Thursday, November 22, 2012

Run, it s the global textile beast! burp!

When our Editor called us to his office a few months back and told us that us two ‘lucky’ one’s had been chosen to ‘recon’ the Indian textile sector and to compare its progress globally, we realised that finally, us two upstarts had arrived; and our calibre recognised. Visions of the fashion capitals of the world started floating all around us. Which one should be the first one we should hit to really understand the effects of India’s textile sector on global players? Should we travel to New York? Or perhaps Paris & Milan? Maybe London would be a better bet? Or closer home, Tokyo?

The truth hit us hard, too hard. When our cab stopped at the city centre, the searing heat got to us faster than the bill we had run up from New Delhi! We were in Ludhiana! The fact is that if one has to understand which places really drive the Indian textile sector, the names are as unfashionable as they could be. There are basically three belts that drive Indian textiles – the Ludhiana belt, the Tripur belt and the Ahmedabad belt! Punjab, Gujrat and Karnataka in fact contribute a smashing 40% to India’s total textile exports! And this story is about our experiences through these belts with people who can change industry dynamics with just a phone call. And about the fact that 3 years after the textile quotas were abolished, the Indian textile industry is surely dying; waiting for that last bone crushing hit from the sharks of the global textile world, led by the ruthless beast of an animal called China!

How better could you describe it? Walk through any street of Ludhiana, and you’ll see at least one dying textile unit. Ahmedabad – once called the Manchester of India – has seen 65 mills close down in the past two years. The irony is that it wasn’t too long ago that the contagious energy of the blued eyed boys of the Indian textile industry was propelling analysts from all over the world to think big about India.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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SEZ: LOSS MAKERS

They’re the biggest loss makers

Even the duty freedom was not given once but twice – once on the inputs used and again on the finished products from the SEZs. The duty foregone on the inputs are irrecoverable as there is no provision of paying back.

It’s quite cleat that SEZs [that are framed on half-backed logic and parameters] will do more harm than good. The latest report by CAG makes it important to re-think on the modus operandi of SEZ. It’s important to think on SEZ with respect to revenue losses and tax holidays. The current discussion of impact of SEZ on agriculture has actually overshadowed the matter of revenue loss by SEZ. The CAG’s report has again proved the apprehension true and also has added a new dimension that SEZ are economic disasters as well.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Click and you get what you want!

With e-marriages you now get to choose your guy or gal just as you’d choose some gadget... list out the specifications you need, click and you get what you want!

These portals guarantee privacy both in terms of pictures posted, as well as information provided, thus ensuring that only people serious about marriage get listed. Parents can now take a backseat while their sons or daughters make their selection. Once they are sure about their decision, parents intervene to take the matter ahead and solemnise the affair.

“My parents were scandalised when I told them that I was going to meet a guy I had come across on Orkut, but today they have no issues with me meeting random men I find suitable on matrimonial sites, that too when most of the time I reject them after meeting them once. I guess the word matrimony works wonders on their mind!” says Rhea Mohan, Fashion Photographer, who has met plenty of potential suitors through matrimonial sites. So, the junction at which our society stands is that if children date through marriage portals, it is respectable, but if they meet via social networking sites then it is against our moral values. “If Facebook can be used for networking, why can’t Shaadi.com be used for similar purposes, considering that it is a platform to bring people with marriage on their agenda together at one place. Also, I might land up marrying someone I meet on Facebook and might not marry anyone I meet through Shaadi.com. It’s about the zing and that can be found at any place. I am game for it but I do realise that it might not work the same way for everyone,” says Rishi Chandna, Assistant Manager at Colliers International, and a frequent social networking site surfer.

Thus people’s priorities are altering and the changing times command that to build a connection with that special someone, get a high speed Internet connection!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Pamper your child today

Pamper your child today and it could possibly ruin his tomorrow

In 2007, Mattel, of Barbie, Hot Wheels and Fisher-Price fame, had recalled 24 million units of toys from the market after being accused of crossing the lead content’s permissible limit. Defending the enterprise, Julia Jensen, Vice President, International Communications, Mattel says, “The majority of our recalled products were due to the magnet issue. In fact, the products recalled for lead represent less than half of a percent of Mattel’s total annual production.” On being asked why Mattel allows lead in their toys, Julia answers, “Mattel’s specifications match the worldwide requirements and the laws allow those minute quantities of lead because lead is ubiquitous.”

Although health officials have not been able to lay down a legal limit of lead in the body , there have been discussions on getting the limit lowered to 10 ug/dl. Usually a toy manufactured with lead content of 25 ug/dl, could cause difficulty in learning, language and speech problems and slower reflexes but that’s nothing in comparison to the toys manufactured with 100 ug/dl, which can lead to a swollen brain and eventually death. Usually a child under the age of five is at a greater risk of lead consumption because he tends to put objects into his mouth, and it is here that efforts to reduce lead exposure gains priority. “You should not only wash your kid’s hands frequently but the toys should also be regularly washed. Also, before any purchase, one must check if the toy is a recalled one,” adds Deivyani.

Other ways to keep your child from consuming lead are re-painting your house frequently so that your child doesn’t get peeled-off wall paint in his mouth. Though titanium dioxide happens to be a replacement for lead in paint, lead is still used as a stabilising agent, thereby making it inevitably risky when there are kids at home. Also, a child suffering from deficiencies in iron, calcium, and vitamin C is said to be more susceptible to harm from lead exposure. So, next time you know what to feed your child to strengthen his immune system from this toxin called ‘lead’.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Rhinoceros Unicornis population

Even as five animals are felled by poachers in a span of a few weeks, forest officials in Assam are positive that the Rhinoceros Unicornis population can be saved!

And that, as expected, has people worried. “There are no rhinos in the Manas and Laokhowa sanctuaries,” says Saumyadeep Dutta, who heads Nature’s Beacon, which first sounded the alarm regarding the killing of rhinos in Kaziranga in 2007. “Then, of course, there are some NGOs,” says Dutta “that have interests with the forest department and thus keep supporting them.”

Malakar, though, refutes such allegations. “We are reintroducing rhinos in Manas after making sure there is adequate public involvement so that there are no security issues,” says Malakar. “As you know, the entire rhino population there was wiped out during the Bodo agitation of the ‘80s and ‘90s.” As for the Indian Rhino Vision (IRV), things are so far going as planned, he says: four female rhinos from Kaziranga and two males from the Pobitora sanctuary near Guwahati (both of which are now overpopulated with rhinos) have been released at Manas over the past few months. “I don’t think there is a problem of inbreeding among rhinos; however, this should help save the gene pool at the two sanctuaries,” says Malakar. Once Manas gets back its population of rhinos (the target for the relocation exercise is 30 to 40 animals), the plan would be to target the Laokhowa sanctuary near Nagaon which too is considered an original rhino habitat which was emptied of its animals. And the officials are banking on the fact that they have a surplus in both Kaziranga and Pobitora: apart from the 2,000 at the world heritage site, Pobitora has more than 90 individuals in a space of 16 sq km. As for the principle, it’s simple: spread them out to their original habitats and make it more difficult for poachers to get to them. Despite the poaching, the officials insist, poachers haven’t been able to keep pace. One only hopes the vision is a success. For the rhino, and us.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Sunday, November 18, 2012

Body gets world attention…

After the basic sensory functions, the action performed most by the body gets world attention…

May be a similar thought had dawned upon the Swiss engineer, Karl Müller too who solved the problem to some extent for many by simply developing shoes that allow one to walk in a gait similar to that of the Masais. Calling it the Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT), he made such shoes to relieve one of the joints’ pain. The shoes that don’t look like the others (many call it ‘hideous’) is around two inches thick at the centre of the heel and gets thinner gradually towards the toe and swoops upward at the rear. So as one steps down, it is on the comfortable cushiony part of the heel (also called the ‘sweet spot’) and that is when a springy sensor bounces back, making the foot roll forward towards the toe.

For reasons pertaining either to right posture or other ailments, MBT is inspiring many other forms of shoes across the world. Fortunately, better-looking Alegria shoes that have a thick cushiony comfortable sole, along with the rocker aspect of the MBT shoes and the lightweight slip-on quality of the flip-flops is becoming a rage in the US within only a week of its introduction this April.

The MBT shoe may make you conspicuous (being of no beauty) but then, that’s the gait of the Masais who apparently have no cellulite! Yes, it was health writer, Harriet Griffey (The Times of London) who popularised this footwear technology as anti-cellulite. Bouncing and rolling in the shoes does need some acclimating, and that’s why training classes exist only to teach how to walk in the MBT shoes. Whether the cellulite disappears or not, several around the world have reported relief in backache due to lesser burden on the knees and hips.

While all MBT-inspired shoes emphasise on toning the muscles and improving the posture, for a perfect body, the Masai do more than just walking in these tyre shoes. This includes drinking loads of milk, eating cattle and goat meat, having some bitter soup made from acacia tree (containing cholesterol reducing agents) and drinking cattle blood. So, if you want it the Masai way in entirety, then the author can only wish you luck!


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

King’s democracy not 100%

Only graduates were permitted to cast their votes in polls

Last week when voting for the 47-member National Assembly took place, the results took everyone by surprise, candidates and the public included. The Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party (dpt) won a whopping 45 of the 47 seats, while its rival Peoples’ Democratic Party (pdp) floundered in the polls, winning only two seats. For a state holding its first ever election, the results could not have been more dramatic or lopsided.

"These elections are a farce. They were staged when a movement of true democracy confronted the monarch of Bhutan,” says Deki Yangzom, a pro-democracy activist, working from exile in Nepal, adding: “The king admitted that but for this movement for democracy, he would have continued as monarch.”


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

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