Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on Wednesday stressed the need to ensure legal, safe working conditions after a fire killed seven Chinese workers at a factory in central Italy. While giving his condolences to the local Chinese community, Napolitano underlined the importance of "interventions to prevent illegal working conditions." The president said the goal was to combine economic development in the area, which is a major manufacturing district in Europe, with the protection of human

The external sector strengthened further with the trade deficit contracting sharply in October 2013,the Central Bank said yesterday. Earnings from exports increased to record levels, reflecting the ongoing recovery in the global economy, while expenditure on imports declined. The contraction of the trade deficit, higher inflows to the services account and an increase in private transfers contributed to reducing the current account deficit. The favourable developments in the external sector to

Anusha from Manamathi village off East Coast Road spends nearly 14 hours daily away from home on travel and work at a garment unit in Mahindra City, Chengalpet. After all her effort, she earns merely Rs.3,000 a month, an amount that is not enough to make ends meet. Several women workers like her have been slogging for long hours in garment and fashion industrial units around the city for meagre salaries. In a bid to draw the attention of the government to their demands for an increase in the

A file photo shows a labourer carrying jute to a private jute mill at Demra in Dhaka. The export of raw jute has plunged in the current fiscal year. — New Age photo The export of raw jute has plunged in the current fiscal year due to devaluation of currency of neighbouring India, a major raw jute importer from Bangladesh, jute department officials said. They said the drastic fall in the raw jute export would discourage the growers from cultivating more jute and they (the growers) would al

At a time when only two yarn-to-fabric textile mills are left out of about 20, the 30-year old Asia Textile Mills operating out of Calamba found a way of producing “purpose” textiles instead of the uncompetitive ordinary wearing apparel. The company, with the help of Chuck Lazaro, slowly shifted to abaca fiber. It has not gone that far as yet, having perfected Manila Hemp only two years ago. Asia Textile now uses 40 per cent abaca it exports principally to Japan. That mix eats of the b

Employees are seen at work at Saigon 3 Garment Joint Stock Company. The export value of Vietnamese textile-garment to the major markets like the U.S., Japan, Korea and China has continued posting strong growth - Photo: Van Nam Textile-garment exports to Korea as one of the four major buyers of Vietnam’s apparel products posted robust growth in January-November, leaping 51.6% year-on-year to US$642 million, while other major export markets continued considerable growth. In a report on the i

Italian prosecutors are preparing to open a manslaughter investigation over a fire that killed seven Chinese workers at a factory in Tuscany on Sunday, a disaster which highlighted rampant abuses in a sprawling network of illegal garment workshops. Officials said authorities were struggling to control the thousands of Chinese factories that had transformed the town of Prato in recent years, often employing unregistered workers in conditions unions describe as “near slavery.” “Most of the c

South Korean Textile Technologies Group (TTG) will invest $40 million in 2014-2015 in development of textile industry in Tashkent region, reported RIA Novosti referring to the State Joint Stock Company Uzbeklegprom. The Korean company for two years will provide additional capacity to produce 7.5 million square meters of cotton fabrics and 5 million pieces of garments per year. Korean Eximbank will provide a loan to finance the modernization. In 2011, the State Property Committee signed a

Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources has withdrawn summary of suspending gas supply to textile mills in Punjab during peak winter season, said reliable industry sources. It may be noted that the Federal Minister for Petroleum & Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief Minister Punjab had held a detailed meeting with textile industry leadership in Lahore. Chairman All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) Punjab S M Tanveer and Gohar Ejaz had led a 20-member delegatio

FIRST-HAND REPORT:TNAU scientists inspecting the damaged cotton crop near Perambalur on Monday. The Bt cotton crop standing on 13,000 hectares of land at several villages of Perambalur district has been affected by three distinct diseases, causing anxiety among farmers. A team of scientists from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute, Tiruchi, along with officials of the Agriculture Department inspected the cotton fields in v