Agrani Convergence Ltd (ACL), the retailing arm of ASC Enterprises, an Essel Group company that operates telecom, information technology & learning, media & entertainment products and services, expects to commission two more iSWITCH ?technology superstores? before the end of January.

The stores are expected to open in Chennai and Mumbai (in the central suburb of Ghatkopar). There is another outlet expected to open soon after in Chandigarh, a company spokesperson said.

The first iSWITCH store was opened in Bangalore in February 2001. ASC is looking at opening 24 stores across the country by the end of the current financial year. At present there are 11 stores operating - Ahmedabad (one), Bangalore (two), Delhi (three), Noida (one), Jaipur (one), Kanpur (one), Ludhiana (one), and Mumbai (one).

According to the roadmap laid out, the first phase will see retail outlets opening in the top 23 cities across the country. Subsequent to that the aim is to cover 80 per cent of the district headquarters of India by 2006, the spokesperson said.

Per store investment varies according to store location, size, as well as the interiors and inventory but the average costs per outlet is Rs 10 million, she said.

Queried as to the key products that would drive the business, she identified them as IT and telecom products. "Over 90 per cent of our consumers in the SEC-A category (loosely put, with incomes in the upper middle and high bracket) already own a digital notebook and a mobile phone. Clearly, the role of hand-held devices in the contemporary lifestyle is rising and digi cams, personal digital assistants and mobile phones with multimedia facilities are selling like hot cakes," she said.

Elaborating on the main target audience, she said it could be broadly defined as male or female of 15 years and above, belonging to SEC A&B, interested in buying technology products. Broadly speaking, ACL has identified the target audience for Agrani iSWITCH as large sections of society, having technology requirements, she concluded.

The soap brigade has elbowed its way into the top position in the 9 to 10 pm band as well. The waning KBC has helped Sony?s Kkusum and Kutumb climb to the top of the charts, even as Star continues to hold sway with two more Balaji soaps in the 10-11 pm slot.
Kkusum, Sony says, has registered a steady rise in ratings, with the TAM ratings for the week ending 1 December, putting Kkusum at 8.6. Kutumb, the saga of a couple who get married for vengeful purposes, has apparently been a consistent favourite with viewers from the first week. The channel claims an ?incredible high of 6.6 in only the fourth week after its launch?, quoting TAM ratings for the week ended 1 December. The sample covers the north and west (Mumbai, Delhi, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Rest of Maharashtra and Rest of Uttar Pradesh).

Kkusum, a daily soap on weekdays, is the only show to have toppled KBC from its perch in the 9 pm slot, claims Sony. Kutumb, which runs Mondays through Thursdays, is the channel?s latest offering, but has already established a lead in its slot at 9:30 pm.

SET needs to ensure that both the soaps hold viewer interest, with Star just having brought in the Neena Gupta hosted Kamzor Kadii Kaun (airing Tuesdays at 9 pm). Star is also introducing another serial Sanjivani, that promises to be quite gripping, based as it is on the US series Chicago Hope. Sanjivani will take the 9 pm slot on Wednesdays from 16 January 2002.

If Saanjhi can do for Zee what Saans did for Star Plus, the beleaguered channel may have reason to smile.

After Saans, Palchhin and Sonpari, Neena Gupta is ready with her new offering, scheduled to go on air in January 2002. Gupta, who will also make her presence felt as the hostess of Kamzor Kadii Kaun, the Indian version of BBC?s Weakest Link, from 25 December, is being tight lipped about the project.

But industry sources reveal that Saanjhi will essentially explore relationships within the Indian marriage institution once again. Gupta is again slated to play the long-suffering wife. Only this time, her chief sorrow is childlessness. Saanjhi is the story of a couple (Arun Govil and Neena Gupta) who cannot have children even after 14 years of marriage. In a desperate bid to have a child, Govil marries a much younger woman - the arrangement worked out just for the sake of having an offspring - nothing more. Trouble starts when he actually falls in love with the younger woman.

The rest of the serial revolves around how the protagonists manage their lives after this turn of events.