Like a lucky traveller, Dinesh Dhamija has mostly caught his boat on time. After landing up in the UK along with his diplomat father in 1968, Dhamija quit his job as a sales executive at IBM to launch a travel agency Flightbookers in 1983. When dotcoms became fashionable he launched one too (in 1999), called ebookers as the agency's arm, and even took it public, touching a stratospheric market cap of £400 million. Today, ebookers, while still loss-making, is Europe's largest online travel agency with business worth £500 million. And now, it has caught the BPO wind with a Delhi-based back office, Tecnovate. The 700-strong BPO, which started as a captive service provider for ebookers, plans to do work for other travel agencies. Says Dhamija, who is considered one of Britain's top 100 entrepreneurs: "An entrepreneur should be able to see a gap in the market, risk a financial disaster, and never take no for an answer." And sometimes it can take you places.

Dropping Anchor

So the stint as advisor to Tata Steel's managing Director, B. Muthuraman, did turn out to be what it was: a stop-gap measure. Rajeev Dubey, who had resigned last year as the Managing Director of the loss-making Tata company Rallis India, has begun the new year at tractor major Mahindra & Mahindra as Executive Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Services. Is that a step down for a man whose previous full-time job was as the MD (he has also been the MD of another Tata company, Tata Metaliks) of a Rs 885-crore company? In terms of designation, certainly; but in terms of opportunities, maybe not. For, these are exciting times at M&M. Its snazzy SUV has given its passenger car business a new lease of life, besides which the company has ambitious global plans. That means Dubey, a Tata Administrative Services alumnus of 1975, will have his hands full, drumming M&M's hr into shape, among other things. Hope the chemistry works this time round.

Change of Taste

As a banker not too long ago, Arun Duggal used to hate bad loans. Now, though, he's beginning to crave for them like a man with a sweet tooth. That's because the 56-year-old Duggal, a Bank of America veteran of 26 years, has launched International Asset Reconstruction Company (IARC) with former State Bank of India Chairman and telecom regulator, M.S. Verma, as a partner. Duggal is eyeing the $30-40 billion market for sticky loans, now made attractive by the new Securitisation Act. "It's an interesting space to be in," says Duggal, formerly CFO, HCL Technologies. However, it's not Duggal, but a professional CEO who'll handle the sticky business.

A Straight Climb

For Harish Manwani, Santa Claus came a fortnight late, but just look at what he's left for him in the Christmas sock: A brand new promotion. Come March 1, the 50-year-old Manwani will take over as the President of Unilever's Home and Personal Care (HPC) business in North America. Currently Manwani holds an identical post, but for Latin America. That's a huge move up for a man who first joined the Unilever family as a management trainee at the Indian subsidiary. Besides, at $12 billion, the North American business fetches a quarter of Unilever's total revenues, but almost 30 per cent of its gross profits. And the HPC, despite near stagnant sales, accounts for a chunk of it. Manwani's brief should be a no-brainer. He's got to get the juices flowing in the US and Canada. Tough? Yes. But then he didn't get this far for nothing.

The New Cable Guy

If there's something spooky in an industry, who you gonna call? Nope, not Ghostbusters, but Pradip Baijal, a man equally talented when it comes to dealing with mischievous spirits. Or that's the general belief in the PMO, which has now put the messy Conditional Access System (CAS) ball in his court. Baijal, who is currently the Chairman of TRAI, will now oversee the cable television industry as well. For more than a year now, the satellite TV channels, cable operators, and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, headed by Ravishankar Prasad, have been trying to straighten tangled wires with little luck. Baijal, who earned a name for himself at the disinvestment ministry too, will have to come up with a deal that's fair to all. Can Baijal do it? Stay tuned in.

-Contributed by R. Sridharan, Supriya Shrinate, Sahad P.V., and Dipayan Baishya