Beginning the New Year ...

A new year, new tidings and new resolutions. This is also the year when the General Assembly Elections will be held towards the end of the first quarter. The political atmosphere has heated up already before the run up and all political parties are ready for the battle. It appears as if political parties live for the elections, by the elections and to stay in the election mode. For them, it seems, elections are the be-all and end-all of their existence. Do they see anything beyond that? 

 The political discourse has become so polluted and convoluted, the media so biased, there are allegations and counter allegations flying around, facts are presented in a most twisted fashion to suit the narrative of a particular dispensation. The media was never so compromised as it is today. The social media is not as if to not to blame. I believe we are living in a world of hypertension, that is even if a celeb sneezes, he is said to have contracted cold and some will pass it as a deadly virus while some may even go further to say that it is chronic and malevolent. The social media is at times hyper-venting issues, which were never highlighted before and in turn they give fillip to unnecessary reactions and false angst, which is the main source for propagation of false news and fake posts. This is picked up by general media without doing their checks and balances and it spreads like wildfire. 

I was watching the debate on Rafale on TV, social media, You Tube; I saw that only a few media houses were carrying the debate responsibly and genuinely informing their viewers, a majority of them were doing a great disservice to their viewers by spreading falsehood with half-baked facts and un-checked and unfounded news. 

I remember the debate on Bofors in the media in the eighties and that was investigative journalism at its best in the country. And, some super reporting by the leading print media houses, despite their biases, led to the public knowing the truth behind the massive cover-up. Here, so far, none in the media have been able to unearth anything substantial and everything is hearsay, so much so that even the Supreme Court has gone through all the evidences and has negated any evidence of wrongdoing. Now the matter is before the CAG and Attorney General and their findings will also be out in the Public Domain. 

Since this is the election year, the masses are going to witness antics of many politicians, which will keep the nation amused.  

Coming back to January issue of Lace n Lingerie, we have in this edition, brought out the review of the swimwear market in 2018 and its prospects in 2019. The market has gone through quite a lot of upheavals and I think the game has clearly got out of the hands of Indian players and landed in the MNC with brands like Speedo, Decathlon, ruling the roost. They have not only managed to capture the imagination of the Indian consumer by their aggressive marketing, but have also made great inroads in the bastion of Indian brands by their aggressive pricing. So, the swimwear scenario has changed forever I guess. 

There is a flashback series, which highlights the main events in the year gone by and a curtain-raiser to our upcoming event—The Bodywear Exhibition in Ahmedabad. Almost 30 brands have confirmed their participation as we go to Press, more will do so in the coming weeks, what about you? If you haven't joined the Brand Wagon, now is the time to do so. Do send your feedback as usual, because we consider it vital.