Himani Chandna

Salman not dropped from ad, separation a mutual decision: Coca Cola

Company has dropped Khan as brand ambassador for its soft drink ‘Thums Up’ after four years of association. The contract with Khan had expired last month and the company has chosen not to renew it due to actor’s association with reality show, Bigg Boss.

Govt eyes joint venture route to revive sick pharma PSUs

With the Cabinet expected to approve a plan to cut majority stake in around 20 state-run firms, the government is exploring joint venture opportunities to revive sick pharma public sector units (PSUs).

Jewellers offer discounts, cashbacks, exchange to woo buyers

With a slight dip in gold prices expected to fuel sales of the yellow metal this festival season, jewellers have come up with innovative offers to tap the increase in demand.

Brosnan bonds with pan masala

It will be Brosnan’s second stint with Indian brands. He has earlier endorsed Reid & Taylor, a suiting fabric brand.

Not shaken nor stirred: Why Pierce Brosnan has bonded with an Indian pan masala

Pierce Brosnan, star of the James Bond franchise, kicked off the new Pan Bahar ad campaign on the 7th — a play on James Bond’s code name, Agent 007.

Bonding over flash mobs. Companies focus on your dancing shoes

From building team spirit among colleagues and announcing discounts for customers to spreading official and social messages within the organisation, more firms are using flash mobs to achieve many goals.

Pulse exploits draw more players into hard-boiled candies market

After the popularity of DS Group’s Pulse Candy, Mars, Incorporated backed Wrigley is now set to lure Indians with its new offering.

Havells and the art of generating profits

According to estimates of Axis Capital, with a considerable amount of capital stuck in Sylvania, Havells was seeing returns of around 33% in 2014-15. Now with Sylvania out of its portfolio, the company’s returns are expected to go up by over 50% in 2016-17. Havells currently has a cash pile of ₹1,500 crore. It needs ₹150-300 crore for annual capital expenditure.

Astra Zeneca gives pink slips to execs, to reduce headcount by one-fourth

A source still employed with the company confirmed that AstraZeneca has already fired 60 people in the past four months, and another 50-52 pink slips will be given out.

Life-saving drug for genetic disorder in short supply

Since the last one month, Noida-based businesswoman, Kriti Aggarwal, is having a hard time procuring a life-saving drug for her husband, who suffers from Wilson ’s Disease — a genetic disorder in which copper accumulates in tissues, especially in liver and brain, and can lead to organ damage if the medicines are not taken daily for life.

Towns go past metros in creating new jobs

Smaller cities edge out metros in employment opportunities

If you are in a non-metro city, you have a better chance of landing a job with a private company.

Ayurveda conquers Swiss, marches towards Germany and Italy

Having tasted success in getting Switzerland to recognise India’s traditional Ayurveda system in insurance reimbursement, the NDA government has now shifted its focus to its neighbours, Italy and Germany.

Chopper ride, limousine pick­up, tree­house stay, vineyard tour: Happy Diwali from your employer

Chopper ride, limousine pick-up: Happy Diwali from your employer

A chopper ride or a gourmet testing session on a helipad or a tree-house stay instead of the usual pack of sweets are among a number of innovative gifts that could come your way this Diwali.

Despite higher prices, gold fever to hit this season

After a lull of four years, the demand for gold is expected to go up this festive season, despite higher prices compared to last year.

Sale of mosquito repellents up, companies wage price war

Sale of mosquito repellents up, companies waging price war

Anti-mosquito product makers, including Dabur, Reckitt Benckiser and Godrej are planning to introduce more products in keeping with this demand. Apart from aggressively launching products, companies are waging a price war by offering products as low as R1.

Traditional medicines to pass through more checks before getting licence

The government is set to form new body to clear applications for the proprietary drugs filed by ayurvedic, siddhi and unani drug makers, including Himalaya, Dabur, Patanjali, Zandu and Hamdard

Missing your favourite foreign liquor? Blame it on new state policies

If you are staying anywhere in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh or Himachal Pradesh, chances are that your favourite foreign liquor brand might go missing from the neighbourhood shop. The reason: A new class of super distributors introduced by these states, who act as a middleman between wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers. In industry parlance, they are called super L1A licence holders.

As US moves away, India bets on Facebook’s targeted ads

While companies have moved away from targeted ads on Facebook in the US, their demand in India has grown. Companies, especially in consumer-oriented businesses, are targeting ads to smaller groups of 150 million Facebook users.

Sexology is big business, now it wants respect

Sexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviours and functions, says Wikipedia.

Professional CEOs got better raises than promoters last year

Companies have evidently learned the art of rewarding hardworking ‘C’ suite executives: they received better increments last fiscal than even promoters.

Indian generics bringing down global price of hepatitis C drugs, finds WHO

India’s generic drug manufacturers have flooded the market with cheaper medicines to treat hepatitis C after Gilead Sciences Inc’s patent application was rejected in January 2015.

Government plans to cap prices of 50 drug formulations per month

Raining jobs: E-pharmacies to go on hiring spree

There’s a new recruiter in the job market — e-pharmacies. Online medicine sellers are firming up hiring plans for varied roles — logistics manager, front-end and back-end developers, customer support executives, retail operation managers and software developers, among others — in the next two to five years.

Passed out of B-school , but don’t want to become an entrepreneur

Data from the leading business schools, including the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), the Indian School of Business (ISB), IMT Ghaziabad and IMT Dubai show the number of students picking entrepreneurship has declined in last two years. Colleges including Xavier School of Management (XLRI) and IIM Bangalore denied sharing the data.

Now, open a medical store with up to Rs 2.5 ­lakh government aid

Confused about your career? Ask the boss!

Do you think you have chosen a wrong career and your future looks bleak? Fret not, simply ask your boss for advice!

Have a failed startup? Let it shine on your CV

Companies say they receive 10 to 15 resumes every quarter from candidates with failed startups on their resumes. They do not need to hide the failure because recruiters have come to realise they transformed a concept into reality, and would have learned something along the way.