'Frenemies' in business

This could well be called friendship season for corporate rivals. Just as Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani joined hands, first, with his brother Anil Ambani and then rival Sunil Mittal of Bharti Airtel, now Fortis' Singh brothers, Malvinder and Shivinder, have decided to tie friendship knots with at least one competitor. Fortis, which announced the launch of its flagship hospital Fortis Memorial Research Institute in Gurgaon yesterday, has invited none other than Apollo Hospitals Group Chairman Prathap C Reddy as guest of honour for the formal, on-site launch today. Of course, Fortis says it does not believe in rivalry; when it comes to patient care, it only believes in "united health care".