K. C. Mahindra Award for Excellence

Mahindra and Mahindra awards first runner up position for the K.C. Mahindra Award for excellence in automobile design to Mr. Shamit Srivastav from the Centre for Product Design and Manufaturing (CPDM), IISC, Bangalore. The second runner up went to a design team from NID.

Read more about their winning designs

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Magpie, Art D’inox etc

The value-addition has primarily come from design,” observes Pradyumna Vyas, principal designer at the National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad, who has designed products for low-end player, Bangalore-based Salem Steel

The role played by NID in the recent wave of popularity for steel homewares.

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Indian army turns to NID

Soldiers on the Siachen glacier can look forward to being in style. The army has contacted NID to design and produce clothing that can be worn on India’s highest battlefield where you are more likely to die of the cold than from enemyfire.

Read about the how NID plans to treat and strengthen Angora fibers for the Indian army.

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WOW

Nine Indian fashion designers have been chosen to showcase their collection at the Montana World of Wearable Art (WOW) 2006 to be held in New Zealand as part of a tie-up between the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and the New Zealand Tourism Board.

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Ashish and Manish in London

Creation by designer Ashish Gupta at London Fashion Week (S/S 07)


Creations by Manish Arora at London Fashion Week (S/S 2007)

All photos from BBC.

NIFT students, among others asked to design posters for International Film Festival of India (IFFI) as part of a contest held by the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) – source

NIFT to open Rae Bareily center

NIFT is in the process of setting up a center in the campus of the National Textile Corporation in Rae Bareily. NIFT is to be set up with a budget of Rs. 12 crores and will enable students to persure fashion technology without look at other alternatives. This plan was announced by the Union Minister for Textiles Shankarhsinh Vaghela.

– source

NID to redesign Rajdhani trains

All those questions on how to improve the situation of the Indian Railawys in past CEED, NID and NIFT entrance tests have finally been answered in real life.

Western Railways is thinking of approaching NID to redesign the Rajdani so they can attract more passengers in this age of cheap flights.

‘The exterior of the train is dull. We want to make it attractive with vivid colours splashed on to the coaches of the fully-air conditioned train. That’s why are thinking of roping in the NID,’’ said a senior railway official.

Travellers are promised a jerk free ride, with more comfortable berths and  a new menu. Even the loos are being overhauled. This change is not just about comfort but also luxury.

Read the complete article here – link 

Investing in Textiles

The [textile] industry is one of the largest and most important sectors in the economy in terms of output, foreign exchange earnings and employment in India. It contributes 20 percent of industrial production, 9 percent of excise collections, 18 percent of employment in the industrial sector, nearly 20 percent to the country’s total export earnings and 4 percent to the GDP.

An interesting article on the growing scope of the Indian Textile Industry by Dr. Uday Lal Pai. – link 

Digjam

The textile outfit of SK Birla group, Birla VXL Ltd to give a boost to its readymade garment business, is planning to extend its fabrics brand Digjam to men’s apparel, group chairman Sudarshan Kumar Birla said here on September 17. – link