The new owners, who relaunched the brand last month, faces a tough task.

SIL: Second coming

Business Standard

Two years is perhaps too soon to be looking back and calculating the ifs  and buts of the financial crisis of 2008. But the past year has seen a  rash of books attempting that, and then some.

Fall stories

Bijoy Kumar Y gets up close with the car that may create automotive history in India.

Making way for Sunshine

The humble bicycle has had a makeover. It&rsquo;s now available in a variety of materials and finishes, can be used on dirt tracks and city roads, and even be folded. As long as you&rsquo;re willing to pay a price.

Haute wheels

Indian wines are doing very well at international wine fairs.

Think local, act global

Bike accessories

Kindly give your opinion and help us decide the best small car. Our choice is between the Maruti Suzuki Swift VDi, Hyundai i20 Magna (petrol version) and Volkswagen Polo Comfortline (petrol).

Quick fix

He is back, producing a new quiz show on sports for Doordarshan. Priyanka Joshi catches up with everyone&rsquo;s favourite quiz man.

The curious case of Siddharth Basu

We&rsquo;re no banana republic, okay? We&rsquo;re the world&rsquo;s largest democracy and we have robust democratic institutions. Take the recently concluded case of the Really Trying, Whiny People of Bhopal vs. The Chaps Who Were Just Making Some Damn Pesticide. India should thank the district court in Bhopal for winding things up in a lightning 26 years, because frankly, nobody wants to go on listening to aforesaid really trying, whiny people say the same things witness after witness, year after year. Untold suffering is so out.

Pass the methyl isocyanate, please

Small moves matter as much as the big ones when it comes to meaningful design, as Himanshu Burte finds in this house in Pune.

Old elements, new house

Gossip, anecdote, famous landmarks and odd characters enliven this nostalgic survey of a hill station&rsquo;s history.

Small town lore

An eccentric tale of a man who has been everywhere and done everything he shouldn&rsquo;t.

Off-campus success

Singapore has reinvented itself every few decades.

Avatar city

His decade-long career at Prudential Plc was the stuff every St Stephens and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad alumnus like him would aspire for. As chief executive of the UK financial service power house&rsquo;s Asian operations, Ajay Srinivasan, then based in Hong Kong, was managing assets worth $60 billion.

Unity in diversity

The luxury market, once considered immune to the ebb and flow of economic fluctuations, faced its worst slump last year. The decline in global sales was steep, off 8 per cent. Tag Heuer, the Swiss watchmaker, says it was better off than others in the industry; and as the market picked up this year, it has recovered strongly.

Q&A: Jean-Christophe Babin, President & CEO, Tag Heuer

Henkel wants to differentiate its detergent as one that makes clothes germ-free as opposed to just removing stains and whitening.

Germ washer

What the industry takes six or nine months to do, Zara does it in 15 days. The brand of clothing and accessories pioneered the term &lsquo;fast, affordable fashion&rsquo; in the apparel industry and is the global benchmark in a sector with one of the most complex supply chains. Till now, Indians needed a ticket to Europe, the Americas or South-east Asia to get Zara products. With Zara&rsquo;s Spanish parent, the euro 11-billion Inditex Group, forming a 51:49 joint venture with Trent, Tata&rsquo;s retail division, they needn&rsquo;t venture beyond Delhi and Mumbai.

Inditex Group: Fast fashion

Mercedes-Benz is set to enter the city bus market in India. Although the time frame hasn&rsquo;t been determined, executives at the company are pushing full throttle. The company made its bus debut in September 2008 when it launched the two-axle buses. Then in January this year it came out with its three-axle bus.

Mercedes-Benz: Making inroads

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The top 10 business bestsellers

The branded milk distribution market in India is around Rs 40,000 crore.

KIT: The branded milk market in India

    After a head of state caused considerable damage to the reputation of Swiss banks in the mid-1980s, they established a process to screen PEPs. Expand PEP and name the head of state.

The Strategist Quiz (#153)

Explore Business Standard supplements featuring special editions, industry reports, lifestyle magazines, news and curated insights across business, banking, economy, and lifestyle.

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