Firefighting suits to handlooms, innovation, craft take centre stage at UPITS

Greater Noida: From a fire-fighting suit developed with patented technology to intricately handwoven handicrafts, a diverse mix of innovation and traditional craftsmanship is drawing visitors to the fourth edition of the Uttar Pradesh International Trade Show (UPITS), which began at the India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida on Friday, officials said

Greater Noida: From a fire-fighting suit developed with patented technology to intricately handwoven handicrafts, a diverse mix of innovation and traditional craftsmanship is drawing visitors to the fourth edition of the Uttar Pradesh International Trade Show (UPITS), which began at the India Expo Centre & Mart in Greater Noida on Friday, officials said.

Uttar Pradesh International Trade Show showcasing a diverse range of trade and cultural exhibits in Greater Noida on Friday (Sunil Ghosh /Hindustan Times)

Showcasing his firefighting suit, Premnender Singh from Mathura said he has been working on it for over eight years. “The suit can survive 84 kW/m² heat flux and 2,500 degrees Celsius for up to five minutes, which is way longer than the international standards. I am here to raise awareness of this technology in India, the US, and the Gulf countries,” he said.

At a stall under the Uttar Pradesh Tourism section, Rehmand Ahmed and Mohammed Nasir from Agra were seen sewing intricate carpet designs. Ahmed said some of the handmade pieces take a month or longer to complete.

“Our shop is in Agra; we sew carpets, artwork and even bags manually. These pieces can take like a month to make, sometimes longer,” Ahmed said.

Hema, 45, and Ramkali, 27, from Lakhanpur village, were demonstrating another form of handicraft involving woven material made from discarded plastic sacks.

“We hand-weave the cloth layer using material made from plastic sacks, using thread and needle. A machine cannot do this; it must be done by hand. Since 2012, before that we were farmers,” said Hema, 45, and Ramkali, 27, from Lakhanpur village in Agra.

The trade show also featured emerging technologies and projects by student entrepreneurs. Sahil Raj, a student at Greater Noida Institute of Technology (GNIOT), said his team developed a website using artificial intelligence to recommend products based on responses to questions about women’s hormonal issues.

“The aim is to address rising hormonal issues among women; we created this website using AI. Essentially, a questionnaire tries to understand the issues, whether it is sleep, hair fall, or any other such issue. Based on this questionnaire, we have specific products that can help with these hormonal issues,” said Sahil Raj, a student at GNIOT.

Japan, Vietnam, Russia, Singapore, Austria and Belarus are participating as partner countries.

At the Vietnam pavilion, Hua Tan Nghia is showcasing her paintings and says this was her third time participating in the trade show. Her works feature olive branches and colours associated with the seven chakras.

“I never learned professionally as a painter, but I just started. Sometimes a painting can take multiple days and nights. If you notice, all my paintings have the olive branch, which is a symbol of peace, and colours from the seven chakras (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet),” she said.

Among the younger visitors were Kanak Chauhan, Shikha Chauhan and Muskan Sharma, third-year students at Noida International University.

The visitors also included older generations, such as RP Seth, a Greater Noida resident in his 70s, who was visiting the trade show with his son and daughter-in-law, Ninni Seth. For the family, the handicraft section was among the main attractions.

“This may be our third time here; I already know the handicraft section will be my favourite. Even though both my father-in-law and my husband are engineers, you would think innovation would pique their interest, but even for them, the handicrafts are the main attraction,” said Ninni.