Apparel Online India Magazine August 2nd Issue 2018 | Page 40

INDUSTRY LIVE

Raghvendra Singh is the new Textiles Secretary

Culture Secretary

Raghvendra Singh ( 59 ) has been appointed as new Secretary of Textiles . A Post Graduate in History from the Delhi University and a 1983 batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre , Singh has earlier served various departments like Ministry of Agriculture & Co-operation and Ministry of Information & Broadcasting . The development came after Anant Kumar was moved to the Land Resources department . According to reports , Anant Kumar from 1984 batch , UP cadre , has been shunted out in an unusual transfer order . “ This sudden transfer was necessitated as he and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani did not get along ,” reports a leading English daily .
Anant Kumar served just 15 months in the Ministry of Textiles ( MoT ). In a similar case , Rashmi Verma who was the Textile Secretary before Anant Kumar , was transferred after a brief period of 17 months in MoT . Recently Anant Kumar noticed irregularities worth Rs 200 crore in the National Handloom Development Corporation ( NHDC ), a public sector undertaking under the Textiles Ministry . The matter has now been referred to the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ).
“ Anant Kumar should have been removed or transferred earlier as he was not able to deliver . We invited him many times to visit Tirupur to understand India ’ s biggest knitting hub but he never came . There was enough scope that he could perform
well ,” said a Tirupur-based apparel industry stalwart on the request of anonymity .
In the last seven years , the Ministry of Textiles has seen five secretaries and none of them have served more than 18 months . “ They should give
at least three years ’ time to any Secretary-level officer , as any person working at such higher level needs to have a long-term vision ,” said another industry veteran of Delhi-NCR who didn ’ t want to be quoted .

18th Knit Show brings Tirupur apparel and textile industry to life

The 18th Knit Show , a threeday-long event organised from 5-7th August , with more than 300 exhibitors , has brought back positivity into Tirupur ’ s apparel and textile industry . The top technology companies , like Dhaval Colour Chem ( DCC ), Grafica Flextronica , Mehala Machines , Kansai Special , Cheran Machines , and Zedex , from different segments of textile and apparel industry , displayed their latest offerings in the show . Along with cutting room solution , circular and flat knitting machines , sewing , printing ( digital as well as screen printing ), there were fabric and trim companies too who participated in the event . Team Apparel Online met many exhibitors at the event and most of them shared that market in Tirupur is now picking up as they expect good business in coming days . The

18th Knit Show witnessed good visitation
exhibitors also informed that , from last two months , they were getting good inquiries from apparel manufacturers . S . Thiruvengadathan of Lakshmi
Bio Chem shared that their business was going well and they were now focusing on the Bangladesh market . Lakshmi Bio Chem is known for screen print
ink and caters to most of the major players of screen printing .
Similarly , many other small , as well as big companies ’ representatives , shared the positive reflection in their markets revealing their plans of expanding their capacity . Companies like Zydex Industries , EPTA India are also working aggressively on their future projects . H . Krishna , Director , Knit Show and also the organiser of the event told Apparel Online that thousands of visitors marked their presence in the show . “ We are happy with the show as good number of exhibitors as well as visitors participated ,” he added .
During the inauguration ceremony , Udumalai K . Radhakrishnan , Minister for Animal Husbandry stated that the State Government is mulling over the establishment of a trade fair centre in Tirupur .
40 Apparel Online India | AUGUST 16-31 , 2018 | www . apparelresources . com