A toothache for Colgate!

Counterfeit toothpaste tubes – being packaged as Colgate – are being flooded in discount stores across the US, in places like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, according to a statement issued by Colgate-Palmolive. And the world’s biggest toothpaste-maker is working closely with the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to get to the bottom of this shady business. These fake products, the company says, may contain diethylene glycol – a chemical substance that can harm children and people suffering from liver or kidney disorders. Colgate- Palmolive’s statement adds that the fake products can be distinguished by their packaging: The label says that the goods were made in South Africa. Colgate maintains that it does not import toothpaste from South Africa. Also, there are typographical mistakes on the label in the form of incorrect spellings such as “SOUTH AFRLCA” & “South African Dental Assoxiation”. Recently, the FDA issued a warning to avoid using toothpaste that were being sold with the ‘Made in China’ tag – as it was felt that these too contain substances that could be health hazards. And now this! There seems to be some kind of toothpaste hazard in the American marketplace!

What’s not hot on the Web

Now that the whole world is in the grips of the World Wide Web, it was only a matter of time before some wise guy came out with what works and what doesn’t in cyberspace. Epublisher Lulu.com – best known for its Blooker Prize (the online Bookers awards given for blogs and web books) commissioned a poll to You Gov, well known British pollsters, to find out what the most irritating words on the Internet are. Around 2,091 adults were polled for this exercise – and the results are quite a revelation! Did you know that the word ‘blog’ itself is the third most hated on the world wide web? ‘Netiquette’ (which basically translates into how you mind your manners on the web!) is the fourth most-hated word. The pride of place (position number one, that is!), however, goes to ‘Folksonomy’; that’s followed by ‘Blogosphere’ that hogs second place. The fifth most hated word is ‘Blook’ (or a book based on a blog). At sixth, seventh, and eighth place are ‘Webinar’, ‘Vlog’ (video blog), and ‘Social Networking’, respectively. ‘Cookie’ is the ninth most irritating word (the word itself means a file sent to a user’s computer after he/she visits a website). And at number 10, there is ‘Wiki’ (which means a website that is edited by its readers – remember Wikipedia?).

A new role for Queen Elizabeth 2

Remember the giant luxury liner, Queen Elizabeth 2, that was launched in 1967 by Queen Elizabeth II? Well, a Dubai state-owned company Istithmar (the company is a division of Dubai World, a government-owned company) has bought it for $100 million – from the Cunard Line division of Carnival Corp. Now plans are afoot to turn around the passenger ship into a top-rung floating hotel, retail and entertainment destination, and it will be docked next to the Pal Jumeirah island in Dubai (Dubai World, the holding company of Istithmar, also owns Nakheel, the developer of Palm Jumeirah). “We are delighted that when her legendary career as an ocean liner ends, there will continue to be a permanent home for her that will enable future generations to continue to experience fully, both the ship and her history,” says Cunard President, Carol Marlow, while Dubai World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said, “QE2 at The Palm Jumeirah will become one of the must-see experiences of Dubai and of the Middle East. We are investing in creating a truly global tourism destination.” Queen Elizabeth 2 has crossed Atlantic more than 800 times and has carried more than 2.5 million passengers.

Paying heed to global warming

According to the Climate Counts scorecard that rated a list of 56 companies on how much they contribute towards the cause of countering global warming and climate change – imaging and camera specialists Canon, sports goods-maker Nike and FMCG giant Unilever, topped a list that rated the climate-friendly companies. Six companies tied for the unenviable last spot (with a score of zero on a 100-point scale!) – Jones Apparel Group, CBS, Burger King Holdings, Darden Restaurants, Wendy’s International & Amazon.com. The rankings were based on 22 parameters, that were broken down into four broad categories: How well a company had reviewed its global warming impact; how much it had reduced that impact; how much it supported public policies that encourage this reduction; and whether the company made this information available. The survey ranked 56 companies selected for their popularity among mainstream consumers in North America and Britain, and for leading their respective sectors, from electronics to fast food. Overall, the electronics/ computer sector did well in their effort to address climate change: These included (besides Canon) IBM, Toshiba, Motorola and Hewlett-Packard. The food services sector fared the worst. Starbucks, with a score of 46, was ranked the highest in this category, followed by McDonald’s. Yum Brands (which owns the Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell brands) scored a dismal 1!

A new space for MySpace

MySpace – the social networking site that allows its members to share videos, pictures and other content from profile pages – has launched an instant messaging service ‘MySpaceIM’, that will be customised for users of the teen-oriented social networking website. Last year, the test version of the service was inaugurated (it was called a ‘soft launch’) and it has already spread virally to more than 17 million users. According to MySpace co-founder, Tom Anderson, “MySpaceIM was born out of user feedback and the company had spent the last year listening to its community and tweaking the product to match their needs.” Now, a ‘fully integrated beta service’, MySpaceIM can be downloaded online at http://myspace.com/myspaceim. The countries that can use its customized services include the UK, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Britain, Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands and China – other than the United States, of course!

Join the race with Scarlett and Reebok

Reebok, the world’s leading sports brand, announced a new face in its array of brand ambassadors; the Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson. With the launch of “Scarlett ‘Hearts’ Rbk” collection, Reebok marks its foray into the burgeoning lifestyle business. Scarlett embodies the pulse points of the brand: Individuality, authenticity and a life lived to the fullest in perpetual motion. These characteristics make her the perfect fit for the new women’s footwear & apparel collection. While the core remains sports, it is also looking at sports-inspired lifestyle in a big way. “Scarlett ‘Hearts’ Rbk” features a retro sport-inspired apparel and footwear with sophisticated detailing and unexpected twists all influenced by the decade in which Johansson grew up. Scarlett has described the line as an ultra feminine and urbane lifestyle collection. Reebok has also launched its campaign ‘I Am More’, featuring Scarlett Johansson with a focus on celebration of individuality. The campaign portrays Scarlett Johansson as a woman who is more than the actress known to all and advocates that a woman is more than the way she looks or appears. It highlights the extension of one’s personality beyond the stated personality and relates to every woman in an exciting way. Reebok is the only brand to acknowledge that any star has a life beyond his or her stardom and has taken this stance in this lifestyle campaign as well.

Here’s looking at better Indo-UK ties

The man behind Airtel – Sunil Bharti Mittal, who is also president of CII, headed a 12-member delegation to the United Kingdom. The group went to strengthen Indo-UK trade tries, explore investment opportunities and also discussed global warming and climate change. Among the list of people the group interacted with were industry honchos like Rolls Royce CEO Sir John Rose, Vodafone Chairman Arun Sarin and British Airways Chairman Martin Broughton. “UK and India are critical for each other. One of the ways that CII reflects this is by taking the annual CII CEOs Mission to the UK, led traditionally by the CII President,” CII commented in their statement. Currently, Indo-UK trade is pegged at around £8 billion, and, over the last 12 months, India has emerged the second largest investor in the UK.

The Noodle House comes to India

Dubai’s luxury hotel operator Jumeirah Group is setting its sights on the Indian market. One of its divisions, Jumeirah Branded Restaurants, that owns the hugely popular – The Noodle House chain, has signed an agreement with Dish Hospitality Private Limited to open 35 Noodle House outlets across India. The company is clearly on an expansion spree and plans to open outlets in Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. In India, two restaurants will be functional by the end of the year – one each in Mum Mumbai and Bengalooru. The rest of the 33 restaurants will be opened over the next 10 years. So what exactly is The Noodle House? This is what Timeout Dubai has to say about The Noodle House, “Few restaurants can claim such a loyal following. Turn up to any of the branches of The Noodle House for lunch or dinner, and there’s a good chance you’ll have to wait for a seat. There are simple reasons for it – the food is reliably good, service is cheery, the atmosphere is buzzing, and prices are very reasonable.” Definitely something to smack your lips!

India romances the Taj Mahal

Looks like the Great Indian Marketplace is taking its heritage seriously. With a view to support the “Vote for Taj” campaign – that will put Shah Jahan’s monument of love on the list of the ‘Seven Wonders of the World’ – corporates are busy trying to do their bit to ensure that more and more people vote for the Taj Mahal. I Media Corporation, for instance (part of the Bhaskar Group), is putting in Rs.70 crores towards an advertising blitz, and has roped in Hindustan Unilever Ltd. and Club Mahindra, other than mobile companies like Airtel and Reliance (for people to SMS their votes in). The company has also managed to get in music maestro A.R. Rehman, who is going to create spots and jingles on television and radio for the “Vote for Taj” campaign. Sony, Star TV and Zee are giving I Media spots at special rates for the voting campaign. Internet companies like Yahoo, Rediff, MSN and NDTV.com are also giving the campaign free advertising space. Currently, there are 21 finalists jostling for the final list; this list will be declared on July 7.

RCOM rings in the fabricating tone!!

With aggressive handset-expansion plan in the booming market of India, Reliance Communications (RCOM) enters into a joint venture with Taiwan’s Cal-Comp Electronics to manufacture CDMA handsets in the country. Cal-Comp , which has manufacturing units already in China and Thailand is all set to start its operations in India by the middle of next year. By entering into the deal, Cal- Comp will join the race with players like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG and Samsung to add-on to the 51 million handsets to be made this year as compared to 31 million in 2006. RCOM, India’s second largest telecom operator and the market leader in CDMA category has already started the race with the recent launch of its Classic range which starts at Rs.777 and got a mind blowing response in the first ten days of its launch. Moreover, RCOM’s JV seems timely and quite appropriate when players like Essar-Vodafone and Bharti have similar ambitions and are expected to offer handsets at all time low prices.

Big prizes for going green

Two Indian companies – Keralabased BioTech and Karnataka-based Selco Solar Light Private Limited have won top prizes at this year’s ‘Green Oscars’. The Green Oscars are what the prestigious Ashden Awards for sustainable energy are popularly known as. While BioTech has been effectively tackling the problem of dumped food waste, Selco Solar Light has been providing dung-based bio-gas plants to families in rural reaches. Ram Chandra Prasad, a dedicated environmentalist and activist, who heads the Madhya Pradesh Gramin Vikas Mandal, India, was a losing finalist. The awards were given away by Al Gore, former American Vice President, at Royal Geographical Society in London. Quite an achievement, we would say!

Unveiled – HLL’s new Unilever ‘connection’

Hindustan Lever will now be known as Hindustan Unilever Ltd. – and for this it has received government’s approval. A new company logo – along with a new corporate identity – is going to be defined, that will be the symbol of company’s credo of ‘Adding Vitality to Life’. In the beginning of the year, it was stated that the name change would go a long way in maintaining the synergies of global alignment. Here’s a bit of history for those of you who didn’t have a fix on this ‘what’s in a name’ business. Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch FMCG giant. In India, the company owns a majority stake in Hindustan Lever. The first Indian subsidiary of Unilever was set in 1931 – Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company. Then, it was Lever Brothers India Ltd, set up a couple of years later, in 1933. And then, two years down the line, United Traders Ltd. was set up in 1935. In 1956, all three came under the Hindustan Lever Limited umbrella.

Kolkata airport to get facelift

The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata is finally going to get its long-due makeover beginning January next year. Coming up will be large-scale modernising, expanding and renovating. The work should be over in about 30 months, it has been announced by Ministry of Civil Aviation. The expansion of the airport will be a Rs.1,500-crore plan, funded by Airports Authority of India. Among other things, travelers can look forward to an integrated terminal to handle nearly 16 million domestic and 4 million international passengers; the extension of the two existing runways (talk of a third runway is doing the rounds – but this is subject to land being sanctioned by the state government); and an additional hangar. It seems we are there!

Travel bug bites Vietnam and Malaysia

Lots and lots of action is happening in the tourism sector. Vietnam is upping its ante in the tourism sector and has ambitious plans on the anvil to woo tourists from world over. Vietnam has realised the vast potential that India has as a market of people who are now eager to explore the world. Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung, on his maiden visit to India, had tourism promotion as one of his key agendas. Last year, Vietnam had about 3.5 million foreign tourists. This year, it hopes to get 4 million tourists. And although tourists from China, South Korea, the United States, Japan and Taiwan are top draws into the country, India is being looked as a big bet. A recent survey revealed that Indians preferred to visit places like Malaysia and Singapore – and give Vietnam the go-by, because air tickets to the country, as well as hotel accommodation there are more expensive (last year, for instance, just over 5,500 Indians visited Vietnam). Also, there are no direct flights between Vietnam and India. But now, with both Indian Airlines and Vietnam Airlines having announced reduced round-trip tickets on the New Delhi-Bangkok- Hanoi route to boost tourism between the two countries, things may just change for the better! Besides, Vietnam is planning to promote its image far more vigorously with an eye on getting Indians on board the flight to Hanoi. Other than Vietnam, Tourism Malaysia, Ministry of Tourism and Shopping Malaysia Secretariat have introduced ‘The Malaysia Mega Sale Carnival’ – which is an opportunity to enjoy amazing discount and special offers during Malaysia’s biggest annual sales carnival to be held till September 2. This 11-week of shopping spree is added with a tactical feel with Rs.19,999 per person package for Indians for 3 nights/4 days – called the Malaysia Mega Sale package. This package in association with leading travel agents will include, return airfare, accommodation with breakfast, airport transfers on private basis. And extending value addition proposition for travellers during the Mega Sale this year is an exclusive tie-up with HSBC credit card division to provide an exclusive benefit of 5% cash back on purchases made in Malaysia. Guess why Malaysia is so interested in India? Because the target for 2007 is 400,000 Indian arrivals! The year 2006 saw 279,046 Indians visiting the country. So, what are you waiting for?

A happy twist to the J&K story

Around 100 CEOs – part of a delegation led by Associated Chambers (Assocham) of Commerce and Industry of India, President, Venugopal N. Dhoot will be visiting the state of Kashmir in September to explore business opportunities. Since it is widely being felt that the law and order situation is slowly, but surely improving in the once beleaguered state of Jammu & Kashmir, it is high time that industry in the state gets a leg up. Vying for top honours in this area will be Kashmiri handicrafts, sports goods, walnuts, wooden furniture, unfinished leather and silk products. It is estimated that the annual turnover of these exports goods was about Rs.900 crores during 2005 and could even go up to Rs.1,500 crores this year, if the right impetus is given. Other than this, there is also a good market for fresh and dry fruits and even saffron – all of which are acclaimed all over the world. As far as tourism goes, Kashmir has been doing a great job – close to 600,000 tourists had visited the state last year; this year, the government hopes that 1 million tourists will visit the Valley. So will the industry get a fillip with the merchants of change due to arrive in the state? We certainly hope so!