One started off as a scrap metal trader and the other as a manufacturer of bicycle parts. Today, the former, Sterlite's Anil Agarwal, is a non-ferrous metals major and the other, Sunil Mittal (right), is a cellular phone czar. And both are rich-very rich. So much so that this year they have debuted on Forbes' listing of global billionaires. Bharti Tele-Ventures' Mittal makes a grand entry at No. 186 with an estimated net worth of $2.7 billion, and Agarwal a distant 552 with $1 billion. The metal maven's entry is courtesy the listing late last year of his holding company Vedanta on the London Stock Exchange, where he raised $1 billion, and Mittal's fortunes have soared on the back of India's booming cellular telephony market. Self-made billions must taste sweeter.

Knight Raider

It's the ad world's battle royale. On one side is a British knight and on the other, an Indian Diwan. Though neither will admit as much, both have become sworn enemies, determined to fight a bruising battle. The bone of contention: Rediffusion DY&R, where Martin Sorrell's (left) WPP Group owns a fifth through Young & Rubicam, but which Diwan Arun Nanda founded with Ajit Balakrishnan in 1973 and now majority owns (30 per cent each). Sir Martin, it transpires, wants to buy another 6 per cent from the 20 per cent the agency's international partner Dentsu owns. The problem: A 26 per cent stake will give Sir Martin veto powers-and so much nuisance value that Nanda and Balakrishnan may be driven to sell out. However, when BT when to press, the staring match was on.

Street Smart

Last year, we had spotlighted Amit Chandra (above) as one of India's Hottest Young Executives (September 29, 2002). Prophetic, you could say. Chandra, 35, has now been named an MD at DSP Merrill Lynch, along with colleague Rajeev Gupta, who would have been part of the Hot list too but for his age-he's 44. Chandra, an MBA from Boston College, has made a name working on big-ticket deals like ICICI-ICICI Bank merger, and Gupta (IIM-A alumnus) actually set up the M&A business at the firm and made it the top dog. As MDs, Chandra and Gupta plan to grow the I-Bank beyond traditional businesses to new areas like private client. Rivals, take note.

Fine Print Fumble

It's a faux pas that could have cost ONGC's Chairman and Managing Director Subir Raha (below) a year in the prison. Here's what happened: Recently, ONGC allowed Hyundai Heavy Industries, which is building a $222-million platform for the oil and gas giant off Mumbai, to insure the project jointly with a Korean and an Indian company. That, as it happens, is a contravention of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972, which makes it mandatory for a state-owned enterprise to insure with one of the only three Indian non-life companies. Contravention of the provision is punishable by a fine of Rs 1,000 or up to one year of imprisonment, or both. Insurance industry regulator C.S. Rao was magnanimous enough to let Raha off, but not without a warning: "This relaxation does not constitute a precedent and cannot be taken to extend insurance cover for smaller risks for future projects," he said in a letter to ONGC. Tragicomic?

-Contributed by Roshni Jayakar, Shailesh Dobhal and Ashish Gupta