SAB TV, the Sony channel which said &lsquo;Asli Mazaa SAB Ke Saath Aata Hai&rsquo; (The more the merrier, with a pun on &lsquo;SAB&rsquo;) in 2008, is now talking about the result of its repositioning as a comedy channel for the entire family. Its new campaign says &lsquo;Ab Bache Bache Ko Pata Hai Ki Asli Mazaa SAB Ke Saath Aata Hai&rsquo; (Even kids are aware of the brand&rsquo;s promise).

SAB TV: Family entertainment

Business Standard

All companies have a mission. Nivio, a tech start-up launched by friends Sachin Dev Duggal and Saurabh P Dhoot in 2004, has a noble one: To educate 100 million children. How? Through innovative computing. Duggal and Dhoot believe the only technology that can possibly help them to scale the numbers in a highly cost-effective way is cloud computing. That said, they also know such a feat would largely depend on how profitable their business will be.

Nivio: PC on the cloud

Ten years ago, IHHR Hospitality set up Ananda in the Himalayas near Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. It was India&rsquo;s first destination spa. Three years ago, in 2007, it came out with its Ista five-star hotel in Bangalore. (The name derives from ishta and sthan, which means sacred place in Sanskrit.) Later that year came Ista in Hyderabad.

Striking a balance

When Ajay Piramal sold his formulations business to Abbott in May this year for Rs 17,000 crore, he retained some divisions of Piramal Healthcare: Contract manufacturing, critical care, real estate and over-the-counter medicine (OTC) which can be bought without a doctor&rsquo;s prescription. The four together did Rs 1,700 crore in sales last year, the smallest contributor being OTC.

The OTC pull

India was not as battered by the financial collapse and global recession as were the larger Western economies. Prudent financial and banking policies, initially viewed as the work of a weighty, bloated and self-important bureaucracy, ultimately served to protect the economy reasonably well.

Thinking HR in good times

Ghari has outshined several multinational brands to become the second largest-selling detergent in the country. Here&rsquo;s how The Grand Trunk Road starts at Sonargaon in Bangladesh, cuts across Kolkata, Varanasi, Delhi, Amritsar, Lahore and Peshawar before it completes its 2,500-km journey at Landi Kotal in north-west Pakistan. In between, it passes through dusty Kanpur.

Watch out for Ghari express

After closing down over 100 stores, the Birla group&rsquo;s retail venture is pushing private labels and slashing costs to achieve break-even.

When less is 'more'

The market is still small at Rs 35-40 cr, but is growing at 25% annually.

Golf-gear brands tee off in style

Raymond Weil, one of the last independent brands in the Swiss luxury watch industry, is widening its footprint in India. It is opening exclusive boutiques and shop-in-shops. Olivier Bernheim, President and CEO, Raymond Weil, shares his company&rsquo;s plans in an interview with Praveen Bose. Founded by Bernheim&rsquo;s father-in-law Raymond Weil in 1976, it recently set up its 100 per cent subsidiary in Bangalore.

Q&A: Olivier Bernheim, President & CEO,  Raymond Weil

From video blogs to interactive voice chats, stars are using the very latest in technology to stay in touch with fans.

Celebs' new tech talk

Telecom operators will start rolling out third-generation (3G) networks this month. Tata DOCOMO has announced its intention to launch 3G services around Diwali. Vodafone Essar plans to roll out 3G services by the first quarter of next year. And India&rsquo;s largest mobile operator, Bharti Airtel, is gearing up to launch its 3G services before the end of 2010 in the 13 service areas where it has won 3G spectrum.

India readies for the 3G experience

Ever seen a Microsoft Zune HD? It&rsquo;s a lovely little device for watching movies, listening to music and playing games. Slim, sleek, sophisticated &mdash; and irrelevant. That&rsquo;s because the Zune HD was released two years after the debut of Apple&rsquo;s iPod Touch. By the time it joined the battle, the war was already lost.

Microsoft's phones: A call too late

The first private player to launch 3G in India is averse to calling it a premium service.

Tata Docomo to play pricing game in 3G too

Bollywood divas are cashing in on the old advertising maxim: &ldquo;Women shop more, so women sell better&rdquo;. The trend is clear: According to TAM-Adex data, female actors led endorsements on television with 45 per cent share followed by male actors and sports persons at 42 per cent and 10 per cent share, respectively during the first half of this year.

Womanpower in endorsements

The Rs 25,700 crore Indian broadcasting industry is repurposing its content beyond TV to meet the challenges of cross-platform consumption. Following the advent of 3G and availability of faster bandwidth, content developers are eyeing to expand their services to mobile devices and PCs.

Content developers eye cross-platform delivery

Facebook, revving up its mobile services for the 200 million people who now use the world&rsquo;s largest social network on their phones, has created an avenue for retailers from Macy&rsquo;s to Gap Inc to offer deals to nearby customers.

Facebook revs up mobile services

It&rsquo;s an industry worth around Rs 25 crore and it&rsquo;s only getting bigger. Aabhas Sharma and Veenu Sandhu find that the marathon is more than just a healthy business.

In the running

Close to two decades of constant media attention, yet she remains a glittering icon, more symbol than real, defined almost entirely by how she looks.

Aishwarya Rai, Limited.

The idea of a review as an analytical, personal take on a film is still a radical one.

The reviewer and the review

New-York based stand-up comedian Vidur Kapur is happy with the cultural explosion in India and hopes he&rsquo;s aiding it, too.

Funnyman's got a plan

Trying to overtake the West, the Chairman drove his nation to disaster. The countryside starved but food export targets were met. Bhupesh Bhandari reviews a new book on China&rsquo;s Great Famine.

Mao, the grim reaper

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