In a country like India where every nook and corner has a picturesque sight to offer, private villas are bound to be aplenty. There is a section of tourists who’d rather live by themselves, at their own pace and style, in private and heritage villas instead of large chain hotels. After all, nothing can beat the charm of a private space all to yourself. Check out some exceptional villas that you can customize your vacation at.

Emerald Isle, Kerala

You’d expect Kerela to have lots of private villas that entertain foreign tourists, right? You’ve got it bang on, because the backwaters of Kerela do house some of the most amazing private villas of the country. One such villa is the Emerald Isle Heritage Villa, an ancestral country house located in an area of 9 acres, 10 kms away from the Alleppey city. If you’d like to soak in the private spaces of paddy fields, fish ponds, some teak architecture or simply lie like a log in a hammock all day, a visit to this 150 year old heritage villa is a must for you.

For more details, visit their website: Emerald Isle Villas

Aashyana Villa, Goa

We’re not surprised to see the array of private villas found in beach loving Goa. The best thing about this villa is that you can rent it out for your family. Located near Candolim beach, this villa is set in 6 acres of garden and has 5 bedrooms that can easily house 10 people. You can plan your own gatherings and parties in the villa at the swimming pool or at the outdoor dining and barbeque area. And yes, there is a private beach access too!

For more details, visit their website: Aashyana Lakhanpal Villa

The Ananda Spa, Himalayas

For experiencing luxury spa treatments and yoga sessions in the middle of the Hiamlayan range, the Ananda Spa has become a famous hotspot. You can choose villas of 1 or 2 bedrooms with serene views, equipped with private saunas and pantry for the butler. If you are ready to shell out some more monies, you can select cottages that have a private pool. What’s more, there will also be a set of white kurta pajamas lying on your bed for your comfort. We don’t think it can get more private and tranquil than this.

For more details, visit their website: Ananda Spa

Khem Villas, Ranthambore

Would you fancy staying in a jungle camp close to the Ranthambore National Park? You can choose between traditionally styled Indian tents or luxury cottages. The cottages are well rated because of the view they offer. Wouldn’t you love to spot wildlife from the room’s window while you sip your coffee? The Khem Villas are armed with a jungle spa, outdoor showers and private courtyards – all amidst the middle of exotic wildlife. Additional facilities also include trips to nearby villages and campfire story sessions.

For more details, visit their website: Khem Villas

Villa Christophe, Ponidcherry

A vacation at the restored 18^th century villa in the French influenced Pondicherry doesn’t sound too bad, does it? Villa Christophe is a charming little villa located in the French Quarter of the city. Located just 400 meters away from the ocean, you can choose between rooms named ‘Jasmine’, ‘Hibiscus’ and ‘Frangipani’ with varying amenities. What we love about this Villa is that you can use it for long stays because it also provides a small study area with a multi utility printer.

For more details, visit their website: Villa Christophe

Why not look at India through a different lens by vacationing at a private villa? Not only will you enjoy the sightseeing of the place, but also experience the joy of having a private family space.

If you want to watch some thought provoking, action compelling films on the realities the world is currently plunged in, check out these top 5 documentaries. From whichever walk of life you may be, watching these documentaries is a must for all cine buffs.

Food Inc (2008)

A startling look at the corporate controlled and manipulated food production industry of America, Food Inc is a film by Robert Kenner which is definitely not for the faint hearted. This film goes inside the by-lanes of food factories to see how cheap inputs and cruel animal slaughtering methods are used to generate enormous profits for a handful of multinational corporations. Food Inc beautifully sends across the idea of the ‘illusion of choice’ in the quintessential American supermarket and how consumers are lead to misread ingredient lists at the back of a product. This documentary delivers the promise that it makes with its tagline – ‘You’ll never look at dinner the same way again’.

Born Into Brothels (2004)

From the name, if you think that this is one more film about foreigners coming and shooting prostitution in India, allow us to warn you against that comment. Born Into Brothels is an Academy winning documentary which is a chronicle of filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman’s journey into Sonagachi, the notorious red light district of Calcutta, India. The film documents how they form a special relationship with the children of the prostitutes by teaching them the art of photography. Inadvertently, the children manage to bring out some unseen and untouched moments, notions and the ethos of their surroundings by photographing their own daily life.

Wasteland (2010)

Did you ever manage to make a connection between high art of New York and the largest trash zones in Brazil? If not, watching this documentary will make you see the transformative power that is generated when contemporary artist Vik Muniz decides to travel to the largest landfills in Jardim Gramacho, Brazil and works with the people who deal with waste. He helps them create works of art from the dump that the world throws there. A winner for the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary at the Sundance Festival, this is what you must be ready to see in the inner layers of this film – art in the context of the world, the bravery of the poorest people and beauty in what is commonly known as ‘squalid’.

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)

This masterpiece by Director Davis Guggenhiem brilliantly showcases one-time presidential campaigner Al Gore’s strong personal beliefs about global warming and how he aggressively promotes and educates people about it by making presentations across the world. The film combines Gore’s charts, facts, figures and numbers with real life interviews of people who have already started seeing the adverse effects of global warming in their daily lives. The best part about this Academy winning documentary is that it is completely bereft of any political ideologies and will give you a shocking look into why the world is slated to explode very soon.

Capitalism: A love story (2009)

Michael Moore is better known for his previous famous documentaries Bowling for Columbine, Sicko and Fahrenheit 9/11. With Capitalism: A love story, Moore brings forth a dark reality of America yet again. Through the political corridors of DC, financial hubs of Manhattan and parts of Mid America, Moore explores the price that an average American is paying for the love of materialism and capitalism.

With thousands of jobs being lost every day and uncontrollable consumerism growing by exponential figures, Moore uses his craft with the documentary form to bring out the lies and betrayal that American capitalism has spilled upon its people.

Long gone are the days when documentaries will simply meant for conveying information. These documentaries are not only highly entertaining, they will change the way you look at the world.

Back in 2011, Kara Raiguel, Director of Berkshire India replied to Business Standard via email saying "We are a major player in the international reinsurance markets, and India is well-recognised as one of the most important emerging markets in the world. The Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Division continues to review opportunities in the reinsurance sector in India."

In March 2011, Business Standard reported about Berkshire Hathaway possibly picking up a 26 percent stake in a domestic reinsurer, which was later pegged at 49 percent after the cap on foreign investment was taken away. It was during this time that Berkshire Hathaway first announced its foray into India markets when it became a corporate agent for Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.

Why the partnership with Bajaj Allianz? Raiguel said "We felt due to the restrictions with FDI investment in insurance companies, the ability to work with Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company on a direct distribution basis was the best path to enter the Indian retail insurance market." At this time, Berkshire Hathaway, in its capacity as a corporate agent of Bajaj Allianz sold the latter’s insurance products via their own online distribution portal and through telemarketing campaigns. The company wanted to tap into an emerging market in India. Raiguel had then said "Buying financial products directly over the internet is a relatively new and growing opportunity in India. We will engage directly with the consumers using the online platform to provide insurance products efficiently."

That was then. Now in 2012, billionaire investor Warren Buffet’s firm Berkshire Hathaway has reportedly forayed into the reinsurance business in India. While the lay man may not be concerned with reinsurance directly, it is an integral business that is a core part of an insurer’s risk management strategy. A reinsurance business basically enters into agreements with insurers to reinsure their liabilities in event of abnormally high claims or otherwise.

In its capacity as a reinsurer, Berkshire Hathaway will reportedly be the lead reinsurer for Bajaj Allianz and National Insurance while co-leading for New India Insurance with GIC. ET reported that reinsurance was one of the biggest drivers of profit for Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. Their reinsurance business is currently headed by Indian born Ajit Jain. While ET reported that the company did not respond to email queries, TR Ramalingam, Head of Underwriting at Bajaj Allianz said "They are mainly participating in property reinsurance treaties. Berkshire is looking at financials of companies."

Berkshire Hathaway was initially a textile company founded in 1839. In the 60′s, Warren Buffet became a majority shareholder by buying shares of the company. Since then, Buffet has expanded Berkshire Hathaway’s footprint into investments, insurance, finance and as a parent company to many including those engaging in manufacture of apparels, building products, flight services, furnishings and much more.

"It’s an ice cream for the young adults who are discerning, quality and brand conscious." - Arindam Haldar, Director of General Mills India [Source]

General Mills is the American food conglomerate giant which owns Haagen-Dazs. This ice cream brand is rightly labeled as luxurious – costing roughly Rs. 195 per scoop! It was back in 2009 when Haagen-Dazs ventured into the Indian market of gourmet ice cream. It started out with an exclusive store in Delhi, followed by Mumbai and also in select retail outlets including a few five star hotels. So how is Haagen-Dazs doing after being in the luxury ice cream market since a couple of years?

Luxury ice cream: Are Indians biting?

Haagen-Dazs outlet in Delhi at about 10 pm buzzes with a trickle of ice cream fanatics who come to indulge into what is often labeled as the Louis Vuitton kind of experience in ice cream. Haagen-Dazs is much more than just an ice cream eating experience. When you walk in to the Delhi store, you indulge yourself into a fine-dining like ambience. You can sit back, relax and savor a signature dessert which will probably set you back anywhere between Rs. 600 to upwards of Rs. 1,400.

Talking numbers, or the lack of it

General Mills have not revealed exact growth figures for India. However, if its worldwide figures are anything to go by, 11% growth in Haagen-Dazs sales has been reported in 2011. A quirky yet interesting insight reveals that China seems to be driving this growth with a nearly 21% increase on an annual basis.

Globally, Haagen-Dazs has just about a 2% share in the ice cream industry which they seem to be content with. Their focus is on enhancing the ice cream experience which is driven by more than 900 lounges like the one in Delhi, worldwide.

What has General Mills got in store for India?

Arindam Haldar has also spoken about increasing customer loyalty and the company’s plans to open yet another ice cream longue in Mumbai. The brand is also looking to maximize the potential from its tie ups with JW Marriot, Modern Bazaar, Hyatt Goa, The Leela in Delhi, Le Marche, Grand Hyatt and other such outlets which are a mix of five star hotels and premium retail points. The signals are pretty clear and it seems as if the brand is set to build on the foundation of the luxury ice cream experience. So, does Haagen-Dazs have any region specific ice cream flavors lined up for us?

The Indian market will still have to wait for local flavors. Interestingly, Haagen-Dazs has innovated and incorporated the concept of localization by serving up teppanyaki appetisers in Japan, ice cream sushi in China and exquisite limited edition desserts in Paris.

So while most of us may be struggling to even pronounce Haagen-Dazs, General Mills is looking to expand its footprint in India.

Given that the interest in cricket is waning in India, BCCI seems to have has a big payday. They just sold broadcasting & digital rights of 96 cricket matches for 6 years starting from July 2012 till March 2018 for a huge sum. According to the news reports, Rupert Murdoch own Star Group have won the bid by shelling out 755 Million dollars (Rupees 3851 crore).

This essentially means that for each cricket match a cool sum of Rs. 40 crore has been paid to BCCI. Existing broadcaster, Nimbus had quoted Rs. 32.25 crore per match – so the new quote from Star is roughly 30% higher. The tender documents were picked up by 5 different parties -Star India, ESPN Software, Multi Screen Media, Zee Entertainment, Times Internet. As per ToI only 2 of them Star & MSM had submitted the bids.

The Rights include broadcasting rights for domestic fixtures like Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy & Irani Trophy. Additionally, all the digital, radio as well as internet broadcasting rights were also clubbed with the TV rights as they had unsuccessfully tried to sell it previously by de-coupling each other.

All in all, BCCI has had another big pay day and will be flush with money for years to come!

India’s January 2012 industrial production index has notched a strong come back with 6.8% growth year-on-year. However, the benign IIP data could also mean that the pace of likely rate cuts to come might not be as aggressive from the country’s apex banker.

Among the strong performers from the industrial output data were capital goods sector and consumer non durables industry. While Capital goods sector witnessed a contraction of 1.5% in January, it was an improved set of numbers if you compare it with de-growth of 16.3% suffered in December.

However, the show-stopper of the IIP event was the performance of consumer non-durables sector which leaped by as much as 42.1% on a year-on-year basis. Not surprisingly, the non-durable segment is a heavy-weight in the industrial index, given that it comprises more than a fifth of India’s factory output at 21.3%.

Manufacturing sector also staged a stable growth of 8.5% in January 2011, as against 8.1% notched earlier. This is smart comeback by India’s factory output, looking at the sharp de-growth in October 2011 to 5.1%, raising concerns of sharp slowdown.