MAURIZIO BIANCHI: Over to you, Alberto

He was the man who launched fiat's global small car, the Palio, in India. Now, Maurizio Paulo Bianchi, Fiat India's Chairman and Managing Director, is ready to move on-to the troubled parent's headquarters in Turin, Italy. Did the fact that the Palio sold a mere 36,000 units since its launch in 2001 have anything to do with his departure? Fiat India denies it, calling Bianchi's transfer a routine move. Yet, the fact remains that Fiat has vastly underperformed in India. Of course, the uncertainty in Turin has added to it. The question now is, can Alberto Montanari, the new CMD from South Africa, turn the Indian venture around? Watch this space.

JIMMY BEDFORD: He likes his Jack with water, not coke

Keeper of The Taste

A whisky is a whisky is a whisky? Not to Jimmy Bedford, jack Daniel's sixth master distiller since 1866. Every day, the 60-year-old tastes every batch of whisky produced at Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, to make sure that every bottle of Old No. 7 Tennessee tastes the same. He's also its first head distiller with a college education and who is pr savvy. And, yes, Jimmy's job does pay.

DILIP PENDSE: Past catches up

Gotcha?

The past, as Dilip Pendse is discovering, always comes back to haunt you. Before the former CEO of Tata Finance could celebrate the clean chit given to him by the Mumbai Police, the Supreme Court lifted the stay on his arrest. That means the Delhi Police, which is also investigating a complaint by the Tatas against Pendse, is free to arrest the man. Since the Tata Finance affair broke in August 2002, the Tatas and Pendse have been trading charges. While Pendse maintains that the Tata top brass knew of his loss-making investments, the Tatas claim he made unauthorised deals that caused losses of Rs 460 crore. When BT went to press, Pendse's lawyer was preparing to appeal against the decision. The saga continues.

PRANAB BARUA: Here's a cuppa that cheers

Playing High Stakes

Life after Reckitt-Benckiser is proving to be heady for Pranab Barua. Not only is the 50-year-old the Managing Director of Godrej Tea, but he's also a co-owner (he has a 20 per cent stake). That, of course, increases the stakes and not surprisingly Barua is planning a big offensive. He plans to reach one lakh towns over the next two years, partly piggy-backing on Godrej's distribution network, and take on the tea-market biggies on the price front. Over the next two years, Barua-who started his career as a commodity buyer and has nearly three decades of experience in the foods and beverages industry-plans to focus on his two brands, Noble House and Chai House. He's also talking about customised offerings to suit different regional tastes. Guess, the man from Assam knows a thing or two about tea that others don't.

Rajiv Nair: Off to a new start

Logging Out

He was Microsoft India's first employee when the Redmond-based software giant came to the country in 1990. But despite a series of roles-including one as regional director of India subcontinent and another as President & Strategic Advisor for Micosoft Asia-just what was Rajiv Nair looking after last? Community relations and e-governance initiative. In a company that's famously combative, roles don't get any softer than that. The more critical part of the business, including the high-profile .Net foray, was looked after by the other Rajiv (Kaul). In fact, last year when Bill Gates came to India, it was Kaul, and not so much Nair, who shared the limelight with the boss. Therefore, it came as no surprise when last fortnight Nair, President of Microsoft India, announced he was quitting. He says he plans to do something on his own, although he admits nothing has been firmed up yet. Just the same, Nair says he has no regrets. "It has been a great experience working with Microsoft," he quips. Now it's time to put that experience to work for himself.

RAJ LOOMBA: Key to the dollar

India First

What does it take to get NRIs to India? An NRI, of course. That's why when Ficci wanted to put together its high-profile Pravasi Divas do in Delhi, it roped in Jalandhar-born, London-resident Raj Loomba's Indiafirst to sell the event to some of the diaspora. Loomba, 59, who reached the UK via the US, is the CMD of garment retailer Rinku Group, and also the goodwill ambassador for India in the UK. This year, he plans to bring two trade missions to India. His solution for getting more of the NRI dollar: A separate pravasi ministry.

-contributed by Abir Pal, Dipayan Baishya, Seema Shukla, Venkatesha Babu & Vinod Mahanta