Israeli Police Wear Made in India Uniforms, Thanks to Kerala Dressmakers
Thiruvananthapuram: Why are officers of the Israeli police force travelling all the way to a non descript town in north Kerala in frequent intervals?
Because, their elegant light-blue, long sleeve uniform shirts are being stitched at an apparel unit in Kannur, which has the glorious tradition of handloom making and textile export.
Hundreds of tailors at the Maryan Apparel Pvt Limited, operating at the industrial park at Valiyavelicham in the district, are toiling hard to get the spic and span uniforms ready for the Israel police.
They not only stitch the double-pocket shirts but also design and attach the trademark emblems on its sleeves.
The local dressmakers have been supplying nearly one lakh shirts annually to the Israeli police for the last three years.
Owned by Thodupuzha-based businessman Thomas Olickal, the company also bagged the orders for supplying uniforms for Kuwait's fire service and national guard.
If everything goes as planned, the Maryan Apparel would soon start stitching uniforms for the Philippine Army, a top company official said.
"We are supplying uniform shirts to the Israeli police- both men and women officers- for the last three years," Sijin Kumar, accounts and administration manger of the company said.
"Earlier, we used to supply trousers also. But, the order for it was bagged by a Chinese firm recently.
We hope that we will get the contract back at the earliest and discussions are going on in this regard," he said.
Launched at the state-run Kinfra Park here in 2006, the company specialises in uniforms of army men, police personnel, security officers and health service workers of various countries across the globe.
It also supplies school uniforms, dress for super market staff, doctors' coats, coveralls, corporate wears and so on.
In 2008, the apparel unit was shifted to Kannur with an objective to provide employment to local people who had become jobless due to the decline of the traditional beedi sector there.
Kumar said the Israeli officials are very particular about the quality of the material and even the minute details of the stitching and embroidery.
"They visit the stitching unit at frequent intervals to monitor the process.
Recently, they entrusted the task of monitoring with a company in Tamil Nadu and their team come here once in a month to check the quality of the work," Factory Manager, Shaneesh T V said.
The number of uniforms stitched at the unit would depend on their requirements.
Generally, it would be between 50,000-1,00,000 annually, he said.
The material for the uniform of Israel police is imported from US.
The cloth, produced at the company's own mill in Mumbai, would also be used at times.
The apparel unit that employs 850 people, majority of them women, are planning to expand its operations in the coming years.
But, the lack of sufficient trained and skilled manpower is a major cause of concern for the company authorities.
Courtesy: www.news18.com
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TVK falls short within touching distance; what next to ensure majority
Chennai (PIT): With TVK falling 10 short of a majority, its leader Vijay has the option of forming a minority government in Tamil Nadu without any outside support, analysts said on Tuesday.
Senior political analyst Sumanth Raman told PTI that the TVK is likely to opt to be a minority government with outside support.
"Since it is the single largest party, TVK has the option to go for that. I don't think he (Vijay) will opt for official support from other political party's MLAs", he said.
"If he opts for minority government, the only thing is that, Vijay will have to prove the support once again after six months".
Raman also pointed out that in 2006 when DMK won only 92 seats, the then party president, the late M Karunanidhi formed a minority government with outside support.
In a completely unexpected turn of events in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the TVK has emerged victorious, putting an end to the almost six decade-long dominance of the two major Dravidian parties--DMK and AIADMK.
By clinching victory in its debut electoral contest, the party has elevated its status to that of a recognised political entity. However, the Vijay-led TVK did not secure a mandate large enough to form a government with an absolute majority on its own, requiring another 10 to cross the finish line. Experts have varied opinions.
Specifically, to attain a simple majority, a political party must win at least 118 out of the total 234 constituencies. The TVK, however, secured victory in 108 constituencies. Given that the TVK fell short of the majority mark, what might unfold next?
TVK leader Vijay has won in both constituencies he contested--Perambur in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli East. As per the election commission rule, he will have to resign from one of these seats. TVK sources said that the leader is likely to surrender the Tiruchirappalli assembly seat.
If Vijay does so, the party's total tally of seats will decrease by one. Then it will be 107. Adding to the number games, TVK appointed Speaker of the Assembly will be ineligible to cast a vote during a confidence motion and the party's effective voting strength will be reduced by yet another seat, which comes to 106.
Accordingly, the TVK requires the support of an additional 12 members to demonstrate its majority. As of now, within the DMK alliance, the Congress party has secured five seats, the two Communist parties have won two seats each (totaling four), while the DMDK has secured one seat, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has won two seats and the VCK has secured two seats.
Within the AIADMK alliance, the PMK has grabbed four seats, the BJP has won one seat, and the AMMK has secured one seat. Going by the calculations, if TVK gets the support of other parties within both alliances, it would gain an additional 21 seats.
TVK could potentially secure a total of 129 seats (108 + 21). However, the TVK does not require the support of all those parties, and the backing of just 12 members would suffice.
As Vijay is expected to visit Lok Bhavan on Wednesday (May 6) to meet the governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to stake claim to form government, the governor is expected to offer the TVK two options.
First, he may summon the TVK chief and instruct him to demonstrate his majority on the floor of the legislative assembly. Alternatively, he might ask Vijay to gather letters of support from "allied" parties and submit them to him.
If the TVK secures support exceeding 118 seats, the governor would invite the party form the government. If TVK fails to garner support from other political parties, it will be denied the opportunity to form the government.
In such a scenario, the governor has the option to invite the DMK, the party holding the second-highest number of seats to form the government.
If DMK too is unable to form a government, the state of Tamil Nadu will come under governor's rule for the subsequent six months. Following this period, fresh legislative Assembly elections will be once again held across all 234 constituencies.
Another political analyst Durai Karuna ruled out that TVK will go for a minority government.
"If he (Vijay) gives an appeal, many political parties including Congress, VCK and left parties will join TVK", he claimed. "In addition, the AIADMK, which has decided to organise MLAs meeting on Wednesday, might also announce that it would support TVK unconditionally".
He said a clear picture on Vijay's decision will emerge in a couple of days.
Tharasu Shyam, political critic, claimed that Congress was "holding talks with Vijay."
"From now on, the DMK must change its approach and this applies equally to the AIADMK," he said in an apparent reference to some reported difference of opinion between allies DMK and Congress over seat-sharing and power-sharing ahead of the April 23 polls.
Incidentally, AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu, Girish Chodankar, on Tuesday admitted that the Congress party leadership's decision to stick with the DMK alliance went against strong grassroots sentiment favouring the TVK.
"The local leaders, the grassroots level leaders, were suggesting if Rahul Gandhi, who has a large acceptance in Tamil Nadu, joins the campaign with Vijay, it will create a big impact and we can sweep the Tamil Nadu polls, and get somewhere around 180-190 seats," Chodankar told PTI Videos.
