I use a Ford Ikon 1.6 and a Chevrolet Spark. I wish to have an additional car in the 1.6-litre engine segment. I am not opting for the Ford Fiesta diesel, as it would be a virtual repetition as far as the looks of the car are concerned. The new car will be used for driving around 2,000 km a month in and around Vadodara. I have shortlisted the Honda City and the Chevrolet Optra Magnum. I like the City&rsquo;s looks; how does the automatic compare vis-a-vis the standard manual? And how does it weigh against the Optra in terms of ride quality and economy? I am open to suggestions from you on other cars in the Rs 8 to 11 lakh bracket. I expect boot space similar to that of the Ikon and fuel consumption at over 13 kilometres to the litre.

City beat

Business Standard

The poison of religion has been drawn, and the book fair was awash with fringe faiths.

Hydra tales

Among the easiest ways of ensuring that a building is &lsquo;green&rsquo; is by orienting it right. It is also a way to ensure comfort at lower cost. Himanshu Burte tells you how to make it work.

What's your orientation?

A boutique hotel in Mumbai might find favour with the devout.

Mixed metaphors

Piero Fornasetti (1913-1980) was a Milanese painter who decorated mundane objects &mdash; plates, umbrellas, hats, chairs, ashtrays, wallpapers, blinds &mdash; by painting bold, whimsical motifs on them &mdash; the face of a woman, the facade of a building, playing cards, the sun, and so on. He is an acknowledged master today, his playful designs, working on perspective and creating optical illusions, much valued by purveyors of luxury as &ldquo;collectibles&rdquo;.

Just for fun

Help!

Forgot to get a gift for Valentine&rsquo;s Day? Take your pick from the list we&rsquo;ve put together. With our Night Out options you could choose to get away for the weekend or have a special dinner for two.

Late check-in

Love it or hate it, V Day exists, with different meanings.

What's your Valentine?

Fancy a weekend away from home? Check out the Devi Garh Palace in Udaipur. The Romance Package valid this weekend packs in a special private dinner, which includes a three course meal, a glass of sparkling wine, dry fruits and chocolate, all at a special venue at the Fort Palace. The package is priced at Rs 8,500 for a couple, including taxes. Call 022-2643 0390 for details.

Night out

From deadly pianos to exploding cookers, they all belong on the list of justifiable phobias.

House of horrors

Urvashi Butalia and Ritu Menon ran India&rsquo;s first feminist publishing house for nearly two decades.

Two's company

The company wants LED-based flashlights and lighting solutions to account for a quarter of its turnover in two years.

Eveready: From Red to 'LED'

Kiran, the Royal Bengal tiger, was in Mumbai a few days back to lend a helping hand to Swarovski, which is teaching water and environment conservation to school children in the country. Kiran, in faceted crystal, designed by Elisabeth Adaner, was a big draw at the Swarovski Charity Auction held in Mumbai. After all, only 33 of these sculptures were made.

Swarovski: Crystal gazing

A lot of times we who are in the business of marketing and advertising get too comfortable in the box that is marketing and advertising. We get comfortable. We settle down and like old soldiers we tell stories of the marketing campaigns we waged. Those tales become our reference points, later they turn into guideposts and finally they calcify into rules that are etched into stone tablets. Lest that happen we have to listen to voices other than our own, to the opinions and lessons learnt from people who are not experts in our biz or any other biz for that matter. In fact, be a little wary of experts because they have mastered the thing they do so well, they don&rsquo;t know how to do it differently. I prefer to rub elbows with the experiences of interesting people who have done interesting things at interesting times.

Get infected

Since its launch, Google has been buzzing all across with over 9 million posts and comments.

Why this Hum and haw over Google buzz

Manan Gupta (26) is a quintessential modern day Indian consumer. Technically suave, Gupta owns two credit cards, a laptop with data card and a smartphone that keeps him connected 24x7, and is a hardcore movie buff.

Skipping the queue

Digital photo printers come in different shapes and sizes but they all do one thing &mdash; transform your brilliantly-coloured digital pictures into high-quality photo prints. HP&rsquo;s latest printer, the HP Photosmart Premium C309g, packs in many features but still delivers as a well-rounded all-in-one inkjet printer (scans, copies and prints).

Print your photos in colour

    While he was the technical advisor to UN in India, he conceived the mechanism to strip away unwanted tape recording noise. He patented this invention on his return to London. Identify him and the technology he invented.

Answers to last week's quiz (#135)

    D J Keymer was its first name, then it changed to BOMAS and then S H Benson.

The Strategist Quiz (#136)

ALL THE RIGHT MOVES
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THE SEVEN STAGES OF MONEY MATURITY
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KNOWLEDGE

The top 10 business bestsellers

The size of the packaged food market in India is estimated at $10 billion and is expected to reach $20 billion by 2014, while the share of packaged food in the food and grocery market is expected to touch 5 per cent by the same time.

KIT: The packaged food market in India

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