Over the last nine years, his name became synonymous with Hyundai in India. So why is B.V.R. Subbu, 50, who still has 10 years to retirement, leaving HMI? He isn't telling, but the answer seems evident. The former Tata Motor's executive became President at HMI four years ago, but seems to have hit the glass ceiling. Don't blame HMI, though. Minus the Detroit giants, global carmakers prefer expats to run India operations. Subbu's next move? "I haven't said anything as yet, but I am speaking to people," he says. Private equity or a job with Nissan are said to be two of his options.

Big Blue Showcases India

Traditionally, IBM has held its annual global meet first in the US and then Europe. But this year, India will be the in-between stop for IBM's top brass. From June 6 to 8, CEO Sam Palmisano, 54, and his top team will be in Bangalore, talking to top market analysts and investors about Big Blue's opportunities in India and elsewhere. About time. With 40,000 employees, IBM India is second only to the tech giant's us operations. Let's hope Palmisano, on his fourth visit, finally gives his first interview to Indian media.

Raising His Spirits

He was born in Mumbai, studied in IIM-Ahmedabad, and is Victor Menezes' brother, but those aren't the only reasons why Ivan Menezes, CEO of Diageo North America, is excited about India. "India is a big spirits market and has a strong whiskey tradition and we are the biggest scotch whiskey player," he explained during a recent trip to India. Diageo, which owns brands like Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker, hasn't been a roaring success in the country, although Smirnoff was launched way back in 1994. But Menezes, 46, says things are changing, pointing to the brand's 35 per cent annual growth in recent years. Not bad for a brand that's still too expensive for most Indians.

Laurels For The Lawyers

Theirs is still a largely India-focussed law firm, but that is no hindrance in winning recognition that matters. AZB & Partners, born from the merger of Delhi-based Ajay Bahl & Co. and Mumbai-based Zia Mody (right) and Bahram Vakil's CZB, has won the "India National Law Firm Award" for 2006 from IFLR, a top law magazine published by the Euromoney group. "The good, young partners in our team are our backbone. Their names are not in A, B, or Z, but are in 'partners'," says Bahl, 51. The award entitles AZB to be considered for IFLR's more prestigious regional awards, but Bahl says there's some way to go. For a lawyer, Bahl already has something rarer than the award: modesty.

Traveller At Heart

Pete Deemer thinks the next big internet product could come from India. And that's a good thing. As the new head (of three months) of Yahoo India's product development organisation in Bangalore, Deemer, 36, is responsible for launching products both for India and the US. "I am not good at predicting the future, but the day is not far when the next Flickr or del.icio.us will come out of India," says Deemer, referring to two popular community portals. Deemer, who's previously been a travel writer and online game developer, says that although Bangalore doesn't have a rich it eco-system like Silicon Valley's "it's such a small impediment" to innovation. Well, Mr Deemer, we expect you to prove yourself right.

Back To Realty

The apportioning of the Piramal empire may have sent the real estate business (Crossroads) his sister-in-law Urvi Piramal's way, but Ajay Piramal, 50, has no plans of staying out of realty. He's launched Indiareit Fund with Rs 250 crore in corpus that'll co-invest with high-quality developers and builders. Piramal's flagship pharma business is doing well, but given India's booming real estate market, it's plain why he wants a piece of it too.

Goodbye, Amul

India's milkman, Verghese Kurien, is finally hanging up his boots at GCMMF, marketer of Amul. "When I felt that I didn't enjoy the confidence of the board, I resigned," says the 84-year-old, who fought a bitter battle with others at the cooperative. It's goodbye Amul, but not work. He's also the Chairman of rural management institute IRMA and says, "I have certain functionalities to perform here". IRMA, here he comes.

-Contributed by Kushan Mitra, Venkatesha Babu, Ahona Ghosh, Shaleen Agrawal, R. Sridharan and Krishna Gopalan