Brands

Japan says goodbye to Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei amid conflict with China

Published

4 days ago

January 30, 2026

TOKYO: Countries have gone to war over oil fields and mineral deposits. Empires have clashed over rivers and sea lanes. Donald Trump has worked himself into a lather over tariff rates. But only in the peculiar theatre of modern geopolitics can two major powers find themselves locking horns over large, lumbering black-and-white bears that spend most of their day eating bamboo and napping—animals for which governments pay $1 million annually for loaning them from the Chinese. That’s panda diplomacy in 2025.

On Sunday, thousands of Japanese citizens queued for up to three and a half hours in the winter cold outside Tokyo’s Ueno zoo, not to protest or celebrate, but to say goodbye. The objects of their affection: twin giant panda cubs named Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, who are being packed off to China on Tuesday.

Their departure will leave Japan without a single panda for the first time since 1972, the year Beijing and Tokyo ended decades of hostility and normalised diplomatic relations. That the bears are leaving now, at this particular moment, is no accident.

Some 108,000 people entered a lottery for one of just 4,400 slots to see the pandas one last time. Those who won wept openly as they pressed against viewing barriers, phones held aloft to capture final photographs.

The scenes of public grief might seem overwrought for the departure of zoo animals. But in the coded language of Asian diplomacy, the return of the pandas carries unmistakable weight.

The People’s Republic of China has wielded giant pandas as instruments of soft power since Chairman Mao’s government came to power in 1949. The practice, known as panda diplomacy, involves loaning the endangered bears to foreign countries as gestures of goodwill, friendship or more cynically, to grease the wheels of trade negotiations. China retains ownership of every panda it loans abroad, including any cubs born in captivity overseas. Host countries pay roughly $1 million per year per pair for the privilege.

The timing of panda loans has often coincided with significant diplomatic or economic milestones. In 2011, when two pandas arrived at Edinburgh zoo in Scotland, Britain was deep in negotiations with China over lucrative contracts to supply salmon meat, Land Rover vehicles and energy technology. The bears arrived; the deals were signed. Everyone smiled for the cameras.

But panda diplomacy cuts both ways. As loan agreements expire, typically after ten years, though extensions are common, many countries have found their pandas recalled to China without replacement. The message is clear without being spoken: when relations sour, the pandas go home.

Which brings us to Japan’s current predicament. Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have deteriorated sharply in recent weeks after Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, declared that her country would intervene militarily if China attempted to seize Taiwan by force.

For China, which views the self-governed democratic island as a renegade province that must eventually be “reunited” with the mainland, by force if necessary, Takaichi’s statement crossed a red line. China’s foreign ministry issued furious denunciations. Earlier this month, Beijing tightened restrictions on exports of rare earth products to Japan, materials crucial for manufacturing electronics and advanced technology.

Against this backdrop, the departure of Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei reads less like routine zoo administration and more like a diplomatic slap. The cubs were born in 2021 to parents Shin Shin and Ri Ri, both of whom were loaned to Japan specifically for breeding research. Under the terms of such agreements, all cubs born abroad belong to China and must eventually return. But whether Japan will receive replacement pandas, whether the cycle of panda diplomacy will continue or simply end, remains shrouded in uncertainty.

For now, Japanese panda enthusiasts face a future without the bears that have been fixtures at Ueno zoo for more than five decades. The crowds on Sunday seemed to understand they were witnessing not just the departure of two animals, but the closing of a chapter.

In the surreal calculus of international relations, perhaps we are. Countries signal their intentions through warships and tariffs, through diplomatic cables and economic sanctions. But sometimes the message arrives in the form of a truck pulling away from a zoo, carrying two sleepy pandas back to China, leaving an empty enclosure and a queue of weeping citizens behind.

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Brands

Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

Published

3 days ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.

Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.

“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.

The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.

Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.

The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.

Brands

Brnd.me enters Europe as haircare brands power global expansion

Published

3 days ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

Bengaluru: Brnd.me, the global consumer brands company formerly known as Mensa Brands, has entered the European market following strong momentum across the Middle East, the United States and Canada.

The company has launched across the UK, Germany, France and Spain, with plans to expand into Italy, the Netherlands and Poland over the next year. The push is being led by its haircare and aromatherapy brands, Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure, marking Brnd.me’s first structured expansion into Europe.

The European beauty market represents a total addressable opportunity of over $4 billion across haircare and aromatherapy, supported by high digital adoption and demand for accessible, performance-led products.

Brnd.me’s hair care and aromatherapy business currently operates at an annual run rate of around $6 million, with Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure delivering roughly 10 per cent month-on-month growth, driven by expansion and rising repeat demand.

To support regional growth, the company has appointed a general manager based in Germany and is evaluating investments in warehousing and local team expansion.

Early traction has been strong. Within weeks of launch, Botanic Hearth’s rosemary hair oil ranked among the top five hair oils in Germany, signalling strong consumer pull in a competitive market.

Brnd.me founder and chief executive officer Ananth Narayanan, said Europe represents the next phase of the company’s international strategy. He added that the European business is expected to scale to a $10 million annual run rate by the end of 2026, with long-term ambitions to reach $60 million over the next six years.

The company’s Europe strategy centres on digital-first distribution, repeat demand and TikTok-led discovery, alongside direct-to-consumer expansion to strengthen brand equity and margins.

The move also aligns with growing EU–India trade engagement, supporting long-term sourcing and cross-border supply chains.

Brands

TechnoSport taps quick commerce with launch on Slikk’s 60-minute platform

Published

3 days ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

NATIONAL: TechnoSport has launched on Slikk, the ultra-fast fashion app offering 60-minute delivery, as the activewear brand accelerates its push into quick commerce to capture Gen Z and young millennial shoppers.

The debut brings more than 150 high-performance styles to Slikk’s platform, with an average selling price of Rs 450, expanding TechnoSport’s reach across over 80 pin codes.

The partnership follows strong momentum for TechnoSport across Q-commerce channels, where the brand has recorded around 60 per cent volume growth over the past six months. The company expects quick commerce to contribute nearly 20 per cent of its revenue in the coming years as hyperlocal delivery gains scale.

Slikk, which recently raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed, has rapidly gained popularity among youth consumers seeking speed, trend relevance and impulse-led shopping experiences.

Activewear remains one of Slikk’s fastest-growing categories, driven by shoppers increasingly treating fitness-led fashion as an everyday essential. The platform has reported a 30-fold year-on-year increase in items sold, reflecting rising demand for performance wear that blends comfort with style.

TechnoSport chief executive officer Puspen Maity, said the collaboration would help the brand engage more closely with young consumers whose fashion choices are shaped by instant needs and lifestyle aspirations. He added that rapid delivery bridges the gap between intent and purchase, allowing shoppers to access activewear exactly when they want it.