Aviva tries a new tool with Sachin Tendulkar to grab a bigger share of the life insurance market.

No child&#39;s play

Business Standard

After Reid &amp; Taylor, S Kumars Nationwide wants to try its luck in all segments.

Spinning a yarn

    Desire, Calgaro, Diya, Kashmi, Maya and Lucera are some of the brands of this company. It has 25 film stars who are its brand ambassadors. Name it.

The Strategist Quiz (#120)

Small appliances maker Maharaja Whiteline hopes to double its growth tapping the unorganised market.

King-size ambitions

Changing lifestyles, rising number of nuclear families and double-income households have encouraged the ownership of pets in urban parts of India.

KIT: The pet food market in India

Music ripped off CDs or downloaded illegally, that can be found on digital music players, laptops and phones, robs the Indian music industry of over Rs 1,000 crore annually, according to market estimates. T-Series, the Indian music company which has rights to more than 200,000 songs, 30,000 music videos and movies, wants to change that. It has moved in with legitimate digital music on pen-drives and MicroSD cards, ideal for the preferred media devices, in the hope it will down one more deterrent to consuming media legally. The soundtrack of Blue is the first from its stables to be thus released, followed by All the Best and London Dreams.

T-Series: Digi music

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The top 10 business bestsellers

Tata Motors has had a tough year so far in the A3 segment of the car market. Sales have dropped 30 per cent until September. Its market share has shrunk. Rivals like Maruti Suzuki with the Dzire and Ford with the Ikon and Fiesta have shown growth.

Tata Motors: With Manza to steer

How Wills Lifestyle hopes to stand out in the crowded readymade apparel market.

Designer plans

Ever since they were introduced in India in 2004, marathons have become something of an annual event on the social calendar, not least because they provide a huge networking opportunity for anyone who is reasonably fit &ndash; from common or garden executives to page three and corporate celebs.

Airtel's marathon brand building

Almost eight years back when Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson forged a partnership to make cell phones, an artist designed the liquid-eye crystal logo of Sony Ericsson on a napkin in a restaurant. It had just one colour -- emerald green.

Sony Ericsson shows off its new colours

On the face of it, Amritsar is like any other pilgrimage city in India &mdash; noisy, colourful and crowded by day, but refusing to sleep even at night. Towards the end of October, that pace increases as the annual holy days of the Sikh calendar are around the corner.

New dawn rising

A lovely piece on dry martini that I once read went something like this: &ldquo;Bartender A let the shadow of the vermouth bottle pass over the cocktail glass, while B merely bowed in the direction of France.

Still making wine

Premier is back to making cars! And this time it isn&rsquo;t the Padmini...

Premier World

Triple buckles, square toes, crocodile skin and bohemian fringes are just a few elements you may not have predicted coming back into fashion anytime soon, and yet here they are. No, we are not talking clothes, but shoes that should find place in your wardrobe this winter.

Cool your heels

Designer Krishna Mehta can talk about software upgrades and gadgets just as effortlessly as fabrics and dyes. If you missed her collection at recent fashion weeks, you may now spot her teaching the finer details of the business at leading fashion institutes in Mumbai and Hyderabad, accompanied by her super-powered Apple MacBook Pro for presentations.

Bold designs

My bi-annual pilgrimage to the Tokyo Motor Show turned out to be a bit of a dud. You see, I look forward to trips to Japan for the simple reason that it is a different world out there. And, as for Tokyo, if I have to nominate a capital of the earth, it would be this sprawling metropolis with its driverless trains, law abiding millions and electronic wizardry of tomorrow (beginning with illuminated toilets that warm your seat, sing, feature three spray options and even close the lid once you are done!).

Tokyo ga-ga

I am a first time buyer of a four wheeler. I don&rsquo;t change my vehicles often and plan on using my next acquisition for the next 12 to 15 years. I have shortlisted the Chevrolet Spark LT, Hyundai Santro Xing GLS, and Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo LXI.

First base

ALL IS is not sweetness and light in Indian chess. Sometime ago, GN Gopal, Kerala&rsquo;s first GM, faced an AICF ban for refusal to participate in the National A. That ban was rescinded after &ldquo;trade union&rdquo; action from the Indian Association of Chessplayers, which felt the punishment was much too harsh, if at all justified.

Chess #611

My friends often accuse me of being a bit on the detached side. While I&rsquo;m open to criticism, I have to say that after spending so much quality time hanging out and cooing supportively into their ears, I find it a little hurtful that they continue to see through me so easily. I suppose I should take comfort in the fact that they don&rsquo;t use the phrase my family does, which begins with &lsquo;cold-blooded&rsquo; and ends with &lsquo;reptile&rsquo;.

Rolling stones

It&rsquo;s a beautiful, sunny afternoon when we reach Rangoli, the very simple yet absolutely stunning farmhouse owned by Namita and Rahul Gautam. The Gautams are in the business of providing comfortable sleep to people all over the world, thanks to their company Sheela Foam (named after Rahul&rsquo;s mother Sheela Gautam who has been a seasoned politician herself), which brings out, besides other products, ergonomically designed foam mattresses under the brand name Sleepwell. The company has posted a turnover of Rs 850 crore and continues to, under different labels of its parent company, supply foam to different brands all over the country.

Back to the green shell

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