Ritu Kumar to popularise hand-made textiles

Ritu Kumar is known for her ethnic Indian designs and now celebrated designer Ritu Kumar wants to popularise hand-woven textiles in vogue through her Panchvastra collection. She says this will clear the notion that people have lost interest in such fabrics.

Ritu Kumar unveiled the collection Thursday at a show also called Panchvastra, which revolved around five main characters - Ganga, Draupadi, Kunti, Amba and Gandhari - who represent five different moods

"The whole idea was conceptualised by my son Amrish Kumar and Vidyun Singh. The main idea was to recreate vintage clothing with a modern twist to keep alive the essence of the hand-weaving technique," Kumar said.

Portrayed through the central characters of the Ramayana, the show mixed textiles, theatre and film to bring alive how they are relevant across ages and cultures," she added.

Dancer Anita Ratnam represented Ganga, Dia walked the ramp as Draupadi, Kirron Kher was Kunti, Seema Biswas was Amba and Sushmita Sen portrayed Gandhari.

The collection was a mix of lehangas, kurtis, suits and saris in chanderi, cotton and tie & dye.

"It was delicate and feminine, with a vibrant colour palate comprising strong hues and bright, bold shades. The use of mirror work, along with gota and zardosi embroidery lent a regal look to the ensemble."

Kumar presented five moods in different colours -- purity in hues of white and peach; seduction with bold and rich colours; illusion by the exquisite use of Swarovski crystals, embellishments as well as extravagant garments; exile through a melange of colour -- orange, gold and fuschia; and darkness by beautiful dramatic pieces in black, gold and indigo.

Though Kumar is known for her fascination for hand-woven textiles, she says other designers do not use it by choice.

"I think it's a very personal choice that designers don't want to go for hand-woven textiles. For them, synthetic is very important to cater to the modern world but my ideologies are different and I never promote such fabrics," she explained

UPSC Civil Services Exam (IAS) CSAT- 2012 Notification

CSAT-2012 Examination of the Civil Services  for the recruitment to the Services and Posts of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and certain other Group ‘A' and Group ‘B' Central Services will be held by the Union Public Service Commission on 20 May 2012.

Number of Vacancies: 1037 (tentative)

Important Dates:

Closing date for submitting online application: 5 March 2012 till 11.59 pm

Date for CSAT-2012: 20 May 2012

Application for Main examination: July/ August 2012

Civil Services Main Examination: October/ November 2012

Eligibility Criteria:

Educational Qualification: The candidate must hold a degree of any of Universities incorporated by an Act of the Central or State Legislature in India or other educational institutions established by an Act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University Under Section-3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification

Age Limit (as on 1 August 2012): Minimum 21 years; Maximum 30 years

Number of Attempts: Every candidate appearing at the examination who is otherwise eligible, shall be permitted four attempts at the examination.

Application Fee: Application Fee for General and OBC category candidates is Rs 50 either by remitting the money in any Branch of SBI by cash, or by using net banking facility of SBI or by using Net banking facility of Associate bank of SBI or by using Visa/ Master Credit/ Debit Card. Female/ SC/ ST/ PH candidates are exempted from payment of Fee.

Selection Procedure: The Civil Services Examination will consist   of two successive stages (vide Appendix I Section-I below).

Civil Services Preliminary Examination (Objective type) for the selection of candidates for the Main Examination; and

Civil Services Main Examination (Written and Interview) for the selection of candidates for the various Services and posts (as mentioned in the notification)

Applications are now invited for the Preliminary Examination only. Candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified for admission to the Main Examination will have to apply online again, in the Detailed Application Form which would be made available to them.

How to Apply: Interested Candidates may apply Online by using the website http://upsconline.nic.in/mainmenu2.php

 For more information; please refer Employment Newspaper dated 11 February - 17 February 2012

BPSC to Notify Mains Dates Soon

Patna, Feb, 15: As the last date for the submission of duly filled mans form is passed, BPSC started considering the mains date.

According to source BPSC chairman has called a meeting today for the discussion on mains date for 53-55 combined civil services examination. However source also confirmed that it is going to be the first official meeting on the dates so we can't expect the final outcome because commission has to consider various things that includes upcoming examination schedule of Intermediate and matriculation and UPSC interview as well which will be conducted in April and then the second Sunday of May which is the CSAT-2011 date.

BPSC has to find the way while considering the fact but commission will soon notify the dates said the source.

Dhoti kurta an ethnic Indian dress

Dhoti and kurta is most friendly traditional Indian dress of men. Unlike other clothing, it is an unstitched piece of cloth generally 5 yards long designed in such a way that it can tied around the waist and legs of men. The knot of Dhoti is tied at the waist. Dhoti is known by different names at different region in the country such as veshti in Tamil, panche in Kannada, mundu or veshti in Malayalam, dhotar in Marathi, Laacha in Punjabi, dhuti in Bangla, and pancha in Telugu etc. In Northern region of India, dhoti is worn along with Kurta and together the attire is known as "Dhoti Kurta".

In Southern part of India, men wear it with an "angavastram", which is also an unstitched piece of cloth that is draped over the shoulders. Several places, it is worn along with a shirt known as "chokka". In several areas of the country, men wear Lungi which is generally colourful, which is a similar piece of unstitched cloth, which is draped in the same manner as Dhoti.

Longi is mostly worn on the informal occasions  but the Dhoti is considered to be a famous formal ethnic dress in India. More often, men likes to wear dhoti on the traditional family occasions. Even in the posh colonies, a modern men wears their traditional dress dhoti. 

The cultural pillars of India such as the classical singers, dancers and poets can be quite often seen in dhoti kurta. They derive pride in exhibiting the rich culture of their country.

In Southern states of India, men dress up in dhoti on most of the cultural occasion. Infact, in the South Indian weddings, almost all the males wear their traditional pancha at the time of customary ceremonies. In a few parts of Southern India, it is expected that men must be wearing veshti and angavastram at the time of entering into the precincts of the temple for prayers. 

The strong believers and followers of the Hare Krishna movement have made dhoti their identical dress code. The practitioners wear saffron and white color clothing, draped in the traditional style of India. Mahatma Gandhi used to wear the ethnic dress pancha on the public functions. Even the Bengalis wear dhoti kurta on the festivity celebrations of Durga puja. Rajputs as in "Thakurs"  in India are quite particular about wearing dhoti. 

In the last thirty year, western dressing style has been gaining popularity in the country. Men now prefer wearing formals at work. Traditional dress is preferred only on the family functions. Young people consider dhoti kurta as an outdated unfashionable garment that is associated with a old look. Thus, its fashion has somewhat faded and now it is worn by men at home primarily because of its comfort. There can be several styles of wearing a dhoti; however, the common style that is adopted for tying dhoti by Indian men is as follows: 

How to Wear a Dhoti

Take a long piece of unstitched cloth and count as to how much cloth is required on either side of the body to cover it.

After having divided the Dhoti according to the measurements, tie a knot close to the navel.

Make a series of folds on the right side and tuck the folded part at the waist as well.

Similarly, make a series of folds on the left side as well to balance it.

Take the folded part of Dhoti from between your legs and then tuck it from behind and your dhoti has been draped.

Cultural Heritage, Ethnic wears of India

Traditional Indian dressing has come into limelight once again as the trends in Indian fashion industry is back  one can easily realize that modern fashion is tracking the styling and designing of the bygone eras, the period of royalty, when Maharajas and Ranis used to spend extravagantly on their dressing. 

Whatever the royals decide to go in for was reminiscent of splendor and luxury. The creative fashion designers of today are in a lookout for ethnic designs that take us close to cultural roots of India following the glorious past. Indian ethnic wear is still in practice amongst the villagers and the tourist also loves ti see and wear such cloth

Dhoti

Dhoti kurta is the most famous traditional Indian clothing of men weared by villagers. Unlike other cloyhings, it is a fine unstitched piece of cloth usually 5 yards long that is tied around the waist and legs. The knot is tied at the waist to hold their. Dhoti is known by different names at different places across the country in their regional language such as Laacha in Punjabi, dhuti in Bangla. 

Kurta

Kurta is another important cloth it is refer to a long loose shirt, the length of which falls below or may be just above the knees of the wearer. In the past, it was primarily worn by men, but today, it has become a unisex dress that both men and women’s are wearing with some modification. 

Indian Salwar Kameez

Salwar kameez is the most weared traditional Indian clothing for women. This is quite popular in the region of Punjab,Haryana,UP,Bihar, shalwar kameez is generally referred to as Punjabi suit. The fashion of Shalwar Kameez in India is very old. Since the past many few centuries, women have been wearing this wonderful attire. 

Indian Sari

Sari is one of the most wonderful unique dresses worn by Indian women. In fact, when one thinks of a typical Indian woman, the first thing that strikes the mind is a woman clad in sari, who is wearing the solah shringar including bindi, chudi, kajal etc. This is a fine coloured unstitched piece of cloth usually 5 yards long that is tied around the waist and one end covers the upper part and head in the form of anchal as well.

Sherwani for Men

Sherwani is a long coat resembling achkan in styling of Indian men this dress has became the common dress in wedding ceremony now a days. It is buttoned up to the collar and lengthwise it is usually below the knee with its sparks. It increases to the charm and grace of men, especially the taller ones. Indian men's are paying lavishly on buying such sherwani suit for the special occasion of their wedding. 

Turban

In India particular in northern part, one can see many men wearing exotic color turban. Well, turban is tied not for the sake of fashion, but because it has a lot of significance in the lives of Indians. The hair turban is a headdress that basically consists of a long piece of unstitched cloth depending on the type. The Turban is wrapped around the head to give better visibility.