Soon, an academy to promote handicrafts

A national academy for handicrafts will be set up soon to nurture talents of artisans in the country. The academy will be on the lines ofNational Institute for Design (NID) and National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

Anand Sharma, the union minister for commerce and industry and textiles, made the announcement while inaugurating 'Kaivalam', a four-day World Crafts Summit, on Sunday. The event is organised by the World Crafts Council (WCC) and Union textiles ministry.

Sharma said, "Creating an academy for arts and handicraft is being given a serious thought. I do hope that with all possible support this becomes a reality." He said that the handicraft industry suffers largely due to poverty among weavers and banks ought to support them with easy access to loans. "Last November I was in a weaving village near Benaras. The saris were beautiful but the weavers didn't earn enough to feed their families. Access to easy credit has to be available for artisans and banks have to be supportive. Sometimes they (artisans) will default but this is a very small number," he said.

On FDI in multi-brand retail sector, Sharma said the decision of the Centre was taken by consensus and no state could decide for another or deprive them if they choose to go ahead with the Centre's decision. "Only 10 states who wanted it have been notified. Other states can also join. However, it is left to them (states) to decide whether to join or not," Sharma said.

Exhibits from 40 countries, including from Kenya, Brazil, Mexico, Rwanda, Niger and Uzbekistan are on display at the ITC Grand Chola in Guindy, where the summit is being held. Interdisciplinary exhibitions are being held at various art galleries across the city as part of the summit.

National Institute of Fashion Technology launches fashion retail course in Bhubaneswar

Times of India    Tags: Fashion Design

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Bhubaneswar, has launched a one-year programme in fashion retail management to cater to the demand for skilled manpower in this sector. The 30-seat course is scheduled to begin from October 15.

"A large number of national and international designers are flocking to Bhubaneswar to set up their business. When they approached us for skilled manpower to deal with retail fashion industry, we did not have people in hand. There is a huge supply-demand gap for manpower in this sector. So we decided to launch the programme," said NIFT director K C S Ray. The course will deal with visual merchandising, category management, retail planning, retail supply chain management, retail buying and fashion merchandising.

Graduate of any stream with a good communication skill can apply. "The classes will be conducted in the evening to accommodate working executives. Communication skill is an important aspect of the course as executives in this job would have to interact with people," said B Jena, a faculty of NIFT. "Entrepreneurs in the state also have a lot of talen but they cannot present them properly for which they are not very successful. This course would also help them," he added. NIFT has tied up with at least 16 organizations for placement of these students.