Early this year when a reporter asked Fujio Cho about Toyota Motor's plans to corner 15 per cent of the global car market, the 68-year-old President said it was merely an employee-motivation slogan that had leaked out of its car plants in Japan. Of course, nobody believes that. Quietly but relentlessly, Toyota has risen from being a maker of cheap little cars to an automotive behemoth that now seems set to displace General Motors as the world's top player. In India, which Toyota entered rather late with a breadbox called Qualis, it has similar plans. And Cho, due to retire at the end of this year, came to fire the first salvo with a snazzy new SUV (sports utility vehicle), the Innova. Although his maiden visit to the country was kept a secret till the very last minute, Cho did oblige the media by holding a press conference. His message: Toyota will garner 10 per cent of the Indian market by 2010 and "the Innova is a step in that direction". Rivals, watch out.

"Secessionist CEO"

Running a large corporation is trouble enough for most CEOs, but not Farooq Kathwari. Apart from managing US furnishings giant Ethan Allen, Kathwari has taken it upon himself to find a resolution to the intractable Kashmir issue. Why? For one, Kathwari, in India recently, is a Kashmiri. He moved to the US in 1965 and went on to become the owner of a brand as American as the apple pie. Also, he's personally suffered because of global violence. His 19-year-old son, Irfan, went to Afghanistan despite the family's protests and was killed fighting the Russians alongside the Taliban. Says Kathwari: "Global violence often hits the poor and the innocent the worst." He's been labelled a secessionist for his efforts, but Kathwari chooses not to let that stop him from finding peace for his people.

Old Lady Fright

Battle lines are coming sharper into relief in Mumbai's newspaper market. Tariq Ansari-owned Mid-Day Multimedia has sold a 10 per cent stake to the Indian Express Group for Rs 25.54 crore. Is that in response to a perceived threat from Bennett, Coleman & Co. (owner of the Times of India-the Old Lady of Boribunder), which has mopped up 8 per cent of Mid-Day's shares? "With 64 per cent of the company controlled by my family, there is little danger of a hostile acquisition," says Ansari. Then why strike the Express deal at one-third the market price?

Second Wind

Seven years ago, when BZW shut shop in India, Alok Vajpeyi launched his own advertising and publishing firm. The venture came a cropper and Vajpeyi had to take up another job-at DSP Merrill Lynch in Mumbai. A couple of months ago, he quit as the coo of DSP's mutual funds business. Now we know why. It's that entrepreneurial itch again. This time around, Vajpeyi, 44, has tied up with the UK-based financial and property services group, Dawnay Day, to offer everything from wealth management to corporate finance. "I want to build a sustainable financial services group in five to seven years from now," says Vajpeyi, a London School of Economics graduate. Compared to advertising, this seems more up his street.

Power Surge

A little over a month ahead of his retirement, National Hyderoelectric Power Corp.'s (NHPC) boss Yogendra Prasad has been caught in the maelstrom of a controversy. A Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL)-Marubeni consortium has accused NHPC of wrongly awarding a key contract (Subansiri Project) to French engineering giant Alstom. "I have done an honest assessment and given the contract on the basis of the bid document," defends Prasad, 59, an electrical engineer, who started his career at NHPC way back in 1978. But shouldn't one PSU have preferred another PSU? "Alstom's bid was much lower than that of the BHEL-Marubeni combine, even after all the necessary corrections were made," says Prasad. When BT went to press, Prasad seemed set to finalise the deal on March 11, leaving BHEL to lick its wounds.

-Contributed by Kushan Mitra, R. Sridharan, Shailesh Dobhal, Roshni Jayakar and Ashish Gupta