Assam finance minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “We had an informal discussion with these states and we may increase the tax on liquor. Tomorrow we are having a cabinet meeting in Assam and a decision in this regard will be taken.”

Currently, owing to the ongoing lockdown, kirana (corner) stores on JioMart serve limited inventory. But that will be a thing of the past once restrictions are lifted.

Pernod Ricard, estimated to have revenues of Rs 21,000 crore in India in 2019-20 on sale of around 55 million cases, sells imported brands such as Chivas Regal, ABSOLUT, Glenlivet and Jameson, apart from the locally-made large-selling ones such as Royal Stag, Blenders Pride, and 100 Pipers.

Following instructions from Excise Minister Ram Naresh Agnihotri, principal secretary (excise) Sanjay R Bhoosreddy said that a rate higher than the fixed MRP cannot be charged by liquor vendors under any circumstances.

Bata India Chairman Uday Khanna said: “We have plans to open 100 stores a year and would close 25 to 30 which are either at wrong place or not making profits. We tend to continue to keep this pace. (On a net basis) we do add about 70 stores a year.”

The five per cent increases, which will take the tariffs to 15-25 per cent, and are due to roll out in stages through December and target some popular items, such as laptops, mobile phones and some shoes.

Sharing the reasons for the slowdown in the shoe industry, shoe manufacturer Pradeep Kumar said: "The main cause is the flood that most part of the country is facing. Due to sluggish sales, we are also short of funds."

There is a lot of deal activity because businesses are looking for capital.

Bata has already identified 180 such markets in smaller cities pan-India.

The commission said that the bag which was made available by Bata in Rs 2 to the consumer had the company’s logo and accessories printed on it.

The actor will endorse 2020 collections of the casual footwear brand.

On a yearly basis, the Kolkata-based company's share price, which stood at Rs 1127.35, as of January 1, 2019, has gained around 55.32 per cent.

Industry players say premium and luxury buying sees an uptick in two cases — purchase for occasions by the aspirational millennial and by a growing cohort of marathon runners.

Every year, leather shoes worth over Rs 3,000 crore are exported to European countries from Agra. The US and several African countries are also important destinations for Agra footwear, say industry sources.

Dutch news agency ANP, citing an internal email, reported overnight that the office in Hilversum would be disinfected. The employee was staying home in isolation for 14 days, it said.

Founded in 2017 by Taran Chhabra and Amar Preet Singh, Neeman’s is a sustainable shoe brand that uses completely natural, renewable, recyclable and chemical-free materials to reduce the carbon footprint.

Russia has imported leather and footwear worth USD 3.9 billion in 2018, and India's exports to that country stood at only USD 52.6 million, said Panaruna Aqeel Ahmed, chairman of Council for Leather Exports (CLE).

"The newly launched footwear range is available in 90 stores. We plan to further expand and make it accessible at more stores in the coming seasons," said Somdeb Basu, head of foot apparel and accessories at W.

The donation will impact a number of countries in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, including India.

The pandemic is also likely to catalyse the shift to e-commerce.

Women’s share in the activewear category has gone up for sports brands such as Nike, Reebok, Adidas and Puma because of an increase in their participation in sports and other activities such as running, yoga, pilates and Zumba.

The production of high-tech running shoes at its so-called speedfactories in Germany's Ansbach and in the US city of Atlanta "will be discontinued by April 2020 at the latest", Adidas said in a statement.

Chhetri joins the brand's roster of global players like Antoine Griezmann, Romelu Lukaku, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero among others.

French retailer Decathlon’s refusal to do business with customers who refuse to share their contact details has sparked a wave of protests on social media.

Sportswear makers say sales in tier II and III towns have grown exponentially in the last few years and contribute a sizable percentage of their revenue now.

Khan will be the face for Puma’s soon-to-be launched collection of low-intensity training apparel collection targeted at workouts such as yoga, barre, and pilates. The new line will be launched in April and retailed both online and offline.

China accounted for 20% of Adidas sales in 2018. It sells its products from about 12,000 stores in China, most franchises plus fewer than 500 of its own stores. Almost a fifth of its shoes and apparel are produced in the country.

"We would like to wholeheartedly apologise. We have paid our landlords the rent for April." Adidas, which made a net profit of nearly two billion euros ($2.2 billion) in 2019, has been hard hit by a slump in Chinese sales and store closures around the world.

Puma said it expected all markets to recover by the end of the year and for growth to return in 2021, noting that the crisis has made many people do more sports than before and has strengthened the trend towards more casual dressing.

​​​​Voganow Fashion owned Brune & Bareskin sells leather jackets, footwear, bags and accessories for men on online platforms such as Myntra, Jabong and Snapdeal.

​​The Bluetooth-enabled smart sunglasses by Titan’s eyewear division will allow users to listen to music with 8-hour playtime. An in-built mic will give access to Siri and Google assistant and allow hands-free calling.

Our revenues were flat in a quarter where the industry consumption on gold was minus 32% in tonnes.

“We have bagged a multi-million dollar order from the Ministry of Defence to make rucksacks for the Indian army. It is an unchartered territory but creating an ideal rucksack for an Indian jawaan who spends maximum time outdoors in challenging terrain will be good learning. The order will be executed next year,” said Siddharth Sood, cofounder of Wildcraft India.

While early movers like Rolex, Omega and Tag Heuer entered India in early noughties, a clutch of global luxury watches like Panerai are now placing bets on the Indian market, keeping in mind a longer investment horizon. In a bid to create a deeper connect with the Indian consumers, Panerai launched two MS Dhoni special edition watches on Wednesday.

Total expenses for fiscal year 2019 came in at Rs 514.52 crore, up about 20% compared to the year-ago period when expenses were at Rs 429 crore.

“Sales in all divisions in the second half of December were also impacted to some extent due to forced store closures due to the protests in the North East and in many other parts of the country,” the company said in a stock exchange filing on Saturday.

“We certainly expect FY21 to better than FY20, because we are going to work smarter and harder on many things that we need to do. But at the same time, we are prepared for a situation which is going to be very-very tough.”

The watchmaker will form a development centre in Hyderabad with HUG in hardware, firmware, software and cloud technology and has appointed the company's founder Raj Neravati to head technology for wearables at Titan Company.

“Titan phased out its older models and launched Fastrack’s Reflex 2.0 in the 2018Q3. It helped the brand to get a healthy 70% sequential growth in its overall shipments in the overall wearable segment,” IDC said.

The MIT Press, ISBN-13: 978-0262039802, English, 464 pages, 2019, USA

Nam June Paik is back in the limelight, thanks to an important historical exhibition at Tate Modern (see the report in this issue). There has →

Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN-13: 978-1501333774, English, 208 pages, 2019, UK

This is the second (revisited edition) of one of the first books addressing sound art as such, attempting through a diversified research a consistent and universal →

INTRO – It’s not quite a comeback for the Cleveland County-based band the Acoustic Syndicate. They hadn’t been in a studio since 2004, they haven’t regularly toured in that time either… but they never quite got all the way out with occasional shows here and there over the last several years. Now they’re back in a big way… new tour, new CD… and again willing to consider the bright lights with the knowledge they can always contentedly return to the farm. George Olsen has this. The roots of the band the Acoustic Syndicate are certainly deep. The three McMurry’s who front the band… two brothers, one cousin… are fifth generation Cleveland Countiers. ”Cleveland County is the home of Earl Scruggs. He actually worked in the same cotton mill as my grandmother. They worked in the same mill when they were children.” Those five generations have farmed the same piece of land since the 1700s. In more modern times immigrant labor came in to help work the farm. “I guess the biggest eye opening

INTRO – The typical view of the path to musical success sends the enterprising young musician into one of our country’s media centers… New York or L.A. For the members of Asheville’s The Broadcast, they’re taking a road less traveled in an effort to establish a musical career. George Olsen spoke with the band’s lead singer Caitlin Krisko and has this. I’ve long jokingly said that I’m still deciding what it is I want to be when I grow up. At 50+, the joke is getting old… as am I, for that matter. Still, there’s some truth behind the joke, which may be why I’ve always had a deep respect for anyone who determines what it is they want to be and pursue it doggedly with no doubt, no regrets. Among those now with my deep respect… Caitlin Krisko and her band mates in the band The Broadcast. “And being in NYC we realized financially speaking we couldn’t afford to do that. We couldn’t afford to pay our rent and be on the road 150 days a year without spraining our back trying to get people to

INTRO – The Triangle’s Red Clay Ramblers have been involved in a number of artistic collaborations … with Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright and actor Sam Shepard for two of his films and one off-Broadway play and with the late Doug Marlette on the musical based on his comic strip Kudzu, amongst others. Another collaboration took the band away from stage and screen into a different realm, and about nine years after its debut the music is now available on CD. George Olsen talked with Bland Simpson of the Red Clay Ramblers and has this. The latest CD from the Triangle’s Red Clay Ramblers “Carolina Jamboree” plays out as somewhat of a “greatest hits” CD … the bulk of the material spans the band’s 40+ career from the early 1970s to present day. And the band has performed the entirety of the “Carolina Jamboree” CD multiple times for multiple audiences. But the likelihood that the crowd was laser-focused on the band is doubtful … given all else that was going on. “And when

Industry watchers say wholesalers are holding back stocks of popular phone models in anticipation of a price rise by the month-end as production in China slows; brands as yet unaware of complaints.

Due to an 'abundance of caution' as the coronavirus threat loomed, Apple closed all retail stores, corporate offices and contact centres in Mainland China. Last week, Apple warned that coronavirus outbreak will affect its business in the January-March quarter as worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained

"We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter posted on the company's website.

The decision was taken in the 39th GST Council meeting chaired by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The move was made to correct the inverted duty structure. ​

Industry bodies Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology (MAIT) and India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) have written to the government seeking concessions in the delivery of smartphones among other electronics devices and removal of restrictions on the movement of components for inland and export purposes.

“We recommend allowing all physical shops dealing on sales, repair and service activity of mobile phones, mobile devices (laptops and tablets) and their supporting accessories to be opened on a limited basis (three days a week for five hours) with limited number of staff,” AIMRA said in an April 17 letter to union home minister Amit Shah.