Success breeds confidence and often arrogance. At first, star pugilist Vijender Singh comes across as a bit arrogant, with his designer jeans, sunglasses and the swagger associated more with film stars than boxers. But scratch the surface and you see that he is just supremely confident of the abilities that have made him the world&rsquo;s number one boxer and a sporting hero in modern India. If it was overconfidence bordering on arrogance that saw him exit the Delhi Commonwealth Games in the semi-finals, then it was quiet determination that won him gold in the Guangzhou Asiad.

Lord of the ring

Business Standard

The newly-christened Tata Steel kicks off today at Wijk An Zee. The premier &ldquo;A&rdquo; is of course, one of the oldest (1938-2011) and strongest of tournaments and it sets the benchmark for chess festivals with three strong round-robins and a monster open Swiss.

Chess (#665)

When India defeated England in 1971 at the Oval Test, with a deadly bowling spell from Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, there was a sense of disbelief that overpowered most Indian team members. That was the first time India had defeated England in England. What might have also contributed to the team&rsquo;s disbelief was that the win had come after just a few months of its landmark victory against West Indies in West Indies.

He came, he saw, he conquered

Two years after the scam broke, Satyam is almost back on track.

Back from the brink

On January 19, Delhi Art Gallery will open its revamped and much augmented space at its original Hauz Khas address in Delhi with &lsquo;Continuum&rsquo;, a landmark show with over 250 works by the six artists who founded the seminal Progressive Artists Group &mdash; Souza, Husain, Raza, Bakre, Ara and Gade. This will be the first time in more than six decades that the &ldquo;Progressives&rdquo; will be showing together.

Big picture

Begum Samru&rsquo;s reputation lives on, as does the spectacular church she built at Sardhana.

Pearl in the wilderness

Life in a goldfish bowl can be tough, especially for shy goldfish. There&rsquo;s no escaping the eyeballs. Goldfish will be watched indulgently as they surface for food, anxiously when they sink listlessly to the bottom of the tank, and alertly when they flap about too much. Enjoying pride of place in the living room means there is no room to hide. So when big businessmen and enterprises say that they want to filter who watches and how they are perceived, in reality, they have as little control as poor flaming orange goldfish.

Life in a goldfish bowl

EBay discovers what Indians are likely to bid for online.

A census of wants

Writing a book on business history is not glamorous. It does not fetch visibility and consulting opportunities. That is why (with some notable exceptions like Pankaj Ghemawat and Dwijendra Tripathi) business historians have been outside the academic world &mdash; whether it is Harish Damodaran, R M Lala or Gita Piramal in the Indian context. To find a well-researched, well-written book on the history of strategy is refreshing.

Four lords in their strategy towers

Random House&rsquo;s hottest debut this year is Chinaman, a book that I believe is the great novel on cricket. When the time came to decide when to publish it, the answer was simple &mdash; early February so that the author, Shehan Karunatilaka, could make his first appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival with the press segueing neatly for the cricket World Cup.

The Jaipur effect

&nbsp;

    Which company, known for its innovativeness, inserted chips with an audio message in newspapers and used Heli-banners in Mumbai to attract people?
    Volkswagen
    &nbsp;
    Which movie has got these linked: Oakley3D glasses, Quorra Platform sandals, Monster&rsquo;s iPod docks and Coke Zero?
    Tron-Legacy
    &nbsp;
    A new-age company has borrowed the direct sales model of Avon Products, supply chain management of Toyota Motors, Dell&rsquo;s customisation techniques

Answers to last week's quiz (#183)

It&rsquo;s barely a month before the ICC Cricket World Cup dominates our screens, but hold on to your enthusiasm. If you are inclined to believe cricket buff Amit Chorde, the time is not ripe to ramp up your TV screens or engage in finding the right direct-to-home operator.

Extra cover: TV, DTH bonanza for cricket fans ahead

The dialogue may have been brewing for over a year, but it was a trip to the coffee plantations of Tata Coffee in Coorg that did it for Starbucks big boss Howard Schultz. So the frappe folks from Seattle are finally in India &mdash; the last of the key untapped markets after they successfully crossed the Great Wall.

Brewing a 'third place' in India

The Japanese word &ldquo;Kizashi&rdquo; means &ldquo;something great is coming&rdquo;. Maruti Suzuki (MSIL) must be hoping its newest luxury sedan of the same name lives up to that promise. Kizashi will be launched in India this month-end and was formally unveiled in Udaipur last week.

Maruti banks on Kizashi to break the big car jinx

The desire to stay connected with friends on video calls had prompted Atul Akkar to buy a 3G-enabled smartphone with a front camera for Rs 27,000. Despite an initial set back &ndash; the government ban on 3G video calls and the realisation that most of his friends do not have 3G-enabled devices &ndash; the 22-year-old does not regret his decision.

Speed thrills: 3G  breaks music, gaming barriers

In September 2010, IDC, the global market intelligence firm, published a report stating that Nokia had lost its plot in India and had close to 20 per cent of its share in the Indian market over the past one year.

Connecting People: What next?

Extending the DualView concept to the ST series, Samsung has hit the market with ST600 that comes with a 3.5-inch WVGA touch LCD and 1.8-inch front LCD. The dual display feature lets you frame your subject as you shoot.

More than just cameras

The Rs 1,300-crore instant noodles market in India is in a state of war, with three new players having thrown their hats in the ring over the last one year.

Not a two-minute war

As the emergence of the new breed of private banks transformed the banking scenario, SBI realised its communication strategy needed a change. The following extract from the book &ldquo;Grit, Guts and Gumption: Driving Change in a State-owned Giant&rdquo; by Rajesh Chakrabarti lays down how SBI met the challenges of the new environment with a series of ad campaigns that sent a strong message of inclusion without sacrificing its identity.

High on confidence

Within two years of entering the Indian passenger car market in 2007, BMW toppled rival Mercedes-Benz to become the numero uno luxury car maker of the country. In 2010, the company recorded a 73 per cent growth in sales volume, maintaining its leadership position in the category. In conversation with Preeti Khicha, BMW India President, Dr Andreas Schaaf, outlines the company&rsquo;s India strategy and the reasons for its phenomenal success. &ldquo;My goal is to establish the foundation for the future organisation,&rdquo; he says.

Q&A: Dr Andreas Schaaf, India President, BMW

Monopoly is not always good. Competition is essential for stimulating growth. Without competition market development is a lonely and tortuous task.

Expert Take: Pranesh Misra, CMD, Brandscapes Worldwide

- Find Specials News, Features, Analysis and more at Business Standard. Full coverage of Goafest 2014

Page 1019 - Supplements