Mangalagiri Sarees_MIG_NITIE

On the occasion of Swadeshi Mandi, a campaign promoting "Vocal for Local" by NITIE. My friend Vinod and myself would bring you "Mangalagiri Sarees".

Mangalagiri sarees are a namesake of the town in Andhra Pradesh, Mangalgiri, where they are produced. other factors that contribute to its popularity are the patterns and designs that are woven into the saree, that are reminiscent of the history of the state, especially the rule of the Nawabs.

It showcases the craftsmanship of the weavers that is coming from generations. The process starts from dyeing of the yarn. Then, spinning is then done by the charaka ,converted to thread.Weaving of these coloured threads being the next step. Designs are managed by pre-drawn designs punched on cards and fitted in the jacquard arrangement. Zari wound on small bobbins is generally for weaving on the border.

With encouragement from the government through good schemes that would avail raw materials at reduced rates and the legal backing of the Geographical Indication label  for Mangalagiri hand looms, Now, it is our duty as a proud Indian to encourage the talents of these weavers and protect the nations heritage.

Location: Mangalagiri town in Guntur district.

You can order online at https://www.mangalagiricottons.com/

#NITIE #MahaMandi #SwadeshiMandi2020 #MiG #VocalForLocal #PMOIndia #BechobechoSikho #DigitalMarketing    #MangalagiriSarees #AatmanirbharBharat #5TrillionEconomy #WorldPower #EmployedIndia

WHY HANDLOOM? WHY NOT SYNTHETIC?

 

Handloom fabrics are essentially fabrics that are woven by hand on a manually-operated loom. They are made using natural fibers, which feel significantly better against one's skin as they are processed with lesser chemicals, or in some cases, grown organically without any use of chemicals—thereby making them Eco-friendly and also putting less pressure on the environment, as they are easily biodegradable, also tends to breathe easier in handloom fabrics. They are more sustainable and uses minimal resources like electricity without causing environmental damage. This industry involves a community that has been practicing an artisan skill for generations, in which each person has a specific role and hence investing in handloom means doing your bit in preserving a traditional craft. Handlooms also come from a long and ancient tradition which distinguishes different comsmunities from each other and gives each a distinct identity. They can be woven as nine yard saris in Kanjeevaram as well as narrow four inches in Tripura. These fabrics tend to be more expensive than the synthetic mill counterparts owing to the limited production capacity and hand labor involved when compared with power looms. Certain weaves and designs are still beyond the scope of modern machines and the level of artistry achieved in handloom fabrics is unparalleled. While India provides about 95 per cent of hand-woven fabric in the world, yet there is little demand for handloom products in our country.

      Since long, we've seen Indian handloom fabrics being limited to ethnic wear. Necessity to educate the new-age customer through group travels and presentations to showcase the painstaking work that is put into the development of these fabrics will ensure the industrial growth. The secret to appreciating handloom cloth is in its touch. The unevenness of the hand and spontaneity with which patterns can be created are far more diverse than machine-made cloth.

Covid19 vs E-commerce

 

Effect of COVID-19 on E-commerce

Covid-19 has ignited a lot of customers to shift to online shopping which is going to be future normal of shopping.

Covid19 cases have crossed 17 million mark and taken more than 0.7 million lives all over the world. It has disrupted lifestyle of the people giving top priorities to personal hygiene and social distancing. As a result, online shopping became part of people’s lifestyle.

Initially, when the pandemic has started it had a very bad hit on e-commerce. During lockdown 1.0 and lockdown 2.0, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had limited the activities permitted for e-commerce to essential goods only. But for lockdown 3.0, e-commerce deliveries of all essential and non-essential were allowed but limited to green zones. This move is essential not only for e-commerce but also for the nation to sustain its economy.

The New Necessary

Till the Pandemic has started, e-commerce was limited to electronics and fashion. But due to covid19, where social distancing is necessary, and people are hesitant to shop outside they moved to online even for food and daily essentials.

“Prior to COVID-19, e-commerce in India was driven by consumer electronics and fashion. Now, consumers ready to shop online for food and essentials, and it is ready from a demand point of view."  - Ankur Bisen, Senior VP-Technopak

This suggests that e-commerce industries must raise their standards to cater to the demands that would rise post- covid.

During initial stages of lockdown, there have been a lot of challenges to whole retail industry and e-commerce as they were not able to cater the needs of people because (1) Demand has increased because of panic buying. (2) Supply decreased because the manufacturing has halted due to lockdown. But now although we cannot say that the situation has come to normal, but it is somewhat stable.

Present Scenario

According to a report by CRED, In cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru e-commerce spends surpasses the pre-covid levels. As the situation is these cities is still worse.

"E-commerce spends surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels post the lockdown across all three cities. Delhi spend grew to 135 percent, while Mumbai was at 133 percent, and Bengaluru at 124 percent,"-CRED

New Opportunities comes with increasing challenges:

Rapid growth of the e-commerce sector also has seen a rapid rise in frauds. Number of online frauds registered since FY17 stands at 13,993, out of which more than 40% of the cases were registered in FY20.

There have been cases registered saying that the customers have received fake, expired or damaged products from e-commerce sites. This is being done to meet the demand.

In order to tackle demand, e-commerce platforms started hiring employees in huge number without proper verification. This may lead employees to involve in unethical practices which eventually increases online frauds.

Because of Covid19 a lot of companies have shifted to Work from home. They have to take care of a lot of digital transactions and purchases where the security systems are not as strong as they were in offices. This might help the hackers to perform phishing/vishing attacks.

Being Vigilant:

As the number of cases of Covid19 are still going up, e-commerce platforms should increase their security and follow few practices like investigating the root cause of the complaints, conducting online awareness program for employees and customers and doing background checks for incoming employees. Following these steps would prevent online frauds.

QUALITY LECTURE ON BUSINESS COMMUNICATION IN CONSULTING AND PERSONAL BRANDING

 

              Today we had a concentrated briefing on how we communicate in business, the right path to interact and influence the audience by our guest lecturer and NITIE alumnus, Mr. Nikhil Kulkarni.

              Mr Nikhil Kulkarni is the co-founder of Darwin Tech (www.techdarwin.com); a business to business startup based on travel technology. The startup works on products for the leisure holiday market. He worked for 11years at KPMG and left his job to start his own entrepreneurship.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION IN CONSULTING- DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY:

              The right way takes fewer efforts yielding the best results as we can see. In consulting, communication plays the biggest role- 80%, relationship management is 15% and 5% is research based. So how well you communicate matters the most, and how well you present yourself matters.

                Presentation can be done by various applications- WORD, POWERPOINT and EXCEL sheets depending on the scenario.

1)      Power point               -     Proposals, Reports, Executive briefing

2)      Word document       -      Proposals, Detailed project reports, Working papers

3)      Excel sheet                 -     Working papers

THE PYRAMID PRINCIPLE OF PRESENTING SOLUTION:

              This was another principle which we were enlightened about today. Pyramid principle emphasizes on the way problem and solution must be presented. At first you give your solution in a statement, followed by a level of insights, followed by supportive data.

MECE principle- It helps us to emphasise each point without being repetitive.

PERSONAL BRANDING:

               Personal branding is an easy method of self presentation. It plays an important role in a person’s career. It creates opportunities. Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Blogs help you to create your own brand.

              The session ended with Q &A. Mr. Kulakarni told us to be open about ideas, express them in the right way, create opportunities trough personal branding and zoom in our career. Thank you NITIE and Prof. Prasad sir for such an informative session.