Latest news with #WesternIndia
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Support for ‘bar bandh' today
Mumbai: As part of the state-wide protest against the Maharashtra government's liquor tax regime, the Hotel And Restaurant Association (Western India) HRAWI has appealed and urged over 11,500 hotels to support the Bar Bandh and No Alcohol call on Monday. tnn
Al Arabiya
09-07-2025
- Al Arabiya
Bridge collapse in India kills ten
Ten people have died after the collapse of a bridge in India's western state of Gujarat, broadcaster NDTV reported on Wednesday.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Prada: Why Indian footwear artisans are upset with the luxury Italian label
The Western Indian town of Kolhapur has found itself in an unlikely global spotlight, as thousands of local artisans who hand-craft traditional leather footwear are mounting a collective attack on luxury fashion label Prada for plagiarising their designs without rhythmic pounding of the hammer in 58-year-old Sadashiv Sanake's dimly lit workshop bears witness to the hard grind behind handcrafting the iconic Kolhapuri leather sandals."I learnt the craft as a child," he tells the BBC. A day's toil goes into making just "eight to 10 pairs" of these sandals he says, that retail at a modest $8-10Barely 5,000 artisans in Kolhapur are still in the profession – a cottage industry that struggles to compete in a mechanised world, caught in the funk of dismal working conditions and low no surprise then that when Italian luxury brand Prada released a new line of footwear that bore a striking resemblance to the Kolhapuri sandals - but didn't mention the design origins - local artisans were up in arms. The backlash was swift. Social media was flooded with accusations of cultural appropriation, prompting Prada to issue a statement acknowledging the sandals' local politicians and industry associations have thrown their weight behind the artisans who want better recognition of the craft and its cultural legacy. Mr Sanake was not aware of Prada's show until the BBC showed him a video of it. When told that that the sandals could retail for hundreds of pounds in luxury markets, he scoffed. "Do they have gold in them?" he hasn't revealed the price tag but its other sandals retail at between £600 to £1,000 in the UK as per its website. The earliest records of Kolhapur sandals date back to the 12th Century."These sandals were originally crafted by members of the marginalised Charmakar (cobbler) community, also known as chamars," said Kavita Gagrani, a history professor at the New College in is a pejorative caste term used to describe Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) who work with animal hides."But in the early 20th Century, the craft flourished when the then ruler of Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj granted royal patronage to this community," Ms Gagrani nearly 100,000 artisans across India are engaged in the trade with an industry worth over $200m, according to the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA), a prominent industry trade most of them continue to work in unorganised setups under dismal conditions."I was never educated. This is all I know, and I earn about $4-5 a day, depending on the number of orders," said 60-year-old Sunita like her play a critical role, particularly in engraving fine patterns by hand, but are not compensated fairly for their long hours of labour, she why Sunita's children don't want to continue the craft.A short distance away from her workshop lies Kolhapur's famous chappal gully, or sandal lane, a cluster of storefronts - many of them struggling to stay afloat."Leather has become very expensive and has pushed up our costs," said Anil Doipode, one of the first sellers to open a shop here. Traditionally, artisans would use cow and buffalo hide to make these sandals. But since 2014, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, there have been several reports of vigilantes - self-appointed protesters or activists - cracking down on alleged cow slaughter, sometimes with physical violence. The cow is considered sacred by 2015, Maharashtra state banned the slaughter of cows and the sale and consumption of beef, forcing artisans to rely on buffalo leather sourced from neighbouring states, pushing up their production sellers are also struggling to compete with synthetic copies flooding the market."Customers want cheaper sandals and can't always tell the difference," said Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a second-generation Kolhapuri sandal seller. Industry experts say the controversy highlights the need for a better institutional framework to protect the rights of 2019, the Indian government had awarded Kolhapuri sandals the Geographical Indication (GI) - a mark of authenticity which protects its name and design within India, preventing unauthorised use by however, there is no binding law that stops other countries or brands from aesthetic Sandeep, a Mumbai-based advocate, says that India could raise the issue at the World Trade Organization under its TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement, of which it is a the system is cumbersome, expensive and often lacks enforceability, both in India and abroad, she Gandhi, the president of MCCIA, says his organisation is planning to patent the Kolhapuri sandal design, hoping to create a legal precedent for future some say real change can only happen when India starts seeing its traditional heritage in a different light. "It's about ethical recognition. India must push for royalty-sharing and co-branding," says Ritu Beri, a renowned designer. "The more we take pride in our culture, the less we will be exploited." Of course, this isn't the first time a global fashion brand has been accused of appropriating Indian big labels have featured Indian fabrics and embroidery work with little to no artist collaboration. "Take Chikankari (a delicate hand-embroidery style from the northern Indian city of Lucknow), Ikat (a cloth-dyeing technique), mirror work; they've all been used repeatedly. The artisans remain invisible while brands profit from their inspiration," Ms Beri Gandhi, however, says that Prada's endorsement of Kolhapuri sandals could also be beneficial for artisans."Under their label, the value [of Kolhapuri sandals] is going to increase manifold," he says. "But we want some share of that profit to be passed on to artisans for their betterment."Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a sandal-seller in Kolhapur, agrees - he has already begun to see the difference."The design Prada used wasn't even very popular, but now people are asking for it, with clients from Dubai, the US and Qatar" placing orders, he says."Sometimes, controversy can help," he adds. "But it would be nice if it also brought respect and better prices for those keeping this tradition alive."The issue is unlikely to die down now, a plea has been filed in a high court, demanding Prada pay damages and compensation to artisans, along with a court-supervised collaboration between the luxury label and artisan associations. Prada has told BBC in a statement that it is in talks with the MCCIA on this matter. Mr Gandhi, its chief, says a meeting between the two sides is going to take place next BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
South China Morning Post
01-07-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Air India flight 171 crash simulation suggests dual engine failure
More than two weeks after the deadly crash of an Air India plane that killed all but one of the 242 people on board, investigators and the airline are studying possible dual engine failure as a scenario that prevented the Boeing 787 jet from staying airborne. Advertisement Pilots from the airline reenacted the doomed aircraft's parameters in a flight simulator, including with the landing gear deployed, and the wing flaps retracted, and found those settings alone didn't cause a crash, according to people familiar with the investigation. The result, alongside the previous discovery that an emergency-power turbine deployed seconds before impact, has reinforced the focus on a technical failure as one possible cause, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing non-public deliberations. The simulated flight was conducted separately from the official probe being led by India 's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, (AAIB), and was done to explore possible scenarios, one of the people said. The Boeing 787 that crashed in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on June 12 was powered by two engines made by General Electric (GE). Video footage of the aircraft showed the plane struggling to gain altitude after taking off, and then sinking back to the ground, where it exploded. Wreckage showing the tail section of the Air India Boeing 787-8 is pictured in a residential area near the airport in Ahmedabad on June 14. Photo: AP Additional clues Boeing declined to comment and deferred any questions to AAIB, while GE said it cannot comment on an active investigation. The AAIB and Air India did not respond to a request for comment.
Reuters
27-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Hindustan Oil Exploration Company halts output in west Indian basin
June 27 (Reuters) - Hindustan Oil Exploration Company ( opens new tab said on Friday it has temporarily suspended production at one of its oilfields in western India due to adverse weather and is monitoring the situation to resume output when the weather improves. The floating storage offshore (FSO) unit at the company's Mumbai basin has been safely de-moored and anchored at a secure location for over a week, it said. "We are prepared for re-mooring the FSO... as soon as the weather improves, allowing us to resume production from the field under favorable conditions," the oil exploring company said.
