| It was merriment all the way
In Sector 35 and on the road running along the lake they tried to stop young couples cruising on their two-wheelers, but disappeared as soon as they spotted the men in khaki. For dealing with them, the Chandigarh police had deployed a massive force of over 1,000 personnel all over the city. Barriers, too, were set up at strategic places. As the cops dealt with the rowdy crowd in the city, some negotiated the sharp curves on their way uphill. Bottlenecks and traffic jams at Pinjore and Kalka, however, forced more than a few to take a u-turn. Hotels and restaurants The celebrations were nothing less than global in the hotels with Russian pole dancers and reed-thin celebes of the fashion world making the party-goers dance to their tunes. At the terrace hall of the Taj, it was nothing less than the Oscars night.
11:46 p.m.: Unified Services Group to grow with $850,000 investment
Personal contact in an industry that thrives on automated attendants is the basis for the steady growth of Unified Services Group, President Richard Mousty believes. With 90 employees at present, the company is set to add 9,000 square feet to its 13,000-square-foot facility at 3131 E. 67th St. in Anderson. The project represents an investment of $850,000. Fifteen jobs will be created by the company initially and it hopes to add 80 jobs within the next five years. Fredericks Inc. is the general contractor. The 11-year-old company offers employee benefit plan administration to nearly 120 employer groups throughout Indiana and the Midwest. Mousty is proud that Unified Services Group has reached its full capacity for the current building and is undergoing expansion. "USG moved to Anderson in 2004 and this solidified what we believed all along; that we have a growing presence in the city and are proud to be part of it.
Grown-ups get in on toy act
He's the exception in another way, too, as he has 6-year-old son Logan in tow. Logan, who clings to his dad when strangers come too close, still can't be convinced to leave toys in the box, though. The show's 59 vendors sell both new toys straight from their manufacturer, and antiques they acquire. Merle Johnson, a large man with gray suspenders and wispy peach-blonde hair, is a vendor at 30 or so toy shows each year. He started collecting about 25 years ago when he almost, but not quite, threw out some old toys while cleaning out a shed. He focuses on antique toys from the 1950s, '60s and '70s, most of them bought within the last year. The Alltel Center show may have been the biggest toy show in Mankato this weekend, but not the only one. Sonnek, this show's organizer, doesn't want to talk about that other show, the one with identical hours over in the Madison East Center.
New BA airline takes on Air France with Paris-New York flights
British Airways is launching a new airline in a direct attack on the home turf of Air France, offering flights from Paris and Brussels to New York. The new carrier is to be named OpenSkies, after the treaty between Europe and America that removed restrictions on non-US airlines carrying passengers from third countries to the United States. BA said that the new airline would be launched in June with a single Boeing 757 aircraft from the BA fleet, providing 82 seats for business, premium economy and economy passengers between New York and either Paris or Brussels. A second aircraft would be seconded to OpenSkies later this year to service the other city. Up to four more aircraft will join the service by 2009, BA said. The British company appears to be targeting the more lucrative business traffic to New York in its OpenSkies venture, offering flat beds in a 24-seat business class, but BA’s head office was thin on detail and would reveal no information about seat pricing.
Gucci Group: The ice cream man cometh
Jan Zijderveld, who worked for him twice at Unilever and is now chairman of that company's North Africa and Middle East operations, recalls how Polet was determined in the mid-1990s to try out production of liquid margarine. His boss at the time balked at the idea, but Polet went ahead anyway, secretly buying a machine and setting up a pilot line in the back of an existing factory. Liquid margarine has gone on to become a big hit. "Asking for forgiveness," Polet says, "is better than asking for permission." Says Zijderveld: "He hates rules. He believes in keeping it simple." That same spirit of self-reliance and pushing the limits is taking hold at Gucci Group. Some functions, such as IT, global communications, and human resources, remain coordinated at the slimmed-down group head office in London, but everything else has been kicked down to the brands, which have full responsibility for their profits as well as their products.
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