News updates and blogs about our very own and humble Textile Minister, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani
Union minister of textiles Smriti Irani has laid the foundation stone for a Hastshilp Complex in New Delhi. The complex will be named Deen Dayal Antarashtriya Hastshilp Bhawan and artisans will be allocated space for the marketing of their products, on a rotation basis, and special preference will be given to the differently-abled artisans.
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Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani launched four projects in the country’s northeastern region for the development of the silk sector. Irani, through a video conference here, inaugurated a Muga silk seed production centre in Tura, Meghalaya; silk printing and processing unit in Agartala, Tripura; Eri spun silk mill in Sangaipat, Imphal; and a development project for sericulture in Mamit, Mizoram.
Continue reading “Union Textile Minister launches four projects in North East for the development of Silk Sector”
“Who will contest from where in upcoming poolls is something the party will decide but one thing is for sure that in five years, I can say I have made Amethi ready for a BJP win. When a farmer is given a futile land, which has not been irrigated in years, which has not been nourished and nurtured in years, this farmer can at least tell one thing that in five years, having put in tremendous hard work, I have made that seat ready for a BJP victory,” said Union Minister Smriti Irani at the Hashtag Social Media Summit on Saturday in New Delhi.
Coming down heavily on Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s insensitive remark on Air Force pilots, Irani said, “This is a man who sits on a public platform and says that if you are killed in a plane crash, this money can go to your family.” She added that this is not something to laugh about since apart from politics, if you look at it from humanity angle, it shows his mentality.”
#WATCH: Union Minister Smriti Irani says,”Ye (Rahul Gandhi) vo sajjan hain,jo ek sarvajanik manch par baith ke kehte hai ki agar tum shaheed ho jaoge toh main paise de dunga.” pic.twitter.com/gUsU1Fz0Vk— ANI (@ANI) February 9, 2019
Tweet from ANI
“Okay, so you will die, we will send the money. That man (Rahul Gandhi) has given you a glimpse of his thoughts and mentality,” she added. This article is first published on OPINDIA
India is on a growth trajectory and will be a US$ five trillion economy in the next five years.
On February 1, Piyush Goyal, Cabinet Minister holding the additional portfolio of finance ministry presented the interim Indian budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year, which offers several new initiatives that will support the growth of manufacturing sector like textiles, agriculture and digital economy.
Particularly, the support for medium and small-scale manufacturing enterprises (MSME) will boost textile and allied sectors to go on high gear in research and development. In the United States, supportive schemes such as SBIR has enabled the growth of the R&D base and has helped the small business sector to be a major employer.
According to a new initiative, 25% of procurement by the Indian government should be made from the MSME sector and of which 3% should be from women owned enterprises. As handloom textiles, leather and other cottage industries are with unorganized labor, a new social security (pension) scheme for those aged 60 years has been launched.
“The requirement insisted on government agencies to procure from MSMEs will definitely the boost the confidence among small players, which will grow the economy and create jobs,” stated Chennai, India-based Professor Sridhar Narayanan, Convener of the education committee of the powerful industry body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Tamil Nadu state unit.
Infrastructure, agriculture, digital infrastructure and defense sectors will enjoy greater and much needed support. In all these areas, advanced textiles can find new opportunities such as defense clothing, geosynthetics, etc.
“Clean India” initiative (Swachh Bharath) will be of great significance towards rural development and hygiene sector, where again pollution prevention technologies and medical textiles can be a valuable contributor. Companies such as Chennai-based WellGro Tech (www.wellgrotech.com) are already focusing on “Make in India,” effort towards manufacturing products such environmentally friendly oil clean-up technologies, which evolved out of a collaboration between this scribe and a South India-based textile manufacturing company.
In order to support exports and domestic manufacturing, duty free import of some capital goods has been allowed and the customs logistics is being fully digitized to enhance trade.
From the consumer point of view, the budget has supportive fiscal initiatives for middle class, low-income community and farmers, which should boost spending, thereby supporting nonessential commodity procurement by the general public. Source: TextileToday
I have always believed that the perpetuation of dynasties negates the very concept of Democracy. Dynasties rely on a feudal mindset, personality cults, non-ideological positions and believe that only those belonging to a privileged family are entitled to rule. There is no place for merit, commitment and ability to deliver in a dynastic democracy.
The other danger about dynastic parties and dynastic rule is that the aberrations of different generations of a dynasty become a part of the ideological positions of that party.
The excessive regulated economy, the Kashmir blunder and the China war disaster during the Nehruvian era are historical events that the Congress would still defend. These aberrations have become a part of their ideology. The less glamorous and non-dynast Lal Bahadur Shastri’s successful leadership in 1965 war would always be played down by the Congress. Imposition of Emergency, the destruction of institutions, the disastrous 1984 during Indira Gandhi’s tenure would continue to be defended by the Congress. Rajiv Gandhi’s passionate weakness for his friends over the party, which led to the corrupt defence deals, witnessed the Congress throwing its weight behind corruption to defend the dynasty. However, the service rendered to India by the economic reforms enabled by the best ever Congress Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao would remain unrecognized in a dynastic party, even though the country would hail them.
Let us analyse a glaring aberration in the current representative of the dynasty. Unquestionably, he is a congenital liar. The political system is increasingly realizing that it is dangerous to even maintain social contact with him in terms of basic political courtesies.
“Deep concerns” led him to a courtesy visit the Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s residence. He concocted a conversation where he alleged that Manohar Parrikar distanced himself from Rafale. Speaking in the Motion of No Confidence against the Government, he concocted a conversation between him and President Macron of France which the French Government promptly denied. Earlier he had concocted a pleasantry exchange between him and Sushma Swaraj as a conversation with a political slant. He had similarly, in the past, concocted a conversation with Arun Jaitley claiming that the Minister had told him that he knew very little about Jammu & Kashmir. Is he India’s first post truth politician? From an imaginary Rafale, to a loan waiver scam, he is now into hallucinating conversations.
What does one make out of this? Does he have a mindset of a college-level election contestant or is he a congenital liar? Yet those who depend on dynasties for their survival find themselves looking the other way even when the above aberrations may well be psychiatric in character. Ordinarily such psychiatric aberrations as hallucinating conversations would rule a person unfit for public life. Persons suffering from them need help and not political rewards.
This in no way deters those who believe that only dynasties in the 21st Century can save nations. They go on shamelessly. If one dynasty member cannot deliver, keep a back-up ready. That seems to be the current strategy.
The real strength of democracies surfaces only when persons of merit coming from humble background are able to demolish the myth of dynasties. This was the strength of both the Prime Ministers, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shri Narendra Modi. They succeeded where others were reluctant to tread upon. This article first published by Smriti Irani
To fulfil long-standing demand of industry to declare technical textile items as separate category, the government has notified 207 HSN codes as technical textiles
Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday released HSN codes for technical textiles that is expected to act as a catalyst for achieving the market size of up to Rs 2 lakh crore by 2020-21.
“The HSN codes for technical textiles is expected to benefit 900 million farmers in the country. It is a step that will help us grow to over Rs 2 lakh crore in the tech textile sector,” the minister said after releasing HSN codes for technical textiles at the National Conclave on Technical Textiles here.
To fulfill long-standing demand of industry to declare technical textile items as separate category, the government has notified 207 HSN codes as technical textiles. It will give major boost to the sunrise sector, she said.
In order to help the potential investors to enter into technical textiles, ministry has set up Focus Incubation Centres (FIC), Irani said.
“We have also focused on incubation centers and set up 11 such centres in the country. Under the aegis of textile ministry we have undertaken 40 geo textile projects for roads, water reservoirs and ensured that our farmers embraces agro tech at 54 agro tech demonstration centres and distribute kits, which basically tells them how to use agro tech in their day-to-day working across the country,” the minister added.
The minister said, around 530 prototype campus has already been developed under the textile ministry in the past 4 years and 8 centres of excellence has already been set up at the cost of close to a Rs 140 crore.
“We have already trained over 22,000 Indians only in this area of technical textiles in the past 3-4 years,” she added.
But our capacity to grow and touch the sky is only possible with the industry partnership and farmer participation, she said.
“In one such participation, we will be setting up an innovation centre for technical textile in the hub of the national capital next month with the support of the industry,” she added.
The ministry had constituted a committee under V K Saraswat to give recommendation on research and development plan for the future growth of technical textile and specially preparing a way forward for high perform ace speciality fibres in India, the minister informed.
The report on technical textiles highlights that one of the biggest challenges is the imports of speciality fibres, Irani said, adding that “we are the affordable innovators of the world.” This Article first published by The Hindu Businessline.
While Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha constituency Amethi does not have a movie hall, since Republic Day, a ‘mobile digital theatre’ has been screening the movie Uri: The Surgical Strike for the public here free of cost.
The screenings, currently held four times a day at a spice factory, are the initiative of Union Minister Smriti Irani, who had contested the 2014 Assembly elections from Amethi, and lost. The first such screening of the film on Republic Day had begun with a video conference with the minister. The official poster also carries her photograph.
The mobile threatre showing the film — which is based on the ‘surgical strike’ undertaken by India in Pakistan in 2017 — has been set up by Delhi-based company ‘Picture Time’.
“There is no working movie theatre in Amethi and there was a demand from the public to view this movie. So Smriti Irani arranged for the screenings and personally addressed the audience through video-conferencing on Republic Day,” said Vishuv Mishra, general secretary of the BJP’s youth wing, who has been given responsibility of coordinating the screening.
He added that the mobile theatre can accomodate 150 people at a time, and that there are at least four screenings a day — 9.20 am, 1.30 pm, 5 pm and 8 pm. On January 25, college students in Ramganj area were also shown the movie.
Party leaders claimed that so far, around 2,000 people — with an average of around 600 a day — have attended the screenings.
“Our message is especially to the youth, to tell them about the sacrifices of the country’s soldiers during the surgical strike, which is being propagated as a lie by Congress people. We are sure that the youth of Amethi will do a surgical strike on Congress president Rahul Gandhi by defeating him or any member of his family for the lies that they spread,” said Mishra, adding that they are now scouting for private premises to screen the film, for which a generator has also been arranged.
Congress MLC Deepak Singh said the move was an attempt to get votes, with Lok Sabha polls round the corner. “It is not for the first time that soldiers have shown their courage on the border, but it is the first time someone is trying to take credit of their courage and seek votes in their name. The public of Amethi is aware of the truth and will not be misguided by some movie shows.”
BJP spokesperson Govind Singh said, “Congress has done nothing for Amethi, that is why they are troubled each time some work is done for the people. There was a demand and Smriti Irani took the initiative to bring the movie to the doorsteps of people.”
In her message aired to the public before the first screening on Republic Day, Irani had said, “Didi (referring to herself) ka to kaam hai sewa karna…Naujawan prerit hon bhartiya sena ke shaurya ko dekh kar, yogdan ko dekh kar, maa bharti ke sapoot kaise ghar baar tyaag kar, apne praano ki aahuti dete hain, yeh is film mein dikhaaya jata hai (It is didi’s job to do service…The youth are encouraged to see the courage and contribution of the Army as the movie shows how sons of the soil sacrifice everything)…” This news story first published by Indian Express
Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani today inaugurated an outreach event of Textile Ministry in the national capital on Sunday. During the event, a book on the Textile Ministry’s initiatives and achievements in the last four and a half years was also launched. Another book, which estimates per capita and aggregate demand of textile and clothing industry by region, gender, area and income group, was also revealed. The textile industry is estimated to produce millions of jobs in coming years. Source: ANINews
Textiles Minister Smriti Irani today said, government has taken various initiatives to improve the lives of people associated with the textile sector.
Inaugurating a day-long National Conclave – Accomplishment and Way Forward for Textile sector – in New Delhi, Ms Irani said, welfare of the farmers in the jute sector is something which is being given special focus by the government.
Our correspondent reports that the objective of the conclave is to highlight the achievement of the textile sector and to chart out a road map for building new capabilities for sustainable and resource efficient growth of the sector.
The event will have deliberation on issues ranging from technical textiles, ease of doing textiles business and access to global markets and global supply chain.
In the evening, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu will give away awards to weavers, artisans, investors and corporates for their immense contribution towards the achievement in the textiles sector. Source: NewsonAir
Ministry of Textiles Updates 