Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today unveiled the Union Budget for the financial year 2011-12 in the Parliament. The Union Budget 2011-12 aims to sustain economic growth, strengthen infrastructure, moderate the price rise, particularly of agricultural produce and reduce social imbalances through inclusive development.
Presenting the budget 2011-12, the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee said that the budget is a transition towards a more transparent and result oriented economic management system in India.
The Finance Minister said that huge differences between wholesale and retail prices are at the expense of remunerative prices for the farmers and competitive prices for consumers.
Following are the salient points and proposals made by Mukherjee in his budget speech:
• For sustaining growth tax reform will continue with the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) to be operationalised from April, 2012 while a Constitution Amendment Bill is proposed to be introduced during the current session of Parliament as a step towards roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
• He said the introduction of DTC and GST will result in moderation of rates, simplification of laws and better compliance.
• Rs. 3000 crore will be provided to NABARD to help handloom weaver cooperative societies to become financially viable.
• A nominal 1 per cent central excise duty is being imposed on 130 items. The basic customs duty has been reduced from 30 to 5 per cent on raw silk, from 5 to 2.5 per cent on certain textile intermediates and from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent on certain inputs for manufacture of technical fibre and yarn.
Anabel González, Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica; Marcelo Puello Vice Minister of Dominican Republic; Héctor Miguel Antonio Dada Hirezi, Minister of Economy for El Salvador; Raúl Trejo Esquivel Vice Minister of Integration and Foreign Trade for Guatemala; José Francisco Zelaya, Secretary of State, Offices of Industry and Commerce for Honduras; Orlando Solórzano Delgadillo, Minister of Development, Industry and Commerce for Nicaragua; and Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Miriam Sapiro, Deputy Trade Representative for the United States are pleased to release the following Joint Statement, highlighting the work accomplished at the first meeting of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States (CAFTA-DR) Free Trade Commission held on February 22-23, 2011, in San Salvador, El Salvador.
On March 1, the CAFTA-DR will complete its 5th year since first implementation. It has yielded positive results for all seven trading partners and has contributed to significant increases in trade and investment among our countries. When we signed the CAFTA-DR Agreement in 2004, we committed to promote economic growth and prosperity, expand trade and investment opportunities, and intensify regional integration and competitiveness. Much has been achieved, but there is more work to be done and we stand ready to meet this challenge.
At the CAFTA-DR Free Trade Commission (FTC) meeting, we celebrated the five year anniversary since El Salvador and the United States implemented the Agreement. Despite the economic challenges faced by the global economy in recent years, total (two way) trade between the United States and the Central American partners and the Dominican Republic grew from $35 billion in 2005 prior to the implementation of the agreement to $48 billion in 2010.
Lucky Fibres Plc, makers of Nobel premium brand of carpets and rugs, has been awarded the 2011 Oeko-TexR Standard 100 certification from the Institute of the International Association for, Research and Testing in the Field of Textile Ecology, Zurich , Switzerland .
The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification otherwise tagged 'Confidence in Textiles' certified that all Lucky Fibres products have been tested and certified safe and devoid of harmful substance that may be harmful to the consumers.
It gives Lucky Fibres the legal right to use the Oeko-TexR mark on its products.
According to the General Manager, Lucky Fibres Plc, Mr Vinay Dhanuka, the Oeko-Tex Certification is not only a recognised benchmark for the consumers but also serves as an additional quality assurance tool for Lucky Fibres.
'The certification is issued to the company by the Swiss Testing Institute based on test report ZHCO 072071.1 after a thorough test and inspection of Tufted carpets and tuffed rugs made of polypropylene or polyamide yarn, dyed or printed, including accessories(PP primary and secondary backing PABCF yarn)," he added.
Mr. Dhanuka explained that the certification confirmed the safety of Nobel brands of carpets and rugs to the skin of the end users having been tested and certified to be devoid of any harmful substance that could cause harm to the skin of the consumers.
He stressed further that the certification is an established safety standard throughout the textile manufacturing chain worldwide and enables checks to be made for any harmful substances at every stage in the production process.
The consumer world is turning more and more eco-friendly with each passing day, more so with the clothing, worn 24 hours a day. Aura Herbal Textiles, an Ahmedabad based textiles firm is out to take full advantage of the change in trends.
Recently, Levi Strauss, the iconic US-based jeanswear brand has commissioned Aura to supply it a range of knits and wovens, dyed and printed with herbs for its new proposed; ‘Herbal Collection’.
Way back in May 2009, fibre2fashion had exclusively interviewed Mr Arun Baid, Managing Director and leant about the difference in dyeing and printing fabrics with the normal but harmful chemicals and herbal dyes.
Aura Herbal was started in 2002 and the company has turned a full circle since then. The company co-managed by his wife – Ms Sonal Baid is now supplying eco-friendly textile products to over 500 clients across the globe.
Speaking about the tie-up with Levi Strauss to fibre2fashion, Mr Baid informed, “We are doing dyeing of knits and woven for the herbal collection they are proposing. The printing will also be done herbally”.
Commenting confidently on the growth of the business, he observed, “We see it growing very fast and in near future is expected to grow in all directions with a growth of 100% annually”.
“We are entering into undergarments, towels and fabrics to begin with” he said by revealing their expansion plans.
In view of growing demand for skin-friendly textiles and hence the increase in demand for Oeko-Tex Standard 100, Hohenstein India Pvt. Ltd. organized an information seminar on Oeko-Tex certification on 2nd February 2011 at Hotel Lords Plaza, Surat.
Entrepreneurs, Managers from QC and Marketing departments of the textile industry, garment and accessory manufacturing units, dyes & chemical companies etc. had assembled and took an active participation in this program.
Oeko-Tex Standard 100 is a product certification that concentrates on human ecology part of textile processing and products. The Oeko-Tex label contains the wording- Confidence in Textiles- Tested for harmful substances. This provides peace of mind to consumers and is an active decision making tool for a large number of overseas buyers.
Hohenstein India Pvt. Ltd. is a subsidiary of Hohenstein Institutes, Germany and the official representative of International Oeko-Tex Association in India. Hohenstein is a research institute having versatile facilities for testing, evaluation, research, inspection, auditing, certification etc. for a wide range of products and services in Textiles like fibres, garments, home-textiles, accessories, dyes/chemicals, technical textiles etc.
The basic objective behind organising this seminar was to create more awareness about the standard, its importance, benefits etc; giving the correct information to the participants and clearing doubts. The seminar also spread information about various services provided by Hohenstein mentioned above.
The deadline for this year’s Techtextil Innovation Award and Avantex Innovation Award is 28 February 2011. The awards, which will be presented during Techtextil, International Trade Fair for Technical Textiles and Nonwovens, from 24 to 26 May 2011, spotlight the latest developments, promote unconventional thinking and intensify the dialogue between researchers, manufacturers and users.
Thus, Techtextil honours outstanding achievements in the fields of research, new materials, products, technologies and applications. Unconventional ideas, visions and concepts are also welcome. The competitions are open to everyone who has completed an innovative development of this kind since 1 January 2010.
The prerequisite for participation in the Techtextil Innovation Award is that the work must be connected with the production or use of technical textiles, nonwovens or textile-reinforced materials. The Avantex Innovation Award is given for developments relating to the apparel-industry value chain.
Both innovation awards are presented for works in different fields and categories.
Techtextil will be held concurrently with Texprocess, Leading International Trade Fair for Processing Textile and Flexible Materials, from 24 to 27 May 2011. At Texprocess, international companies will present the latest machines, processes and accessories for the garment and textile manufacturing industries, as well as for companies specialising in technical-textile processing.
In celebration of its 100th anniversary and for the Milan Furniture Fair 2011, Trussardi relaunches the Trussardi Design brand through a new collaboration with world renowned designer Michael Young.
During the month of April for Milan’s Furniture Fair 2011, Trussardi will present at Palazzo Trussardi Alla Scala in Piazza della Scala 5 a collection that Michael Young designed to relaunch the Trussardi Design brand. Inspired by Trussardi’s commitment to product design that was amply developed in the eighties and nineties, Michael Young’s collection is the result of his research of Trussardi’s archives to review the history of the brand and its values and transform it into inspiration for his new contemporary products.
For this extraordinary collaboration that starts today and will continue in the future with other innovative projects, Michael Young conceived a collection that combines the distinctive values of the fashion house and its outstanding Italian quality, with the ability to develop new materials and new technologies typical of Asia. The British designer, in fact, moved his studio to Hong Kong over five years ago and specialized in creating links between contemporary design and the technical abilities of the local Chinese industry.
“Through this collaboration with Michael Young and with his talent to blend East and West in a pioneering way, Trussardi relaunches Trussardi Design that has created some of our group’s most ambitious past projects in product design such as the Inside objects or our prestigious partnerships with Alitalia, Alfa Romeo, Vespa, and Mini as well as unusual projects such as the Trussardi phone and bicycle."
