As pairs go, this one couldn't be stranger. One is a public sector behemoth, and the other, the world's biggest steel player. One is weighed down by government rules and oversight, while the other is still run like an entrepreneurial shop. But in the end, their common dreams have brought them together. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) Subir Raha (left) wants to build energy assets outside India, while Mittal Steel's L.N. Mittal, after having tasted blood with one commodity, wants his foot in the door of another, but a far more valuable, one. Ergo, the ONGC-Mittal Investments Sarl joint ventures, ONGC Mittal Energy and ONGC Mittal Energy Services, will acquire oil and gas assets in countries where the steel giant has a presence. Says Mittal: "It is the beginning of a journey for a more energy-secure India." Adds Raha: "The JV will be a benchmark of private and public sector partnership." Let's hope so.

Prized Catch

The hottest story doing the rounds of Bangalore's it circles is how Wipro's Azim Premji is trying to woo McKinsey's Rajat Gupta as a replacement for the tech giant's recently departed CEO, Vivek Paul. Wipro's well-wishers are salivating at the prospect, but the story-like so many others that get floated in the software capital's hyperactive community-seems suspect. Sources at Wipro, of course, dismiss the story outright, and an e-mail sent to Rajat Gupta's office in New York did not elicit any reply. But it's easy to see why the rumours have generated so much interest within and without Bangalore. After all, the idea of a man like Gupta heading Wipro is seductive. Whether or not that's realistic, is a different issue.

Supporting Role

He may not be as aggressive as PVR's Ajjay Bijli in opening multiplexes, but Shringar Cinemas' Shravan Shroff, 34, is getting the investor's vote just the same. Recently, Singapore's Temasek bought 14.9 per cent stake in Shringar Films from another investor, GW Capital. While Shringar gets no money from the deal, it becomes Temasek's first investment in India in the entertainment space. Will Temasek open doors to markets elsewhere? It may, but Shroff says that "our focus at present is on India". Watch him.

Papa's Pride

There are two things distinct about the Essar-BPL Communications deal. One, it's the biggest in Indian telecom. Two, it was driven by one of the youngest dealmeisters on D-Street. Meet Vishal Kampani, the 28-year-old son of J.M. Morgan Stanley Chairman Nimesh Kampani. A London Business School grad, Kampani Jr. started with Morgan Stanley in New York in 1999, before returning to join his father's firm a year later. "The hardest part of the deal was to properly handle the interests of various parties in a fair manner, since most of them are well know to us," says Kampani of the deal that's clearly put him in the limelight. While he enjoys investment banking, his ambition is to do "something broader" in the financial markets. Papa Kampani, it seems, can now retire in peace.

Takeoff Troubles

Air-India (A-I) and Indian Airlines (IA) have always been the preferred poaching grounds for private airlines. But the dogfight in Indian skies is proving too costly for A-I's V. Thulasidas. Last fornight, the Chairman and Managing Director of the flag carrier was forced to suspend flights of low-cost subsidiary Air-India Express between Delhi/Mumbai and the Gulf states. Reason? "Desertion" by the new airline's pilots. Apparently, eight of them-comprising six commanders and two first officers-have quit to join a new private sector airline without giving the requisite six-month notice. A-I refused to comment on its next move, but when last heard Thulasidas was desperately looking for replacements.

Switching Sides

Till recently, Nigel Harwood was airbus' face in India. Now, as the coo of Kingfisher Airlines, he'll be the man responsible for delivering on Vijay Mallya's ambitious plans. Although Harwood, 40, has no airline experience, he thinks switching from an aircraft seller to an airline operator is a great idea. Says the British engineer, who first came to India 15 years ago to sell Rolls-Royce's jet engines: "With all the widebodies that the airline has ordered, the future should be very exciting." Not to mention that it won't be half as hard as selling planes to the GoI.

-Contributed by Charudutta Jena, R. Sridharan, Priyanka Sangani and Kushan Mitra