The humiliating defeat in the Punjab Assembly elections is likely to churn out churn within India’s oldest regional party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).
The Akali Dal has been reduced to three seats, its worst performance till date. The insult to injury is compounded by the fact that the entire top leadership – party patriarch and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, his sons and deputy chief ministers Sukhbir Singh Badal and Bikram Singh Majithia – have lost. This means that the Badal family’s hold on the party is not immediately challenged, but the loss has increased the need to re-establish the party. What has particularly hurt the party is the fact that its core support base – conservative sectarian voters – did not vote for it this time.
By now, the party had established its roots in the area between the Majha, Beas and Ravi rivers, which is the seat of Sikhism. However, except for the Majitha constituency, the entire region has voted for the AAP, with SAD bigwigs losing to lesser-known AAP candidates. A senior SAD leader told ET on the condition of anonymity, “It will mean no challenge for Badals. There is no one to challenge him. The old leadership which could have challenged him lost the election.” Another aspect is that the finances – the family is well affluent and can still raise money for the party.”
The Akali Dal has called a meeting of the party’s core committee on Monday to discuss the results and the way forward. There is a growing realization within the party that its alliance with the BSP may not have worked. This was the first election in decades that the party contested without the BJP. Senior leaders have felt that though the SAD walked out of the BJP-led NDA over the issue of farmers, it severed ties too late.
With the repeal of agricultural laws, the issue is now over in Punjab and the SAD may look to rekindle its ties with the BJP. “The SAD-BJP alliance was a winning combination that brought Hindu and Sikh votes to the candidates. This is the first time the elections were fought without the BJP. But the party has to think carefully whether its experiment works at all,” the leader said. quoted earlier.
AAP has also raised questions on the political pitch in Punjab. It has penetrated the traditional sectarian support base of the SAD and the socially and economically weaker vote bank of the Congress. The Akali Dal will have to reinvent itself to remain relevant in Punjab.
The party has recently seen rebellion from within – first in 2018, when Ratan Singh Ajnala, Sewa Singh Sekhwan and Ranjit Singh Brahmpura took on Sukhbir Singh Badal and Majithia and formed the Shiromani Akali Dal (Taksali), and then In 2020, when Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa formed SAD (democratic). Both the factions have joined hands to form SAD (United).
Deal flows to early-stage startups remain strong, despite declining valuations of tech firms around the world since the start of 2022.
Many top-tier venture capital funds have shifted their focus to early stage investments and are trying to catch companies early.
Accel recently established a $650 million fund that will focus on early-stage investments. Sequoia is also focusing on early-stage startups with the launch of its seed accelerator program Surge.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said at the ET Startup Awards in Bengaluru on March 12, “In my view the funding should not go to Series B, C or D rounds, rather it should go to Tier 2 or 3 cities. as seed funding. ,
At the awards, policy makers along with some of the biggest names in startups discussed the future of early stage investments in domestic startups amidst the current volatility in the market.
“It is very difficult to predict where the market will be in the next 10 years but there should be no let-up in early stage investments. Shekhar Kirani, Partner, Accel India said, “Investors have to pick great founders and work with them to build reputed companies.
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Kirani said the entire startup landscape has changed in 2022, with many large investors focusing on early-stage funding.
“There are more extraordinary startups today. The quality of founders has improved significantly, the quality of ideas has improved greatly and the way founders build startups and create value for consumers has improved greatly,” he said .
Investors also talked about changing trends and changing round shape ratios for early-stage investing. The IPO rush in 2021 along with several policy changes has spurred early stage investments.
Anil Joshi of Unicorn India Ventures said, “While the pandemic has slowed things down, some policy changes and listing of companies have given a boost to early stage investors.”
Investors see digitization and crypto as the hottest sectors to invest in this year. “As a fund, we see a few areas that are quite prominent … digitization and the space around crypto and NFTs (non-fungible tokens),” said Joshi of Unicorn Venture Capital.
Kirani said Excel is focused on five broad themes and will continue to focus on them in 2022. “Consumer companies, B2B companies, marketplaces, global SaaS, fintech and digital health tech will be at the center of many disruptions,” Kirani said.
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The last two years have been a watershed for India’s ecommerce industry amid the pandemic and the resultant lockdown. In 2022, investments will not end, but Indian e-commerce startups will not continue the enthusiasm of the last two years.
This was the consensus at the ET Startup Awards in Bengaluru on March 12, in which the biggest names of Indian ecommerce gathered to discuss various topics related to the future of India’s startup ecosystem.
Ecommerce in India attracted $15 billion in investments from venture capital and private equity funds in 2021, five times more than in 2020, according to data from Venture Intelligence. The number of deals also increased from 149 in 2020 to 219 in 2021.
But it is unlikely to repeat in 2022. “Everybody knew the last 24 months were a great time to raise money,” said Bhavna Suresh, co-founder and CEO of 10Club. “And I think everyone understands that markets go through swings. If the question is ‘are we in the bottom right now’, there’s no doubt about it.”
,[Ecommerce] BigBasket CEO and co-founder Hari Menon said it is not going to freeze as there is a lot of money flowing into it. “But I think you will settle it more. You will see improvement, but the money will not dry up.”
Meanwhile, the industry also has to prepare for the rules. In June 2021, the consumer affairs ministry proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020, which were first notified in July 202. Proposed changes included a ban on ‘flash sales’ and a ban on private labels. Later in June, the Center’s “clarification”, which said that the new rules would allow ecommerce portals to conduct traditional sales events, disallowed “exclusive flash sales or back-to-back sales”, only the illusion. extended.
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In recent years, the priorities for Delhi and Punjab have been as different as chalk and paneer. For example, the Delhi government allocated 25% of its total expenditure for education and 16% for health care, as per the state budget for 2021-22. The numbers for Punjab during the same financial year were 11.6 percent and 4% respectively, both lower than the national average.
If the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has won Punjab, resolves to replicate the national capital’s health and education model as it had promised before the elections, it has only two options. Under the leadership of comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Singh Mann, the new government either sharply increases the state’s tax collection or drastically reduces the resources earmarked for other expenses.
Both are difficult. Punjab is highly indebted and heavily indebted. Its outstanding debt is about 46 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) in 2021-22.
In terms of spending, there is little scope for intervention as the state’s allocation of resources to key areas such as rural development and infrastructure is already very low, and the new government is mulling over the current share of resources for agriculture and allied activities. Not likely to change. According to data from PRS Legislative Research, only the sector where the state is spending (11% in 21-2021-22) is significantly higher than the national average (6.3%).
Once the AAP’s massive electoral success in Punjab, winning 92 out of 117 seats, dies out and the party in power gets down to serious business, it will begin to face real challenges, mainly on the economic front. The new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur will also go through some economic turmoil, but they will still be better off due to the sustainability factor as well as the presence of a friendly central government – which promises Makes dual-engined ones – ready to financially salvage them when needed.
To understand the potential economic priorities and challenges, let us pick the five big states, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, where new governments are being set up. Suresh Kumar Khanna, a nine-time MLA and outgoing finance minister in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, told ET that they would continue with the same formula of spending more on infrastructure. “We will continue to build more and more roads and expressways. This will increase the demand for cement, steel etc., which in turn will strengthen our economy and create new jobs. Once people have more money in their pockets they will always spend more,” says Khanna, adding that UP’s new target is to become a $1 trillion economy, however, without specifying a time frame for it. In 2021-22, GSDP at current prices is estimated to be Rs 21.7 lakh crore or about $285 billion, less than a third of the target set by Khanna.
Uttar Pradesh has been spending more resources on infrastructure lately. In the current financial year, it allocated 8.2% of its total expenditure for roads and bridges alone, while only 1.6% was allocated by Punjab. According to an analysis by PRS Legislative Research, the average allocation by states in this category is 4.3 per cent, which means that UP spends much above average while Punjab spends much less.
Deepak Bagla, MD and CEO, Invest India, says that the continuation of the BJP government in UP will give a lot of comfort to global companies who want to invest in the state. “Global investors are looking to invest in the state’s defense corridor as well as the proposed global aviation hub near Jewar airport,” he says. Invest India is an investment promotion and facilitation arm of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Oil prices are skyrocketing against the backdrop of the current macroeconomic situation, the Russo-Ukraine War, along with the implementation of liberal election promises – such as a monthly monetary benefit of Rs 1,000 to women over the age of 18 in Punjab Or two free LPG cylinders Holi and Diwali in UP would mean expansion of the spending budget of the new governments.
“The financial condition of Punjab is worse but I would say that all the new state governments will face economic challenges as they have to implement their election promises. Global crude oil prices are at an all-time high and states will not get additional GST (goods and services tax) compensation from July 1 this year,” says former Bihar deputy CM and finance minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who headed the empowered committee. also led. State finance ministers to implement GST
According to the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017, if the GST revenue in a state does not grow at the rate of 14% per annum, the Center is bound to compensate the shortfall by June 2022. However, the government has recently decided to expand the GST. Compensation till 2026, this window will be used only to pay off the loans taken by the states during the Covid-ravaged 2020 as well as the earlier dues. This effectively means that no additional grants will be given to the states, which will affect states like Punjab and Uttarakhand, as their dependence on GST compensation is high. “A significant part of Punjab’s guaranteed revenue was met by using compensation (37% in 2018-19), 47% in 2019-20 and 56% in 2020-21. After 2022, it will have to significantly increase its own revenue to achieve the level of guaranteed revenue it has achieved so far, says a PRS report titled “State of State Finances” published in November 2021.
During campaigning in Punjab, AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was repeatedly asked by journalists about the revenue sources as well as the possibility of levying new taxes to fulfill his promises to the voters. Kejriwal had a standard answer that earlier governments lacked intention, not resources, assuring that AAP would not burden the public with new taxes.
The road will not be easy for you in Punjab. For a long time, the government in Delhi has been at loggerheads with the Center on several issues – from the appointment of officers to controlling the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that Kejriwal has a declared national ambition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and given that the AAP could also be a serious contender in the Gujarat elections later this year, it is likely that the BJP at the Center will create financial constraints for him.
Kejriwal, a former Revenue Service officer, may have been aware of his Achilles heel in Punjab: an empty treasury, high debt and his own tall promises of sealing the mandate.
Sales of passenger vehicles, two-wheelers and three-wheelers continued to decline last month, with chip shortages disrupting production at local industry and manufacturing centres.
The passenger vehicle segment sold 262,984 units in the local market last month, a decline of 6.5% as compared to 281,380 units sold in the year-ago period.
Had Tata Motors’ volume — 39,981 passenger vehicles — been included, the decline would have been about 2% less.
Tata Motors has stopped reporting sales on a monthly basis to industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Demand remained promising despite supply crunch, with most car makers registering healthy bookings.
However, two-wheeler makers faced trouble as consumers stayed away from buying, especially at the entry level. Two-wheeler sales declined 27% to 1,037,994 units in February. Scooters sales declined 26% to 344,157 units last month, while motorcycles sales fell 28% to 658,009 units.
Apart from limited availability of semi-drivers, which hampered production, increase in vehicle acquisition cost due to implementation of new regulations, higher raw material prices and logistics expenses affected sales in the industry.
Rajesh Menon, Director General, SIAM, said, “There has been a decline in sales in the passenger vehicle, two-wheeler and three-wheeler categories in the month of February 2022 as compared to February 2021. Continuing supply-side challenges like semiconductor shortage, cost escalation. As for the new regulations, higher commodity prices, higher logistics cost, etc. have affected the overall sales in the auto industry.”
Three-wheeler sales declined 2% to 27,039 units last month.
While chip shortages are expected to improve and normalize by the end of the year, industry executives are concerned that if the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues for some more time, there is likely to be an additional impact on the supply chain, which in turn Vehicle sales may be adversely affected
“The industry is closely watching the potential impact of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, as the global supply chain could come under strain,” Menon said.
Burberry’s very democratic show—no seats, no front-row and no guest hierarchy—still had a dash of celebrity in the form of actors, models, artists, and musicians. Some of them quietly nodded backstage to say “hi” to designer Ricardo Tisci, and attended a low-key drinking party before the Friday show at Methodist Central Hall Westminster.
Guests included actor Adam Driver, the face of Burberry’s latest men’s fragrance; Rebecca Hall; Jacob Elordi; Eiza Gonzalez; Designers Christopher and Tammy Kane, and model friends Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Carla Bruni. There were also social media celebrities including Dixie D’Amelio and Xenia Adonts.
They graced Burberry’s first live event since February 2020, with spectators at the entrance of the venue, and grazed on sandwiches and champagne before the show, in drizzling London rain.
The mood before the show was a family reunion, with Campbell’s mother Valerie Morris and Bruni hugging each other outside the venue upon sight; Edward Enninful rode Campbell and Morris backstage to greet Tisci, while the other guests mingled with the bar.
Elordi was “taking it easy” in town, going to the cinema to see “Cyrano” and planning to see “Cabaret” with Eddie Redmayne and Jesse Buckley and “Small Island” at the National Theatre.
Looking comfortable in a black leather jacket and dark sunglasses, Elordi said he is also looking forward to the release of his upcoming film, “He Went That Way.”
Artist and famed extravaganza dresser Daniel Lismore was wearing Tisci’s invitation (an embroidered hoop with the words “Thank you very much”) as part of his extravagant Burberry-themed outfit.
He spoke of his current exhibition in Coventry, England, called “Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Already Taken”, describing it as “a living sculpture”, a retrospective of 20 years of his life.
The show was filled with familiar faces as well as Tisci’s personal friends. The latter included the Italian singer-songwriter Mahmud; British professional boxer Richard Riakpoorhe, film director Jared Buckhistor and composer Andrew Weverhola.
Among the models were Gigi and Bella Hadid, Irina Shayk, Eno Kyai, Mariacarla Boscono and Selena Forrest. During the show, she strutted her way among the crowd, climbed atop tables set for dinner with crystals and silver, and swept through expansive halls in feathered ballgowns and plaid skirts.
Irina Shayk stars in Anne Bing’s 2022 campaigns, WWD has learned exclusively. This is the first time the brand – which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary – has named a face.
“Working with a self-made woman, a mother, a kind and fun person is always rewarding for me,” the Russian-born Shayk told WWD. “Annie definitely knows what she wants. Born in Denmark, living in LA, and raising my kids while running my own business, I can definitely see some similarities between us. I love her style Likes: Chic, classic, timeless, modern and fun. I wanted to take the entire collection home and was honored to work with and meet other powerful women in life and my career.
A look at the Anne Bing “Classics” collection.
Courtesy / Chris Coles
Shot by fashion photographer Chris Coles, the campaigns showcase the re-launch of Bing’s “Classics” collection, a bestselling line featuring tailored suiting, basics, denim and leather goods (with new items added to the mix). as well as the unveiling of the brand. First resort collection of swimwear and ready-to-wear.
“I couldn’t be more excited to launch our Classics campaign with Irina Shayk,” Bing, founder and chief creative officer of the namesake label, said in an exclusive statement. The Danish-born designer has been based in Los Angeles since 2010.
“Women empowerment is at the heart of our brand, so it feels really special to launch this campaign during Women’s History Month in March,” she continued. “The Anne Bing ‘Classics’ collection offers timeless styles that make any woman feel their best and who better to unveil this campaign than Irina Shayk, the epitome of effortless and confident style.”
