Cover Story

We can wipe out our losses in three years?
Can the ‘King of Good Times’ survive the turbulence in the current aviation downturn? In an exclusive interview that started well past midnight and continued for over two hours at his residence on Delhi’s tony Sardar Patel Marg, Mallya shed light on what has been dragging Kingfisher down and how he will get the airline flying high again.

2008-12-14

From the editor

In a country where for decades profit wasn't something businesses were supposed to be proud of, starting a business that is based on making profit out of the poor is bound to be considered blasphemous. But what if one way to alleviate poverty is to profit from it? And what if this turns out to be the fastest and most direct way to reach the poor-without any help or intervention from the government?

Leadership Spotlight

Execution excellence

Over a year after he quit as chief executive of Infosys, Nandan Mohan Nilekani, 53, is putting in place the final touches to his next career move that could see him morph into one of the country’s most respected think tanks on everything from IT to infrastructure.

Features

Stocking up or selling out?

Subhiksha plans Act II to capture consumer attention. But credit squeeze is hampering its expansion plans.

Sasken's survival struggle

It was among Indian IT’s most promising companies, but turmoil in its key markets and some costly misses have plunged the Bangalore-based firm into a battle for survival.

Head wind? Who cares!

Reliance Infrastructure, the oldest among the ADAG companies, with the legacy of Bombay Suburban Electric Supply, is trying to build itself a new future in difficult times. 

Biyani battles the blues

The pioneer of organised retail is counting on “conscious consumption”—rather than “conspicuous consumption”—to see his group through the slowdown.

Brands of future

Biyani unveils his newest gambit in the consumption space.

Sunset or sunrise?

The economic slowdown has already impaired both performance and sentiments. But would things take a turn for the worse before they become better? We sift through key domestic economic indicators to analyse what’s in store.

Opportunity in adversity

The crash of the stock markets, coupled with the liquidity crisis, may have put paid to the plans of many entrepreneurs. But venture capitalists believe that the present times of adversity will lead to opportunities as also a brutal Darwinian selection of the most robust new businesses. Kushan Mitra and Shalini S. Dagar report.

In This Issue

The route to 'dharmacracy'

Management practitioners are turning to the introspective wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita and other Indian texts as an alternative to rapacious capitalism as they believe it balances the pursuit of wealth and material success with the mastery of the self and the quest for inner happiness. E. Kumar Sharma reports.

'New house numbers in the US have fallen to lowest since WW II'

United Technologies (UTC), the $54.8-billion (Rs 2,74,000 crore) diversified industrial conglomerate, and its 51-year-old President and CEO Louis R. Chênevert, are no strangers to India.

Fighting the bad times

Vijay Mallya’s aviation business has landed in a sea of red. Mallya has a survival plan, but he may need to look at drastic options to stay afloat. K. R. Balasubramanyam and Kushan Mitra go into the details.

Printed Circuit

Paint your car blue!

The Fiat Linea will have an integrated Bluetooth system to hook up your mobile. But your car, your mobile and your computer might soon become one entity.

People

Walking the talk with Obama

Named one of the most powerful women in the world, Nancy M. Barry, 59, the Founder and President of Enterprise Solutions to Poverty and former President of the New York-based Women’s World Banking, is no stranger to the limelight.

Money

Coping with an uncertain market

The market meltdown has cleaned up nearly 60 per cent of investor wealth. How are investors trying to cope with their losses? We take a look.

The art of living frugally

After a prolonged period of good times, it is time to tighten your purse strings. BT tells how.

Letters

An invaluable llst

Compiling a list of India’s most valuable Companies (BT cover, November 30) can be an arduous exercise at the best of times.

Jobs

From talent crunch to cash crunch

As corporate India goes through this fundamental shift, how is it impacting the job market? One hint: downsizing isn’t the key objective, at least not as yet.

Book

Sports marketing deciphered

This is a must-read for all sports marketers, but the absence of prescriptions makes it incomplete, says Harish Bijoor.

Back of the Book

Heady delights

Nakur, magician of the sandesh, rides the globalisation wave. The latest addition to its variety is the sandesh filled with vodka, whisky, rum or brandy. Best of all, the price is in the same bracket as its usual range. Nakur plans to retail the liquor sandesh via its stores within the RPG Group’s Spencer’s Retail chain. Somnath Dasgupta reports.

Event

The southern excellence

Participants electrify the South Zone BT Acumen finals in Bangalore with their cerebral energy.

BT More

My own wine Kabuki

Luxury Leviathan

It's time to dress up!

Once a year, when temperatures drop and the sun mellows, you go out and shop for winter clothes. The lower the temperature, the more you dress up. We give you a tour of the coolest styles available right now.

The high life

Once you’ve experienced a private luxury jet, all you want is one of your own, reports

Sound Merchants

Once knob twiddlers who kept to the shadows, the modern day pop producers are a breed apart—writing songs, mining beats and creating hits.

Stars & cars

When Cartier organised a display of 60 vintage cars in Mumbai recently, it drew a ritzy crowd, including Shah Rukh Khan, Prince Michael of Kent, no end of Maharajahs and the drummer for Pink Floyd. Anamika Butalia joined the party.

Live It up!

Beat the winter blues with these luxe buys.

The homemaker

Nothing says more about you than your home, but it’s sometimes difficult to translate your dreams into reality. We caught up with interior designer Vinita Chaitanya to get the ABCD of making your home feel like you.

Club class

When it comes to credentials, Dr Wiren could very well be the biggest name in the business of golf instruction to visit India.

Truffle tales

A fungus believed to have aphrodisiac qualities, the White Truffle has been a delicacy in Italy for centuries. Now that it has come to India, Anamika Butalia tries it out first hand.

Cricket's wine aficionado

South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes, now a Partner and Director of the famous South African wine label 10 Chapters, tells Dhiman Chattopadhyay about the virtues of drinking wine and staying fit.

The beer hug

The next time you order Thai Red Curry or a cold Chinese salad, ask for a German or Belgian wheat beer instead of a glass of wine.

Ole!

Treadmill

Build killer biceps

Here’s a two-part quiz. One: Are you happy with the size of your biceps? And two: Why not?

Special

Messiah or merchant?

Vikram Akula has revolutionised Indian microfinance by building SKS—one of the biggest brands in rural India. His critics feel that he has ignored the very people he should be helping.

Poverty's new saviour

Microfinance in India  has grown fast. But has it also grown right?

India needs game changers In microfinance?

Trends

A spirited upswing

Notwithstanding the ongoing recession, a flurry of wine labels has launched in India last month. Insiders say there are still no signs of a slowdown.

Banking on a change

China's 10-point bailout

To be precise

The generosity index

America’s richest billionaires are competing against each other to see who can give the most to charity and fund causes close to their heart. Here’s a lowdown.

Firms in UK and China are looking for investment opportunities?

Jo Pisani, is a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, UK, responsible for consumer and industrial products in the Market & Value Advisory team. She spoke to BT’s Suman Layak on managing the downturn.

Impossible to be risk proof

Inge Boets, E&Y’s Global Head of Business Risks, talks about the importance of risk management groups.

Numbers of note

Time for a price cut?

Despite a call from the FM, industry leaders say cutting production is a better way to deal with recession.

Instan tip

India remains a robust market

Market meltdown continues

Passports get smart

Ecomomy watch

Current

Neighbour's woes

Woes Pakistan’s economy has fallen in and out of crisis quickly in the past. But, with its friends refusing to help, how will it pull itself out of the latest mess?

New pasture for tech firms

Indian IT companies are scrambling to get into the media and entertainment space.

Laptop largesse

OLPC wants to replicate its success in the US in India, but faces logistical hurdles along the way.

Against all odds

Despite staring at bankruptcy in the US, General Motors is pushing ahead with expansion plans in India.

Helping hand for 3G

Helping Hand for 3G NTT DoCoMo-Tata Tele tie-up promises to bring many innovative services to India.

Licence to steal

Dollars are pouring in for telecom licences and scarce 2G spectrum, but the government isn’t gaining. A bunch of companies are. The Telecom Minister is to blame.

Reporters Diary

The ground reality

House hunting in the NCR is akin to a picnic— take the day off and visit several properties and property dealers, haggle till your tongue drops off and then haggle some more. BT reporters go incognito across five cities to find out what’s the best deal your money can buy against a developer’s listed price.

Top Mind

Heathrow-on-sea

What? One of the world’s largest international airport plans to relocate onto a tidal estuary to the east of London.

The sWaP phone

Policy Watch

The fight gets real

The global crisis has spilled from the international financial system into the real sector. Here’s what the UPA government’s game plan for dealing with it is looking like at the moment.

Noted

Ranked

Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani, with a net worth of $20.8 billion, is the richest Indian in the world. Ambani has displaced Lakshmi Mittal, according to a list of the nation’s 40 richest people compiled by the Forbes.

Cover Story

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