Indian, Pakistani women aim to create colours of hope

New Delhi: Five women artists from Pakistan and four contemporary Indian artists will feature in an exhibition that begins here March 28 with an aim to display a "language of unity and love".

Organised by Empowerment, an NGO that advocates using art and culture as tools for social change, the six-day exhibition titled "Colours of Hope" is based on the core idea of creating a sense of amalgamation.

Apart from exhibiting three works each, Pakistani artists Ayesha Durrani, Fizza Salem, Amna Ilyas, Romessa Khan and Mariam Khan, and Indian artists Gogi Saroj Pal, Seema Kohli, Nupur Kundu and Sonika Agarwal will also create a 10-metre-long canvas on the theme "Colour of Hope".

"It (exhibition) focuses on a few intangible factors like share, emotion, peace, feminism and love. Share is one of the main things the exhibition is hoping to promote," an official statement said Wednesday.

The exhibition, to be mounted at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, will end April 2.

Indian, Pak fan makers bet on new govt to boost trade ties

March 25:

Fan manufacturers from India and Pakistan are hoping that the upcoming general elections in India would bring a new government that would foster business ties between the two neighbours.
A 12-member delegation from Pakistan Electrical Fan Manufacturers Association (PEFMA) is currently touring India to understand Indian manufacturing processes and will visit factories at Rishikesh and Hyderabad.
"As a business community from Pakistan, we are trying to cement ties with our counterparts in India," PEFMA President Taimur Rafiq told PTI.
Compared to India, Pakistan has a small fan manufacturing industry, but both have their own strengths and can benefit from each other, he added.
While the Indian fan industry is pegged at Rs 7,000 crore per annum, Pakistan industry is relatively small at around Rs 800 crore.
Due to restrictions, Indian manufacturers cannot export to fans to Pakistan, although the country exports around two million fans annually to other markets.
"We (Pakistan) also export in the range of 1.8 million to 2 million fans annually. So, even we have certain strength and we both can benefit from each other's co-operation," Rafiq added.
Expressing hope that the a new government at Centre after the general elections will help foster ties between the two countries, Bajaj Electricals CMD and President of the Fans Association of India Shekhar Bajaj said: "...It is a great opportunity to open trade between the two countries."
The opening of trade would be beneficial for people of both the countries he said, adding that the business ties between the two countries would help in India's GDP growth and should be promoted.
General elections in the country are scheduled to be held between April 7 and May 12.