The king of good times, Vijay Mallya likes to party and Goa has, for sometime, been one of his favourite hangouts to take a break from running his Rs 9,000-crore, airline-to-spirits business. Now, he's got one more excuse to head to this coastal paradise. It appears Mallya, 50, has decided to foray into the Feni market by setting up a new distillery in Goa and promote the beverage as India's national drink. Currently, most of the Feni market, which is Goa, is dominated by some 20 small distilleries and UB is expected to make the first large-scale investment in this segment. While Mallya couldn't be reached for comment, UB's Senior Vice President of Marketing Alok Pant says, "We will promote Feni with a new ad campaign and want to market it as India's new national drink." Tequila, here we come.

All Money is Good Money

Int's national security council versus free markets, except that batting for the latter are three key ministers from within the UPA government. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, and Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran have all come out to oppose the nsc's proposal to put foreign investment from some countries (like China) on watch. But they've done it in different ways. Chidambaram, 61, doesn't mind sectoral restrictions, but is opposed to country restrictions; Nath, 60, isn't in favour of sectoral restrictions, but wants country restrictions to be across sectors, if at all such a thing is needed. On his part, Maran, 40, has openly cited the cost savings of state-owned telcos due to Chinese suppliers to argue against any such move. It's reassuring to know India's FDI baiters are hard at work.

His Woes Don't Seem to End

Sanjay Kumar, 44, the disgraced former CEO of software maker ca, would have thought that a 12-year prison term would have been the end of his troubles. But it appears that his sentencing on November 2 (for his role in the Rs 9,900-crore accounting fraud), could be just the beginning for Kumar. He is now being sued for $14.9 million (Rs 67.50 crore) in legal fees by his former employer. The company has sought the attachment of his $9 million (Rs 40.5 crore) mansion, two Ferrari F550 Maranello cars, a 57-foot Italian yacht, a Land Rover and Volvo to cover costs, if he were to lose the case. Just to rub salt into his wounds, CA has reportedly attached the $9 million, which is apparently owed by his mentor and founder Charles Wang for a stake in the New York Islanders Ice Hockey team. With everyone baying for his blood, a jail cell may just turn out to be a welcome retreat for Kumar.

The Big Test

About 90 different sports utility vehicles (SUVs) jostle for customer dollar in the American auto market, and starting October 2008, there will be one more contender, come all the way from India: M&M's home-grown Scorpio. It's been four years since Anand Mahindra, 52, rolled out this super low-cost, but snazzy SUV, and while over the years he screwed up enough courage to take it to key markets in Europe (France and Italy, among others), Mahindra stayed off the us. But now he's come face to face with the inexorable truth. "The us market is the holy grail for all automakers. You cannot call yourself a truly global player until you can compete there," he says. M&M's us partner, Global Vehicles, is gung-ho about the Scorpio, which, at $15,000 (Rs 6,75,000) a pop, it thinks could sell "aggressive volumes". Detroit, beware.

Remote Operator

Since October 26 this year, Ghanshyam Sarda has been behind bars for selling expired blood test kits in West Bengal-for two long years. And the 45-year-old Sarda's incarceration seems to be having strange effects on jute futures on the National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE). What's the connection? Sure, Sarda is no member of NMCE, but he does own nine large jute mills in the state, making him a major player in the raw jute trade. Now, it's not unusual for commodity prices to be volatile, but some people think this instance could simply be the jute baron's way of telling the trade not to forget him.

A Shot in the Arm for FICCI?

It's no secret that in the lobbying business, FICCI is a distant #2 to CII. while the latter is seen as a more aggressive and professional outfit marketing India abroad (remember India Everywhere at the World Economic Forum at Davos early this year?), the former continues to look very old world. With some luck, that may be about to change. FICCI's new President, Habil Khorakiwala, 63, is a man on the go. Revamping his family-owned business under the banner Worli Chemicals, started in 1959, Khorakiwala has gone to build a Rs 1,000-crore Wockhardt that's worth Rs 4,293 crore on the bourses. Khorakiwala is estimated (by Forbes) to have a net worth of Rs 4,500 crore. It may be difficult for the man to make any fundamental changes at FICCI, but he could help launch new initiatives that put the 79-year-old business lobby back in the reckoning. Khorakiwala was travelling and couldn't be reached for comment, but FICCI seemed excited about the year ahead under the pharma baron.

-Contributed by Rahul Sachitanand, Balaji Chandramouli, Kushan Mitra, Ritwik Mukherjee and Amit Mukherjee