RAHUL BAJAJ: Paying peace its due price

More than two years after the feud began, warring brothers Rahul and Shishir Bajaj have decided to make peace. Under an agreement thrashed out on June 6, the Rahul Bajaj faction-including cousins Madhur, Shekhar, Niraj-will pay Shishir Rs 400 crore as the net difference for untangling their cross-holdings. Shishir, who runs three of the group companies-Bajaj Hindustan, Bajaj Consumer Care and Bajaj Sevashram-had been wanting to go his own way with son Kushagra. The reluctant peacemaker in the drama? The Chennai-based ca and co-convenor of Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, S. Gurumurthy. Initially Gurumurthy refused to play the mediator and in fact pulled out once after he did. But Gujarat Ambuja's Chairman Suresh Neotia, a relative of the Bajajs, persuaded Gurumurthy to give it one more shot. He did. Says Gurumurthy of his task: "There were a lot of heritage items and sentiments involved, apart from business-related issues." Courtesy the man, the Bajajs can close their bitter chapter, even if its last line reads "...and they split happily ever after".

K.J. UDESHI: Glass ceiling shatterer

Woman On Top, Almost

When as a young girl she won the national badminton championship, a cartoonist showed her peering through a telescope with the caption "aiming for the stars". But what was meant in jest is proving to be eerily serious. Last fortnight, the Reserve Bank of India appointed Kishori J. Udeshi as its Deputy Governor-the first lady ever to hold that post. A post graduate in economics, the 59-year-old Udeshi is a career central banker, having joined it in 1965. Although she no longer plays badminton (her free time is spent on reading and theatre), Udeshi has long stuck to one rule: "I always play to win". Lady, we believe you.

UDAYAN BOSE: In search of a new CEO

In A Lurch

Expect to see more of the UK-based Udayan Bose in India. With three of his five top executives (CEO Ashish Guha, and MDs Sanjay Sakhuja and Amit Mukherjee) quitting his investment banking firm, Lazard India, Bose is planning to camp in India till he finds a new CEO. But we think Bose, who is the Chairman of Lazard International, can afford to take it easy in the country. Why? The government is dragging its feet over disinvestment, and Lazard's two big projects in India are the privatisation of the Shipping Corporation of India and ITDC hotels.

AMITABH BACHCHAN: Never say die

The ABCL Sequel

For the "big b" there's still no business like show business. ABCL may have floundered, but Amitabh Bachchan is betting that re-christened and reinvigorated "AB Corp" won't. So what'll be different? This time around, it'll be grounded in a lot more than just his personal cachet and charisma-considerable though they may be. Chastened by past foibles, the 60-year-old movie star is sure to run a tight corporate. No more beauty shows or dabbling in television software. It's strictly film productions and that too through joint ventures to soften the downside. With most of ABCL's old debts paid off-with some help from Sahara group's Subrata Roy-and the golden run the matinee star's enjoying, this time around it is likely to be a case of "Once bitten, second time lucky".

S. NARAYAN: Better retired?

(P)MOving Up

Not in finance secretary S. Narayan's good books? Woe unto you. After 40 years in the bureaucracy, Narayan will retire end of this month, but will next day report to work at the Prime Minister's Office as the new czar of economic policy-making. That he'll be almost omnipotent in his department is obvious from the fact that the previous architect of economic policies in the PMO, Additional Secretary Pradipto Ghosh, has been transferred to the Department of Economic Affairs. Given the PMO's importance in economic issues in the recent years, Narayan is also expected to increase the profile of economic policy-making in the country.

PALLONJI SHAPOORJI MISTRY: a new gamble

Trying His Luck

In the risky world of online lottery, what's that one thing-apart from the jackpot, that is-customers could want? The unlikely new entrant into the business, Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry says it's credibility. The 73-year-old media-shy corporate baron-who has business interests in construction, power, and a meaty chunk in the Tata group holding company, Tata Sons-has launched an online lottery company, Dhandhanadhan Infotainment. Mistry could not be reached for comment, but the company's CEO Rajan Kaicker told BT that Dhandhanadhan would bring "transparency, credibility and authenticity" to the business of chance. Let the dice roll.

-contributed by Swati Prasad, Roshni Jayakar, Abir Pal, Sahad P.V., and Ashish Gupta