Latest news with #VIP
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
EC allots polls symbols to three parties
Patna: Election Commission (EC) allotted poll symbols to three parties—Jan Suraaj, Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM). An official letter in this regard was issued on Tuesday. According to the EC's letter, Jan Suraaj of poll strategist Prashant Kishor was allotted the "school bag" symbol, while VIP, led by former minister Mukesh Sahani, got the old poll symbol of a "boat with man and sail". RLM, which is headed by Rajya Sabha member Upendra Kushwaha, was allotted "gas cylinder". A spokesperson of Jan Suraaj said the party had got the school bag symbol during the bypolls to four assembly seats in the state and requested the poll body to give it permanently. Similarly, the VIP also got its original symbol. The VIP had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on the 'ladies purse' symbol. "This is a major victory for the VIP. The EC has once again returned our election symbol, the 'boat mark'. This is a triumph of our trust and struggle" the party said in a statement. It added that the boat symbol is not just an election symbol but the voice of lakhs of Nishads.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
ECI allots 'School Bag' symbol to Jan Suraaj Party; VIP gets 'Boat'
Patna: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has allotted poll symbols to several political parties ahead of the Bihar Assembly Elections 2025, including the Jan Suraaj Party and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). In a significant development, the Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor, has been allotted the 'School Bag' symbol. With this, all 243 candidates of Jan Suraj will contest the upcoming elections on this symbol. The party has welcomed the Election Commission's decision, stating that the 'School Bag' perfectly reflects its top priority -- reforming Bihar's education system. 'Education is the first among our five core resolutions for Bihar's development. The 'School Bag' symbol represents our commitment to ensuring quality education for every child in the state,' said a party spokesperson. Meanwhile, the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP), which had to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on the 'Ladies Purse' symbol, has now successfully reclaimed its traditional 'Boat' symbol. Confirming the development, VIP national spokesperson Dev Jyoti said: 'The Election Commission has notified the return of the 'Boat' symbol to VIP. This is a victory for democratic values and the Constitution of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The 'Boat' symbol is emotionally and historically connected to our party and its supporters.' Since its inception, VIP has contested elections using the boat symbol, including the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, where it secured four seats. Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) led by Upendra Kushwaha has been allotted an LPG cylinder by the Election Commission of India. Apart from Jan Suraj, VIP and RLM, the Election Commission has allotted symbols to other parties including Bharatiya Sarthak Party – Scissors, Lohia Janata Dal – Bucket, Jan Salamati Party – Ladies Purse, Bharatiya Janata Samaj Sevak Party – Flute and Rashtriya Samajwadi Log Adhikar Party – Ring. With the allocation of election symbols, the political atmosphere in Bihar is heating up as parties prepare their candidates and campaign strategies for the high-stakes assembly elections.
Mint
4 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Multiples, 360 One among homegrown PEs eyeing a minority stake in VIP Industries
Bengaluru/Mumbai: Domestic private equity (PE) firms such as Multiples Alternatives and 360 One are in talks to pick up a minority stake in listed luggage and travel accessories maker VIP Industries, three people with knowledge of the development said. The stake sale is part of ongoing efforts of the promoter family–the Piramals–to exit the business. An attempt to sell controlling stake in the company fell through last November. The PE firms will buy around 26% stake in the company, likely triggering an open offer, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. 'Term sheets have been shared by the prospective investors," one of the persons said. 'Finer details of the deals are being discussed." 'Once the company turns around and shows better financial performance, these PE firms are likely to hike their stake in the company, paving the way for the promoters to exit over the medium term," the second person said. Last year, the company was in advanced talks with global PE firm Advent International to sell controlling stake, Mint had reported. The deal did not go through due to various reasons including valuation mismatch. Also read | VIP promoter revives stake sale talks, hires new banker Following that, promoter Dilip Piramal revived sale plans and appointed investment bank Arpwood to help it with the stake sale, Mint reported on 28 March. According to data available with the exchanges, the promoters own a little more than 50% of VIP Industries, the owner of luggage brands such as VIP, Carlton and Skybags. The company's market capitalization was around ₹6,092.65 crore at Monday's close on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), valuing the promoters' stake at about ₹3,046 crore. VIP's stock price stood at ₹429 a share, up 4.94% over Friday compared to a slide of 0.56% in the broader Nifty 50 index. Queries emailed to Dilip Piramal, Multiples Alternatives, and 360 One did not elicit any response. An Arpwood spokesperson declined to comment. As per a latest report by Statista, the revenue generated in the luggage and bags market in India amounted to $15.04 billion in 2024. It is expected that the market will experience an annual growth rate of 5.02% (CAGR 2024-2029), with 87% of the sales likely to come from non-luxury products. India's growing middle class and increasing travel aspirations are driving a surge in demand for premium luggage and bags. Read this | VIP Industries revives sale talks With ₹2,178.43 crore in consolidated revenues in FY25, VIP Industries, a brand synonymous with the aspiring Indian traveller of the 1990s, is much larger than its Indian rivals, except Safari Industries, which reported consolidated revenues of ₹1,771.58 crore in the same fiscal. VIP has close to 44% market share in the organized luggage category, according to an ICICI Securities analyst report last year. The organized sector, led by companies such as VIP, Samsonite and Safari, accounts for about 40% of India's ₹15,000-crore luggage industry, according to a report by global analytics firm Crisil last year. Over the years, VIP has grown organically and inorganically too. It acquired the London-based Carlton brand in 2004 and merged with Aristocrat Luggage Ltd in 2007, and has been selling luggage under these brands since then. With new startups emerging in the space to challenge the incumbents, the Indian travel and luggage space is heating up. Earlier this year, Mint reported on how new-age direct to consumer brands such as Mokobara, Assembly, Nasher Miles, Icon and Uppercase have secured funding from risk investors and are looking to disrupt the space. Rising incomes, an expanding travel infrastructure, and online bookings have fuelled a surge in travel among Indians, resulting in heightened demand for luggage. And read | How VIP is trying to shed its baggage
The Sun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Win a share of £500,000 in cash prizes with Sun Bingo this week only
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Forbes
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
I Love Spanish Whisky And So Should You. Here's Why.
The official Topaketa festival glass with the Bilbao Guggenheim in the background. You'd be forgiven for not knowing that Bilbao, the Basque region's largest city in Spain, has become an influential whisky hub. Ok, 'influential' may be a stretch, but not if we're considering the evolving world of Spanish whisky. Last weekend, Spanish whisky fans and producers gathered for the second ever Whisky Topaketa festival, which featured a wide variety of whisky producers from across the country (and from neighbouring Portugal) showing off their wares alongside local brand representatives from more well-known international brands. The festival has quickly become an important date in the calendar for Spain's tiny but passionate whisky community. It was eclectic and intimate, featuring a wide variety of tastings, lectures, and classes that gave space for Spanish producers to shine while international brands could introduce themselves to eager Spanish whisky geeks. Now, a personal disclaimer - I was invited as a VIP to the festival, where I ran tastings and gave a lecture on the dangers of cask whisky investment. While this was a fun and fulfilling assignment filled with great company, mischief, tapas, cocktails and of course whisky, I was particularly eager to get involved as four years ago I wrote one of the first pieces covering this new wave Spanish whisky for Whisky Magazine. At that time, my interviews were all done by phone/video, and due to complicated delivery issues I hadn't been able to try the whiskies or spirits from the producers I spoke with. Now, I finally got to meet them face to face as well as the indefatigable Manu Iturregui, festival organiser and owner of the Residence Cafe, one of Spain's best-known whisky bars. A charismatic connector easily identifiable by his majestic mutton chop mustache, he was thrilled that the festival that he and his team put together was strengthening the ties between the industry and consumers: 'We're very happy as last year we had many of our local distilleries that have now come back but we're also seeing more fans get excited. We're seeing more interest - people know about the big producers but are now pleasantly surprised about the number of distilleries here and the quality of what they're making.' Four years ago, I wrote how these new craft producers, all operating at a micro-scale in the shadow of Spain's larger DYC distillery, were trying to find their feet in a challenging whisky market. Since then, this embryonic community of whiskymakers still face the same challenges bedevilling any small spirits producer, but after four years something is becoming clear - some world-class whisky is being made in Spain and it will only get better. It deserves the attention from the wider whisky are Spanish Whisky Distilleries Producing Today? Topaketa's quirky vibe is a wider reflection of where Spanish whisky is currently at - each distillery takes wildly different approaches to their craft. Basque Moonshiners, located an hour's drive from Bilbao, has emerged as an industry leader - its management team were involved in helping organise the festival while its whiskies and spirits brands have established themselves well not only domestically but in export markets too. Co-founder Jose-Luis Navarro is pleased with what he and his team have accomplished: 'I'm so proud of what we're making at the moment, but we are here amongst our peers, and we are just one option of many great ones. It's great to be able to connect with whisky lovers and others involved in our small industry.' Navarro's Agot single malts, made with locally grown barley, are skilled, careful studies of fruity aromas and flavors blending together ex-bourbon casks as well as local Rioja wine casks. Each of its Bikkun brand of blends mixes its whisky from celebrated distilleries from other countries - one is a blend incorporating Islay's Bunnahabhain, another whiskey from Illinois' FEW amongst others. Outside of DYC, Destilerias Liber is Spain's oldest distillery. Founder Fran Peregrina once told me that more than 10 years after he released the first batch of his Embrujo whisky, he revisited that first release and almost cried with shame at its poor quality. This year at the Topaketa I crowded in a meeting room with some of Spain's best whisky noses and palates including many whiskymakers and whisky club organizers as well as Casknolia founder Rafa Cabello, whose casks are in demand with many of Scotch whisky's top blenders. Peregrina asked us to pick our favorite two samples out of four that he served to help determine which one he should potentially release. Then he sat back and let us work. The entire room was blown away by the quality of his samples - rich, bold whiskies full of character. It's clear Peregrina should only be proud of what he is producing these days. When I first interviewed Javier Blanco, founder and master distiller of Picos de Cabariezo in rural Cantabria, he didn't have any whisky available to try except new make spirit which he had started maturing in a variety of sherry casks. Four years later, his single cask releases are some of the best young sherried whiskies I've ever tasted, with a Fino cask a particular highlight amongst standouts. Blanco and his team built their own malting and fermentation equipment themselves as well as other crucial infrastructure, but he credits his kooky alquitara alembic still for the superb spirit that is then further sculpted in his high quality casks. It was his first time at the festival this year: 'I'm a newcomer to the festival and to making whisky. It's been brilliant is to get feedback from fans and industry peers to help understand how we're evolving and what the next steps for us should be.' In Madrid, José Gómez and Ernesto Huete from Sack Man built their own distillery after years of producing their spirit through Liber. Spirit made from the new distillery isn't old enough to be legally called 'whisky' by E.U. law, but a maturing 18-month old spirit was a stellar blend of fruity and mineral notes - the whisky from here is going to be superb. Bonus points also for baking cookies for festival attendees made from their own spent grains, it was the first time I have ever encountered this. These weren't the only highlights. Haran's 12 year old cider cask was phenomenally earthy while the award-winning Siderit are making promising rye whisky. I was also very pleased to discover Portugal's first whisky distillery, Venakki, whose spirits were easygoing yet full of depth. Little wonder a passionate group of whisky fans has built up as a result. Guillermo Palacios and Diego Paredes from Madrid whisky club Whiskeando travelled to Bilbao for the festival and are thrilled to see how their community is growing: 'We're seeing such a positive evolution with how this community - this year we're able to see our pals who we met the festival last year and its been brilliant to meet so many new whisky fans and producers.' says Palacios. 'That feeling of a unified community feels stronger' comments Paredes. 'You feel it across the country, and we're seeing such interesting things happening with different distilleries. There may be a long way to go, but I really think this is becoming something Spain can be proud of.'
