Cover Story
- Commonwealth Games can transform Delhi by overhauling it's infrastructure. It can provide better roads, power and water supply. But the city is not making the most of the opportunity. Shalini S. Dagar goes into the details.
- A selection of indicators and survey results showing the best and the worst of Life at Work and Life after Work.
- This is a two-pronged study incorporating the results from secondary as well as primary data. Primary data was collected by way of an online survey. The secondary component was primarily used to create indices. This is done in the following manner:
- It isn’t as posh as Gurgaon but Noida outstrips its neighbourhood rival in the generation of jobs, registering 14% employment growth versus 11% in Gurgaon, thanks to a fountain of small scale units.
- However, it scores a distant 11th in the ‘Life after Work’ index — not because of a lack of malls, restaurants or movie theatres of which it has plenty — but because of its shoddy roads and inconsistent power supply.
- Changing work culture, transformed lifestyles and rise of the services industry make ‘life after work’ as important as ‘life at work’. Chronicling this trend for the first time, BT’s ranking of best cities shows some big changes.
Letter from the editor-in-chief
We all know how speed and connectivity are transforming the business environment. The same forces are also driving change in the need for business information. Lessons from my political odyssey
Politics and business have a lot to learn from each other as the experience of ABN Amro’s India chief proves. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh can harvest several low-hanging fruits in his second term— most of them in the first three months.How to raise up to Rs 50 lakh crore
Maruti’s first disinvestment was at Rs 13 a share. When we disinvested beyond 50 per cent, government got Rs 115 per share. After privatisation, we realised Rs 678 for each share. More of India’s high savings will find their way into the equity markets. Most analysts are vastly underestimating the effect of this mountain of savings entering the stock market. Succession planning, B.K. Modi style
The patriarch, who once doggedly pursued joint ventures with global majors, now wants his son and daughter to build their own tech-savvy next-gen brand. The just-concluded IPL 2 looks set to usher in a vigorous engagement between Indian and South African businesses. India's beer market is ready to boom despite of a slew of irrational governmental policies and restrictions. Microsoft’s latest search engine is impressive, but not a Google killer.Can Subhiksha make a comeback?
Focussing on growth when it should have been working on consolidation cost Subhiksha its business. Can it make a comeback? Keeping a time log will help you figure out how you are using—or wasting—your time.Thriving in the shadow of big retail
Most kirana and mom-and-pop stores have been able to hold their own against the might of India Inc’s giant retail formats. Can they survive in the long run? Business Today walks into five such stores in the metros to gauge the pulse of unorganised retailing. The verdict: Don’t write them off, yet. Business Today catches up with four pilgrims who made the long trip to Omaha to hear the Oracle speak at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual general meeting. BT-Carma CEO watch
India’s and the world’s most talked-about CEOs in the past 30 days.How power shortage hits India Inc.
Most businesses such as IT, banks, telecom networks and manufacturing processes require 24x7 “uptime” or uninterrupted power supply.Roads: Rs 1,785 crore heritage route
A proposal is now with the Planning Commission to allocate Rs 1,785 crore for the balance period of the 11th Plan for “Dandi Heritage Road”. 11 million: The number of people who watched the IPL semifinal between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers on Set Max Circa 2004, Singh is politician first, economist later. His government is a coalition of 15 parties, and dependant on the support of the Communist Party of India, CPI, and Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI (M).A chronology of pictorial warnings against smoking
All cigarette packets sold in India will now carry a pictorial warning about its ill-effects, joining an increasing league of nations who have similar laws. “In my new innings, we will provide world-class infrastructure both on ground and air. Issues of air safety, congestion in the skies will get priority. FDI in the sector may happen eventually. Airlines should exercise caution and not overstretch themselves”Praful Patel, Civil Aviation Minister, to news agencies Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited (TRIL) is literally building India, with several new infrastructure projects in its hands. TRIL’S new MD and CEO, former IAS officer Sanjay Ubale can claim some credit for this. On May 26, GVK group chairman G.V. Krishna Reddy took over controls of the Hyderabad headquartered Emergency Management Research Institute (EMRI) from Satyam, giving the ‘108' emergency service a new lease of life. All is not lost for the economically bankrupt as some legendary businessmen have proved in the past. Sometimes, it’s simply the beginning of a new journey. Here is a sample of the demands that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee faces from some of his colleagues as he prepares for UPA 2’s first Budget.If Bharti Airtel and MTN marry
The union will throw up some mind-boggling numbers: 52 films by global film makers to be screened, a new one each week, courtesy Palador Pictures Having given up the largest domestic carrier status to Kingfisher, Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal is breathing a tad easier. A recent survey in the UK found these jargons to be the most disliked. Watch this space for more jargon busting in forthcoming issues. T-Series’ aggressive moves in protecting its intellectual property (IP) have opened a can of worms for consumers and companies alike. As stock markets soar, India Inc. has found a slick way to raise capital on the double. But a few dodgy promoters may join the party. Keying in ‘how to earn money’ or ‘Katrina Kaif’ on any popular search engine, could expose a computer to hackers. A clutch of Indian conglomerates is keen to grab a piece of the Indian defence pie. So, what’s stopping them? Growing a new crop of talent
India Inc. is increasingly going rural. Is it geared up to face the talent challenges? Opportunity for reforms
Your cover story (BT, June 14, 2009) has done well to draw the right comparisons between the newly elected UPA government and its previous avatar. Curbing mis-selling
Your insurance agent will lose heavily if he sells you a policy that has a hefty first-year premium. Short-term debt funds have emerged as an attractive investment option for investors. Keeping tabs on your investments regularly is the first step to intelligent investing. Online trackers make your task easy. 
