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PEOPLE
 Insuring
His Future
A savvy politician he always was! But 60-year-old Sharad Pawar,
veteran Congressman and Maharashtra's very own son-of-the-soil, is now
extending his ambit to the insurance sector where he plans to set up
insurance cooperatives. Having studied the insurance sector carefully with
the help of his nephew Ajit Pawar, who heads the cash-rich urban
cooperative banks organisation, Maharashtra State Co-operative Banks
Federation, Pawar has announced that he will set up two cooperative
organisations, Indian Cooperative Life Insurance Company and Indian
Cooperative General Insurance Company-to enter the life and non-life
businesses. While addressing a meeting of leading cooperative associations
at Pune, the Maratha from Baramati said: ''In the changing scenario, the
cooperative sector should change and tap the various new business
opportunities and ensure that rural farmers benefit.'' Pawar is no
stranger to such endeavours. As a budding Congress activist in early '60s,
much before he became a mla, he organised vegetable growers in several
parts of Maharashtra so as to help them sell vegetables in mandis in urban
areas. Now, 30 years later, as the head of the Nationalist Congress Party,
comes this move which combines a desire to leverage an emerging
opportunity with another to foster rural commercial activity. Who knows?
Perhaps, another savvy politician, Andhra Pradesh cm Chandrababu Naidu,
who reportedly looks upon Pawar's rich Baramati constituency as a role
model, could be next in line with his announcements...
 Sportal
Spontaneous
From green baize to the blue screen? Geet Sethi, the world amateur
billiards champion six times over, is changing his cue. He has just
launched a 'sportal', Khel adi.com, which he says, is going to make a
concrete contribution to Indian sports. ''Life has more to offer than just
billiards,'' says Geet, 39, a trifle ruefully.
And his sportal will certainly offer more
than that. It will focus on all popular sports and generate revenues from
a combination of on-line and off-line activities, including sponsorships,
advertisements, e-Commerce, on-site auctions, as well as event and player
management. Upbeat about his sportal, Geet expects Kheladi to break even
in three years. This is the second business venture for the suave
billiards star who received a Padma Shri. Six years ago, he launched a
travel agency named after his son, Raag. Success, hopefully, will court
him in this round too...
 By
The Book
Pretty Priti divides her time between London and Calcutta. But it
is the Oxford Bookstore where she claims she'd rather be. That's because
the book-shop is the maiden entrepreneurial venture of this hot-shot
architect-turned-book seller, who as director of the Apeejay Surrendra
group is following in her better-known siblings' entrepreneurial
footsteps: sister Priya Paul has spruced up the Group's Park Hotels chain,
and brother Karan Paul looks after the Group's major businesses of tea and
finance. The store, on Calcutta's Park Street, has up-to-the-minute
releases and a hi-tech cataloguing system, offset by a warm and inviting
décor that includes, yes, a cosy tea-bar. Says Priti, 30, an avid
book-lover herself: ''I want it to become the most happening place in
town, which can cater to both serious browsers and casual shoppers.'' It
already is, with high-profile shoppers like US Ambassador Richard Celeste
and his wife. On the cards are another Oxford Bookstore at Mumbai's
Nariman Point and the Net venture oxfordbookstore.com. Atta girl!
 Million
Dollar Director
It fazes even him! Siddhartha Basu, veteran quizmaster and the
dapper producer-director of what could well be the biggest game show in
India's TV history-Star Plus' Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)-is overawed by
the response to the show. KBC is a huge show requiring that takes a lot of
effort to produce. Says Basu, 45: ''It is a watershed in terms of public
interactivity. The computerised telephony (call centre) has to handle
lakhs of calls, the content has to have a pan-Indian appeal, and the
contestants represent the most heterogenous mix possible-a PCO operator
from Kapurthala to a box-wallah from Calcutta in the same forum.'' Adding
to that appeal is the fixed format of the show, licensed from UK-based
Celedor which holds the rights to 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire', a
hit-show in 26 countries. But Siddhartha claims the Indian version is
distinctive: ''The signature is in the details and in the incredible
presence of Amitabh Bachchan as the anchor.'' And Siddhartha at the back
end, if we may say so...
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