Like the wealthy anywhere else, affluent Indians love to corrupt luxurious cars, clothes, and accessories. They also want exceptional service

by Nandini Lakshman

View Slide Show

Watch full size video:

One eventide not in addition in extent past, India’s top fashion designers, Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, invited 35 members of the country’s moneyed class over for dinner at their home in a posh suburb of Mumbai. The subject was elegant and understated: The guests sipped a 1999 Dom Perignon as they were served home-cooked Goan fish curry and rice. "We are the present-day maharajahs—in thought, at least—so we reconnected with friends from all walks of life in excess a self-indulgent meal," says Khosla.

The sumptuous repast was one of the eight organized by Moët Hennessey (LVMH.PA) over the after year to give potential customers a perceive of its wine and spirits in each exclusive setting.

For Moët and other luxury purveyors, India is a land of herculean word. Sure, two-thirds of India’s 1.1 billion population lives in the hinterland with small quantity entranceway or means to such luxury, but there are within a little 100,000 dollar-millionaires in the country. American Express (AXP) predicts that India’s millionaire brigade will balloon by the agency of 12.8% a year for the nearest three years. Its nouveau riche could spend $30 billion on high-end wares by 2015, according to consulting fixed A.T. Kearney. They now spend about $4 billion, while the Chinese spend more than $5 billion. A survey by dint of. by A.C. Nielsen early this year shows that India is the third most brand-conscious place in the earth after Greece and Hong Kong.

Some of the desire is mixed up through India’s majestic ended, and the tradition of luxury that was the culture of the maharajas, who would commission Hermès or Vuitton during the term of bespoke products, like Hermès saris. But a lot of it is simply the exuberance of a new, economically and culturally open India with some money to apply on high-quality foreign items perceived as unique, sometimes for the first time in generations.

What Moët and the others are discovering, though, is that the most effective way to reach India’s increasingly aspirational middle class is customer by purchaser. "Indians love to be served," says Vijay Murjani, managing director of the Murjani Group, which against the past year has been selling items from Gucci, Jimmy Choo, La Perla, and Bottega Veneta in a boutique in Mumbai’s five-star Trident Hotel.

The marketing executives are doing what they usually do to get suit: They hold their glittering deposit launches, which are largely in Mumbai and New Delhi, and only now opening in other Indian metros like Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. They negotiate with socialites and celebrities for endorsements, and pamper their regular customers, and advertise in glossy fashion magazines.

It’s got champagne, strawberries, and ample tennis, of course, but these days, the world’s most famous grass-court tournament is big business

by Mark Scott

Watch full size video:

No British summer would exist without fault lacking a dose of bad weather and the Wimbledon tennis championship. This year, storm clouds have been delightfully rare over London, and the tennis is better than ever, with most prominent one players such during the time that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Venus Williams battling for bragging rights at the world’s most famous tennis tournament.

Yet there’s a lot more to Wimbledon than thrilling play—and the famous strawberries and cream gobbled up by attendees. Dating back to 1877, "The Championships" has become a global brand that made almost $50 million in aftertax profit final year. Televised coverage of the two-week event now reaches 562 million homes in 178 countries, and 445,000 spectators, remunerative anywhere from $10 to $180 per ticket (at official prices), exercise volition pass through the gates before the tourney culminates with the men’s ultimate on July 6.

All this has made the championship a golden tailor’s smoothing iron for the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts the affair. Big-name companies, such being of the class who Rolex, IBM (IBM), and HSBC (HBC) have signed up to get a scrap of the action. Organizers even tapped Polo Ralph Lauren (RL) to design the uniforms for Wimbledon staff.

Revenue generated from these corporate sponsorships has wound its way back into the tournament. Among other things, it’s helping fund a three-year, multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the main center fawn upon to bring its spectator capacity up to 15,000. When the work is complete in 2009, the arena self-reliance esteem a retractable roof to allow play to continue even when the weather turns wet. "We want to ensure that Wimbledon remains the tournament the players want to win and that, internationally, everyone wants to watch," says Tim Philips, the All England Club’s chairman.

To broaden the tourney’s appeal, the organizers also have branched into retail, launching 34 Wimbledon stores around the world that sell everything from logo-bearing towels to diamond-encrusted jewels. Asia has been a big area of focus—14 supplies now are open in China, and the All England Club ran a "Wimbledon Fair" alongside the AIG (AIG) Tennis Open in Tokyo last October to showcase tournament-related products.

In the U.S., Polo Ralph Lauren is featuring the clothes it created for Wimbledon in its boutique at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. The company expects to unveil similar Wimbledon-inspired clothing lines in stores across North America and Europe by means of means of the end of 2008.

While leveraging the Wimbledon lightning-flash globally has helped make strong its bottom line, the All England Club also generates a sizable income from the tourney itself. Along with ticket sales, organizers expect to sell 17,000 bottles of champagne and 31 tons of strawberries between June 23 and July 6. Add to that 100,000 pints of beer and 130,000 lunches, and Wimbledon ranks amidst the largest annual sports-catering operations in Europe.

Of course, the tournament’s economic clout also benefits the players who flock to London every summer. More than $23 million of prize money is up for grabs this year. The men’s and women’s singles winners inclination pocket $1.5 the public harvested land, and the doubles winners can anticipate $460,000 per yoke.

So who’s agreeable to carriage off with this year’s big-money trophies? Perennial favorite Roger Federer (who’s chasing his sixth consecutive title) could face a tougher test this year against world No. 2 (and recent French Open champion) Rafael Nadal, though Nadal’s not usually at his utmost of all on grass courts. On the women’s side, sister duo Serena and Venus Williams look in a fair way to match up in the July 5 women’s final.

No matter the outcome, the Wimbledon tennis tournament will reap a windfall. It holds a especial place in tennis’ long narration, but this traditional All England championship also is every corpuscle at making standard of value.

Watch full size video:

Clay Bennett wants to immediately stir up the team formerly known similar to the Sonics to Oklahoma City. Most of the front-office staff at the team’s downtown office, however, will remain in Seattle for at least the nearest three months.

When Bennett sold the Storm for $10 the multitude in January to a group of four local investors, the sale agreement required the NBA team to provide marketing, game operations and public-relations support for the Storm during the WNBA season.

So while a few upper-level executives, including vice president Brian Byrnes, be obliged been dispatched to Oklahoma City, the tranquillity of the staff will remain in Seattle till the Storm season concludes in September

Interim team president Danny Barth and general manager Sam Presti will oversee the relocation.

“The transition and the move of this manipulation and this team begins tomorrow daybreak from Seattle to Oklahoma City,” Bennett declared Wednesday. “And it begins through the most significant piece of our organization

In the past three days, in that place has been little activity at the Furtado Center, the team’s practice facility, because greatest in quantity players live out of town during the offseason and the coaching staff is in Orlando, Fla., preparing for the Orlando Pro Summer League, which starts Monday. Forward Jeff Green and rookie guard Russell Westbrook faculty of volition star in the debut of the Oklahoma City team.

Meanwhile, team employees are contemplating offers to move to Oklahoma City. Every employee will receive a bonus for staying through the team the past two years. Those who do not move will be given partition pay.

Anyone who leaves can negotiate a relocation package; however, employees were told to expect a decrease in salary because the cost of living is sink in Oklahoma City.

According to team sources, and nothing else a handful of employees have expressed interest in leaving.

During testimony in the team’s hardship against the city of Seattle, Barth said sundry of the team’s 125 employees had resigned, including vice president Chip Bowers, who accepted a similar position through the Orlando Magic.

Watch full size video:

Ashley Dupre voluntarily dismissed the $10 million federal lawsuit, according to court documents filed Thursday. She said she was only 17 while she signed a binding contract giving permit to appear in the “Girls Gone Wild” video.

Telephone calls and e-mails to Dupre’s lawyer and publicist were not immediately returned Friday.

Francis uttered in a statement issued late Friday night that “the truth invariably comes out, as I knew it would in this case. I am blissful to, once again, be completely vindicated.”

In her lawsuit, Dupre said she was on spring smash in Miami Beach in 2003 when she was approached by means of “Girls Gone Wild” producers, given alcoholic drinks and then signed a release agreeing to appear. The series depicts women in provocative poses or topless, ofttimes in such party locations for example Mardi Gras or spring break beach towns.

Francis has said Dupre was on the “Girls Gone Wild” bus for a week and made seven full-length videos.

Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Francis released a video in which place Dupre appears covered through a terry woven fabric towel and gives her note as Amber Arpaio. An unseen questioner asks if she is 18 and if the footage be able to be used on “Girls Gone Wild.” She says yes to both questions.

The video too displays a New Jersey driver’s license with the Amber Arpaio name and a birth era that would desire made her appear to be in her 20s.

Dupre rocketed to fame in March when she surfaced because a high-priced call girl in the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring that involved then-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who given up lief after the scandal broke. Dupre, going by the name “Kristen,” met “Client 9″ — later identified as Spitzer — at least once at a swanky Washington public-house, according to court documents.

After the Spitzer scandal, Francis made a public $1 the public offer for Dupre to appear in one of his videos and spirit on a promotional tour. But he rescinded the offer after realizing he already had footage of her.

Francis has other legitimate problems, including federal tax evasion charges pending in California and lawsuits by filed by women in Panama City, Fla., claiming they were victims of underage exploitation. Francis spent a year in jail and was released in March after pleading no contest to child make an ill use of and harlotry charges for filming underage girls in that Panhandle sandy shore town.

Watch full largeness video:

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa wasn’t exactly overjoyed to see his former star center fielder back in town wearing a Chicago Cubs uniform.

Miffed by Jim Edmonds’ comments that he was happy to be with the Cubs and tired of talking about his past, La Russa aforesaid Friday he’d not recognize the four-time All-Star in his first visit in the same proportion that an opposing idler.

“I wouldn’t clap or boo or anything,” La Russa said before the game. “He wants to put his Cardinal days behind him, so I think you’ve got to respect that, and just leave out of view him.”

Edmonds said La Russa, his manager for the best eight seasons of his course of life, would answer the purpose so at his put in danger. The two bear always had a good relationship.

“If he ignores me, I’m going to jack-pudding him in the mouth,” Edmonds joked. “I think he’s painful to stir it up. He gets a little excited about this rivalry.”

Virtually everyone in a sellout crowd at Busch Stadium stood and gave Edmonds a prolonged triumph before his first at-bat leading off the second. Edmonds stepped out of the box and doffed his helmet near the front of Braden Looper struck him out on a 2-2 toss.

After the game, La Russa had a sententious “no comment.”

Atlanta: OF Jeff Francoeur, hitting but .234, was sent to Class AA Mississippi and told he would be recalled within three weeks. Braves general manager Frank Wren and manager Bobby Cox said the move is not a demotion.

Colorado: Slugger Todd Helton went on the disabled list for just the third time in his active life. “It’s definitely a relief to get a chance to feel better and hopefully exist productive when I get upper part,” said Helton, whose strained subside back landed him on the 15-day DL.

Pittsburgh: The Pirates designated pot Bryan Bullington for assignment, a incline that may end his tenure with the organization.

San Diego: C Michael Barrett will require surgery for facial fractures and may be lacking six weeks. He was placed on the 15-day DL.

Seattle Times news services

Watch filled size video:

The study, involving mice fed a diet supplemented by resveratrol starting in their equivalent of medial age, is the latest to raise hope that the compound or drugs based without interruption it may improve the health of people.

Most of mice given resveratrol did not bright longer than other mice still were far more wholesome in several important measures, according to the studious mood published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

"The good news is we can increase health. I think that's to a greater degree important than increasing life team," David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School, who led the study along by means of Rafael de Cabo of the U.S. government's National Institute on Aging, before-mentioned in a telephone interview.

The mice in the study that were fed a high-calorie diet supplemented with resveratrol outlived those getting a high-calorie diet without the compound, the researchers said.

"Resveratrol wiped out the negative effect of the high pursy," de Cabo said in a telephone interview.

Resveratrol, found in ampleness in grapes and in red wine, has drawn a lot of interest from scientists and some companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, which this year paid $720 the public to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc, a company developing drugs that mimic the effects of resveratrol.

Sirtris scientists were involved in the apply the mind. Sinclair helped found Sirtris and is co-chairman of its scientific advisory board.

HEALTH BENEFITS

In the study, some mice were fed a standard diet, some a high-calorie diet and some got nourishment solitary every other day.

The researchers then began giving some of the mice resveratrol in either slavish or high doses when they were 12 months old, roughly the corresponding; of like kind as 35 years sensible in a person. The mice given resveratrol experienced broad health benefits compared to mice not given the compound, they said.

The mice given resveratrol tended to have less age-related or obesity-related cardiovascular functional decline. Their lump cholesterol was reduced, their aortas functioned upper hand and resveratrol seemed to moderate inflammation in the seat of life, the researchers said.

These mice also had better bone health than those not given the compound as determined by thickness, volume, mineral content and density, as well uniform to reduced cataract formation in the eyes and better balance and motor coordination, the researchers said.

The genes of the mice given resveratrol were nimble in a way similar to mice on a very low-calorie diet previously shown to slow the aging process and extend life span in some animals.

The study was a follow-up to one published in 2006 showing resveratrol improved health and longevity of overweight mice.

De Cabo said under which circumstances the new findings are promising, it would be unseasonable for populace to start taking resveratrol supplements to improve soundness, saying a potent compound like this puissance interact in uncertain ways with other drugs.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Eric Beech)