Young Designer Ken Ferns to open India Runway Week Summer 2017

It’s that time of the year again, when summer heat is knocking at the door. What is hotter is IFFD’s India Runway Week Summer 2017, which is scheduled to kick off from 28th April at New Delhi. Young Established Designer from Mumbai Ken Ferns will open the India Runway Week Season 8.

Speaking about opening the India Runway Week, Ken Ferns said in a statement, “I mightily excited about showcasing at India Runway Week and opening the week. It’s a big responsibility and I am nervous at the same time. I would be representing a brigade of 'Newgen' designers. Young designers of India are impressive and fashion is all about expression so I am all set to express and impress”

Kiran Kheva, Fashion Director, India Runway Week said “Indian Fashion industry knows about our love towards young talented designers so our this love made us decide to give the opening show to one of the most talented young designer ‘Kern Ferns’ and we are really excited about his current season collection, it’s very refreshing”.

The collection is inspired by paper craft and its geometric forms in the real world – Kern Ferns call it ‘Soda’, as it’s a perfect blend of real to diagrams. Soda interprets energy, fizz and an outburst of zest and that is exactly what Kern Ferns portraying through his latest collection which is India’s all season fashion, light but yet impactful.

India Runway Week- 2017

Weavers at Centre stage of current season of India Runway Week

It would seem that no matter how big the India Runway Week gets, there you will always find fresh new names. Of course, the old designers continue every season. This is the 8th season of India Runway Week which is starting from 28th of April.

The weavers of India are its biggest assets. Indian hand woven fabrics have been known since time immemorial. India was famous even in ancient times as an exporter of textiles to most parts of the civilized world but throughout history and currently too there are evidences that show that weavers have always been a victim of a staunch hierarchical system. Being at the bottom of the system they fall prey to the extreme forms of exploitation.

There are organizations that are identified as a promising means of raising voice for them and generating livelihood for hundreds of rural artisans. They have made a significant contribution to the lives of the women artisans working with it, which has helped improve their economic as well as social status.

They strive to bring the traditions of India to customers all around the world with its unique creations and products. It not only helps its artisans become wage earners, but also spreads awareness about the traditional crafts of the region, thus helping preserve a rich part of India’s national cultural heritage. Indian Federation for fashion Development have joined hand with four of these organizations i.e Rangsutra, SoCHE, Banka Silk and Gestures by Kriti who will present the work of artisans at current season of India Runway Week Summer 2017 ramp which is starting from 28th of April to 30th of April 2017

“The purpose of this show is to raise the current conditions of the weavers and to propose the importance of such organizations and social security to the custodians of this ageless art.” Said by Fashion director, Kiran Kheva, India Runway Week

Rangsutra is a craft company of thousand artisans from remote regions of India – the desert regions of Rajasthan and plains of Eastern Uttar Pradesh whereas SoCHE is reviving this languishing and less popular hand embroidery practiced by women around the border areas of Barmer. Banka Silk on other hand is imparting the required skills to the weaver’s community of Banka, connecting them with the markets and helps create an Eco-system wherein the weaver’s community can become self-sustainable. And lastly Gestures by Kriti is a livelihood support and outreach initiative that began in 1999, to promote ethical, sustainable and socially conscious thinking & buying of 'community made' products.

Future of Jobs in India- Great Ideas From Great Minds

Automation, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence will soon replace employees. It is believed that robots will soon perform most of the work done by humans. Every commercial sector will be affected by robotic automation in the coming years.

Axis Bank has launched Future of Jobs campaign, India's largest crowd sourcing competition. This is an attempt to bring innovative solutions from the young minds generating jobs across various sectors. Over 21000 ideas people sent their ideas across the agricultural, IT, ITES and tourism sector. 11% of these ideas have been generated by young working professionals and 89% have come in from students.

The framework of the initiative look at the co-creating ideas especially with the youth of our country and providing them a platform to come together and bring alive their vision of India.

Top 50 ideas were shortlisted through a rigorous selection process. Out of 50, the best 5 were then shortlisted and they submitted their business plans with greater details in the finale.

The esteemed jury members for the day were:

Mr. Amitabh Kant- CEO, Niti Aayog
Mr. Rajan Anandan- Managing Director, Google India
Ms Shikha Sharma- MD & CEO, Axis Bank

The winning teams were awarded with the prize money of Rs 25 Lacs, Rs 15 Lacs and Rs 10 Lacs including Rs 5 lacs each as a seed funding for the startup.

The top 5 finalists were: Be Rozgar, Bodhi, MiColor, Chai Pe Charcha and Croyants.

The winning team was Mi Color. Their idea was to curate natural colors from microbes which is one of the most economical and safe alternatives to artificial and synthetic colors.

Vivo V5Plus - India's First Dual Front Camera Smartphone

Vivo launched its much awaited flagship device, V5Plus with its first ever 20MP dual camera on January 23, 2017. This phone is a perfect amalgamation of cutting-edge technology, immaculate design ad breakthrough innovation.

Vivo V5Plus takes smartphone users on a seamless experential journey with a better resolution display and powerful battery.

V5Plus is the first ever innovation from Vivo that offers dual frint cameras for the Indian users. The two lenses i.e 20MP and 8MP will ensure that a device camptures the much needed depth of field thus letting you capture your perfect selfie.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• 20 MP Dual Front Camera and 16 MP Rear Camera  
• 13.87 cm (5.5) FHD Display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 Octa-core CPU
• 4GB RAM/64GB ROM
• Battery 3055 mAh
• 4G LTE Network    

Crystal Clear and Bokeh Effect Perfect Selfies: 

The device is equipped with dual front lenses to offer crystal clear selfies. The rear 16MP camera is to caputre the lanscape beautifully. The dual front camera creates a depth-of-field effect that keeps faces sharp while keeping a beautifully blurred background. Users can shoot first and them select the desired focus area, adding Bokeh effect wherever necessary.

Sleeker, Smarter and More Powerful:

V5Plus runs on newly upgraded Funtouch OS 3.0 which provides seamless performance. The sleek design of V5Plus features a 5.5 FHD Display, with curved edges and ultra-narrow bezels.

V5Plus is packed with a 3055 mAh battery, designed to power your device to last longer. The twin engine charging technology offers a faster charging speed.

Custom Built Hi-Fi Audio Chip:

Music lovers will enjoy every beat played on the 

V5Plus with the custom built AK4376 Hi-Fi audio chip that provides wonderful sound quality.

Multi-task with Smart Screen Split:

The 'smartscreen -spilt' feature allows users to multi-task without having a switch back and forth

everytime a message pops up. Users can chat and watch videos simultaneously on one screen.

Vivo V5Plus is available for Rs 27,980 and the pre-booking will start from January 24 and the first sale will happen on Feb 1st, 2017. The phone has really amazing features and I am looking forward to grab the amazing phone really soon.

World Class 2016 Grand Finale

On 1st June, 2016 the bartenders got a chance to show their unique bartending talent in the Diageo Reserve World Class. The winner will not only get a chance to showcase his talent in India but also he will get a chance to represent India in Miami on September 2016. This is a unique platform to nurture the young and potential bartenders with the right knowledge. The 20 mixologists were brought together from the leading hotels of India at the Shangri-La hotel, Bengaluru. The judges for this event were Nicholas Ord (USL Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador), Jamie Walker( (USL Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador),  Serhan Kusakisizoglu ( Director of Corporate Projects, Shangri-La), Feroze Merchant (Head Of Luxury, USL Diageo), Nicole Faria (Ex-Miss India Earth) and Chef Manu Chandra( Chef Partner Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru ).

The Host- Dan

There were total 3 rounds in the competition- The Pantry Round, The Speed Round and The Mystery Box Round. The contestants were judged on the basis of these rounds. Each bartender went through rigorous training procedure and everyone was very excited to get a chance to represent India in Miami. The competition was all about mixing the right ingredients and speed. 

Top 6 Contestants

The top 6 contestants were selected after the Pantry round after which each one had to go through the speed round. The speed round was about making a perfect drink the fastest. 

The Top  6 Contestants in Speed Round

The top 3 bartenders who successfully impressed the judges were announced then and they were: Vikram, Dilbar and Jitender Singh.

Vikram, Jitender and Dilbar with Dan

 Jitender edged his competitors and mesmerized the judges with his speed, execution and balanced cocktails in the Final round.y. Runner up Vikram Ku and Dilbar Singh from Delhi too impressed the judges and the attendees with their creativity and thus earned the second and third position respectively. 

The winner Jitender Singh said "It's real honor to be the Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year 2016 .  The platform has given him the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry and I can confidently say that I have grown enormously as a professional through the journey, It feels extremely rewarding to compete with the best bartenders in the world and represent India at the global finals in Miami. I can't wait to bring the global title back to India "

Let's all congratulate Jitender and wish him good luck readers! 

You can check videos and tweets for the event at: #WorldClassIn 

Garden City #LoveScotch with Anushka and Nakul

Bengaluru is known for its pubs and climate. It's always said that beautiful weather with good music and drink always makes your day. The celebration of #LoveScotch continued on 26th May 2016 in the garden city. The sensational diva Anushka Manchanda and the well known mind reader Nakul Shenoy hosted the event for us. The event began at The Pemit with some candid conversations around scotch and whisky.

We bloggers got the chance to meet Anushka and Nakul and got to know about their favorite drinks. Both of them got behind the bar and prepared a special and exotic cocktail with the help of Andrew Qadri. Anushka went with the West Coast Julep made with the iconic Johnnie Walker Black Label while Nakul created Sunset Cinnamon infused with Black Dog Black Reserve. We got to see their excitement while creating their special cocktails. Anushka shared about her father's love for scotch ans she always gets him a bottle of scotch whenever she glob trots. Vat69 is favorite drink for Nakul and he gets a totally different feeling whenever he drinks it.

Nakul and Anushka

The bloggers then got a chance to take selfies with Anushka and Nakul. We all had a great time interacting with them and knowing about their likes and experiences. 

 

After The Permit, it was followed by cocktail making sessions in the Arbor Brewery and the bloggers who drink got their hands on the amazing drinks made by them. They even said that the pub crawl gave them a chance to know more about the whisky and also show others the love for it.Around the world, the consumers enjoy the Scotch in many different ways. Indians love it with more spices and exotic ingredients.

The evening became more interesting when both Anushka and Nakul showed their skills to the audiences. The #LoveScotch event was one of the unique experience for us to witness the love for music and scotch in the people of Bengaluru. All the people got the chance to showcase their love for scotch and whisky. 

There will be many more exciting events in the future. Keep reading and keep crawling.

Love Scotch

21st May is celebrated as the World Whisky Day and so we had a #LoveScotch event on this day. Every fun element was added in this event to make it really happening and enjoyable. I don't drink but my fellow blogger friends had a great time in enjoying the different varieties of drinks. The event was all about celebrating the drinks with not only the bloggers but also with the celebrities to make it even more thrilling and exciting. There are many people who just drink to relax but in the #LoveScotch event they got to know a bit more actually a lot more about the drinks.

The event started with meet and greet with the celebrities. There were some newly launches scotch cocktails which my fellow bloggers got their hands on. The bloggers got full access to the celebrities that came for this event. The celebrity list included the Raaz actor - Dino Morea, the Highway guy Randeep Hooda, the evergreen actor Mandira Bedi and Canadian model- Coco Rocha. Coco Rocha came to India for the very first time to attend this exciting event. She has been associated with the #LoveScotch event and has traveled to countries to make it happening.

 Dino Morea- The actor with cute dimples

Randeep Hooda-Reel Life Sarabjeet

Mandira Bedi- The fitness enthusiast

Coco Rocha- The Beauty

After the meet and greet session, the celebs were taken to the stage and yet another interactive session took place and also they launched the special scotch collection. They discussed about their favorite scotch and about their first try with the alcohol. Randeep Hooda is a Black Dog lover and Mandira Bedi love drinking with her father. She even said that drinking together with dad makes the bond even stronger. Dino Morea shared some funny stories about the alcohol. During his childhood he and his siblings used to wait for the party to get over so that they can get the taste of the whiskey and sleep peacefully.  Coco Rocha is also a big fan of scotch. Coco said a bottle of scotch as a gift can make anyone happy and everyone agreed with her.

The celebs on Stage

Dino and Randeep then got to the bar and they made some special cocktails for themselves and the ladies. Everyone liked their special drink and they even learned the art of mixing the drinks.

Dino Morea and Randeep at the Bar

The actors really had a fun time at the bar. After this it was the time for Pub Crawling. Bloggers and celebs were taken to the Skyye Bar in the UB city and even there they made some more cocktails. After Skyye, it was time for the Sanchos and there Coco tried her hands in making the cocktails.

                                                                Coco Rocha at Sanchos

The event concluded at the Sanchos and everyone had a great time. I would like to conclude with the note that it was a great event and each and everyone enjoyed from the beginning to the end. The bloggers got access to meet the great celebrities and also got the chance to drink some of the best whiskeys and scotchs. As I said earlier I don't drink but got my hands on super yummy foods. My taste buds got tantalized with amazing foods of Shangri-La. 

Many more events coming up. Keep reading and keep rocking ;)

#LoveScotch