Cover Story

Pfizer scrapping deal with Biocon comes at an inopportune time

The news of the Pfizer split comes at an inopportune time for Biocon, which reported a 16 per cent drop in net profits for the three months to December last year.

Pharma companies need to do more to cure the country of its health care ills

Compulsory licences have brought domestic and multinational pharma companies face to face. Although domestic firms are getting to make cheaper versions of patented drugs, will this be enough to cure the country of its health care ills?

Oli Pettigrew shares memories of a magical evening in Vietnam

Seasoned traveller and television host Oli Pettigrew shares memories of a magical evening while on assignment in a remote corner of Vietnam.

Cool ideas for fun-filled Sundays in Mumbai

Sunday brunches are passe. The latest trend is to watch the sun set over the weekend as you relax with a glass of wine.

Babel No More examines the facts and fables behind hyperpolyglots.

How can some people master dozens of languages? The book, Babel No More, examines the facts and fables behind hyperpolyglots.

A bucketlist of adventures recommended by Ben Fogle

Here's a bucketlist of adventures recommended by Ben Fogle, the host of BBC Entertainment show Year of Adventures.

Langkawi is for lovers-of beaches, rainforests, resorts and life

Not just one but 99 islands anchored in the azure Andaman Sea. Langkawi is for lovers-of beaches, rainforests, resorts and life.

Style statement for men this summer

Work your style statement this summer with chic casuals and assertive formals that speak volumes. Maintain a cool veneer even in the pelting heat.

Products that can drive you crazy

The star of Apple's iPad 3 is its superior quality screen. The 2048x1536, 264dpi retina display gives it four times as many pixels in contrast to its predecessor.

Upcoming events and places to travel

The elusive British street artist has inspired talent halfway around the globe.

Restaurant reviews: Megu and Azimuth in New Delhi

The Japanese restaurant Megu is an entirely immersive experience in the theatre of food. The newest fine-dining spot on Delhi's Qutab mile promises a new menu every three months.

Sony India's Sunil Nayyar favourite things

Sunil Nayyar, Senior General Manager, Sony India shares his favourite stuff.

Chetan Seth takes us through his cigar collection

There are a million metaphors attached to the cigar. The cigar world's puff daddy takes us through his collection, and inspires many new ones.

Tips on travelling, exercising, golfing, meditation

A self-confessed adventurer, Karn Kowshik talks about the new wave of free-spirited vagabonds who aren't slaves to tour guides and travel books.

Spotlight on the drinking entitlements of British MPs

Britain and India are prisoners of anachronistic traditions. While one struggles with MPs drunk on subsidised wine, the other insists on keeping official banquets 'dry'.

Weekend getways: Explore destinations that are unique

Get off the beaten track this summer and explore destinations that are unique yet close enough to your city to merit a weekend escape.

Venetian Macau: Asia's largest hotel

When you mix 'no-limits' thinking with abundant excess you get one of the world's grandest hotels.

IT firms dominate hiring scene at engineering campuses

Recruitment trends across engineering campuses remained robust for the class of 2012, even as business schools tend to hog all the limelight.

Cotton supply chain: Every link involved is crippled

From the farm to the factory, every link in the cotton supply chain is struggling. The responsibility for this mess lies with the government.

How fortune tellers advise clients on stocks trading

For a select few, the key to predicting stock price movements lies in reading horoscopes. Business Today met three such clairvoyants to find out if they can tell which way stock markets will move and how stocks will perform by reading the stars, cards, birth charts and so on.

Soon Kwon faces an uphill struggle transforming LG India into a premium brand

It is the leader in most product segments. But its revenues have not been growing as fast as Samsung's and its margins are lower.

Hiring at B-Schools and engineering colleges belies economic slowdown

Job offers from blue-chip companies are on the rise, so are salaries; and this year, joining bonuses have grown in popularity, adding to the array of sops companies are offering to lap up the best talent.

India Today Conclave 2012: Vince Cable says Indian businesses are playing a bigger role in the British economy

On the new immigration policies announced by the British government, Cable stressed that the country's doors were still open to Indian students.

Budget 2012: BT panellist say a great chance missed to usher in meaningful reform

Six panellists who joined BT in analysing Budget 2012/13 at the India Today Conclave say the Budget missed a great chance to usher in meaningful reform.

Budget 2012: Expert panel found much to be desired

An expert panel found much to be desired in Pranab Mukherjee's 2012 Budget.

India Today Conclave 2012: Future of the Internet in India

Kirthiga Reddy and Rajan Anandan, the India chiefs of Facebook and Google, respectively, took part in an illuminating session on the future of the Internet in India.

Finance ministers who reformed the Indian economy through their budgets

The finance ministers who announced the key Budget decisions that reformed the Indian economy.

Firms which hired the most from engineering campuses in 2012

Top hirers from B-schools in 2012

The technologies that succeed are the technologies that meet human needs: Ray Kurzweil

Renowned Futurist Ray Kurzweilin in an interview to Kushan Mitra says technologies that succeed are the technologies that meet human needs.

India Today Conclave 2012 was a riveting affair

Controversies, brilliant minds, great insights, glamour... this year's India Today Conclave was a riveting affair.

Review: LG Optimus Sol E730 and Samsung Galaxy Tab P620

Another sleek android phone and the best small tablet in the market.

Jayalalithaa's U-turn saves Kudankulam nuclear project

Embroiled in much controversy, the fate of the plant was uncertain till the Tamil Nadu chief minister extended support. Her immediate priority, however, appears to be something else than pleasing anti-nuke activists.

Kingfisher Airlines is barely managing to stay in the air

The airline's Chief Executive Sanjay Aggarwal is confident Kingfisher Airlines can get even the grounded planes up in the air again. It had better be real soon.

How different things work

Betting on matches is widespread in cricket-playing countries, perfectly legal in some, illegal in others like India. Match fixing arises when bookies induce players to perform in a particular way.

Hacked reputation

Rebekah Mary Brooks resigns as chief executive of the newspaper, is briefly arrested for her alleged involvement in the hacking

Half the population still lacks toilets, Census 2011 data shows

Many more Indians have phones and TVs now than a decade ago. But half the population still lacks toilets, Census 2011 data shows.

Budget 2012: Who said what

The intent to contain subsidies at 2 per cent of GDP next year and 1.75 per cent of GDP within three years is laudable, says Chanda Kochhar, CEO and MD, ICICI Bank, in The Times of India.

New word in business: Alpha Pup

Alpha Pup means trendsetting young people. Important targets for marketing to this age group

IDFC CEO Rajiv Lall shares his leadership style

Rajiv Lall, MD & CEO, IDFC Ltd says he prefers delegative, participative and authoritative lifestyle.

Cloud computing will create two million new jobs in India by 2015

As an increasing number of enterprises adopt cloud computing, the number of jobs in application development will increase. Of the 13.8 million jobs created globally, two million are expected to be in India. However, it is essential for IT engineers to be ready to adapt.

Roundup: Events of the fortnight

Mahindra Satyam's CEO C.P. Gurnani and Tech Mahindra's Vice Chairman and MD Vineet Nayyar announce the merger of the two companies in Mumbai.

People who made news in the last fortnight

Starring: Sameer Shariff, Rob Rees, Uday Vir Singh, Sangayya Rachayya Hiremath, Shantanu Narayen

Budget 2012 may widen the structural cracks in India's fiscal edifice

Fiscal deficit feeds into inflation, pushes up interest rates and pulls down growth. In 2011/12, India's fiscal deficit was 5.9 per cent of GDP, 1.3 percentage points more than what was forecast in Budget 2011. This comes on the heels of a fiscal deficit of over six per cent of GDP in two of the last three years.

Budget 2012: How it impacts six key sectors

The Budget met with mixed response from industry. An analysis of the impact on six key sectors for Business Today by Ernst & Young.

Railway Budget 2012: Dinesh Trivedi won many admirers as railway minister

He made an excellent impression at Rail Bhavan during the single year he spent in charge there. He won many admirers as railway minister. But did he go too far?

Letters to the editor by readers

After reading your cover story Losing Voice (April 1), one certainly gets the impression that India's BPO industry faces its biggest challenge so far.

'Caprice and cowardice were both on display last fortnight'

Caprice and cowardice were both on display last fortnight. Ten days after a bunch of state election results delivered a hard punch in the Congress party's solar plexus, Pranab Mukherjee delivered a Budget for 2012/13 that was simultaneously retrograde and revanchist.