For several months, Lalit Modi&rsquo;s Twitter account had been silent. This was unusual, because Modi used to be an unstoppable tweeter; one intemperate tweet had even caused him legal trouble. But the account revived on Tuesday, April 3, after the inauguration ceremony of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League in Chennai.

Looking back in  Sanity

Business Standard

More than half a century ago when a young Khasi boy first heard the songs of Bob Dylan, little did he know that one day the pine-scented hills of Shillong would come alive with his music.

Forever Young

The upcoming municipal elections in Delhi have ensured a spike in the importance of RWAs, as gangs of officious young men canvass neighbourhoods and existing councillors visit their wards in a flurry of marigold garlands. But that&rsquo;s not really the sort of fleeting importance I&rsquo;m talking about. It&rsquo;s the more enduring trends and changes in urban resident communities that I find interesting.

A community of neighbours

Is a draw a legitimate result? Unquestionably. Is an agreed draw legitimate ? Not really. It cheats spectators. The Sofia Rules which ban draw offers is one anti-draw rule. Another method is to ban offers till move 40. Of course, if two players are determined to draw, they can just play out a variation, which ends with triple repetition. There are other nuances. Specific blockaded, drawn positions and endgame fortresses can arise. In such cases, the 50-move rule applies. Players can call in an arbiter to sign them off early.

Chess (#995)

Every so often it is good to reflect on one&rsquo;s profession, to see where it has come from, where it is headed. World Theatre Day is such an occasion.

At centre stage

The lines work in the given context &mdash; this is a world of double-crossers and triple-crossers, and Vinod (probably not his real name) doesn&rsquo;t know if Ruby (definitely not her real name) can be trusted &mdash; but the seasoned viewer will catch another, more playful layer. The girl who was serenaded thus in the 1960s film &mdash; Kashmir ki Kali &mdash; was played by Saif&rsquo;s real-life mother Sharmila Tagore. Incidentally, the actor who sang those lines was Kareena&rsquo;s real-life grand-uncle Shammi Kapoor.

Of sons and grand-nieces

It is a question to which we might never know the answer. Did the army chief arrange for two military units to &ldquo;practise mobilisation&rdquo; on the outskirts of New Delhi as a warning to his boss, Defence Minister A K Antony, on January 16? That was the day that General V K Singh took the unprecedented step of challenging the government in the Supreme Court on the controversy over his age.

The threat within?

She&rsquo;s forbidden libraries from stocking some newspapers and is expunging references to Karl Marx in textbooks.

Why this kolaveri di?

It took a revolution for Yemen to discover the strength of its women. In a world where women are to be neither seen nor heard, it was they who led the uprising which brought an end to a dictator&rsquo;s 33-year-old regime.

The firebrand of Sana'a

When Lalit Modi says that &ldquo;in India we have a crab mentality. No one can digest others&rsquo; good work&rdquo;, no prizes for guessing what he&rsquo;s referring to.

Three men and the crabs

In his indefatigably charming fifteenth novel, Other People&rsquo;s Money, Justin Cartwright&rsquo;s ecstatic loon of a playwright, Artair MacCleod, evokes Irish author Flann O&rsquo;Brien&rsquo;s manifesto for future writers: &ldquo;Characters should be interchangeable as between one book and another. The entire corpus of existing literature should be regarded as a limbo from which discerning authors could draw their characters as required.

Too proud to fail

It began with a provocatively titled headline &mdash; WTF &mdash; in January this year. But by the end of it, Women Take Forever (or WTF) was the most popular topic on Facebook and Twitter, with men as well as women voicing their opinions on the subject, even taking potshots at each other whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Maybelline seeks to crack the beauty code

Jawed Habib, the popular hair and beauty salon chain, opened 150 outlets last year. From 37 outlets in 2006, Habib has grown to over 340-plus outlets across 83 cities in India. That&rsquo;s a huge growth, but others such as Lakme, VLCC, Naturals and Juice are not far behind in tapping the Rs 6,900- crore salon industry, growing at a CAGR of 35 per cent.

Salons make the cut

From the Eurozone trouble and the ripple effect of the Arab revolution, to the issues relating to corruption and protests against nuclear power plants back home - India Inc is facing a new era of risk. An air of concern surrounds global players interested in India as well. But there are opportunities round the corner, points out Richard Fenning, chief executive officer, Control Risks, and Patrick Lord, managing director, India, Control Risks.

Now is the time Indian companies should be pumping up their investments overseas: Richard Fenning & Patrick Lord

Sustainable business is much more than managing risks. It&rsquo;s increasingly a lot about creating value by converting challenges into opportunities. Embedding sustainability into strategy and operations is increasingly becoming necessary for competitiveness and to remain relevant in rapidly changing markets and industry structures.

Transforming business to create sustainable value

When you think KFC, don&rsquo;t think just fried chicken and on the go food like burgers and wraps. Instead, think of it as a place to take a break from work and enjoy a &lsquo;time-out&rsquo;. Or at least that&rsquo;s what the KFC brass in India would like us to think.

KFC: One more place to hang out

Parle Agro&rsquo;s popular fruit drinks, Appy Fizz and Frooti, have got some star power for the very first time. Appy Fizz, the sparkling apple drink, is being endorsed by Hindi film actor Saif Ali Khan, while the television commercials for the mango drink Frooti will have south star Siddharth promoting the drink. The overall direction of communication for the two brands will remain unchanged. For Appy Fizz, Saif Ali Khan is expected to bring in &lsquo;the cool quotient&rsquo;, while Siddharth has the task of strengthening the south market, the biggest in the country for beverages. The packaging for both these brands has been upgraded by integrating a quick response code to create an engaging experience for the consumer.

Parle Agro: The cool quotient

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The Game Changers by

The top 10 business bestsellers

Indian Telemedicine market is estimated to be $7.5 million and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 20 per cent over the next five years.

KIT: Telemedicine market in India

    After the recent tragic killing of Trayvon Martin in the US, this brand has unintentionally taken on the role of brand representative for the shooting protests. Name the brand and state the reason.

Answers to last week's The Strategist Quiz (#247)

Ashampoo, is a shampoo, is a shampoo. Right? Wrong! Any woman who steps out from her salon after a hair treatment complete with a wash and blow-dry wishes for nothing more than her hair to stay that way &mdash; lustrous, smooth, soft to the touch. Or at least be able to afford salon treatments more often. Unfortunately, the latter is a luxury few can afford even though the former stays a life-long aspiration.

Segment and rule

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