Cheaper Bank Loans

JK Bank reduces interest rates on student loans while other banks raise theirs.

When all other banks are increasing their lending rates, JK Bank reduced the rate of interest on its Education Loan scheme from 10% to 9% for loans up to Rs.25,000; from 11% to 10% for loans over Rs.25,000 and up to Rs.5.00 lakh; and from 11.50% to 11% for loans above Rs.5 Lakh. The cut in interest rate on this scheme is despite the fact that the Bank revised its prime lending rate (PLR) and increased it from 11% to 12 %.

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As envisaged in the scheme, for studies in India, loan is granted for school education including plus 2 stage, graduation courses and post graduation courses (Masters & Ph.D.). Professional courses including engineering, medical, agriculture, veterinary, law, dental, management, etc., computer certificate courses of reputed institutions accredited to Department of Electronics or Institutes affiliated to University and courses like ICWA, CA, CFA, courses conducted by IIM, IIT, IISC, XLRI, NIFT etc.

– Greater Kashmir, Aug 22nd 2006

Read the entire story

Ritu Kumar

An interesting article on how the Grande Dame of Indian Fashion today started out.

“I mounted a way-out, futuristic, exhibition, of macho styled kurta-pajamas. These styles, or as we called them kurtas, were designed to be held together with suitcase zips, latched and bolted with hardware from Bagri Market, and patched with arrows of leather and assorted trims. For this audaciously gauche exhibition, The Statesman gave me a truly brave review.”

When she opened her first boutique..

Ritu rent[ed] a part of a grocery store on Wellesley Street for Rs 150 every month. She still remembers the many shows at coffee mornings at Trincas where the Bengali bhadrolok turned up in anything from dhoti-coat to box-wallah suits.

The Statesman August 22nd

A far cry from the fashionistas of today.

Read the entire article here

Interesting Statistics on the Indian Designer wear market

THIS WEEK: THE INDIAN DESIGNER APPAREL MARKET

The Indian apparel market was worth Rs 88,340 crore last year. The total market for designer apparel was Rs 9,835 crore.

Currently, the global designer wear market is worth about Rs 1,62,900 crore. It is growing at 9 per cent every year.

The Indian fashion industry accounts for barely 0.1 per cent of the international industry’s net worth.

Indian designer wear commands a category engagement of 66 per cent for male customers and 57 per cent for female customers. The category engagement in western designer wear is 5 per cent.

Excluding western wear, the per capita per annum spends on designer wear for men is Rs 42,627 and Rs 48,271 for women.

About 58 per cent of male shoppers and 69 per cent of female shoppers prefer shopping for designer wear in departmental stores. Comparatively, 42 per cent of male buyers and 34 per cent of female buyers vouch for exclusive brand showrooms.

The frequency of purchase is the highest amongst youngsters. However, women in the 41 to 50 years age group are also big shoppers.

The northern and western regions of India account for the highest shopping of designer apparel. – Busines Standard, Aug 22nd 2006

From this article in the Business Standard, (which was about management tips) we can see that the Indian Designer wear market still has a lot of scope to expand and grow. Although one may hear that the designer wear market is becoming saturated, that there are too many design institutes, I think there is huge potential in the market as India continues to become a developed country and as the market becomes more and more professional in it’s outlook. The need for trained professionals with experience in the Indian market can only grow as more and more international brands and companies come into India.

KSIC employs NIFT designer

KSIC, Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation is going all out to modernise its image. They have always been popular with my grandmother but I guess that they have decided it was time they tried to find newer potential clients.. To that end Mysore Silk has acquired a geographical intent patent and is now bringing out a new line of sarees designed by NIFT Bangalore graudate Ila Dhulipala. The new line will include

kasuti-embroidery embellishments, rich thickly woven pallus, bandhini techniques, exciting new colours like lilac, ecru coffee-brown and elephant-grey and contemporary designs. All inspired by traditional Indian architecture and ancient Indian jewellery.

Mysore silks have always been known for their quality although they have become a little boring lately…

Mysore silk draws its fame from the purity of the silk and the painstaking production process, which ensures that every aspect of the sari is perfect. For decades it has been celebrated for the extraordinary sheen of the fabric, purity of the zari, the distinctive drape, a wonderful non-crush quality, and a butter-soft feel. And despite its delicate looks, these classy saris are not only very washable, but also durable. The zari too rarely fades because the yarn used has the maximum gold and silver compared to any silk sari in the country.

..but although they are revamping their image they are quick to reassure us that the qulaity will not be compromised on.

Ila Dhulipala, the NIFT-trained designer who is doing the new designs says: “Although we are giving the body of the sari an element of interest with these innovations, we are seeing to it that it doesn’t kill the inherent beauty of the fabric.”

They report that the response to their new line has been good, so here’s looking forward to more designs from Mysore Silk.

Link to complete story in the Hindu.

Careers in Multimedia: Part 2

Wigan and Leigh http://www.wiganindia.org/

SAE India http://www.sae.edu

National Insitute of Design http://www.nid.edu

Arena Multimedia http://www.arena-multimedia.com

Zed Career Academy http://www.zcaonline.com

Toonz Animation http://www.toonzanimationindia.com

Asian Academy of Film and TV http://www.aaft.com

Picasso Centennial Canadian Animation College

Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics http://www.maacindia.com

Centre for Developement of Advanced Computing http://www.cdac.in

Careers in Multimedia

The Numbers:

* According to a NASSCOM study on Animation and Gaming, the Indian animation market is expected to see a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 35% from 2006 – 2009
* The Indian animation market is expected to grow to USD 950 million by 2009
* The Indian Gaming market is expected to grow to USD 300 million by 2009
* The IT Enabled Sector ( interactive/digital multimedia, animation and gaming etc) is expected to employ 1.1 million professionals by 2008
* There are 80 – 100 million TV homes in India, demanding 24 hour information and entertainment services.

What is Multimedia and why is everybody so excited about it?

Multimedia is exactly what the name suggests. It is an amalgam of different media elements, such as graphics, animation, audio/video text and computer integration.Multimedia can be used to create applications that are used from industries as diverse as education and entertainment. It involves creating
special effectts, virtual reality, animation, interactive multimedia programming and web content development.

The primary segments of the market are Entertainment, Publishing and IT.

The Indian entertainment industry is growing at the rate of 20%. With the increasing number of cable TV operators there is a clear need of trained professionals. Game development for computers, mobile phones and video games is another promising market. In the world of IT there is a clear need for professionals who can create web content, develop animation techniques and software, specialeffects etc. As more and more functions go on-line such as banking, communications and shopping it is no longer possible to specialise in either media, or technology or product design alone. These days an integrated approach is required for most industries.

Multimedia professionals also find their calling in the world of publishing – in the print media, web publications and broadcast media (who do content for TV channels/advertising and films).

Other applications of multimedia can be in the field of defence – creating virtual reality simulations, or in fashion or in mobile content – creating contestsring-tones etc.

What are the careers available in multimedia?

Jobs that are in demand in the multimedia sector are writing, editing, being a content provider, animation, designing, illustration, multimedia development, system analyst, publishing, programming, audio and video.

Where you could find those jobs depend on where you look. Currently the best jobs are being offered by MNCs, who have set up business operations in India. Other place to look for jobs are production houses, media houses, e- learning and software companies.

In the next post we will talk about where to stidy if you wish to take up Multimedia.
[This information has been summarised from Matrix of Design, from the Education Times, April 5th 2006]

WLIFW

The Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week seems to have emerged victorious from the scruffle with Lakme India Fashion week. Upto 75 designers have opted to show their clothes and accessories at the Delhi fashion week.

Read more about the WLIFW here. 

Indian/International?

More and more designers seem to be setting up their stores abroad, the latest designer to do is Payal Singhal, who has just opened her Bridal store in Manhattan.

Another desinger to open a store in America is none other than JJ Valaya, who has opened his flagship store in California.

Read the full story here.

Link to story>

Indian Students develop Software

Indian students from the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technolgy and NIFT develop some cool software to compete for the Imagine Cup, a competition held by Microsoft.

Link to story>

Weaving History

Gargi Gupta of the Business Standard writes about the loss of our traditional textile skills and about the 125 year old company that is doing it’s best to restore that tradition.

Link