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Checking In Again
Four years ago, when this gentleman made his acrimonious exit from the Tata Group's Indian Hotels, he wanted to build India's largest convention centre somewhere in North Mumbai. There's no word on that, but Ajit Baburao Kerkar is back to doing what he loves the most: running big hotels. Kerkar, who's now 69, snapped up the state-owned Hotel Corporation of India's Centaur Hotel, Juhu (Mumbai), for a cool Rs 153 crore. Although the Kerkar-owned Tulip Hospitality and Cox & King (India) were the sole joint-bidders for the property, the old man was not taking any chances. He bid Rs 52 crore more than the reserve price. By acquiring the 15-year-old, 376-room hotel on the Juhu beach, Kerkar is as much making his re-entry into hospitality as scoring a point over his erstwhile employer. People who know the feisty Kerkar aren't surprised. For, his departure from Indian Hotels wasn't under the best of circumstances. In fact, it was on August 20, 1997, that senior directors of the Tata Group suddenly levelled charges of foreign exchange violations against him, and Kerkar, in a bid to avoid a showdown with Ratan Tata, quit within a fortnight. For a man who had joined India Hotels as assistant catering manager at the behest of J.R.D. Tata's brother, Dorab Tata, and rose to be its chairman and managing director for 27 of the 35 years he spent with it, it was a bad snub. Having bagged Centaur, Kerkar is now back in the game. Is Taj worried? Down And Under
Despite a mild fever, kerry packer made it in March 2000 to a late evening extravaganza hosted by Mahendra Nahata. He had to. Nahata, Chairman of Himachal Futuristic Communication Ltd (HFCL), was celebrating Packer's investment in the troubled and controversial telecom equipment company. Coughing up Rs 1,039 crore, the Australian cricketer-turned-media-tycoon had bought a 10 per cent stake in HFCL with the idea of using it as vehicle for entry into media and software in India. Less than two years later, Packer has been clean bowled. He bought HFCL shares at Rs 1,450 apiece. Today, they are quoting at around a miserable Rs 80. In between, Packer's television venture with HFCL proved a costly mistake and folded up. As for supplying software to Packer's expansive empire of media and entertainment, there's little headway. No surprise, then, that a badly-wounded Packer is desperate to make his exit from HFCL. He's already lowered his stake to 6 per cent. Expect that to go too soon. Joy's Middle Path
He's addressed global leaders at United Nation's Millennium Summit, taught New York policemen how to deal with anger, helped Hollywood stars (Paul Newman and Goldie Hawn, among others) manage stress, and also helped some Mercedes-Benz employees improve performance. Still, chances are you haven't heard of Svami Purna. For one, he's more low profile than both Sri Sri Ravi Shankar of the Art of Living Foundation and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. But of credentials he lacks little. Born into an Indian family of ''philosophers and rulers'', Svami Purna has earned doctorates in medicine, psychology and philosophy in India and Europe. Therefore, his philosophy of Purna Yoga follows the ''middle path between the traditional and western thoughts''. Given the times, there can't be stress-busters one too many. |
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