Fourteen people were killed and one was injured in a fire at an underwear factory in south China's Guangdong Province Tuesday, authorities said. The fire broke out at about 3:30 p.m. at the factory in Chaonan district in the city of Shantou and was put out half an hour later, the emergency management office of the Guangdong provincial government said in a statement. The injured worker is under treatment at a local hospital. Senior provincial officials have ordered to set up a working team to

Egypt's CIB (Photo: Al-Ahram Egypt's Commercial International Bank (CIB) has acquired a 38 per cent share in garment maker Concrete, the bank said on Monday in a statement to the stock exchange. The LE152 million ($25.3 million) deal was announced at the beginning of 2012. Al-Arafa Holding still owns 52 per cent of Concrete, one of Egypt's top menswear brands. Concrete saw total revenues of LE96 million in the first half of 2012 and LE205 million in 2011. CIB is Egypt's largest listed

Ideas that lower world cotton prices are dampening production prospects, and raising prospects of eroding record world inventories, received another fillip when US officials followed up a downgrade to Australia's harvest with one for Brazil too. US Department of Agriculture officials in Brasilia downgraded by 200m bales to 6.3m bales their forecast for the Brazilian cotton crop in 2012-13. The prospect of a 27% drop in production year on year reflected in part a knock-on effect from the slow

Precot Meridian Ltd plans to exit from the fabrics business. The company believes it would be in its long term interest to do so as input costs and prolonged power shortage in the State have added to the losses from the division that is loss-making since inception. The fabrics division contributes around 12 per cent to the company's turnover of about Rs 600 crore. In a communication to the stock exchanges, Precot Meridian said that it established, as part of a diversification strategy, weaving

The Chairman, Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council (SRTEPC), India, Vinod Kumar Ladia, has urged Pakistan and India governments to expedite normalisation of trade relations at a much faster speed as the business communities in the two countries want to play their due role. Vinod Kumar Ladia was speaking at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday. LCCI President Farooq Iftikhar presented Address of Welcome. The Chairman, Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Pr

Zuoan Fashion Limited a leading design-driven fashion casual menswear company in China, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012. James Hong, Founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our revenue growth was a result of increased distributor sales volumes as well as increased sales volume from our direct stores. We came in slightly below our third quarter top line revenue forecast largely due to an inventory shipment del

The absence of minister of commerce Anand Sharma at the 'India Show' in Dhaka has not been a big dampener as the warmth of both Indian and Bangladeshi business communities marked the day celebrated in Bangladesh as the countdown to its independence when India had formally joined the freedom war on December 3, 1971. Even as a majority of the local newspapers and FM channels hailed India's role in Bangladesh's independence, on Day One of the India Show, representatives from corporate India and t

There are times when fashion minds meet and make something wonderful. A recent piece in The Guardian's Fashion Blog celebrated the 'perfect fit' of the upcoming collaboration between MIA and Versace. Given both party's elaborate and colourful attitude to fashion and design, the result of such collaboration looks to be a complete rush of colour and pattern, hitting the sense in a great, beautiful Big Bang. Versace, a particularly bright and strong brand, suits the equally innovative style o

QFIB expands interests in Turkey with acquisition of 40% stake in home textile-retailer 'English Home' Qatar First Investment Bank (QFIB), Qatar's first independent Shari'ah compliant bank authorized by the QFC regulatory authority, announced the acquisition of a 40% stake in English Home, the leading retailer of home textile products in Turkey. The acquisition marks QFIB's first venture into the retail sector and the second in the Turkish market, which further demonstrates QFIB's commitment t

Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have demonstrated silk-based implantable optics that offer significant improvement in tissue imaging while simultaneously enabling photo thermal therapy, administering drugs and monitoring drug delivery. The devices also lend themselves to a variety of other biomedical functions. Biodegradable and biocompatible, these tiny mirror-like devices dissolve harmlessly at predetermined rates and require no surgery to remove them. The technology i