It&rsquo;s that time of the year and should you find yourself in London, or plan to go there, here are some tips on where to go and what to do.

Yuletide spirit in London

Business Standard

Indian Accent serves it, Blue Ginger in Bangalore features it among its signature dishes, and every upscale Thai or Vietnamese restaurant seems to have basa on the menu, replacing sole, bhekti and singara fillets. But the story behind basa, perhaps 2010&rsquo;s fish of the year, is a long and complex one. There aren&rsquo;t too many catfish that can claim responsibility for a second US-Vietnam conflict.

Catfish blues: The Basa story

The National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, is gearing up to inaugurate its &lsquo;Golden Jubilee Year&rsquo; on December 15 &mdash; a celebration that will continue over the next twelve months.

Mind the gap

This isn&rsquo;t a bike, it&rsquo;s an eye-opener, Pablo Chaterji finds out.

The whole hog

Mondrian's stark grids

What kind of person is willing to drive, and to painstakingly organise a full-scale expedition, from the Himalayas to South Africa? Akhil Bakshi is.

The incredible journey

I currently own a Hyundai Santro and have been considering an upgrade to a C-segment sedan. My main use would be commuting to work in Mumbai traffic and driving with family on weekends. The maximum distance driven in a week would not exceed 150 km. I am looking for a car with good pick-up, along with comfort, space (seating, ergonomics) and luxury (feel-good features ). My choice has been narrowed to the Honda City and Fiat Linea T-Jet petrol. I am just not able to decide which among the two is more &ldquo;value for money&rdquo;. The Honda has reliability on its side, but is expensive and doesn&rsquo;t have too many features, whereas Fiat doesn&rsquo;t have a good reputation, but the T-Jet is loaded. Please do help me out.

C a new star

America may be going through its worst downturn in recent memory, but it&rsquo;s bringing out the best in its people. At least, in the richest few when it comes to redistributing wealth and creating broader prosperity. In June, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates started a campaign, The Giving Pledge. Its members have one simple aim &mdash; to give back at least half their wealth to the community either during, or after their lifetime. This week, seventeen US billionaires, including the young Facebook co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz joined, taking the list to fifty seven.

Charity doesn't begin at home

There are two major events running concurrently, both supported by superb web coverage. The Women's World championship in Hatay, Turkey is in a 64-player mini-match KO format. Koneru Humpy, who is the top seed, has made it till Rd 3 (Round of 16) and so has second-seeded Hou Yifan. So has Harika. Big names like Tatiana Kosintseva, Pia Cramling and former champion Maia Chiburdanidze are already out.

CHESS (#660)

For decades, the Ranji Trophy has been considered the biggest platform for cricketers to make their mark and get noticed. You had to toil hard, keep on performing consistently and live in hope that your chance will come soon. The cricketers play in front of a spectators numbering in three figures &mdash; that too if they are fortunate &mdash; and get very limited TV coverage. However, these things never mattered to the players as the people who they want to impress &mdash; the selectors &mdash; are supposed to be keeping tabs on their performances.

Getting domesticated

It&rsquo;s rare to find someone who is not even 40 and has been playing golf for close to two decades. Sanjay Sharma, director, Swarovski Elements, however is an exception. Sharma was introduced to the game by his father when he was 10. He recalls, &ldquo;My father was an avid golfer and thanks to him I picked up the game quite early in my life&rdquo; None of his friends were into golf and he was the odd one out. He has played almost every sport &ldquo;apart from the ones on the horseback&rdquo; but it was golf which he found the most intriguing. Initially, it was an exercise to spend time with his father who used to be quite busy and &ldquo;golf was a way to spend time with him.&rdquo; Much to his surprise, he took to golf quite naturally.

Life's lessons on a golf course

The merry-go-round of selecting players won&rsquo;t help Australian cricket.

Keeping the faith

What is the first website you log on to when you want some handy information? Probably, the answer is Google or Wikipedia.org. Both are exhaustive, easy to browse and most importantly free to use.

Britannica to give Wikipedia a run for its money

The Art of Choosing
Author: Sheena Iyengar 
Publisher: Little, Brown
Price: Rs 499
ISBN: 9781408702949
The Leadership Challenge 
Authors: Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner 
Publisher: Wiley
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Reach for the Skies
Author: Richard Branson 
Publisher: Random House
Price: Rs 599
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The New Age Of Innovation
Author: C K Prahalad 
Publisher: Tata McGraw-Hill
Price: Rs 750
ISBN: 9780070248618
Makers Of Modern India
Author: Ramachandra Guha 
Publisher: Viking
Price: Rs 799
ISBN: 9780670083855
Decision Points
Author: George W Bush
Publisher: Virgin Books
Price: Rs 999
ISBN: 9780753539668
Managers Who Make A Difference
Author: T V Rao
Publisher: Random House India
Price: Rs 299
ISBN: 9788184001372
The Big Short
Author: Michael Lewis
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Price: Rs 599
ISBN: 9781846142574
Connect The Dots 
Author: Rashmi Bansal
Publisher: Eklavya Education Foundation
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The top 10 business bestsellers

    Which brand has used the lava of a European volcano for one of its world-famous products? This lava has a high degree of resilience. It&rsquo;s flame proof, and it absorbs hand sweat during use.

The Strategist Quiz (#179)

Ericsson brings video-conferencing to PCO booths with 3G services.

Lending a face to the voice

    This industry is showing signs of a crisis in India. The creator of Gulliver&rsquo;s Travels was the first to establish it way back in the early 1700s. Name him and the industry.

Answers to last week&#39s quiz (#178)

Online giant Google released a report &ndash; &lsquo;Zeitgeist&rsquo; &ndash; on what 81 million Indian netizens have been searching for on the web. The company analyses billions of search queries to come up with the annual report.

Zeitgeist: Tracking the Indian web story

The business model is actually quite simple. If you want to get into value housing, it is better to approach the business like a manufacturer of steel or cement. Land is the raw material; do not hoard it for value appreciation. Build the project as fast as possible and deliver in 18 months. Don&rsquo;t get greedy for 80 per cent return on equity, be happy with 20 to 25 per cent.

Jerry Rao's value deal

Sapient was founded in 1991 as a technology consulting firm. Over the years, it has grown into a global services company with over 8,500 employees, more than half of them based in India.

Q&A: Alan Herrick, President and CEO, Sapient

Four agencies have seen incumbent heads move on in the last few weeks.

Season of change at the top

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

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