani, the founder of Future Group, to spot new revenue streams before anybody else. The latest from Biyani is Indian-style hotels and schools to train entrepreneurs and help understand consumer behaviour. Both initiatives are expected to go on stream in the next six to eight months.

Future Group: Eyeing new horizons

With the Versa laid to rest, Maruti Suzuki is ready with another van option called the Eeco that can seat five to seven people. Set to be unveiled at the Auto Expo in New Delhi, it is likely to be priced below Rs 400,000, and will come with air-conditioning and the option to choose from six colours.

Maruti Suzuki: Eeco-nomy van

Cloud computing is helping corporations create new, cost-effective business models.

Work in the cloud

At 27, M Thiagarajan started Paramount Airways in Madurai with an all-business seat configuration. The idea was to tap corporations that need people to travel frequently between southern cities like Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Madurai, Trivandrum and so on. While others decided to start big, he took small steps. Paramount started with just five aircraft. The move seems to have paid off. Last month, Paramount had the highest load factor of 87 per cent among Indian carriers.

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