Indians have always been reluctant buyers of life insurance. But they are ever ready to lap up plans linked to their children&rsquo;s education. And that is what now drives growth in the industry. Naturally, insurance companies are all jostling for a bigger slice of this pie.

Max New York Life: Claims beyond education

Business Standard

What&rsquo;s on India&rsquo;, a channel founded and promoted by Atul Phadnis, is the viewer&rsquo;s guide to television. Backed by venture capitalists such as Sequoia Capital and launched in December 2009, it is the first channel dedicated to TV guidance in India. While most viewers have a handful of favourites on TV, What&rsquo;s on India aims to make sense of programmes in over 200 channels.

What's on India: A TV guide on TV

Despite the global recession and the economic uncertainty in India, the franchising industry grew promisingly at 20 per cent.

KIT: The franchising industry in India

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

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'

One:&nbsp;Indulge &mdash; Visit one of the world&rsquo;s top five restaurants, make a reservation well in advance, and treat yourself to some of the greatest food experiences. Great books, films and art lasts; great dining experiences, like great stage performances, are ephemeral. Spain has El Bulli, El Celler de Can Roca and Arzak; the UK has Fat Duck; France has Bras and Pierre Gagnaire, and the US has the French Laundry, Per Se and Alinea. There isn&rsquo;t, yet, an Indian restaurant in any of the reliable lists of the world&rsquo;s top 10 places to eat, but perhaps that will change.

Six suggestions for 2010

Tired of fiddling around with your iPod? Anand Sankar says it&rsquo;s time to go retro with a good-old phonograph.

Turn the tables

For those of you who fancy a movie every now and then, there is good news &mdash; and some bad. While the list of films running at the cinemas this weekend is long, so are the queues! We suggest, instead, a no-fuss alternative: curl up at home with a mug of hot chocolate (or a can of beer), microwaved popcorn, and catch up on a few offbeat films, all new arrivals at your nearest DVD store.

Now showing

TIME MAGAZINE&rsquo;S recent Q&amp;A with Magnus Carlsen highlighted the stereotypes surrounding chessplayers. They&rsquo;re super-bright; they can calculate umpteen moves, and they have a tendency to go off the rocker.

CHESS #620

I began my working life by gathering information about potential freelance assignments during the year that I intended to be in Delhi before going to graduate school. I decided that I would make lists of publications, hunt down phone numbers, and pay my way through the year by writing.

You go, boss

He&rsquo;s done it again. The director whose fun films pack a hard social message is relishing the success of 3 Idiots. Abhilasha Ojha finds out what makes him tick.

Lage Raho Hirani

&mdash; It doesn&rsquo;t matter, all of this is arbitrary and pointless.

The Tentative Tens

This Auto Expo, like the 2008 edition, will be yet another small car special. With five new small cars from three new entrants in the field being shown, either in concept guise or production form, there is a lot at stake for more than one manufacturer. The 2010 Auto Expo will also play host to over two lakh visitors and promises to be bigger and better than before. We take a look at what will make a buzz this year.

Expo-sure!

I brought Duniya Sabki to the office to write this column, and the moment I took it out of the bag it went travelling.

Poems for the people

Once a sleepy village, it&rsquo;s now the poster city of new India. The interiors of The Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon have been carefully designed to reflect its evolution.

Gurgaon plush

Ashim Purkayastha&rsquo;s latest works focus on the violent history of the North-east.

Family portraits

A few months ago, this column had mourned the lack of well-curated shows and drawn attention to a sense of fatigue in the air. Then came Lo Real Maravilloso &mdash; a large, ambitious show seeded by Magic Realism, &ldquo;produced&rdquo; by Gallery Espace and curated by Sunil Mehra.

Magical canvas

T N Ninan picks out 10 themes for the coming 10 years.

India 2020: What will we be like?

The digital equivalents of colouring books and games are the latest on-the-go pacifiers.

An app for every child

Every now and then, Jabra comes out with a design or a feature that makes its headsets stand out. The company is a world leader in wireless solutions, known for its extensive range of hands-free equipment for mobile phones, contact centres and offices. Here, we check out two of the company's latest products...

Speak  with hands free

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