Indian-origin honchos take to ramp for charity in Singapore

Indian-origin top executives of multi-national corporations in Singapore took to the ramp at a fund-raising fashion show for underprivileged students.
DBS Group CEO Piyush Gupta, SilverNeedle Hospitality Group CEO Iqbal Jumabhoy, business executives Prasenjit Basu and Pradeep Pant among others turned models for the charity dinner to raise funds for Indian-origin students under the Singapore Indian Development Association's (SINDA) tuition scheme.
They were joined by Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Finance and Law Indranee Rajah, who sang a number of songs in Hindi, Tamil and Chinese, making it an Indian-origin, yet multi-national appeal for funds.
The executives are part of the 100-member-strong Indian Business Leader Roundtable (IBR) which organises a series of programmes for the underprivileged students and assists SINDA, a self-help group.

"The IBR is also creating an e-learning platform by commissioning world renowned Hey Math to assist SINDA students in mathematics," said Girija Pande, a trustee of SINDA and founder of IBR.
Over 600 students have benefited from career guidance talks in two years in industries like Banking/Finance, Manufacturing, IT among others, Pande said, highlighting IBR's work since it was formed in 2011.

The fashion show presented collections from India's top designers such as Rohit Gandhi, Rahul Khanna, Kavita Bhartia and Ujjawal Dubey.
Indian fabrics and designs were winning global appeal, Dubey told PTI after the show.
"We want to promote more of the Indian handcrafts and handlooms. India's young designers are working on a lot of indigenous cotton and silk and we want to make it global," said Dubey, the owner of 'Antar-Agni' brand.

Indian fashion, though still young as 30 years old, is making its presence in global market gradually, Bhartia said.
These days designers are working with local weavers and promoting their crafts and fabrics, she said.
"It is all about experimenting, innovation, exploring and using Indian elements in a contemporary way," said Bhartia, who owns a chain of 'Ogaan' stores in India.