MARKETS, P6 INTERNATIONAL, P7 INTERNATIONAL, P7 GLEAMING ON GLOBAL CUES US SUES iPHONE MAKER RATES UNCHANGED AT 5.25% Gold shines bright, climbs to all-time high Apple accused of monopolising smartphone markets Bank of England hawks drop their push for hikes MUMBAI, FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2024 VOL LXIV NO. 70, 20 PAGES, `12.00 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 72,641.19 ▲ 539.50 NIFTY: 22,011.95 ▲ 172.85 NIKKEI 225: 40,815.66 ▲ 812.06 HANG SENG: 16,863.10 ▲ 320.03 `/$: 83.15 ▲0.02 `/€: 90.76 ▼ 0.61 BRENT: $85.75 ▼ $0.20 GOLD: `66,679 ▲ `1,233 ED arrests Kejriwal in Delhi excise policy case BIGGEST ELECTORAL BOND BUYERS DONATED ACROSS PARTY LINES SBI lifts the lid on parties, donors EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE New Delhi, March 21 Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal DELHI CHIEF MINISTER Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night in an excise policylinked money laundering case, officials said. The arrest, the first of a sitting chief minister, came hours after the Delhi High Court refused to grant protection to the AAP national convener from any coercive action by the agency. The 55-year-old leader’s arrest, amid campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, drew angry reactions from his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The party said Kejriwal “will continue as the chief ministerof Delhi. If need be, he will run the government from jail”. The BJP, though, demanded that Kejriwal step down as chief minister on moral grounds. —PTI IN THE NEWS COMPOSITE PMI RISES TO 8-MONTH HIGH IN MARCH CLIENTS TRIM SPENDS PUSHED AND PRODDED by the Supreme Court, State Bank of India (SBI), which had sought time until June 30, revealed telling data on electoral bonds on Thursday — from donor details to parties that redeemed the bonds, including the unique alphanumeric codes that link donors to beneficiaries. This dataset, published by the Election Commission (EC),afterSBI filed a compliance affidavit as directed by the court, represents the largest disclosure regarding the controversial scheme that guaranteed absolute anonymity to donors. It lifts anotherveil of secrecyoverpolitical funding via this controversial vehicle introduced in the first term of the Modi government in 2018,and is poised to set off a debate potentially revealing quid pro quo relationships between donors under scrutiny by law enforcementagenciesat boththe Central and state levels and the party in power. The latest disclosure shows that the biggest buyers of electoral bonds donated across party lines with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging as one of the top three beneficiaries of theirdonations in most cases. TOP 10 DONORS OF TWO MAJOR PARTIES BJP Megha Engineering Qwik Supply Chain Vedanta Bharti Airtel Keventer Foodpark DLF Birla Carbon Future Gaming Haldia Energy Torrent Power AMOUNT (` CR) 529 375 226.65 197.4 144.5 130 105 100 81 76 CONGRESS Western UP Power Vedanta MKJ Enterprises Yashoda Super Specialty Avees Trading Future Gaming Sasmal Infrastructure Rithwik Projects SEPC Power Siddhi Trading Continued on Page 18 110 104 91.6 64 53 50 39 30 30 22 BJP’s top donors Cong top donor include Vedanta a Megha firm ‘Lottery king’ donated to all THETOPTHREEdonorsofthe ruling BJP,the biggest beneficiary of electoral bonds, include Hyderabad-headquarteredMeghaEngineering andInfrastructure,QwikSupply Chain,which is associated with RIL, and Anil AgarwalpromotedVedanta. ■ P2 THE LARGEST ELECTORAL bonds donor, Coimbatorebased lottery firm Future Gaming and Hotel Services, saw a large chunk of its purchasesredeemedbytwopolitical parties, with Trinamool Congressleadingasitsbiggest beneficiaryat`542crore.■ P2 THEHIGHESTDONORtothe Congresswas Megha Group’s Western UP PowerTransmission Company, which gave `100 crore via electoral bonds. The group’s Megha Engineering and Infrastructure was also the highest donorto the BJP. ■ P2 THE HSBC FLASH India composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to an eight-month high of 61.3 in March from 60.6 in February, amid buoyant demand conditions, which fuelled growth and accelerated aggregate sales, S&P Global said on Thursday, reports Priyansh Verma. ■ PAGE 2 Flipkart rejigs paypolicy, big bonus fortop team PIB'S FACT CHECK UNIT: SC STAYS GOVT NOTIFICATION FLIPKARTHAS REJIGGED its increment policy for the current year, splitting the annual salaryincreases into two tranches ratherthan have those reflecting in an employee’s pay structure.Further,to check attrition — especially at the senior levels — the companywill also roll out 100% bonus to its employees and provide more ESOPs (employee stock ownership plan). Flipkart has had a spate of layoffs recently and expects these measures to help retain employees across levels. As per the new policy,which the company has termed ‘merit-linked’ payout, if an employee is awarded a5% annual increment, the overall salarywill not reflect theincreased amount. Instead, the hike equivalent will be THE SUPREME COURT on Thursday stayed the government’s notification on the fact check unit under the Press Information Bureau (PIB). The top court said the proceeding was still pending before the Bombay High Court, and observed “serious Constitutional issues” with regard to the notification. ■ PAGE 3 FE BUREAU Bengaluru, March 21 split into two tranches,with the first amount paid out in April and the next in the second half of theyear.Thiswill applyto staffwho fall in grade 12 and below. Senior grade employees will receive a 100% bonus, as against 80% they were awarded last year. Continued on Page 18 CSK BRAND VALUE MAY TAKE A KNOCK Dhoni googly stumps brands VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO Mumbai, March 21 MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI never fails to surprise.Ahead of the opening match of the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday,which will see defending champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) square off against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadiumin Chennai, the 42-year-old cricketer chose to hand over the captaincy reins to teammate Ruturaj Gaikwad. Brand experts say CSK’s brand value may take a knock of about 10-15% following Dhoni’s decision to quit as the skipper.While the timing may have seemed perfect to ‘Thala’, as he is affectionately called, his myriad fans and wellwishers have been left disappointed. Social media erupted with fans describinghismoveasan “end of an era” and “sud- ■ Dhoni is most THE ‘THALA’ FACTOR ■ Won IPL five times, which is equal to the Mumbai Indians’ record ■ CSK second only to Mumbai Indians in terms of brand value Mumbai Indians ■ Dhoni has had a long tenure of 16 years as CSK captain CSK successful IPL captain with 133 wins Rohit Sharma has 87 wins as IPL captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, new CSK captain $87 mn $81 mn Valued by Brand Finance den”. He was being promoted as the skipper till Wednesday on social media. “I got to know of thedecisionjustbeforethe captains’ meeting (on Thursday).You have to respect his decision, it is his call,” CSK CEOKasiViswanathantold PTI soon after the IPL X handlerevealedGaikwad as the newCSKskipper. “Fans and brands have grown up seeing Dhoni as the skipper of INSIDE Cricket frenzy: A `5,000-cr bonanza... PAGE 9 CSK.Hispresenceofmind,hisleadership qualities will be missed, even though he remains in the team for now.Therewillcertainlybeanimpact on the CSK brand value, albeit for a short period,” Ashish Mishra, CEO, Interbrand India & SouthAsia,said. Continued on Page 18 Accenture cuts FY24 sales forecast SAMEER RANJAN BAKSHI Bengaluru, March 21 HARD TIMES ACCENTURE ON THURSDAY lowered its revenue forecast forfiscal 2024,with economic uncertainty prompting its clients to cut spending on its consulting services. The IT services provider’s revised outlook expects full-year revenue growth to be in the range of 1% to 3%, down from its earlier projection of 2% to 5%. After the announcement, the company's shares fell by around 5% in premarket trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The American Depository Receipt (ADR) shares of IT majors Infosys and Wipro were also trading up to 4% lower post the announcement. Accenturehasalsoforecastthird-quarter revenue in the range of $16.25 billion expects full-year revenue growth in the range of 1% to 3% ■ Accenture now ■ Has forecast Q3 revenue in the range of $16.25 bn -$16.85 bn, below estimates ■ Posted Q2 revenue of $15.80 bn, slightly lower than estimates to $16.85 billion, below an estimate of $17.01 billion,according to London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data.Revenue for its communications,media & technology segment fell 8% year-on-year. Accenture’s performance is widely regarded as a benchmark for the Indian IT industry, providing a peek ■ Company's new bookings in Q2 came in at $21.6 bn, a decline of 2% into the expected outcome for domestic companies. The January-March quarter earnings season commences onApril 12,with bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) expected to report its earnings. Continued on Page 18