Should I buy a diesel car? My monthly useage will be around 1,000 km. Secondly, which car among these should I opt for &mdash; the Ford Figo diesel (Titanium), Skoda Fabia 1.2 TDI Ambiente or the Suzuki Swift 1.2 VDi? My budget is around Rs 6.5 lakh. I am looking for features, mileage and ease of maintenance. Please guide me towards the right decision.

Swiftly done

Business Standard

At the boisterous intersection of Kalaghoda in southern Mumbai, while you await your second-serving of kulfi-falooda at the crowded juice centre &mdash; the definite meeting point post-lunch for corporate raiders, bankers, lawyers, aesthetes and dull-drifters &mdash; you are bound to notice the Esplanade Mansion (formerly called Watson&rsquo;s Hotel) glistening majestically in the scorching heat across the road. Though dilapidated, the exterior of the 150-year-old British structure still oozes an old-world charm against the backdrop of ultra-modern set-ups, inducing a &ldquo;sugar rush&rdquo; in passers-by.

On shaky ground

Several interesting fragments of Sikh history went on sale this week at Mullock&rsquo;s, an auction house in Shropshire, UK.

And the prince lives on

The year was 2005. Indian Hockey Federation joined hands with broadcaster ESPN Star to launch Premier Hockey League (PHL). It was a glitzy affair, matches were played under lights, and foreign players and the organisers tried to sow the seeds of tribalism among fans. City-based teams like Sher-e-Jalandhar, Chennai Veerans and Maratha Warriors were formed to give a shot in the arm to a sport in decline. To a certain extent, it did. Sponsors poured in, ratings were encouraging in the first season and the PHL merchandise sold quite well.

Them clones

I am a self-confessed locavore, a wannabe-vegan and a sucker for organic produce that is pesticide-free, grown without being chemically fertilised, as close to home as possible. I&rsquo;ve grown spinach, salad and herbs in my yard (successfully), potatoes and tomatoes (unsuccessfully and with growing desperation), and relate very closely to William Alexander&rsquo;s $64 tomato. And yes, I am ready to pay extra for this, even when it pinches (and it does!).

Organic issue

In a post-Candidates interview, Vladimir Kramnik predicted the 2012 title match, &ldquo;will not be so easy for Anand, who is still the favourite. Nobody should underestimate Boris (Gelfand). He has the unique ability to play his very best at the most important moments.

Chess (#680)

Nivea India, an affiliate of Beiersdorf AG, has come to the rescue of all those women who face the problem of darkening of underarms caused by waxing, shaving and use of hair removal creams. The company has launched a new deodorant, Whitening, which it claims is a global innovation in the category.

Nivea: Power of white

In a recent development, India&rsquo;s first multiplex chain PVR Cinemas and British Coffeehouse Company&rsquo;s Costa Coffee have joined hands to offer gourmet coffee and other beverages to visitors at PVR theatres.

PVR Cinemas/Costa Coffee: A movie over a coffee

FREEFALL
Author: Joseph Stiglitz 
Publisher: Penguin 
Price: Rs 399
ISBN: 9780141045122.
CONNECT THE DOTS
Author: Rashmi Bansal 
Publisher: Eklavya Education Foundation
Price: Rs 150
ISBN: 9788190453028.
SURVIVING THE STORM
Author: Dhiraj Nayyar 
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Price: Rs 499
ISBN: 9780670085255.
ICC CRICKET WORLD CUP - 2011 OFFICIAL GUIDE
Publisher: Living Media India 
Price: Rs 200
ISBN: 9786077636229.
MANAGERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Author: T V Rao 
Publisher: Random House India
Price: Rs 299
ISBN: 9788184001372.
GEEK NATION
Author: Angela Saini 
Publisher: Hachette 
Price: Rs 499
ISBN: 9781444734096.
THE HABIT OF WINNING
Author: Prakash Iyer 
Publisher: Penguin Books India 
Price: Rs 299
ISBN: 9780143068280.
THE MAN WHO SOLD AMERICA
Authors: Jeffrey L Cruikshank and Arthur W Schultz 
Publisher: Harvard Business Press
Price: Rs 995
ISBN: 9781591393085.
ESSENCE OF GOOD MANAGEMENT
Author: K R Kim 
Publisher: Biztantra
Price: Rs

The top 10 business bestsellers

Technical textiles (used for applications other than clothing and furnishing) are a high growth category in India and globally. They are used extensively in agriculture, buildings, healthcare, roads, sports, aviation and so on.

KIT: Technical textiles and the baby diaper market

&nbsp;

    What term (named after an actress) is used to describe an internet phenomenon that happens when a person or company tries to suppress a piece of information and, in so doing, unintentionally popularises it?&nbsp;
    &nbsp;
    What has been set up by an investment boutique based on an academic study by Johan Bollen, Huina Mao, and Xiao-Jun Zeng that established the connection between emotion-related words appearing in Twitter posts and subsequent movements in the Dow Jones

The Strategist Quiz (#204)

Millions of email accounts are being compromised every day without the knowledge of the user.

Hacked! A word of caution

    This Indian company began production of this product in the 1950s &mdash; when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru described it as a symbol of India&rsquo;s independence and industrialisation. It stopped production in 2009 due to obsolescence. Name the company and the product.

Answers to last week&#39;s quiz (#203)

Sujay Joshi is a PC gaming enthusiast. He also likes gaming while on the move. He has downloaded games on his mobile handset, but feels a handset designed for gaming would be an extremely interesting companion.

Handset makers target gamers to boost sales

Ten-year old Aaryan Sen texts faster than he talks, types faster than he writes and checks his homework online while listening to music from his portable music player. &ldquo;I no longer coax my mom to watch television, but instead plead with her for some extra time to play online games with my buddies,&rdquo; says Sen, a seventh grader in Mumbai&rsquo;s Lilavatibai Podar School.

Idiot box goes digital for technology-savvy kids

Camlin is not shedding its colour just yet. The stationery major will retain its portfolio post the majority stake sale to Japan&rsquo;s Kokuyo Co.

Camlin's colourful camel safari

&ldquo;Purpose is what gives life a meaning.

Of governments, brands, social media & purpose?

In roughly 13 months, between January 2010 and February 2011, fast moving consumer goods company Marico has snapped up four international acquisitions &mdash; which include brand Code 10 (Malaysia), Derma Rx (in Singapore via wholly-owned subsidiary Kaya Ltd), Ingwe in South Africa, and an 85 per cent stake in International Consumer Products Corporation (ICP) of Vietnam.

Beyond borders

On the face of it Discovery Networks India seems to be in a tight spot. It is a non-fiction network in a market where more than half of all TV viewing is general entertainment. The rest is, largely, movies, cricket and news. More importantly India is not yet a robust pay TV market; so it has to depend on advertising revenues. The India arm of the US-based $3.77-billion Discovery Communications however is having a great time.

Q&A: Rahul Johri, Sr vice-president & GM, Discovery Networks

Phillippines-based Del Monte has rolled out its first television commercial (TVC) for its juice range in India. The racy musical shows juice drinkers wondering about the taste of the brand &mdash; what is it like or rather what&rsquo;s it not like.

Taste the difference

The Indian two-wheeler market comprises about 12 million units per annum, of which over 75 per cent is constituted by motorcycles.

Passing lane

- Find Specials News, Features, Analysis and more at Business Standard. Full coverage of Goafest 2014

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