The thrill is back: And big-buck endorsements

When Maria Sharapova won this year's us Open (her second Grand Slam win after Wimbledon, which she won in 2004), she not only disproved critics who had been suggesting that her first win was a flash in the pan, but also upped her earning potential (she earned a reported $25 million, Rs 110 crore in 2005) considerably. When Sachin Tendulkar scored 142 in his recent comeback match (after missing 13) against the West Indies recently, he achieved something similar.

Sports writers have gushed about the determination he displayed during the knock, his strokes, and his hunger for runs, undiminished for someone who has played 364 one day internationals (ODIs) at the time this magazine goes to press. However, the past few years have not been kind to Tendulkar and at least some people were beginning to write him off as a spent force. And while endorsement deals didn't exactly dry up for the man, companies started looking at alternatives. In recent times, the Indian cricket team's captain Rahul Dravid has been the most visible cricketer in terms of endorsements, followed by the troika of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virendra Sehwag, and Tendulkar.

The 142 (fine, 142, not out) will surely change that. Akin to a brand that has had its core values reinforced (either through a makeover or a promotional activity), Tendulkar's stock among advertisers and marketers is set to soar.

With the Champions Trophy (scheduled for next month, and to be played in India) and the Cricket World Cup (mid-2007, in the West Indies) just around the corner, companies will likely increase their marketing and advertising spends around cricket and a reinvigorated Tendulkar will surely benefit from that. He couldn't have timed the 142 better.

NUMBERS OF NOTE

35: The number of days it takes to start a new business in India today compared with 89 days in 2004

2,000: The number of Infosys employees out of a total of 60,000 who are of non-Indian origin

164.31 million: The current telecom subscriber base in India; of these, 123.44 million are mobile phone users

25 per cent: Proportion of managerial positions in PepsiCo held by women, up from 22 per cent four years ago. Six of the company's top 12 execs are now women or belong to minority communities

330 million: The number of people in Asia who live on less than $1 (Rs 47) a day

350,000: The number of Britons who leave their country every year, up almost 50 per cent from 10 years ago. At least 4.5 million Britons-about 8 per cent of the population-now live abroad

240,000: The number of eye surgeries Madurai's Aravind Eye Hospital performs in a year

1,420: The average number of days it takes to resolve a court case in India, according to the latest World Bank-International Finance Corporation's 'Doing Business 2007' report

56: The number of steps litigants need to go through in India before a case can be completed, according to the same report

35 million: The number of diabetics in India

Rs 3,000 crore: The estimated loss to the Karnataka government from illegal mining in Bellary

$3.4 billion: The amount which pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline Holdings (Americas) will pay to the US Internal Service in the largest tax dispute in IRS history. The dispute involves inter-company transactions between Glaxo and some of its foreign affiliates relating to various GSK pharmaceutical products

£25 million (Rs 217.5 crore): The estimated size of the fashion industry in India

NOTED

UNVEILED: By India's Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, an alternative reform plan for the International Monetary Fund that revolves around giving countries voting rights commensurate with their gross domestic product adjusted for purchasing power parity. Chidambaram's proposal is a response to a suggested reform of the IMF, put forward by its MD Rodrigo de Rato that would have increased the voting rights of China, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey (India was excluded from this).

ADDED: By India, 5.9 million mobile subscribers in August, the highest in the world (China did 5.19 million). At the end of August, India had 116.5 million mobile subscribers. This is the first time since the onset of cellular telephony in India in 1994 that the country is adding more subscribers than China.

PROPOSED: By the Indian government, a test centre that will test the products being sold in India by telecom equipment providers from countries such as China to check for what are called 'back-doors' in tech-lingo, that can help the company monitor networks, impact their performance, even bring them down should relations between India and their country of origin suffer.

REVEALED: By German car major, BMW, its plans for the Indian market. By February 2007, the company's facility in Chennai will start rolling out 3 Series models for the Indian market. By June, the plant will roll out 5 Series models as well.

LAUNCHED: By Bangalore-based Biocon (Chairman and Managing Director, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, below), a biotech cancer drug, Biomab-EGFR. This is the first of eight drugs being worked on by Biocon and CIMAB, a Cuban firm. The two companies have an India-based joint venture, Biocon Biopharmaceuticals in which Biocon holds a 51 per cent stake and CIMAB, 49 per cent.

APPOINTED: By Air Sahara, audit firm Ernst & Young to help restructure its operations and frame a five-year strategy. Meanwhile, at the time of going to press, the Mumbai High Court had adjourned hearing an arbitration petition filed by Jet Airways over its failed deal to takeover rival Air Sahara.

FDI: 'INDIA NOT CATCHING UP WITH CHINA'

Developing Asia attracted a record high of $177 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in 2005, by far the highest emerging-market regional total, according to World Investment Prospects to 2010: Boom or Backlash by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Columbia Program on International Investment (CPI). The report said "China was far and away the main FDI recipient among emerging markets and will attract almost $87 billion this year." India has yet to build a critical mass in FDI, adds the report.

SHOOTING WITH SANTA

Look closely and you will find Swiss cow bells hanging in a lot of homes. And if you ask, you'll find, more often than not, that these families have all travelled to Switzerland after seeing Yash Chopra's blockbuster Dilwaale Dulhaniya Ley Jayenge. Rakesh Roshan had the same effect on Indian tourists after he shot scenes of Kaho Na Pyaar Hai in New Zealand.

Recognising the spin-off potential for tourism, the Finnish Tourism Board is making a second attempt at promoting the country as a destination for Bollywood films. The board is planning to invite a delegation of top Bollywood producers and directors to visit Finland and familiarise themselves with the country-reindeer sleighs, igloos, the midnight sun and a date with its most marketable citizen, Santa Claus.

"The earlier attempt did not materialise in attracting Bollywood because the board wanted us to suggest the sops that we were looking for," says Bollywood producer Vashu Bhagnani, who was part of the delegation that visited Finland last year. "Places such as London have succeeded in becoming favourites with Bollywood producers and directors because they have offered us substantial sops for shooting at public locations," he says.

-Shivani Lath